Club Destiny 1 Conviction (6 page)

She was still taken aback by the
attraction she felt for the man she had just spent half an hour staring at.
Right or wrong – and it was oh, so definitely wrong – she was surprised at her
reaction and she couldn’t push back the anxiety that overtook her. She was
anxious to get to Dallas. And for the first time in years, it wasn’t just work
related.

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

 “Good morning, Mr. McCoy.”
Deanna O’Brien’s cheerful voice greeted Logan as he made his way toward his
office.

Glancing at his watch, Logan
noticed it was only six thirty, yet somehow his assistant managed to beat him
into the office. Come to think of it, Deanna always got in before he did on
Monday mornings. He suspected she liked to get everything outlined for his week
before he made it in. For that, he appreciated her.

“Good morning, Deanna. How was
your weekend?” As busy as his schedule always was, Logan tried to be as
personable as possible. Especially when it came to the woman who kept his
schedule flowing as smoothly as it did.

Deanna had worked for him for the
last seven or eight years, following him through several promotions. Since day
one, they’d gotten along brilliantly, sort of like a brother and sister
relationship, even involving some friendly banter expected between siblings. He
genuinely liked her, and he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

“Maybe a little short, but good.
I was able to get some much needed cleaning done at the house and was able to
take the kids to the pool for a little while yesterday. It was such a beautiful
day. Tommy and I actually had a date night on Saturday, too. Definitely a
fantastic weekend.”

Logan laughed. Deanna was known
for her ability to talk. She was also known for her always upbeat attitude. How
she juggled fifty or so hours in the office with a husband and three kids was
beyond him.

For himself, he had all but given
up on having a family. At thirty nine, Logan didn’t think those things were
meant for him. That didn’t mean he didn’t respect those who did have the family
thing going for them, because he did.

“Glad to hear it.” Before
stepping into his large corner office, illuminated by the rising Texas sun, he asked
the question that had plagued him all weekend. “Any word on Ms. Kielty’s
arrival?”

Although Logan said there were no
formalities in the office, he knew Deanna liked to refer to each person
formally, and with her, he managed to do the same.

“Yes, sir. I spoke with her on
Friday and I was able to book her hotel room for her. She arrived yesterday
afternoon and will remain through Wednesday. Would you like to be notified when
she arrives this morning?”

Yes.
“No need. I’m sure I’ll see her
at some point this morning.” Logan hadn’t been able to get the woman out of his
head since the moment he hung up with her on Friday. He had even begun to
wonder if he was making the right decision in hiring her.

His reaction to her was too
sudden and too intense – especially since it had been a single, video
conference call – and he knew deep down hiring her might lead to something he
wasn’t quite ready for. Or maybe she wasn’t quite ready for him.

Shit, this was probably really
bad. He could almost see the HR violation looming overhead.

When Deanna nodded, Logan
proceeded to his office. Shutting the door behind him, he headed for the coffee
maker on the counter. He’d already been up for two hours, and as usual, he was
anxious for his morning caffeine fix.

As he waited for the coffee to
brew, he logged into his computer. It would require considerable restraint for
him to make it through the day without getting distracted. Somewhere in the
building, he was certain there was a woman he desperately wanted to talk to. He
was also convinced his thoughts were straying toward the very unprofessional,
and he had yet to meet her face to face.

Logan knew how to keep business
separated from his personal life, yet for some reason, he had the damnedest
time when it came to Samantha Kielty.

Logan forced himself to engage in
his email. He would worry about Sam later. He had some business to attend to
which included several back to back meetings.

~*~*~

Sam felt as though she just
walked into a museum or something. Standing in the large, open foyer, she took
in the modern decor, the warm tones on the wall, the oversized plush rug that
sat perfectly straight in front of what appeared to be a security desk. The
sounds of people talking, greeting one another after the weekend was
comforting.

She watched as swarms of people
came and went from the coffee shop located just inside the main doors. The
aroma of freshly brewed coffee and breakfast pastries had her remembering she
had bypassed breakfast on her way out of the hotel.

The differences between the posh
Dallas offices and that of her small San Antonio branch were vast. This was the
hub of the company, scattered with thousands of people amongst the three
buildings, each with three floors. That was probably the biggest difference
between here and San Antonio, with the fifty or so employees in total. Hell,
there were probably as many people at the coffee shop at that moment as there
were in the entire office back home.

With a few minutes to spare, Sam
opted to join the rest of the caffeine deprived, and stood in line to order a
small coffee before she headed up to the third floor, where Deanna, Logan’s
uncommonly hyper assistant, had instructed her to go. Since her stomach was
still churning with nerves, she decided to skip the temptation of blueberry
muffins though.

Her last conversation with Deanna
had been on Sunday, shortly after she arrived at the hotel. The brief phone
call lasted for nearly half an hour as Deanna gave her an overview of what was
what within the Dallas offices.

According to the overly charming
woman, many people were overwhelmed on their first visit and Deanna wanted Sam
to be fully prepared. She was thankful for the assistant’s foresight, even if
the other woman insisted on calling her Ms. Kielty.

With coffee in hand, Sam headed
for the staircase on the north side of the front entrance. As she took the
stairs slowly, realizing she was a few minutes early still, she was relieved to
be back at work.

The weekend had been one of the
longest in recent history. Long and frustrating. She hadn’t been able to keep
her mind off of her conversation with Logan. Ok, so not necessarily the
conversation, more so the view, but that was all in the details.

In an effort to bring the job
opportunity into perspective, Sam spent most of Saturday at her parents’ house.
After sharing the details with her father, a corporate man himself, she hadn’t
felt any more prepared for this trip than before she spoke to him. But, he
urged her to keep an open mind, and somehow she managed to do just that.

Saturday night, Sam spent hours
tossing and turning in her bed, her mind whirling with images of Logan McCoy.
The instant attraction she felt toward him was utterly inappropriate, yet she
hadn’t been able to erase him from her thoughts.

After a particularly restless
night, Sam had woken with a renewed sense of determination. She needed to get
her social life in gear, and lusting after the boss, regardless of how
appealing the man was, would not be a good way to start.

Hell, random sex with a complete
stranger would be better than… ok, maybe not, but at this point, she would give
anything for just a fraction of time to focus.

By the time she reached the third
floor, Samantha realized she should have taken the elevator. As active as she
was, even after her hour workout in the hotel’s fully equipped gym that
morning, she felt a little winded. And quite frankly, the stress snacking she’d
indulged in over the weekend had her wondering if she ought to go back to the
gym after work too. She wasn’t generally prone to eating junk food, but the way
her mind continued to dwell on images of Logan, she had been forced to deviate
from her regular, rigid diet. It hadn’t helped.

The third floor of the Dallas
office was less flashy than the entry of the building, but not by much. The
floor was lined with chest high cubicles held together with standard grey lined
walls but that was where the similarities with the San Antonio office ended.

Samantha oriented herself with
her directions and headed toward the northwest corner as Deanna instructed.

Her heels clicked on the tiled
floor as she ventured down the long, narrow corridor making her feel like she
was announcing her arrival. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to reduce
the amount of noise she was making, so Sam held her head high and continued on.

Halfway to her destination, her
eyes took notice of two men walking her way. Based on her erotic dreams over
the weekend, she was pretty sure the taller of the two men was Logan McCoy.
This man had the same dark eyebrows slanted in thought, the same strong jaw
line and short, black hair that rested just on the top of his shirt collar.

Her body heated, and her stomach
flipped repeatedly. Definitely her soon to be new boss, and there went her hope
that his rugged appeal had been a trick of the computer screen.

What she hadn’t expected was for
him to be so big. She estimated him to be approximately six and a half feet
tall, with a large build that complimented his height perfectly. Based on the
well-defined forearms that she could see beneath his rolled up shirt sleeves,
Logan McCoy was extremely active.

Despite his size, he had a
confident, almost graceful stride. She held her head high and continued on her
path, trying not to trip over her own two feet as she held her breath.

As she passed him, their eyes
locked on one another, and he gave her the same crooked, devilish smile she had
seen during their call on Friday. Her body shuddered, and she prayed that it
was only an internal reaction – wouldn’t that be a fantastic way to greet your
new boss for the first time.

Hi, I’m Samantha Kielty and
apparently my body has a thing for yours.

She gave a polite smile and
continued making her way to the area Deanna had said to go. She forced herself
not to look back, but she felt the heat of someone’s eyes on the back of her
neck. She came upon the admin’s desk and noticed the very petite, pretty,
blonde woman sitting in front of her computer monitor, staring intently at the
screen and talking into her headset. When Deanna noticed her, she gave a bright
white smile and held up one finger letting Sam know she would be just a minute.

Sam positioned her bag on her
shoulder and walked over to the window behind Deanna’s desk, staring out at the
rolling hills that went as far as the eye could see.

It was a lovely view with the
soft, green grass blowing gently in the morning breeze, also something
remarkably different from the San Antonio office where the views were of the
surrounding concrete jungle, just square buildings and parking lots.

“Good morning, Ms. Kielty. I’m so
glad you made it. Did you have any trouble finding us?” Deanna’s voice was
light and gentle and extremely friendly.

“Not at all. You give excellent
directions.” Samantha turned back to the woman, giving her full attention,
quite pleased with herself and the fact she had managed not to ogle Logan any
more than she already had.

“You just missed Mr. McCoy. He
had to go to a meeting.” Deanna stated and sounded rather apologetic.

Oh, she hadn’t missed him by any
means.

“That’s ok. I’m scheduled to meet
with Jeff first thing anyway. Can you point me in his direction?”

“Let me call him and have him
come meet you. I don’t want to send you wandering through here by yourself.
Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

Sam smiled back at the woman. She
was cute. Her smile brightened her entire face and Sam could see the sincerity
written across her features. She glanced down and noticed a long line of art
deco picture frames decorating her work area. She picked up one picture of
Deanna holding a very small infant.

“That’s my youngest. He just
turned eight months old.”

“He’s precious. How many kids do
you have?”

“Three. We’re hoping for more,
but we don’t know if it’s the best time. There’s so much going on. My oldest
just started kindergarten this year, and it has been a positive learning
experience for me and Tommy.”

Wow, three kids?
“You must be busy.” Sam stared
at the other pictures, envying how happy Deanna looked in each of them.

As she turned back to say something,
she noticed a heavy set man with a receding hairline – the epitome of what Sam
expected Logan to look like – heading in her direction. This man looked tired.
She only hoped it wasn’t related to the job.

“Samantha? Jeff Henson. Good
morning.”

“Good morning, Jeff. How are
you?” Surprised with his brief nod, in lieu of an actual response, Sam waited
for him to continue.

“Follow me.” Jeff turned abruptly
and walked back toward the way he had come.