“Ruth, how about if the three of us sit down and talk things over?” he suggested. As he watched, Ruth seemed to puff up with importance. Turning to the rest of her staff, she dismissed everyone with a sharp nod. Immediately, the others in the room stood up, gathered their papers, and filed out. A few of them nodded greetings in his direction, but most of them kept their heads bowed.
Reid took it all in with a glance and it angered him further. He didn’t like any member of this staff being cowed for any reason. He and Brant prided themselves on running a corporation that valued individuals. Seeing his assistant marketing director in action, he saw clearly that she wasn’t a team player and was sucking the life and enthusiasm out of the marketing team.
Ruth stood up, imperious as a queen, which fired his temper even further.
Even worse, Ruth wasn’t willing to talk to Selena. Instead, she stood and, with her nose stuck up in the air, acting as if Selena weren’t worth her notice, headed for the nearest exit. “Call my secretary and set up a time to discuss this. I’ll help you refine these ideas to something more…appropriate.”
Reid watched, tamping down his fury. He flicked his gaze towards Selena, trying to see how she was taking the abuse, but the hurt look in her eyes, a look she was valiantly trying to hide, only increased his fury.
“How about right now?” he suggested. His words might have formed a question, but his tone and expression were clear. It was a command.
And yet, she continued to try and play stupid power games. “I have another meeting, but we’ll work this out, Reid. Selena has a decent foundation. Her ideas just need to be tweaked into something reasonable. Something that will appeal to our customers.”
Reid shifted his weight, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m not sure you fully understand, Ruth. I like Selena’s ideas. I moved her out here so that they could be implemented.”
Ruth’s smile faltered, but she rallied. “I understand that you want to help her advance her career, but her ideas aren’t…”
“Her ideas are brilliant, Ruth. I have yet to hear a solid reason why we shouldn’t move forward with them. Selena researched her ideas thoroughly. Every suggestion is backed up with both financial and consumer data.” He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the conference room table, glaring at Ruth. “Either explain your concerns, backed up with solid research, or back off so that Selena can do her job.”
He hadn’t thought it possible, but Ruth’s lips pressed even more tightly together. “The ideas aren’t going to work, Reid,” she snapped.
“Why?”
“Because they just won’t!”
He frowned thoughtfully. “You don’t want them to work because you didn’t think them up yourself. Is that it?”
Her face went blank in surprise and he knew he’d hit it exactly on the mark.
But Ruth was nothing if not tenacious. “That’s not the issue at all. I’ve accepted ideas from my staff and we’ve implemented them into the overall marketing strategy. We do it all the time. We’re a team here!”
He saw the lie in her eyes. “If I asked members of your staff, would they agree with you?” he asked softly. He couldn’t believe he’d missed Ruth’s selfish machinations for so long.
Ruth stammered, understanding her jeopardy. “Of course they would.”
“We’ll see,” he snapped. “That will be all.”
Ruth wasn’t exactly sure what to do. Instead of arguing any further, she picked up her notebook and walked stiffly out of the conference room.
There was a long silence while Reid considered his next step. Ruth would have to go. There was no chance she could stay on with the company. Not after that performance. But…
“I’m so sorry,” Selena breathed from behind him.
He swung around, only realizing that he was still angry when he saw the concern in his eyes. Reid ran a hand over his face, trying to calm down. He’d missed something that had cost his company time, money, and creativity. He was furious, but with himself. “This isn’t your fault, this is mine. I allowed an employee to become a tyrant in my own backyard. That’s on me. I hate when I miss things.” He pulled her in for a gentle hug. “But your ideas are solid, Selena. Don’t doubt that for a moment.”
She hesitated, but eventually her arms wrapped around his waist and he sighed into her hair. “I’ll let you know what’s happening by this afternoon, okay?”
Selena pulled out of his arms, thrilled to have his support. “Got it. And remind me never to get on your bad side,” she teased as she gathered up the marketing materials she’d brought in for the meeting.
He laughed and she wanted to wrap the sound around her like a blanket, remembering it from last night while he’d made love to her. Goodness, that sound was…and she loved it. That sound was a precursor to something wicked and delicious.
Something occurred to her and she stopped with her hand resting on the door knob. “You’re not going to fire her, are you?” she asked.
He spun around, looking down at her. “Of course I am. She’ll never support your ideas. I can’t have someone inhibiting progress. In fact, Dave should have fired her years ago.”
She bit her lip, trying to test out various possibilities. “What if she’s right? What if my ideas aren’t good?”
He pulled her in and kissed her. “Selena, if she were right, she would have had solid justification for her disagreement. As it was, she simply announced that the ideas weren’t good. That’s a sure sign of someone afraid of being overshadowed. So no, Ruth’s rejection of your ideas doesn’t concern me in the least. In fact, they confirm my opinion.” His arms tightened around her for a moment. “Besides, I usually go with my gut when promoting an idea, but I back up my ideas with data.” He winked at her. “Brant isn’t just a pretty face. He might be an ass and the most annoying brother around, but he’s pretty brilliant with numbers. He looked into your suggestions and agreed that it would work. He calculated that your ideas would bring in an additional twenty-three percent more revenue over the next eighteen months.”
She relaxed slightly. “So…” Grinning, she recognized the look in his eyes. “You’re not thinking about Ruth, are you?” she asked, using the poster boards as a shield, trying to defend herself against the heat in his look.
It didn’t work.
“No. I’m definitely not thinking about Ruth and her tyranny over my marketing department.”
She laughed, feeling an excited bubble burst inside of her chest. “You’re thinking something naughty.”
“Yes. You could definitely say that.”
Selena shifted her materials. “I’m going back to my office.”
“Don’t you want to know what I’m thinking about?”
She shook her head and backed away from him, but she couldn’t stop the silly grin. “No. I definitely don’t want to know what you’re thinking.”
“Why not?” he teased, resting a hip on the conference room table.
“Because you’ve already admitted that it is something naughty. Whatever it is, the idea is going to distract me for the next hour.”
“Just an hour?” he purred, lifting a dark eyebrow in question.
Selena shrugged slightly and headed towards the door. “Maybe longer.” With a saucy turn, she glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe not.”
The rest of the marketing team hadn’t gone back to their offices. Instead, they were all warily waiting to see what happened after the contretemps in the conference room, positioning themselves around the copier and the kitchen, trying to look busy. But in reality, each and every one of them were nervously watching. Never before had they witnessed anything so dramatic, having been under Ruth’s thumb for too long.
Selena knew they were anxious about their jobs. Were some of them actually sweating? Ruth in a bad mood meant she would start lashing out at the staff members.
So while their boss had exited the room furious, this new person…she laughed!
After that, two things happened. Abou
t half of the staff relaxed, knowing that it was better to get on board and support the new sheriff, while the others who aligned themselves with Ruth scuttled to their offices to update their resumes.
Selena stepped into her office, not surprised by the drama. In fact, she’d been expecting it, although not so publicly and she’d expected it last week when she’d first arrived and introduced her ideas. Change was always difficult and her idea took the marketing and training efforts in a completely new direction.
Unfortunately, as soon as she got to her office, she found that there were stacks of files with a note on top. “File in the filing room.”
Ruth was making a power play. This was her way to keep Selena busy so that she wouldn’t have time to get things done.
Selena glanced at her schedule, surprised to find a number of new e-mails. As she read the first few messages, she realized that her afternoon meetings had been canceled. There was no longer a meeting with the arts department, the graphics department, or the team that would be coordinating events for the advertising launch. Everything had been canceled.
“You look like someone just told you your water heater burst in mid-winter,” a friendly voice came from her doorway.
Selena looked up, recognizing Gianna from Brant’s office last week. “Hi there! How are you doing?” she asked, knowing that Gianna was also new to the company and struggling to fit in. She felt a kindred spirit with the gloriously beautiful woman with the lilting accent.
Gianna laughed brightly, dark curls dancing around her shoulders as she leaned against the doorframe. “I heard you’d just endured your first kerfuffle with the lovely Ruth.”
Selena leaned back in her chair with a sigh. “I’m sure it will blow over.” Gianna might be new and friendly, but Selena didn’t want to start gossiping.
Gianna nodded and moved into the office, sitting down in the chair in front of Selena’s desk. “Yeah, from what I’ve heard from others in the marketing department, Ruth never lets anything blow over. She’s a bit of a despot around here.”
Selena smiled, thinking that Gianna was right. “How have you dealt with her?”
Gianna, with her normal Italian gesture of dismissal, waved her hands in the air. “She’s a boil on the heel of this world,” the woman declared. “I ignore her.”
Selena laughed, shocked and impressed with Gianna’s description. “I’m not sure that’s going to be the most effective answer since she’s my boss.”
Gianna’s cell phone buzzed, indicating a message. She looked down at it and rolled her eyes. “The King has bellowed,” she announced, hefting the phone as if she wanted to hurl it against the wall. “I don’t understand American men,” she muttered as she stood up. “They work all day, never taking a jiffy to simply enjoy life.”
A secret smile formed on Selena’s features as she thought back to her weekend with Reid. “Some of them are very good at enjoying life to the fullest,” she replied, ignoring the woman’s miss of the word “moment” versus “jiffy”. It definitely added to Gianna’s charm.
With a sound of disbelief, Gianna swept out of the office. But a moment later, she poked her head back in. “Don’t give up! Your ideas are perfect! Keep fighting!”
Then she was gone and even the air needed a moment to settle.
Selena gathered the stack of files into her arms, determined to get the filing done. She couldn’t ignore the pile, even if it interfered with her job.
But as she stepped out of her office, Dave stopped her. “Don’t worry about that stuff,” he announced, a satisfied grin on his handsome features.
“But Ruth left a note?”
Dave chuckled. “Ruth was let go a few minutes ago. She hasn’t cleaned out her office, but she stormed out of Reid’s office and was heard yelling at him.”
Selena wasn’t sure how to take that. Was it because of her? Had she…?
“The whole staff owes you a huge thank you. She has been terrorizing us for three years.”
“Oh, well….” Selena had no idea what to say to that.
“Don’t worry,” Dave assured her cheerfully. He was certainly in a good mood! “We’ll figure things out tomorrow once the dust has settled. But this means more responsibility for you. Since Ruth is gone, I’ll have to step up. I’m not abandoning you, but you’re going to have to take more of a lead on your idea.” He touched her forearm. “I’ll still be here to advise and steer the campaign. And the team is great. Just do what you think is right. We’ll have regular meetings to discuss your progress.”
Dave took the files and dumped them on an empty desk. “Come to my office. We’ll brainstorm on the best way to move forward.”
And that, apparently, was the end of Ruth’s rule in the Rembrandt Cosmetics marketing department. As she stepped into Dave’s office, her cell phone pinged. Looking down, every one of the meetings that had been canceled an hour ago was back on her schedule. People interrupted her conversation with Dave repeatedly, stopping by to say how excited they were about her ideas and offering suggestions.
Selena had no idea what happened, but when she was nibbling at her salad over lunch that afternoon, she overheard someone talking about Reid and how he’d pulled everyone into the conference room, telling them that he wanted them to come up with ideas, talk about them, brainstorm. There was no more dictatorship in this department and he was going to work hard to bring back the innovative culture.
After hearing that, her admiration for Reid’s business leadership skyrocketed. A problem was presented and he handled it. The problem solved by the end of the day. And in the hours that followed, as Dave listened to every idea and offered encouragement, there was an almost tangible difference in the hallways. An excitement that hadn’t been there before.
Chapter 10
“You’re still here.”
Selena looked up from the notes she’d been writing and smiled welcomingly at Reid who was leaning against the door of her office. “So are you, apparently.”
He stepped in further. “I was waiting for you to tell me that you’re ready to head home.”
She relaxed, feeling the heat of his gaze on her. “I drove in today. No need for a ride home.”
“Still, you have other things to do tonight,” he pointed out, sliding the notebook away.
She smiled up at him. “You changed everything around here, you know.”
Reid’s returning smile was a bit slower. “I should have realized what was going on sooner.” He lowered his head and kissed her. Just a quick kiss, but it sparked an almost tidal wave of desire inside of her.
“Are you ready to head out of here?” he asked, his voice husky and suggestive.
“Yes,” Selena breathed, more than ready to take a break. She remembered Gianna’s comment about how Americans work too much and, since it was already dark outside of her window, that wasn’t a completely inaccurate point.
They drove home in separate cars, but Reid was right behind her the whole way. And when she stepped out of her car, he was there, pulling her into his arms.
“I have work to do tonight,” she told him as he backed her up towards his house instead of allowing her to walk towards the guesthouse.
“Not tonight. Your work tonight is to let me make love to you. It’s an incredibly serious assignment.”
“I don’t know,” she sighed, holding onto his shoulders. He pulled her purse and tote bag off her arm and dumped them by the doorway, steering her into his house.
“Think I’m going to allow any kind of resistance?” he teased, bending to nibble along her neckline.
She smothered a laugh even as she pulled away, but he didn’t let her get far. “I know that you’re trying to get me upstairs to your bed so you can do naughty things to me.”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
That was startling news. “You’re not trying to get me upstairs?”
He shook his head again. “Not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ve
been walking around the office in these sexy heels all day. I saw you walking towards the kitchen to get coffee, I watched you in the conference room, I noticed your legs crossed earlier as you listened to ideas from the graphics people…and I’m not going to make it to the bedroom.” With that announcement, he lifted her onto the granite island in his kitchen.
By the time she realized what she was sitting on, he had her dress unzipped. “Reid!” she gasped, trying without success to wiggle away.
With a rip, her underwear was gone, tossed over his shoulder. “I can’t wait to buy you more,” he groaned sliding his hands up underneath the hem of her dress. The material moved with him and he smiled, but the smile wasn’t friendly. And it sent jolts of awareness through her body.
“Lean back,” he ordered.
She stared at him for a long moment, but then his fingers slid into her heat, teasing her and she gasped, jumping up slightly. “What are you going to do?”
His smile widened, as did the intensity of her anticipation. “Only things you’ll like, promise. Now lean back,” he commanded again. She didn’t obey him immediately, her eyes closing ever so slightly as he slid a finger inside of her heat. She was shockingly wet already, obviously just as eager for his touch.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, her nails digging into his shoulders.
“Lean back,” he repeated, nibbling his way down her collarbone, “or I’m going to stop.” To reinforce his threat, his finger started to slide out of her.
Automatically, she shifted her hips, silently begging him to continue. Her fingers curled, her breath caught in her throat. She was so close! He’d barely touched her but…just another moment and…
He stopped! Gasping, Selena opened her eyes, ready to scream at him for stopping when she was so close! “Why?” she growled, her legs tightening around his hips. “Please!”
“Lean back,” he ordered once again, kissing her neck and her shoulder that was now bare since he’d pushed her dress down so it pooled around her waist. “Lean back and I’ll give you what you want.”
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