Chapter 5
Emily
He had recognized her. She knew he had. When his eyes finally met hers as he scanned the room, he hesitated a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for Emily to know he remembered her from Aspen. Her heart was racing, and she gulped as she felt her cheeks blushing.
“This must be a dream,” she whispered under her breath. She closed her eyes, half expecting the sound of the alarm clock to wake her up at any moment. When she opened them again, Logan was still there, carefully listening to the introductions that were making their way around the room. Being new was hard enough, but having a new boss that she had met under the strangest of circumstances was making the entire experience of being promoted at Marshall Resorts incredibly stressful. The fact that she had been daydreaming about him ever since didn’t help. She tried to get her emotions in control as introductions continued. She had to do it before it was her moment to introduce herself. Finally, the man beside her sat down and it was Emily’s turn.
“Good morning. My name is Emily Taylor, and I’m new to headquarters,” she began, doing her best to ignore the sigh of disapproval Bertha blew her way from across the table. “I was recently hired as the new assistant vice president of public relations.” As she spoke, they stared into each other’s eyes without blinking. He smirked at her, and she sat down before the last syllable was out of her mouth. She broke the gaze, looking down at the paper in front of her. After the man on the other side of her stood for his introduction, she let out the breath she’d been holding.
When the introductions were over, Logan stood up again.
“We’re in a bad place, people,” his voice cut through the confusion swirling in her mind, and she cast a sideways glance at him. “I’ve been brought back here to help steer the ship in a new direction—one that Carlton and his copycats can’t follow. One that will set us apart from the rest and insulate us against cheap imitations in the future. We’ve got two months to launch a new project, and the timer starts today,” he explained, his tone focused and authoritative. “I’m someone who likes to speak clearly. We must all face the truth. Our experts are still working on finding the traitor, and the possibility that this person is in this very room today is not excluded. We all must be aware of that. But I’ll tell you something. Whoever this person is, what I’m sure about is that the vast majority of the people here and at all Marshall Resorts are hard-working, honest, and loyal employees. And for all of you, I’m here to make sure that your jobs, and your family’s livelihood are secured.”
Emily carefully followed Logan’s gaze as he spoke, but his eyes never met hers again. When they were dismissed, she dashed to the door, trying to melt into the crowd. Unsure of how to deal with his presence, she just wanted to reach her office as soon as possible. She passed by the administrative desk and was met by Petra, her team’s assistant. She was a bright, bouncy young woman with an easy demeanor and energy to spare.
“Ms. Taylor,” Petra said as she came around the reception desk. “These came for you.”
The pretty brunette produced a vase full of daisies and handed them to Emily, who couldn’t contain the smile on her face.
“Lucas,” she said with a grin.
“Boyfriend?” Petra winked at her.
Emily shook her head. “Older brother. He’s wishing me a happy first week, it seems. He knows these are my favorite flowers.”
That made Petra’s smile even wider.
“Does he live back in your hometown?” Her warmth was refreshing to Emily. Petra was really the first person at the new office to make her feel welcome.
“No. He’s here in Portland, actually. Last year, he opened a restaurant that’s really taken off. We were both so happy when I got the transfer up here. Now I can see him and his family much more often.” She and Lucas had always been close. Since she was a kid, he had been protective of her and she had relied on him for advice and support.
When her niece came along, she realized what true love really was. Her brother was hopelessly devoted to that little girl. They all were. Emily was so glad that she was going to be close to see her grow.
“That’s wonderful. I wish I were closer to my sister and her children. They’re in Miami.”
“Technology helps a lot nowadays. I couldn’t live without seeing my parents on Skype every day,” Emily tried to comfort her.
“Yeah, they’re only a computer screen away, but I would give anything to give them a big hug,” Petra said with a sigh.
“I know exactly what you mean.” Emily smiled at the woman as she moved toward the elevator.
Beaming from the positive energy her brother’s gesture filled her with, she felt ready to tackle almost anything. As she approached the closed door to her office, she pushed it open with her shoulder and walked to her desk where she set the vase down carefully.
“Already have an admirer, I see,” a deep voice behind her said.
Emily spun around, startled. Sitting casually in one of her guest chairs was Logan Marshall.
“Mr. Marshall.” She forced herself to sound calm although her heart was ready to pound out of her chest. “Good morning.”
Logan had the slightest grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he sat perfectly still, watching her.
“It took me less than a second to place you.” The stern tone he had used at the meeting was gone. Instead, his voice was warm and welcoming, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“You promised I would never see you again.” She smirked as she started to regain her composure. “Is that how you keep your promises?”
“Maybe some promises are worth breaking,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“So how did your date go?” The words escaped her lips before she could stop herself. She froze, remembering that this man was, in fact, her boss.
“It wasn’t really a date.” He waved a hand dismissively and smiled. Their eyes locked for a long moment. Logan pushed himself to his feet and slipped his hands in his pockets. “I hope the big changes in the past twenty-four hours haven’t scared you too much.”
Emily’s cheeks burned, and she struggled to keep her voice even.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I’m really excited to be here.” She fought to stay professional as her mind wandered to that night in Aspen.
“How long have you been on the executive team?” He studied her closely as he spoke.
“A matter of days. But I’ve been with Marshall Resorts for almost four years,” she said, a bit defensively.
He nodded as she spoke.
“What did you do in your previous role? What was your area of specialty?” He looked genuinely interested.
“Event planning in California.” Although she wanted to give him more details, she thought she would sound desperate if she gushed about all the things she had done for the company while she was in her role there.
“From California to Oregon. Quite a difference. Have you been to Portland before?”
“My brother lives here. I came to visit him and his family on various occasions,” she explained, not sure why he was in her office, making small talk with her.
“And what do you think? Do you like it here?” he pushed, as if trying to draw her out of her shell.
“It’s just the right size for me, and I like its vibe.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’ve lived all around the country, but I grew up here and, in a way, it’s always going to be my city. Please, let me know if you need anything. I know this place like the back of my hand,” he offered.
“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” She felt her heart beating like a drum, and she worried he could hear the thumping.
“I just wanted to stop by to say ‘Hi.’ Let’s get down to work now. We have to get out of this mess. I’ll see you later,” he said with a wink before leaving her office.
Emily walked to the window and leaned her forehead against the cool glass, staring at the city below her. Not any city, the place Lo
gan Marshall called his city. Her lips split into a wide grin. His words had given Portland a brand-new appeal, and she was suddenly even more eager to explore every inch of it.
She pulled the phone from her pocket and sent a text to Maggie.
Emily: Life Lesson 347: The fact that handsome men rarely keep their promises sometimes can be a good thing.
Her phone lit up as Maggie texted her back.
Maggie: What are you talking about?
A smile curled the corner of Emily’s lips.
Emily: Remember that gorgeous guy from Aspen who promised I’d never see him again? Well, I just saw him. He’s my new CEO!
Maggie’s reply arrived only seconds later.
Maggie: OMG! This must be a sign, girl!
Chapter 6
Logan
With as much as he had on his shoulders at the moment, the last thing Logan needed was a distraction like Emily Taylor. Still, the day after he met the executive team, he sat in his new office drumming his fingers on his desk thinking about her. When he saw those sweet freckles on her button nose, her glimmering hazel eyes, and the dimples in her cheeks again, he realized how vividly he had memorized her face despite the brevity of their first encounter.
He leaned back in the sleek leather chair, letting his gaze wander to the window. A picture of the two of them walking down the streets of Portland and stopping by his favorite bakery for a piece of carrot cake flashed before his eyes. He shook his head as though to shrug the thought off. He was here to save the company. Whoever had leaked the ideas and preliminary plans for the project to the Carlton Group seemingly left no trail. How they had managed to replicate everything, zip code included, was nothing short of uncanny. He had to focus on rebranding and relaunching a new project rather than daydreaming about one of his employees.
The sound of his phone ringing drew him from his thoughts.
“Mrs. Marshall is here,” his secretary announced, sounding annoyed. Clearly this was not her first experience with his mother.
“Send her to Robbie’s office. I’ll be right there.” He took a deep breath. Better to face her in a room he could leave.
Mimi Marshall, mother to both Robbie and Logan, had married the boys’ father when she had been a beauty queen out of South Carolina. Throughout their marriage, she was known for her lavish tastes and her ease at spending her husband’s money. Lawrence Marshall, the boys’ father, had tolerated Mimi’s ways for decades before declaring himself in love with a tech intern he met at a conference in Tokyo the summer before and taking a buyout from the board of directors to put Robbie in charge. He also filed for divorce days later and left Mimi in a tailspin. The woman had not been brokenhearted, of course. She had never loved her husband. What she did love was the wealth and status that being married to him had given her. His affair had embarrassed her socially, and that was far worse in her eyes.
Logan was anxious to know what requests his mother had planned for the day. For a moment, it crossed his mind that she had come to give her sons some encouragement in the critical situation they found themselves in, but he quickly dismissed that idea. He knew her too well. If he was lucky, she would just be asking for money for a shopping trip, as their father had capped her monthly alimony payments to just below $20,000. She had been on a warpath ever since whenever her bank balance dipped dangerously low.
“I need more money,” she said plainly the second he walked through the door. “Your father has refused, and I can’t continue with my lifestyle unless one of you helps me out. You both know how important it is for me to keep up appearances after he abandoned me. You’ve got to help me. It will look bad for the whole family if this town starts to think I am a beggar or something.”
Logan looked at his brother’s tired face and his blank stare. He wondered if he also missed having a mother who would hug him tightly and whisper into his ear that everything was going to be all right. A mother who would hold his hand and tell him, “I love you, my boy. We’ll make this right together.” No matter how old a man got, he needed to know that his mother would always be in his corner. But Mimi had never been that kind of mother. Her sons had never been hugged, cheered for, or comforted.
“You’d better clean up this mess as soon as possible,” she finally referred to the Carlton Group situation.
“We’re working on it, Mother,” Logan said.
“Oh, Logan, I have the most charming girl you need to meet. Her father is the CEO of…”
Logan let out a sigh through his nose just as inspiration struck. The executive team needed a retreat. It would allow them to get away from all the chaos that had taken over the headquarters, and most importantly, it would give Logan the opportunity to keep potential security risks more closely monitored.
When his mother had finally left the building and Logan returned to his office, he pressed a direct line on his phone to his new personal secretary. Her name was Millie or Maddie or something like that. He hated it when he forgot names, but Emily Taylor managed to set his perfectly ordered thinking into a bit of a spin.
“Yes, Mr. Marshall?” the woman answered. Now he was uncertain of both her first and her last name. He couldn’t call her anything without being really self-conscious about it, and she would probably be too polite to correct him.
“Can you please send Ms. Taylor to my office?”
“Yes, sir.”
He hung up and leaned back in his chair, waiting. He found himself wondering if there was a man in Emily’s life. An unexpected sense of jealousy washed over him when he saw her with those flowers the day before. Who had sent them to her?
A few minutes later, he pretended to be busy and didn’t look up right away when a soft knock sounded at his door.
“Yes?” he said, staring at his screen. It was currently on a sports news website and he was checking basketball scores, but he wanted to make Emily think he was hard at work just to avoid looking too eager to see her again.
“You wanted to see me, right?”
He finally looked up and was struck all over again by her beauty. She wasn’t a woman who tried to craft her appearance to attract men. Her beauty was effortless, natural, unaware of its allure.
“Yes. I’d like to take the executive team on a planning retreat. At least a week.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea. The atmosphere seems to be a little too tense here.”
“I agree. We all need to get out of this place. Besides, the whole thing would also have its security advantages.”
“Sure. I understand.”
“I was thinking somewhere on the west coast. Not too busy or crowded and somewhere with a municipal airport. We can take the smaller jet.”
“Sounds good.”
He could see the wheels turning in her head, and he knew he had selected the right person for the job. He turned his attention back to his screen as he tried to keep her from noticing how captivated he was by her. What was he getting himself into? After all, he was her boss. He shouldn’t be feeling such things for her. “I was checking out the articles and watching interviews about the whole scandal last night. Some reporters have been really harsh.”
“You shouldn’t worry too much about the media. This is going to be old news in a few days.”
“You’re probably right. But I have to say you’ve done a great job managing this crisis so far.”
“Thank you, Mr. Marshall.”
He hated the sound of his formal name coming from her. He needed her to call him by his first name, even if he couldn’t admit the reason for it to himself.
“Please, call me Logan.” His eyes locked with hers.
“Thank you, Logan,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her genuine smile, the glint in her eyes, and the way his name sounded in her mouth reassured him that it wasn’t too hasty to break that barrier of formality between them. Curious to hear more about her, he wanted to keep the conversation going, but he struggled to find a topic that wouldn’t seem forced. The thing he
wanted to know the most was who had sent her those flowers. He had no idea how to bring that up without seeming foolish though. Besides, he needed to explain why he had summoned her.
“Considering your great expertise in event planning and the special importance of this trip, I would like you, as the assistant vice president of public relations, to personally oversee the organization of this retreat so we can avoid unwanted media attention.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll get in touch with the event planning team immediately.” She nodded and added with a chuckle, “I guess I’ll have to find their office and learn their names first.”
“I know how you feel. I’m perfectly familiar with this company and its workings, but I haven’t been around for four years so many people at the headquarters are new to me too. The retreat may give us both a chance for some bonding.”
As they kept staring into each other’s eyes, the words “some bonding” suddenly sounded more intimate than he had initially intended.
“I mean as a team.” As the clarification escaped his lips, it occurred to him that he might be the only one who saw room for misinterpreting the bonding remark precisely because he was, indeed, more interested in bonding with Emily than with the whole executive team. He even asked himself whether the whole retreat idea sprung to his mind because he wanted to give himself a chance to get to know her. After arranging to meet her twice in private since he arrived at the headquarters the day before, he was concerned that he might be making his fascination with her too obvious.
“As a team, of course.” She nodded casually.
“Have you ever been on a company retreat before?”
“We’ve never done these things at the Los Angeles office. I’m curious to see how that ‘new settings, new ideas’ thing works.”
“Yeah, we’re definitely in desperate need of some new ideas.”
Not Just Another Billionaire Page 3