by Jan Moran
“Interview, right,” he drawled, his posture loosening. “You can forget about the interview.”
“No, wait,” she pleaded. “Just give me a chance. I have a copy of my resume right here.” Courtney reached inside the case holding her iPad, dust flying when she pulled a paper out. “I don’t have extensive experience, but the experience I do have has prepared for me a job like this. I have a lot of energy and ideas. You won’t be disappointed.”
“You misunderstood. You can forget the interview because you’re hired. You start right now.”
Chapter 2
The business suit didn’t fit the woman. Well, it fit her, very well, but she was too damn cute to be wearing something so uptight.
Nah, cute wasn’t quite right. Despite the suit, the woman was downright adorable. Feisty as hell, too. Aiden liked that and right now, he needed it. That’s why he wasn’t about to tell her he was the jack-ass who had nearly run her down in the parking lot. Between trying to answer his phone and taking a steamy hot shower of coffee, he hadn’t seen her until the last second.
Of course, no one else was at the winery, so it wouldn’t take her long to put the pieces together. He’d apologize, he owed her that, but he wanted to see how she’d react once she figured it out. With any luck, she’d bring along more of that feisty attitude.
“What do you mean, I’m hired? You didn’t even interview me.”
It was a reasonable question and typical protocol, but desperate times and all that. If his human resources manager had arranged for a second interview, Aiden was willing to go on a little faith. “I trust Amber. What position did she interview you for?”
Her eyes widened and narrowed. She tried to keep a tight grip on her control, but the hand on her hip gave away the struggle. His sister stood like that when she was annoyed. “You don’t even know what you just hired me for?”
“I know what I hired you for, but I want to know what you interviewed for.” With most of his employees gone, he had a list of essential positions that needed to be filled immediately. The rest he would handle until the winery was in the black again.
“Marketing,” she said. “Would you like to look at my resume or do you want me to read it to you?”
Aiden held out his hand and accepted the offered resume. Courtney Daniels, lived right here in Lilac Ridge, an air force veteran. That explained her rigid posture and use of the word sir when addressing him. Her skills were impressive and she was right, not a lot of experience in marketing.
“The marketing position isn’t available at the moment,” he said, glancing over the paper.
“Oh.”
He glanced up to see her blinking back some emotions, but with a deep breath, the spitfire was back.
“What are you hiring me for?”
“Yesterday I fired most of my employees. I’m filling the essential positions first and right now, the most essential position is running the reception desk. Hours are ten to five, Tuesday through Saturday.”
“How could you fire most of your employees?”
“Did you know my father?” he asked.
Courtney shook her head. “I’ve only lived here a couple years. Between going to school, volunteering, and working, I didn’t have time for fancy dinners up here.”
He’d bet she couldn’t afford those fancy dinners either. That was one problem with this place, it was too high end for the locals. It catered to the rich patrons of their neighbor, the Hale resort. Aiden was determined to change that.
“The man liked to spend money but didn’t like to work for it. He cut corners. Most of the employees are in this country illegally, working for low wages. I also discovered employees in management positions had been skimming the books for years. I cleaned house.”
Her posture remained rigid, but she dropped the hand from her hip. “I understand you’re in a dilemma, but I applied for the marketing position. I’m overqualified to be a receptionist.”
“And you’re under-qualified to be in charge of marketing.”
Her eyes sparked with defiance. “That’s bull-shit.” Her eyes widened as if she surprised herself with the outburst, but she shook her head and kept right on going. “You hired me before you even looked at my resume. You had no intentions of offering me the marketing position, qualified or not.”
“As I said, I have to fill essential positions first. I need someone here,” he signaled to the mahogany reception area, one of his father’s many frivolous refurbishments when he’d inherited the winery fifteen years ago. “When things are running smoothly, maybe you can work your way into marketing, but for now, I’ll be handling that.”
She stood rigid as a statue, arms at her sides, feet together, but the tight line of her lips gave away the emotions she was trying to keep a lid on. Aiden found her intriguing. He was used to women who reacted with fierce angst when they didn’t get their way. His mother and sister were masters of the adult temper tantrum. This woman though, kept a tight hold on it. Aiden wondered what she’d look like when it got the best of her.
He also wondered what she’d look like if he kissed the angst right out of her.
The phone at the reception desk rang. She didn’t move, but something flashed in her eyes. She practically vibrated with the urge to answer it, but remained in this stand-off.
“Are you going to answer that?” he prompted.
With a huff that made Aiden chuckle, she moved around the desk and answered the phone. “Black Vines Winery, how may I help you?” She stared at him with that intriguing poker face. “Who’s calling please?” After a short smirk, she placed the caller on hold. “It’s your mother.”
“I’m not here. Take a message.” Aiden didn’t have the patience to deal with his Prima Donna mother right now. Before Courtney had a chance to ignore his request, he headed back down the hall to his office, another extravagance his father had dumped too much money into.
With a receptionist now in place, Aiden could focus on the next thing on his list, hiring a new kitchen staff. Maybe that would distract him from the adorable woman answering the phones.
~~~
Courtney huffed across the parking lot in another pair of ridiculous shoes she’d borrowed from her roommate, Cyn. Since her job involved sitting on her ass all day, the shoes weren’t going to be an issue so long as her new boss didn’t try to run her down in the parking lot again.
Something she intended to confront him about at the first opportunity.
The shoes were a necessary evil. She needed to stand up to Mr. Black today and to do that, she needed a little help in the height department. Courtney had never minded being vertically challenged, but men didn’t tend to take her seriously. That’s probably why she got shafted to the receptionist position.
She stepped with care onto the granite steps, noting his rusty black pick-up truck parked in the same spot as yesterday. Good, that meant he had to be in his office. She could call him out on his reckless driving yesterday and push her case for the marketing position.
At just after eight, she had plenty of time to plead her case. Showing up early would also show initiative. He said maybe she could work her way to the marketing position, so initiative was an important trait.
To her surprise the front door was unlocked. She stepped through the glass doors, her heels tapping on the marble floor. She tucked her bag into a drawer behind the reception desk and walked down the hall to Mr. Black’s office. Pushing her shoulders back and hitching her chin, she paused before reaching the open door, giving herself an internal pep talk before taking the remaining steps.
Ready for a fight, she stepped into the doorway. There he sat, in a white button-up shirt just like yesterday, except now with an extra button open. Reddish-blond chest hair invited her fingers to twirl around in it. Courtney fisted her eager hands, noting how relaxed the man looked leaning back in the plush desk chair, his head lolled to one side. “Mr. Black,” she whispered, not wanting to startle him.
When he didn’t respond, Co
urtney realized he was asleep. The fluttering in her heart and belly betrayed the fight in her soul. Her fingers twitched to smooth the crease in his brow, but she fisted her hands to tamp the urge.
He was her boss, not some mack-daddy she could put the moves on while he slept. No, that would be creepy, but putting the moves on a sleeping man was about all she could manage since she was so out of practice in the man game.
Plus, the boss was off limits. It was rule number two in her book.
As his employee, though, she could help the poor, exhausted man. Showing initiative would give her the upper hand in moving into the marketing position.
After slipping out of the shoes, she padded across the fancy runner. He still held a pen, though loosely, his arm outstretched and hand resting on a notepad.
There were two lists, one labeled kitchen staff, the other waitstaff. Each name in the list had a time next to it. He had to be interviewing potential new employees. The first interview was schedule for ten-fifteen. Courtney used her tablet to take a photo of the list and left the office without making a sound.
He had two hours before the first interview. Without knowing how long he’d been asleep, Courtney wanted to give him as much time as possible to rest, but he’d also need to eat. She headed to the kitchen, hoping to score at least eggs and bread.
The restaurant didn’t serve breakfast, so she didn’t find eggs, but she found the fixings for a BLT, so got to work frying the bacon and toasting four slices of bread.
If he worked all night, he probably didn’t eat dinner either. Given his size, two sandwiches was the minimum.
After slicing the tomato and some avocado, she mixed mayonnaise with a little curry powder for extra flavor. With the two sandwiches stacked on a plate, she pushed through the swinging doors and came up short against a solid mass of man.
“What are you doing?” he asked in that intimidating and disapproving voice.
Courtney stepped back, the plate — and sandwiches — crushed between her hands and chest.
“Breakfast, sandwiches, I mean, lunch,” she stammered, leaning forward to guide the sandwiches onto the plate and away from her breasts. She took a deep breath to gain her bearings. Courtney didn’t stammer, not ever, but it seemed when face to face with this man, she couldn’t grasp the English language. “I made you a couple sandwiches.”
“It’s only eight-thirty,” he pointed out.
“I know, but I couldn’t find eggs, so went with a BLT. You know, it has bacon. Men like bacon right? Morning, noon, and night?” Oh, shut up, Court.
“You aren’t scheduled to be here until ten,” he muttered as he glanced at his watch. “I’m not paying you overtime.”
Okay, so he wasn’t a morning person. She should have known that after yesterday’s interaction, but Courtney had chalked his attitude up to a frustrating day given the circumstances of the winery. Today, however, he was just being an ass.
“It’s customary to say thank you when someone makes you breakfast, lunch, whatever.” She held out the plate with the crushed offering.
His left eyebrow nearly reached his hairline, tugging the left corner of his mouth with it. Sexy and smug in equal measures. It shouldn’t have inspired any reaction from her body, but Courtney couldn’t stop the shiver racing up her spine.
When he didn’t make a move for the sandwiches, she stepped back. “Fine, if you don’t want them, I’ll wrap them up.”
“No, I, thank you,” he stammered, encouraging Courtney’s confidence to reemerge. “I’m starving. Thank you.”
He took the sandwiches, but just stood there, staring at her and squashing the little bit of self-confidence she grappled for. It wasn’t in her nature to unravel in front of a good-looking man, or any man, and especially not one who out-ranked her, so to speak. The way he looked at her, though, didn’t communicate boss to employee. She may have been out of the man game for a long time, but his expression thrummed with intent of the man to woman variety.
No, it had to be her imagination, solely because she’d been out of the game for so long and was a little — well, okay, a lot — lonely.
She didn’t have time for a man in her life, and no way could she go down that road with her boss. Not again. “I saw your notepad. You have interviews today?” she asked, putting the focus on work and not whatever was sparking between them.
“You were in my office?” he growled.
“I was. I brought my marketing portfolio to show you, but you were snoring.”
“So you snooped around my desk.”
“I didn’t snoop. I looked. If you have secrets, maybe you should lock the doors and not fall asleep at your desk.”
Annoyed with his attitude, Courtney pushed by, only to realize with her silent steps that she had left her shoes in his office.
“Stomping away would be more effective if you had these,” he teased.
Courtney spun around to find him holding her shoes. “If you knew I was in your office, why’d you ask?” she demanded. Based on the interactions she’d had with him yesterday, the man liked to play games, so she doubted he’d give her a straight up answer.
“I wanted to see if you’d lie about being in there. I need people here I can trust.”
“I wasn’t snooping,” she defended. “You were sleeping, I just wanted to see if there was something I could help with while you got some rest. Why are you laughing?”
His chuckling tapered off, but the amusement remained on his face. “You’re cute as hell when you get riled up.”
Cute? He just called her cute?
“You’re, I’m,” she sighed and focused on how inappropriate his comment was, not how it made toes curl. “You’re my boss. You can’t call me cute. I can sue you for sexual harassment.”
He laughed again. “You could, but you won’t. You’ll just tell me to shut the hell up instead.”
Courtney grabbed her shoes and slipped them on, bringing her almost eye-level with him. “You’re right. Shut the hell up and eat your sandwiches. I have work to do.” Then she stomped off, her heels echoing in the main foyer.
Aiden followed her to the reception desk, loving the way her ass swung with every stomp of those sexy shoes. He’d probably crossed a line telling her she was cute, but the words slipped before he could think better of it. He’d never had employees before and had worked with only a handful of women. Though search and rescue in the Rockies was comprised primarily of men, the women he’d worked with were tough as hell and knew their shit, but none of them could hold a candle to the receptionist who’d just gone from flustered to feisty in mere seconds.
He set the plate on the counter while Courtney ignored him. She booted the computer, her rigid posture warning him to stay away yet taunting him to cross that line again. When the computer was fired up, she turned on the tablet sitting on the desk and proceeded to type.
Trying to figure out a way to break through the icy exterior, or better yet, to rile her up some more, he tore into the sandwich and groaned when flavors exploded in his mouth. He’d expected a simple BLT, not something, so…gourmet.
“What the hell did you put in this?” he asked, inspecting the half he’d bitten into.
“Bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and mayonnaise seasoned with curry powder. Do you not like it?”
“It’s probably the best damned sandwich I’ve ever had. Curry, huh? I’ll have to remember that.”
A grin curved the mouth he hadn’t stopped thinking about since yesterday when she’d licked her lips. “Do you swear with every sentence you utter?”
He chewed through another chuckle before answering. “I don’t swear that often.”
“Yes, you do.”
“More grounds for a sexual harassment complaint?” he chided.
“Not from me, but if you’re hiring all new employees, there are bound to be some who won’t like it.”
As Courtney continued to type, he leaned over to find her making appointments on a calendar. Straining to see, he not
ed they were the job interviews he’d scheduled. He chuckled. The woman had initiative, that was for sure.
“Do you have someone else to help with these interviews?” she asked, not at all bothered by him looking over her shoulder.
“I can handle it,” he insisted.
“You have one every thirty minutes. When Amber interviewed me, I was there for almost an hour.”
Women liked to talk, that’s why Amber’s interview took so long. Aiden was a man of few words. He had key questions and trusted his intuition. It wouldn’t take long to make a decision about each of the applicants. “I’ve got it under control.”
“And the situation with your mother? Do you have that under control?”
The woman had gumption too, but he supposed he’d poked the sleeping bear when he called her cute. “What situation would that be?”
“She called twelve times yesterday, every half hour. She said she needs money and you need to call her as soon as possible. I got the impression she was going to show up here today.”
He laughed at that. Lucky for him, Vanessa Black was at her beach front condo in the Florida Keys. He hoped she stayed there until the winery was running smoothly again. “My mother won’t be showing up here,” he insisted.
“If I’m going to keep fielding calls, perhaps you can help me understand why you’re avoiding her.”
“My mother likes to spend money. It’s all she knows how to do. My father loved giving her money to spend. The two of them practically ran this business into the ground. She has my father’s life insurance now to live off. According to her, it was quite substantial, so she doesn’t need money from me.”
“She sounded desperate.”
“That’s her gift, don’t fall victim to it.” The last thing Aiden needed was an employee feeling sorry for his mother. “She doesn’t think I can run the winery, so she’s just calling to check up on things. If she had her way, she’d sell it. I won’t let that happen.” Thanks to tradition, his father had left the winery to the first-born, just as his father before him, and his father before him. Aiden was the fifth generation to have the honor and he was determined to bring it back to its former glory, to run it the way his grandfathers had.