Playboy Heir
Page 9
Entering my office I was taken aback by Haley sitting in the chair opposite my desk. I stalked over to my desk, removed my suit jacket and draped it across the back of my chair, and sat to face her.
"I thought we should discuss this without Richard present." She laid the copy of the tabloid on my desk. "If I am going to be one step ahead of the gossip, I need to know what I am up against." Her voice was calm, professional. Why did it bother me that she did not seem jealous?
"There's nothing to tell. My ex showed up. The concierge would not let her up to my apartment. The only way she was going to leave was for me to come down and show her out."
There was no apology. I had nothing to apologize for.
"You can see where it would be easy to get the wrong impression. You left my place Saturday…" Haley paused, "…not exactly composed. The expectations of this job will be for me to defuse these situations. Next time—"
I slammed my palm on the desk and interrupted before she could finish."Composed, now there's a word for you. Rest assured, there won't be a next time," I bitterly scowled. I crossed my arms across my chest. I was closing myself off and I knew she understood what the gesture meant.
"Well then, have a good day," she told me calmly, picked up her shoulder bag and walked away.
I stared as her curvaceous hips swayed out of my office. Shoe Girl never gave me any inclination that she was the least bit interested. Why couldn't I leave my inappropriate thoughts outside the boardroom? I noticed the dress she wore today was longer than the skirt from our first encounter. What did this woman have against showing a little leg? I bet they look as spectacular as in my dreams.
If I put those thoughts aside and based my decision on merit and impression, then Shoe Girl had it in the bag. I opened her proposal to look over every suggestion. I did not want to be blindsided with some ridiculous clause I may have missed.
The way Ashley blindsided me by showing up at my building and refusing to leave until I heard her out. The fact that the tabloids were there to catch her leaving at that ungodly hour had me wondering if once again if she set me up for another payday. She couldn’t possibly believe I would forgive her and take her back.
By the time I got to the city, all I wanted to do was take a shower and relieve the hardening arch in my groin. In the shower, I could image who I wanted taking care of my needs. I had no desire to let Manly take over and ruin what I was trying hard to accomplish.
If I was seriously considering having Haley as my Public Relations Specialist, I needed to treat her as such and stop fantasizing and calling her Shoe Girl.
I spent the morning reading Haley’s proposal and writing up a draft of what the expectations would be of my new PR Specialist. When I was finally satisfied with the terms, I expertly constructed a legal contract.
I would get Richard's input before taking it to The Boutique for Haley to look over. She was right about the title, but I needed her to understand that she was my assistant and the job was going to entail more than just a few blurbs on the internet.
Richard and I would also have to discuss which interns would be sent to The Boutique and in what cycle. I was sure Leona and Shoe Girl — oops, Haley — would be able to give us some insight of what to look for before choosing anyone. After all, The Boutique was their domain.
I hoped Haley had informed Leona of her idea to use the interns in The Boutique. I would not want to blindside her with it. It has been a productive day and I was pleased that I was doing something tangible, something more than just the meet and greets I had been doing.
One of the things I was going to have Haley do was set me up with a Realtor. I believed that if I had a permanent residence I would start feeling like I could call Tranquility home. The only other place I ever felt at home was my New York apartment. That was, until Ashley used it to betrayed me.
Richard came across the hall and let me know that he sent out an email to all the new interns about a program that was being offered to only a selected few qualified candidates. He outlined the benefits of them taking time to learn how the prototypes goes from The Boutique to production.
"I swear, these intern never sleep and they must have my email on notification. I barely hit the send button when my inbox was full of responses," Richard proclaimed.
"An easy way to narrow the field would be to let Leona and Haley talk to them," I suggested. "They know what personality type would work in a retail environment. You know these artist types, they don't always play well with others. Some might see it as an opportunity to push their individual line. The boutique needs someone who is there to assist in the sales and promotion of all the designers."
Both of us agreed that would be a great task for Haley and Leona to tackle together. By early afternoon this was taking on a life of its own.
Sindy came stomping into my office. Her short hair, usually impeccably coiffed, was disheveled and strands were falling in her face. She sat in the leather chair across from my desk, tucked those strands behind her ears, stared me down and with great authority told me, "No more interns. I am going to take an extended lunch and during that time you are going to sent out a company wide email. You will explain how this process for choosing interns for this 'extra special exclusive training' being offered is going to take place.” She actually used air quotes.
“Be very clear that Sindy is not human resources and that Sindy has no involvement in the selection of said interns. Thank you for your time, Mr. Manos," she declared, got up and walked out.
The minute she left I headed to Richard's office, explained the situation, and we obliged Sindy's request without hesitation.
Before I left the office I asked Richard about the blueprints for The Boutique. I wanted to check out the space Haley suggested.
I was pleased to find out Richard did indeed know where to get the plans for the building. They were actually in The Boutique, framed under glass, hanging on the walls.
“Do you want to review a copy of the contract I drew up for the position of my PR Specialist before I offer it to Haley? I’m heading over to The Boutique to check the space she suggested. Did you want to join me?”
"This one is all yours," Richard waved me off.
I was not surprised my old friend trusted me with this endeavour. He had, after all, trusted me with the one thing that meant most to him. Two things, actually — his company's reputation and his family's good name. I was not going to let Richard down. I wasn't going to let myself down.
I entered The Boutique and was greeted by Haley. "Good morning, Mr. Manos."
I hoped my disappointment at the formality she greeted me with wasn't obvious.
"Did you decide to take me up on my offer? To see the building," she added nervously.
"Very good guess," I replied. "First I need to know if you made Leona aware of one of your suggestions?"
"You mean the one where I am going to desert her and saddle her with some temperamental interns, that suggestion?" she giggled.
"I will take that as a yes, and since I did not get a shoe thrown at my head when I walked in, she's okay with it?" I asked with concern.
Haley laughed. "Not only was she okay with it, she wondered why no one thought of it sooner. Can I take this as a good sign that you are inquiring about bringing in interns?" Her eyes sparkled.
I did enjoy seeing those piercing grey eyes light up like they just did.
Leona greeted me in her sing-songy voice. "Haley and I have been talking and I bet so have you and Richard."
"Before I am at liberty to discuss anything,” I faced Haley, “I would like to take you to dinner. You can go over the contract I constructed and ask any questions you like. Changes can be made before I put an offer on the table."
I kept my face expressionless. Let them believe it was only a business dinner. That I secretly was not hoping to use this time to get to know Haley on a personal level. I wasn't ready for another lecture or inquest about my intentions towards my potential new PR Specialist.
I was not sure how to respond to the self-confident woman standing before me. All I could do was agree and let her take the lead. It aroused me to know she could.
As I followed her up the stairs, she turned around, catching me staring at her ass. A blush crossed her beautiful face.
"If this is a feasible venture you will want to convert the service elevator to make it handicap accessible,” she informed me.
I politely added, "And because the majority of clientele you get here don't do stairs."
"Exactly," Haley agreed while continuing to usher me up the stairs.
As we walked into the upstairs boardroom, I noticed the plans on the wall. "Is this why we are starting here?" I asked, pointing at the plans.
"Yes, but not only that," Haley said. She took the framed plans off the wall and flipped it around. Behind it was the first draft from when the structure was built. "Check this out." She directed my attention to a small discrepancy from the other plan.
"Look," she said, excitedly pointing to the plans, "there's an attic in these blueprints that never got transferred to the other two. The door must have been walled over at some point. Wouldn't it be great to uncover it?"
She was proud about her find. She had been babbling without stopping to breathe. I liked this enthusiastic go-getter side. It was the side that made her grey eyes sparkle. I liked those piercing grey eyes when they sparkled. Maybe a little too much.
Haley continued, "There's a copy place a few doors down who can enlarge these for us. We will be able to make notes in the margins, change entire rooms by knocking down walls."
I was smiling; she was using we and us. She had already decided what she wanted and I was going to give it her. That wasn't the only thing I wanted to give her.
I didn't realize how close I was following her as she bounced from room to room until she suddenly turned around and we were face to face. I found myself staring into those clear grey eyes. If I leaned in, my lips would touch her forehead.
"We have to stop running into each other like this." My voice came out husky, seductive. It was not my intention.
I was doing so well keeping my physical attraction under control. Here she was, too close for the comfort of the bulge developing in my well-tailored pants. She wasn't looking there, thank god. She was staring back at me, not flinching, not distracting from my stare. Did she have a clue what was happening to me?
She quickly stepped back. "I'm so sorry," she stammered. "I got excited when I pictured how perfect this space would be for the men's line. Like you said, not too far away from the women's, but it's own entity. It has its own entrance; the men won't have to parade through the women's boutique to shop for themselves."
I stepped forward and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Haley, take a breath. You don't breathe when you get excited."
How excited would she get if I kissed her, right there at the top of stairs, her back pinned against the hallway?
"Please don't touch me," she requested weakly.
I placed my palms against the wall, caging her and leaned in. "Do you know you bite your bottom lip when you're nervous? Do I make you nervous, Haley?"
"Yes, and I still have to face people when I got back downstairs. I can't go down there looking …" she paused.
"Aroused," I seductively drawl, giving her my best panty-melting glare.
"Like I have nothing better to do than cater to a spoiled rich playboy," she countered.
I put my hand over my chest like I had been offended. "Shoe girl has a mean side, does she?"
"Only when I am backed into a corner," she said, looking like she was enjoying the banter.
Slipping out from under my arms, she added, "If you want, you can stay and look around on your own. I need to get back and help Leona. I don't want her to think I'm going to make a habit of deserting her. If I sign that contract, it will happen soon enough."
She rushed down the stairs leaving me to pull myself together after being so close to her and not be able to run my fingers through her naturally soft mahogany brown hair. A slight tilt of her chin and I would have been able to taste her. I would have to be more careful in the future and not allow myself to be caught off guard going forward.
I had seen enough to know Haley was right about this being the perfect compromise to keeping the brand together and apart under one roof. I was not going to leave without saying goodbye, that would be unprofessional. I had already been unprofessional today.
On my way out Haley signalled for me to come over. I was careful and kept an appropriate distance.
"Can you give me a couple of days to go through the legal mumbo jumbo on this?" she said as she held up the contract. "Saturday after the game, let me take you through town and give you a history lesson. I think it would be important for you to have some background knowledge of the place before you start house hunting. It will also help you connect with the locals and go a long way to be accepted as one of our own, if that is still your goal?"
Could I do it? Could I spend another afternoon like the last, knowing I could never have her the way I really wanted, underneath me writhing and screaming my name?
"It will be after the game, Peyton will be accompanying us,” she added.
Her son will be there to chaperone. This could work; nothing kills sexual urges like rug rats. I knew this from my stay with my sister and her husband. Besides, I liked her son. He had a humorous enthusiastic side. Like his mother.
"We both know I'm going to accept this contract — consider this my pro bono service to integrate you into the community."
She was right, we both knew she was going to accept my offer. I was going to have to come to my senses around her and start behaving like her boss, not some horny teenager. I found myself looking forward to Saturday.
My brain totally understood the concept I was proposing. Problem was, that it wasn’t my brain causing me discomfort every time I came within three feet of her. I had until Saturday to get my little head in the same game as my big head.
She wasn't even Manly’s type. Which makes her not Aleksander's type, I tried to convince myself.
I. Must. Try. Harder.
Chapter 17
Haley
Saturday morning arrived with a bright ray of sunshine beaming through my window. Peyton had decided to open the curtains because he did not want me to sleep in and be late for his soccer game.
I told him we were going on a picnic to show his new coach how beautiful the town was so he would stay and continue to coach. Peyton thought this was a great idea.
We got to the field early so Peyton could let out a little energy. He was not an early morning kid but was a handful to keep up with once he got started.
I decided I would tweet a few blurbs about the game on the Van de Graaf’s social media site. I was not officially Aleksander's PR Specialist yet but I needed people to see I was there as an active member of the team and not allow another tabloid the opportunity to mislead the public about my relationship with Aleksander.
I had read and signed the contract. I would hand it back to him today, and the next step would be to announce my appointment as Personal PR Specialist to Van de Graaf's new Co-CEO Mr. Aleksander Manos.
I had already written the press release to coincide with a featured piece on the company's website. That would finally put an end to all those rag mag reporter's innuendos.
As I zoomed in on Aleksander while he coached, I could not help but think that Leona was right; he looked hot in those jeans with the way they hung low on his hips and cupped his ass. It was harder not to notice when he changed into his soccer shirt.
The game went by quickly and it was time to change out of those sweaty t-shirts and something fitting an afternoon
picnic. I wasn't the only soccer mom watching as Aleksander pulled off his sweaty shirt and pulled a fresh one out of his gym bag.
The mom sitting beside me must not have realized she was thinking out loud. I could hear her whispering, "slower, slower, why couldn't that dang zipper get stuck?" The woman must have clued in that she was heard and not just by me. She shrugged, then added, "well, the man works out, no harm in looking." She was not exaggerating — the man's abs were ripped and when he turned around the rest of him was just as toned.
With his shirt securely on, I took control of my libido and waited for him at his car. We were going to park at the market square and walk from there. We would start with a picnic in the park then take a stroll on the boardwalk.
We finished our adventure with a trip to the Tranquility Seaport. It had a large maritime museum with a variety of vessels. Everything from Dingy’s to an actual Schooner. Several had been salvaged and restored. It was quite a sight for a first timer. I knew if Peyton was feeling restless I could take him there to be entertained for a couple of hours. I wasn't sure who was disappointed more, Peyton or Aleksander, when I announced it was time to leave.
I took us down a tree lined street with Victorian styles homes. "This is the older part of the city," I explained. "These homes are older but have lots of character and can be customized to suit your taste." He nodded at my appraisal.
"Most of them have been modernized over the years, lead pipes replaced with newer space age material, aka, plastic.” We both snickered. “If we swing right at the end of Main Street you get into the new subdivisions. Cookie cutter homes designed by one builder and one size fits all.” We continued to quietly walk. Aleksander taking in the information as I explained each neighborhood.
“You could always decide to purchase some land outside of town and custom build.” I turned to face him. “These are the questions a Realtor is going to ask you when you start looking for a house."