“Your act needs work,” he said dryly.
***
This woman fascinated him. Different from most women in his life, she was so normal, so unfiltered. She was pretty in a nonconventional way. Not the fake, overly made-up women he’d become accustomed to, but a real, natural beauty.
A strand of long, blond hair had come out of her tightly made bun, and she struggled to fix it. The bun looked uncomfortable but was no doubt part of her professional, prim persona. He liked it better down. A flashback of her pushed up against the door, his hand buried in that silky, smooth hair, his dick buried somewhere else, caught him off guard.
He shook his head. Now that he knew she was his employee, that couldn’t happen again. Damn it. He had seriously thought of pursuing her, something he hadn’t wanted to do for a long time.
She’d given up on fixing her hair, the wayward strand tucked behind her ear, and was now doodling nervously on her notepad, sneaking glances at the door.
She had a lot going on in that pretty head of hers, and he found himself longing for the opportunity to see what else she had knocking around in there.
Get a grip, Sam. Not going to happen. Accept it and move on.
“People need to be able to come to you, tell you honestly what they think of your ideas, and rely on you to do the same. We foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and friendship here. Are you going to be able to fit in or not?”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted smartly. “We finished?” she asked hopefully, putting her hand around her watch and squeezing. He’d seen her do that a few times now. It must be some quirky thing she did when she was nervous. She stood and began to gather her things.
When he didn’t answer right away, or move to leave, she stopped and looked at him.
“I can see why you couldn’t call me back, but did you want to?” he asked.
She stared at him.
“Yes,” she finally answered. “I did.”
He closed his eyes and dropped his head. When he looked up again, she was gone.
CHAPTER SIX
“I’ve got something to run by you. Before you say no—” started Phil.
“Forget it. I can tell by the way you’re prefacing it, I won’t like it.” Sam was grumpy from his one-on-one meeting with Annie. He finally meets a woman he likes and, of course, she’s off-limits. Why did she have to be an employee?
“You’re right. Let me rephrase. You’re going to love this,” Phil tried again.
“Too late. I hate it,” Sam grumbled.
“From your demeanor, I take it your conversation with Annabelle didn’t go well. You talked to her about her attitude, I assume? What a bitch.” Phil dropped to his regular spot on the couch, and Sam slumped into the chair opposite him.
“Annabelle is Annie,” Sam stated matter-of-factly. “From this weekend?” he added when Phil didn’t immediately go ballistic.
“Holy shit! You had sex with Annabelle?” Phil exploded off the couch. “What did she say? What is she threatening? I’ll call the attorneys now. Fuck, this is bad, Sam. Really bad.” He pulled out his cell phone and prepared to dial.
“Calm down, Phil. She’s not threatening anything or anyone. We don’t need the attorneys. She says she won’t tell anyone.”
“Pft, yeah, right. We’ve heard that before. We’ve got to do some damage control. Should we make up an excuse to send her back to San Fran? That would be easy with her horrible attitude. We can be honest, say she isn’t going to fit in.”
“We’re not sending her anywhere. It’ll be fine.”
“You don’t believe her, do you?” Phil asked cautiously. “You think she really won’t use this somehow, someday, to cash in?” He was incredulous. “I know you’re not that naive, Sam. What do you want me to do?”
“I do believe her, and we’re done talking about it. I’m sorry I told you.” He stood and walked to his desk, where he picked up his phone and briefcase. “I’m leaving early. See you tomorrow.”
He left Phil with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
***
“Idiot,” Phil muttered. “What a fucking idiot.” Well, if Sam wasn’t going to protect himself, someone had to. Phil searched through his contacts and made a call, but not to the attorney.
“Hey, it’s me,” he whispered. “I need you to find out, discreetly, of course, anything and everything you can about a new employee. Preferably the stuff she doesn’t want anyone knowing if you catch my drift. Her name is Annabelle O’Neill. She also goes by Annie.”
He listened for a second. “As soon as possible, but make sure no one finds out about this request. Not even Sam. Especially not Sam.”
He disconnected, grabbed his jacket, and stalked out of Sam’s office.
His countenance changed in a heartbeat as he walked from the office. He smiled at the beautiful sentinel that guarded Sam’s door. “See ya tomorrow, Tracey. Have a great evening.” God, she was pretty.
***
Sam spent the drive home thinking about his conversation with Annie. He might have to call her Annabelle at the office, if that’s what she preferred, but he’d think of her as Annie. Between the dinner they’d shared and their brief conversation after the meeting, he’d only spent about an hour with her, but her straightforward, tell it like it is personality drew him to her.
He had to figure out a way they could see each other without putting anything in jeopardy. Without taking her off the project, he didn’t see how that was possible. He certainly couldn’t leave the project—at least not now. Maybe after the launch? No, that was too long to wait.
When she’d whispered that she had wanted to call him, his heart swelled. At least it wasn’t all one-sided then. She must like him a little. He thought over different possibilities during his workout at the gym and while picking up dinner from his favorite Italian
