by Kelli Walker
“Sounds interesting. Does that mean we try to sleep again or stay up all night to try and acclimate to the time change?” she asked.
“I personally stay up. Whatever works for you is fine so long as you’re ready by ten the next morning for our first meeting.”
“Then it sounds like another cat nap will eventually happen for me.”
“A business.”
“Hmm?” she asked.
“In your interview, you mentioned wanting to start your own business.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Kenneth.”
“Sorry. But yes, I do eventually want to open my own business.”
“Do you have a business plan?” I asked.
“Are you going to want to look at it if I say ‘yes’?” she asked.
I grinned as I shut my laptop, stowing away the papers between the folds of the screen and the keyboard.
“What draws you to the health and wellness world, Miss Graves?”
“Tiffany,” she said. “And I guess I’ve always enjoyed the world, as you put it. I’ve always been conscious about what goes into my body and what happens to it. I believe in pushing the body hard, but I also believe in treating it right. The issue I find is that treating the body right gets expensive, and I don’t think it has to be that way.”
“That’s a noble issue, Tiffany.”
I enjoyed the way her name slipped off my tongue.
“I want to build a safe haven in Miami,” she said.
“A safe haven.”
“Yes. For those struggling. There’s this misconception in the health and wellness world that treating the body only comes after the hard work. But sometimes, treating the body right is all someone needs to motivate them to be better.”
“Millennials call it ‘self-care’,” I said.
“I call it ‘a personal right’.”
She spat the phrase. Like it disgusted her. I knew there was a backstory there, but I didn’t want to press it. I didn’t feel like it was my place, though I was curious. Tiffany’s eyes were gazing out the window and her stare looked far-off. Like her memories had ripped her back to a place she didn’t want to be.
“I think what you want to do is noble,” I said.
“Which is a fancy world for ‘impossible’.”
I narrowed my eyes at her and she sighed.
“Sorry, Mr. Web-”
“Kenneth,” I said.
“I’m sorry, Kenneth. It’s just… it’s a personal subject for me.”
“Most people who begin their own business endeavors do it from a personal place.”
“I know what happens when someone doesn’t want to treat themselves right,” she said. “I know the toll it takes on someone when they continuously batter their body with things that aren’t good for them.”
I leaned back into my chair and crossed my leg over my knee.
“My father, he-”
She swallowed thickly and I braced myself for whatever she wanted to share. It looked like she needed to talk, and anything would distract me from the smooth skin still peeking out at me from beyond her untucked shirt.
“He drank a lot,” she said.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was the only release he could afford. I tried convincing him to seek out other ways to cope with things. Talking to someone. Massages. Getting a weekly facial. Even treating himself to a simple smoothie to get him out of the house. But he didn’t want me touching him and every other avenue was so expensive he couldn’t afford it. Beer was cheap, worked quickly, and helped him get to sleep at night. People call things like massages and facials luxuries, but they’re not. They’re ways for people to take care of themselves. And people never reach out for them until they’re in a bad place. Like church.”
“Church,” I said.
“Yeah. The world turns upside down and people flock to churches for something more. Something greater. They find peace there. Solace. That’s why they stay. Because being in a common group environment gives them an outlet that drinking alone or doing drugs can’t. I want to fuse those two principals. Affordable ‘luxuries’ with that common sense of finding a group of people someone can be comfortable with.”
“Like a bathhouse,” I said.
“A what?”
“You’re in the health and wellness industry and you don’t know what a bathhouse is?” I asked. “They were popular in Europe with royalty.”
“You mean the places with massive hot tubs and group saunas and things like that?”
“Those are the places, yes. I don’t necessarily want to create a place like that, but I want to harness that sense of community. And I want to do it in areas that thrive off that community. But most of those kinds of areas are poorer. Places in Miami that live off less than fifty thousand a year.”
“I admire your want to mix business and outreach,” I said. “That’s the new wave of how people do business.”
“You can blame the millennials for that too,” she said with a grin.
“I never said it was a bad thing. That’s simply how it is. That’s how the business world is pivoting. And if people can’t keep up, they’ll go out of business.”
“Is that what you’re wanting to do in Switzerland? Mix business and outreach somehow?”
“I’m still in the beginning stages of what I’m wanting to do with Casual Recreations. Eventually, yes. I want to tackle that world. But right now I have to get us out of some terrible contracts that have hurt us financially over the past decade and renegotiate them under new terms with updated supplies. This type of industry changes on a dime with fads and influences. I’ve handpicked some of the fads that have stuck around for the past two years and I want to jump on the bandwagon of a few that have emerged in the past couple of months.”
“Sounds like a lot to tackle in one week.”
“It is,” I said. “But we can do it.”
“Yes, Kenneth. We can.”
I bit back a groan at the sound of my name falling from her lips. Fuck. It was a gorgeous sound. I looked over at her and found her smiling at me. The smallest grin that tugged at her pillowy lips. She had a good heart. A strong mind. Personal ties to her beliefs and why she wanted to do what she wanted to do with her business. I admired that. She was strong-willed.
“If you don’t mind a few suggestions, there are things already coming to mind,” I said.
“Shoot,” she said.
“One thing spas of any sort don’t have is a community day. A day where they open and offer services that bring people together. You could do a Friday or Saturday night event where services are half-priced and there’s drinks for people to enjoy. They can come and get pampered with their girlfriends, have a good time. It would help you establish a customer base in the beginning. But what will really set you apart is having a place for the guys as well. Spas are very female-centric. Which is fine, because the market is dominated by female customers. But men are emerging and taking care of themselves, but don’t have a place to go. Having a place for men to go and get pampered as well will really set you apart.”
Tiffany was the type of business person I wanted to help. Someone with a deep sense of ethical and moral duty to their community. That was why I’d gotten into the company-flipping industry in the first place. I went into towns and areas that were failing and helped revive their greatest assets. It put cities back on the map, paved the way for more jobs, and people flourished. Families flourished. Which breathed new life back into towns across the country. I’d take a measly ten or twelve percent of all their future profits to fund my efforts, and I got to single-handedly piece cities back together and give them hope.
But Tiffany didn’t respond to any of my suggestions. Instead, all she did was nod.
I could see a sort of worry in her eyes, and I figured it was about the business trip. She’d never been out of the country and now she was flying halfway across the world on a private jet. I reached for my laptop and opened it, then gr
abbed the papers I’d stowed away before they fluttered to the floor.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “The trip won’t be as hefty as you think. You being new to the job won’t hinder you during something like this.”
“I know,” Tiffany said, “And I’m not.”
Then her stare grew far-off again.
I admired her resolve and her want to put up a strong facade, but I knew something was bothering her. Did she not like my suggestions? She could've told me to stop. It wouldn't have been an issue. I figured we were having a friendly discussion, but maybe she still saw me as simply her boss.
Or, maybe she was distracted by something.
That I couldn't afford. This was a big week and I needed her attention where it counted, taking notes and at my side. The week was going to pass by quickly and there were eleven meetings in the six-day period we were slated for in Zurich. This type of workload required a great deal of attention and energy, and I couldn't have her gazing out a window while all of us talked around her. It would look bad on me and it would cause her to lose pieces of information I needed her recording in the minutes for each meeting.
Maybe I needed to get her a recording device in case she did zone out.
I watched her for a few seconds as she gazed out the window, her body growing slack against the chair. If she was aware of me staring at her, she made no show of it. Tiffany was in her own little world. Lost in her thoughts. Unfocused in her actions.
She was distracted.
And I hoped I hadn’t made a mistake in hiring someone that was easily distracted.
Tiffany
My eyes stared out the window of the private car that was driving us to the hotel. Switzerland was beautiful. All of the old architecture was breathtaking, and the water that ran straight through the city was incredible. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
The car pulled up to the hotel and I immediately got out. I grabbed my things out of the trunk and walked alongside Kenneth as we made our way into the hotel. He was in the penthouse suite, and I made sure every possible amenity had been made available for him. Crystal glasses for his evening alcohol if he took any. A specialized menu reserved specifically for him. The option to indulge in necessary spa luxuries if that was something that interested him. I had no idea how to go about planning an entire week in Switzerland for one of his business trips, so I figured shooting broadly was the best choice.
I, however, was a couple of levels below him. In a hotel suite with a miniature kitchen. I didn’t plan on doing a lot of dining out on the company’s dime. That wasn’t the first impression I wanted to make. So I planned on picking up some groceries in town before trying to get some rest for the evening. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay up for thirty six hours before sleeping, so a quick grocery run would help me walk off some energy before taking a shower and trying to rest.
“You know you could’ve simply stayed in one of the extra bedrooms the penthouse here has,” Kenneth said.
My eyebrows rose to my hairline as I craned my neck up to view him.
“I’m sure that wouldn’t look well on you as the new CEO of a company,” I said.
“It’s more commonplace than you think. Penthouses in hotels are usually sectioned off. You would’ve had your own place behind a closed door.”
“But I’m your secretary.”
He shrugged, like that didn’t mean something to him.
The elevator let me off at my floor and I scurried into the hallway. It was getting a little too hot standing beside my boss in there. I was on a mission. I needed to get more information out of him. Not cozy up to him.
“Tiffany?”
“Yes?” I asked as I turned around.
“Come up when you’re finished settling in. There are a few things I want to go over for the coming days.”
“I’ll be up there in a bit.”
So much for grocery shopping.
I unlocked my door and pushed into the lavish room. My eyes widened and my bag fell from my hand. It was gorgeous. The room I’d booked myself was incredible. A balcony view that overlooked the lights of Zurich and had a wonderful water view of the river that ran through the city. The furniture was plush and the small kitchen still had stainless steel appliances. I found my way into the bedroom and gaped at the four-poster California king-sized bed.
Even the sheets looked expensive.
I really hoped the company didn’t think I was taking advantage of them.
I dropped my things and strode to the bathroom. And even that was too much. A massive walk-in shower as well as a jetted tub awaited me and I groaned. It was beautiful. More than I would’ve ever booked for myself on a trip like this. I splashed some water in my face and closed my eyes, trying to shake the jet flight from my veins.
But I couldn't.
I was painfully aware of how Kenneth had been staring at me. And I hated myself for enjoying it. Kenneth was a very attractive man. In his tailored suits, he looked powerful. Professional. Intelligent. And his stoic blue eyes shook my knees. More than once, I’d imagined what it might’ve felt like to have his thick hands on my hips. I blotted my face off with the softest towel I’d ever felt and sighed into the fabric.
I was on a mission to get information from him. Not fawn over how attractive the man was.
I changed into clothes I hadn’t been wearing for ten hours, then headed for the penthouse suite. And when the elevator door opened directly into his hotel room, I was stunned to my spot. I barely had the energy to step out of the confines of the elevator. There Kenneth was, with his suit jacket tossed over the couch and his suspenders swaying at his thighs, eyeing the beautiful lights of Zurich. They twinkled, framing his body in an aura I couldn't stop staring at.
Then, I caught sight of his muscles.
I watched him bring a crystal glass to his lips as his shoulders flexed. The cascade of movement down his back was clearly seen through the fabric of the shirt he was wearing. Thick pads of muscles that pulsed underneath silken fabrics. His broad shoulders tapered quickly into a thick waist that slid into strong, powerful thighs. His hands dwarfed the glass he was holding, and with each movement he took his ass flexed in ways that drew my eyes straight to it.
“Are you thirsty?” Kenneth asked.
His baritone notes ripped me from my trance and I nodded. Then I felt stupid because he couldn't see me. I cleared my throat and took a few steps into the room, walking down the two stairs the penthouse had in order to walk past the furniture.
“Sure,” I said against my better judgement. “I’ll take one.”
His body turned to face me and I held my breath. The shadows of the darkened suite played off his sharp features. The lights of Zurich twinkled in his deep blue eyes and his dark brown hair glistened with the beauty of the city below us. He set his drink down and moved past me with grace, his shoes clacking against the hardwood floor. I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to settle the slamming of my heart against my chest.
“Here,” he said. “It’ll take the edge off the jet lag.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Tomorrow we have our first meeting at ten. Then another one straight after that at one. So make sure to eat yourself a decent lunch. We’ll go out for an early dinner after that last meeting.”
“I figured I’d go by the store and get some things to stock my kitchen with,” I said.
“Nonsense. We’ll eat out. There are plenty of places to eat that will provide better food than your miniature kitchen or the room service this hotel has to offer.”
“Are you sure? I could save the company money by-”
“It’s not your job to save the company money,” he said. “It’s not anyone’s job. My job, however, is to make sure this company makes money. We’re going out to eat for dinner after the meeting tomorrow.”
“Okay then,” I said.
“Wednesday only has one meeting, but it’s early. Eight. And it’ll go at least three hours. That’s one of the two bi
g ones, so it’s important you’re alert and ready for anything during that meeting.”
“I can do that.”
“Then Thursday is a day we’re taking to ourselves. No meetings, so it’ll give us time to both prep for Friday and Saturday’s meetings. Then, we jet off late Saturday night to get back in just before sunrise on Sunday.”
“Will we have any time Thursday to explore the city some?”
His eyes panned over to mine and held my gaze.
It robbed me of the breath in my lungs, the way he was looking at me.
“If you want time to explore the city, that can be arranged,” Kenneth said.
“I just promised a friend of mine from the office I’d do a couple of things if I got some time to.”
“Then I’ll make sure you keep your promises. Those are important. But is there a reason why you’re not writing any of this down?”
I felt the blood drain from my face as I took a sip of my drink. Shit. I hadn’t come prepared to take notes.
“I’m so sorry. It must’ve left my mind to bring something.”
“Why would you come up to my suite knowing we would be talking about our coming week without something to write on?” he asked.
“There’s no excuse,” I said. “I’ll make sure to go down and stick something in my purse before I go to bed tonight. That way I won’t be caught without it again.”
“That didn’t answer my question,” he said.
I took another long pull of my drink as my eyes rose to meet his.
“Jet lag, I suppose then,” I said.
“No,” he said as he set his drink down. “I don’t think that’s the reason you forgot.”
“Oh really? Then why do you think I forgot?”
I was curious as to how well he obviously thought he knew me.
His eyes flickered down to my lips and I felt my body instantly heat. Throb with a desire that had been unfulfilled in years. Oh. Uh oh. No, that wasn’t the reason I’d forgotten. I was being rushed. I was tired. I was in a new country for the first time. I was taken aback by how lovely my room was. I needed a decent shower. I wasn’t in my boss’s hotel room for any other reason than the fact that he’d asked me to be here. So we could talk about the week. Discuss work.