Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) (5 page)

With e
very passing day my week became worse. My week started out with some jerk not realizing the “Reserved for” sign actually meant “do not park here.” Each day, I pulled up and that same darn blue SUV was parked there. I ordered a new sign with my name on it weeks ago, but the sign arrived with my name misspelled. That was Monday.

Then, I was called into Mr. Buchanan’s office and informed that a Mr. Matthew Williams was hired as Vice President for Inside Sales – without
my
approval or even a chance to interview him for the position. I was also told that Mr. Williams would be given a huge budget (I’ve never seen such an impressive budget) and I was told, in not so many words, that Mr. Williams would be able to do anything he wants. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was someone at the top’s nephew or son, especially after I asked to see his résumé. He has
no
managerial experience and came from outside sales.

After I reviewed his résumé, I went right back into Mr. Buchanan’s office and made sure he was well aware of this problem. I was told to sign him up for classes and take him under my wing. That did not go as well as I had planned. I almost laughed in his face, but luckily refrained. Mr. Buchanan seemed to be nice, but I had heard from the other officers that he could be a jerk if you crossed him.

I took this position two months ago knowing it would be a challenge. Joining this company was a great step up in my career. I had only been an assistant until now, so being able to run things the way I wanted was a dream come true for me. I had worked my way up the corporate ladder and hoped to continue. Being able to run this office site the way I wanted to, for the most part, was a thrill – at first.

As soon as I came here I knew that I had a fight on my hands. The previous HR director let things fall aside and it was up to me to turn things around. I put many new policies in place and for the most part, Mr. Buchanan was agreeable. There were a couple things we disagreed on, but overall, I was in charge. Until now.

For some reason, I felt as if Mr. Williams would be a threat to me. How can you come in without any managerial experience and just be given free reign? After speaking with him to go over his benefits and relocation package I understood his type. The type that’s with many women any time he wants and he has that smug salesperson attitude, thinking he could get anything he wants in the company and outside the company too.

My discussion with Mr. Buchanan made my stomach
sink knowing this guy was going to come in here and get away with anything he wanted. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I was just starting to have this office running the way I wanted it to. The previous sales manager had slept with one of his sales associates. Now the company had a possible lawsuit on their hands. Firing him was our best bet and I was glad I convinced Mr. Buchanan of that.

Now all my work was probably going to go down the drain, all because of this smug asshole. Although Mr. Williams is a very good looking guy, he had that arrogant salesman better-than-thou attitude. It was all I could do not to tell Mr. Buchanan that I could find at least ten more competent candidates for his position. I really would love to know how he was offered the position with barely any qualifications. It had to be that some woman enjoyed his tall tanned, amazingly fit body and Greek god face.

I had heard about how handsome he was through whispers in the office. I overheard the women chatting about him in the restroom and the break room, saying how amazingly “hot” he was. The rumors were about him being single and the things they would do to his body if they could have just one night with him.

Even my own assistant, Renee, was chatting about him on the phone with another assistant about him having the most incredible ass she has eve
r seen in person. She had giggled about only seeing a body like his in pictures online. The whispers of him being single and the things they wanted to do to his body, reaffirmed the solidity of my no dating policy. None of the women at this company would be dating him with my policies in place.

As hard as it was to admit, I had a difficult time keeping it together when I met him. He has eyes that are, well, sexy bedroom eyes. I felt as if he were undressing me as we spoke. I had to keep reminding myself that he’s just a cocky salesman who kn
ows all too well how good looking he is.

Now I’m sitting here interviewing this gorgeous young woman with a very well put together
résumé, albeit absent of anything more than an internship and a sketchy current employer. As Ms. Leonard answered my latest question of what she believes her strengths to be, I made a notation on her résumé that I needed to call her current employer. I needed to find out what their line of business is since I did not recognize the name of her employer and her answer was much too vague for my liking.

I continuously glanced down at her ring. She kept pulling on a tress that fell from her ponytail behind her ear and my eyes felt like they were drawn to that damn ring. While it was quite lovely, a pale yellow flower with several tiny diamonds on the petals, it was extremely distracting and I found myself gazing at it during the interview.

Mr. Williams seemed quite taken with her when I walked into the lobby to retrieve Ms. Leonard. I watched his eyes graze over her body and his eyes were taken in by that same ring, too. It was definitely too distracting. I decided to wrap up the interview so I could make a few phone calls.

Mr. Williams would be pleased, I’m sure, to have Ms. Leonard as his administrative assistant. I was trying hard to push away the odd feelings of jealousy I was having. It was the weirdest thing to have that feeling overcome me when I barely know him. He seems to be the type that could work his way around an office full of women. I continually reminded myself of our new “No Dating Policy” and the ban on dating subordinates, both policies I recently put in place. I smiled to myself as I imagined the smug look on his face drop when he learns this information.

Thinking about that, I realized a small smile crept over my mouth. I believe Ms. Leonard mistook my smile as a sign she was getting the job. She actually was fairly well-spoken and her résumé did look presentable; however, the look on Mr. Williams’ face was enough to make me not want to bother interviewing her at all. Bitchy as it seems, I didn’t want to give him someone pretty to look at. He does need to focus on his new managerial role, after all.

On the other hand, if I do hire her as his administrative assistant, he would surely go for her and I could have him terminated for dating a subordinate. Then I could hire someone more qualified for his position. That would alleviate the jealousy and competitive issue that I’m fighting in my head. I was angry with myself for thinking things like that.

I’m in human resources and should be trying to make sure everyone gets along and the policies are adhered to, not try to dissuade things from happening due to the jealousy and competitive issue I’m having.

The interview was finally over and I showed Ms. Leonard to the lobby. I let her know I would be in touch soon about the position. I scoffed to myself about the word ‘position’ knowing Mr. Williams would surely enjoy that word with her. Then I was even angrier with myself for thinking things like that.

As I turned to walk back to my office, the smug salesman I was just thinking of came sauntering towards me. His light brown, almost blonde hair had that mussed look to it. It looked as if a woman had just had her hands thrusting through it.

Where the hell did that thought come from?

He was wearing dress slacks and a nice blue golf shirt that brought out a darker hue in his blue eyes. He had this smile that told me most women look him over like I was. I took a deep breath and tried to contain my hormone level from spiking. He definitely had that hard male quality that would make most women’s legs quiver.

“Mr. Williams, can I help you?” I asked as I quickly looked down at the résumé, pretending to read it. I hated the fact that he was so good looking that it actually made my heart skip a beat. Stupid female hormones. I took a
nother deep breath as I continued to glance at the file, determined not to be one of “those” types of females taken by his good looks. I thought about my fiancé, Charles. He’s good looking and women fall at his feet all the time too. The thought made me frown.

“Hey, Vanessa. I was just wondering if the check was cut for my moving expenses.” He surprised me by asking. I thought for sure he was coming to ask about little Ms. Gorgeous. God, even his deep voice resonates sex.

I took a deep breath before looking at him to make sure I could sound authoritative and responded, “You’ll have to visit Accounts Payable for that. I’ve submitted the paperwork to them.” I tried to look as annoyed as possible so he would head over there, but decided to add in one more thing — something that would be sure to remind him that I have the upper hand in this office. “And my name is Ms. Hargrave.” That came out slightly bitchier than I had planned, but at this point it was good to set the tone that I have more authority in this office.

That stupid left eyebrow whipped up just like it had when we first met. It was annoyingly attractive and I decided to stick with the annoying description to make myself not feel anything for him. “Wow, even Perry lets me call him by his first name. I guess I assumed that everyone in this office called each other by their first names. I apologize,” he said dryly, yet it didn’t seem to really convey an apology.

“Mr. Buchanan lets you call him Perry?” I tried not to sound surprised and pathetic, but I’m sure it came out that way. I cursed myself for even asking that.

Mr. Williams gave me a questioning look. “Yeah, of course. Everyone here goes by first names. I just met Tanner and Elaina awhile ago and they told me that.”

I swallowed hard. No one had told me to call them by their first names and all of a sudden I felt like an outsider. I nodded and turned back toward my office, pretending to review the file again. My heart sank because this seemed to be the same type of thing that happened at my last job. I’ve always had trouble making friends and I thought choosing this profession would be an easy way to be the go-to person I always wanted to become. Instead I was feeling like an outsider.

After returning to my office, I took it upon myself to make a few phone calls to verify references, previous and current employers for Ms. Leonard. Normally, I would have Renee handle this, but I wanted to make these inquiries myself. It wasn’t much of a surprise when I finally dragged out of Mr. Eddie Markum that she is in the ‘entertainment’ business. A stripper. Well, I must say she tried to hide that pretty well. Her college or previous internship must have assisted her with her résumé. I would have never known had I not interrogated Mr. Markum.

I sent a quick text to Charles, my fiancé, asking if he would like to have lunch today. Although I had known him through my parent’s country club, we didn’t really date until my last year of college and have been together ever since. Charles finally asked me to marry him several months ago. We still haven’t set a date since we both keep hectic schedules.

Well, his more so than mine. He is extremely busy since he is currently doing his residency in the emergency room. Charles is going to be the best cardiac surgeon in the country and will join my father’s practice after his residency. I’m very proud of him, as are my parents. They absolutely adore Charles.

I received a text back saying he would have only about twenty minutes to grab a quick bite and to meet him at the café, just down the street from the hospital where he works. I normally don’t mind driving the fifteen minutes to get there just to see him. The traffic I encountered today tells a different story and I tried my best to keep calm as I maneuvered my car through it.

I finally arrived five minutes late, but glad I would be able to see Charles. Sometimes there are weeks we don’t get to see each other because of his hectic schedule. I walked in and spotted his chestnut wavy hair and dazzling smile. He was already eating lunch… next to Amanda. Amanda, the amazingly skinny doctor who is also doing her residency with Charles.

Amanda is sort of a hot button in our relationship. She started the same time as Charles and he spoke very highly of her. A lot. So much that jealousy got the better of me and I started several fights about how he works with her all the time and eats with her all the time. I continually felt foolish as he reminded me that they have a lot in common and so much to talk about since they are both interns and both have their specialty in the same field. Charles made sure to try to tell me that just because they are together all the time doesn’t mean anything beyond a professional relationship.

He also tries to tell me that he prefers my curvy womanly body instead of her stick thin boyish body. Being a woman, that didn’t really make me feel any better since I know she doesn’t have to work out to fit into cute clothes, whereas I feel like I gain ten pounds, just by looking at ice cream.

I took a deep breath and smiled in an attempt to fight my jealous thoughts and at least appear confident. I walked over and gave him a kiss and said a friendly hello to Amanda before going up to the counter to order my sandwich. I came back to the table and sat as close as I could next to Charles. They had already ordered their food and were eating. Side by side. My stomach dropped with that dreaded jealous feeling. I pushed it aside, not wanting another fight with Charles about this.