The Competitive Spirit

Hailee's high heeled shoes clicked quickly across the airport terminal's tiled floor. Her laptop bag swung from its long strap, swaying with the movement of her hips as she strode through the crowd, parting it like a shark through a school of fish. Her long well manicured nails gleamed against her black business suit as she tapped her fingers impatiently on her thigh. She couldn't believe she'd had to fly all the way out here for this. She was new to her job and was trying to build up the client base in her own city. Not that she objected to snagging a client from another firm but she had so much work to do back home that the waste of time during travel was painful.

Standing at the baggage carousel her right foot tapped a fast rhythm as she waited for her luggage to finally be deposited on the roundabout. The obvious impatience she was showing scared off the two young men who were admiring her lithe body from a distance. She worked out regularly, knowing that a good appearance helped sales. Her 5'7" height allowed for some spectacularly long legs, which the workouts had kept slim and well muscled. Those muscles were set off stunningly by the three inch heels she wore, giving her a willowy walk that was enough to set men's heads turning and women grabbing arms. Her long legs led up to wide hips and a narrow waist set off fabulously by her black pinstripe skirt and tailored jacket. That jacket had to be tailored; Hailee's 38DD chest wouldn't fit into just anything off the rack. There were times she'd hated that chest but had discovered when she went into sales that they were a powerful asset and had taken the time and effort to find out the best way to show them to effect. Now the bright white shirt beneath her jacket showed just enough to emphasis the slightly more than modest amount of cleavage she exposed. The long string of pearls doubled around her long neck only showed how smooth and luscious her skin was, causing more than one man's mouth to water and others to have to suddenly adjust certain portions of their anatomy. Her shoulders and arms were well muscled without being bulky, she had no need for the padded shoulders many women resorted to, narrowing down to the long tapered fingers tapping impatiently as she waited. Hailee's one vain admission was her hair, long and so dark a brown as to be almost black. Unless she was in the sunlight, then sudden streaks of flame were shown deep in its velvety depths. It swung to her hips when it was down but for now it was captured in a very sophisticated hairdo allowing none of that hidden fire to show. Large eyes surrounded by thick black lashes, a small nose and curvy lips, all enhanced by professional looking makeup, finished out the package making her eye catching for most men and some women.

Finally her baggage arrived and she grabbed it off the carousel and walked quickly to the rental car counter, the sooner she was done and out of here the sooner she would be able to check her email and tie up some of the last loose ends for this deal. She knew she had competition but Hailee was confident that her deal would prove the most attractive. Despite her gorgeous looks, Hailee Morgan was as smart a saleswoman as any her boss had seen in a long time. In some ways her looks made her even more devastating as her male competition tended to underestimate her abilities, which was one of the biggest reasons he had hired her despite her lack of experience with high-powered sales. Staring down a matronly woman trying to get ahead of her in line Hailee managed to make it to the counter and out to the lot in record time. Of course using her sapphire blue gaze on the male clerk to speed things up might have had something to do with it but Hailee wasn't a woman to pass up using any weapon at her disposal.

Those blue eyes also helped during the check in process, causing the young man behind the counter to stutter a few times as he took down her information. It was a four star hotel so eventually he'd become immune but Hailee enjoyed the power she had over him at this point. She retrieved her room keys (why did they always insist on giving her two?), signaled the bellhop with her luggage and headed to the elevator. The hotel seemed to be very crowded but then again, being the best hotel in this large metropolis would probably account for that. She stepped into the tastefully decorated elevator with the luggage cart and bellhop and waited for the elevator to get to the 12th floor where her room was located. She could see the bellhop looking her over in the bronze reflection of the elevator door and adjusted her pearls just to see him swallow in lust as her hand slid across her bosom. Grinning inside Hailee swayed out the door of the elevator as it stopped at her floor, barely avoiding a collision with a large man just stepping forward.

"Excuse me," He apologized, "I should have waited."

"No harm done," Hailee replied, "but you should wait longer next time."

The tall man stepped back giving Hailee a better view of him. He was about 6' tall, his well muscled physique giving evidence of working out regularly. His short hair was a golden brown with lighter streaks as if from the sun and his large grey eyes were striking. Hailee felt an instant attraction to the handsome man and ran her eyes over him boldly. She wasn't afraid of advertising her interest, not in this modern world where a woman was as entitled to pursue her desires as aggressively as any man. Hailee's lips quirked into a small smile at the startled look in his eyes at her daring perusal then she saw the matching spark of awareness flare and he returned her scan with interest. Here was a man who was as much a predator as she, which only added spice to the idea of dominating him. Speaking more softly Hailee tempered her initial reaction, "I should have waited as well. So we're both to blame." She stepped forward and offered her hand to him, "Hailee Morgan."

"Thom Hagerssen." His large square hand engulfed hers and shook it firmly. She could sense the leashed power in his grip. As their clasp ended he slid his fingertips across her palm sending a shiver of awareness skittering up her arm.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Hagerssen," Hailee murmured.

"Very much so Ms... I assume it is Ms. Morgan?" Thom queried.

"Yes, thank you." Hailee replied. Her gaze quickly sought out his left hand and was relieved to see the lack of a gold band. Returning her gaze to his she glimpsed a flicker of amusement as he followed her look. Behind her the bellhop cleared his throat and the bell dinged on the elevator as the doors attempted to close. "Oh, excuse me." Hailee stepped to the side and allowed the young man to push the cart out of the elevator and into the hallway. "You were headed somewhere and I'm keeping you."

"A most delightful delay I assure you," he responded. "Perhaps we will meet again, Ms. Morgan."

"Perhaps." She countered. Thom reluctantly stepped into the elevator as Hailee and the bellhop continued down the hallway toward her room. Refusing to look back over her shoulder at him Hailee used a hall mirror to see the elevator as it closed, he seemed to be straining to catch a glimpse of her destination before the doors shut. Laughing silently at the men who are so easily manipulated, Hailee led the rest of the way to her room. Using one of the two keys she opened the door to her suite and held the door for the bellhop as he unloaded the luggage into her room. Tipping him generously she let him back out, his unwillingness obvious as he left the lovely woman. Dismissing the attractive Mr. Hagerssen from her mind for the time being Hailee quickly unpacked and dove into the numerous details that still needed to be finished before the meeting tomorrow with the client and other competitors.

* * *

Hailee checked her makeup one last time in the mirror as she finished getting ready for the meeting. Her black skirt hit just above her knees in length, the way it caressed her thighs giving just enough suggestion to derail a man's thoughts, the brilliant blue silk long sleeve shirt made her eyes stand out even more and looked very good next to her creamy skin. The matching black jacket hugged every curve without being restricting to her movement. The silver pendent directed watching eyes unobtrusively toward her cleavage and the long dangling earrings emphasized the length of her neck. Stepping into her heels she was armed for war.

Grabbing her small briefcase Hailee scooped up her room key and headed out the door. The conference room was located on the ground floor of the hotel so she didn't need her coat. Hailee's eyes swept around as she headed down the hallway to the elevator, hoping to see Mr. Hagerssen again. She'd gotten to sleep late last night and dreams of him had kept her restless for a while once she was finally in bed. She looked forward to their next meeting and hoped it would be as stimulating.

Hailee was disappointed that she didn't see him but refused to let it show as the elevator descended to the bottom floor. Stepping off into the carpet she headed toward the secluded conference room at the back of the hotel, away from the noisy guests and hustle of the front desk. Arriving at her destination she knocked quietly and opened the large hardwood door. Inside the large room were several gentlemen gathered around a large oval table with name cards denoting where to sit. There was a side buffet with some breakfast fruit and bagels and coffee and tea services. The group of men hushed for a moment as she finished opening the door and stepped inside then resumed their talk, their eyes running over her from head to toe. She could see the estimation of her abilities in their eyes dropping the longer they looked. Which was fine with her, she'd use that against them and win the client even more easily. She located her place at the table and laid her briefcase in her chair. Returning to the buffet she chose a couple pieces of fruit and a glass of water then moved toward the conversation group.

"Good morning gentlemen," Hailee lowered her tone and hid her intelligence behind a seductive rasp. A chorus of greetings came back to her and the conversation renewed itself. Hailee listened intently while sizing up each of her opponents. The four men surrounding her were dressed in conservative business suits of varying expense. Only one was fitted correctly, the others seemed to be off the shelf purchases. Her estimation of the three men wearing those suits went down and she focused on the fourth man, examining him unobtrusively as she measured his abilities. He seemed rather intelligent and well spoken from what she was hearing and she put him down in the 'to be watched' column in her mental spreadsheet. The other three were already well ensconced in her 'minimal threat' column. They might surprise her however, it had happened, not often but enough to keep an eye on them.

The door behind her opened again and she turned to see the newest addition to the meeting. Her surprise at seeing Thom step in the room was hard to disguise but she managed it. Her eyes ran over him hungrily as the memories of last nights dreams crashed over her. His immaculate medium grey suit was tailored perfectly and set off his hair nicely. The brilliant white shirt underneath was high quality and the darker grey tie matched his eyes. Because she was watching him Hailee caught the quick flash of surprise in his eyes when he saw her before it was hidden by his cool business façade. She smiled at him in welcome then turned back to the group before her traitorous thoughts could show themselves in her own eyes. A couple of the men around her called out greetings to him as he placed his briefcase at he chair across from hers. Hailee quickly put the plate and glass down on the buffet as he came over to the group.

"Hello Frank. Good to see you again," Thom said as he shook the hand of the man in the tailored suit. "Bob, Mark." He nodded to two of the others.

"This is Victor Edwards, Thom." Frank introduced the final man to Thom, "Victor, this is Thom Hagerssen. Don't let his good looks fool you, he's an unforgiving opponent."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Edwards," Thom shook hands with the final man then turned to Hailee, "We meet again Ms. Morgan. I hope the rest of your evening went well?"

Hailee again shook his hand, feeling a thrill at his grip, "Yes, it went just fine thank you. I wasn't aware you were here for this meeting Mr. Hagerssen." She replied.

"Well we certainly didn't have much time for idle chit chat before so it's not unexpected. Have you met everyone else yet?"

"No, not yet. I just arrived a little before you."

"Well, let us rectify the situation. This gentleman here is Frank D'Angelo. Robert Wilshire, also known as Bob. Mark Donnan, and I'm sure you heard Victor Edwards." He said as he pointed to each man in turn. Each of them nodded politely and shook hands as well, many of them less strongly than necessary as if not to overwhelm her. Only Frank's handshake came close to Thom's powerful grip. "Gentlemen, this lovely competitor is Ms. Hailee Morgan. We met last night as I attempted to walk over her."

Hailee laughed gently, "As I said before Mr. Hagerssen, it was both our faults. We both should have waited a little longer at the elevator. Please think nothing more of it."

"Please, call me Thom. We're opponents but friendly ones," Thom's eyes flashed at the word friendly.

"Then you must call me Hailee, Thom." She replied.

The door opened once again and a final man stepped into the room. This gentleman was older with distinguished looking silver streaks running through his hair. Hailee recognized him as the client and her business persona came to the front, pushing her flirtatious side to the back of her brain. The small group broke apart as each person headed to their assigned spots. Despite her focus upon the client Hailee was very aware of Thom sitting across from her and a rebellious corner of her mind kept bringing up the erotic scenes from her disturbed sleep the night before. She hoped to follow through on them but she didn't need or want the distraction at this point.

The client began the meeting and started going over the company's needs. Hailee listened closely and found a few places where her proposal could be adjusted to better fit with the company's desires. She was jarred out of her intense concentration when something bumped her foot. Looking up quickly she saw an innocent expression plastered on Thom's face. It didn't crack even when she felt the bump once more, this time further up her leg. This time it didn't retreat, instead his shoe began to glide up and down the expanse of calf he could reach. Hailee's eyes widened then began to twinkle as she caught on to his game. What better way to distract the competition than to bring in sexual tension. Her estimation of Thom rose further and he firmly planted himself in the 'threat' column. In her current position Hailee had no way to retaliate so she simply ignored his advances while secretly enjoying the cross play occurring beneath the table. It was highly unprofessional but then again so were her intentions towards Thom.

When the client called a short break Hailee stood to stretch a bit and removed her jacket. Laying it over the back of her chair she straightened her shirt, pulling it tight across her chest. Watching him from the corner of her eye, she saw the appreciation in Thom's eyes as he saw the fabric stretch across her generous curves. Hailee deliberately went over to the buffet and got a glass of ice water and standing underneath the vent felt the cool air reviving her mind. It also gave her goose bumps down her neck and her nipples hardened beneath the blue lace bra she wore. Silk, being notoriously clingy, molded itself around these new projections and she saw Thom shift slightly, the only indication that he'd noticed. Hailee pretended not to be aware of her aroused body and returned to her place for the next portion of the meeting.

This time, while keeping her leg within reach of his she scooted closer to the table and leaned forward. It seemed an innocent enough pose but displayed her generous cleavage to devastating effect as shown by the sudden distraction of Mark and Bob sitting beside Thom. While their disturbed state was satisfying to Hailee's ego it was the sudden glimmer of respect in Thom's eyes that gave her the most pleasure. The awareness that here was an opponent who would give as good as she got. The client droned on and as Thom became more aggressive below the table Hailee began to wish that he'd end the meeting quickly. She wanted desperately to find an opportunity to talk to Thom in private and see if he was open to a bit more than flirtation, okay to be honest with herself a lot more. A sudden seductive smile flitted across her lips and Thom caught it, the tilt of his head indicating he was wondering what she was thinking about. Hailee allowed it to become slightly more visible then glanced once more up at the client. Mark and Bob glanced around quickly trying to see if it was directed at them, the obvious hope in their faces a wicked counterpoint to her amusement. She continued to ignore that side of the table for the rest of the meeting.

When the meeting finally broke up it was with the client gathering in each initial proposal with a promise to review them overnight and accept adjusted ones in the next meeting tomorrow morning. Hailee gathered her notes and supplies slowly while fending off the half hearted attempts by Bob and Mark to strike up a conversation, hoping to get a chance to proposition Thom. However the client seemed to have a personal relationship with him and was doing his best to catch up on all the gossip. Trying to delay even longer she went through the pockets of her briefcase in an unnecessary search for her room key and noticed she'd somehow brought them both. Hoping to have an opportunity to slip Thom one she put the extra into the pocket of her jacket. After a couple more minutes Hailee gave up her waiting game, she didn't want to become too obvious, especially not in front of the client. She finished packing up and walked over to the client and Thom. She politely interrupted them, shook both their hands professionally and said she would see them in the morning. She then left the conference room and walked down the carpeted hallway to the lobby. The lobby was extremely busy and it took a short time for Hailee to pick up her messages from the front desk. She walked over to the elevator and looked through them while waiting for the car to arrive. As the bell dinged she put them safely into the pocket of her briefcase and watched the doors open. After waiting for the people to clear the car she stepped forward into the elevator and turned to face the front. Only once she had did she realize that Thom had managed to escape from the clutches of the client and had entered the car behind her. His eyes gleamed warmly at her as he moved into the corner of the car next to her.

"Imagine meeting you here again." He laughed.

Hailee smiled at him and stepped a little closer. "Imagine that."

Just before the doors closed a small hand shoved between them and the elevator obligingly opened up once more. This time the new passengers weren't as welcome, six kids and one adult woman piled into the car with them forcing Thom even further into the corner and pushing Hailee in front of him. The children were rambunctious and seemed to be bouncing off the walls while the lady attempted to quiet them. One particularly evil boy began punching every button on the panel highlighting each floor. Hailee groaned internally at the thought of the interminable ride ahead of her, perhaps she could get off at the next floor and catch another elevator. That was until she realized there was something hard pressing into her lower back. Turning her head she realized that the sudden crowding had placed her directly in front of Thom and that she was leaning against him while he braced himself against the wall. Both his hands were on the railings beside them so it couldn't possibly be his briefcase she felt behind her. Hailee's eyes narrowed in sudden speculation and began to sparkle with deviltry. Thom, who had been watching her face at her sudden realization, widened his eyes at her calm reaction to his body's involuntary response to feeling her up against him, and then closed them slightly in suspicion.