Perfect Match: Irresistible Desire For You
Chapter 13

Yasmin told Ashley the details of her blind date and what was going through her mind at the time. At the end of her story, she concluded with a self-satisfied smirk on her face, “All in all, I managed to land a good-looking man and a convenient way out from my mother’s nagging—talk about killing two birds with one stone, am I right?”

Ashley was used to her friend’s erratic way of thinking. After a moment’s thought, she asked, “Are you sure that your handsome partner-in-crime is gay? I am afraid you would never know for certain until you actually see him have s*x with a man.”

After flexing her analytical skills for some time, Ashley arrived at several important questions. Given Zachary’s family background, if he really were a homosexual, Estrada family would never leave him alone and still insist on arranging blind dates for him. Maybe it was just an excuse for him to finally get his ex-girlfriend out of his hair. Yasmin must have overheard them talking, and being the innocent, unsuspecting person that she was, she took those words at face value and roped the man into her plan as her accomplice.

Ashley’s serious expression bothered Yasmin. After doing some thinking of her own, she reassured Ashley, “Don’t worry. I’m quite sure he’s a bottom based on his looks alone.” While speaking, she imagined how Zachary was being a bottom, and she couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of it. Although Zachary was so handsome that he could be called beautiful, there was nothing weak about him. He had a strong build, so it was a little strange to think of him as a bottom.

Ashley looked at Yasmin’s confident face and concluded that she might be overthinking things. After all, not all men were brave enough to reveal their s****l orientation in front of women. With that thought, she lowered her head to eat and said nothing further.

As a matter of fact, Ashley actually hit the nail right on the head. One day in the future, the innocent, unsuspecting Yasmin would have s*x with the bottom in her eyes, but that was a story for another time.

Eventually, the gossip regarding the relationship among the three personalities, including Ashley, died down. Ashley remained busy with her work, as usual. One day, as the sales elite and the manager of the marketing department, Ashley was assigned the monumental, highly important task of negotiating a cooperation contract between her company and Empire Group.

Empire Group was known as the biggest enterprise in Ariosa in the last few years. Owing to the legendary management system and iron-fisted style of the new CEO, Empire Group had entered the international market, which was considered to be a miraculous feat that had surprised and brought pride to the entire nation. Empire Group was engaged in all kinds of industries, most notable of which were real estate, manufacturing, and high-tech.

However, the

most noteworthy detail about this development was the miracle maker himself—Joseph, CEO of the Empire Group, who was an astonishing man. According to rumors, he obtained his education in the United States and returned to manage Empire Group at the young age of 21. Within a short span of seven years, he had made the dominating enterprise reach another peak. One other juicy tidbit of gossip was that the CEO, known as the most eligible bachelor, was not interested in women. He had a cold, aloof countenance that kept strangers at a distance. Even more interesting was that he was widely considered to be gay, as the only person allowed to get close to him was his special assistant.

All of this information came up when Ashley searched for “Empire Group” at portal sites, which churned out an odd mix of facts and half-baked speculations about Joseph, his accolades, and his private life. Of course, gossip about the man always made it into the hot topic list. The man had achieved an unprecedented success, but he had never made a public appearance. Because of his unquestionable influence, not a single photo of his could be found online.

Ashley leafed through the supplementary materials for the project that the company had sent to her, one of which was a volume of Time Magazine from a few years back with Joseph on the front cover. The article included a personal interview with the man. Looking at the magazine cover, Ashley had to admit that Joseph was more handsome than a lot of popular celebrities. He had raven-dark hair, a high nose, narrow, deeply-set eyes, and an unsmiling mouth. With his distinct features and flawless skin, the man was breathtaking. Despite his uncommon handsomeness, anyone who looked at his photo could feel the cold radiating from him. His face looked hard and somewhat battle-worn, like he had encountered life’s hardships and came out the other side triumphant but scarred.

Synder Group was seeking this partnership because they wanted to purchase raw materials for car assembly from Empire Group. The two companies had yet to cooperate on any ventures together, but a recent emergency had Synder Group scrambling to change that. A foreign company had placed a massive order to Synder Group, and the company’s stock inventory was insufficient to fulfil that order. Thus, they needed to source out a new supplier of raw materials, fast. In Ariosa, only Empire Group could solve this shortage problem for Synder Group. Thus, the cooperation was of utmost importance to their company, with the upper management constantly keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

After reading these materials, Ashley carefully noted and sorted out the areas that demanded her immediate attention and the materials needed for the negotiation on the following day. Finally, she called a staff meeting to discuss the project with the rest of her department.