by Anna Lewis
“I sure can,” he said once he spotted the man. “Do you want me to stop, too, or just go by so you can moon him?”
Shawna laughed.
“That’s not even close to what I had in mind, but if my plan doesn’t work, we’ll try yours next.”
“I can get behind that,” he said, winking.
He pulled up to the older sedan, and for just a second, Shawna was certain that the man was going to pull away. But she unrolled her window anyway and motioned for him to roll his down. He agreed reluctantly, looking sheepish and a little perplexed.
“Hi,” she said, holding her hand out the window. “My name is Shawna Jones, and this is Eric Furst. I believe you’ve been following me. Right now, we’re going to dinner, then after that, I may take him to a hotel and ravish him. If you want to give me your name, I’ll add you on social media and tag you in the pictures. Then, you don’t have to work so hard to take sneaky pictures like our relationship is some big secret. All you had to do was ask.”
The man stared at her, not saying a word, his camera limp in his hand. She smiled sweetly.
“Do you want me to have Eric drive slowly so you can follow us to the restaurant?”
The man shook his head.
“Cool. I won’t be home this weekend, so you should probably call it a night. It’s not that I have a job this weekend, because I’m not an escort. It’s just that I’m a little bored with being followed around and I had hoped that you would move on by now, but I guess it’s a slow news week.”
The man still said nothing, and Shawna sighed and shook her head before rolling up the window. Eric drove away, and Shawna watched the man pull away from the curb and make a u-turn, going the opposite direction.
“Wow,” she said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t think that would work.”
“They get paid more for genuine candid shots. If he suspects that you’re going to schmooze for the camera, then it’s not even worth his time. He probably has some other celebrity he can follow and he chose you because of the mystery. Now that you’ve let the cat out of the bag, it’s not nearly as juicy as it was before.” He looked at her and smiled. “You took your power back, and you made the game pointless.”
“I did, didn’t I?” she said, sitting back and feeling rather proud of herself. “Maybe I’ll skype with them tomorrow and chat so that they can clear up any misconceptions that they have.”
“That would probably shock them,” Eric laughed. “It would probably shock them even more if we called together.”
Shawna smiled.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For teaching me that I have power and control. I know it probably seems silly to you, but a month ago, I never would have been that bold. I feel so different than I did before. It’s nice to know that I can’t be intimidated.”
His hand went to her leg and he squeezed affectionately as he continued driving.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said. “It’s good to see you standing up for yourself.”
“Thanks,” she said. She grabbed his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “And thank you for coming to pick me up. I don’t think I could spend another minute locked in my apartment, hiding from the world.”
“I understand. It’s different when you have a large place to hide, but just having an apartment, I wouldn’t choose to hole up there. It would get old really quick.”
“I don’t really have a choice. I live in an apartment and that’s the only place I have to go.”
“You can come to my place,” he said.
She looked at him, his face painted by the soft glow of the last light of day.
“I don’t know about that,” she said, but inside, she was dancing with excitement. His house? She didn’t know if she could contain her excitement and remain calm on the outside. She was sure that his house was magical and she would love to see it. “Can I let you know after dinner?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said. “And if you change your mind at any time, just let me know and I’ll take you home.”
Shawna shook her head.
“What?” Eric asked.
“You. I don’t know how you can be so kind and humble with as much money as you have. Everyone I’ve met who’s even been remotely wealthier than me has always treated me as if I am beneath them. Then there’s you. You could spend my yearly salary in a day, every day for forty years and still be a billionaire. Yet you treat me with more dignity than I ever treated myself. You’ve completely changed my outlook on my life and on who I am. I know it sounds campy, but that’s how I feel right now. I can’t go back to being that timid girl that all but ran out of the office when Richard fired me. That’s not who I am, and I am grateful to you.”
“You were always that strong woman, you just needed to see it for yourself. I can’t take the credit for that.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. She shivered, drawing a smile from him.
“Let’s enjoy dinner and we’ll talk about this more, later. You’re amazing. I hope someday that you’ll see yourself the way I see you.”
“I hope so, too,” she said, and she meant it.
If the way he looked at her was any indication, he saw something in her that she hoped was really there. If she was half the woman the Eric thought she was, then Shawna had spent most of her twenty-two years underestimating herself.
It was time to put an end to that nonsense and live to her potential.
***
Eric pulled into the huge garage, parking the car beside the limo and getting out to open Shawna’s door. She looked around at the brightly lit garage in awe, certain that no one had ever used the space for maintenance. The floor was painted and pristine, with space for two cars and the limo with plenty of room to spare.
And it was twice as big as her apartment, or more. She wasn’t sure.
“Are you coming?” he asked from her side of the car, holding out his hand.
“Oh, yes. Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“I noticed that during dinner,” he said playfully. “I would give my fortune to know what you’ve been brooding over.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” she laughed. “I was just comparing your garage to my apartment and wondering if I should just live here.” She laughed. “I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”
“It’s alright,” he said. “I actually thought you were going to try to move into the horse barn after you told me about your dream home, but the garage will work, too.”
“You have a horse barn?”
“I do. You don’t think I wear cowboy boots this well-worn as a fashion statement, do you?”
“I guess I didn’t think about it,” she said. “I wish it wasn’t dark so we could see the barn.”
“Light isn’t an issue, if you want a tour.” He shrugged dramatically, a goofy grin on his face as he teased her. “I mean, I was going to give you a tour of the house, but the barn is nice, too.”
“If you want to convince me to stay the weekend, the barn is your best bet.”
“Do you ride?” he asked.
“I wish. Someday, I’ll have a horse of my own and I’ll learn then.”
“Or you could learn this weekend,” he said. “It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I might have to send someone to get you some more suitable attire first thing in the morning, but I don’t see why we couldn’t spend the weekend on horseback. It’s been awhile since I toured the property and checked the fence line.”
“How big is the property?” she asked, trying to remember if she saw a fence before they turned off the two-lane road and onto the narrow, paved easement that bore the Furst name.
She hadn’t noticed a fence, but it had been dark already.
“Eighteen hundred acres,” he said.
She was floored.
“That’s three square miles,” she said, incredulous.
/> “It is. It’s a lot of ground to cover, but if we are smart about it, we can check the entire property by Sunday evening.”
“That sounds heavenly,” she said, then she smirked at him.
“What?”
“If we’re busy riding all weekend, I guess you won’t get a chance to take me over your knee like you promised on the way here.”
He winked.
“Don’t worry. We have all night, and I’m sure I’ll find some way to work it in. If not, Monday works for me, too.”
She gasped.
“You’re not actually planning on spanking me in the office, are you?”
“Of course, I am. No one can hear you, and no one can come up to my office without going through HR first. There isn’t another elevator that comes up to my floor. We’ll have plenty of time to get your clothes righted before anyone even gets on the elevator.”
She was blushing furiously, thinking about him bending her over his large desk in the middle of his office. The familiar heat at the thought rose within her, and she realized that she was hoping that he would make good on that promise. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that little secret between them?
“That wicked smile on your face,” Eric said, yanking her out of her thoughts. “I find myself wondering if you know just how sexy it is.”
“I don’t, but it’s good to know.”
“Let’s go see that barn,” he said, holding his hand out. “We have all night to explore the mansion.”
She took his hand and held tight, letting him lead her out the back door of the garage and onto a cement path that was lit by tiny solar lights every few feet.
“This is so pretty,” she said.
“It was the best way to make sure that someone could walk out to the barn to check on the horses at night without breaking their legs and still be able to see that big Texas sky.”
She looked up, sucking in a deep breath when she saw what he was talking about.
“You can’t see this many stars in the city,” she said. “This is amazing.”
“It’s one of the reasons I chose to live almost an hour outside of the city. It’s so peaceful out here. And humbling. It’s a good reminder that wealth and privilege don’t change the fact that I’m just a single man on a planet filled with billions of people. My dad always used to say that all the wealth in the world couldn’t fix a bad attitude, and I believe that, to this day.”
“He sounds like a good man,” she said.
“He is,” Eric said. “He’s sailing around the world right now, living off the interest his investments make. He taught me everything I know.” He pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her. “But enough about me, I want to hear about you.”
“I’m not that interesting,” she said, then immediately changed the subject. “How many horses do you have?”
“Five,” he said. “I was thinking about getting more, but I have no one to ride with, so I end up doing a lot of the exercising on my own. Any more than five and I would have no time for them.”
“I can help you with that,” she said eagerly.
“I would love that,” he said.
There was a single neigh in the distance, followed by four more calling out to him.
“They know your voice,” Shawna said in awe. “They love you.”
“They love food,” he laughed.
“You’re so lucky,” she said, taking it all in as they topped the little ridge and the barn came into view. “You have everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
“You’ll have it someday,” he reassured her.
“It seems like forever away,” she said, standing back as he opened the large barn door.
“It will happen sooner than you think. Just be patient and stay the course. You deserve all that you want and so much more.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her roughly. “I want to be the one to help you see your dreams come true, and I’m not going to give up until you have everything you deserve and more.”
***
With a flick of the light switch, the barn was flooded with light. Shawna looked around the beautiful structure in awe, marveling at the smooth, beautifully stained wood and the five gorgeous horses that stuck their heads out to greet the visitors. Eric grabbed her hand and led her to a door on the left, where they stepped into a large office with dark, hardwood floors and a refrigerator in the corner. Eric took a bag of carrots from the fridge and handed them to Shawna and before he could say anything else, she squealed with delight and all but ran out into the barn to share the treats with the horses.
Eric hung back and she could feel him watching her, but she didn’t care. She inhaled the scent of the barn, the fresh shavings, and the clean, sweet scent of hay as they munched on the carrots. She made sure to give each horse an equal amount, then broke the last carrots up so that it was fair. She laughed as each soft, velvet nose rooted around her flat hand for their final piece of carrot, then she patted each one on the cheek and smiled to herself.
“They’re beautiful,” she breathed, looking back at the horses and grinning with pure happiness. “You’re so lucky.”
“I am,” he said, but when she turned to him, he wasn’t looking at the horses, he was looking at her.
She blushed, smiling shyly now as his eyes roved over her body.
“You know, I prefer you in green to match your eyes, but that dress is just stunning on you.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s not very practical for the barn, but I didn’t know we were coming here. Or that you had all this.”
“Where did you think I lived?”
“In a huge mansion in the city.”
He scoffed.
“The city makes me antsy. I have a large office in the barn because there are times that I work from home, and I want to be able to work from the house or the barn. There’s nothing like working with a clear view of freshly bathed horses drying on the hitching post in the Texas sunshine.”
“You have the life some of us only dream of.”
“You’ll have that life, too,” he said.
“That’s what I’m doing all this for,” she said, then immediately regretted it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”
“It’s alright,” he said, but she could tell that she’d hurt his feelings. “I understand wanting to do things that you wouldn’t normally do to get what you want. I can’t fault you for that. I’ve done some pretty regrettable things in order to grow my wealth.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“I was ruthless with budgeting when I first took over Furst Industries. I was more concerned with my bottom line than anything else. It turns out, good employees don’t stay when they get the bare minimum. They like perks, and the company is more profitable with happy employees.”
“And then there’s Richard,” she muttered under her breath.
“Yeah, I have plans for him, but not now.”
“So, what made you decide to change how you did business?”
“One of my longest and best employees came to me before she put her notice in. She told me that she wanted to tell me why she was leaving before she left, so that I could fix what I was doing wrong.”
“How did that go?”
“Let’s just say, I was not receptive at first. It’s hard to hear that you’re the reason that no one wants to stick around. After I calmed down, I called her back into my office and we sat down. And I listened. She laid it out without emotion, explaining how it affected my bottom line. When she was done, I realized that she was one hundred percent right; so, I hired her to totally revamp the inner workings of my business, then gave her a job in HR. That’s why your final check was so high. We give a large amount of vacation the first year in addition to sick days, personal days, and other perks. You start earning them from the moment you walk in the door. And we created parental leave for new parents, whether they adopt or have biological children. There’s also paid medical leave in addition to the short-term
and long-term disability insurance that we provide. That, along with the rec room, and all the other perks really make Furst Industries a place that people want to work. Working as a secretary in finance, consulting, and investments isn’t the most exciting job there is, but happy employees are good employees, and I strive to make sure that everyone that walks through those doors is happy.”
Shawna smiled, but it was forced. She was sure he was telling the truth, but the time she spent working under Richard Lange was some of the most miserable of her life.
He noticed her expression right away, and he looked concerned.
“What did I say?”
“Nothing. It’s just that not everyone is happy there. It’s a lot like life, I guess. The haves get to enjoy happiness, and the have-nots are the ones left out in the cold.”
“That’s not true,” he said.
“The secretary pool is miserable, and I don’t see that changing.”
“It’s going to change,” Eric said with certainty.
“Then why isn’t it changed now?”
“I have to watch him and make sure I have everything I need on him before I fire him.”
“You’re firing him?”
“I will take care of him, but not right now. The timing isn’t right.”
“When will the timing be right?” she asked, unable to keep the frustration from her voice.
“Don’t worry; you’ll be the first to know.”
“Can I be there for it?”
“I wouldn’t dream of firing him without you.”
Shawna smiled.
“I guess I can wait, then. I just feel bad for everyone that works under him. He’s mean to the women more, but he treats the guys horribly, too.”
“He didn’t start out that way, but I guess people change.”
“Or they hide who they are until you drop your guard.”
“Or that. I’m sad to say, he’s not the first person I’ve ever had do that in my lifetime, but it’s been awhile. I guess I wasn’t thinking about that possibility. At any rate, I have plans for that entire secretarial department, and I think it’s going to fix the fact that I was completely unaware of the failing that was right under my nose the entire time. I’ll make it up to everyone that works for him, and I’ll make sure that they’re finally happy. I want everyone who works for me to be happy, but most of all, I want you to be happy.”