by Abby Gordon
After ten minutes, Serena literally shooed everyone out, making sure Claire took the rest of the cake so no one else came to her office. She then picked up the phone and punched in several numbers.
“Tom? It’s Serena.” She smiled and shook her head. “Thank you. I don’t think it’s hit yet. I was wondering if you could handle the flowers that were delivered. There’s no way I can take them all home with me.” She nodded. “That would be great. I’ll call security and tell them to send Charlie and Bob up. Thanks.”
“Well, that’s something I’ve never seen,” Keith drawled after she’d called the security desk in the building’s lobby.
“You’ve never seen a birthday party before?” she replied with a raised eyebrow.
“Not quite,” he muttered. “I’ve never seen a woman give away flowers. Who are you giving them to?”
“The Hospice of Saint Benedict’s.”
“A hospice?” he stared at her. “Why?”
Startled, Serena looked hurt and then embarrassed.
“My grandfather lived there for over a year until he died six months ago.”
Keith held his breath and tried to hold onto his temper. He hadn’t known her birthday or her age. And now she tells him her grandfather had died—she’d never said a word.
“And you didn’t tell me?” he said quietly. He knew he emphasized keeping personal things out of the office, but something like this? How could she not have mentioned it? “So to thank them for his care you send them your flowers?”
She shook her head.
“I volunteer on Sundays and spend most holidays there.”
“You’re serious?” Keith shook his head in disbelief. “You enjoy being around people so much older than you.”
“Yes,” she nodded. A small smile curved her pale pink lips. “I listen to their stories. They’ve taught me that life is too precious to waste a moment. That we have to remember to feel.” He saw sadness flicker in her eyes. “That we should put relationships first.”
“I do that and the company suffers,” he muttered.
“You’re the CEO,” she reminded him with a smile. “That’s your job, but I’d bet you could manage if you wanted.”
Keith was quiet a long moment considering what she’d said.
“I guess,” he shrugged. “Sounds like you spend a lot of time over there. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who did something so selfless.”
“Really?” Serena sat down and tapped quickly at her keyboard. “I’m not surprised, especially considering that last woman and a couple others.”
“You didn’t like Charlotte?”
She shivered as if she didn’t even like to hear the name.
“Keith, please! The woman was more two-faced than Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!”
“What are you talking about?” The uncharacteristic harshness in her voice had to be because—he hated to think of something so cliché—she was turning thirty. He’d heard that women got emotional at big birthdays. “What did she do?”
“Keith, she treated anyone worth less than twenty million to a cold shoulder that could have sunk the Titanic!” Glancing up, Serena’s green eyes met his gaze. She caught her full bottom lip with her upper teeth and relented. “I’m sure she was wonderful to be around.”
But Keith was reeling from her words. He couldn’t remember Serena saying an unkind or unflattering word about anyone. Period. Even when she’d had more than enough reason to. This was more than just about her birthday. Which could only mean that Charlotte and some of his other girlfriends had hit hard and deep at his usually calm and impassive assistant. He felt like twelve different kinds of fools.
“In other words, she was a first-class actress and a bitch when I wasn’t around, right?”
Grimacing, she slowly nodded.
“Sorry.”
“I thought I knew women,” he muttered. He couldn’t believe he’d been fooled like that. Serena had said ‘a couple others.’ Keith had a feeling she meant a lot more. Who else had fooled him so well? He wouldn’t be able to trust a damn thing any of them said. “I thought I was a better judge of character.”
“You only knew her in a social setting. Surrounded by people she wanted to impress.”
“I wonder how many others I’ve been wrong about.”
“You’re human, Keith. We’re all wrong about people.”
For a long moment, he just stood there, staring at her. Then her phone rang, and he turned and entered his office.
****
Entering her apartment, Serena leaned against the door and closed her eyes. Birthdays ending in a zero were a bitch and should be outlawed. She didn’t know what she’d thought would happen that day. Sighing, she shook her head and stared at the small masterpiece highlighted by the timed spotlight. Yeah, she did know. Deep down inside, she had dreamed that Keith would be overcome with emotion or…she didn’t know what.
With a groan of frustration she headed straight for her bedroom and changed. With all the pent-up emotions, she was going to need one helluva workout if she wanted any sleep tonight.
Climbing on her treadmill, she started at a walk. Her brain went over the conversation after she’d called Tom. She stopped walking. Grabbing the side rails, she jumped her feet off the track. Pushing pause, she frowned recalling his words and expressions. Had she imagined it? Keith was always strong and powerful, in absolute control, but her comments about Charlotte and his other girlfriends had caught him by surprise. In a rare moment, he let his guard down and allowed her to see his vulnerability. At the same time, she winced, he had probably been able to see her emotions just as much.
“Crap,” she muttered. “This is not good.”
Stepping back on, she hit restart, but her mind was stubborn. After a few minutes, exasperated with herself, she increased the speed and incline.
“No thinking, Serena,” she whispered. “Just feel the muscles working. Put everything into the pace.”
Thirty minutes later, she slowed to a walk. The shaken expression on Keith’s face, however brief, immediately reappeared in her mind’s eye. He’d been hurt and she hadn’t seen it. She’d been too caught up in venting pent-up emotions. Honesty forced her to face something. Keith must have seen through her and realized her feelings for him.
With a sigh, she wondered what that would mean to their working relationship. More than once, he’d said that work was no place for personal relationships. If he even suspected the depths of her feelings, he would find a reason to fire her. He might find an equal position for her somewhere, but he wouldn’t want her anywhere near him. That much was obvious from his comment about the company coming first. His snort at her comment about him being CEO and able to manage had told her more than any words.
Not wanting to consider it, she picked up the pace again. The thought of being transferred or fired spurred her to a run and after twenty minutes the sweat was dripping into her eyes. Stepping off, her head hung as she caught her breath. All Serena could see was Keith’s face. It would almost be better to find another job, away from the company, so she wouldn’t be tempted to blurt out her feelings.
Since running herself to death hadn’t erased his image from her mind, perhaps a session of yoga would calm her heart and clear her thoughts. Flipping her mat out, Serena stepped to the edge and closed her eyes. Keith’s chiseled face appeared. Blue eyes mocked her.
“Great,” she murmured, lowering her hands and raising them again. “You’d think I’d be beyond a teenage infatuation.”
Another deep breath and she knew one thing for certain. If she was going to get any sleep at all, MacLauren had to be suppressed.
“Downward-dogs, don’t fail me now,” she whispered.
Keith secured the Velcro around his wrists and walked across the room. With a deep breath, he started pounding the heavy bag in the corner. Serena’s lunchtime revelations still stung his ego. Not only had he known precious little about the woman sitting three steps from his office door, but he’d known next to nothin
g about women he had dated—and fucked—and that pissed him off. He was smart. He was a good judge of character. How the hell could he have been so wrong?
Moving to the speed bag, he unleashed a flurry of punches.
Okay, he would just lay off women for a while. He would observe their actions and move very carefully from now on. If he needed sex, he would go to the club for a submissive. He’d known instinctively that socialites wouldn’t agree to be tied, blindfolded, and gagged when he fucked them, so he’d never even tried.
Sweat dripped as he paused, hands on his hips.
So what the hell was he going to do with Serena?
The sudden image of her bound to his bed, waiting for him, speared through his brain.
“Oh, yeah,” he muttered. “You dumbshit! Just what you need, a sexual harassment suit on top of all your other problems!”
Catching the end of a strap in his teeth, he pulled the gloves off and returned to the heavy bag. Yet, as he went through a series of kicks, the picture would not leave his mind. It was ridiculous to even think about. Serena would never consider a dominant/submissive relationship.
“Dammit!” he growled. “I can’t fuck my assistant!”
But the image wouldn’t go away, leaving him tossing on the king-size bed. Somewhere during the night, a plan came to him. Legal pad in hand, by the time the sky grew light, Keith had things figured out. It would be tricky, risky, and require a helluva lot of luck. Based on what he did know of Serena, he was confident that he had a very good chance of not only solving his problems, but showing her a side of herself that she hadn’t even realized existed. Any personal relationship between them would require discretion, or eventually cost both of them.
But would it cost them? Or be better for both of them?
Keith didn’t believe in love between men and women, but he did believe that men and women could have relationships that were both intimate and respectful. It was possible Serena felt the same way. After all, she was thirty, not in a relationship, and seemed reserved around the men in the office. Friendly, but she definitely made sure they knew when they crossed the line. Keith couldn’t remember anyone overstepping that line more than once.
Just what could happen? Adjusting his tie, he considered. After all, he was known for anticipating things in the boardroom. All right then, he thought, shrugging into his jacket, let’s review. First, he needed to get the books on or in her desk. If she accepted those, then he had the box ready to be delivered to her apartment. From there, it was a matter of bringing her to him. He could easily arrange that through the club. He had ordered a voice disrupter, the masks, and hoods which would arrive the following day. Getting her to trust him was an absolute necessity. After a minimum of a couple weeks, probably closer to a month, he would reveal his identity to her.
Worst case—Serena figured it was him and sued him and the company for sexual harassment. Mid-case—she rejected the entire scenario before they became intimate and never knew it was him. Best case—she became his sexual submissive.
And at work? He smiled. Well, that would certainly make working late more enjoyable.
Picking up his briefcase, he walked out of his apartment and to the elevator. It was still early, but he had things to take care of.
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