Playboy Heir

by Brandy Munroe

  I could feel the heat radiating from her. My sweaty palms wanted to pull her into me. I wanted to make love to that perfect mouth. I imagined how sweet she would taste.

  "Are they real?" I rasped, raising my hands to cup her face, then I placed a soft kiss on her dark sooty lashes, slowly, gently, then the other. "I thought they might be."

  I leaned in closer to her ear. "I bet that's not the only thing that is real." One hand slid up her top and my thumb brushed the underside of her breast. I was right, she was not wearing a bra. I lowered my other hand, finding the hem of her skirt. I was finally going to see what she was hiding under those long skirts she favored. I brought my lips to her mouth, the mouth I had coveted for far too long. The mouth I was ready to ravish. Those piercing grey eyes were wide and locked on mine.

  The deer in a headlight wide stare of those grey eyes.

  What was I thinking; her stare said it all. I was not sure how long we were frozen in time, neither able to move. Me because I wanted to taste her so badly. Her most likely because she had nowhere to go. I had her body pinned up against the wall with me blocking her exit.

  I quickly backed away. "I'm sorry," I stammered, "I should be heading out. I want to get into the city tonight. I would like to be at my father's for Sunday dinner tomorrow. If I leave early I can still have daylight driving."

  I wasn't lying. I had wanted to get into the city, talk to my housekeeper Annette about possibly moving here to take care of my new house, when I had one. I had let myself get sidetracked with an unrealistic fantasy, and now it was over.

  Heading out in my car, I chastised myself. Was I really willing to take her there and then, in her kitchen with her son sleeping in the next room? I shifted in my seat to get comfortable after what that encounter had done to my cock. Good thing I was thinking with my more sensible head. The one that looked into her eyes and did the right thing.

  It was an hour drive to the city. I knew I would have to find an outlet to relieve myself. My hard-on was not going away on its own. I was in the city, maybe I should let Manly take care of this situation, at least for tonight. I had gone six months without needing Manly, and this one uptight soccer mom stood to derail everything I had worked for. Would my cool head prevail, or was Manly always going to be there, to screw things up?

  Having her as my personal assistant would not be a good idea. I would make sure Richard attended that interview Tuesday morning. If he felt any tension, surely he would put an end to any of this happening. Then she couldn't blame me. That was what women did, they blamed me.

  That was contingent on if she even showed up after what had transpired in her kitchen.

  Chapter 14

  Haley

  I watched him as he drove away. I was finally able to take a breath. What was wrong with me, my brain screamed. I knew what was wrong. That damn book, that was what was wrong.

  I had read all the when, where, and how he had made love to his mistresses. I had been dreaming about all those where and hows, only it wasn't them he was seducing in my dreams, it was me. Every where, every when and every which way I could imagine.

  He was so close I could feel my heat pooling between my thighs. My nipples hardened to his touch, responding in a way I had never felt before. Electricity coursed through my veins. I was having an orgasm and all he did was touch me. I was too frayed to even respond.

  Then he looked in my eyes and saw that I was not the sophisticated woman he was used to bedding. I knew that from the very detailed descriptions in that book.

  His backing away screamed to me that I was of no interest to him. I would have no trouble working for him, now that I knew a playboy like Aleksander Manos did not find me desirable.

  Chapter 15

  Haley

  I could not believe how fast Tuesday crept up on me. Here it was Monday night and I had to finalize my presentation and take care of any last minute details. I had some good points to bring up about why I would be the right candidate for the job of Alexander's personal assistant.

  First, I decided the title needed to be changed. It needed to say PR Specialist, not personal assistant. I also laid out a few ways the company could introduce Aleksander to the world of shoes without making it come off as self promoting.

  The only fly in my ointment was that small community piece about the soccer sponsorship. What should have been a small local story hit the Internet with everyone asking who the woman in the bleachers was. Was it the same brunette from the press conference, and what was I to Manly? Some had even suggested I was stalking him.

  Brad must have left town for whatever treatment he was babbling about last time we talked, otherwise he would have been pounding down my door demanding an explanation. It took a while for Brad’s jealously to rear its ugly head. Once it did, I spend the better part of our marriage defusing his bad temper.

  I knew I had to find a way to turn this into my favor. I took the liberty of creating a mock website to show Aleksander how I could spin any story the tabloids tried to start. The trick was to be one step ahead of the haters. The Internet was a great tool but things could go south very fast if you let it.

  What I was not able to spin was the picture of him holding the door to his New York apartment, dress only in pyjama bottoms, while a beautiful sophisticated woman was leaving at two am.

  How was I supposed to spin that story? He had hooked up within hours of leaving me wanting. Leaving me to take care of my own needs. Needs I never knew existed until he touched me.

  One of the key points I wanted to bring up was what happens to me once Aleksander was fully established and no longer needed a PR Specialist. Like I told Leona, I was not a get coffee and pick up dry cleaning kind of girl.

  This would be a great opportunity to showcase my marketing abilities. This would also give me the time I needed to complete my degree. Leona was right, this could definitely be a win, win if I played my cards right. Which meant keeping my hands off my boss.

  I knew I was not going to be able to wear the Chanel from last Monday's meeting. Going through my closet, I pulled out a vintage looking sheath dress. I picked it up at one of Tranquility's famous end of summer community yard sales.

  This dress had an ombré shade of grey going from light on top to a dark at the bottom. I loved my grey dress even if everyone told me blue and green suited me better. I often heard that greys were too serious looking on me. Wasn't that what I was trying to accomplish today, to be taken seriously?

  With everything ready for the next day I decided to try to get some sleep. God knew I needed it after I spent the last two nights agonizing over how I could have handled Saturday's situation better. I set my alarm for a half hour earlier than usual. I wasn't taking any chances of a repeat of last Monday.

  I awoke, sweating, panting. Last night's fantasy was more erotic, more dark. I should not be having elicit dreams about my future boss the night before my interview. This time, we were in my living room, both naked. I let him take me from behind on the oversized sofa and I was enjoying it.

  Brad's only interest in sex was missionary, in and out, his needs taken care of and he was done.

  With my limited experience, I had only read about these other positions in my romance novels. I never believed anyone actually performed those acts. I was going to have to cut those books out for a while, at least until I could control myself around Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding.

  Everything else had gone like clockwork Tuesday morning. Peyton was very cooperative, the weather was beautiful, and the traffic was normal, which had me worrying if this was a bad sign. Were things going too smoothly or was I being paranoid?

  I was going to find out soon enough.

  When I arrived at the main office I walked over to Sindy, the receptionist desk and announced that I had an appointment with Mr. Manos. I was careful not to use the word interview as I remembered the job had not been common knowledge as of yet. Why ruffle Human Resources feathers by jumping the line? Plus everyone knew Sindy had a pension
for gossip.

  I snickered with the thought that I was coming in through the back door. Was this going to be a thing with Aleksander and I, using back doors?

  I suddenly flushed as I realized the double meaning of my words. My latest dream flashed through my mind. What was it about this man that had me so flustered? As I returned my focus to the task at hand I saw Aleksander standing in the doorway.

  Of course he would be standing there right at that moment.

  "Is it too hot in here for your liking, Shoe Girl?" he asked. "Perhaps you would like to take off your sweater before we head to Richard's office," he added.

  He had seen me flushed and god knows what he thought had brought it on. Now we were back to Shoe Girl.

  Wait, did he say Richard's office?

  Did they not manage to find him one of his own in such a large building, I had to wonder?

  "I would like Richard to sit in on our meeting. I like having a second opinion on such important matters," he added.

  He used the word meeting instead of interview as well, I noticed. Was he ogling my legs, like it appeared in the board meeting? I really must be deprived if I thought this fine male specimen, with all his sophistication, was staring at my legs.

  We arrived at Richard's office to be greeted in the hallway. "Welcome, Haley, come in," he addressed me and ushered me towards a comfortable armchair.

  He and Aleksander took a seat on the couch adjacent to me.

  I checked out successful interview tips off the Internet and knew not to cross my arms across my chest; that gave the appearance of being closed off. I also needed to make eye contact and speak slowly.

  I had a tendency to babble and speak fast when I was nervous. Peyton helped me practice. Hopefully it would come naturally to me and all my prep work would pay off.

  "I am only here to observe, but I hope you wouldn't object if I feel a question needs clarification,” Richard explained.

  I made eye contact, smiled sweetly, kept my hands on my lap and answered, "It's as much for my benefit as yours to ensure all questions are answered to everyone's satisfaction."

  "Great," Aleksander started. "I know your experience is not exactly in PR. Why do you think it is something you want to do?"

  "What I do is Public Relations," I countered. "Every customer I attend to is PR on a personal level. Crossing that over to a media-based format would be an easy transition."

  Most of the other questions were general interview material. I wondered if Aleksander went online and got those from the same website I checked to get the answers. I was beginning to feel a little underwhelmed. He was not really getting to the points of what the job really meant.

  I was about to ask if he was actually taking this interview seriously or was it just for show to placate me. I would have if Richard had not been in the room. There was no point in alienating him if this job with Aleksander did not pan out. I might need Richard's approval to get into the marketing department in the near future.

  Aleksander rose from the couch, walked to Richard's desk, and pulled out a paper. "Here is a copy of that community service piece. Who do you suppose is the brunette they are referring to?"

  I took the paper, glanced at it, and in a very direct and authoritative voice answered, "Where else would your Public Relations Specialist be? If you are at an event, then so am I. I am going to be showing up with you at all your events. That's what a Public Relations Specialist does. She makes sure you are relating to the public in a way that reflects positively on the company."

  I could see Richard holding back a laugh directed at Aleksander. If he thought this was going to rattle me, he was dead wrong.

  I pulled out my tablet and showed them the mockup of the website announcing my recent appointment as personal Public Relations Specialist to Mr. Manos. The article pretty much summed up what I already told them.

  "I need someone to start right away, and if I take you where does that leave The Boutique?" Aleksander questioned.

  "Remember what you said at the press conference about The Boutique being the front line? Then doesn't it make sense that the interns should start their training at the front lines? If you begin construction on that building you will want to go to reduced hours anyway, and this all depends on what the next step is for the men's line," I replied.

  "Implementation takes time. You do not suddenly have a warehouse full of men's shoes ready for sale tomorrow. Your designers have to come up with concept on paper, prototypes need to be manufactured, they need to be featured at Fashion Week and then mass produced. If the plan is to revamp The Boutique, I suggest you take a look at the second floor."

  I continued, "You are also dealing with a construction timeline. It might make sense to go with reduced hours at The Boutique until all necessary changes are made. Most of what I will be doing the first week will be monitoring chatter on the Internet in regard to Aleksander," I pointed out. "This is done on my tablet. The Boutique has wi-fi, I can still help in The Boutique as part of my job description.

  You will also notice I changed the title to PR Specialist. After all, I will be specializing in cleaning up your image more than I will be assisting you in doing so," I clarified trying not to snicker.

  "One more thing," I hesitated, "you need to consider what to do with me next,” I threw at them. "If you stay on track, Aleksander, do what you said you are here to do, then you won't need anyone to promote you in the press. That's when this position becomes redundant and I am out of a job. I want this position to be an introduction to entering the marketing department."

  I could tell I threw them for a loop with that last request. "I know I gave you both a lot to process. Here is a copy of what I proposed here today. Please look it over and think about it carefully," I requested.

  Just before I exited the office I turned and asserted myself. "You both should really come out and check out the space above The Boutique. I think it would be great for the expansion of the men's line. Have a nice day,” I finished before I closed the door and left.

  I felt nervous but really good about my interview. I was excited to get to The Boutique and tell Leona about my suggestions. It might have been a good idea to discuss with Leona having interns work in The Boutique beforehand. I would make sure Leona knew I would take responsibility for training them before I let them loose on the customers.

  I was also proud of how professional I behaved. Except for that one slip at the beginning, I did not let Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding get under my skin. Having Richard in the room as a unsuspecting chaperone worked in my favor.

  I only had one more stop to make before I headed back to work.

  The minute I got to The Boutique, I knew Leona would be chomping at the bit to get the skinny. I walked in and pulled a Leona; I put my hand up and stopped her in her tracks, went out back and poured myself a coffee.

  Knowing Leona would never leave the showroom unattended, I finished my coffee and headed to the floor. The boutique had its steady flow of customers as usual and I could tell Leona wanted to put the closed sign up and get all the juicy details.

  With all the customers dealt with and no new stragglers coming in Leona stomped over. "You did not just pull that crap on me right now. CliffsNotes version. Now!”

  "It went really well," I began. "Richard seemed impressed, but I couldn't get a read on Aleksander and he's the one making the decision."

  With a disapproving look, Leona eyed me up and down and frowned. "You wore the grey."

  It wasn't a question; it was more of a statement. "Yes," I jumped in. "The serious grey for a very serious interview. You should read the proposal, especially this part," I pointed to the pitch about the interns. "I should have discussed it with you first."

  Leona began to laugh, "I can handle a few green interns."

  I made a few demands during my interview that may not have been positively received. Should I have been more flexible? Surely Aleksander understood those were just guidelines and everything was negotiable.

/>   Was everything negotiable? His quick departure Saturday made it perfectly clear fantasies were just that, fantasies, non-negotiable.

  Chapter 16

  Aleksander

  I looked at Richard. "Did she just hijack this meeting and tell us what she expects of us?"

  "I believe she did," Richard chuckled. "She made a great argument and came prepared just like last week's board meeting," Richard reminded me. "This wasn't a fluke. We saw her do this before. She knows what she's doing."

  Richard stood and asked, "Do you want to continue wasting your time when you know you found the right person already?" He slapped me on the back, wished me good luck, then took his seat behind the large mahogany desk at the centre of the office.

  I took that as my cue to leave. On my way out I looked back at Richard, already on his computer, and decided not to interrupt him because I was second guessing myself.

  Richard looked up from his computer. "Don't bother going to legal."

  "What are you talking about?" I was confused by Richard's comment.

  "Office sex is not uncommon, but highly frowned upon, especially with your personal assistant."

  "What the hell, Richard!" I tried to sound indignant.

  "You look at her like she is an all you can eat buffet and you haven't eaten in forever. Which, by my calculations, you haven't." Before I could rebuff, Richard continued, "This one is off limits. Mom thinks of her as family, so now you are going to think of her as a little sister. Got it?"

  "I'm not into uptight soccer moms. Little sister, got it."

  "Manly is not into uptight soccer moms," Richard corrected. "Aleksander, that's a whole other story."

  I ignored Richard last comment and headed for my office. I should have anticipated Richard would see through any defences I erected. We have known each other too long not to instinctively pick up on each others moods. His perceptions was still irritating. His protectiveness irritated me more. Warning me to stay away, the same way Leona had.