Club Destiny 1 Conviction

by Nicole Edwards

  “Not at all. You give excellent directions.” Samantha turned back to the woman, giving her full attention, quite pleased with herself and the fact she had managed not to ogle Logan any more than she already had.

  “You just missed Mr. McCoy. He had to go to a meeting.” Deanna stated and sounded rather apologetic.

  Oh, she hadn’t missed him by any means.

  “That’s ok. I’m scheduled to meet with Jeff first thing anyway. Can you point me in his direction?”

  “Let me call him and have him come meet you. I don’t want to send you wandering through here by yourself. Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

  Sam smiled back at the woman. She was cute. Her smile brightened her entire face and Sam could see the sincerity written across her features. She glanced down and noticed a long line of art deco picture frames decorating her work area. She picked up one picture of Deanna holding a very small infant.

  “That’s my youngest. He just turned eight months old.”

  “He’s precious. How many kids do you have?”

  “Three. We’re hoping for more, but we don’t know if it’s the best time. There’s so much going on. My oldest just started kindergarten this year, and it has been a positive learning experience for me and Tommy.”

  Wow, three kids? “You must be busy.” Sam stared at the other pictures, envying how happy Deanna looked in each of them.

  As she turned back to say something, she noticed a heavy set man with a receding hairline – the epitome of what Sam expected Logan to look like – heading in her direction. This man looked tired. She only hoped it wasn’t related to the job.

  “Samantha? Jeff Henson. Good morning.”

  “Good morning, Jeff. How are you?” Surprised with his brief nod, in lieu of an actual response, Sam waited for him to continue.

  “Follow me.” Jeff turned abruptly and walked back toward the way he had come.

  Sam turned back to Deanna as if waiting for her approval, her eyebrow rising in question, as if to say “Is this guy for real?” Deanna returned her look with a frown and a shrug of her shoulders.

  This man wasn’t exceedingly pleasant, and Sam was a little nervous about what had put him in that mood. Again, hoping it wasn’t the job.

  “I’m to show you what I do so you can take over.” Jeff stated rather flatly as he sat down at his desk, which was cluttered with papers and old coffee cups.

  Sam stared back at him incredulously. Was he for real?

  When she thought about her boss, James Banten, she couldn’t imagine him looking so defeated or treating someone so rigidly. Sam hadn’t thought it was possible to deflate her excitement regarding this opportunity, but this guy was well on his way to making her turn back the way she’d come and tell Logan McCoy, thanks but no thanks.

  Relying on her basic professionalism and her inability to beat around the bush, Sam didn’t see any other way to get to the bottom of his apparent hostility than to confront it head on. Her philosophy had always been to get right to the heart of the matter.

  “Jeff, I appreciate you taking the time to give me some of the details of your responsibilities. I’m not quite certain we’re on the same page though. Am I overstepping my bounds by being here?”

  “Whatever gave you that idea?” He asked without an ounce of emotion, turning to the oversized filing cabinet standing behind his desk. “I have all of the information on the projects for the last year in here.” He pointed toward the open file drawer that was in desperate need of some organization. “All of my soft copies are stored on a shared drive, and I’ll make sure you get access to them. What else do you need to know?”

  Ummm what?

  “Are you serious?” Wow – uncontrollable mouth!

  The words came out before she could stop them. She prided herself on her professionalism, but this man was pushing her to her limits. Sam instructed her lungs to inhale deeply as she sat her bag on a nearby chair, cluttered with paper. Taking in a deep, cleansing breath, she turned and faced Jeff.

  “I apologize, Jeff. That was highly inappropriate of me. I think we should just start over. Maybe we should talk for a few minutes?” She walked slowly to an adjacent chair, and after moving a couple of binders, she sat down. “Logan tells me you’ve been with the company for quite some time, and I’d like to get your take on the organization, the people, as well as the projects. Based on the information I’ve received, you’re the most knowledgeable in regards to project management and others look to you for your expertise.”

  Ok, so she was laying it on a bit thick, but obviously this man needed something to boost his attitude. Sam watched as his eyebrows raised and she thought she could almost see the signs of a smile tilting the corner of his thin lips.

  “I apologize for my attitude, Ms. Kielty. I don’t mean to be like this. It’s just that I… I don’t want to leave the company, but my wife is insistent that I do something to help fix our marriage, and this was her suggestion. She complains that I work too much, and she feels I put my career before her. I don’t think I do, but apparently, according to our therapist, that’s his conclusion.”

  Well hell. That was a bit of personal information she didn’t know if she needed. Sitting up straight in the chair and crossing her legs, Sam decided she had to appease him.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t understand the situation.” Sam stated directly, her eyes focused on the hard lines around his eyes and his mouth. The man looked as though he was under a tremendous amount of stress.

  “I know you didn’t come here to listen to me whine, but I haven’t told anyone else. The closer I get to walking out that door for the last time, the harder it seems to get.” He took a deep breath and then collapsed into his desk chair. “I’ll be honest with you. I love my job, I love the… I even enjoy coming in every day. This has been my life for the last twenty years and apparently I have my priorities all wrong.”

  Sam heard the sadness in his voice and could feel the underlying tension in Jeff’s words. He clearly was making a decision he didn’t feel was the best for him, but since she wasn’t in a position to help him, she wasn’t comfortable offering empty platitudes just for the sake of speaking.

  “I appreciate your honesty. Have you spoken with Logan about this?” She asked, trying to indulge him a bit.

  She felt genuinely sorry for this man and despite her need to get the information she had set out to get, Samantha wasn’t a robot. She couldn’t just jump right into the meat of the matter when he was so apparently distraught.

  “I haven’t. I don’t want to burden him with my problems. Logan’s a great guy. He’d try his best to do something to fix this and I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the company for me to stay at this point.”

  They had something in common. Always looking out for the best interests of others, despite the heavy load they might burden.

  “I don’t know him all that well, but I urge you to at least share this with him. In the meantime, I’m grateful for your expertise and the opportunity to pick your brain before you leave.” Ok, just a little ego boost, and this time Sam definitely saw the lines in his face shift. “Since we’re officially starting over,” she followed that with a smile of encouragement, “maybe you could tell me about the people who work for you?”

  The right buttons must’ve been pushed because Jeff began talking and he couldn’t seem to stop. He offered her his professional and personal opinion on the people that worked for him, sounding more and more like a proud parent.

  According to him, they were the most competent group of people within the company. It didn’t hurt that he hired most of them himself. He didn’t just have praise; he also gave her some insight into the personal issues he would occasionally encounter with a few of them, but nothing she hadn’t already had experience with. New families, single employees who liked to party sometimes too much, one still in school trying to juggle too many things. Yep, she had seen these before.

  They spent the next two hou
rs outlining the projects, which manager owned each, as well as timelines and specific requirements. He saved the biggest for last, and just as he started to give her the details she’d been waiting patiently to hear, there was a knock on the door. Sam shifted in her chair to look behind her, and her heart almost leapt out of her chest.

  “Excuse me. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I wanted to see if I could borrow Ms. Kielty for a little while.”

  “Yes, sir.” Jeff stated with less tension in his voice than he had just a couple of hours before. “Sam, I look forward to talking to you later. We’ll need some additional time to go over the upcoming project, but I think we can cover it in a couple of hours.”

  “Thank you for your time this morning, Jeff. Will this afternoon work for you? I promise not to keep you too late.” She smiled back at him and noticed his eyes brighten a little. “Then, tomorrow you can introduce me to the team, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to go over some things with them.”

  “I’ll make sure to set aside the time.” Jeff stood from his chair and took Sam’s outstretched hand, shaking it firmly. “I’ll see you this afternoon. She’s all yours, Logan.”

  Oh hell. Sam felt her face redden from the comment even though Jeff had meant it in the most innocent of ways. She worked hard to get Jeff over his current anger and moving on to the task at hand, and she felt as though she had been successful, but the last comment wiped away all of her confidence in one fail swoop.

  “Thanks, Jeff.” Logan motioned for Sam to precede him out of the office. As she headed toward his office, he cleared his throat causing her to turn to look at him.

  When their eyes met, Sam felt the heat envelope her from head to toe. They were the sexiest eyes she had ever seen. Intense, intelligent. Eyes that made her want to just lean into him and…

  “I was thinking more of a lunch meeting. Are you hungry?” Logan asked as he motioned in the opposite direction of his office.

  “I could eat.” She commented and then turned to follow him. Good grief, what the hell was she thinking? “You lead the way.”

  Chapter Six

  ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~

  Logan found it difficult to keep from taking sideways glances at Samantha Kielty. She had fallen into step beside him, and despite their height difference, she managed to keep up with his long stride. Making a conscious effort to slow down, he let her get a step or two in front of him as they descended the stairs.

  Admittedly, since he’d seen her that morning, Logan had found everything difficult. He couldn’t focus; he’d barely suffered through the last three meetings he’d been in. This woman managed to do what no other had done in years. She’d overwhelmed his mind since their conversation last week and that was before he’d seen all of her. When he’d gotten a close look at her in the hall that morning, Logan had been doomed.

  Samantha Kielty was – what was the word he was looking for? Hot? No, that sounded too immature. But, it was one hell of an adjective.

  Of course, there were other attractive women who worked at XTX, some who even made Sam look almost plain, but none that he had ever encountered turned him on like she did.

  He wasn’t just captivated by her looks. No, with Samantha, it was more the whole package. Maybe the first hint of attraction had been when he saw her on the vid-con call, but the second she opened her mouth and he got a hint of her intelligence and wit, he knew he was a goner. Now, he had the pleasure of being in her company and no matter what mental lecture he gave himself about right, wrong, or indifferent, he wanted to spend more time with her. Just to get to know her better.

  Looking at her was just an added bonus.

  When they made it to the lobby, he motioned to the front doors which would lead them to the parking lot. As he held the door open, she barely brushed up against him, obviously not intentional because she flushed beautifully.

  As he looked down at her, he grinned. Sam wasn’t tall, but she wasn’t short either. In those three inch heels that made her legs look incredibly long, not to mention sexy as hell, she came about chin level. She’d fit perfectly against him, and wasn’t that the most inappropriate thought he’d had in quite some time. Well, maybe not too long ago. Shit, he’d been thinking about her naked all weekend.

  That was before he’d seen her body. Now he was still picturing her naked – except she was still wearing those sexy red heels. Damn it.

  Making their way down the front steps, Logan caught a few other men who took second glances and despite his desire to shoot daggers from his eyes, he couldn’t blame them.

  The short, black skirt she wore accented her well defined legs and her luscious ass. And honestly, her skirt wasn’t all that short, coming to the top of her knees, but she was every man’s wet dream.

  Fuck. He had to get his head back in the game and off of this woman’s smoking hot body. This was his job, his life, and he didn’t have time to be entertaining any ideas about someone who worked for him. Not to mention, it wouldn’t look good for him to be eyeing her as he walked through the building.

  When they approached his car, another man’s head turned, this time lingering a little too long for his own preference on her legs. His reaction was anything but professional. More possessive than anything and he knew when it came to this woman, he would make sure everyone knew she was off limits.

  Especially to him.

  He realized they’d walked the last few minutes without saying a word and he felt like an ass. Here she was, visiting the Dallas office as she pondered over a job offer he found himself hoping she would take and he was eyeing her rather than telling her as much as he could about the ins and outs of the corporate headquarters.

  He clicked the key fob to unlock the doors on the black Cadillac CTS parked in the first row of the parking garage, and motioned for her to step in front of him. It took more will power than he thought he possessed not to let his eyes travel down the length of her backside, but somehow he managed.

  He opened the passenger door and waited for her to get seated inside. Before shutting the door, he smiled again. Damn, this was going to be one hell of a lunch.

  Once inside the car, he finally managed to find his voice. “So, what sounds good for lunch?”

  He risked a glance in her direction, and when their eyes met, he could have sworn, for a brief second, he saw the same burning intensity in her gaze that he felt in his blood. But it could have been his imagination because just as quickly as he’d seen it, it was gone. He had to get his hormones under control. This was just business. He was taking her to lunch to get to know her a little bit better – strictly from a work perspective.

  “Since I’m not from around here, you’ll have to give me some suggestions.” Sam’s voice jolted him into the moment, and he realized he’d asked her a question. Did her voice always sound so husky and breathless? Or was that just his imagination?

  “You’re in luck. We’ve got just about anything around here. Chinese, Japanese? Or maybe a burger? And the best damn steakhouse around. Your choice.”

  “I’m game for a steak if you are.”

  That he could get on board with.

  Logan backed out of the space, turned the wheel and put his foot on the gas. Once they were headed toward the main road, he’d managed to get his head in the game.

  He debated on whether to break the silence in the car. For the first time in years, Logan found he was incredibly nervous. His senses were flooded with the intoxicating scent of her, something exotic, spicy, but sweet at the same time. Maybe that was affecting his brain to mouth function.

  She didn’t seem to be worried about their lack of conversation; instead she busied herself with staring out the window. He punched the volume control a couple of times to provide them some background noise, but it didn’t seem to faze her. Once, he thought he’d seen her sneak a look in his direction, but he kept his eyes on the road although he grinned like a teenager.

  The short drive, though longer than he remembered, finally ended when he pulle
d into the parking lot. Once parked, Logan climbed out of the car and walked around to the passenger side door. By that time, Sam had already gotten out of the car, but he was quick to shut her door for her.

  He’d been raised to be a gentleman, but he recognized her independent streak. She was a strong woman, likely set in her ways, but when they reached the doors to the restaurant, he noted she did allow him to open the door for her.

  The smile she shot back at him went straight to his groin, and he fought the urge to release the groan that lodged in his throat. It wasn’t until they were seated at a table in the back and served the complimentary bread that either of them actually spoke.

  “So, how did it go with Jeff this morning? I noticed he was more optimistic than he has been the past few days.” Logan asked as he leaned against the seat back, resting his arms on the table in front of him.

  “We had a bit of a rough start.”

  “How so?” Logan watched as Sam seemed to be examining his hands. In turn, he saw that she had her hands clasped together in her lap, and she looked just as nervous as he felt.

  “He’s dealing with some personal issues, but we worked through it. He offered some excellent insight into the team, and we discussed a couple of the smaller projects he’s got going on.”

  Logan realized what she said, and for the first time, he felt disconnected from a member of his team. Personal issues? Sure, he thought Jeff seemed stressed lately, but the man wasn’t generally a bottle of sunshine, so it hadn’t caught his attention. “What type of personal issues?” He found himself asking.

  “I don’t think it’s my place to tell.” She smiled and took a sip of the tea the waitress had just delivered. “Without overstepping my bounds, I would suggest, however, that you take the time to talk to him before he leaves for good.”

  Overstepping? He wasn’t sure Samantha Kielty knew how not to overstep, but she seemed genuinely concerned, so he smiled back. At least she wasn’t intimidated by him. He liked that she valued other people’s privacy. Most people answered whatever question he threw at them with full disclosure. It was refreshing to meet someone who wasn’t going to give him every detail just because he wanted to know.