An Executive Decision (Executive Decisions Trilogy)

by Grace Marshall

  ‘Dee, you are amazing.’

  She turned to find Jason looking at her from the kitchen doorway. ‘I just want to stand here and take you in. You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed about having you with me.’

  He sat the glasses on the table and came to her side, slipping his arms around her. Then he stepped back and ran his fingers down the lapel of her jacket. ‘Let’s lose this. No need to look so business-like. You’re not on Pneuma Inc. time now.’

  He helped her out of her jacket, taking time for his eyes to admire the woman beneath, and she reminded herself that he was right. She wasn’t on Pneuma Inc. time. Being here with him was OK. Maybe she should make an effort to be a little more like Kendra. Maybe this was the way to remind herself that sex with Ellis, no matter how amazing, was just a part of her job. In spite of her efforts to convince herself, she would have bolted if Jason hadn’t engaged her mouth again. This time the kiss was neither quick nor ambiguous, with the insinuating dart and press of his tongue.

  She felt the rush of his breath as he pulled her closer, felt the press of his groin as he shifted against her. The shape of him beneath the trousers became more evident with each shifting of his body. His touch felt awkward compared to Ellis’s, and somehow his mouth didn’t fit hers quite as well. Mentally she reprimanded herself for making comparisons, trying to relax into the kiss. Jason’s scent was different, uncomfortable at the back of her throat, like being in someone’s house without permission.

  He tightened his embrace and his mouth became more insistent, making it hard for her to breathe. The smell, the feel, the taste; nothing was right about them together, and the room seemed to be getting tighter around her by the second.

  Fighting panic, she pushed him away, opening a space between them, amazed and slightly frightened by how strong he was. He released her and stepped back, panting. ‘What is it, Dee? What’s wrong?’

  ‘This is just too fast, Jason, I can’t –’

  The phone rang. He let it ring and spoke over it. ‘I’m sorry, Dee.’ He caught his breath. ‘I know I said we’d just talk. I’m sorry I got carried away and –’

  The answering machine interrupted and, in the trained reflex to technology, they both paused to listen.

  ‘Jason, are you there? Pick up … It’s Lydia …’

  He cursed softly and tugged at his tie.

  The message continued. ‘Annette’s down at the police station. We need to go get her. She and some of her friends have been drinking and … Damn it, Jason, you’re never here when we need you –’

  His face reddened, and he jerked the receiver from its cradle, trying to breathe normally. ‘I’m here, Lydia. What happened?’

  Dee took advantage of the time to slip back into her jacket and gather her things. When she finished, he had hung up the phone. ‘I’m sorry, Dee, it’s my youngest. I don’t think it’s anything serious, just being 18, but Lydia doesn’t deal with this sort of thing very well, and I need to go. I’ll drop by your hotel room when I’m finished.’ He tried to kiss her, but she pulled away.

  ‘No, Jason, don’t.’

  ‘Dee?’

  ‘You asked me if I wanted to find out if there could be something between us and, well, I just found out.’

  ‘Dee, these things happen. It’s just a part of being a parent. Don’t worry about it. We can get through it.’ He reached for her again, but she stepped back.

  ‘I don’t want to get through it, Jason. I have enough baggage of my own. I don’t need what you bring along from a broken marriage and two kids. I’m sorry. It’s not something I can deal with at the moment. And anyway, it’s not just that. It’s everything. Pneuma Inc. makes huge demands on my time right now, and I’m happy to give it, but that doesn’t leave me much to spare. I like you, Jason, I respect you, but I don’t want to run the risk of more.’

  ‘Dee, sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and go for it.’

  ‘That’s true, but right now, I’m not willing to do that.’

  As she left with the flash drive tucked safely in her bag, she couldn’t keep from feeling like she’d just had a very narrow escape, and the urge to be home with Ellis was nearly overwhelming.

  Inside the taxi, she was still struggling to get her head round what had just happened when her BlackBerry rang.

  Dee, Al here.’

  She tried to hide her disappointment She really could use a call from Ellis about now.

  ‘You still at Jason’s place? He said he was inviting you over for a drink. Did Ellis get hold of you? I told him you were there.’

  Her stomach somersaulted and she nearly dropped the phone. ‘No. What’s going on?’

  ‘Oh nothing, really. I just called to see how things had gone in Spain. He said he couldn’t talk, was about to board a plane home, but gave me the two thumbs up. The man’s got balls the size of boulders, I’ll give him that. He didn’t sound very happy, though. Just jetlagged, I reckon.’

  Dee’s clench on the phone was nearly painful.

  Marston chuckled. ‘I hate international travel these days. Not enough comforts in the world to make jetlag easy at my age. Never mind that. Just wanted to let you know my driver’ll pick you up in the morning at seven and take you to the jet. I’ll meet you there and shuttle you on down to my neck of the woods to see the plant. You up for it, Ms Henning?’ He always called her Ms Henning when he was joking or being chivalrous, which, much to her surprise, he quite often was.

  ‘I’ll be ready’

  When she hung up there was a text from Ellis.

  Al says you were with Daniels. We’ll talk in Portland.

  That was it. In spite of her efforts not to read anything into it, she felt unsettled and wished desperately she could hear his voice. But that would have to wait. She wouldn’t be home until Sunday, and no doubt he was in the air by now.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  ‘Do you think Ellis really isn’t here or do you think he’s avoiding us?’

  ‘His secretary says he’s away in Spain, but he’s supposed to be home tomorrow sometime.’

  ‘For fuck sake, Garrett, you’re his brother, and you’re even staying at his house. How can you not know if he’s out of the country?’

  Garrett? Garrett Thorne? Tally was suddenly at full attention. The booth she sat in was separated from the couple talking by only a thin trellis. She couldn’t believe her luck. If it hadn’t been covered with climbing foliage of some sort, the trellis would have reminded her of the confessional she used to go to every Friday night when she was a child. There she’d mumbled all of her sins across the wooden screen into the listening ears of the bored priest. She quietly scooted closer to the trellis and held her breath. Who knew, a confessional might turn out to be exactly what it was.

  Through the trellis she could see Thorne handing a coffee to a woman she couldn’t get a good view of. Tally was stunned at how much he resembled his older brother. He spoke. ‘Well, he hasn’t been too interested in talking to me since Friday night’s disaster with Dee, has he?’

  The woman giggled wickedly. ‘I actually thought he was going to hit you. In fact, I thought Dee was going to hit both of you.’

  ‘That’s not funny, Stacie. Ellis and I were just starting to get along again. Up until New York, every time I was in the same state with him, he remembered something he has to do in some third-world country.’

  Stacie? Where had Tally heard that name before?

  ‘There, you see? Massive improvement. The man’s only gone to Spain this time.’

  ‘I was trying to be helpful,’ Garrett said. ‘I was trying to make sure my brother and Dee had a good weekend.’

  The laugh again. ‘I think egging him on about the Executive Sex Clause wasn’t the best way forward if you were trying to be helpful. And telling Dee you knew about it didn’t win you her undying love either.’

  The Executive Sex Clause? Tally sipped absently at her champagne. Wait a minute, she thought. Could it be? ESC? The Executive Sex
Clause. Had to be. Still, what the hell was it?

  Tally frantically pulled up the ESC files on her lap top.

  Hire her, Ellis, then implement the ESC and you’ll have the best of both worlds.

  That’s what Beverly’s email said. She wanted Ellis to implement the Executive Sex Clause. But how could a sex clause be a secret weapon?

  Tally racked her brain. Almost as an afterthought, she pulled out her iPhone, set it to audio record and carefully placed it as near to the partition separating the tables as possible. This was too good to miss.

  Garrett drummed his fingers on the table. ‘I can cope with her being pissed off at me. That I wouldn’t mind so much if she hadn’t decided to take it out on Ellis.’

  ‘Well, what the fuck did you think she’d do?’ Stacie retorted. ‘Did you think she’d be thrilled that his kid brother knows?’

  Garrett growled. ‘I don’t think she was overly happy to find Ellis’s ex following him down the hall all wrapped up snug-like in his bath robe either, was she?’

  Tally’s pulse accelerated. Stacie was Ellis’s ex? And she’d been caught in his bath robe? It just kept getting better and better.

  ‘Stop changing the subject, Garrett. My presence could have been easily explained away if you hadn’t made such an ass of yourself. What about Dee? Is she in?’

  ‘She’s in New York,’ Garrett said. ‘No chance of talking to her either.’

  ‘Wish I’d known that,’ Stacie said. ‘I might have caught her before I flew back to Portland.’

  ‘I’d at least feel better if I knew the two of them had talked it through and made up,’ Garrett said.

  ‘Me too,’ Stacie agreed ‘But I wouldn’t count on it. She was furious, and rightly so. What woman wants her work denigrated by the fact that she’s sleeping with the boss? Especially not when she’s as brilliant as Dee.’

  Jesus. Tally could hardly believe it. Dee was sleeping with Ellis? She’d have thought Ms MBA too much of a tight-assed stickler to the rules for that.

  ‘I wasn’t denigrating her work, Stacie. I know she’s brilliant or Ellis wouldn’t have hired her. I was just trying to prove my point that even two people as focused on work as she and Ellis are can’t fight their hearts.’

  ‘Well announcing you know that sex is a part of her job probably wasn’t the best way to go about proving that point, Garrett.’

  ‘Sh!’ Garrett hissed. ‘Why don’t you just broadcast it to everyone?’

  Suddenly Tally couldn’t breathe. She felt like the sun had just come out, and her luck was changing right before her eyes. She held her breath and listened carefully, as the two lowered their voices.

  ‘Oh for heaven sake, Garrett, we’re the only ones in here,’ Stacie said. Then she leaned across the table ‘So, do you think it worked? Do you think sex on demand has improved their productivity?’

  ‘With those two, it’s hard to tell,’ Garrett said. ‘And Ellis sure as hell isn’t going to put it in the monthly progress report, is he? Still, I can’t think they’d have implemented it if they didn’t think it would work. I know Beverly thought it would, but you know how Beverly was. I just doubt they expected the side-effects from the chemistry between the two of them.’

  So the Executive Sex Clause was really just Ellis paying Dee to have sex with him. That was it? That was the secret strategy? Quickly, with trembling fingers, Tally scrolled back through the email exchanges between Ellis and Beverly before Beverly had gone to Brazil, and read the final email.

  Dee’s exactly what you need on all counts. I know you think she lacks experience, but trust me, with the right training, given half a chance, she’ll be brilliant. Hire her, Ellis. Implement the ESC. Trust me; it’s the perfect strategy, a secret weapon that could make Pneuma Inc. even more successful than it already is. And if anyone could do it, you could. Do this for me and I can retire and enjoy my dotage.

  Beverly

  So Dee Henning got the executive assistant position because she was willing to spread her legs. Tally knew there had to be some reason Ellis chose the bitch over her. At last the truth was out, and Thorne’s secret weapon was just about to become her secret weapon.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  Tally jumped at the sound of Jamison’s voice.

  ‘I’ve had the limo circling the block for ten minutes, and I find you here in the bar drinking –’

  She placed a finger to her lips and silently shushed him. But it was too late; the couple across the trellis suddenly began to speak in whispers.

  ‘Don’t shush me, Tally. I’ve not had a good day and you keeping me waiting’s done nothing to make it better. Now come on. Let’s go.’

  She stuffed her laptop into the bag, and grabbed up her purse and her iPhone as he hauled her out of the booth and escorted her out the door.

  Garrett craned his neck at the couple just leaving. The guy had practically manhandled the woman from the booth next to theirs. They hadn’t even known she’d been there. ‘That’s Terrance Jamison, isn’t it?’ he said, nodding after the couple.

  Stacie followed his gaze. ‘Sure looks like it to me. He’s got a lot of nerve, showing his face here in Pneuma territory.’

  Garrett nodded his agreement. ‘He didn’t look too happy either. And it looked like that Tally chick from accounting with him. I wouldn’t want to be her about now. I don’t think he’s planning to wine her and dine her if that glare is any indication.’

  ‘Bastard,’ Stacie said watching as the two cleared the door and disappeared into the parking lot.

  Once outside, Jamison hurried Tally into the waiting limo and the driver took off. Tally didn’t wait for him to ask what was going on, and she sure as hell didn’t want to endure his bad mood.

  ‘I have the secret weapon,’ she said. ‘The ESC? I know what it is, and it’s just about to become our secret weapon too.’

  Jamison handed her a glass of champagne and sat back to listen while she pulled up the ESC emails between Ellis and Beverly and told him about her unexpected encounter with Ellis’s brother and his ex. The longer she talked, the more Jamison smiled.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  When Dee arrived at PDX, the last rays of sun were sinking to the west of the city. Instead of the Pneuma Inc. limo she was expecting, Ellis was waiting for her in the Jeep. She knew something was wrong when his greeting was barely more than a grunt. Without a word, he took her bag and put it in the back. She buckled into the passenger seat. In an ideal world, she would have shrugged off his mood and dozed until he was ready to talk about it. But this wasn’t an ideal world. It felt like a slap in the face after she had been so delighted to see him, after she had been looking forward to their reunion ever since he left. This was not what she was hoping for. The tiredness she felt dissipated with the clenching of her stomach and the tightening of her shoulders as she racked her brain, trying to think what she might have done to upset him.

  When it was clear he wasn’t going to break the ice, she braced herself and smiled, acting as though she hadn’t noticed his mood. ‘I want to hear all about Valderia.’

  He offered an enormous shrug, as if he couldn’t be bothered to reply. The muscles in her shoulders felt like they’d snap from the tension. ‘Jamison won’t be tempting anyone else with Valderian virgin timber,’ he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

  ‘Good. That’s good. Then everything went according to plan?’

  ‘According to plan,’ came his clipped reply. It was then that she realised they were heading out along the Columbia River Gorge at break-neck speed.

  Ellis turned off I-84, away from the river, and took a series of steep roads upward into the wooded hills. At last, he exited onto a winding gravel road.

  ‘Where are we going?’ she asked, and the tension went up another notch.

  ‘Scenic route,’ he answered. ‘Hang on. It’s not for the faint of heart.’

  She shot him a withering glance, which was swallowed up in the growing dusk. ‘Do you see any faint of
heart in this vehicle? Now, you want to tell me what the hell’s going on?’

  He glanced at her, then downshifted as he turned onto a dirt road that was barely more than a trail. It rose steeply until it twisted into a series of sharp hairpin turns. It was deeply rutted and strewn with rocks, an obstacle course that rattled teeth and bruised anything that wasn’t buckled to the seat.

  ‘Did you know about Daniels’s divorce?’

  ‘What? I just found out Friday night. Why?’

  ‘And as soon as you found out you went running to his apartment.’

  ‘What?’ Dee grabbed for the edge of the seat and stiff-legged the floorboard to brace against the bone-jarring ride. ‘What the hell’s that supposed to mean? I went to his apartment to get the flash drive he forgot to bring to Scribal.’ She slammed the palm of her hand against the dashboard just as Ellis hit a large rut and the Jeep rocked dangerously.

  ‘The Sex Clause doesn’t include Jason Daniels, Dee.’

  For a heartbeat, everything stopped. For an instant, his words left her speechless. They felt like a gut-punch and hurt a hell of a lot more. Then anger filled the gap and the world swung back into real time. ‘Fuck you, Ellis! I work for you. I don’t have to take abuse from you. Let me out. Right now! Let me out!’ She undid her seatbelt just as they hit another deep rut that nearly sent her flying out of the Jeep.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Ellis grabbed her arm and slammed on the brakes. Then he turned off the engine with her slapping and shoving at him.

  ‘Let go of me, Ellis, goddamn it! How dare you, how fucking dare you?’ She shoved open the door and was halfway out before he could scramble over the gear shift and haul her bodily back in, kicking and struggling. She pushed him hard, and he held tight. But when she jerked back against him, he overcompensated and unbalanced both of them, catapulting them out the open door onto the ground beside the Jeep with a hard, breathless thud. Dee was still punching and kicking like a wild woman. ‘How could you even think that of me? How could you even think it?’