Her dark eyes roll. “God, yourself. And I don’t see what the problem is. So you have an interview. Big whoop. You look like you’re about to win the fucking lottery, Beth. Not do an interview for a job.”
Getting up from the chair in front of my desk, I throw my hands up in the air and begin to pace. “I just told you I have an interview at the investment firm. Channing Michaels’ investment firm, to be his personal assistant. You know, the billionaire, Channing Michaels, the guy who owns that hockey team, The Skippers? That Channing Michaels. The gorgeous, hot, muscles upon muscles, Channing Michaels. Who just recently lost his wife in a tragic boating accident, Channing Michaels. That billionaire guy!”
Michelle jumps up. “That guy! You have an interview to be the assistant to that gorgeous son of a bitch?”
Finally, she gets it! “Yeah. So help me pick out something nice to wear tomorrow for the interview. I want to look nice.”
She moves to the small closet we have to share and looks over her shoulder at me. “Of course, you have to look nice. That man is one gorgeous piece of man-meat! You have to look to die for, Beth.”
I sigh and go to sit back down as my head is getting a little buzzy. “Yeah. I got it, the gorgeous thing, okay. He’s gorgeous. He’s tall. Like six foot something, I read once about him in a magazine. I don't want to get my head wrapped around that. I don't want to go into the interview and act like a little schoolgirl with a big crush on the big hot billionaire man. I want to go in like a professional. Like the professional one day, I hope I am.”
“Good luck with that,” she says as she laughs.
Looking in the mirror at my drab brown hair, I ask, “Should I go get my hair and nails done?”
Michelle rolls her eyes. “Yes, of course, you should. We’re talking, Channing Michaels here, Beth. Not some old dude. He’s hot and wealthy and available.”
Running my hands through my long hair as I look in the mirror, I say, “My God, what if I really get the job? Michelle, what if I really do get the job?”
She comes and stands behind me, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Maybe you’ll become the next Mrs. Michaels!”
With a slap to her hand, I say, “Shut up! I'm just looking for the job not trying to marry the man. My God, he just lost his wife!”
Michelle looks over her shoulder as if what she’s about to say is top secret or something then she looks back at me through the mirror. “Did you hear about that? I mean did you really hear about that? It was on the news and stuff. You know they’re kind of blaming him.”
I nod. “I did hear they were kind of blaming him. But I also heard him say he didn't do it. I would have to believe him. Hopefully, he’ll be my new employer someday really soon. I don't want to have the thought in my head running around that he did kill his wife.”
“But what if he did?” she asks turning me to look dead in her eyes.
“I don't care.” And I mean that. In a way. “All I care about is making money. As his personal assistant, I would guess that comes with a pretty nice paycheck.”
Michelle nods and walks back to the closet. “You would think, wouldn’t you?”
With a shrug of my shoulders, I say, “Well, even if it doesn't, the experience would be all worth it. Don’t you think?”
She pulls out a nice blue business suit then hangs it right back up. “That, plus you get to hang out with one gorgeous dude. Like all day long and shit!”
Looking at my face very closely in the mirror I find myself lacking that basic sex appeal so many women have. “If I’m going to have to be walking around next to that man I have to up my game, Michelle. Help me!”
She turns and gives me a nod. “Let’s grab the beauty queen, Shelby, and run by your parents’ house and pick up the emergency credit card and get to shopping. New make-up, hair, and wardrobe are needed, STAT!”
I laugh. “What does STAT even stand for, Michelle?”
“Stop Talking And Take off. I think that’s what it means, anyway,” she says as she pulls on a pair of jeans. “I’m not in the medical profession, Beth. I’m going to be an accountant. Don’t ask me questions at a time like this. We have to get you all gorgeous so the man can’t tell you, no. Then maybe you can get me and Shelby jobs there when we graduate.”
“I see now,” I say as I grab a sundress out of the closet and pull it over my head. “You’re going to use me. Oh, well. At least you’re honest about it.”
“Yeah,” she says as she pulls her Converse sneakers on. “I could be all sneaky behind your back, but I’m an upfront bitch like that.”
Pulling up the Miami news on my laptop, I look up the information about the missing women, Jana Michaels. She went overboard during a small storm a month ago. Channing was never formally accused of her disappearance. Her body hasn’t been found and many believe it will never be now that it’s been so long.
I wonder how he’s taking the whole thing. He has to be a mess about it all.
He had to have loved her. She was his wife. The report said they had been together for a year then married for a year. So he spent the last two years with her. He had to have loved her.
There was a part in the story that explained how he got so rich. He came from a normal family. A mother but no father. They lived with her parents and she never married for some reason.
One day he got a letter when he was only eighteen. His paternal grandfather had left him a million dollars. He met his real father then.
A man named Morgan Riley, and that man was never going to claim Channing. That man was not happy with the fact his father had left Channing money.
The fact is Channing managed to make a hell of a lot of money out of the million and Morgan Riley is swimming in debt even though he was raised by wealthy parents, both of which are deceased.
Poor, Channing Michaels.
He found his father only to have him hate him.
Jana was five years older than Channing who is thirty-five now. She looked great, though. Her pictures show her with long, blonde hair and deep blue eyes. A real looker, I suppose one would say about her.
A picture pops up of Channing and Jana at some social gala. He’s devastating in a black tux and she’s elegant looking in a long, black evening gown. Diamonds sparkle around her long neck and dangle from her earlobes.
But Channing’s face is grim. Though Jana smiles at the camera, he looks like he wanted to be anywhere but there with her.
His arm is loose around her thin waist. She’s so much thinner than I am. So much more beautiful than I am. So much more elegant.
I shake my head. I’m not trying to get the man, just the job!
But what would it be like to be the one on his arm? What is he really like in person? Will I like him or hate him? Will he like me or send me on my way without the job?
I cross my fingers and say a little prayer.
I want the job. There is no question in my mind. I want the job, badly.
Here’s to hoping for favorable winds tomorrow…
Chapter 3
CHANNING
My mood is black as I wait for the third interview of the morning for a replacement for Rene, the woman who’s been my personal assistant for the last five years. Who also happened to be my wife’s best friend.
That’s who introduced us to each other and suggested we’d make a good match.
She couldn’t have been more wrong!
Rene is on team Lori. That’s Jana’s younger sister. She’s twenty-three and thinks she knows everything. Like she thinks she knows I killed my wife. Jana’s parents are divided about me.
Her mother is more on my side and her father is on the fence. If they only knew the truth about their daughter and what kind of shit she did to me they wouldn’t be so quick to judge me.
The cell phone on my desk lights up and I see the one man who I least wish to talk to is calling me. My father. A man I never knew about until I was eighteen and he came to ask for his father’s money back.
Which I d
id not give him. Which made him furious at me. Which I did not care one little bit about.
I used the money to get an education then started this firm. My grandfather was a man I wished I would’ve been able to meet. He left me a long letter explaining how he never knew about my existence until he lay on his deathbed and my father admitted he had one grandchild.
With a phone call to his lawyer, my grandfather managed to change his will, which was going to leave everything he had to my father, his only child. He gave me one million dollars and my father inherited three million and several very nice homes in different areas of the country.
My father, Morgan Riley, only has the home his father had in Miami left. He’s sold the rest of them and spent, from what I understand, most of the money. And boy does he want that one million dollars back since he knows I now have billions.
I could give it to him, easily. But you know what they say, ‘when you give a mouse a cookie.’
I know if I give that man five dollars he will ask for more and more and never let up.
Not really wanting to, I answer the phone, “Hello, Morgan.”
“Channing, we need to talk. I know you’re in a jam and I think if you give me some money, I can help you out with an alibi.”
First words out of his mouth, priceless!
“I don’t need one, thanks for the offer, Morgan. I didn’t do anything.” I turn my chair around and gaze out the window of my fifteenth floor penthouse office and see the waves coming up on the shore of the beach just a few miles away from my office. “And I’m too busy with interviews for a new personal assistant today to mess with you.”
“Where do you think she is, Son? And how are you doing?” he asks.
“I think she’s somewhere in the ocean and I’m fine. How are you? I mean the two of you really had something, didn’t you? If you ever stopped having something that is.”
The sound of him clearing his throat comes through loud and clear. “Now, Son. You know that was a mistake. And we ended it. You know that. You can be honest with me. Is this tearing you apart?”
I sit and think about that.
Is it?
The first night was odd. But she never slept in our bedroom, anyway. She took a room clear across the large, six-bedroom beach house I bought before I even knew her. She claimed I snored.
No one else ever told me that, though!
Then I found out exactly why she wanted to be so far away from me each night. She was sneaking away most nights and when I found out it was to see my father that was the real kicker.
Then the truth came out. She and he knew each other. She and he had known each other very well, and it seemed to me she was part of my father’s way of getting back at me.
I should’ve given him the damn million and divorced her ass then. But I was thinking I would punish them both more by staying married to her and demanding she stop seeing him or I’d cut her off without a cent.
There was a prenup, of course. I’m no fool. I could’ve divorced her and it would’ve only cost me the lawyer’s fee, but I was out for some type of revenge and that shit didn’t make me feel any better either.
I suppose nothing can make you feel better about your wife screwing your father!
There was a time I thought I loved that woman. She was very good at making me feel like she loved me. But once I found out about her and dear old Dad, it was over.
Jana didn’t even try to act as if she loved me after that. Only in public did she do that. Fawning all over me when we had social functions to attend. Acting as if she thought I hung the moon. Until the car ride home.
Then it was back to ignoring me. Back to letting me know she was miserable with me. Back to letting me know I had made a big mistake.
“Son?”
“Oh, I went off to another world. Anyway, I’m fine. Like I said. So, if you have nothing else, I need to go. I have one more interview this morning before I go to lunch. So bye.”
“Bye,” I hear him say just before I end the call.
Pressing the intercom, I call the receptionist. “Is my last interview for the morning here?”
“Yes, Mister Michaels. Beth Stattler is here, waiting,” the receptionist, Shelia, tells me.
“You can send her in now. And I’ll be leaving at lunch for the day.”
“Yes, sir.”
One more look out the window at the ocean that’s calling my name then I turn back and get ready for the interview.
I hope this one is better than the last two!
Chapter 4
BETH
The view from the picture window on the fifteenth floor of the building the Michaels’ Investment Firm is located at the very top of is magnificent. The blue-green waves crash in tiny white sprays of refreshing ocean water against a sandy white shoreline.
I could have a job where I look at this view all day long. How cool would that be?
The receptionist’s nameplate tells me her name is Sheila. She’s very pretty. Long blonde hair is up in a tight bun and her nails are prettier than mine. Her make-up is heavy and her lashes are fake, but she’s a pretty woman.
Wonder if she’s screwing the boss man!
Shelby got me in with her hair guy and he cut my long brown hair into some long layers and added in some golden highlights. They look natural and I like that. I’m not into looking fake.
I was going to wear it up but Shelby wouldn’t let me. She used a curling wand and made loose curls. Then spritzed me with some of her expensive perfume.
She did my make-up too. I like it, not fake, but an enhanced version of myself.
We found a tight chocolate brown pencil skirt and a pair of heels to match it. Then a lacey white shirt over a chocolate brown camisole. It’s sexy yet still office worthy.
Michelle put her pearl necklace around my neck for good luck she said. She told me it was her mothers and every time she wears it great things have happened for her.
I run my hand over the rounded pearls and send up a little prayer.
“You can go in now, Miss Stattler. Mister Michaels is ready to see you now,” the receptionist says and my heart skips a beat.
I’m not ready!
“Miss Stattler?”
“Oh! Yes,” I say as I get up and take my portfolio from the chair next to mine. “Thank you, Shelia.”
She gives me a smile, revealing perfect white teeth. “Good luck.”
I cross my fingers. “Thanks.”
Running my hand over my skirt to be sure there’s nothing wrinkled or nothing on it, I take in a deep breath and turn the door knob. His back is turned as I walk in. “Mister Michaels?”
The mahogany leather chair turns slowly around and my heart pounds as I look at him.
He’s even more gorgeous in real life!
Dark waves hang a bit over one captivating blue-green eye. His hair is shorter on the sides than on top. A beard slightly thicker than a five o’clock shadow makes his strong jawline appear a bit softer. His lips are a light pink and the bottom is a bit fuller than the top one.
Thick dark lashes surround those penetrating eyes and he looks right into mine. “Miss Stattler?”
I take slow steps forward as he gets out of his chair and comes to me with his hand extended.
Shit!
My palms are most likely sweating as he has my pulse on rapid speed. My nipples are hard and I hope they aren’t visible through the two shirts.
His eyes hold mine as he shakes my hand and electricity shoots through me.
What in the hell was that?
Chapter 5
CHANNING
What the hell was that?
It felt like lighting just struck me. The touch of her velvety soft hand sent me into another world for a moment. Her green eyes are mesmerizing. She’s gorgeous.
“Please come sit down, Miss Stattler.” I let her hand go and walk in front of her and take in a deep breath to steady myself.
I don’t get this way over females!
As she sits down and I go to the other side of my desk, I look her over. She’s draped in colors I don’t usually find appealing, but she’s changing my mind about them.
The dark brown of her skirt and camisole bring out the deep browns in her thick and gorgeous dark hair. The white lace shirt over the camisole makes her skin look a gorgeous tan shade.
She smiles almost shyly as she looks up at me. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mister Michaels.”
Leaning forward, I put my elbows on my desktop and lace my fingers and lean my chin on them. “Mister? Let’s get rid of the formalities. I’m Channing. May I call you, Beth?”
“Of course.” Her cheeks go a little pinker and she looks out the window behind me. “You have a beautiful view, sir.”
I’m looking at the most beautiful view this room has right now!
“I do.” I sit back and decide I need to know a hell of a lot more about this young woman. Picking up the resume she sent, I look it over. “Almost finished with college. A Bachelor’s in Business I see.” My eyes move back to hers. “Is that where you plan on stopping or is a Masters in your future plans?”
She fidgets for a moment. “Money is an issue at this time. I’ve run out of it. I would like to get my Masters of course. I have to get to work, though. Pay off the student loans I have accumulated then I’ll see about going back.”
Leaning back in my chair I look up at the ceiling for a moment then back at her. “If you get the job, I’d pay for you to keep going to school.”
Her eyes light up. “Oh my gosh! Would you really?”
The way her smile goes all over her beautiful face is amazing. She is amazing.
“I really would.” Then I lean forward. “Tell me how you would make my life easier, Beth.”
She looks all over my office for what I don’t know. Her eyes land on mine. “Okay, here’s the thing. I can do whatever you need me to do. I’m great at remembering things. How you like your coffee if you like coffee that is. What kinds of things you expect to be done before you arrive at the office.”
“Sometimes I might need you to come to my home and other places with me,” I say not only because it’s true but also to find out if she’s someone’s girlfriend. “Do you have someone who’ll be jealous of all the time I’ll need you?”
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