Caramel Kisses

by TJ Michaels

  “Really? You know how we feel about nepotism here, Ms. Cannes.”

  Drew cleared his throat.

  “Excuse me,” He said. Every head swiveled his way and paid him their utmost attention. Clearly the man was wearing his lawyer hat. He addressed the board with a simple, “If I may?” while motioning toward the front of the room.

  With a nod of the senior partner’s head, he stood and addressed the board.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the board, nepotism can’t be used against Ms. Cannes in this case. I came to work here without her knowledge, and had accepted the job offer before we’d ever met. She also had no knowledge of my promotion into her division. Also, we’d have to be related by blood or marriage in order for nepotism to be a factor. And neither of those circumstances exists. Though I hope to rectify the situation soon.”

  His gaze found hers as he flashed a smile, then turned away. Sydni’s mouth fell so wide open she was sure she tasted the fuzz on the carpet beneath her shoes. Oh my god. The man was simply too bold. And he hoped to rectify the fact that they weren’t related? By marriage?

  The ancient skin of the senior associate’s face almost cracked with his wide smile. “No wonder you’re on the legal team, young man. Well said, and it gets Ms. Cannes off the hook. However, it doesn’t quite do the same for you.”

  “Again, if I may, sir?”

  “Why the hell not? You seem to be on a roll, young man.” This brought a chuckle from a couple of the other stern-faced board members. Others remained grim, reminding Sydni of how serious this matter was.

  “Thank you, sir,” Drew said. There went the twinkle in his eye that she was becoming more and more familiar with. What was he up to?

  “Ms. Cannes and I have been working to get me caught up on the Japan accounts. While she is the Executive Vice President of International Shipping, it is not her responsibility to oversee each and every customer account. Do you agree, sir?”

  “Of course. We have hundreds of customers. There is no way a single person could oversee them all. What’s your point?”

  “Well, it is the project managers assigned to each account who actually oversee the day-to-day activity with our customers in regard to expedition of the agreements and fulfillment of contractual obligations. Yet, because Ms. Cannes is one of the few who does get involved with each of her division’s customers she noticed something irregular with a recent account that she personally landed for one of our larger client’s electronics division.”

  “Oh?” asked Mr. Epps.

  All eyes pinned Sydni to her chair. While confident in her ability to skin and grin with the best of ‘em she didn’t enjoy so many eyes scrutinizing her just now. She almost sighed with relief when Drew continued and every gaze swung his way.

  “After learning my way around how you all do things here, I went back and looked over the deal, keeping in mind the irregularities that Ms. Cannes had been trying to rectify. She’d even had several talks with the project manager and the accountant handling things on our end.”

  “And?”

  “Independently, and without Ms. Cannes knowledge, I also spoke to the project manager, Alex Voltier, a couple of days before Ms. Cannes and I went on vacation together to New Zealand. Notice,” Drew said as he passed around a screenshot of his IM from Alex. “Notice the date on the message to me from Ms. Voltier. Considering the, uh, friendly tone of the message, you would have to agree that any harassment on my part would have had to have happened after that date. Do you all agree?”

  Every head bobbed in agreement. After all, it was the only thing that made any sense.

  “Well, sirs, the only problem is such harassment would had to have taken place while I was in New Zealand with Ms. Cannes. Which I do believe would have been rather difficult considering we had no access to a computer. If you check the network files you will find there was no electronic communication between Ms. Voltier and myself during that time.”

  “Okay, Mr. Caruth. Point taken. Now back to this Sony business. When Ms. Cannes spoke to Ms. Voltier and the accountant, what did they say?”

  Sydni answered the question without hesitation. “They assured me it was simply a lag in the accounting.”

  “However,” Drew jumped back in. “Ms. Cannes was right. We invoiced the customer. The customer paid the invoices. But it wasn’t charged against the purchase order. The invoices billed against the purchase orders was off by almost half a million dollars.”

  “What!?” The board room erupted into utter chaos. Sydni kept her seat and Drew kept his cool. Finally, Mr. Epps signaled for quiet, but the tempers in the room remained at a simmer. “Continue, Mr. Caruth.”

  “Turns out the money was being deposited and credited against another customer’s account. There’s only one problem.”

  “And what is that Mr. Caruth?”

  “Said customer does not exist. Basically someone siphoned the money away. And since both Sony and the fictitious customer project were handled by the same person, it only makes sense that they would have a problem with me and Ms. Cannes sniffing around.”

  “So are you saying you were set up, son?” another of the senior partners snarled.

  “I am, sir. It’s all here.” Drew tossed copies of his findings to each person sitting at the table.

  “And was Ms. Cannes aware of your findings, Mr. Caruth?”

  “No sir. She’s finding out the same way you are, right here, right now.”

  Sydni sweated bullets. No wonder Drew wouldn’t tell her what the hell had been going on. He wanted her free and clear no matter what happened. He could also say, truthfully, that he’d independently found the truth so no one could accuse Sydni of trying to take down another employee just to save her lover.

  “And how did you come by this data?”

  “I made my own copies and worked on them. Before I was suspended of course.”

  Each person present, including Sydni, looked through Drew’s evidence. No one could deny its authenticity because it all carried the Expedex digital signature on every page. Finally, Mr. Epps and several others slammed the folders closed on the table and glowered.

  Drew cleared his throat and said, “That’s not all.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” The senior partner cleared his throat, the blood vessels under his parchment thin skin flooding with color. “Excuse me.”

  “Thief or not, Alex couldn’t have set up those customer accounts. Only someone with EVP or accounting roles on our network could do that.”

  “Who was it?”

  “An employee named Alfred Pawn in accounting. But I think he was just being used by Alex. He didn’t necessarily know what she intended to do with those accounts. All she had to do was deliver a signed requisition to the accountant and he would open the account no questions asked.”

  “So…”

  “Only an EVP can sign one of those,” Sydni burst out, unable to keep her cool for one second longer.

  “Who was it?” Epps questioned.

  “Jenkins, sir.”

  “Jenkins? As in, twenty year service award for outstanding direction, Jenkins?”

  “Yes, sir. But I don’t believe he’s involved in the plot,” Drew assured. “Because Alex got Jenkins to sign the requisition when he was out sick. She claimed that it absolutely had to go through and that his being out that day couldn’t hold up the process. So, Jenkins signed a blank form and faxed it to his secretary with instructions to give it to Alex. Of course he trusted her to complete it correctly. What he didn’t know was that form would be used to create an account at First National, as we usually do, but when legal had the bank pull the files for the account, someone named Viktor Talent was listed as the Trustee instead of Expedex.”

  “Luckily for Jenkins, his secretary called both the accountant and Alex to confirm once she received the faxed form here at the office with nothing but Jenkins’ signature on it. Then she smartly made notes in the files. Those files are time stamped and the calls ar
e on the network’s electronic call log with full records of when and to whom the calls were made.”

  “Shit!”

  A quiet knock sounded, and Alex poked her head in. She immediately spotted Drew. Her eyes went wide for a second before a frozen façade slipped into place as she sat down in the nearest chair.

  “You sent for me, Mr. Chairman?” she asked, all innocence and lace.

  “Yes, Ms. Voltier. We understand you are the project manager for the Japanese accounts, namely Sony?”

  “Yes, sir. Is there a problem?”

  Sydni wanted to smack the bitch. She’d basically set Drew up with that harassment bullshit to get him out of her hair so she could complete her scheme. But what Alex hadn’t counted on was the fact that her man was brilliant. And Mizz Voltier was toast. Burnt. No butter.

  Syndi glanced down at her wrist and felt her cheeks flush with anger. It was almost time. Drew would face his accuser any moment now. She wondered what that bitch, Alex, would come up with to get out of this mess now that Drew had pretty much set up the pins for a knock down.

  Another board member spoke up, as ancient looking as Mr. Epps, but with blazing blue ice-fire in his eyes and steel in his spine. “There is indeed a problem. But let’s take care of what we originally came here for. Ms. Voltier we do not believe your claim of sexual harassment against Mr. Caruth has any grounds. However, we’re not sure about the rest of it.”

  “The rest, sir?” Alex asked, still attempting to pass off her ruse of sweet-as-candy-ness.

  Mr. Epps cut across her and addressed Drew instead. “You’ve presented a pretty solid case so far, Mr. Caruth. Is there any other proof, other than these documents, that Ms. Voltier is involved in espionage?”

  “Espionage?” Alex snorted. Geesh, the broad just couldn’t suppress the smirk that leaked out of the side of her lips to save her life. And Drew pounced. Sydni wanted to get up on top of the table and root him on.

  Drew pinned Alex with a glacial gray stare, then turned toward the door and called out. “Please come in, Alfred.”

  The tall conference room doors eased open and Alex’s pawn walked in.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Six weeks later

  “Well,” Charli said to her sister, “I think this is the most I’ve seen you enjoy life in, hell, I don’t know how long.”

  “Try forever, Charli,” Sydni grinned. After all, it was true, and it was all Drew’s fault. The man attracted excitement wherever he went. Take all the drama at work with Alex and the espionage case. Sydni may have found the initial discrepancy in the documents, but in the end, it was all Drew. That first trip to New Zealand. Drew. Getting fucked like an animal up against a wall in a car port just off the beach? Drew. Enjoying life more in the past months than she had in years? Again, Drew. The man was insatiable, incorrigible…and damn stubborn. And Sydni couldn’t have loved him more.

  Sydni’s stomach felt as if it had fallen down into her toes when the intercom beeped.

  “I’ve got to run, Charli. We’ll see you on Sunday?”

  “Yep. Looking forward to it.”

  Flipping her cell closed, she tapped the intercom button and tried not to giggle. “This is Sydni.”

  “Mr. Caruth is here to see you ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Tsubaki-san. Send him in, please.”

  Seconds later, one of the double doors opened and Drew’s beautifully dark head poked through. The man flashed a smile so devastating Sydni was glad to be sitting down because he simply made her weak in the knees.

  “God, you are so damn fine,” she blurted then blushed.

  “Glad you think so. A man needs to hear that every now and then.”

  “You’re so full of it. Every now and then, eh? How about every time we get together I’m forever telling you how gorgeous you are. Built like a tank, body like a god…”

  “With a wicked cock to boot?”

  Okay, now she was just getting plain hot. After all, the man was stalking her now with slow deliberate steps after he snicked the deadbolt to lock the door.

  “While we’re on the subject of hotness, Syd, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known, inside and out.”

  Aww shucks. What could she say to that? Sure he’d called her beautiful, but it still tripped her heart to hear it. And to see the expression on his handsome face when he said the words. Sigh.

  “And I have something for you, baby.”

  Then Drew was in front of her on his knees, pushing hers apart. Sydni felt her thighs heat in a flash. Oh yes, they’d covered this territory before. And her body knew exactly what to do—start creaming in anticipation of the lithe tongue headed its way.

  Then…nothing. The man just sat there, looking into her eyes. His demeanor was just a bit strange. And he wasn’t diving for her pussy as expected.

  “Drew? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, Syd. Nothing at all. In fact, things couldn’t be better.” Easing closer he planted a sweet kiss on the inside of her left knee. “In fact…I need to ask you something.”

  But he still hadn’t moved. Now she was really getting nervous. Sydni tilted her head and started to ask what was wrong again. Instead her mouth snapped shut with an audible click as Drew produced the most beautiful princess cut diamond engagement ring she’d ever seen.

  “Oh my god!” Sydni gasped as her hand flew to her throat. “B-but it’s only been a few months. Oh my god. Oh my god!”

  “A few months, sure. But I’ve waited a lifetime for you Sydni. Marry me?”

  And that was the end of her composure.

  So now she could add one more item to Drew’s list of accomplishments—tears. Very happy ones. There was definitely no doubt. This man was better than Charli’s homemade caramel kisses.

  About the Author

  Born into a musically eclectic family, TJ’s first love is music. She sings, even outside of the shower. She also loves to read. You’ll find her with her head buried in a book every day of the week, whether it’s her own creation or something snagged at the bookstore.

  So, where does this writing stuff come from? Working for a pretty interesting organization allows her to interact with even more interesting customers. With an imagination expanded beyond belief after the birth of her two (now teenaged) children, spinning life’s experiences into tales is a blast! And now that books have caught up to technology, TJ’s eBook reader is shown no mercy, forced to entertain her at all hours of the day or night. Even in the dark!

  Her favorite compositions are multicultural romances in various genres, some naughty, none nice. With several works in the wings, TJ loves to spin, create, and explore whatever world her mind decides to conjure. She currently lives in Colorado with her two children, and enjoys working as a technical resource with a company that provides analytic solutions to large pharmaceutical manufacturers.

  TJ welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

  Tell Us What You Think

  We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at Comments@EllorasCave.com.

  Also by TJ Michaels

  Egyptian Voyage

  Gift Wrap Optional

  Jaguar’s Rule

  Primed to Pounce

  Spirit of the Pryde

  Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

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