The End
Want to read Chance’s brothers’ stories too?
Read Matt’s here:
Reckless Entanglement
And Sebastian here:
Untangle My Heart
Coming next… Sample chapters
TEMPTED BY THE CEO
Prologue
Opal
When I see the time, I stand up quickly from my desk. Mr. Connell, CEO of Asima Assets Management, and my direct boss, has a meeting in half an hour that’s been flagged as important. I have been told to remind him half an hour before the meeting is due to begin. I don’t want to be even a minute late, because Mr. Connell is the kind of man who notices little things like that.
I walk briskly from my desk to Mr. Connell’s office although there isn’t much space to cover for me to get there. As Mr. Connell’s personal secretary, I am the last line of defense between him and all of the people who want to take up his time. Most people understand that a polite no means just that. But at only five foot three, I’m not exactly intimidating. Yet, I am charged with keeping the people he doesn’t want to deal with in the moment away from him.
Working directly for Mr. Connell for two years now, I still find myself nervous every time I have to go into his office. My palms start sweating and I can feel my heart speeding up a little, but over the years, I’ve learned to hide my nerves well, so no one would ever know I was anything but calm and confident.
I take a half second to study the door while I take a deep breath. The door is a simple light oak bearing the company logo - a circle of red encasing the blue lettering of the company name, the capital letters in a matching red – and a nameplate that reads Robert Connell, CEO.
Wiping my palms down my navy blue pencil skirt, I tap on the door. Mr. Connell calls for me to enter. I step inside, a bright smile plastered across my face.
“What is it, Opal?” Mr. Connell asks, looking up from his computer and smiling at me. Mr. Connell is in his early fifties. His black hair is just starting to turn grey around his temples but his grey colored eyes are as sharp as ever. He wears his age well like a good bottle of wine, and he has no shortage of admirers, both in and out of the office.
“You have a meeting in half an hour with Brian Meyers,” I say. “You asked for a reminder half an hour before he is due to arrive.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Connell smiles. “Please call his secretary and confirm.”
With a nod, I step back out of his office, pulling his door closed behind me. I mentally add the phone call to my daily to do list and hurry back to my desk. I’d like to call it my office, but truth be told, it’s more of a cubby hole. My desk is tucked back into a slight recess a couple of yards down from Mr. Connell’s office. It’s private enough and the corridor is usually quiet enough for me to work uninterrupted, but I would love an office so I could kick the door shut and keep the world out. It would kind of defeat the purpose of my job though, as a big part of my job is greeting Mr. Connell’s associates and potential new clients.
Sitting down at my desk, I turn to my computer. I look up the number for Brian Meyers’ secretary, noting that her name is Suzy and I dial her number.
The call is answered on the first ring, “Suzy Hayes, secretary to Mr. Meyers,” she says.
Efficient. I like that. “Hi Suzy. This is Opal Collins. I am calling to confirm the eleven o’clock meeting between Mr. Meyers and Mr. Connell of Asima Assets Management.”
“Mr. Meyers is currently on his way to the meeting,” Suzy assures me.
Thanking her, I end the call. I look at my list of tasks for the day and I know instantly, I’ll be working late tonight again. There’s no way I can get through all of this before five. I see that tomorrow’s schedule is just as busy, so I can’t put off any of my tasks. I sigh and pick up the phone to make the first of many calls I have to make.
I have just ended a call when the light on my phone flashes to tell me Mr. Connell is calling me. “Hello,” I say, picking up the phone.
“Opal, have you confirmed the meeting like I asked you to?” he says.
“Yes, Mr. Connell,” I reply. “I didn’t want to disturb you, but the meeting is still going ahead as planned. I would have only felt the need to disturb you if the answer had been a no.” Oh God, have I fucked up? Has he been expecting me to let him know either way?
“That’s fine. I just wanted to check you’d called already. Mr. Meyers is an extremely difficult man to pin down and to be honest, I was half expecting him to cancel this appointment.”
I instantly feel better. I haven’t made a mistake. Whew.
Mr. Connell goes on, not waiting for an answer, “Please hold all of my calls until after my meeting. See Mr. Meyers in when he arrives and then make sure I am not disturbed under any circumstances for the duration of the meeting,” he says.
“Yes, Mr. Connell.” I resist the urge to tell him I would never allow him to be disturbed during a meeting. I don’t really know a lot about Mr. Meyers or his company or why he’s having a meeting with Mr. Connell. But it must be important if Mr. Connell feels the need to point out something so obvious to me. I have to admit I’m curious about the whole thing. As Mr. Connell’s personal secretary, I usually
