by Ellis, Eliza
And most of all, he knew where the line was and didn’t cross it.
That’s what made her respect for him grow. He was the one who had stepped back although she could’ve sworn his eyes had desired the same unspoken plea in her own heart.
Kori, how could you have let this happen?
After ordering her legs to move, Kori made it into the office. She swallowed some headache medication, a night of tossing and turning leaving her temple pounding, and settled into her morning routine. Then she saw the note. A handwritten yellow sticky at the top right edge of her desk calendar.
Already in meeting. Will text you with anything important. Marshall.
Kori breathed a sigh of relief at the delay in what was sure to be an awkward interaction. He was already hard at work before she had set foot in the building. If she could only avoid him for the rest of the day…
Maybe he was avoiding her, she mused as she returned to her desk after her third meeting that morning. Here he had hired someone with a black mark on her professional record, who could possibly damage the reputation of his company and end his career. What almost happened last night would confirm any suspicions. Could he be rethinking the raise? What if he had taken his concerns to the board?
The board!
They had to have known who she was. Kori was amazed she hadn’t been fired. She glanced at the clock on her computer screen. It was nearly lunchtime. Still enough time for her to be fired today.
She had to get over this…this attraction she had to Marshall. It wasn’t healthy for her and he wasn’t in a position to be in a relationship even if he wanted to. He drank entirely too much, and he was still bitter over his divorce.
And he’s Sabrina’s father!
Kori groaned and let her head fall onto her desk. The vent near her head blasted the sweat on her neck dry. The soft, meditative music from her computer speakers numbed her mind to the impossibility.
It couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t happen. What would Sabrina think if Kori told her that she’d fallen for her father? Well, ex stepfather.
But still…
They would never be friends again. It was…icky.
Kori snapped up, took a deep breath, and gathered the file folder on her desk. No more daydreaming about her gorgeous, icky boss with perfect wavy hair, a dimple she could jump in, and whose voice whispered to her heart to take a chance.
She’d run out of chances like she had jobs.
This was her last one and she wasn’t going to screw it up by falling for her boss.
She still had a job to do, and she was going to do it, no matter how embarrassing. She didn’t have to look into his gorgeous light blue eyes. Didn’t have to be swayed into la-la land when he smiled at her. Her body didn’t have to tremble when his knee-melting baritone voice said her name. Her subconscious wasn’t going to have any more power to torment her while she slept.
Yes, she’d spent the night dreaming about him. His laughter, his arms around her, his kiss…
Kori stomped her way to Marshall’s office. When no greeting came after her knock, she walked in and let out a breath. He wasn’t in. Probably in another impromptu meeting, which was pretty much his schedule since the start of the day. Good. Time away could make them forget what had almost happened. She’d gain the courage to smile and say “sir” like their souls weren’t bonding.
Her eyes caught a missing piece of furniture. The liquor cabinet that sat prominently between the armchairs near the window was gone. Replaced by a small table that displayed a plant and what looked like a pitcher of cucumber water. Kori blinked. She scanned the office and even snuck a peek behind the secret closet door. No cabinet.
Had he gotten rid of it? When? Her heart warmed and respect for her boss climbed. She’d told him what drink did to people, and he had gotten rid of the booze. She found herself smiling, mood lightened.
When she returned to her office, she started to draft a quick email to tell him how much she liked the plant but stopped herself. Less communication was better. She wanted to leave little chance of her emotions growing more attached to this handsome, thoughtful man who had listened to her. No! She also had to stop admiring him and assigning positive adjectives to him—starting with handsome.
Well, she couldn’t lie. She couldn’t call him an ogre to kill her attraction. That would never work. What could she do? How could she distract herself when he was around all the time?
She looked up at the knock on her door. Thankfully, it wasn’t Marshall.
“Hey there.” A dark-haired man with a slick smile leaned against her doorframe like he owned the space. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Jarod.”
No. Another man would not be a good distraction.
Chapter 11
Marshall was exhausted. He hardly slept the night before and hit the gym at four a.m. to kill himself for two hours in hopes of clearing his head. When that didn’t work, he got into the office at six-thirty to lose himself in work.
Still couldn’t stop thinking about Kornelia and that mouth of hers. It begged to be tamed and his lips itched to crush hers.
He was in big trouble.
Just keep things professional for the next two and a half months and she’ll be out of your life.
Ten long, agonizing weeks of watching that gorgeous creature walk in and out of his office smelling amazing and wearing curve-hugging dresses that tempted him to touch her, her sweet smile capturing all of his attention.
He should just resign right now because there was no way this situation wasn’t going to end with Kori in his arms. He’d thought he would never find another woman who could make his heart beat as wildly as his had last night. The urge to provide and protect hadn’t been this strong in a long time. After Sabrina’s mother, he didn’t want to feel like this.
Boy, had he missed it.
But it was too soon. Seeing the therapist had convinced him that he had things to work through. Trust issues. A loss of drive.
Well, he had the drive part back. Kori had made sure of it. He was working hard either because she made him or because he had to stop thinking about her.
Strangely enough, he trusted her. Believed her. So why was he fighting this?
Oh, yeah. The board. His job.
Her own lawsuit.
How would it look if she had to show up in court and admit that she was in a relationship with her new boss?
Whoa. Relationship?
Where had that come from? Marshall pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache coming on fast and strong. He hadn’t even kissed her, and now, in his mind, he was in a relationship with her. No way she’d want him. Not only was he old, but he was crazy and old.
Not a good combination.
“Are you listening to us, Marshall?” Perry asked, perturbed. “I know this meeting has been coming for weeks, but all the board members are here now and we’d appreciate your attention.”
Marshall let his hand drop, his gaze scanning the conference room. Members of the board assessed him with curios looks. He nodded. “I apologize. Was up early, and I’m getting headache.”
“Still drinking?” another member asked.
Marshall gave him an even stare. “As fate would have it, your assistant told me you were looking for a new liquor cabinet, and I delivered mine to your office. I don’t need it anymore.”
The member grunted and looked away.
“We mean it, Marshall,” Perry said. “You’ve put us in a tight situation giving her a raise. If we fire her now, it might look like we didn’t have sufficient cause.”
Exactly. Marshall wasn’t an idiot. Kori did deserve a bump in pay; it was serendipitous that the board wanted her gone and hadn’t fired her yet.
And now they couldn’t. He was one step ahead of them in that department at least.
And that’s why I’m the CEO.
“There can be no hint of impropriety,” Perry continued. “We already frown upon romantic relationships in the office, but we can’t have a
ny rumors whether true or false.”
“What makes you think there’ll be any?” Marshall asked sharply. “We all know I was recently divorced and—”
“And you’ve been underperforming ever since. We’re about to vote whether or not you can keep your job. It’s the perfect opportunity for a distraction,” another member claimed.
That was true. And Kori was a beautiful distraction. From the moment she stepped off the plane, it’d been in the very far back of his mind that she was attainable—and then in front of his face last night. She was a breath away. His fingers inches from her curvy hips. Backing up and being a professional made him both an idiot and…professional.
He was too old to be an idiot.
“Sounds like it’s the perfect opportunity for me not to screw this up,” Marshall countered.
“If she makes a pass at you or gives you any issues in that area… If you become fearful in any way, we want you to fire her on the spot. Put her on the next plane out of Italy. That will go a long way with this board,” Perry said, his eyes saying what was left unsaid.
Marshall could keep his job if he let Kori go.
Maybe.
If he fired her right now and didn’t wait for cause.
Marshall couldn’t do that. She was a positive influence, and he wanted that in his life right now. Needed someone to genuinely be on his side. He had an ally in Kori. She could’ve walked into the office and not cared that he had let things slide for a year. She could’ve pandered to him, ignored his moods, and watched him be as lazy as he wanted—like his last assistant. But she didn’t do that. She whipped him into shape, and he loved to exercise.
“I will keep that in mind,” Marshall said.
“Especially on your next trip,” Perry said.
“Excuse me?” Marshall pounded on his tablet for his schedule. He didn’t remember Kori setting up a trip.
“We need you to personally go to Bendola. Talk to the prospectors and give us an update on whether or not we can invest. There’s talk of a civil war, but if things can be resolved peacefully—”
“You mean if a democratic government can be voted in,” Marshall interrupted.
“Yes. If it can, then we want to make sure we’re one of the first major financial institutions to invest in the country’s new government.”
“Of course,” Marshall said.
“Keep things professional,” Perry added. “To help, we want you to take Jarod with you. He’s done an excellent job as our country analyst, and we’d like his professional opinion as well.”
That tool? “Sure.” Marshall gritted his teeth.
Jarod did his job well—according to this last performance evaluation—but he had a reputation around the office as a guy who dated often, with penchant for new female employees. Taking Kori on the trip wouldn’t be a good idea for either Marshall or Jarod.
Or Kori, for that matter.
Marshall practically knocked over a few of the board members on the way out of the conference room. Their flight was leaving in two hours, and he had to tell Kori, brief Jarod, get all the data on Bendola for Kori to read on the plane, and they all had to make a run back to their rooms to pack.
He stopped short, seeing Jarod and Kori laughing outside Kori’s office. Jarrod’s left hand was resting on the wall next to Kori’s head, and he was leaning in way too close. Kori had her arms crossed and her body angled away from his, but she still smiled at Jarod, and that meant she wasn’t smiling at him.
Jealously wormed its way around Marshall’s intestines, cinching him ever two inches.
“Jarod!” Marshall yelled too loudly.
Jarod straightened and presented a pleased grin Marshall wanted to punch right off his face. “Sir! What do you need?”
Marshall’s sharp gaze assessed Kori, whose wide eyes studied him right back. He couldn’t read her expression, and that made him angrier.
“We’re going to Bendola. The three of us. I need you to get me the latest opinions on the government and rebel talks. We’ve got to meet with our contacts.”
“You got it.” He winked at Kori and walked confidently off.
Kori’s eyes went to the ceiling. “He’s relentless. I was about to try my dozenth tactic to get away, and it was going to be really mean.” She chuckled and smiled up at him. “Thanks for great timing.”
Marshall shifted his weight, still uncomfortable with an emotion he hadn’t felt in years. When he caught his ex in bed with another man, he hadn’t felt jealous—which was strange. He’d felt…an overwhelming sense of inadequacy.
Inadequacy. That had been the fuel to his loss of drive. What kind of a man was he if he couldn’t keep his wife? Was he really as good a businessman as he had thought? Had he actually peaked?
In a couple of months, he would start all over and find out. He’d made the decision during his early morning workout. A new business was exactly what he needed to find himself again.
And this stunner in front of him would be better suited with a young man like Jarod, just not actually Jarod.
“No problem. We’ve got to hurry, so if you can finish up here while I grab some documents, we can take my car back to the hotel and then pick up Jarod and ride together to the airport.”
Kori’s expression shifted into business mode. She nodded stiffly and, without another word, moved quickly into her office.
Across the open area, he caught Jarod smiling at a young blonde woman Marshall recognized from the accounting department. Marshall frowned. He’d have to put up with this guy while in Bendola. No doubt Jarod would be watching him and Kori and reporting back to the board.
Chapter 12
Something was off with Marshall. Way off.
He had been in a long meeting with the board right before telling her they had to be on a plane to the African country of Bendola in two hours to the for an urgent visit with their contacts.
Marshall barely spoke three words to her on the ride back to the hotel and even less on the way to the airport. Of course, he couldn’t get a word in edgewise with Jarod running his mouth. If Kori had put money down on Marshall being all CEO and ordering Jarod to shut up, she would’ve lost that bet and lost badly.
Whatever this was, it was keeping Marshall’s attention. He didn’t even look at her when she settled in her seat on the private jet—after Jarod had chosen one on the opposite side. Neither did their eyes connect when Marshall handed her a giant prospectus on the financial firm’s position on investing in Bendola’s industries.
Kori had heard of the tiny country of Bendola but had never been. The country had been in the news lately for a rise in revolutionary opposition to President Abdu Gohi. He’d been labeled by political pundits across the world as a despot.
The democracy was a sham. Money flowed into the country and never came out. Companies seeking to profit from Bendola’s rich natural resources ended up losing a lot of money on high export taxes. Their money disappeared into thin air once it was transferred into the national bank, which was President Gohi’s personal account.
For years, people had accused the sitting dictator of lining his pockets with the money, putting his country further and further into debt. People cried out for basic services that weren’t provided for by the government. The opposition party for a free, democratic Bendola had been named, and fighting had begun.
Kori had been uneasy after reading Jarod’s intelligence brief on the country’s political, economic, and security stability. Why did the board want Marshall to go to Bendola now? It wasn’t enough that they were letting him go at the end of the summer, they wanted to put him in harm’s way first?
Kori’s eyes found Marshall, who sat on the opposite side of the plane but facing her. He was reading papers from the office. His brow was furrowed, and his lips were in a tight line. Even distressed, he looked classically handsome. Kori cast a quick glance at Jarod. The younger guy couldn’t compare. Sure, he was about the same age as her, but he lacked class and mature charisma that made
Kori feel less comfortable in Jarod’s presence than in Marshall’s.
She held in a sigh. She wanted Marshall to look at her. Talk to her. At least discuss the agenda with her before they landed. It wouldn’t be a long flight from Italy to Bendola, just to the northwestern part of the continent, sitting prettily between the Ivory Coast and Ghana. They wouldn’t be there longer than a day, so no chance to sightsee or get in the water, unfortunately. Kori had packed light. Whatever she needed that she didn’t bring with her would have to be bought at an outrageous price at the five-star resort hotel that she had booked for them.
Marshall glanced up and caught her eye. Normally, Kori would quickly look away after being caught staring, but she held his gaze, searching for any sign that he would open up to her and allow her into his world. Especially after what she’d done to him the night before.
Marshall stood and crossed the plane, taking a seat next to her.
“Sir?”
“I’m sorry I’ve been so aloof,” he said softly.
Kori smiled. “Don’t be sorry. You’ve been busy. I want to help you, if I can.” He stretched his arm across the seat, resting it behind her head. She resisted the urge to use it as a pillow and be comfortable for a moment. “This is going to be a tense trip, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Probably. Definitely not a pleasure one.”
“Did the board give you any indication why they want you on the ground now? I’ve read the intelligence briefings. It’s… I would avoid that place right now. Even the State Department has it on its watch list, which could change at any moment.”
Marshall dragged his other hand down the side of his face. “The only thing I can think of is they want to see how I can perform under intense pressure. It’s a test, no doubt. We’re supposed to connect with our contacts and potential partners, but we can do that over the phone until the situation in the country settles down.”
“Either way, you’ll be amazing,” she said with an encouraging smile. “You built this company, and you know what you’re doing.”