Tempted by the Boss (Tempted Series Book 1) (5 page)

She really threw me off with the whole choking thing. I had
promised myself before our meeting that I wouldn’t touch her under any
circumstance and that I would treat her with professional respect no matter how
difficult it was.

But she was choking so what choice did I have? I had to wrap my
hands around her gorgeous waist and save her life. It was the right thing to
do. I suppose I didn’t have to enjoy it as much as I did, but my life was so
well planned it was exciting to have to be on my toes for change.

Of course, as soon as she was done being embarrassed, I needed
to get serious again. After all, just because she was hot didn’t mean she could
screw around if I hired her. Not without my close supervision anyway.

“Would you like to see a menu or will I just order for us?” I
asked once she’d scooted into the seat across from me.

Her face crinkled. “Why would you order for me?”

“Because I’ve eaten everything in the restaurant, and I can make
sure you don’t waist a single calorie on anything that’s not absolutely
delicious.”

“I assumed everything was delicious.”

“It is. Does that mean you’d like to see a menu?”

“Please.”

I wasn’t expecting her to be so stubborn, but I suppose she was
still trying to save face from her incident earlier. I figured there was no
harm in humoring her.

I raised my eyes and Charlie appeared in an instant. “Good afternoon,
Mr. Abbott. What can I get for you and your guest?”

“The usual for me, Charlie, and Miss Riley would like to see a
menu.” I looked across the table at her. “And I imagine she’d also like to hear
the specials.”

Charlie rattled off the menu for the day, and I watched Ella’s
face as she hung on every word, following her jaw line to where it met her slim
neck.

“Don’t bother with the menu, Charlie. That salmon dish sounds
lovely.”

“And to drink Miss?”

“Do you have ginger ale?”

“We have anything you could possibly want, and if we don’t we’ll
make it our business to get it.”

She laughed. “Is that a yes?”

Charlie nodded and smiled at her. Then he turned to me. “Peroni,
sir?”

“Please. And I liked that bit about having anything someone
might want. Did you think of that yourself?”

“I did.”

“Tell the rest of the servers it’s the new stock answer for any
question starting with
do you have
and tell Charlotte to contact me
about giving you a raise.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

I watched Charlie hurry to the kitchen, and when I turned back
towards Ella, she was beaming at me.

“That’s very generous.”

“That’s business, Ella.”

“Do you always give people raises whenever you feel like it or
did you just do that to impress me?”

“The first one.”

“Well I’m intrigued to know more about how you run your
business, Will.”

There it was. My name in her mouth again, tumbling out from
between her pouty lips. I became more determined than ever to make sure I gave
her lots of excuses to say it. “That’s why you’re here isn’t it?”

“It is, and I’m really looking forward to hearing more about the
role that you think might be a good fit for me.”

Charlie arrived with our drinks and disappeared like a mirage.

I took a sip of my beer. “Why don’t you start by telling me a
little bit more about your experience?”

“Sure.” She pushed her shoulders back and her necklace
disappeared down her shirt.

I was jealous.

“I graduated with honors from Mallard College w-”

“The all girls’ school?”

“That’s right.”

“Go on.” Now I was intrigued. I thought there were only three
kinds of women that came out of all girls’ schools: Lesbians, Sluts, and
Virgins. Fortunately for me, though, I didn’t get the vibe that she was any one
of those.

“Anyway, I have a degree in hospitality with a minor in event
management.”

“Sounds expensive.”

Her eyes dropped for a moment. “It was actually.”

“Personally, I don’t put a lot of stock in degrees. Never got
one myself.”

“I understand you dropped out?” She took a sip of her ginger
ale.

“Did you Google me?”

Her face turned bright red.

“I’m flattered, but I asked about what experience you have.”

“I organized a lot of parties for social clubs at school.”

Suddenly I was worried I was about to make a huge mistake. She
didn’t have a clue. I couldn’t offer her a full time position.

“But I’m eager to start organizing bigger budget events for a
more discriminating clientele.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” she said, putting her shaking fingers under the table.

“What would you have done differently at the benefit you
attended here last weekend?”

“I’d like to apologize for any offense I caused by suggesting
that it wasn’t a great party. I don’t know why I said that.”

“The champagne went to your head?”

“Perhaps.”

“Do you think you could’ve done a better job?”

“Yes. I do.”

It was obvious to me that her confidence was fake, but I found
something endearing about that. It was almost like her bold ambition reminded
me of myself at her age. Except she wasn’t half the bullshitter I was then.
“I’m listening.”

“I think it was a bit stuffy.”

“Stuffy?”

“Formal. Predictable.”

“Okay. I get it.”

“I think people with that kind of money expect a showstopper,
something they can’t just experience anywhere.”

“Like a band and a bar and a raffle?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Exactly.”

“And you think if I gave you shot at planning- I don’t know- the
company Christmas Party, you could do a better job?”

“No one can make your money go further.”

I leaned back. “See that’s exactly what I want to here because I
think the benefit should’ve been a lot more spectacular considering the budget
I gave the event planning company, especially considering their experience and
connections.”

“I couldn’t agree more. What you need is someone with a fresh
perspective.”

I smiled. “You’re charming when you want something, Ella.”

“I’m glad you can see how much I want this.”

“I do, but I think you and I both know you don’t have much
relevant experience.”

She swallowed.

“However, for some reason I think you might have enough tenacity
to pull something like this off.”

“I look forward to proving you right.”

“Just keep your mouth shut now and let me make you an offer.”

She pursed her lips.

“I’ll take you on for a limited contract. Your only
responsibility will be to plan the company Christmas party, the budget for
which will be a quarter of a million dollars.”

Her dark eyes doubled in size.

I tried to ignore them. “I’ll give you thirty thousand dollars
for the job.”

Her mouth was slightly ajar, but it made her lower lip look so
fat I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“And if the night is a success, you’ll get a twenty thousand
dollar bonus.”

She was staring at me so intensely I had to drag my tongue over
my teeth to make sure there was nothing there.

“Ella?”

“Yes, sir. I mean, Will.”

“Do those terms sound fair to you?”

“More than fair. I can see why your staff thinks so highly of
you.”

“You got the job. You don’t have to flatter me anymore.”

“Will?”

“What?”

“If I do a good job- sorry,
when
I do a good job- would
it be possible to discuss moving into a full time position?”

“When the time comes, we can certainly discuss it.”

“Would it be inappropriate if I gave you a hug?”

I laughed. “Not if you absolutely must.”

I stood up and waited for what felt like forever for her to take
the two steps towards me.

She put her arms around me tentatively at first but once they
were in place she gave me a good squeeze, and I could feel her hips and chest
press against me. It was the most genuine display of affection anyone had shown
me in a long time, and it felt surprisingly good.

In fact, it felt so good I had to step back so my body wouldn’t
give away exactly how much I enjoyed having her wrapped around me.

But I hoped we could do it again sometime. Without clothes on.

I probably shouldn’t have hugged him. Looking back, I can see
that it may have been a little inappropriate. It certainly seemed to make him uncomfortable,
but I couldn’t help it. The guy saved my life in more ways than one. First he
kept me from choking and dying in the lobby of his hotel. Then he gave me the
opportunity of a lifetime for no reason other than the fact that I gave him the
feeling I could pull it off.

Basically, the blue power jacket did the trick because he
decided he could trust me not only with his own company’s Christmas party, but
with a quarter of a million dollar budget, too! It was a dream come true.
Finally, I would get to plan a party that didn’t involve tiaras, bouncy
castles, or birthday cakes.

Of course the best part was that he was going to pay me big
money to do it. Assuming I could pull it off, fifty thousand dollars was going
to completely change my life. I thought my college loans would be hanging over
my head for years. I thought I would have to choose between paying them off and
moving out- which was priority number one- but I could afford to do everything
I needed if I impressed Will. And if I secured a full time position at the end
of this thing, I might even be able to get my Mom into a nicer place that
wasn’t a hazard to her personal hygiene.

Plus, I got to work for the sexiest man in the city, and he
wasn’t just sexy. He was a nice guy, a good guy. Everyone seemed to genuinely
like him, and even though I still felt sort of stupid and mousy around him
because of the confidence he exuded, I was delighted that I was going to get to
spend more time with him. There was no question that I was going to learn a
lot.

I could even forgive the fact that he was a little
self-impressed. If anything, it was a miracle he wasn’t more conceited. After
all, considering how much people fawned over him, it was amazing that his head
didn’t explode. But I didn’t want to be one of those people. I wanted him to
know that I could be focused around him, that I wasn’t just pretending to work
while I was secretly plotting how to get into his pants.

Not that I wasn’t curious about what was in there. But I would
have to keep my meaningless sexual fantasies separate from my job. I was a
working woman now, and there was nothing more important than getting my career
off the ground. I would be pleasant and I would be pretty, but above all, I
would be professional.

As soon as I accepted the offer, our food came which was perfect
because it meant I could eat and nod instead of giving away how hysterical I
was. And as he explained the history of the hotel and the traditional
importance of the company Christmas party, the reality of my responsibility began
to hit me.

When we were done eating, he brought me to meet Emily, his
personal assistant. She seemed quite stern and her beady eyes jutted around
like she was a bird of prey. It was obvious that she took her job seriously,
and she didn’t waste any time on small talk. Will told her to organize a space
for me to work somewhere near her and explained to both of us that she would be
working closely with me to make sure I was on the right track. Then he asked
her to get the “Christmas Party Planning Files” for me so I could start looking
over them right away.

While Emily went to retrieve the files, I watched Will adjust
his cufflinks with his thick fingers and did my best to pretend I wasn’t
wishing it was my nipples he was tweaking. When she reappeared, she was
carrying a stack of papers so big it looked like she should’ve just wheeled the
whole file cabinet over. 

That’s when I realized I was in way over my head.

Emily said there was no reason for me to try and look through
them all tonight, so she just gave me half of the binders to start with. It was
a workout just getting them out of the building, and by the time I got home, I
was wet with sweat. And it’s not like I wasn’t used to lugging a bunch of paper
around. I’d just done that for four years straight. Still, I was shocked that
my Mom’s flimsy kitchen table didn’t collapse under the weight of the materials.

I poured myself a ginger ale, sat down in front of the files,
and slid the first one off the top of the stack.

The inside contained everything: budget breakdowns, contact
information for party goods suppliers, and countless pictures of the parties
during the planning process and the actual event. There were Christmas trees
made of champagne bottles, ice sculptures of Santa’s entire village, there was
even a picture of a pig with a shiny red apple in its mouth. I had never seen
such decadence, and I turned through the pictures in awe. I would have to get
used to seeing such creative ideas before I could even worry about what
everything cost and where the heck it came from.

Then I found two pictures, one of all the staff and one of Will
and a few other people. One of them was Emily. In it, her hair was black
instead of grey. Will looked younger, too, but I actually preferred the way he
looked now. He was a little too pretty then. A few shallow wrinkles around his
eyes actually made him look a more ruggedly handsome in my opinion.

I heard a key in the door.

“Hi Mom.”

“Hi Honey,” she said, hanging her purse and keys on the
mismatched hooks beside the door.

“How was your day?” I asked, closing the folder. I put it back
in the stack and scooted the whole pile towards the corner.

“Good. The sun came up didn’t it?”

I stood up and gave the electric kettle a shake before topping
it up with tap water.

She stepped into the kitchen and nodded towards the kettle.
“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

“How was your meeting with William today?”

“I think you should sit down.”

She furrowed her brow and pulled out the chair at the end of the
table. “What’s all that stuff?”

“I’m about to tell you.”

“Spit it out already. I’ve been dying to know what happened all
day.”

I sat down next to her. “He’s going to give me a shot.”

“That’s fantastic, Ella. Oh my God!”

“I know.”

“What will you be doing?”

“I’m going to be in charge of planning the Christmas Party.”

“That’s wonderful! What an exciting opportunity.” She reached
out and squeezed my hand.

“That stuff is for me to look over to get an idea of what
they’ve done in the past.”

“Good Lord. You’ll be lucky if you get through that by
Christmas.”

I laughed. “I know. I’m freaking out. Guess what my budget is
for the party.”

“How could I possib-“

“A quarter of a million dollars.”

My Mom gasped and brought her hand to her mouth.

“I’m afraid that’s how I might have reacted when he told me.”

“I hope he’s paying you fairly if he’s trusting you with such a
big responsibility.”

I nodded. “He is. My contract is for thirty thousand dollars.”

That’s when my Mom started to glow.

“With a bonus if the night is a success.”

“Oh, honey. I’m so happy for you.”

“And if it goes well, he said he would be open to discussing giving
me a full time position with the company.”

“He would be a fool not to.”

“Thanks, Mom. I just don’t want him to regret hiring me. I have
to do whatever it takes to impress him.”

She smiled. “I think it’s safe to say that you already have.”