Seduced By My Billionaire Boss (The Billionaire Boss Series, #1) (3 page)

“She’s fired,” the executive said shortly.

I blinked in mild shock and leaned forward a bit so I could see the name cc’d on his papers. Mr. Trask. Third note to self, don’t ever tell Mr. Trask if you get bronchitis...

“Can I do that?”

He turned to a man and a woman seated on his left. They seemed to move in tandem. One cocked their head; the other mirrored the motion the other way. At first I thought they had to be some sort of ‘twins separated at birth’ situation, but the only physical traits they had in common was the lethal fire blazing in their eyes...

“We can do that.” The man spoke softly, but his voice carried an authority around the room. I sat up with a shiver as the woman took over.

“Have Jamie send me her files—I’m sure I can find something to justify the termination.”

“I don’t envy this Jamie,” I whispered to the man who’d spoken to me before. “Those two look like they could dislodge their jaws and swallow you whole...”

He chuckled quietly. “That’s Kiev and Mariska. They’re supposed to look like that; they’re head of the legal division—Larchwood’s chief counsel.” He shifted sideways in his seat and offered me a discreet hand. “And I’m Jamie.”

My cheeks flushed as I shook with an apologetic smile. “Jenna. Just transferred in from California.”

His brow creased with a little frown. “What happened to Katie?”

All the blood drained out of my face, but just as I was about to reply, Trask took over the meeting once more.

“Good. What’s next?”

Patti Macer stood up. Although she was the only one to do so, none of the others seemed to think this was at all odd—they rather seemed to expect it from her. “I’ve received the addition I requested from the west coast and my team is in place. We’ll begin work on the formal draft and get something to you by Wednesday.”

“Make it Tuesday,” Trask instructed, scanning down one of his endless lists. “We’re all going to have to pull together on this one.” His colorless eyes flashed up and scanned around the room—reminding me of some sort of blind fish, probing the dark. “You say we have a new member? Where is she?”

Jamie nudged me with his elbow. “You’re on, Katie.”

I paled even more, but pushed to my feet and tried for a confident smile. “Jenna Harks, sir. Ms. Macer got me up to speed in the elevator, and I’m ready to start when you are.”

Trask’s fish eyes scanned me again, and I could see Michael doing the same thing from his corner. “Good. That’s the kind of attitude we’re going to need around here—especially now.” He picked up the remaining papers and shoved them into his briefcase. “Well, that’s all I have for today. I’m considering putting in a request to PR to send over a specialist, but I’m not sure we’re there just yet—we’ll visit it again next week.”

He gave some sort of wobbly-headed nod that might have been an indicator of early onset Parkinson’s or a just severe caffeine withdrawal, and just like that, the meeting was over. I got to my feet with the rest of them, casting covert looks around as I tried to remember where my office was. But first thing’s first. I saw Jamie’s dark hair bobbing his way out into the hall, and I made a bee-line for him, unintentionally/intentionally side-stepping Michael as he crossed toward me through the crowd.

“Jamie?” I called tentatively.

He stopped outside a closed office door and waited patiently as I hurried over in my unforgiving shoes. When I finally got there, breathless and shook with nerves, he offered me a gracious smile. “It’s Katie, right?”

“About that...”

He pushed open the door, and I followed him inside, closing it carefully behind me. His office was nearly identical to mine, save for the dozens of pictures all around the room of him smiling with his arm around an equally smiling woman. They were a cute couple, I thought. Both attractive, in an approachable sort of way, both glowing with obvious love.

I gestured with an ice-breaking grin. “She’s pretty.”

His face softened automatically as he followed my gaze. “Stacy. She’s a middle school teacher—we’ve been together six years.” The smile lingered as he pushed up his glasses and settled behind his chair. “Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

I sank into a chair across from him, stiff with guilt. Where did I begin? Was that to be my first and last meeting at Larchwood? Had I blown it already? Maybe I should have taken Michael up on that wink.

“Katie’s not coming,” I began quietly. Despite his kind demeanor, I was having trouble meeting his eyes.

“Uh-huh, yeah, I guessed that.” He was trying not to laugh. “Want to tell me why?”

Just relax, Jen. You deserve this. No matter how you did it, you deserve to be here.

I lifted my chin and tried for that blast of confidence that had gotten me in the door. “She couldn’t take the pressure. Said she hated finance. Her fiancé left her and she was headed back to California.” I paused, editing, and wondering how much to admit. Jamie seemed like a good guy, but he was established here while I...was an imposter by every definition of the word. “I met her in the bathroom on her way out. I was on my way in.”

He studied me over the tops of his glasses and my heart froze in my chest. He may have a fresh, youthful air about him, but he was a shark just like the rest. You had to be if you worked in a place like this.

“You were on your way in to do what?”

I gulped. “To interview for an assistant’s position with Patti Macer. She asked if I was her help from California and I...”

“...you just did what any of the rest of us would do.”

My head snapped up, and I saw his eyes were sparkling. “Jenna, right?” I nodded. “Jenna, I’m the inter-office liaison—you know what that means?”

I nodded again. It meant that he had risen impossibly fast to a position of great importance considering his age. It also meant he had the power to fire me.

“Where did you go to school?”

The question surprised me, and my resume—which I’d been chanting to myself for the last four weeks—rose to the surface of my brain.

“Princeton, then Harvard Business School. Followed by an eighteen-month internship with Goldman Sachs.”

“You left Goldman Sachs,” he looked surprised, “why?”

I looked him evenly in the eyes. “Because I want to work here.”

Even though it was clear my feminine charms wouldn’t work on a guy so happily taken; I could tell my soft-spoken honesty moved him. He studied me another moment before suddenly asking,

“How did China open in the market today?”

“Hong Kong or Shanghai?”

His mouth twitched. “Both.”

“Up eight and up seven, respectively.”

“What was Larchwood’s total net gain last quarter?”

“Four point seven. Best in nine years.”

“And the Central American dropout?”

“Due mostly to experimental weather patterns and some bad Shakira concerts, nothing worth noting.”

His eyes sparkled again. “And why do you want to work here?”

“Because this is as big as it gets.” It was impossible to keep the hunger from my voice. “I want this, I’m qualified, and I know I can handle it.”

There was a brief pause at the end of this statement. He regarded me quietly for a moment before logging into his computer. I leaned forward slightly in my chair even though the screen was pointed away from me. Was he alerting security? Throwing me from the building?

“Katie McGill no longer exists in our records. As far as myself, and the rest of the company is concerned, you are exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

My jaw literally dropped open as I watched him typing at the speed of light. Sharks doing sharks favors? This had to be some kind of anomaly.

“You allergic to anything?”

I blinked. “What?”

He shrugged and continued typing. “They don’t really care.”

The next second, the printer was whirling away and my brand new employment forms came shooting out at me. He handed them over the desk, pointing at various sections as he spoke.

“Badge, benefits, base salary, stock options. If you’re stupid enough to own a car in this city, I’m sure we have a parking program, but I wouldn’t know how to help you.”

I looked at the papers in shock. It was all here. The makings of my new life. I’d only gotten them two years early. “Jamie...” How did I even begin? “I don’t know what to—”

“Don’t mention it. But if I find the real Katie McGill tied up in a closet somewhere, you get a four-second head start, then I call the cops. Understood?”

“Understood.” I couldn’t keep a breathless sort of laughter from my voice as I stood up to go. “And thank you, really. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me just yet.” He leaned back in his chair with a wink. “Wait until you see what you’ve gotten yourself in for.”

As it turned out, Jamie was absolutely right. It took me thirty minutes just to read through a one-page document enough times that I was sure I completely understood it. And that was only the first in a three-inch stack. By the time the lunch hour rolled around, I pushed back my chair with an exhausted sigh. My eyes were throbbing, and I felt like I’d absorbed enough information to start my own company from the ground up if I so desired. Mentally fatigued and emotionally raw, I joined the swarm of people heading for the elevators down to the lobby. The only comfort I had was that I wasn’t the only who had that vague, zombie look about them. Broken blood vessels and deep purple bruises beneath the eyes littered the elevator, always accompanied by that hyped up, jittery, caffeine-talk that was always a little too fast and too high. I wondered if I was doing it as well.

I was considering this with a frown as I poured into the lobby with the rest of them. In fact, I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize someone was talking to me until I felt a tap on the shoulder. Surprised, I looked up again into the grinning face of Michael Larchwood.

“It’s Jenna, right?”

I lost myself a moment in those chocolate eyes before nodding quickly. “Jenna Harks.”

He extended a hand for an unnecessary introduction. “Michael Larchwood.”

“I know who you are.” I politely returned his smile but kept the handshake brief. The last thing I needed on my first day was to be labeled as the new office flirt.

Michael, however, had other plans. His thumb stroked innocently across my knuckles before he finally released me. “So how’s your first day treating you?”

I tried to keep up my guard, but it was incredibly difficult to do considering both my level of mental strain and the undeniable charm oozing from the guy standing across from me.

“It’s...challenging. I’ve come at a busy time,” I replied, before quickly adding, “but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

His laugh echoed off the glass walls, earning us a dozen half-hidden stares from across the lobby. “I bet. Well, why don’t you let me take you out to lunch, and you can tell me all about it.” He smiled winningly. “First day treat.”

I briefly considered. Would it be a bad call to decline lunch from the boss’ son? To shut the door on dining with a Larchwood in a company where people were fighting tooth and nail to advance? But I felt a hundred eyes on me from all over the lobby and took a deliberate step back.

It might be a bad call, yes, but it would be an even worse call to go with him. One that, if I wasn’t careful, I would read about on Page Six.

“That’s a very kind offer,” I said as I continued to back toward the glass doors, “but I already promised a friend I’d meet her. But thank you, Mr. Larchwood. Really.”

I was still stammering my excuses and thank-yous when I turned around and literally ran into a man who was coming inside. Five years of tennis lessons paid off, and in a brilliant display of reflexes, I caught his coffee before it could spill a single drop on his expensive suit.

“I’m so sorry—wasn’t looking where I was going,” I murmured, handing it back to him.

He blinked at me in surprise, his eyes flickering back to where a rejected looking Michael was watching, before returning to me.

“It’s no trouble,” he said softly, taking it from my hands.

At this point, I was in such a hurry to get out the door that I simply nodded and pushed past him—eager to leave the troublesome tower behind me. I hopped in the first cab I saw and flew down the street to my favorite sushi bar. Although it had certainly come in handy as an excuse, I hadn’t lied to Michael—I actually did have plans to meet my best friend/roommate here for lunch. I spotted her long, dark hair the moment I stepped inside and hurried to join her, throwing off my coat and collapsing into the booth across from her with a defeated sigh.

Her tinkling laugh chimed across the table, and I opened my eyes to see her staring at me over a hot cup of sake. “I’m taking it you didn’t get the job?”

I brushed my bangs out of my face and straightened my blouse for the millionth time that day. Looking at someone like Rosalie always made me do that, no matter how long we’d been friends. Something about her effortless beauty seemed to bring out an ironically concerted effort from everyone around her.

“Oh, I got the job alright. You won’t even believe what happened to me today...”

She swung a sheet of hair over her shoulder and leaned toward me excitedly. “Tell me!”

With a huge sigh, I recapped the whole story, sparing no detail or expense. From the bout of nausea in the taxi, to the girl crying in the restroom, to my unbelievable fib and the hero who helped me get away with it. Her eyes widened until they took up a ridiculously huge portion of her face, and by the time I recounted how I’d shunned the boss’ son before almost dousing some poor stranger in coffee, she was near tears of laughter.

“Well, just think of it this way,” she comforted, picking delicately at a piece of sashimi she’d pre-ordered in anticipation of me being late, “you can’t possibly get into any more mischief between lunch and this evening. Just keep your head down and don’t assume anyone else’s identify. If you feel the need to tell another outrageous lie...talk to your plant.”

I snorted with laughter and flooded my plate with soy sauce. Rose actually worked for Larchwood as well. She was a rising star in the PR department—something I couldn’t care less about, but they took just as seriously as us number crunchers did across the hall.