Coming To Reason (A Long Road to Love) (3 page)

Carrie frowned remembering the consultant who’d practically
raped Trent when they first came to Dan’s firm wishing to hire a new staff. “I
won’t be expected to seduce clients, will I?”

He smiled as he shook his head. “No. After you brought the
situation to my attention, I made it clear to all my consultants sexual
persuasion should be limited to the mildest of flirtations.”

Carrie frowned, feeling he should have forbidden it in all
forms. He seemed to read her mind.

“If I flat out forbid it, some of my high performers, such
as Miss Parker, who depends upon the particular skill, would quit and work for
someone else.”

In her opinion, Miss Parker quitting would improve his
company. “But I would not be expected to flirt, would I?” Trent wouldn’t stand
for it. While she’d caught him flirting with the pretty girls on his new sales
force, he went ballistic if she even smiled at the male staff members.

“Be yourself, Carrie. Your genuine interest in placing the
best people for the job will win clients faster than flirting any day.”

She nodded in agreement. Maybe she could make the rest of
his staff see the same.

“So you’ll do it?” he asked.

“Yes. Do I get to wear a wire?”

He chuckled and handed her a small digital recorder. “Learn
to turn this on by touch and keep it in your pocket.”

He glanced at his watch and stood. “Everyone should be in
the conference room by now. Come with me, and I’ll introduce you as my new
hire.”

She followed him out the door. “Your coffee and my tea
should be ready as well.”

His hand touched her back as they headed to the break room.

Carrie couldn’t believe it. Not even eight in the morning
and she had two jobs: one to catch a cheat and another to find clients the best
workers for their companies. She couldn’t wait to tell Trent. Of course, she
could
only
tell him about the official job. Otherwise, he’d become
worried for her safety and demand she quit.

She wondered if his new EA had stormed off yet. The EA’s
training had taken more time than expected yesterday, so Trent had never come
home last night. Instead, he stayed at the penthouse. She gathered Jon and
Patty, whom he’d invited to live in his city home about four months ago, didn’t
welcome him with open arms, but he refused to discuss the matter. Instead, he’d
wanted to have phone sex.

About twenty minutes into their phone sex he said, “I’m
driving myself deep inside you.” A second later, she heard a woman groan from
his side of the phone. Instead of freaking out, she wracked her brain for a logical
explanation, and asked if he had a porn film playing.

He laughed and admitted he did. After discovering the
truth, she ignored the echoes to her groans and let her substitute Trent, aka
her purple rabbit vibrator, bring her to an amazing orgasm.

Thank God, she hadn’t jumped to the worst assumption upon
hearing the woman’s groans. Had the situation been in reverse, Trent would
have. Trusting him a hundred percent, she’d remained calm and searched for a
logical reason.

And found it.

She wondered if Trent appreciated her absolute trust. He
should, because most women didn’t possess her degree of confidence.

Dan opened the door for Carrie and they entered the crowded
conference room. People filled all the seats but the one at the head of the
table, and more employees stood against three of the walls.

He leaned over and whispered to a young man. A second
later, the fellow popped from his chair and offered it to Carrie. She thanked
him and sat, wishing Dan had let her stand. Now everyone in the room stared at
her.

Taking his seat, Dan leaned back. “Thank you for coming in
early
today. I wanted
to keep you abreast of staffing issues. On Friday, I had to fire all three of
our new consultants. I have hired one replacement, but I want everyone to look
out for candidates you think would work.”

A hand rose in the back. He nodded to a balding man in his
mid-fifties.

“Can we know why you fired them? Because from my
perspective, their placement numbers looked good.”

He nodded. “Clients had issues with them. Which prompts me
to give a lecture.”

Low groans emitted around the room and one of the guys
punched the bald guy’s arm.

“Your
two
key objectives are to make the client
happy and to place appropriate candidates as soon as possible. Pay attention to
both objectives. They are the long term and short term success of this
company.”

Carrie thought his dual perspectives excellent. She
understood why everyone thought him the best. He didn’t just focus on the short-term
collection of commission, but also on the long-term partnership with clients.

“Now I would like to introduce Carrie Hanson. She’s
new
to
recruiting, so I’m sure she’ll appreciate all the advice and assistance she can
get.”

Nodding in agreement, she grinned at her co-workers. All
the men smiled, as did a few of the women. Miss Parker was not among the shiny
teeth brigade.

“Greg will disperse the open accounts, so if you want one,
let him know.” He rose, which signaled a mass exodus. Carrie stood to get out
of the way. Dan’s hand rested on her back. “Greg, let’s give Carrie the top
three of the open client requests.”

The balding man tilted his head. “No more?”

“No. The other clients have issues. I need seasoned people
on them.”

“Wow, you got a lot of complaints.” He glanced at Carrie
and then spoke soft
ly
to Dan. “Maybe we shouldn’t be hiring inexperienced
consultants.”

“I didn’t become the best by taking other firm’s leftovers.
I’m not changing my methodology now.”

The man nodded as he glanced down at Carrie. She smiled,
hoping to assure him she’d be worth the trouble to train.

Dan nudged her closer to Greg. “Will you see Carrie
settled?”

The guy’s face tensed. He looked like he’d rather settle a
case of the plague. Dan noticed as well. “If you’re swamped, tell me.”

Greg grimaced. “Up to my eyeballs.”

“Well, I’ve a few hours open. I’ll do it myself.”

“I can do it,” Greg said with a heavy sigh.

Dan squeezed his shoulder. “I appreciate your offer, but if
you’re too busy—”

“No, it’s a time issue. Dispersing clients is more trouble
than you’d think. You wouldn’t believe how fast feathers get ruffled.”

Dan grinned. “I can remember way back when I did it. Tell
you what. You practice détente and I’ll give Carrie the general lecture and
then ask someone to show her about. Now get on with the hard job.”

Greg smiled at him and hurried out of the conference room.
A flinch of concern crossed Dan’s face as he left.

He’s worried Greg’s involved.

“Do you two go way back?” she asked.

Dan’s eyes settled on her. “Yes. Greg’s been with me since I
opened my firm. We had no layers back then. He’s now my manager.”

“Does he get the improved reports?”

“Yes.” The sadness in Dan’s voice tugged at her heart.

“Is it possible he doesn’t have time to read them?”

A glimmer of hope brought forth a faint smile. “I hope so”

He led her back to his office, pulled a notebook from his
credenza, and sat at his desk with her on the other side, turning the book so
it faced her. He then explained each page as he turned them.

Half way through, Carrie interrupted him. “This is a great
tool!”

“Thank you.”

“Did you think of it?”

“Yes. Now can we continue?”

The humor in his voice assured her he hadn’t lost patience
with her. “Sorry, continue please.”

Once done, she wanted to jump in and fill some jobs. “Do I
get a copy of the notebook?”

“No. But if you wish to review anything, you can refer to
mine, or ask Greg for his.”

“Why don’t you give these to your employees?”

“Because no one has ever asked to borrow one. If they had
their own—”

“They would never refer to it but might take it with them
when they left.” She grimaced. “It’d be like giving out chair schematics to the
workers at the factory. Sorry, for asking a stupid question.”

“No.” His hand covered hers for a fleeting moment. “I want
you to challenge my procedures. When we get the current problem resolved, I intend
to promote you to change specialist.”

Her happy spirits did flips, until a dark cloud rained on
them. “Wait…do you think I’ll make a terrible consultant? Is it why you
only
gave me three
clients?”

“Not at all. I think you’re going to be one of the best
consultants in my firm, but you have a true gift in spotting what needs to be
changed and getting people to accept doing things in a more productive manner.
I can find consultants as good as you’ll become, but I’ll never find another
change specialist even close to you.”

“I have a track record of one success.”

“You transformed a business in complete chaos and low morale
into a high performance, team-spirited company. Ian intends to use it as a
business case for his students.”

“Oh God!” Carrie remembered all too well how real-to-life
his actors played their roles as unhappy employees. “I hope his actors don’t drop
cabinets on the students, because Trent won’t be around to rescue them as he
did for me.”

“Saving your life is the single decent action Trent has
ever done in his whole life.”

His words shocked her. Not the part about Trent saving her
life when a fired employee tossed a file cabinet from the window. No, her
astonishment centered on Dan’s claim it was the
only
act of
goodness.

“I don’t think you’ve spoken to Trent for a while. He’s
improved a lot. He
no
longer channels his father or tries to motivate by threatening
to fire people. He’s left his petulant childhood behind and has become a very
fine adult.”

Dan massaged his left temple as if he had a headache.

“Sorry, I’m sure you have better things to do than listen
to me wax on about Trent.”

“Without question,” he muttered.

Carrie made a note to herself.
Never talk about Trent
with my new boss.

He stood and led her down the hall of consultants. He stopped
at the first door and focused on the guy inside. “Scott, any chance you’d be
willing to let Carrie sit and watch you work today?”

A cheery male voice replied, “Yes, sir!”

God, he sounded like a puppy being offered a treat.

Dan tugged her to the door and she smiled at the blond guy
who had given up his chair for her.

“If you could show her around and introduce her to everyone
when your schedule allows, I’d appreciate it.”

With a nod, Dan abandoned her and continued down the hall.
Scott tripped while offering her a chair. “Are you thirsty? Can I get you
anything?”

“No, I’m fine,” she assured her anxious pup. She’d never
call him handsome, but his
large
round head and blue, owlish eyes gave a first impression
of cuteness.

“I’m Scott Everet.” He shook her hand and sat on the edge
of his desk.

“Carrie Hanson.”

“Where’d you work before?”

“Lancaster Chairs.”

He frowned. “The crazy place?”

“It’s reformed now.”

“So you don’t have any experience as a resource
consultant?”

“No.”

He grimaced. “Then I’m
probably
not the right
person to teach you.”

“Why? Are you new, as well?”

“No, I’ve done this for ten years.”

To her eye, he appeared to be in his
mid-
twenties,
leaving her to mistrust his claim.

He must have read her doubt. “I’m thirty-three.” He
returned to his side of the desk and sat down. “How about you?”

“Twenty-five.”

He paused as if trying to figure out their age difference. From
the length of time it took, she suspected he hadn’t done well in math. She
decided to save him the effort of caring.

“My fiancé thinks I look younger than my years, as well.”

He lost interest in his mental computations and studied his
schedule. “I’m crunched today. Let me see if one of the ladies can do this.
You’d get more practical advice from them.” He hurried from his room.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned. “Follow me.”

As he led her down the hall, she repeated a short mental prayer.

Not Ms. Parker. Not Ms. Parker. Not Ms. Parker.