ROMANCE: SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE: Dragon Baller's Bride (Dragon Shifter Alpha Male Romance) (Paranormal Romantic Suspense) (7 page)

F
riday afternoon was dragging
for Amy as she tried not to think about where she was going as soon as she was done. Mark had sent her a note that gave her the name of a restaurant where they’d be having dinner, and to let her know a driver would pick her up at five. While the driver wasn’t necessary, she was silently glad as she hated the subway during rush hour and this way she could avoid it.

It was just before five that she realized the real reason for the driver as her current boss came up to her desk, looking almost happy though she wasn’t entirely sure. “Make sure you take all your belongings with you, since this is your last day here. Mark Carren informed me you are starting there on Monday. There are boxes in the supply room if you need one.”

Amy stared after her boss, or former boss, in shock as the reality of what he had just said sunk in. She got the job. Mark had been able to get her out of her contract and this dinner wasn’t just to sign her new employment contract, it was also to celebrate. She almost jumped for joy and almost skipped to the supply room to get a box, getting to work on boxing up everything. Several other accountants and bookkeepers came to see what she was doing, and she excitedly told them about her new job which got her just as many envious looks as it got her congratulations.

It was a happy Amy, who instantly felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, who put her box in the trunk of the car at five o’clock on the dot. “I will take the box to your new office after taking you to the restaurant ma’am,” the driver said as they pulled away from the curb.

“Thank you that is very much appreciated.”

While the drive was definitely more pleasant than the subway, it also took longer as traffic was positively insane. Half the time they weren’t moving at all, which is why Amy didn’t arrive at the restaurant until six. She smiled when she saw Mark waiting out front for her, and she let him help her out of the car after he opened her door. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting?”

“Not at all. I planned for it to take some time for you to get here. Shall we head inside?”

Amy smiled at him and let him lead her to their table, where he pulled out her chair like a true gentleman would before sitting down himself. “Considering you are smiling, I take it you already know I was successful?”

“Yes, I do. Thank you, truly. I feel lighter somehow.”

“It was clear you were not happy there. I hope you don’t mind but I went ahead and ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate the happy occasion.”

“I don’t mind at all. I finally have something worth celebrating. I am curious how you did it though.”

“Money can do a lot of things, as does knowing your competition. Your employers have some things they don’t wish to have become public knowledge, and I gave them some excellent referrals for your replacement so they won’t be without a CPA long. Clearly they didn’t worry about getting good lawyers for those contracts either as my lawyers pierced right through them. All in all it was really quite simple.”

“Well thank you. I look forward to starting on Monday.”

“Excellent. Now before dinner let’s get the formal reason for this dinner out of the way before we let alcohol influence anything. This is the contract, let me know if you want to see any changes. I’m willing to negotiate.”

Amy took the contract and started reading, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she did. She would be making the same as the previous CFO, which was over half a million a year, full health, dental and vision, 401k, pension, life insurance, and four weeks’ vacation a year. When she got to the paragraph about living arrangements she almost forgot how to breathe. “You have an apartment for me?”

“Our executive officers have housing provided as part of their benefits package. Besides me there is you and our COO, whom you will meet first thing Monday. After that meeting I will make the formal announcement during our regular Monday morning town hall meeting which is open to all employees. We all live in the same building, where I have the penthouse and you and the COO, Kevin, split the floor below it. It is convenient as we sometimes work late, and our chef can easily prepare meals while our housekeeper can easily take care of all our homes.”

“Chef? Housekeeper?”

“Yes. I have a chef in my employ, and she will also be available to you. Trust me, there will be times when you’ll love it especially when it comes time for the annual audit of the books. Our housekeeper simply keeps everything clean and does your laundry, including taking anything that needs dry cleaned to the dry cleaner and picking it back up. With three of us there is always something and if she goes for one of us she might as well go for all of us. I believe that good employees should be valued, and I take care of mine to ensure they will want to work hard. All employees get three weeks’ vacation starting out, and even though they are at work less than employees at other corporations, they are also more productive. It’s amazing how that works. You will be busy, you will have many days where you’ll want to go home and sink down on your couch with a glass of wine. The last thing you’ll want to do is worry about cleaning or doing laundry or cooking dinner. Lydia is actually really excited to finally have a woman to take care of. Is there anything you’d like changed or added?”

“No, it all looks good. Do you have a pen?”

Five minutes later the contract was signed in duplicate and Amy was handed a check, much to her confusion. “Sign on bonus. Movers will be at your apartment tomorrow to help you pack up and move. The bonus will help with any expenses you might incur. Also, you will receive formal notice of your stock shares by Monday afternoon.”

“Stock shares? Did I miss that?”

“It’s standard for an executive. It’s incentive for you to help our company do well. If we keep up our stock prices you benefit from it. It’s also why I like the annual audit, it makes sure we aren’t doing anything illegal to keep that benefit at a maximum. Now, how about some shrimp cocktails for an appetizer?”

And just like that Mark switched away from the business portion of the dinner to the pleasure portion, waving over the waiter who immediately came to take their order. Amy was glad that Mark ordered for her, as she wasn’t sure she could remember how to speak, and when he filled her glass with champagne she gratefully drank half the glass, causing Mark to chuckle.

“You do know there is water if you are thirsty?”

“I’m not thirsty. I needed some serious alcohol to make sure I still know how to breathe and swallow and all those normal things humans do.”

Mark got a slightly strange look on his face at that statement before it went back to his normal smile, before he picked up the bottle to refill her glass. “Well then I see we need some more. If you need a minute might I suggest looking at the menu to decide what you want as your main course?”

“Food. Yes, let’s focus on food,” Amy said slightly numbly as she started focusing on her menu. She almost felt like she was living a dream and any moment she was going to wake up and she would be back at her crappy job, working for someone who hated everyone and everything. When she placed her order and everything was still going on around her, she started to realize that not only was this very real, she also hadn’t said a word in almost twenty minutes while Mark simply sat there watching her. “Alright. This is real. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but it’s apparently real as I’m still here and you’re still here.”

“Good, now that that’s settled, are you going to eat your appetizer?”

Amy laughed and started eating a piece of shrimp before looking at Mark. “You are taking my silence surprisingly well.”

“I recognized that you needed a moment. Apparently your moment lasts a little longer than that of most other people, but a moment it was.”

“I see. So nobody knows I start on Monday?”

“Kevin knows, but he’s the only one. He is out of town this weekend otherwise you’d meet him tomorrow. Would you like to go see your apartment after dinner?”

“I’ll see it tomorrow, I want to get started on packing. I also need to make a list of everywhere I need to change my address and call my mother to inform her.”

“You’re a list person?”

“I have lists for everything.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. So what do you like to do in your free time?”

“I love going out into the mountains and hiking. It sounds strange since I live in the city, and I truly love it here, but when I have the time I like to escape all the hustle and bustle and go somewhere I won't encounter anyone else. It gives me the opportunity to relax. In the city I love attending plays, go to movies or simply spend time with friends.”

“I will admit that it surprises me that you enjoy the outdoors, but I could see why you would. Do most of your friends live in the city?”

“They do. I’m assuming it doesn’t matter if I have them at my apartment?”

“That’s fine. It’s truly your space, you can entertain as much as you’d like. Lydia can help you if you need anything. I don’t want you to feel like you’ll be constantly watched, because you won’t be. I work odd hours and I can usually be found at the office even on the weekends. Kevin has a daughter he has every other weekend so he’ll be busy with her on those weekends. He occasionally has her on weekdays as well when her mother needs someone to watch her, so you’ll probably see her around some.”

“How old is she?”

“Twelve. She is a beautiful little girl, I’ve watched her grow up over the past few years. She calls me Uncle Mark and I won’t deny I love it. She is starting to turn into a young woman, and maybe it will be good for her to have a woman there to balance out us men. She’s with her mother most of the time, but her mother works often and isn’t home much either.”

“I’m not great with kids but I’m sure it’ll be fine. So what do you do when you’re not working?”

“Sleep.”

“Oh come on, there has be something else you do.”

“Eat.”

“You work, eat and sleep?”

“Yes, that about sums it up.”

“We need to fix that. I don’t know Kevin but I’m sure if I talked to him we could get you to do more than that. You need to find time to wind down and relax or you’ll go insane.”

“I assure you I’m fine, but you are welcome to try,” Mark replied with a smile as he thought about spending more time with Amy. He found he was enjoying it, and he wanted to do so more often.

“I’ll consider that a challenge, and I never back down from a challenge. I do have to say though that I have to get home if I want to have any chance of moving this weekend. There is an awful lot to do.”

“Very well. Give me a moment to pay the bill and I can have my driver drop you off at home.”

“Thank you that would be great. I really don’t like taking the subway, even though it’s easy to use and often faster.”

“You’ll be able to walk to work from now on, and if the weather is ever bad I have our driver pick us up.”

“I’ll use an umbrella, thank you.”

Mark chuckled and as soon as he had signed the slip he got up before helping her up out of her chair. “We’ll see.”

“It’s just rain, you won’t melt,” Amy said with a shake of her head. Mark looked at her strangely, but Amy wasn’t sure what that look meant so she ignored it, letting him lead her out of the restaurant. The ride to her apartment didn’t take long and for some reason Amy felt herself wishing it had lasted longer.

They hadn’t spoken in any way, but she felt comfortable in his presence and there was something about him that drew her in. Even though they weren’t talking, she didn’t think the silence was awkward and she was looking forward to many more times where they could simply sit together without saying a word. She immediately wanted to shake those thoughts out of her head. He was her boss! She knew that this weekend she had to focus on moving and getting settled into her new place, which she still couldn’t quite believe was real, and on Monday she’d have to start the hard job of re-training all the bookkeepers. She knew she would be busy but she found herself looking forward to the meeting with Kevin and Mark on Monday morning. She was brought out of her musing when the car stopped in front of her building.

“Thank you Mark. For everything.”

“Good luck with the moving, if you need any help call me. I will stop by on Sunday to see if you got settled in alright.”

With that Amy got out of the car and walked up to her apartment, only to find it filled with movers. “Umh hi?”

“Good evening ma’am. Mr. Carren hired us to help you pack, is there anything you’d like to do yourself?” An older man said with a smile when Amy came in. Everyone around them continued working and it was clear this man was in charge.

“My office, thank you. Should I ask how you got in?”

“I wouldn’t. He wanted to make sure your move went smoothly with as little work for you as possible. We will also be at your new place to help you unpack. All you have to do is tell us where to put everything. The new apartment is fully furnished, is there any furniture you want to keep as opposed to putting it in your storage locker in the basement of your new building?”

“I have a storage locker?”

“Yes ma’am. It is large enough to hold all your furniture and it is climate controlled. So is there any furniture you’d like to keep?”

“I don’t think so, but I might change my mind once I see the apartment. I don’t actually know what’s there.”

“Very well. When we get there tomorrow I’ll ask you again. I need to get back to ensuring everything is going well, if you need anything just let me know.”

Amy looked around her apartment and all the people in it. She watched her entire life being packed into boxes at a pace that scared her. This morning she went to work as if it was any other Friday, and now she was packing up her life to move to an apartment she had never seen. With a big sigh she walked to her small office, where she grabbed several file boxes that were already there and ready to be used. She was glad they were letting her do her office herself as she had a filing system she was proud of, which now that she thought about it sounded really sad. She needed a life that didn’t revolve around organization, lists or numbers and she found herself hoping Mark would be part of that life. She could use the excuse that Mark needed more fun in his life and have more fun in her own life as well.