by MJ Riley
When he heard that they'd hired this new guy, he was going to be all over it. For that purpose explicitly, Charlotte had buried his file where her father wouldn't have access to it. With a bit of luck, he'd finally get to the man's information in a year, and he'd have nothing to say about him. By that time, they would have started debuting their new line of products, and they'd be in the black for the foreseeable future.
Sighing, Charlotte glanced at a framed picture on her desk. It showed her and her father skiing together in the Alps for her twentieth birthday. The young woman was bundled so tightly that only her bright smile and profusion of blonde curls were visible. Her gloved hand, however, was firmly on her father's, and what onlookers couldn't see was that she had forced him to put down his cell phone for the shot.
Mathers Incorporated had always been everything for him.
Charlotte's mother had died when she was four, and so she had been raised by her father; or rather, she'd been raised by the staff he'd hired to oversee her life. Eventually, she'd had her first nanny, and since then, she didn't think she'd spent more than a week consecutively with her father. Sure, he'd lavished her with expensive gifts and sent her to the best schools money could buy, but he'd denied her the affection that she craved.
Instead, Charlotte bonded with her schoolmates, her indispensable housekeeper, Rita, and Adeline, who'd been like an older sister to her for as long as she could remember. She loved to spend the money her father gave her for luxuries on charities. While Emerson was the tabloid face of Mathers, Charlotte was its poster child.
She'd traveled the world, building factories in communities that needed the business the most, donating millions of dollars to various causes in impoverished third world countries, and simply learning about a world where money wasn't everything. Though her father often insisted she was risking her life, Charlotte loved to go under the radar when she travelled to small countries, discovering their culture and immersing herself in the newness of the experience. She did it without a single person knowing who she was.
Those times were far easier than the normal day-to-day hustle and bustle where she had to worry about the paparazzi and her face on the cover of some new magazine.
However, maybe, just maybe, this tech designer could help their company move to the next level.
Emerson had enough money so that he could spend the rest of his life in luxurious comfort. It was Charlotte's eventual plan, as the current CEO, to let the company’s stockholders run the company. If such a thing could ever come to fruition, she could step down from her position in the limelight and watch the firm blossom, freed from the financial drain of a single individual.
It was a promising idea; but, Charlotte knew the moment her father sniffed so much as a hint of that particular plan, it would be kaput. So, she'd have to be careful, and she'd have to take her time.
Also, she'd have to meet this God-sent techie everyone was babbling about.
“Is he in the lab now?” she inquired, and Adeline shook her head.
“He's out to lunch. Though from what I've heard, even when he leaves the building, he keeps working. The man is a machine.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” Charlotte fixed her companion with a grin, and Adeline flushed, looking away.
“I'm a demon because I need to be that way to stay on top of things. Marscomb's development rate is...effortless.” Her words spoke volumes to her fear that his effortlessness might affect her own position.
With a smile, Charlotte leaned over the desk to reassure her. “No worries, Addy. You know no one could ever replace you. This Marscomb man might be a brain, but you know the ins and outs of the tech department better than anyone else. You've been here for ten years. Atop that, you're my friend and advisor. I need to ask you, what kind of feel do you get from him?”
At her words, Adeline appeared to relax slightly. Then, her expression turned pensive, and she leaned back in her chair. “Honestly...” she mused lowly, “I'm not exactly sure. A man with his brain power...and his looks...he should be conceited as hell. But he's not.”
“His looks?” Charlotte couldn't help the inquiry that had escaped her lips. Though the man's resume had been extensive and his background check in-depth, neither had very good pictures of him. He seemed reluctant to look into the camera, almost as if he was opposed to someone taking his photo.
At her question, Adeline's cheeks turned pink once more. “Well...yes...he's...well, all the girls in on the floor fall all over themselves whenever he comes in.”
Charlotte had to admit that now her interest was heartily piqued.
Rising from her desk, she rounded the elegantly carved piece of furniture to sit next to her friend, her expression interested. “When does he come back?”
“Oh, no, Charlotte. I am not aiding and abetting you in any venture that involves a man.”
At Adeline's reaction, the blonde woman scowled. “Please, Addy. You know me better than that. I'm only curious. Plus, relations with coworkers are against company policy.”
She'd never questioned the policy nor enforced it before. Charlotte was sure that there were more than a few employees who discreetly broke the rules in regards to in-office romance. However, as the CEO, she could not afford such transgressions. She only wanted to see the face of the man radically advancing her tech department—and that was all.
“Alright, fine. He'll be back at two.”
Charlotte checked her watch to find that she still had a good half hour until that time rolled around. “How about,” she glanced up at Adeline, “you take me down and show me what we have in development while we wait.”
“Sure.” At the prospect of fresh tech, Adeline was always excited. The woman quickly stood to her feet to lead the way from Charlotte's expansive corner office, down the richly-decorated hall and past reception. They took the elevators down to the sixty-fifth floor, and Adeline, with a flourish, swiped them in and showed her to the tech labs.
Charlotte was blown away.
The last time she had been down to the lab, two weeks ago, they'd been putting final touches on the final prototype of the advanced Web Glass. Now, the device sat in a corner, unattended, while no less than five developers crowded around a glowing, clear cube that sat on the table before them. Blinking to make sure she wasn't seeing things, Charlotte watched them tap one side of the cube and reveal the specs for an operating system atop the crystal clear screen. They tapped another side and the dialing pad for a cell phone appeared. They tapped yet another side and the controls for a luxury car popped up.
“What...” she said under her breath and glancing over at Adeline, “is that?”
“We're thinking of calling it the MCube.” The smug delight in the redhead's voice was obvious when she spoke. “As soon as I saw the specs for the design in one of David's folders, I started salivating.”
“It's a computer, right?”
Adeline glared at her, and Charlotte winced. Though she could quote figures about the company's finances and list their most popular products and top shareholders, she, of course, wasn't as tech savvy as the head of the development team. Adeline never hesitated to remind her of that fact, either.
“Of course it's a computer.” Putting on a pair of black velvet gloves, the older woman crossed the room to pick up the cube from where the techs were working on it. They knew better than to question her, and simply let her take it over to show Charlotte. The excited gleam in Adeline's green eyes was infectious, and Charlotte found herself leaning over the device. It was about the size of a child's alphabet block, and despite the intense lighting in the lab, glare did not distort the screen. “It's light, probably weighs less than a bar of soap.”
Charlotte gaped. “This baby makes cell phones, car keys, laptops, satellite radios, all of it obsolete. Everything you need from every piece of technology in your life is here—in one easy to use device.”
“Is the software stable?” The damn thing seemed too good to be true.
She'd never seen the tech department churn out a prototype so fast. It usually took months, even years before the software was sound. Even after production, they usually continued to work out kinks with downloadable updates and readily available customer service.
“Watertight.” Adeline's reply was no less than ecstatic. “If we wanted to, we could start wide scale production on this thing within six months.”
Charlotte's head whirled. This single piece of technology was enough to put Mathers on the map as one of the leading technological development companies in the world.
It had appeared in the lab within days. However, the dangers of releasing such an all encompassing device were more than evident to her. They would push hundreds of companies, both competitors and partners, out of business and outrage the financial world. Not to mention, she hadn't even inquired on the cost to produce the damn thing. It was a marvel, to be sure, but it was also dangerous. It was to Adeline's merit—she could see the gravity of the little cube just as easily as Charlotte could.
A smile still blooming on her face, the redhead returned the cube to the techs before leading Charlotte to the next lab. “That was only one of the projects we've started working on.” Her voice was low and conspiratorial, as she swiped her card into the adjacent room. “Wait until you see the others.”
Truly, they were just as amazing as the first. There was the first model of a pen that could directly print information onto paper pages without the use of any intermediary device. There was also a clock that stored the data for every family member of a household and reminded them of their daily activities. A group of scientists was testing an implantable GPS chip on a series of lab mice. Once the device was in the brain, the person would be able to receive directions right before their eyes, and the device could be turned on and off with a stylish and discreet pendant worn on the body.
When they finally stood outside the last development room, Charlotte had to remind herself to breathe. She'd never seen such large technical advances in such a short time. Sure, all these devices were just prototypes, but they were prototypes that operated with more precision and succinct programming than any she'd ever seen, and she didn't have to be a techie to see that.
When she pondered what the devices could mean for the company and the market at large, her palms started to sweat in excitement. They would generate billions of dollars in revenue. She could open up hundreds of factories and create thousands of jobs. Her charitable donations could increase tenfold.
However, they had to be careful with their patents and devices. They couldn't expose them to the market to soon, or they'd face recriminations larger than they could ever imagine.
“Addy, this is big. Really big.”
“No kidding. That's the largest understatement of the century.”
“What's the largest understatement of the century?”
Both of them jumped at the sudden, low tenor that came from behind them. Whirling, Charlotte prepared to explain their conversation, only to stop cold on her tracks.
“Oh, David.” She barely heard Adeline greet the newcomer while she could do little but stare. “We were waiting for you. I’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Mathers, CEO and President of Mathers Incorporated.”
“It's a pleasure to finally meet you.” Extending his hand cordially, the man's intense gray eyes met hers, and a subtle, titillating warmth spread over her.
He was even taller than Adeline had mentioned, towering over her lofty five-foot-eleven frame—six-two in heels. He was far from being the uptight, pencil-necked nerd she'd expected. In fact, he was built like a MMA fighter with broad shoulders, a wide chest, and a narrow waist. He was dressed in a blue button-up shirt, black slacks, and a white lab coat that was a bit short for him, not that she was surprised. The man was by far the largest on the tech team. The jackets weren't made for Herculean men, not that she was trying to stereotype.
His slightly-browned skin pronounced him of mixed race, as did the dark waves that spilled down to cover his collar and frame a face that was all proud masculine angles. His nose was long and aquiline and his mouth surprisingly lush for a man. To her chagrin, she almost immediately imagined what it would be like to kiss that mouth and had to fight to rid herself of the image.
He was certainly like no tech she'd ever met.
“Nice to meet you, David.” When their fingers touched, it was electric, and she could see from his slightly confused expression that he wasn't totally unaffected either. As they stared at one another, Adeline looked back and forth between them, scowling. “I have to say, I'm blown away by your designs.”
The man's expression was immediately humble, as he released her hold on her hand. “I wasn't aware that they were as advanced as Adeline professed, really.”
“Oh, shut your mouth, David. How couldn't you know? You've been selfish keeping these beauties to yourself.” Though Adeline's words were harsh, it was in her nature to speak the way she did. It was how she showed admiration, and Charlotte was used to it.
“Well, now they belong to Mathers. I'm glad you're pleased.” David smiled, and Charlotte had to make a concerted effort not to melt into a messy puddle on the tiles below her feet. It was ridiculously unfair that the man was so goddamn attractive, and it was going to mean trouble. “Another understatement,” Adeline replied bluntly, making the man towering over her smirk indulgently. “But you know, David, we can't even put these designs on ice for future production until Charlotte's familiar with the specs. She's going to be the one to get people on board for production.”
The younger woman stared at her tech specialist, her eyes wide. What Adeline said made perfect sense, but she was sure it would take an eternity to learn the ins and outs of the devices, especially at the rate they were producing them.
“I can take some time off from working with the team to show her the basics,” David offered, taking a sip from the coffee cup he held. Charlotte tried not to stare at the veins of his exposed forearm, taking note of the strength there.
“That should be fine. Only for an hour or two a day though. We need you down here to oversee the rest of the prototypes in development.”
“I'm sure the teams down here can handle it,” he said, kindly. “You have my designs and painstakingly detailed notes.”
“No.” Adeline shook her head firmly. “We need you. We can't afford any mistakes in the first stages of software development.”
“Of course.” Unlike most of the department staff who cowered before the redhead when she barked demands, Charlotte noticed that David seemed to take them as commonplace. When Adeline sniped at him, he only nodded and smiled. It was remarkable.
“So, every morning from nine to eleven? Charlotte?” She was broken from her reverie by the woman's command, and her head jerked to take in the redhead.
“Yes. That sounds good.”
Hell, what had she just agreed to? Ten hours a week in close quarters with a gorgeous hunk of a man who quite literally heated her blood? She was in trouble.
“I look forward to it,” he replied.
Was he flirting with her? The gleam in those dark eyes was too subtle to tell, but Charlotte thought there was a definite chance. There was a large part of her that warned against spending any length of time in private with the man, but Adeline was right. She needed to know her products if she was ever going to pitch them effectively to the stockholders.
“Right now, I'm looking forward to seeing those software tweaks within the next hour.” Adeline broke the moment in her customary way, making Charlotte glare at her, slightly irritated. “Get to work, pretty boy.”
“Right away.” Draining the last of his coffee, David dropped his cup in the trash before moving away. His white coat was so tight that Charlotte could see the muscles of his back contracting as he walked, and her mouth dried.
“Stop it.”
Adeline's warning made her frown as she feigned innocence and said, “Stop what, Addy?”
“Looking at him like he's
a filet mignon with butter sauce. It's obvious.”
Charlotte's face turned pink. “I wasn't staring.”
“Right. And the sky isn't blue. You saw what you came to see. Now, get back up to your office. I'm sure there are a million and one calls on hold for you. You'll have a whole two hours with the man on Monday. Not,” she eyed the younger woman shrewdly, “that anything inappropriate should happen during that time.”
Clearly, Adeline was in Mama Bear mode.
“Addy, I swear I won't touch the man. I just need him to give me the specs on the prototypes. You said it yourself.”
The redhead just eyed her skeptically before pointing at the doors that led back to the lobby. She was the only person in the building, by virtue of her long relationship with Charlotte, her closeness with her family, and her position, who would dare to speak to the CEO of the company like that. Thankfully, she did it only in the most discreet settings.
In fact, Charlotte mused, as she took the elevator back up to her office, the fact that her friend had busted out her Mama Bear attitude in front of David, who had only been around for a week, proved just how nervous she must be about something developing between the two of them. Breaking the rules always made Addy nervous. Beyond that, she'd been by Charlotte's side after a string of bad boyfriends tried to take advantage of her position and her wealth.
David could hardly be like them. He had a brilliant mind that more than occupied most of his time, and he didn't seem to salivate over her like most men did when she entered a room.
When she returned to her office, however, all her thoughts about their newest employee were put on hold. There was, indeed, a plethora of people holding on the line to speak to her, and as she settled in to address their questions and concerns, she was all business.
