As he looked at her she realized there was something on his mind. “You look discomfited, dad. Just say what you want to say. It’s all good, I promise.”
Edgar shook his head, and Anna had the sense that his chuckle was self-derisive. “I don’t know how it is we were lucky enough to have a daughter who’s as malleable as you, sweetheart. I’m stubborn as hell and your mother is...um, well, your mother.”
I’m not malleable, I’m practical. It served no purpose to argue or be difficult. Anna preferred a much more passive-aggressive sort of resistance. Of course, she couldn’t say any of that, nor did she give any indication—she never did—that her thoughts differed from what they might be perceived to be.
Her father sighed. “All right, here’s my dilemma. Your mother has been after me to find you a position in the company—something that will put you in the sights of an unmarried VP. She claims that with your unnatural affinity for organization and numbers, that you’ll soon become invaluable to the right man.” Edgar picked his coffee cup up, pausing with it halfway to his lips. “How she figures that will then lead to a marriage proposal, I have no idea.” He took a drink, and then set his cup down. “The problem is...” He looked at her and in that moment she sensed he really didn’t know how to say what was on his mind.
Anna nodded. She rarely let anyone see that she wasn’t the quiet, shy, malleable young woman everyone believed her to be. “The problem is, that would be crossing a line for you. You don’t believe in nepotism, nor in doing anything that might be considered not in your employees’, or your company’s best interests.”
“Yes, that’s it, exactly!” His amazed expression didn’t insult her. It would be beyond silly to be insulted, because the role she’d played since her teen years had been received so well.
“Father, let me put your mind at ease. I don’t want to work for you. I do want to work, have no doubt of that. But I want to find a position with a company, on my own.” Anna didn’t say the obvious. The trust fund her maternal grandmother had bequeathed her, that paid her a quarterly stipend and that would become hers in total on her twenty-fifth birthday, pretty much insured that she didn’t really need to work for a living—ever.
But Anna Doreen Cooper didn’t believe in being idle.
“Well, of course you want to find your own job. You want to succeed on your own merits.” He nodded. “There is some of me in you, after all.”
Likely the best part. “My problem is that Mother is rather insistent on our doing things her way. But she’s gone for the next two weeks, and I was thinking...”
“You’d find a job on your own in that time, and present her with a fait accompli.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s fine, then.”
“There is just one thing I would ask.”
“Yes?”
“If you’re done with that section of the paper, would you please pass me the classifieds? Time is money, after all.”
“Yes, you’re my daughter, all right.” He handed over the requested section of the Dallas Morning News, just as Josie arrived carrying a full tray.
Anna spared a glance at her father’s breakfast—an egg white omelet on brown, unbuttered toast, and a glass of carrot juice. When she looked up it was to meet her father’s knowing gaze. “Lunch will be much better.” Because he has it downtown, away from mother’s control.
She very nearly confided in her father, then and there. The truth was that under her mother’s “supervision” she actually ate more food than she would on her own. There were moments, like now, when she felt very close to Edgar Cooper.
Then the urge passed. No, it was far better to limit their bonding over something she could trust he’d keep to himself. When it came to business, Edgar Cooper really was a man of iron will.
So instead of confiding, she nodded, and then put her attention on the classified ads. Nothing looked promising until she read the last entry.
The heading “Office Manager Needed” caught her attention. She didn’t worry about the fact this would be her first ever job for a salary. Anna Cooper knew herself, her strengths and weaknesses. She had excellent people skills and had molded tact and diplomacy into a fine art form during her myriad volunteer service since her early teens. The wording of the ad, for reasons she couldn’t articulate, caught her attention, and her fancy.
“Required immediately, a person with excellent pattern recognition skills and the ability to discern nuances. The successful applicant will excel at wresting order out of chaos, and possess a strong will. Good interpersonal skills would be a definite plus. Please respond by letter to the address below.”
Anna felt one eyebrow go up when she read the address. That was in the heart of the business district—only a few blocks, in fact, from her father’s company’s headquarters. Any business renting space in that section of Dallas had some serious capital behind it.
Pattern recognition skills and wresting order out of chaos. What a strange way of putting things. Clearly the person or persons who wrote such an interesting advertisement possessed not only a keen grasp of language but—if she was right and she usually was—a keen sense of humor, too.
Anna set aside the paper. As soon as she finished her breakfast, she’d go up to her room, pen a reply, and take it to the post office immediately.
If the fates were with her, she might even hear from them by Wednesday. It would be wonderful if by the time her mother returned home in two weeks’ time, Anna could leave the house each morning on her way to work.
* * * *
“Do you think we should do something about this...” Jackson Jessop extended his hand to encompass the entire working area of their office.
Craig looked up from the notes he was making and focused on his brother. He’d been completely submerged in contemplation, striving to get all of his thoughts on their lunch meeting with Carl and Gareth Sanders down on paper. As he left those mental meanderings behind and tuned into his twin, he realized Jack seemed to be more than a little distressed.
He let his gaze wander their office. They’d been busy for the last eight months—which was how long they’d been working from this downtown Dallas office tower, instead of out of their parents’ house, back home in Lusty.
Mother had been absolutely right. Big business belonged in the big city. Life had become much easier when they’d eliminated the long round-trips between Dallas and Lusty.
Craig came back to the comment Jackson had just made. “Why?”
“Miss Cooper will be arriving before long, and I have to ask myself if we really want to scare the woman away before we even get a chance to interview her. We haven’t received many applications for the position of office manager.” Jack frowned. “Do you think our reputation precedes us?”
Craig was still thinking about Jack’s first comment. “Wouldn’t it be better if we start off as we mean to go? Don’t you think it would be better to be honest with the woman? We could maybe see how much we could stuff into our desk drawers to boost that all-important first impression, but really, what would be the point?”
Jack sighed. “True. It would all only be all over the place again eventually, anyway.”
“This was why we decided to advertise for someone to help in the first place.”
“That was a brilliant idea you had, calling the position ‘office manager.’”
“Only makes sense, doesn’t it? We need to be managed—Mother was right about that, too.”
“Mother is often right. I think that’s why the dads married her.”
Craig’s gaze wandered to his notes. “What did you think about the Sanderses?”
“Given what we know about this fledgling industry, their idea is sound, I’ll give them that. Do they have the chops to carry it out? That’s what we have to discover. I’m not feeling the zing yet, Craig.”
“I’m not either. But I’m not feeling the no, either, so that means we have more work to do.”
Jack sat back down in his chai
r. “I felt so strongly about that young man and his partner we met down in Albuquerque, and their new company a few years back. That investment is going to rank as one of our most lucrative, mark my words. I still believe that further developments in the areas of computer program writing, personal computers, and other emerging technologies are going to become a huge sector of the market.”
“I feel the same way. It’s just a matter of time. And so is discovering whether or not the Sanderses have the right stuff.”
Jack scanned his desk. Seeing the magazine he wanted half buried under a stack of documents, he pulled it out and opened it. “I better get back to what I was doing. Some of these technical journals are a challenge to understand.”
“True. But nothing compares to knowing how others in the same field regard one of their own.”
“Exactly.”
Craig also returned to his task. As Jack had so succinctly pointed out, the real test, where the Sanderses were concerned, was whether or not they had the kind of knowledge and talent necessary to write game programs for home computer systems.
He and Jackson both believed that there was a massive fortune just waiting to be made in that field—waiting for the computers to handle the programs and the people to play those games.
His thoughts went back to that meeting in Albuquerque. If there’d been anything like what that Gates fellow described as the future of home computers in existence when he and Jack had been growing up, they likely never would have left their bedrooms.
It was companionable, the two of them here, together, yet researching separate aspects of a project. He was glad they’d taken this step and moved to Dallas. It had been a no-brainer for them to set up their “world headquarters”—and wasn’t that a hoot?—on the top floor of a building they already owned.
A great deal of property belonged to the Lusty Town Trust, but this building, all many thousands of square feet of it in the heart of the business district, was all theirs, a bequest from their grandfathers, Thomas Kendall and Andrew Jessop.
The place is worth considerably more now than it was when the men had purchased the parcel. Craig allowed himself an inner chuckle. Making money in one way or another seemed to be a family trait, and it didn’t matter if the family’s name was Jessop, Kendall, or Benedict.
“Damned if I’m not getting hungry,” Jack said.
“Me too. What time is it?” Craig had left his watch behind at the apartment this morning.
Jack checked his. “Huh. Time’s gotten away from us. We missed lunch. In fact it’s nearly one.”
The thought occurred to them at the same instant. Miss Cooper, their lone job applicant for the day, was due to arrive at any moment.
“Hell’s bells!” Jack sprang to his feet. He looked at their surroundings, and Craig recalled he’d suggested they do a little bit of tidying.
Before he could make any suggestions, a soft chime announced that someone had opened the outer office door.
Chapter 2
As she stepped through the revolving glass door of the office tower, Anna felt she’d prepared well for the upcoming meeting. After she’d sent her query letter Monday morning, Mr. Craig Jessop had called her—on Wednesday, just as she’d hoped. It was now Thursday, and the time for her job interview was at hand. Of course, right after he’d called her, she’d done her research.
There was little that Anna Cooper enjoyed more than spending time at the library, reading and doing research. It didn’t really matter what she was reading—mystery novels, adventure stories, romance, or non-fiction—or what she researched. She felt truly in her realm amid the book stacks.
In the short bit of time she’d had to do so, she’d researched what she could about C & J Jessop, Inc.
She’d learned the company had been founded by brothers Craig and Jackson Jessop, while they’d still been in college. That was impressive. She’d also learned that they were related—though the articles she’d read hadn’t been as specific as she would have liked on how they were related—to two of the wealthiest families in Central Texas—the Benedicts and the Jessop-Kendalls.
The brothers Jessop, she’d discovered, were venture capitalists. She wasn’t a hundred percent certain how that worked, either, but they must be very good at it, because they had their office on the top floor of this very prestigious high-rise.
As instructed, she approached the security desk beside the bank of elevators. She gave her name to the uniformed guard on duty, who then checked a list. “You’re expected, Miss Cooper.” He got up and led her to an elevator separate from the rest and inserted a key in the panel. The top floor has its own elevator.
“This elevator only goes to the top floor, Miss. The office you want is to the left as you exit the car. When you wish to leave, simply press the ‘down’ button up there, and the car will return for you.”
Anna read his name tag. “Thank you, Frank.”
“Have a good day, Miss.” He touched the bill of his cap. And then the doors closed and she was alone.
As the car ascended, the sudden attack of nerves surprised her. She wasn’t accustomed to being nervous. But then, she’d never tried to do anything so—well, so deliberate before.
Right after high school, she’d wanted to attend college, had planned to get a degree in archeology, with a minor in history. She could envision herself working in a museum, delving into the past. She could also see herself teaching, or trekking around the world, working on digs in exotic locales.
Clara Cooper, her mother, had had other ideas. Anna was to secure herself a husband, one with brilliant prospects. Then she could devote herself to being a credit to said husband, and working for charitable causes—which again would be of credit to her husband.
Anna knew her mother’s view of the world and a woman’s place in it was outdated. She wished she was the sort of young woman who could just rebel—burn her bra and become a hippie. She was twenty-one, and in the eyes of the law that made her an adult. America was, after all, a free country.
Unfortunately her family wasn’t a free country, it was a dictatorship—with her mother at the helm—and a life lived quietly, doing her best to just get along peaceably, had not conditioned her to thinking outside that particular box. This pursuing of a job on her own was the most independent thing she had ever done.
The sad truth was that while Anna Cooper may have come of age during the time of women’s lib, her mother hadn’t, and her mother’s strong personality simply overwhelmed her.
Maybe you’re just too much of a coward to act so boldly.
The elevator stopped, and the door opened. Anna inhaled deeply as she stepped out into the corridor. She looked to the left, and then walked toward the large wooden door with the name of the company, C & J Jessop Inc., in big brass letters.
No more time for dithering, girl. Put it all away and open the door. She turned the doorknob, remembering only at the last moment to paste a smile on her face.
Anna stepped into a lovely reception area, complete with a very posh-looking desk behind which the name of the company was once more proclaimed, this time in white letters on a clear glass background. A tastefully decorated seating area ensured that callers would wait in comfort.
And there was not a soul in sight.
A framed archway to her right led, presumably, to the inner offices. Anna stepped toward the reception desk.
It was clear of everything save a large blotter and a telephone. She squinted her eyes as she focused more precisely. A thin coat of dust suggested that no one had sat at this desk in quite some time.
Now what? She contemplated walking through to the offices within and had nearly made up her mind to do so when first one and then a second man burst into the reception area from that direction.
“Miss Cooper.”
By his voice, she knew he was Mr. Craig Jessop. She’d known he wasn’t an old man, but hadn’t given him any thought beyond the bare facts she’d learned about him, his brother, and their business.
In other words, she hadn’t thought about him being a man with a capital Mmm.
The word “bare” echoed in her mind as she tried to process the very bizarre fact that she was attracted to him. Black hair, dark eyes, and a whisper-thin mustache decorating his top lip, he could have sprung from the pages of a romance novel whose hero was described as tall, dark, and handsome.
Oh good heavens, it’s all my mother’s fault. All that harping on me snagging a rich up-and-coming businessman for a husband, or getting a job just so I could marry the boss.
It took every bit of nerve in her to push all those thoughts away. “Mr. Jessop.” She extended her hand.
He smiled and shook his head as he gently took her hand in his. Anna’s body temperature shot up about fifty degrees—or so it felt. I’m entirely too young to be having hot flashes.
“No, just Craig, please. May I call you Anna?”
She very nearly told him he could call her anything he damn well pleased. “Of course.” She realized he still had her hand. She tugged—rather more than tugged, truth be told—and he let her go, and then had the audacity to wink at her.
“This is my brother, Jackson—but he’s mostly called Jack.”
Anna extended her hand to the blond man, certain that she wouldn’t have the same reaction to his touch as she had his brother’s, only to discover she was wrong.
“How do you do?”
“How do I do what, Bella?” His light blue eyes seemed focused intently on her. She looked for signs of teasing, and found none.
She had no answer for him. Instead, she tilted her head to the side. “Bella?”
“Italian for beautiful. The nickname suits you.”
“You’re too kind, Jackson.” She didn’t know what else to say, so she looked at the reception desk, and then back at Craig, one eyebrow raised.
“Yes, I know. It’s a travesty, don’t you think?” Craig shrugged. “We moved into this office several months ago, fully intending to hire a receptionist. But then with one thing and another, we got busy and forgot.”
A Very Lusty New Year [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 2
