Hot to Touch

by Valentine, Layla

  “Well…here’s something to think about while you’re dealing with that crap back in Denver.” He gripped my arm gently, and I looked up into his blue eyes. “I want you with me. I don’t want to pressure you, and I know you’re still sorting things out, but for me, it boils down to that.”

  I smiled at him softly, and we kissed, but inside I felt my conflict and doubts crash against each other.

  Get through the mess in Denver first, I finally told myself. Get through the mess in Denver, and then you can sort this out.

  Chapter 15

  Naomi

  “Out of fifteen projects in the last five years, nine have been delayed as a direct result of Ian’s meddling in everything from design specs, to timelines, to the supply chain. This has resulted in the entire company being forced to do additional work and put in expensive overtime in order to satisfy our clients. As I said before, all of this was done behind my back and against my direct instructions time and time again.

  “As a direct result of all of this, the company has shouldered an additional cost in excess of ninety-three million dollars.” I looked around at all the old, pale, scowling faces around me, while Ian went the color of old cheese and said nothing.

  “Since he assumed the position of COO, he has additionally been blamed or partially blamed for our lack of retention in both our clerical and engineering departments—a turnover rate of twenty-nine people in five years. I have compiled a list of the complaints made in their exit interviews, with permission. As you may recall, five of these individuals went on to sue the company, forcing us to settle out of court to the tune of another seventeen million.”

  “What is your point, Miss Richards?”

  I couldn’t tell anymore which of the men around me was talking this time. They all seemed to have the same scowling face, the same scratchy, dismissive voice.

  “My point is that regardless of my stepping down today, replacing me with this man is going to cost you dearly.” I stabbed a finger at Ian, who went from pale to beet red. “As will my departure.”

  Ian let out a high, strangled laugh. “The only thing we’re losing is a hundred and forty pounds of dead weight—”

  “Also access to the technology contained in eighty-three patents that I currently hold, which have been used not only in the projects I spearheaded, but also in several others.”

  Suddenly the bored, hostile looks aimed at me started to show some creeping alarm. “Archimedes Gears’ use of them was contingent on my permission. My permission was contingent on my being part of the firm.” I folded my arms, looking around at all those hateful faces. “Did you really think that I would let you keep them?”

  “You absolute bitch,” Ian spluttered. “You can’t…you can’t do that!”

  “Actually, yes, I can. It’s in the agreement the board signed with me when I became CEO. It’s in the boilerplate for all fifteen of those projects. It’s not my fault that you never stop to actually read anything that crosses your desk.” I smirked at him.

  I took a deep breath. It was time for the final volley.

  “Finally, I have been documenting every violation of workplace safety and anti-discrimination law violations at this organization from the beginning. I have also documented the resistance I have been met with at every turn, which neither the board nor Ian has any problems with telling me straight out are due to my sex.”

  One of the blurry faces spoke up. “Honestly, I’m not sure where you think you’re going with this, young lady, but—”

  “I’m talking about violating the law on several occasions.”

  Silence broke across the table.

  “I have held off on saying anything to any of the appropriate authorities, because this is my father’s company, which he built from the ground up at the expense of his own family. However, now that I am being forced out, there’s nothing stopping me from pressing charges.”

  I heard a rustle go through the board. Ian looked uncomfortable. Finally he said, “There’s nothing stopping me from pressing charges either. So…I guess that leaves us at an impasse.”

  “On that single point, yes,” I agreed, laying down the folder with my letter of resignation and tapping it with my fingers. “As for the rest…Ian, you’re not going to suddenly become competent enough to run this company, and you and I both know it, even if you have the board fooled.” I heard several of them huffing indignantly and ignored them. “And no amount of money is going to convince you to keep your hands on anything I have patented.”

  “As if we will need any of your subpar work!” called out a voice at the table, dripping with disdain. For a single, harrowing second, it sounded far too much like my father.

  Then I snapped out of it. The realization sank in: I had given them their warning, and they were plowing ahead with their plans. So they deserve every damn thing the Orloffs, Ian—and I—are going to do to them.

  “Apparently, I’m the only person here who reads the specifics of our legal documents,” I said. “Well, I have done everything I am legally obligated to do, and then some.” I stood up, offering a calm, professional smile to the room without actually looking at any of them. “I think we’re done here.”

  “Not quite,” Ian said suddenly. “I have some things to say before you leave.”

  Oh, boy. Here we go.

  “Make it quick. I have a meeting at four.”

  Gasps around the table. Muttering.

  “But…you’re unemployed,” Ian started.

  I smirked. Yeah, they thought I would fall apart as soon as Daddy’s firm rejected me. Surprise! “No, I’m freelance. It took very little effort to line up clients once they learned I was disassociating myself from Archimedes Gears.”

  Ian swallowed hard. “You’re lying.”

  I looked him in the eye. “No, Ian, that’s your department. Now say what you think is so important, and I’ll be on my way.”

  “I just want to know why you see fit to take this kind of tone and stance when you’ve totally disgraced yourself. You take up with that…brute, you have an illegitimate child with him—”

  I burst out laughing.

  A few months ago, I would have bent over backward to avoid causing a stir among the board members. But now? Now I was free, I had nothing to lose, and I no longer cared.

  “Ian, let’s be real. My romantic life is not and will never be any of your business, because you never had a chance to be included in it.”

  I watched him go silent and purple as I breezed on.

  “Every board meeting I have to listen to these men brag about cheating on their wives. Every time you sabotage one of my projects, I know it’s because I won’t sleep with you. This ‘disgrace’ you keep babbling about, as if we were in Victorian London, is nothing compared to your behavior. Now. Do you have anything actually relevant to today’s business to say, or are we done?”

  Ian took a shivery breath. He was covered in sweat, and for a moment I didn’t know if he was going to start screaming at me or run out crying.

  Instead, he forced a smile. “Oh, well, there is one thing,” he said in such an arch, haughty voice that I knew it was fake. “I’m throwing a celebration with the board and employees, and some of our past clients, to mark my new position.”

  Past clients. Those two words were about the only thing that kept me from laughing in his face and telling him to fuck himself. That and my dignity—which was shaky, but despite this ridiculous situation, intact.

  “It will be back in Aspen, at the High Peak resort. You know, where you met your baby daddy?” His tone got so snide that I smirked coldly, sensing the resentment just beneath the surface.

  “Boyfriend,” I corrected. “Your hopeless jealousy is showing again.”

  He spluttered, then swallowed and went on. “It’s two days from now, at one sharp. Can I trust you to be there, or will you still be off crying over losing Daddy’s company?”

  I stared at him. Wow, are you ever a piece of trash.

  “Oh
, I’ll be there.” I smiled sweetly. “I’ll be in Aspen anyway, so why not?”

  It took me little time to pack up my office; really all I had left were a few potted plants and a couple of engineering awards. However, I did do one thing after making my sweep of my office, the display case, and the break room: I left a little printed note in the inbox of everyone in our clerical and engineering pool who I thought might be receptive.

  “If, in the future, you suffer harassment, salary/hours cuts, or unfair dismissal under your new leadership, call this number to discuss options.”

  I left the number for a second cellphone I had secured specifically for handling this task. I had a second letter, much longer, that I was sending to a handful of people at their homes. No matter which direction I wanted to take this, I needed to give some of the hard-working employees of Archimedes Gears an opportunity to get out like I was doing.

  I was done trying to please this mess of a company just because it had my dead father’s fingerprints all over it. Now was the time to move forward, leave the past behind. And it was time to give myself and others the respect we deserved.

  I finished my rounds, smiling as I breezed toward the elevator. I could feel Ian watching me as it opened and I stepped inside. My heart was sinking in spite of myself, but I kept the smile on until the doors closed.

  There goes that chapter in my life, I thought, feeling both depressingly empty and giddily free at the same time. Upstairs, I knew they were probably breaking out the champagne. The evil was defeated. The nasty bitch who had dared to be female and CEO, and not sleep with any of them, had finally been sent packing.

  Too bad for them that a significant chunk of what they needed to keep the place running had just walked out the door.

  A deep sadness settled over me as I got in my car. There was no turning back now. I was going to go home, take care of myself, and check in with Ace. I was going to go to Ian’s stupid party with my head held high, and make sure I got the phone numbers of every single past client whom I knew Ian had nearly screwed things up with.

  And then I was going to create a company that far surpassed Archimedes Gears in every way.

  Chapter 16

  Ace

  “I feel bad about my plans for Dad’s company,” Naomi admitted to me, sighing out the words over the phone. She had spent the last half hour outlining her plans, and it sounded good to me—good, and well-deserved, too. But of course, right in the middle of making me proud, she was backing off again.

  “Seems like they’re pretty much ruining it themselves,” I observed, scratching Benny’s back as he sat at my feet. “If anything, you were fighting to save it. They pushed you away. It’s not your fault they’re screwing themselves in the process.”

  “Yeah, too bad the board didn’t appreciate that any more than my dad did.” She sighed. “You know, I’ve tried hating him, Ace. It never sticks.”

  “Well, your dad was a mixed bag, from what you told me. Yeah, he was a sexist dinosaur, but he also made sure you never wanted for anything.”

  I was reminded of my own father, working so hard for so many years at his little shop, wearing himself down so we would have some kind of a legacy.

  “Except his love,” Naomi said. I heard her shift the phone in her grip. “But the more I think about it, the more I wonder if he was capable of expressing it.”

  “Lots of guys in his generation can’t. They weren’t raised for it.” I wished I could have reached through the phone and hugged her. “But you know what?”

  She moved the phone away and blew her nose again. At least she wasn’t actively sniffling anymore. I hated when she ended up in tears, though I sure loved being the guy she chose to lean on.

  “What?” she finally managed.

  “If he actually hated you all that much, he could have done a lot more to prevent you from advancing through the company. I mean, by the time you were an adult, the board and shareholders mostly ran things anyway. Maybe the best he could do was block them from throwing you out.” I really hoped I wasn’t off base here. But it felt right.

  She was quiet for a while. “Maybe that’s true,” she said finally. “For all his flaws, he…” She was breathing a little harshly. “I already know what an uphill battle fighting against the board is. If he had been working with them instead of against them, he could have made sure I had never gotten a job there at all.”

  “That’s right,” I said warmly, hearing the realization in her voice. “Look, uh…I used to be really pissed at my dad too, and he was a lot less of an asshole than yours. They’ll end up thinking they’re building us a legacy, or just some way of supporting us, and forget that they’re sacrificing all the other things we need.”

  She drew another shaky breath. “We’ve got to make sure that this baby doesn’t end up feeling that way about either of us,” she said finally. “She can’t grow up wondering whether her parents love her.”

  “You’ve got that right.” Again, I wished she was in hugging distance. “Are you doing okay? Seriously, Naomi, I know you’re tough, but—”

  “I’m fine,” she said too quickly. “I’m just pissed off. Just like with my dad, there’s no force in the universe that would impress them enough to cure their sexism. They’re staring down the barrel of a quarter billion dollars of losses in the next year, conservative, on top of what the Orloffs’ lawsuit will cost them. They just don’t see it. I pointed out everything but the suit, but with every one of them, it went in one ear and out the other.”

  “Well, you did the honorable thing and gave them your warning. Now, you don’t really have any more obligation.” I hesitated. “So…why are you bothering with this party again?”

  She scoffed slightly. “Digging for leads among our old clients, and making it clear to Ian and the board that they haven’t broken me, and out-classing all of them.”

  “Well, those are all good reasons. I wonder if the Orloffs will hand them a summons with the bill.”

  She burst out laughing. “I sure would like to be there when the board finally realizes the lawsuit’s coming for them.”

  “Well, who knows. I’m sure they were amused when they discovered Archimedes Gears wanted to rent their dining hall.”

  I scratched the back of my neck, imagining the Orloffs laughing over it. The brothers were a strange pair. From people who worked at the resort, they were a weird mix of extravagant and cheap: the state-of-the art cable car system was attached to an electrical system that hadn’t been updated in twenty years. But when it came to revenge, I expected the former: a team of expert lawyers, now sent on the attack against an engineering firm that hadn’t listened to its own best engineer.

  “Yeah, I do wonder what they thought. So…you want to be my plus-one for this little party? I’m sure you clean up well.”

  I hated to disappoint her, so it hurt a little to tell her no. “Aw, sweetheart, for you I’d even put on a silk tie again. But I’ve got to work. They have me on duty at the mountaintop fire station again, in case the storm coming in touches something off.”

  “Aw damn. Okay, I understand. Pick me up afterward?”

  “Of course.” I felt a stab of regret. It would really have shown those guys up for her to turn up with her man. I had no doubt every last one of them was salty and hateful because they knew they had no chance with her. Some guys grow old but never grow up.

  “You know,” she said suddenly, full of annoyance, “When Ian called you my baby daddy, I wanted to correct him with something stronger than ‘boyfriend.’ Because he was belittling you, and me, and our kid. Besides, we’re…we’re headed that way, aren’t we? Toward something more serious.”

  Suddenly I was smiling a hell of a lot. “Well, that’s what I’ve been talking about,” I reminded her. “You saying you’re down?”

  “I…” she hesitated, making my stomach tighten. “Yes. We have a lot of figuring out to do, but yes.”

  My face hurt from smiling so hard. “Holy shit. That’s awesome. Uh�
�one thing, though.”

  “Yes?”

  “Can we…not…live in Aspen?”

  She paused for a moment. “It’s lovely over there. But if you want to move on from it, I won’t push you.”

  “Do you want to move on from Denver?” I loved Denver, but part of that was because she was there.

  “I…thought about it. But I think part of why I like Aspen so much is because you’re there. And I do have a reason to stay in Denver.” She hesitated before going on. “A few reasons.”

  “Well, all right then,” I replied warmly. “Denver it is. And I’ll pick you up at the resort at five.”

  When we got off the phone, I got out two beers, opened them both, and set one across the table from me, in front of an empty recliner.

  Outside, the wind sighed through the trees. I thought about Miguel, about how he had been gone in a flash of light, and reached up to brush my fingers along my tattoos, which hid the scars left by that night’s flying glass.

  “Well, Miguel, guess I’d better call my family back in Chicago about this one.” I clicked my longneck against the other one and took a long pull. “They’re not going to believe that I’m finally settling down.”

  * * *

  When the big day for the party came, I was stuck in the tower with nothing to do but watch through the thin rain for lightning strikes and smoke. The wind whipped up now and again, howling around the broad windows in a way that reminded me of home.

  My family had gone a little nuts at the news, asking me all kinds of crazy questions. How in the world, my eldest brother had wondered aloud, had I landed the richest woman in the entire state? I hadn’t even known she was the richest woman in Colorado. She sure didn’t act like it. But my surprise had only made him groan with exasperation and call me the luckiest dumbass on the planet.

  I agreed with him. And not because of the money. That was icing. I could have lived happily in a shack as long as I was free and with the right girl.