This time, Janet listened. She swallowed and turned on her heel, walking slowly out of my office. I could hear her sobbing again, and I rolled my eyes before closing the door. I kept one eye on her through the glass walls of my office window as I reached for the phone and dialed the head of human resources.
“Hello?”
“Laura, this is James,” I said. “I’m going to need a new administrative assistant, immediately.”
“All right,” Laura said. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was frowning. “May I ask why?”
I sighed. “Janet’s unprofessional behavior is impeding her work,” I said. “And I don’t think she’s right for the job.”
“Okay,” Laura said. “You know, this is actually coming at a decent time – we had an ad running, and I’ve gotten some resumes this morning. I’ll comb through them and start having people in for interviews.”
“Great,” I said. I leaned forward and peered outside. Janet was sitting at her desk, sobbing. “And please, Laura, would you mind sending security over? We might have a problem with Janet refusing to leave the office.”
“Sure,” Laura said hesitantly. “And James?”
“Yes?”
“I assume there was no…” Laura trailed off and I rolled my eyes.
“No, there was no relationship outside of the office,” I said firmly. “Although I’m sure Janet would have had it otherwise.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” I said darkly. “Thanks again.”
We hung up and I leaned back in my chair, staring at my computer screen. I was angry with Janet, but I was angry with myself, too. Why hadn’t I seen the signs earlier? And what the hell was I doing to these women? It was like as soon as they saw me, they turned into idiots. Would I ever be able to find a decent, reliable secretary who didn’t want to sleep with me?
I just hoped Laura would stick to her promise and find me a perfect assistant.
After security had escorted Janet from the premises, I went out for a long walk. The weather outside was frigid and harsh, but I welcomed it. Suddenly, the idea of going back to the office was exhausting. I thought of the casserole that Anna had prepared for me, and my stomach began to rumble. I’ll deal with all of this next week, I thought as I hailed a cab. Everything will seem better then.
When I got home, I put Anna’s casserole in the oven. Soon, the apartment was filled with the delicious smell of beef and cream and cheese. It wasn’t the fancy cuisine I was used to, but a little comfort food after a long plane trip and an even longer day in the office was just what I needed. As soon as my food was ready, I made myself a big plate and curled up on the couch with a college basketball game in the background. It wasn’t long before the heavy, carbohydrate-filled food made me sleepy, and I wound up passing out right there.
I woke up to darkness. A plate of cold casserole was on my lap and the television was still going, although the game had changed to the late-night news. I groaned – for the first time, I was starting to feel jet-lagged. I barely hard enough energy to carry my plate into the kitchen and take a long shower before climbing back into my bed and falling into a deep sleep.
That weekend, I didn’t do very much. For once, I barely worked. I went out for drinks with Harry (and subsequently declined a strip-club visit afterwards,) and ran in the park, determined to work off all the heavy food I’d eaten abroad. I got an email from Laura – she’d hired a woman to work as my new assistant – and after that, some of my anger dealing with Janet began to lift. I’d make sure that this one was different, I’d make sure not to fuck up. I’d be sure to avoid all comments that could be construed as even slightly flirtatious, and I’d be sure to watch for the tell-tale signs of what Harry had jokingly called The Crush Problem.
And if it happened again, well, I wasn’t sure what I could do aside from requesting a geriatric to be put on my desk. After all the work I’d done for my company in London, the last thing I wanted was a sexual harassment lawsuit staring me down. If I was going to expand Magnate Group to make an international presence, I couldn’t have a single stain on my reputation as CEO.
When Monday rolled around, I was feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work. There was bad traffic that morning, and I walked into the offices just in time to make a nine-thirty meeting with Mark, my primary shareholder. He was waiting for me in the conference room with a cup of coffee.
“Great new girl you have,” Mark said.
“Good,” I said. “I haven’t actually met her yet, I just got here.”
Mark smirked. “I have a feeling you’re going to like her a lot,” he replied. “Now, let’s talk about that Seoul office.”
Mark opened his briefcase and handed me a folio of paperwork. “Take a look at this and let me know,” he said. “I know it seems small, but we’re hoping to expand over the next five years. There’s a plan included with the blueprints.”
I nodded and looked down. The plans for an office were modest but ambitious, and I liked the modern, clean look.
“We need to get a few big tech clients on board,” I said. “That’s the only way we’re going to be taken seriously there. So much of their economy depends on technology development.”
“Yes,” Mark said. He gave me a rare smile. “You did great work in London, James,” he said. “I’m sure your father would have been proud.”
I smiled tightly. Thinking of my father never put me at ease. “Yes, well, I’m glad to be home,” I said, glancing out the window.
Mark got to his feet and closed his briefcase. “I apologize for cutting this short, but I have a doctor’s appointment,” he said. “Why not look over the Seoul paperwork and get back to me by the end of the week – no, wait, after the holiday is fine. I can get the others on board if it’s something you’re interested in.”
We shook hands and I saw him to the elevators before walking to my office. Sure enough, a new girl was sitting at the desk by my office. From behind, I saw that her brown hair was piled into an elegant knot.
“Hello,” I said. I smirked. I knew that I’d made myself a promise, but a little looking couldn’t hurt – from the back, this girl had a dynamite figure.
The girl turned around and stood up. My heart leapt into my throat at the familiar sight of her brilliant green eyes and the light smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
It was Beth.
When she saw me, she shrieked. The cup of coffee she’d been holding crashed to the floor, burning her bare shins. Beth screamed again, this time presumably from the pain, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she crumpled gracefully to the floor.
Chapter Five
Hanna
I recognized him instantly. The tanned skin, the unruly dark hair.
And those eyes that made me feel like I’d stepped into the middle of a fantasy novel.
But my amazement only lasted a millisecond before the pain started. Hot, intense burning that spread from my lap to my thighs and my knees before I could even scream. Leaping out of my chair, I grabbed the edge of the desk and howled in agony.
Jack rushed forward. “Beth? Oh my god,” he said quickly, taking me in his arms as my legs buckled below me.
I couldn’t believe it. I’d found him again – against all odds, I’d found Jack. The realization of my discovery – not to mention the intense burning pain on my legs – was enough to make my eyes roll back in my head and I passed out.
I was barely aware of Jack carrying me outside of the office, into the elevator, and into the cold, Boston street. Snow was blowing wildly through the air as Jack waved his hand and shouted for a cab. When a yellow cab pulled up, Jack flung open the backseat door and carried me inside. He barked the name of the nearest hospital and cradled me in his arms as the car pulled away.
“So,” Jack said weakly. “We meet again, I see.”
I flushed hotly. The pain was becoming unbearable, even worse than it had been before, and when I closed my eyes, I saw stars. I was afraid to look
down at my legs – the coffee had soaked through my skirt and tights, and I didn’t want to see the damage.
“You’re going to be okay,” Jack said. He took my hand in his. Despite the pain and the shock, a little electric pulse leapt from Jack’s body to mine when he squeezed my fingers with his own.
“I hope so,” I muttered.
“So, you’re my new secretary?” Jack smirked. “How did you manage that?”
“I frowned. “When I was interviewed, they said I’d be working for someone named James West.”
Jack cleared his throat. “About that,” he said slowly.
Suddenly, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Jack was James West. He’d lied about his name – just like I’d done.
“You’re James,” I said slowly. “James West…the richest man in Boston.” I stared at him for a long moment, wondering how I was ever going to get used to replacing the Jack in my head with the James that was sitting beside me, holding me tight.
“I am,” James said. He coughed.
“So, you lied about your name,” I said softly. The pain in my lap was still throbbing, but pushing it aside was easier now that I had James’s gorgeous face to focus on. If anything, he looked even hotter than he had when we’d met the previous year.
“I did,” James said in a matter-of-fact voice. “And I think you can guess why.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Not really,” I said, wondering how I was going to confess to the same “crime.” “Why?”
“Because, if you’d recognized me, well…” James trailed off. He took his hand from mine and ran it through his unruly dark hair and sighed. “I didn’t want you to like me for my money, Beth.”
I cringed.
“What?” James narrowed his eyes. “I think you can understand that.”
I did understand – of course, I did. But I wasn’t able to face him and tell him that I’d made the same lie…albeit for a terrible, selfish reason.
Before I could open my mouth, the cab pulled up to the hospital. James reached into his back pocket and pulled out his leather wallet, flipping it open and handing the driver a wad of cash that looked like far too much for our short cab trip.
“Come on,” James said. He climbed out of the cab and scooped me into his arms.
“I can walk,” I protested, squirming in his arms and trying to free myself. But James held on tightly, and I relaxed against his muscular chest as he carried me into the Emergency Room entrance.
As soon as we were inside, James flagged down a nurse. “Excuse me,” he said with a charming smile. “My friend here – she’s badly burned.”
The nurse took one look at James’s handsome face, lingering on his sculpted features for what felt like ages before turning her attention to me. With a meek expression, I pointed to my lap.
“I dropped coffee,” I said softly.
The nurse rolled her eyes and I felt a flicker of annoyance. But to my surprise, she didn’t send us to wait in the hellish, crowded room filled with coughing, bleeding people. The nurse jerked her head to the side and led us down a long hallway, into a large room with beds partitioned off with curtains and mesh sheets.
“Wait here,” she said. “The doctor will be with you shortly.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said. The nurse drew the curtain between James and myself, leaving us alone.
“What were you going to tell me in the car?” James asked, cocking his head to the side. “In the car. Before we got here.”
I sighed. I knew it was now or never – I couldn’t expect him to go on thinking my name was really Beth forever, especially not now that I was technically his employee. But I knew this would be the end of anything between us. James wouldn’t want to be involved with a woman who lied…even if it was about something as innocuous as my name.
“Tell me,” James urged. “Come on,” he added with a smirk as he reached for my hand again. “I bet we’ll only be here for an hour before the doctor shows up.”
I flushed hotly. It’s now or never, I told myself. And if he doesn’t like me anymore, well, then, I probably deserve it.
“It’s my name,” I said slowly. “It’s not really Beth.”
James’s jaw dropped and he gave me a strange look. “You’re kidding,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“I wish,” I said lamely.
“So,” James asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. “Why? Are you some secret billionaire, too, wanting to protect yourself from gold-digging men?”
I flushed. “No. Sorry to disappoint,” I added, still feeling lame. “I shouldn’t have done it – I regretted it as soon as the words were out of my mouth.”
“Why, then?”
“Because,” I said softly. “That party, where we met? Well, I wasn’t invited. In fact, I wasn’t even a part of the wedding. My friend Danielle was a bridesmaid, and she convinced me to come along with her at the last second, since it wasn’t like I’d need to pay for a hotel room on my own.”
“So, you gatecrashed a party?” James smirked.
“I did,” I said, feeling profoundly embarrassed and childish. “And I had a feeling that if you knew, well, I don’t know – I guess I thought it would make you think I didn’t deserve to be there.”
To my surprise, James burst out laughing.
“What?” I asked nervously. “What is it?”
“That’s great,” James said, shaking his head. “And trust me – most of those people shouldn’t have been there, either. You saw the jerks who were trying to fuck your friend. It was a nightmare. I’m glad I met you.”
I blinked. “You mean…you’re not angry?”
“No,” James said. “God, no! Why would I be? I found you again, didn’t I?” He gave me a triumphant smirk. Inside my chest, I felt my heart begin to melt.
Before I could reply, the mesh curtain was abruptly yanked back. A young doctor stood there in green scrubs, blinking down at a chart.
“Miss…?”
“Hanna,” I said, glancing over at James. I couldn’t help flushing – it was the first time I’d said my real name around him. “Hanna Parker.”
“And what seems to be the trouble?”
Wincing, I shifted and pointed to my lap. “I spilled coffee.”
The doctor nodded. “I see,” he said, even though he still hadn’t taken his eyes away from his clipboard. “And this is your…?”
“Friend.”
“Boss.”
James and I spoke at the same time and I looked up at him in confusion.
The doctor frowned. “Well, whoever he is, I have to ask him to leave.” The doctor passed me a worn cloth gown. “Please change and I’ll be with you shortly.” He tucked his pen behind his ear and left the small stall.
“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” James said. “I don’t want anyone making you uncomfortable.”
I didn’t reply.
“But I can also go to the waiting room, if you’d rather I go there, instead,” James continued. When I didn’t answer, he took my chin in his fingers and tilted my head up so that I was staring into his dark eyes. “Hanna?”
I sighed.
“What is it? Are you in too much pain?”
I bit my lip and shook my head, freeing myself of James’s grip. “No,” I said softly. “It’s not that.”
“What is it, then?”
I sighed. There was no way I could tell James how I was really feeling – how I felt like the world’s biggest idiot, all because of my lie. The whole time, I thought I’d been clever by using a fake name. But now, knowing that James didn’t even care, just made me feel like the butt of my own joke. He wasn’t even angry!
“Nothing,” I lied. “You can just leave, James. It’s okay. You should be getting back to work, anyway.”
James frowned. “Hanna, I’m not leaving you,” he said. “You hurt yourself!”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, glancing down at my stained skirt. “It’s okay.”
James sighed. “Fine,”
he said. “If that’s what you want, then I’ll go.” He looked at me for a long moment. “Is that what you want?”
No, I thought immediately. No, it’s not what I want at all. But I mustered the courage to look James in the eye and nod slowly. James shrugged, then turned on his heel and walked out of the small curtained-in room.
As soon as he was gone, I regretted it. I wished I hadn’t acted like that – but then again, how the hell was I supposed to act? Seeing Jack – I mean, James – had brought such a confusing flood of emotion over me that I had no idea how to deal with it. I’d thought about him, almost constantly, for almost a whole year now. And now that we’ve encountered each other again, it felt like no time had passed at all…but it also didn’t feel the same as it had in Jamaica. We weren’t on vacation, anymore, we were just two regular, ordinary people.
And as much as I still wanted him, there was no way I’d risk my new position just for another hot, steamy night in bed with James West. Sure, thinking about it made me shudder with desire and lust…but I wasn’t that kind of girl. I wasn’t like Danielle, I wasn’t ready to risk my position in the world just for a little fun with a hot guy. And James West wasn’t just any hot guy, either – he was easily one of the wealthiest men in the country. Not to mention, one of the most gorgeous. And funny, and kind…
The Xmas Conquest Page 4