by Lexi Aurora
I made my way to my car, glancing toward the train station to see that Violet was still walking toward it. I sighed, starting my car, turning it around and slowly pulling up next to her. She clutched her purse, walking faster before I rolled down the window.
“I’ll give you a ride home,” I said. “Get in.”
“No,” she spat. “No. I’d rather walk. Thanks.”
“Violet—”
“I don’t even know you,” she said. “And you’re an asshole. No thanks.”
“You do know I’m your boss, right?”
“You’re not my boss,” Violet said. “You’re just a board member. You’re never even there.”
I had to laugh, though it irked me that she wouldn’t accept the ride. It was cold outside, and I didn’t like the thought of her walking home alone. “Okay, Violet. Have a good night.”
“Yeah,” she said, walking further onto the sidewalk, away from my car. I rolled up the window and drove to the office, unable to stop worrying about Violet by herself. It was ridiculous—I didn’t even know the woman, but I did know that she was fierce and lovely, as irritating as it was.
I got to the office and parked in my spot, hurrying up to the sixth floor to Dirk’s office. I knocked when I got there and he answered it with a grin, shoving his hand out to shake mine.
“Cooper,” he said, his voice friendly, his grin too wide for his face. “It’s nice to see you. How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine,” I said to him. I had no interest in making conversation with this man, or with Patricia, who was grinning at him in a way that was equally unsettling.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said to them. Dirk waved me off.
“Nonsense. The party starts when you get here,” he said, chuckling. I didn’t smile at him. I knew exactly why he was being so friendly—they had done the same thing to my father when he was alive. They tried to butter him up, get him to sell his share of the business, the branch that was located in Texas. My father had warned me that they would try it with me, too, but he had also made me promise that I would never sell to them, no matter what.
“What did you need to see me for?” I asked him, trying to keep my voice patient. It was late, and I wanted to go home. In the back of my mind, the girl’s face was there, angry but adorable in her own way.
“We were wondering how you’ve been doing after your father passed, that’s all,” Dirk said, folding his hands together on the desk. I almost snorted at the total lack of sincerity in his voice.
“I’m fine,” I said to them. “With the cancer—he had been sick for years. It was not unexpected.”
“That’s true,” Dirk said. “But it hurt us all, nonetheless. There’s no doubt about that. Your father was a valuable member of this board.”
“He was,” I said to them, keeping my voice calm, though I wanted to call him out for being so transparent. The rest of the board had always hated my father for the way he ran the Texas branch, always putting his employees first, giving them benefits that were above and beyond what was required by law for full-time employees. The others had always told him he was wasting money, and the main reason my father had kept hold of his share was because he had feared that his employees might be laid off if he sold it and quit the board all together.
“Well, I’ll get to the point,” Dirk said. “As you know, we tried for years to buy your father’s share of the company. He just didn’t want to give it up.”
“My father was very loyal to this firm,” I said to them. Dirk nodded.
“We never saw you as particularly interested in the business,” Dirk said. “I must say, we were surprised when you refused to sell.”
“It was important to my father that I continue,” I said to them. Dirk gave me a smile.
“Of course, of course. You’re loyal to your father. But don’t you think that he would want you to have the freedom to pursue what you really love? He said you were an artist. What do you make?”
“I’m a painter,” I said to him through gritted teeth. I couldn’t stand the way he was talking, sucking up, trying to convince me of something I didn’t want to do. My father had told me about these power plays and how they usually went—with my father saying no and Dirk sighing, waiting until the next month or so to bring it up again.
“Wouldn’t you want time to do that?” Dirk asked. “A young man like you, plenty of money. You can spend your time creating art instead of—”
“I appreciate your concern that I’m not pursuing my passion, Mr. Porter, but I am not selling my share of the business. I want to be involved.”
Dirk didn’t say anything for a moment, but then he gave a nonchalant wave.
“That’s fine. We thought you’d say that. We have another proposal for you.”
“What’s that?” I asked warily.
“We want you to test out managing the business branch down in Texas,” Dirk said. “See how you like it there. We think you’d be a good fit.”
“I—”
“Now, I know what you’re thinkin’,” Dirk said with a grin. “You’re not going to do that job without being on the payroll. Don’t you worry. The position is open and it has your name on it. We’re talking a six-figure salary.”
I gave him a dry look.
“Great,” I said sarcastically. He beamed at me then, taking my word for agreement.
“We want to go ahead and send you in a couple of days. Think that’s long enough to get your things packed?” Dirk asked.
“Sure,” I said to him, trying to keep my voice calm and pleasant. Dirk stood up then, reaching forward to shake my hand.
“Congratulations,” he said, as if the whole thing wasn’t a ploy to get rid of me. “You got yourself a job.”
“Thanks,” I said to him, telling him and Patricia goodbye before I left the office, wondering what the hell was in store for me in Texas.
Chapter 3: Violet
“Violet, can I speak to you?” came Dirk’s voice from the doorway. I glanced over at Patricia, who nodded as if the request required her permission. I stood up, feeling wary as I followed Dirk out of Patricia’s office and down the hall to his.
“Have a seat,” he said, handing me a steaming cup of coffee from the shop downstairs. I stared at him, nervous as I sat down in the chair across from him. Every time I saw Dirk, I became nervous, afraid that they were going to get rid of me. I didn’t exactly get along with Patricia, who had me doing work for her, more like a personal assistant than a secretary. She often made me clean her office or go downstairs for coffee. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that I could prove myself enough to get promoted again.
“What is it?” I asked him after a moment of quiet, during which all he did was give me a creepy, unnatural smile.
“We’re sending you to Texas,” he said. I gaped at him, my mouth dropping open.
“Texas,” I repeated numbly. He nodded.
“We have a special job that only you can do, Violet. I’m told you’re doing very well with Patricia.”
“You are?” I asked him. So far, Patricia hadn’t been anything resembling friendly toward me. Most of the time, she would snap directions at me in the morning, then ignore me as I silently went through the motions day after day. Working with Patricia seemed like a slow death to me, especially given how hard I had fought to get a spot in this firm. I had gone through school, put myself through college against all odds for this very reason, and now I had become an errand girl for somebody who was hardly more qualified than I was to manage anything. He nodded.
“Very well. In fact, you’ve charmed her quite a lot. She thinks you would be perfect for this job.”
“What job?” I asked him, completely confused. Patricia had done nothing but snap at me since I’d started working for her, and I knew that there had been more than a few times that I’d snapped back in response. Sometimes, I wasn’t able to help myself.
“You’ll be going with Cooper Maverick to the business branch there
. We want you to convince him to sell his share of the company.”
I blinked at him, speechless.
“What?” I said.
“It will be simple, really. He doesn’t really want that job. All you have to do is convince him—”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked him, my face growing red. “Are you suggesting that I—?”
“No, of course not,” said Dirk, putting both of his hands up defensively. “We just think that if you use the same charm that you used on Patricia—”
“Patricia hates me,” I said to him blankly. “We don’t get along.”
“Nonsense,” he said, waving me off. “She loves you. She’s just shy.”
I snorted, shaking my head, pushing my hair back from my face.
“Listen, I really don’t want to go to Texas. I have no idea how to convince Cooper of anything.”
“We have faith in you, Violet,” Dirk said seriously. “I think it might be just what you need in order to move up in this company.”
I stared at him, realizing only then that he was serious, and he wasn’t giving me a choice.
“Now, you can’t let him know what you’re doing,” Dirk said. “You’re going to have to pretend that you’re there to see whether he’s fit to run the branch.”
“You want me to lie?”
“No, of course not,” Dirk said in a charming voice, with a fake smile plastered over his too-full lips. “Just—leave some aspects of your job to yourself. Can you do that, Violet?”
“Yes,” I said, my mouth dry. There was nothing else to say. If this was my chance to move back up in the company, I had no choice but to take it.
“Good,” he said pleasantly. “You will leave in two days. Mindy will send you the flight information.”
“Okay,” I said to him. “Thanks.”
“Of course,” Dirk said. “Like I said, you’re the best woman for the job.”
“Yeah,” I said to him, standing up, feeling numb as I left the office. The door was slightly open, and I was looking back over my shoulder to thank him again when I bumped into someone, my coffee spilling all over him. I looked up to see that it was Cooper Maverick.
“I’m—I’m so sorry,” I said to him, stumbling over my words. “I’ll go get a towel.”
“Don’t bother,” he snapped. I raised my eyebrow at him.
“I’m sorry,” I said, more slowly this time.
“Yeah, I got that,” he said sarcastically. “Just watch where you’re going next time.”
“You can’t talk to me like that, Cooper,” I said to him. I didn’t care who he was—I wasn’t going to let a man talk down to me. He only laughed in response, though.
“You seem to forget who is in charge, here,” he said. “I’m not sure who you think you’re dealing with, but—”
“Somebody who thinks he’s too good to treat his employees with respect,” I said. “I know exactly who you are.”
I saw something flare up in his eyes—anger, irritation.
“You know nothing about me, Violet.”
“I know that you’re used to getting what you want. But I’m not going to grovel to you.”
He grinned at me, a sarcastic half grin as he shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something but cut himself off with one last scathing look at me before Patricia walked by, and his grin turned into a charming smile as he turned to follow her to the elevator. I could hear her flirty laugh from where I stood near Dirk’s office, filled with annoyance and irritation, knowing that there was no way I was going to be able to convince this man of anything.
Chapter 4: Cooper
I was seething as I got into my car, so angry that I squeezed the steering wheel, my knuckles white as I drove home. I knew that I shouldn’t be surprised about Dirk’s scheme to get me to sell my share, but I was caught off-guard by how far he was willing to go. I was caught off-guard, too, by the girl’s willingness to go along with the plan no matter how repugnant it was. It repulsed and annoyed me, especially since I had been having a hard time taking my mind off of those curves and those lips. I had seen her in passing a couple of times in the office, and each time she had decidedly ignored me. It didn’t stop me from looking her over, though, admiring the way her wide hips and curvy waist fit into her dress.
I continued to rage over what I had overheard as I packed my things that night. Part of me wanted to put an end to it and refuse to take her, but another part of me, an angrier part, had decided to let her come along. I had a plan—I would let her think that she had convinced me to sell the share, and at the last moment, I would refuse. I was curious about her plan, how she would go about doing it, and I knew it would be satisfying to pull the rug out from under her feet at the very last moment. It was spiteful, I knew, but I felt betrayed by Violet, not because I felt like I knew her but because the plan was a deceitful, cruel thing to do.
The next morning, I stood at the airport, looking at my watch. Violet had texted me, agreeing to meet me at six. It was 6:15 and she still wasn’t there. I waited in annoyance, catching her eye the moment she came through the rotating door.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed, her cheeks pink from the cold. The look was endearing, and for some reason I found myself tempted to touch her soft skin despite my dislike for her. I pushed the thought away quickly, not wanting to go there.
“Let’s go,” I said to her sharply. She rolled her eyes and I had to force myself not to smile. We made our way up the escalator to security, both of us in tense silence. I felt lucky that we had booked first-class tickets—it meant that we wouldn’t have to sit crammed together. The silence would be less uncomfortable if we weren’t touching, especially since I got the feeling that touching her would be more than a little distracting.
We boarded the plane, taking our seats in first class, unfortunately seated right next to each other. I had hoped we would be across the aisle so that we wouldn’t be forced to make awkward conversation or worse, forced through an awkward, tense silence for hours. Despite the fact that we were in first class, once I sat down, I still felt like we were crowded. Our legs brushed together at the slightest shifting of our bodies, making me uncomfortably aware of her body next to mine. I met her eye after a moment as she sat there frozen, staring at me.
“This is going to be fun, isn’t it?” I asked her.
“Sure,” she said, a small smile on her lips. Her eyes met mine, an innocent look on her face. She was already trying to be charming. I grinned at her, playing along, as I would for the whole trip until the very end.
“What are you looking forward to most?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m excited to see the business branch,” she said. “I want to see how things are run.”
“You want to see how I run things,” I said. She nodded.
“I’m supposed to find out what it’s like when you’re in charge,” she said. I raised my eyebrows at her.
“You’re going to let me be in charge?”
“Depends,” she said, that same small smile on her full, luxurious lips. “On what your management style is like.”
“Some people think I’m a hard man,” I said. “But I’d like to think of myself as simply having a firm hand.”
“Oh,” she said softly, a heated look passing through her eye. “Are you very hands-on?”
I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself what she was doing, not really caring.
“Very,” I said to her.
“I never thought you’d be the type to take any interest in your employees,” she said.
“Why is that?”
“Because you’re never around. You don’t seem to care—”
“You don’t even know me, Ms. Ingrid,” I said to her, a slight irritation creeping up within me.
She stared at me for a moment, looking as if she was going to argue, but then she calmed herself.
“You’re right,” she said. “I don’t know you.”
“You’re going to get to know me,” I said to
her. She smiled again. Even though I knew it wasn’t genuine, it was still pretty, distracting in a way that made me ignore my anger towards her.
“I’m going back to sleep,” she said suddenly, after a moment of holding my eye. It was a heated moment, slightly hungry, one that confused me as much as it stirred something inside me.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll wake you up when we land.”
She turned her back to me then, curling up in her seat as best as she could.
We landed in Texas a few hours later, and I said her name to wake her up. She didn’t stir at all, totally knocked out. I touched her shoulder, shaking her lightly, and her eyelids fluttered open to stare at me. Her lips were parted as she met my eye, looking up at my face with interest.
“Hi,” she said softly. I smiled at her.
“We’re here,” I said to her, charmed by her sleepy eyes, her hair that had been mussed by leaning her head against the seat. She got up then, unbuckling her seatbelt and following me up the aisle to climb off of the plane. She stretched as soon as we were off, her shirt lifting slightly to reveal the soft skin of her lower back. I kept my eyes decidedly off of her as we walked up the terminal, making our way to the front of the airport.
“Are you staying at the Hilton, too?” she asked. “Dirk said he made reservations—”
“No reservations,” I said. “No hotel. I have more than enough room on my ranch for both of us.”
“A ranch?” she asked, a hesitant tone in her voice. “Like a farm?”
“Kind of,” I said to her. “Why? You a city girl?”
She tilted her chin up. “I never lived in the country, but—”
“Great,” I said in a teasing tone. “So you’ll be no use.”
She stifled a smile as we climbed into the car we had rented, starting the hour-long journey to my ranch outside of town.
“I didn’t know you owned a ranch,” she said. “I thought you grew up in the city.”