by Fiona Miers
“Of course, now the time for today was?”
The rest of the conversation passed and Emily got back to her work. Her gut had tightened in a sign of bad things to come, and she trusted her instincts more than anything.
****
“Hello, I’m Martine, Mr. Johnson’s Executive Assistant.”
Emily held out her hand and tried not to let her eyes roam over the beautiful woman in front of her. It was rude and she hated it when people did it to her, but Martine was gorgeous. She was the same woman who’d been in the red dress on Saturday night, but in her corporate attire she was even more breathtaking than in formal wear.
Her minimal makeup accentuated her flawless skin and huge eyes, while the designer black skirt and suit jacket accentuated her femininity without making her sexually aggressive. An amazing ensemble and one Emily wished she could emulate.
“It’s nice to see you again, Martine. I’m Emily Sanders.”
“Thank you so much for coming in on such short notice. Emily. Please take a seat.”
Emily sat on the black leather chair facing Martine and glanced around the small room. Whose assistant had her own office? Or was she more than just an E.A?
“I’ll get straight to the point, Emily. We need a new solicitor for our team and we would like you to join us in representing our company. You were highly recommended and with our constant expansion, we always need good corporate solicitors on our side.”
Emily blinked in confusion and waited for all the words to sink in. Working for Nathan Johnson? Really?
“That is a huge compliment, thank you, but who recommended me?”
“Cindy from Eleanor’s House.”
Emily blinked again. That was lovely of her, but a little unexpected. Or was it? Cindy said she’d fix the problem of her working at the center, but she hadn’t expected more corporate work from it. “I’ll have to remember to thank her. There are so many amazing solicitors who work at Eleanor’s House.”
Actually, there were a couple that rotated around. Emily was the only one who’d worked there with any regularity over the past two years.
“Emily, you are a stand-out in both of your jobs and that’s why we’re offering you our new accounts section.”
Emily sat up straighter in her chair, feeling under-briefed and ill-prepared. She hardly knew anything about Nathan Johnson’s company and as she wiggled in her chair, she felt unworthy of the praise being heaped on her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t quite understand. On Saturday night Nate literally told me he didn’t want me working at Eleanor’s House at all, and now he wants me working here?”
Martine smiled at her, the gesture lighting up her already pretty face.
“I do all the hiring in our company and I believe you are perfect for the position. As far as Eleanor’s House is concerned, you’ll need to sort it out with Mr. Johnson and Cindy.”
Emily nodded once.
Message received loud and clear.
Nate wasn’t the one hiring her and she still needed to deal with the issue of her “inexperience” with the boss man.
Time to get down to business.
“What sort of hours would you require of me? I’m pretty flat out at the moment, but of course I’d love to take you on as a client if it is possible.”
She took out her daily planner and notebook, her head spinning with the speed at which this was happening. But behind the panic there was a lot of happiness building. This would be the first client she’d independently brought into the firm and her supervisor would be delighted. Climbing the corporate ladder was hard, especially for a woman, and any help she got along the way was a bonus.
An abrupt knock sounded on the door and then it opened. She turned towards the intruder, a dark haired man stepping into the small space of Martine’s office.
Emily’s pulse quickened as her eyes took in the tailored suit, strong, straight back and intense blue eyes of the one she’d called Nate.
“Mr. Johnson, it’s nice to see you again.”
His head turned towards her, his gaze like flint as his mouth thinned into a straight line. “Emily.”
She raised her eyebrows as she stood up and faced him. Really?
“Oh, are we on a first name basis again, Mr. Johnson?”
Be careful! You still need to ask him not to fire you from Eleanor’s House.
“I don’t see why not, Emily.”
She crossed her arms and lifted a hand, tapping her finger against her lip as heat bubbled in her belly. She shouldn’t goad him—she knew she shouldn’t—but he was standing there all cold and perfect and a part of her wanted to reach out and pull his pristine blue tie off center.
“Well, I do see a couple of reasons why not. I’m confused as to whom I am speaking, for starters. Are you Nathan at the moment? Or Mr. Johnson? Because I’m pretty sure Nate hasn’t appeared again?”
Martine cleared her throat and Emily unlocked her gaze, glancing back towards her.
Shit, I totally forgot she was still in the room.
Martine’s gaze dropped down at her feet and began edging towards the door. “I’m going to pop out to the copier for a moment. I left the contracts there. Be back in a minute.”
She shuffled out of the room and Emily went back to glaring at the man she’d soon call her boss. Lightning blue shot through his once cold eyes as electricity crackled in the air.
Emily broke off her stare to pick up her bag and rustle through it. She’d been carrying the stupid thing for days. She yanked open the side pocket and pulled out the safety pin she’d carefully tucked away. The metal was cold in her fingertips as she held it out to him.
“Here you go.”
Nathan stared at her hand for a moment and then a grin broke out on his face like the sun emerging from a storm cloud, the darkness dissipating for pure light and beauty to emerge.
Her hand trembled as the anger drained from her body. He’d changed back into the man she’d met in the foyer. Nate.
Crap.
He reached into his own pocket and pulled out another, identical safety pin.
“Got one, thanks. You should keep that one in case of emergencies.”
A smile quivered on her mouth and she licked her lips while palming the safety pin and tucking it back into her bag.
“Why on earth would you carry a safety pin around in your pocket all the time?”
Darkness crossed over his face like the shadow of death in biblical times, and her belly clenched tight in fear of what he was about to say. Then his eyes cleared and he cocked his head at her with a cheeky grin.
“You never know when a damsel in distress will need saving.”
She couldn’t stop the giggle that emerged. If he hadn’t stepped on her dress, she wouldn’t have needed saving, of course, but that was not a line of conversation she wanted to pursue at the moment. She wanted to know more about him.
“Oh, and you’re the man for the job, is that right? You really do have a knight in shining armor complex, don’t you?”
He turned his head away and a muscle ticked in his jaw, her arrow obviously finding a target in him. It made perfect sense if Cindy and Kristy were right about him. Why the cold businessman exterior, then?
When he finally looked back at her for a moment, something twisted inside her chest, making her gasp and glance at the dark carpet.
Martine bustled back in, her slight figure making quite an impact in the small room. “So, did you have time to speak about the terms of the contract?”
“Contract?”
“For your employment.”
Emily opened her mouth to rebut the assumption being made, but there really wasn’t anything to discuss. She couldn’t turn down a client of this magnitude and since they’d already gone to the senior partner, she didn’t have a choice.
“I would assume they are pretty standard?”
Martine nodded and smiled at her. She reached out a hand and Martine neatly slid the papers into her open grasp.
“Yes, but I’m sure you’ll look over everything yourself.”
Of course I will.
Emily dropped the papers into her black briefcase, her head spinning from the speed in which Martine organized everything. No wonder Nathan’s business was in such good working order.
She considered the cute little blonde and the dark hunk at her side and spent a moment wondering if they were sleeping together. Martine had been affectionate and quite familiar at the ball the other night and the thought had crossed her mind then, but there was no warmth between them now.
She cocked her head again. It would be pretty stupid to sleep with your assistant, but then again, when it came to their dicks, men weren’t known for being terribly smart.
“Welcome to the company, Emily, I will be seeing you at a later date, I’m sure.” Nathan moved towards the door and Emily took a few quick steps towards him. She may as well ask the question now.
“May I speak to you for a moment, Mr. Johnson?”
He lifted his hand and indicated she should follow him. “I have a few minutes before my next meeting.”
Emily kept pace with his long legs, following him down the brightly lit hall and stepping into a large corner office with huge windows overlooking the city.
Wow! Look at that.
“What was it in regards to?”
“Um...” Emily pulled her eyes away from the silver skyscrapers and colorful art out the window and shook her head. Concentrate. “I need to talk to you about Eleanor’s House, actually.” She had two things to ask now that she thought about it. “Number one, of course, is the issue of me not being experienced enough to work at the center. But I guarantee you, Mr. Johnson, that I have logged more hours in the past few years than most solicitors of my age. I am more than qualified to do the work that needs to be done.”
He tapped his fingers together. “It’s not just your technical skills that I’m concerned about. It is a firm belief of mine that only people that have been in that situation themselves can really advise people on those very personal topics. I appreciate the fact that you’re a good solicitor Emily, that is obviously why Martine has asked you to come work for us, but at Eleanor’s House there needs to be more than a good brain behind the people who work there.”
Emily clenched her fingers into fists and stared at the ground, heat flushing up her cheeks in an uncomfortable blush. She did have experience in the field, although unfortunately not the sort that he had asked about.
“I do have experience that helps these women. I’m not very comfortable talking to people about it.”
“Then please sit down.”
His commanding tone had her dropping into the seat opposite him and looking up to meet his calm gaze.
“I generally have full hiring and firing power at the center, or did until Cindy took over. But she has done such a good job of running the place, she’s also taken over that role. I always made sure the volunteers were suitable for the position.”
Wow, she hadn’t realized he’d had such a hand in its undertaking before now. She shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions quite so fast.
“So you want me to share some of my past with you?”
She gulped down the lump in her throat as he nodded.
“Yes please, if you wish to continue to volunteer at Eleanor’s House.”
Her back straightened as determination set in. Was that a threat? Well, then fine, she wasn’t afraid of him.
“My parents lost their home and their business and had to declare bankruptcy when I was eleven. My father ran off with some other woman and my mother raised me by herself.”
Her new employer blinked and sat up straighter in his chair. “And that makes it easier for you to relate to the women at the center?”
“Yes, it does. These women often have had their homes ripped away from them and their children. They feel powerless and hopeless, just as my mother did, and I am determined to make sure that doesn’t continue to happen, not on my watch.”
Nathan glanced down and picked up a ballpoint, staring at it as though it held the key to the universe. “Then you may continue to volunteer at Eleanor’s House. Thank you for your time.”
Emily’s shoulders dropped as a wave of cool relief washed over her.
“Thank you. It really does give me such a sense of purpose.”
As she rose she heard him say under his breath, “Yeah, me too.”
Which reminded her―the party.
“Oh, I have one more thing to ask you. On Saturday, we’re having the anniversary celebration for Eleanor’s House. We’re considering holding a cocktail party and inviting clients from the past ten years to attend. We were also hoping to have a few key speakers, including yourself.”
Nathan looked up at her and then away again, a muscle tightening in his jaw as he made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
“Please email me about that, Emily. I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
He turned his back to her, spinning his chair away so that she could no longer see him. If that wasn’t the most obvious expression of shutting someone out, she didn’t know what was.
She took a step closer to his desk and bit her lip as tension shivered through her. What sort of button had she pressed there?
She frowned at him and weighed her words carefully. There was something special about this man that made her want to connect with him, whether it was due to their mutual obsession with Eleanor’s House or a similar past, she wasn’t sure. But she wanted to find out. “I would have assumed a decision about Eleanor’s House was all business.”
He spun around to face her, his eyebrows drawn together and that flint gaze back in his blue eyes.
“Why would you say that?”
She shrugged and swallowed hard. His eyes were pretty intense when they were focused on her. “It certainly looked like it the other night.”
“No. Eleanor’s House is personal and I believe I have already indicated that.”
“Well no, you indicated that you ran the charity like any good manager would, but I assumed it was still just a business to you.”
She couldn’t help baiting him a little bit longer. She loved a good puzzle and he was like one of those 3D Rubik's cubes that every time you moved one line, something else would stuff up the last move.
“Well, you’re wrong.”
“It’s a tax deduction is it not, Mr. Johnson?”
Again that muscle ticked in his jaw and his gorgeous, thick lips pulled into a thin line. “It is.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Then how is that personal?”
His eyes blazed at her and her conscience nagged at her for being antagonistic. She had the strangest feeling that she was baiting a bear with a sore paw but she couldn’t help it. He’d forced her to reveal something very personal about herself and he wasn’t doing anything to reciprocate.
Technically he could achieve a tax dodge on anything. Why pour money into a women’s shelter?
“That is none of your business and if you say one more word on the topic, Ms. Sanders, I will call your employer and have you dismissed.”
Lead dropped Emily’s belly down and her mouth gaped.
“Please, sir, I’d ask you to reconsider.”
Tears stung her eyes as she pleaded with him, the consequences of her pushing him now coming home to roost. Could she find another job quickly if it became a necessity? How far ahead was she on the mortgage? Her mum should be right for a while…
Oh, God!
Nathan stood up slowly, tugged down hard on his jacket, then stepped around his desk and stalked forward like a powerful cat.
She gasped and backed up, lifting her hands up to ward him off. Nathan’s nostrils flared and his fists clenched as he advanced on her.
Her spine pressed up against the plaster wall and he came within an inch of her chest, his breathing rapid and his gaze completely focused on her.
Her throat ached as she gulped hard and stared up into his in
tense blue eyes.
Something shifted in the charged atmosphere around them and Nathan’s eyes became softer, his gaze dropping to stare at her lips.
Her mouth was parched and she nervously licked her lips, as Nathan’s head bent towards her as though he was going to kiss her. She held her breath and didn’t move, unable to do anything but wait for him as his lips came closer and closer to hers.
Emily’s heart thumped against her ribs and she let out a small squeak.
Nathan pulled back and shook his head as though dazed.
“Excuse me.”
He twisted and opened the door next to her, leaving the huge room and taking all the air and warmth with him.
Emily shivered and pressed herself against the wall as her knees shook and threatened to give way. She wrapped her arms around herself and swallowed the small sob that rose in her throat.
That had been close, too close. She couldn’t let anything like that happen again.
She may be more attracted to him than she’d ever been to anyone in her life, but he now held all the cards, and if she wasn’t careful her life would come tumbling down like those flimsy card towers she’d made as a girl.
Remove just one, and everything would come crashing down.
Chapter Four.
Nate tapped his fingers against his desk and stared at his computer screen, the numbers and figures of his latest design whirling around in a black and white blur.
“Bloody hell.”
He threw himself back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, his brain now free to wander to the subject of his desire...or obsession. He’d already spent too many hours engrossed by thoughts of her and that really needed to stop.
She was just a woman, and a solicitor at that. He ran a hand down his face and groaned.
The question he really wanted to be answered was, why did he find her so desirable? She was attractive, sure. But no more than every woman who worked on this floor. They were all thinner, too.
He grunted and rolled his eyes.
He didn't want thinner, he wanted those delicious curves, that easy smile, those beautifully polished nails. Which was another unusual thing about her. She was so untouched compared to all the other women he knew. Her hair seemed to be its natural color, her face rarely had more than a touch of mascara and her clothes were certainly nothing to write home about.