An Executive Decision (4 page)

Chapter Four

As difficult as it might be, an executive assistant could be replaced. A good friend, however, could not. No one else was Beverly. She left a gaping hole in Pneuma Inc. Ellis knew he couldn’t count on Wade for help. Wade’s domain was research. Wade was the creative force behind Pneuma Inc., but it had always been Ellis and Beverly who marketed and sold that creativity. Without Beverly neither Ellis nor Wade could have realised their dream, and without her it was hard to see the way forward.

But Dee wasn’t trying to replace his friend, Ellis reminded himself as he looked down at the previous stack of resumes she’d left with his secretary. Dee was just trying to do her job. And because Beverly had been Dee’s friend too, that job couldn’t be easy for her.

What he had taken as a joke only a few months ago was suddenly very serious business. Too serious, and too guilt-ridden, for comfort, so he had continually fobbed Dee off on his secretary each time she arrived with the resumes of prospective executive assistants. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her. He dreamed about her, he fantasised about her, and fuck if he didn’t masturbate to thoughts of her on the floor of his lounge in his arms. But he just couldn’t face her, not after everything that had happened. And now he couldn’t put it off any longer. He knew, as he had from the beginning, that there was really no need to look at any of the resumes. He had made a flippant promise to Beverly before she died, but it was a promise nonetheless. Then he had gone and complicated what was already a complicated situation by having sex with Dee Henning. None of that mattered in the end, though. What mattered was that it was time to stop avoiding the inevitable and honour his promise.

On his BlackBerry, he pulled up the email Beverly had sent him from some internet café in Manaus just before she headed into the rainforest. He could picture her there among the backpackers a third her age, probably striking up conversations with them, probably getting drunk with them at the local bar in the evening, and they would have relished her company. Everyone did. They would have been star-struck, half in love with her, remembering their time with her as one of the highlights of their travels. That was the way it was with Beverly. The email was the last he’d gotten from her before she died. He read it for the millionth time.

Ellis,

Just an addendum to the conversation we had earlier about Dee Henning. Before I lose contact with all things Pneuma Inc. to bask in blissful solitude of the rainforest, I want to make it clear how I feel. I’ve already told you she’s perfect for the position. And if you were ever going to implement the ESC, she’d be the one to do it with – that is if you’ve got the balls.

Dee’s exactly what you need on all counts. I know you think she lacks experience, but trust me, with the right training, given half a chance, she’ll be brilliant. Hire her, Ellis. Implement the ESC. Trust me, it’s the perfect strategy; a secret weapon that could make Pneuma Inc. even more successful than it already is. And if anyone could do it, you could. Do this for me and I can retire and enjoy my dotage.

And in case you’re planning to write this message off as a sign of dementia due to my advanced years, I plan to invite her for drinks after I get back from Brazil and feel her out about the position. Just so you know I’m serious.

Beverly

He shut the email, took off his glasses and stared for a long moment at the blurred screen. Beverly was always right, he reminded himself. Then he shoved his glasses back on, opened the manila envelope, and took out the information Beverly had left him. It was true, the list of work experiences and skills was impressive; in a couple of years, at the rate she was going, Dee would be his choice for the position, hands down. But it was too soon. She was so unprepared for what she’d be facing. How could she be otherwise under the circumstances? And she was untried. He’d be throwing her to the lions. But Beverly believed in her. He prayed she was right.

He found himself reading the personal information again, the intimate details about her that he shouldn’t know, but did. He found her intriguing in quirky ways. A love child, parents never married, spending summers in Paris, defying her mother to study business at Harvard instead of pursuing a career in music. The notes were all in Beverly’s hand. He wondered why she thought he should know all these things. Personal lives should be kept personal. There was no room for them in the workplace. But then, there was no room in the workplace for what he had done with Dee eight weeks ago, in spite of Beverly’s Executive Sex Clause.

Maybe Dee would turn him down. There was a good possibility. And then what? He hadn’t even looked at the other resumes. The only one he knew was at least halfway qualified, certainly more technically qualified than Dee, was Tally Barnes, but that was a moot point now. Ellis jumped as a crisp rap on the door broke into his silent reverie. He shoved Dee’s resume back in the envelope, straightened his tie, and stood to greet her.

‘Lynn? Are you in here?’ Dee entered the conference room dripping wet, turning to shut the door behind her without looking up. ‘Sorry I’m so wet. It’s pouring out there. The garage was full, so I had to park in the drowned-dog section, or be late, and I make it a point to never be …’ She stopped in mid-sentence, frozen to the wet spot she was now making on the carpet. ‘Ellis! I’m so sorry. I just assumed I’d be meeting with your secretary again.’

The classic lines of her dark blue power suit caressed her curves a little less discreetly than they might have otherwise done had it not been wet. The rain had rendered her blouse partially transparent – just enough to reveal the contours of lace beneath, and he knew from personal experience just how nice those contours were.

‘Lynn told me you’d be gone,’ she was saying. But he was having a hard time paying attention to her words. Rhinestone droplets of water clung to her lashes and tendrils of damp hair curled around her ears. For a second, he stood motionless, unable to take his eyes off the woman glistening in front of him. She held his gaze with a half-smile, her cheeks tinged with the slightest hint of discomfort, discomfort he was sure he could match and raise. It took another second before he realised she was waiting for him to respond. He caught his breath and spoke in a mad rush. ‘I felt it was time we met in person about the executive assistant position. Can I get you a towel? I have an extra jacket if you’re chilled.’

‘Thanks, but I won’t melt, and I’m not cold. And if you don’t mind me dripping on the carpet, I have several more prospects for you to look at.’

He motioned her to follow him down the hall to his office. ‘After all you’ve done for Pneuma Inc. in the past few years I think you’ve earned dripping privileges.’ He felt stupid the minute he’d said it, but it was out, and it got him the smile he’d hoped for. If she were angry at him for what had happened, if she felt in any way hurt or slighted, she hid it well. In fact, she hid it a little better than he’d hoped. He’d hoped to get some idea of how she felt about him after – everything. If they were going to be working together, he needed to know if she harboured enough of a grudge to put cyanide in his coffee or set explosives off under his desk.

Clearly, she wasn’t giving anything away. She sat down on the sofa in front of his desk, crossing long legs in sheer stockings, and opened her briefcase onto her lap.

He was glad for the desk between them. It kept him from shoving the briefcase aside, ripping those wet clothes off her, and licking her dry. It kept the unruly threat of his cock in his trousers under control as he tried not to think about what she’d felt like in his arms.

He took the files she offered him and sifted through them, trying to ignore the droplet of rain on her earlobe begging to be licked. God, what was the matter with him? He was offering the woman a job, not asking her to fuck him. The room seemed suddenly hot. He wondered if the air conditioner had stopped working.

‘I’m afraid none of the candidates is really ideal, but these are the ones I felt were at least hopeful. If you could just give me an idea of what it is specifically you want me to look for. Ellis?’

He struggled to force his attention back to what she was saying, away from her earlobe and the fading image of mounded lace over chilled nipples he knew to be delectable.

She nodded to the files.

He gave them a cursory glance then, with a sigh, shoved them back across the desk. ‘I can’t put off the decision any longer, Dee. I’ve already waited too long.’ He straightened his shoulders and forced a smile that he didn’t feel. ‘No one to blame but myself. Nevertheless, I need someone to fill that position.’

‘Of course.’ Her body language was nearly unreadable, but he had made his living catching the nuances in a person’s behaviour. He was sure he saw a ripple of tension across the tops of her shoulders. She nodded to her briefcase. ‘I’ll double my efforts and have some more possibilities on your desk tomorrow.’

‘There’s no need, Dee.’

‘Ellis?’ This time the tension was clear.

He leaned forward over his desk, feeling like it was his first date. ‘Dee, no one could have worked harder than you to help find a replacement for …’ He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses, then began again. ‘What I’m trying to say is as hard as you’ve worked, as much as you’ve done for Pneuma, I’m afraid I may have wasted your time.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’ve come to the conclusion there’s only one person right for Beverly’s job. Beverly knew it for quite some time, but she was a little slow letting me in on her plan.’

He could almost sense the heat of concentration in her gaze. Her cheeks were flushed – perhaps from what she perceived as her failure to deliver. Just below her ear, at the tender side of her throat, he could see the shudder of her pulse. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have contacted them.’

‘Oh, you don’t need to contact them. I’ve already made the decision.’

‘I see.’ The flush on her cheeks spread to her temples and all expression disappeared from her face.

He scooted forward on the edge of the chair and leaned over the desk, feeling the accumulation of stress in the muscles of his neck and stomach as he thought about his promise. ‘The only person who can take Beverly’s job and run with it, Dee, is you.’

For a second, they sat staring at each other. The briefcase shifted and nearly fell off her lap. She righted it without looking down. ‘Me?’ Her lips barely moved as she spoke, and her voice was little more than a breath. She could have passed for a statue in her stillness; only in the soft spot at her throat where her pulse accelerated could he see any motion at all. Then she blinked, and moisture from the rain slid down her lashes onto the pale skin beneath her blue, blue eyes. ‘You’re offering me Beverly’s job?’

‘That’s right. Not only are you my choice, but you were Beverly’s choice as well, and the woman was never wrong.’ He tried to reassure himself with that thought.

Dee offered him no clues as to what she might be thinking. Somehow he hadn’t quite expected such a lack of response. He wondered if this were the part where she told him to fuck off, where she told him she couldn’t work for a man who was unprofessional enough to have sex with her in his office, a man who fucked and ran. In his mind’s eye, he had pictured her excited, smiling, pleased at the opportunity to work for him. Rather naïve, really. After all, she was an intelligent woman; if anyone would know the magnitude of what he was asking of her, she would.

The muscles of her throat tightened, then rose and fell above the pale silk of her blouse; for a second, he thought she was going to smile, but she didn’t.

‘Dee? Are you all right?’

When she spoke, her voice had thickened in an effort to disguise emotions he might not have known were there had he not been so familiar with their shared loss. ‘I was Beverly’s choice?’

‘She told me before she went to Brazil.’

‘And you’ve known since then?’

Suddenly he felt as though he were the one being interviewed. ‘I had to be sure. After all, you have no experience in the field.’

She nodded. ‘I know.’

A tight silence stretched between them, and then she asked the obvious question. ‘This has nothing to do with – what happened between us?’ Now the blush was evident, and she held his gaze with difficulty.

‘No! Nothing.’ In spite of being prepared for it, he still felt as though she had slapped him. Not that he didn’t deserve it. Then he added quickly. ‘That was the reason Beverly wanted you to join her for drinks after the meeting you were to have with her. She’d made up her mind.’ 

Chapter Five

Back at home, Dee opened her briefcase and pulled out the one remaining resume. It was hers. She had been carrying it around ever since Beverly hired her to find her replacement. She could have given it to her at any time, but she’d planned to wait until Beverly got back from Brazil.

Working with Ellison Thorne was her dream job. It had been since she first researched him and Pneuma, Inc. while studying business law at Oregon State. She’d followed the company’s successes through her years at Harvard and through her time as a headhunter. All of her fantasies were of working next to Ellis, and yes, it was true, all of her fantasies, when they turned erotic, involved sex with Ellis. But never sex before she had made herself invaluable to him, to Pneuma Inc., never sex before she had proven to him that she was worthy of the position in which he’d placed her. Never comfort sex, never sex that might have been with anyone, any warm body who was sympathetic.

Apparently that was all it had been for him, or so it seemed in his office today. He treated her as he would have any other employee, and that was a good thing. That was what she wanted. She wanted the chance to prove herself without the stigma of sex between them. So why wasn’t she happier about the situation?

Eight weeks he’d made no attempt to contact her and every attempt to avoid her, and now, all of a sudden, he was hiring her as his executive assistant. She had seen all the resumes that had crossed Ellis’s desk. There were some really sharp people in those files, people who had much more experience than she did. She wanted to believe that she was his choice too, but she’d had sex with him, and no matter how she tried to view it, that had muddied the waters.

She changed into cut-offs and a T-shirt, all the while trying to convince herself she should be elated. This was her dream come true, but the reality of the situation made her feel she’d somehow gotten the position by cheating.

She padded barefoot into the kitchen. The rain had cleared, so the barbecue was a go. The gang would be here soon. McAllister and O’Kelly, the resident red tabbies, ignored her. They crouched on the windowsill, their full attention on the fluttering occupants of the birdbath. She poured herself a glass of iced tea then headed outside, still trying to ease the knot of self-doubt in her stomach.

She was just getting the grill started when Harris joined her on the patio with Kendra right behind. Both carried grocery bags.

Harris gave Dee a peck on the cheek, and she aimed a kiss in the general direction of his closely trimmed beard, now sun-bleached golden from time spent in his kayak.

‘Thought you might like this.’ He handed her his copy of
Wilderness Vanguard
. Instead of the magazine’s usual photo of bear or elk or pristine mountain scenery, Ellis smiled back at her from the cover. The caption read
WV’s Man of the Year: When Pneuma Inc.’s CEO deals, even the wildlife goes away happy.

‘You can keep it if you like. I’ve read it.’ Harris was a part-time editor and photographer for the magazine. He did it for love, not for money. The magazine couldn’t afford to pay him, but fortunately he did well for himself as a wildlife photographer. That he also did for love, after having given up his law practice for it. ‘Thorne’s pretty impressive,’ Harris said, setting down the grocery bag. ‘I can see why he’s your hero.’

Part of
Wilderness Vanguard
’s mission was to expose corporations with bad environmental records. That Ellis had been chosen Man of the Year was no small feat.

Dee flipped to the article, which was prefaced by photos of a nature reserve Ellis’s company had reclaimed on the sight of a derelict paper mill. She glanced at the accompanying caption.
In a world of corporate greed and plunder, Ellison Thorne has a refreshing penchant for win-win deals, deals that benefit both corporations and the planet. His progressive policies have made Pneuma Inc. one of the most respected companies in the US.

Harris began unpacking a grocery bag on the table. ‘Got beer, salad, chips and dip, and half a cow’s worth of T-bones. Hope everyone’s hungry.’

Kendra gave Dee a quick hug. ‘You look a bit dazed. What’s up?’

‘Ellis just offered me the executive assistant position.’

‘Are you serious? That’s fantastic!’ Harris grabbed her, and there was a round of rib-crushing bear hugs from both of her friends.

He nodded to the magazine cover. ‘You’ve been telling us since grad school you’re exactly what the man needs. Looks like he agrees.’

‘You do have a bad case of Thorne on the brain, Dee. But when I see pictures of him like this –’ Kendra smiled down at the photo on the cover of the magazine ‘– I can understand why. God, he’s hot! I mean, look at those yummy brown eyes.’

‘Kendra, he’s going to be my boss, not my boyfriend.’

Her friend shrugged. ‘Who’s talking boyfriend? I’m talking hot sex here.’

Dee knew exactly what Kendra was talking about, and even eight weeks after the fact the thought of writhing on the floor beneath Ellison Thorne made her pulse do a drum roll. In spite of herself, Beverly’s Executive Sex Clause flashed through Dee’s head. Jesus, she hadn’t even thought about that. Would they implement the Executive Sex Clause? They’d already had sex, after all. Or was that something Ellis would rather they both just forgot about?

‘Don’t be stupid, Kendra,’ Harris called over his shoulder. ‘It’s not always about sex, you know, and Dee’s not exactly a groupie. If anybody’s the man’s equal, it’s Dee. I’d say he’s damn smart for hiring her.’

‘I didn’t say he wasn’t,’ Kendra said. ‘I’m just saying, he’s hot, Dee’s hot.’ She elbowed Dee. ‘Oh, don’t look at me like that, you are hot, trust me. And you’re both single. Nature’ll take its course.’ Kendra grabbed the magazine and studied the image on the cover. ‘Normally I like my men darker, but in his case, I could make an exception and go Celtic.’ She looked closer. ‘How old is he, anyway?’

‘Thirty-eight, I think.’ Actually she knew exactly how old he was, and she knew the details of his birth, right down to the fact that he’d been born in the middle of one of the worst storms the Oregon Coast had ever had, born at home because of that.

‘Have you told your mom?’ Harris asked.

Dee shook her head. ‘The way we communicate, I could be retired before she finds out, which is probably just as well. And Dad, he’ll just want to borrow money, like always. I think we’ll all be happier if they don’t know, at least for the present.’

‘So, if you’re gonna be working for the big man, why isn’t there dancing in the streets?’ Harris asked.

Dee turned her attention back to the grill. ‘I’m just a bit shell-shocked. I had no idea he was going to offer me the position. Besides, it’s a big responsibility. Sort of scary when I actually think about it.’

‘Come off it, Dee.’ Harris finished unpacking groceries and leaned against the table. ‘You’re not scared of anything. Don’t forget, we’re counting on you to get rich so we can live decadent lives on your money. We’re the Three Musketeers, remember?’

‘All for one and one for all.’ Kendra raised a baguette in salute.

Not for the first time, Dee was a little surprised that she had so completely scammed her friends as to how tough and fearless she was.

The muffled sounds of life beyond the privacy fence receded as dusk settled around Dee’s back yard, shrinking the world to an island of citronella-scented light. ‘What’s this?’ Harris reached for the book in the side pouch of Kendra’s bag. ‘
How Deep My Heart
? By Tess Delaney? Since when do you read romance, Kendra?’

‘Give me that.’ She jerked the novel away and stuffed it back into her bag. ‘I read what I want. Besides, Tess Delaney’s burning up the charts. Plus, no one has ever seen her. Don’t you find that intriguing? I had to find out what all the fuss is about.’

‘And?’ Harris said. Dee could see the smile threatening to reveal itself from under his beard.

‘And it’s entertaining, but it’s just another fantasy, the way I see it. I don’t believe in romance.’

‘Of course you don’t,’ Harris said. ‘How could I forget? You believe in sex.’

Dee could tell where this little chat was heading and, from behind Kendra’s back, she gave him the high sign for a change of subject, but it was too late. When would he ever learn?

‘That’s right,’ Kendra said, ‘I believe in sex. Romance is something everybody wants but nobody ever really gets. But anybody can get laid.’

‘Come on, Kendra. Do you really think you can have sex the way you have cereal in the morning for breakfast, and it’s no big deal, no attachments, no hard feelings?’ Harris grinned wickedly and fanned a wave of smoke away from his face.

Kendra began laying plates on the table. ‘I don’t see why not. I don’t see why physical need necessarily has to have anything to do with emotion.’

Harris coughed and moved out of the line of smoke. ‘It sure as hell would make life easier, wouldn’t it? I mean if we could just say “excuse me, but I’m horny, and I need to have sex, would you mind?”’

Dee found herself thinking about Beverly’s Sex Clause again, found herself thinking of what had happened between her and Ellis. She wasn’t a big keeper of secrets. She didn’t have all that many to keep, and especially not from Kendra and Harris, but she had kept sex with Ellis from them. It seemed like a betrayal to share it somehow.’

‘No attachments, no regrets,’ Kendra said. ‘That’s my motto.’

‘Oh, I like attachments myself.’ Dee slipped an arm around Kendra. ‘My vibrator came with this neat little –’

‘We’re talking about real cocks here, Dee, you know – something that doesn’t require batteries.’

‘Hey, I think it’s a great idea if you can handle it.’ Harris waved the grilling tongs enthusiastically. ‘But I don’t know that many people who could just think of sex as physical, with no emotional strings attached.’

Dee couldn’t help wondering if Ellis was one of those people.

Any attempt to sleep that night was just an exercise in futility. Dee’s brain was too busy replaying the meeting at Pneuma Inc. and trying to analyse how she had ended up to be Ellis’s new executive assistant.

Perhaps it was the late hour, or just the build-up of tension generated by her ruminations and the events of the day, but at last, her thoughts turned to the long-familiar fantasies. In her mind’s eye, she walked the late-night corridors of the executive suites at the Pneuma Building. She could hear movement from Ellis’s office, disturbing the gossamer silence. Cautiously, she approached on tiptoes, holding her breath as she peeked around the corner. There, sprawled in his chair, was Ellis, trousers open, hands occupied, cupping and stroking and rocking against himself in the privacy of his moonlit suite. Hadn’t he told her he didn’t have time for sex? The thought of him touching himself, the thought of him as single-minded and focused as she’d had to be, the thought of him having as little time for sex as she had, made her hot. In her fantasy she moved around the desk where she could make out the details of his exposure and his mesmerizing attentions to his erection.

In her bed in the real world, the slick rubbing and dipping of her fingers became too enjoyable to waste time rummaging in the nightstand for the vibrator. Though she couldn’t keep from imagining how nice it would be to have something between her legs that – as Kendra so eloquently put it – didn’t require batteries. She knew exactly what it was she wanted, and how amazing it felt. That something she imagined having between her legs belonged to Ellison Thorne.

She closed her eyes and arched against the pillow, bringing the fantasy into focus behind her eyelids.

She eased him back in his chair, her hands taking over his efforts against his erection, freeing him to open her blouse and undo her bra. In her fantasy, his mouth quickly found its way to her throat, then to her breasts. His hands slid up under her skirt to caress the inside of her thighs, opening her with ticklish kneading. Then he stood, shoving files and correspondence, pens and paper clips off onto the floor as he guided her back on top of his desk. In her fantasy, she watched in growing arousal as he lifted her hips to remove her panties, lingering to caress her bottom as he did so. But instead of entering her, he took her with his mouth, licking and suckling her like she was ice cream melting against his tongue. When she could stand it no longer, he shoved deep inside her with a groan of pleasure, and the urgent sounds of sex hammered her imagination. She could almost feel the firm musculature of his body against hers. Her scent thickened and warmed in the sustained tension of arousal. And just before the explosion that sent her brain off-line and into the thick cotton chrysalis of sleep, she felt suddenly reassured. If both Ellis and Beverly had agreed she was the best person for the executive assistant position, then surely everything would be all right.