by Kira Blakely
Wondering what on earth she’d done wrong to be summoned to the big boss’s office, she followed Dawson on legs that weren’t quite steady, trying desperately to think back to Friday and if she’d made any mistakes. She hadn’t been there before, only ever having to deal with him over the telephone or when he came to the reception desk. As she walked into the luxurious room with its plush carpet, leather seating, and glass-topped desk, her eyes were immediately drawn to the panoramic view that the floor-to-ceiling windows offered.
“Take a seat.” As Dawson spoke, he walked around the desk and sat down in his own chair. He leaned forward to place his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers as he looked at her without saying anything else.
Alexa could feel her nerves escalating. She couldn’t think of anything she might have done wrong, but she felt guilty nonetheless. That’s probably because of the erotic way you were thinking about him last night, Lexi. She pushed the errant voice in her head away, trying not to blush but failing miserably.
“Have I done something wrong, Mr. James?”
He smiled at her for the first time, and as the smile reached his eyes, she felt herself relax a little.
“I live in hope, Alexa.” She frowned a little as she tried to figure out what he meant, and he just grinned at her devilishly. What I wouldn’t give to have you do something wrong with me, he thought to himself. And one of these days, it might just happen, especially if I have anything to do with it. “Ignore me. It was just a private joke.” He gave her another reassuring smile and then sat back in his chair. “No, you haven’t done anything wrong. It’s quite the opposite, actually.”
“I’m not sure that I understand.” To say Alexa was confused would be an understatement.
Dawson laughed quietly. “I’m sorry. I’m being a little cryptic, aren’t I?” She gave a nod, but didn’t voice a reply because he didn’t really expect one. “I’ve called you up here because I need to discuss something with you. My personal assistant, Sheila, is going to be taking some time off work, which has left me with a little bit of a problem. I don’t have the time or the patience to advertise for and train a new assistant, whereas getting a new receptionist is much less of a hassle.”
“At the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I still don’t understand why you need to discuss it with me.” If anything, Alexa was even more confused now than she was at the start of their conversation.
“I don’t think you could ever sound like an idiot, not even if your life depended on it. But, I’m not making myself very clear, and for that I apologize.” He was probably not making himself clear because all he could seem to think about was bending her over his desk until she was incapable of standing on her own two feet.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Dawson. He had to remind himself that he was supposed to be discussing a new job opportunity for her, and not imagining all the things he wanted to do to her. For some reason, Alexa had got under his skin in a way that he wasn’t used to, and he had to almost physically push the instant attraction he felt towards her determinedly away. You’re not looking for a new plaything right now, remember? He’d almost forgotten that he’d decided to take a break from bedding every woman that caught his eye, and he fought the bubble of desire that curled in his belly.
“Mr. James?”
He was brought back to the here and now as Alexa spoke his name questioningly. “I’m so sorry. Where was I?” He didn’t even attempt to try and explain why he’d spaced out a little. It wasn’t in his nature to explain his actions to anybody, and he wasn’t about to start now. “Ah, yes, I was explaining about needing a new temporary personal assistant, wasn’t I? Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? I’ve heard nothing but good things about you and the way you work from numerous sources. I’ve also personally witnessed it firsthand. So I’ve decided that you’re going to stand in for Sheila, and I will advertise for another receptionist.”
To say that Alexa was dumbstruck was an understatement, and she wasn’t quite sure how to react. “I’m flattered that you’d consider me, but I’m not really sure that I’m qualified enough for that position, Mr. James.” There was also the little fact that she wasn’t sure if she could handle being in such close proximity to him day in and day out.
“Why don’t we let me be the judge of that? I know you’ve only been here for a week, but I really think that you’re up to the task. And in all honesty, Alexa, there really isn’t that much difference between what you’re already doing and what you’ll be doing for me. You will also be well compensated financially while you’re filling in for Sheila, so it’s a win-win situation, isn’t it?”
Alexa was nodding her head thoughtfully as she listened to him. She really didn’t have a valid argument against working for him, other than her own personal reasons. “I suppose it is, but I’m still going to be calling you Mr. James.”
They both laughed at her words and then Dawson’s expression grew more serious and businesslike. “Then that’s settled. Let me take you to Sheila’s office so that you can get settled in. She’s left plenty of notes for you to follow, and I’m sure that she’s included lists of where to find everything you may need. She also told me to tell you that if there’s anything you’re unsure of, then you can find her phone number in the top drawer of her desk and you can feel free to call her at any time.”
Dawson got to his feet with Alexa following suit. As he walked toward the door to what she assumed was Sheila’s adjoining office, she had to physically restrain herself from staring at his ass. As they entered the room, Alexa was struck by how different it was to the relatively small reception area where she’d been working for the last week. There were numerous bookshelves filled with box files and the usual stuff one would expect to find in an office, such as paper, pens, and ink for the printer. There were also three large filing cabinets and a mahogany desk in which the computer sat.
She’d been totally unaware of Dawson watching her with an intent expression on his face as she looked around. She had no idea how beautiful he actually found her, and if she could have read his thoughts, he was sure that she would have died from embarrassment. He was used to being surrounded by beautiful women who would fall over him with the eagerness to do whatever he wanted. However, their beauty was superficial, whereas Alexa’s was totally natural and more becoming and attractive to him. There was also the fact that she seemed totally oblivious that he was attracted to her. Moreover, she didn’t seem to be attracted to him in return, which made her even more appealing as far as he was concerned.
Alexa had been so engrossed in looking around her new surroundings that she jumped when Dawson spoke. “I’m going to leave you to it for now, but I’ll be calling periodically for you to take some notes or transcribe my dictations for letters that need to be sent out. There are a couple of things that you need to remember, and those are that you never let anyone come into my office without buzzing through to me first. The second and most important thing is that you always wear skirts to work. It would be absolutely criminal to cover those legs up with pants.”
She didn’t have time to respond, and in all truthfulness she wouldn’t have known how to anyway. She just stared after him as he disappeared through the door into his own office, wondering if she’d really heard what she thought he’d said or if her imagination had been playing tricks on her again. There is no way he could have said what you thought, Lexi. No way on earth.
Walking around to the other side of the desk, she sank down into the oversized office chair and pushed all thoughts of Dawson and what he may or may not have said out of her head. She looked around the office in disbelief, and wondered if it was some kind of record to be promoted after working for just one week. He’d told her that she’d be compensated financially, but actual figures hadn’t been discussed. Even so, Alexa was already thinking about the fact that she would be able to send money home to her parents every month so that some of their financial burdens could be eased.
&nbs
p; She read through the notes that Sheila had left for her and then turned on the computer, typing in the password that she’d found in the notes and opening up the files that Sheila had told her she would need to concentrate on first. To her relief, everything seemed to be straightforward enough, and she quickly settled down to work. There were a few telephone calls that she had to put through to Dawson, but other than that, she had no contact with him for the rest of the morning, much to her relief.
10
ALEXA DECIDED to eat lunch alone that day, and as she was eating, she sent a text message to Laura to let her know about what had happened.
‘I can’t believe it!’ She typed at the end of her message. ‘Who would have thought that a country girl like me would be a personal assistant to a billionaire?’
She had a reply from Laura within minutes. ‘Yeah, and to think that just a couple of weeks ago you were ready to throw in the towel and move back to the country. Aren’t you glad you listened to me now?’ Alexa could almost hear the smugness in her friend’s words. ‘You can thank me later. LOL!’
She was paying for the bill for her lunch when her phone dinged again to let her know that she had another text message. ‘Oh yeah, and don’t forget that now there is even more opportunity for you to jump your boss’ bones.’ Alexa didn’t even bother replying to that one. She just turned her phone off and made her way back to the office, trying desperately hard to not think about what Laura had said.
As she passed the reception desk, she made sure to say hello to the girl who now sat in her place before making her way up to her new office. She had just taken her coat off and sat down when she heard raised voices coming from Dawson’s office, and her ears pricked with curiosity even as she tried not to eavesdrop on what was being said.
“I don’t give a flying fuck, Robert. He can take his contract and shove it up his ass as far as I’m concerned. I made myself perfectly clear on my terms and conditions, and if he thinks he can try to bully me into changing my mind, then he can think again and take his business elsewhere.” To say that Dawson sounded more than just a little aggravated would have been an understatement, and Alexa couldn’t help but be curious as to what he was talking about.
She heard the muffled and quieter voice of another man talking, and from his tone she would guess that he was trying to calm Dawson down or talk him around. She heard the words ‘reasonable’ and ‘practical’ being used, but other than that she couldn’t make anything else out.
“So what exactly have I been paying you for?” It was obvious that whoever Robert was he hadn’t been successful in placating Dawson. In fact, it sounded as though he’d pissed him off even more. “How about we do this instead? How about I fire your sorry ass and you can go and work for them instead, because it is blatantly obvious that your loyalties do not lie with me or my company anymore, if they ever have.”
There was the sound of the man blisteringly trying to apologize or backpedal, but Dawson was having none of it. His mind had obviously been made up, and he wasn’t about to be swayed.
“Just get out, Robert, and take your farce of a contract with you. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on, and I wouldn’t give it to a homeless man to wipe his ass with.” Alexa cringed at how cold Dawson sounded, and even though she didn’t know the circumstances, she couldn’t help but feel more than a little sorry for whoever Robert was.
She jumped at the sound of Dawson’s office door being slammed, and then jumped again as the intercom system on her desk buzzed to let her know that Dawson needed to talk to her. “Yes, Mr. James?” She couldn’t help but sound nervous as she answered him.
“Come through please, Alexa. And bring a notepad with you.” He didn’t sound angry with her, but she could hear how tense he was, and she hurried to do his bidding, knocking timidly on the adjoining door.
“Come in.”
She walked into his office nervously and sat down in the chair opposite his at his desk with her notepad and pen poised at the ready. She’d never mastered shorthand, but she was confident enough in her own abilities to know that she could write fast enough to keep up with whatever it was he wanted dictated.
“I suppose you heard all that?” He looked at her in such a way that even attempting to lie wasn’t an option.
She nodded her head slowly before answering. “I did hear some of it, yes. But I don’t know what it was about, and it’s none of my business regardless.”
Dawson looked at her intently before saying anything else, and she had the distinct impression that he was trying to sum her up. “Well, whatever it was you did hear does not leave this office. There are enough rumors flying around this place without them being added to. Understood?”
“Yes, Mr. James.” She’d never been one to gossip, and she wasn’t about to start now.
Giving a decisive nod of his head, Dawson gave her one of his irresistible smiles and then turned the conversation to the business at hand. “Take this down, please.” For a split second, Alexa thought that he’d actually said, ‘Take your panties down, please,’ and her heart leapt into her throat in reaction as her eyes shot to him in surprise. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw that his head was tilted back and his eyes were closed in concentration.
Are you sure that’s relief? She ignored the voice in her head and started to write as Dawson dictated.
“It has come to my attention that the terms and conditions of our agreed contract are no longer agreeable to you. As per the clause in the said contract, I would like to remind you that any monies already spent on the project by my company are to be paid in full and forthwith by you should this contract be terminated by you for any reason, with no exceptions.”
The letter went on in much the same vein, outlining Dawson’s expectations and brutally stating the fact that if compensation was not made for wasted time, then further action would be taken by him and his company’s lawyers.
By the end of it, Alexa was starting to feel quite sorry for the recipient of the letter as well as even more curious as to what it had all been about. It was obvious that Dawson hadn’t gotten where he was in life by being a pushover, although without knowing the full details, it was hard
to judge whether he’d established his company by being a bully or not. Either way, she felt compelled to say something.
“Will you really take further action if they don’t pay up? I feel a little bit sorry for them, in all honesty. Maybe if you tried talking to them first you could get more out of them.”
As Dawson opened his eyes and looked at her with an incredulous expression on his face, she wished that she had kept her mouth shut. “For your information, Ms. Ryan, there have been plenty of discussions both before and during the duration of the contract, and the project in question. In fact, there have been numerous occasions when I could have taken further action already, but chose to give them the benefit of the doubt in the hope that they wouldn’t let me or my company down.” He glowered at her across the top of his desk. “Might I suggest that you keep your opinions to yourself in the future, at least until you are aware of all of the facts.”
Alexa felt absolutely mortified, and her expression showed it. “I’m sorry, Mr. James. I won’t let it happen again.”
Are you crazy? You could have just lost your job before it’s even properly begun, you idiot! She literally felt like crying, but she held the tears back.
Dawson felt something that he didn’t think he had ever felt before: contrite. She looked absolutely dejected at him telling her off and he reminded himself that she wasn’t like the other women he’d employed before her. She was green and naive and, as such, he should treat her with a little more gentleness than he had other employees.
Gentle? Since when have you ever been gentle with anyone? What the hell is so different about her that she’s making you question your own judgement? He wished he knew the answers to his own questions, because right now he was feeling so confused that he was getting pissed off at himself.
He gave a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, Alexa. I forget sometimes that you’re new to all this, and this business with the Grant Group has me really rattled. But it was unfair of me to take it out on you, at least without explaining a little about it all first.”
“This is your company. You don’t have to explain anything to me.” Alexa was feeling somewhat mollified by his apology, but the mere fact that he’d been right in what he’d said still gnawed at her. She was so used to always trying to think the best of people, and of trying to always be as kind as possible no matter what the situation, that she’d lost sight of the fact that she now worked in a cut-throat business world where deals were made and broken on a daily basis.
“I know I don’t have to, and I won’t go in depth, but I do want to at least give you the basic facts.” For some unknown reason, it was important to him that she didn’t think badly of him. “I requested multiple bids for a construction company to build a gym in an area of town that’s run-down and almost derelict. It’s an area where the crime rate involving teenagers is on the rise, and I thought that maybe if they had somewhere to go to channel their energy instead of being on the streets causing trouble, it could only be a good thing.” He wasn’t about to tell her exactly why this project meant so much to him on a personal level.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” Alexa was glad that he felt that he wanted to though.
“I know I don’t, but I’m going to at least give you the bare bones of the situation. The Grant Group submitted a bid along with floor plans and timelines of when the project could be expected to be completed. After further talks with them, I accepted their bid and my company paid them a percentage upfront. That was almost six months ago, and since then, it’s been one excuse after another as to why the only work that’s been carried out so far is the ground leveling.” He gave another frustrated sigh. “I really wanted the gym up and running by Christmas, because that’s when the kids get into the most trouble. But now, I’ll be lucky if it’s open by next summer, because I’ll have to put it out for bid all over again.”