THE VAMPIRE CEO MATE

CHAPTER TWO

At the end of the work day, Claire made her way back home to freshen up for the dinner meeting. All day she wondered what her boss would look like, she imagined the man being middle age with white thinning hair. Would he be fat and rounded, with wrinkles on his face obviously showing that age isn't really on his side much. Applying her make up she remembered the man's brother, Tyler.

Tyler was fairly young and still very much good looking, he could probably be in his mid thirties or so but fine as hell that's for sure. Hopefully, would Ryan resemble his brother? To her the age difference between them both shouldn't be much.

Claire noticed she had zoning out for a long time, staring at herself in the mirror.

She took a good look at herself and wondered if she looked good enough, knowing that first impression matters she wanted to look flawless at the dinner meeting even though she had no idea what to expect from the meeting.

Tonight,she was wearing a simple black, knee length, cap sleeved body con dress that was modest enough for the meeting but also elegant and beautiful.

The dress displayed her curves just enough to bring attention to them, but not too much attention. Small golden dropping earrings on her ears, and her long curls fell over her shoulders. She then decided to complete the look with a four inch red bottoms black heels which were stoned by some small silver diamonds on it that gave the heels an eye catching beauty. Deep down, she prayed to God that she won't be standing for long tonight because this heels weren't exactly comfortable to stand in for long.

She would keep a pair of flip-flops in her car, then after the dinner meeting she would change into them. Claire was about to make her way outside when she decided to take off her heels and hold them in her hand. She grabbed her golden clutch purse and slipped into her flip-flops, heading out of the door to her car to make her way down to the restaurant. She could feel her nerves acting up again, "Deep breaths" she told herself repeatedly.

When she finally arrived at the restaurant, she packed her car and slipped back into her heels and made her way into the restaurant. The place was indeed fancy with it's low lighting and quiet atmosphere. She noticed the fine cushions, tables and wall designs, she knew deep down that this restaurant would be quite expensive because she couldn't even afford the water here talk more about the food.

She laughed at her thoughts and was suddenly distracted by the voice of the host greeting her. "Good evening, ma'am, welcome to Cherry Blossom restaurant. How may we help you tonight?".

"Oh.... Hello, ummm I'm actually meeting someone".

"Ah, yes the party name ?".

"Dragonoff".

The host eyebrows slightly raised as in disbelief or surprised by it.

"Alright, ma'am. Mr Dragonoff is waiting for you. if you will follow me".

He muttered before he took off to the direction to the dining room. Claire managed to keep her pace with him despite with her uncomfortable heels.

Her eyes scanning through the room, she saw several older men of different ethnicities having dinner but all of them had company with them.

That is until they got to the other side of the dinning room where a lone middle aged man sitting at a corner, appearing to be waiting for someone. Claire was about to ask the host if that was the man she was supposed to meet, just as she opened her mouth to ask she saw an older woman join the man at the table, sitting across from him. They both laughed at something she said.

Claire eyebrows frowned at the confusion, maybe she was looking for the wrong kind of person.....

Just then, they arrived at a table at the far end of the dining room. At it sat a man who looked to be about thirty- eight years old. He stood when he noticed us walking towards him. He nodded when the host pulled Claire's chair out of her sit. A lovely smile appeared on his face before he reached his hand across the table and took Claire's hand for a business shake.

Claire noticed that his hand was almost similar to Tyler hand which was cool and soft. She thought it was because of the air conditioning that made it become so.

So this was finally the Ryan Dragonoff?. She didn't expect someone this young to be the CEO of a multibillion dollar corporation. He must have been a financial genius. And he was as handsome as hell or better to say Damn..... hot and sexy!!. It seemed like good looks runs in the family. However Ryan, didn't resemble his brother Tyler that much. While Tyler had blonde hair, Ryan had a thick pitch black hair. it fell onto his shoulders.

Claire quickly surveyed the rest of the man, admiring the way his slate black suit fitted him, complemented by a red tie. His sexy but captivating eyes gazed at her looked almond but strikingly dark. He was pale, but not the sick kind of pale but more like your frost kind of pale. And oh my, he was very tall even with her four inch heels he was still so tall.

"Claire Willows" he breathed

Gosh, his voice was so deep, Claire jaws almost dropped in surprise. His English accent made he look extremely hot and sexy adding a burst of manliness to his character.

She could tell he was a very confident man, "It's so nice to finally meet you" he finally said after taking his hands away from her's. "Please have a seat". gesturing to the chair for her to sit down.

"It's nice to finally meet you too, Mr Dragonoff". She replied as she sat down.

"Please,call me Ryan".

She nodded "Right, Ryan". She paused as a waiter came to suggest them a bottle of red wine. Ryan nodded to the waiter and the waiter began to pour the red wine into both glasses.

Claire took that moment to browse through the menu she found on the table. Of course it was in French..... why wasn't she surprised as she rolled her eyes.

"I hope you don't mind, I already ordered for the both of us".

Claire set the menu down and looked back at him. "Oh, that's fine, I don't mind". Silence fell over them for a few seconds as she pondered on how to ask the question that has been on her mind for a while. "Mr. Dragonoff , if you don't mind.......".

"Ryan" he reminded Claire.

She paused for a while, "Ryan, if you don't mind, could you explain to me what exactly it is we are doing here? Why did you ask me to come see you, me of all people". She asked as she picked up her glass to sip her wine.

He smiled, revealing a pair of shining white teeth. "I knew you would ask me that eventually. Well, Claire Willow, I have been watching you for quite some time now".

"Sorry?"

He nodded, "You have something that I need, Claire. something that the company needs". Ryan leaned forward, clasping his hands and placing them on the table in a business like manner.

"See, your supervisor, Mr James, has recommended you for a higher position and I take that recommendation very seriously seeing as he doesn't give them very often. So,I did my little homework on you, You have a Bachelor's degree in graphic design. And you have recently acquired a Master's degree in Business Administration. And don't think I haven't noticed the application you put in for a managerial position a while back".

Claire had put in that application months ago! And she didn't even get the job. It was given to a guy named Robert Pollard, who was to her not qualified for that position. She was a young and single woman in the corporate world. However, it seemed that right now, this may not have been the case.

Ryan continued "Since Dragonoff corporation is a company that specializes in marketing, I'm considering an executive position just for you".

Claire's eyes widened with surprise "An executive position?, Just for me?".

"You are intelligent. You have ideas. it would be a wonderful thing to have you on the team, Claire. We would work closely together to take this company to a new direction. You will be my right hand lady and I want you to start effectively immediately. What do you say to that".

What could she say?, This was amazing, incredible or more like a dream come true. She had thought that she would never get the opportunity to meet the CEO himself, but here they are having dinner together. And was giving her an executive position just like that. How could she say No to such an amazing opportunity!.

"I don't know what to say!".

Ryan laughed a bit, " How about, It would be an honor to work with you Claire Willow as an executive member".

Claire smiled,"I would be honored!".

"Wonderful", He clapped his hands lightly and their waiter appeared again with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He poured it into their glasses and Ryan held one glass in his hand and Claire followed his action.

"I propose a toast to the beginning of something new".

Claire was ready to give it her all, That morning, she woke up with a smile. Her confidence was bursting through the roof!. She thought what would she wear on her first day in her new position? Standing in front of her closet going through her clothes.

She finally decided to go with a white button down shirt, sky blue skirt and a blazer and a pair of black heels. Obviously, she could be taking along a pair of flip-flops with her. Claire took note that she would need to purchase more formal clothing's especially now that she got her new position. She was super excited.

The reality of the situation dawned on her when she opened the door to her new office. The office was huge and perfectly lit with beautiful a desk and chair. She pinched herself to check if she was dreaming only to open her eyes that it wasn't a dream.

She was still taking in the beauty of the office when she noticed a slight movement by the chair, "Madeline is that you on my chair".

The chair which was facing away from the door turned around to revealing a smiling Ryan sitting on the chair, "No, it's just me, Good morning Claire". he greeted.

Claire surprised to see him greeted, "Good morning, Ryan. May I ask you what you are doing here I thought you would be flying back to London".

He shook his head "I'm actually thinking of relocating back to New York and making this my home branch".

He said as he stood up allowing his gaze to rest upon her. He held a certain confidence with him as he walked over to her. Ryan still looked as good as he did the previous night with the Navy blue suit that he had on. Claire could tell this man would look good in anything he put on.

"Are you looking forward to working with me, Claire".

Claire smiled, "Yes sir, very much so".

He kept walking towards her and she wanted to step out of his way but Ryan was already in front of her and his fingers were already intertwining with hers.

She looked down in surprised, all this while his gaze never left her face.

"Ryan, what are you doing?".

"Are you currently seeing anyone, Miss Claire". He asked

She frowned at him and tried to pull her hand away from his, "No, but that does not give you the right to try to romance me , Mr. Dragonoff ". She looked around the room looking for a chance to escape.

"Besides, the door and the window blinds are open, if people see us what will they say?". She added.

He smiled in amusement,"I don't care about what irrelevant people think about me but if you do......". He gave a flick of his wrist and immediately the door and blinds were closed. Claire gasped loudly with fear in her eyes.

"How did you....".

He shrugged, "I just simply waved my hand, Claire or would you like another demonstration".

She shook her head in disbelief, trying to back away from him but his hands were fast and he held her.

"My dear, Miss Willow, you have nothing to worry about, I am still a man, just a bit ummm extraordinary".

Extraordinary? that was a nice way to put it, He was a freak!.

She opened her mouth to scream, but was immediately covered by his hand. His smile immediately faded and he became serious for the first time with his dark eyes.

"Don't do that" he said pulling her closer to him.

"What do you want from me" She questioned after he removed his hand from her mouth. Countless thoughts were going through her brian and she didn't know what to do, all she knew was that she was scared and needed to get out of here.

Ryan smile finally returned and he answered, "I want you".