by Parker, Ali
I didn’t give a rat’s ass what my father or men like him had to say about her. She was fucking gorgeous. Stunning. Who, in their right minds, could want skin and bones when there were women with actual bodies out there?
As skilled a businessman as my father still was, that had to be it. He wasn’t in his right mind anymore. Not about this.
Chapter 17
STEPHANIE
“Would you stop pacing and just call him already?” Tiana asked, sitting cross-legged on my bed and clearly getting annoyed by my nerves.
It was deadline-day for my decision. Monday morning. And I still wasn’t sure if I knew what the right thing to do was. I’d been pacing the length of my bedroom floor for an hour, but I couldn’t bring myself to make the call.
“The carpet can handle it,” I snapped, staring down at the phone in my hand. “But if you can’t, then leave. You don’t have to watch me. This lamb can lead herself to the slaughter, thank you very much.”
Tiana threw her hands up in frustration. “I’m finding it hard to feel sorry for the lamb when the slaughter comes with health insurance, a nice salary bump, and all those other perks in those papers you brought home.”
She motioned to the stack of paperwork lying on the bed beside her, the Williams Inc logo embossed onto the top of every page. I cringed when I looked at it, wondering if I was supposed to frame it or something. “God, even their stationery is intimidating.”
“In a good way,” Tiana said. She grabbed the sheet on top and held it up. “Just look at that. One call and you could be working for a company who can afford paper more expensive per sheet than most of the jewelry we buy online.”
“Then you see the problem.” Damn. Why was my voice so squeaky? I cleared my throat, trying to get a hold of my nerves. “What happens if I accidentally print something wrong and I have to redo it? You can’t make mistakes with paper like that, Tee.”
She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, then dropped them to mine. “I hardly think they care about reprints. Mr. Williams is a billionaire. Not a millionaire, a billionaire.”
“Probably because he doesn’t employ people who make mistakes when they print onto paper like that.” I flopped onto the bed next to Tiana, letting my phone fall to the mattress. “What am I doing thinking I could be a secretary to Jeremiah Williams? I have no clue what people like his secretary even do. Except that they probably don’t do him, which is the other problem.”
“Have you even remembered any of the headlines about him back in the day?” she asked. “The guy has done half of the damn city. And you’ll figure out what to do once you get there, I’m sure.”
The reminder about those long-forgotten headlines made an unreasonable stab of jealousy pierce through me. “And if I don’t want to be part of that half of the city?”
“Stop lying.” She wadded up a piece of paper on my nightstand and threw it playfully at my chest. “Isn’t that the problem? That you do want to be part of that half of the city? Besides, we’ve covered this. Strong, resistant woman with panties of steel, remember?”
“Shut up.” I scrunched my face at her. She knew she was right, I didn’t have to admit to being wrong. “I know I said the panties of steel thing yesterday when we talked about this, but they’re not really made of steel. They could just walk themselves right out of his office if he gets too close to me.”
“So buy a portable perimeter alarm.”
I giggled. Like an actual, nervous giggle. So not me. “And what? Set it to go off if Jeremiah gets within touching distance?”
“Maybe more if he’s as tall as you say. You don’t want him to be able to reach your panties before the alarm goes off.” She laughed, laying back on the bed with me. “Also, you might need to wait until your first paycheck before you buy the thing. I don’t know much about gadgets, but that could get expensive.”
I groaned, throwing my arm across my eyes. “If only it was that easy. I’m pretty sure my brain would interpret the alarm as the go signal. Seriously, that man does things to me.”
“No,” Tiana corrected. “You wish he would do things to you.”
With a louder groan, I rolled off the bed. “Exactly, which is why this is a bad idea. If I really had panties made of steel, maybe. Without them, I’m doomed.”
“Doomed might be a strong word in this context,” Tiana said, lips pulling into a grin. “Fucked would be much more accurate.”
“Metaphorically?” I asked hopefully.
She laughed again and shook her head. “Whichever way you want it to be.”
“Why couldn’t he just be old? Or really ugly? Or just like every other guy who’s hot, but you can look at him and be like ‘well, I would’ve done you if things were different’?”
“He could be like that,” she said. “All you have to do is look at him and think ‘well, I would’ve done you if things were different.’ Simple as that. Problem solved, now call the rich bastard and tell him you’ll take the job.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re pushy?”
Tiana pressed her lips together, her eyes shining with amusement. “You know, I have this one friend who tells me that all the time. She’s about your height. Name’s Stephanie. Oh wait, that’s you. Call him, distracting me isn’t going to work.”
“But I can keep trying.” I pointed out the window. “Is that Superman?”
She shrugged, keeping her eyes on mine. “Unless it’s Super-Orgasm man, he’s not getting an ounce of my attention until you’ve made that call.”
I thought back to her friend Tanner’s wishes for my birthday. “You happen to know someone I think might be Super-Orgasm man, or thinks he is, or knows him at least. Why don’t you go call him while I deal with this?”
“Not a chance, young lady. We’re doing this. What kind of friend would I be if I abandoned you in your hour of need to go chasing orgasms?”
“A satisfied one?” I offered, smiling. “And I’m a year younger than you. You can hardly call me young lady.”
“Younger by a minute or a decade is still younger. Now listen to the old, wise person in the room and make that call.”
“Older doesn’t mean wiser,” I said. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my phone from my bed and unlocked it, hitting dial before I could change my mind again. “You better hope I don’t get fired for a misprint on the expensive paper and start saving for a perimeter alarm or a chastity belt.”
She shot me a thumbs up and waited with bated breath as the phone rang. After the first three rings, there was one long ring, and after another half ring suddenly I was connected. “Neil Colman speaking.”
“Neil?” I asked, pulling the phone away from my ear to double check the number I dialed. “I’m so sorry, I meant to call Mr. Williams’ office. This is Stephanie Donavan speaking.”
“Stephanie.” His voice warmed, reminding me instantly of why I felt so at ease with him. With only one word spoken over the phone, I felt some of the knots in my stomach unwind. “I was hoping we would hear from you today.”
“Yeah.” Damn it. The mouse was back in my vocal cords. Nervously clearing my throat again, I said, “I’m not sure how I got through to you. I dialed Mr. Williams’ office. I’m so sorry I bothered you, let me let you go and try again.”
“It’s not your fault, Steph,” he told me cheerfully. He sounded really happy to hear from me. “Is it okay if I call you Steph?”
“It’s fine.”
“Wonderful,” he said. From what little interaction I had so far with both him and Jeremiah, I noticed they spoke differently than other guys I knew. Their language was more refined, more mature. They pulled off saying words like “wonderful” and “excellent” out loud while most would say “great” or “awesome” or something similar.
And they didn’t even sound that pompous or douchey doing it. Has to be the money.
“Jeremiah was in a meeting earlier, so his calls got forwarded to me. Hang on a second, let me patch you through,” he said, then paused. �
�Before I let you go, please tell me you’re calling with good news?”
I didn’t know. Was I? Since they made the offer, I assumed it was good that I was calling to take it. But I still had time to change my mind. As did they. God, what if all this was some giant prank?
Pull yourself together, Steph. My spiraling thoughts were becoming downright ridiculous.
“I’m not sure. That depends on Mr. Williams,” I said. For all I knew, Jeremiah didn’t even really want me to take the job. I still wasn’t convinced he was clear on the slut/secretary line or even of its existence.
“I see.” Neil sounded understanding. “Well, I’m glad you called. Let me patch you through. I hope to see you soon, Steph.”
“You too,” I replied honestly. I liked Neil. A part of me hoped I would get to work with him a lot. That would sure make things a lot less complicated.
The phone started ringing again, the strange, long ring repeating. There was a brief pause, and then Jeremiah’s smooth, deep voice was in my ear. “I didn’t think you would call.”
Chapter 18
JEREMIAH
She fucking called. Hell yeah!
I was this close to fist bumping the air. All morning, I’d been on edge. I was thrilled to finally be on the phone with her.
Sitting in my Monday morning meeting with some of the other execs, I lost count of the times I looked at my watch or checked my phone.
Now I only hoped she was calling for the right reasons. “Have you got an answer for me?”
Silence greeted me on the other end of the line. Neil texted me to give me the heads up he was putting through a call from her, but she hadn’t said a word to me yet. “Stephanie? Hello? Are you there?”
I heard what sounded like a sigh or perhaps a scuffle for the phone, then her sweet voice came on. “Hi, Mr. Williams. Sorry about that, bad connection.”
Did that even happen anymore? “No problem. I was starting to wonder if you were going to call. I’m glad you did.”
“You are?” She sounded dubious. What the hell?
“I am,” I said. “I believe you promised me an answer this morning, so what’s it going to be?”
There was another awkward pause during which silence reigned. I wondered about the connection. Maybe she was right, and it was bad. “Stephanie?”
“I’m here,” she said. Her voice was higher on the phone, sounded breathier.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine.” She answered quickly, sounding more like herself again. And what are you, an expert on the inflection of Stephanie Donavan’s voice?
Ordering myself to cut it out with the internal running commentary, I rested my butt on my desk and stared out at the slightly smoggy blue sky above the city skyline. “Good to hear. You’re calling with your answer?”
“I am,” she said hesitating. Why did this conversation feel so awkward today?
“And?” I prompted when she got quiet again. “Have you made the right decision?”
“Depends on your opinion of what’s right.” The words rushed out of her, and I could almost feel the regret that she couldn’t take them back. I, for one, didn’t regret them at all.
There she is. That was the girl whose call I’d been waiting for, the spirited one who spoke her mind. “My opinion is what’s right.”
“Is that what it’s going to be like working for you? Do you honestly believe you’re always right?”
My heart rate sped up. “Is that your way of saying yes to working for me?”
She sighed. More sounds of a scuffle filtered through my phone, like someone was trying to grab her phone or something. She let out a little huff and then said the words I’d been waiting to hear. “Yes, that’s my way of saying I’ll come work for you. As your secretary.”
She emphasized the last word. I smirked, trying to stop myself from getting hard at the memory of how she’d looked calling me out on wanting a slut instead. So confident, so real. “I got that part. Secretary. You’ve got yourself a deal. Welcome to Williams Inc Stephanie Donavan.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice lower. Less certain. Shit. She’d made the call, but I could tell she was still wondering if it was the right thing to have done. Which meant my job wasn’t done yet. Getting her on board wasn’t going to be my biggest hurdle, keeping her here might be.
Usually, human resources took care of orientation for new hires. In this case, I was going to make an exception. “Are you still able to start immediately?”
“I am,” she said, followed by a quiet exhale. “Do you need me to come in this morning?”
Fuck, I needed her to have started last week. Never mind coming in this morning. Sliding my eyes to the large round industrial looking clock that hung behind my door, I realized my next meeting started in ten minutes. I wouldn’t be out of the conference room again for hours.
“No, not today.” Surely I could survive one more day without a secretary. “Tomorrow morning will be fine.”
Sounding relieved, she said, “Tomorrow morning it is. What time should I be there?”
A great question. I didn’t know what time human resources usually started their orientation, but since I intended on getting her set up myself, it was going to have to be early. “Could you be here by seven?”
“Sure.”
I pulled up my calendar on my computer with one hand, cradling the phone between my shoulder and my ear while I made a note to remind myself to figure out exactly what happened during employee orientation.
After blocking out two hours in the morning, which was already eating into other things I had scheduled, I started playing around with my calendar to see how I could reschedule my other tasks. Thank god I would have a secretary again in less than twenty-four hours.
“Okay. When you get here at seven, come to my office. I’ll give you a tour of the building and get you set up with all your passwords before everyone else arrives. We should be able to get through the basics before I have to get going again.”
She was quiet for a beat, then asked hesitantly, “Are you sure it’s wise if we’re in your office all alone?”
Was I sure? No. I wanted to spend time with her, and I wanted to be the one to welcome her to the company. Show her I appreciated her coming to work for me after all, despite her reservations. That was why I wanted to get her set up myself.
Being alone with her, however, probably wasn’t wise. “It’ll be fine. Neil will be here too, in his own office, but in the building. He’s always here early.”
Pausing, she seemed to be considering my request. “I know it’s going to happen that we’ll be alone, I just wonder if that’s the way we should start this… relationship. Are you sure there’s no HR department I should report to or something?”
“There is one.” Of course. At my last count, Williams Inc had over two thousand employees. Probably more. Without human resources managing them all, we’d implode in a week. “You don’t have to report to them though. I’ll get you set up for now. My secretary’s desk has been unmanned for over a week. I can’t afford to lose another day.”
Which was also true.
Stephanie was walking into a shit storm. She was going to have to hit the ground running. Something told me she was more than capable of doing it, hence the reason I hired her, but I would have to walk her through some of the things she would have to get on top of immediately.
Things for her to get on top of that weren’t me, of course. Unfortunately. Damn it.
“I guess I understand that.” She was sounding less apprehensive than she had since I’d picked up the phone. Playing it cool and keeping things professional was soothing her doubts, I realized.
Was she really that worried about my motives for hiring her? “Happy to hear it.”
A curt knock sounded at my door, signaling I was just about out of time. Neil popped his head in, tapped his watch with his pointer finger and mouthed “Time.”
I nodded, holding up one finger to tell him I needed
another minute. “I have to get to my next meeting. If you have any questions, please make a note of them, and we can go through it all in the morning.”
“I’ll do that, thanks.” A beat of silence passed between us. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”
“See you in the morning.” I hung up the phone, staying perched on my desk. I had to get to that meeting with Neil in another few minutes, but before I went, there were a few things I needed to arrange.
Like the fact I had no idea how to set up Stephanie’s passwords or to give her access to the files she would need. I promised her I would do it, but first I had to put in a call to IT.
I found the extension for the IT department programmed into my phone, though I didn’t remember ever calling them before. On the second ring, an enthusiastic ten-year-old answered the phone. “Mr. Williams, what can we help you with?”
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t really ten, but he sure as shit sounded it. Why was it that all the tech guys were getting younger and younger?
Ten or not, I needed him to work his techie magic. “I need you to set up a user account for my new secretary. She starts tomorrow, so I’ll need all the passwords and whatever else she might need by this afternoon.”
“Sure thing, sir,” the guy said, clearly confused. He cleared his throat. “We’ll walk her through it all when she comes down with Bettie from HR when she clocks in. I can send you the details, but—”
“She won’t be coming down with Bettie,” I interrupted. “I’ll be getting her set up myself.”
“Oh.” His shock wore off quickly when he realized I was still waiting for his answer. “Of course, sir. No problem. I’ll get her details from human resources and send you everything she’ll need by this afternoon.”
Good man. “Thank you.”
His surprise wasn’t lost on me. What I was doing was highly unusual, to say the least. And all because I wanted to spend time with my new secretary. What the fuck was I really doing here?
