by Audra North
He yanked his hands from his pockets. “I want you to understand that this is all aboveboard. I’m happy to put something in writing about this having nothing to do with your position at the company. You wouldn’t have to pretend anything. I’ll introduce you as Harbor’s CFO, or as Ms. Klaus. Whichever way you’d prefer. Though with this year’s theme being ‘Magic at the North Pole,’ your last name, coupled with my ridiculous ‘Santa CEO’ nickname, might invite a few more jokes than you’re willing to hear all night.”
Back when he had founded Harbor Technologies ten years ago, Andrew had insisted from the start that his corporation give back to society. He’d been the one to start the trend of giving big gifts to organizations that did good works locally, and his employees got time off for community service days. He even allowed all new parents to take up to six months off from work. Paid.
But it was when he instituted the company’s Christmas Bonus Fund that the media dubbed him “the Santa CEO” and started featuring him in national news. Even Vogue had done a spread on him, touting his attractiveness inside and out. He’d hated every minute of the interviews, fawning reporters and fans, and especially the nickname, but all the attention had established him as one of the key leaders in the world of corporate philanthropy, so he’d accepted it as a necessary evil.
Meredith finally brought her wary gaze back to his, but nodded again. Was she agreeing that she would go with him? Or was she—oh, right.
He gave a little cough. “Right. What I’m trying to say is, would you be willing to attend with me? As my, uh, companion?”
Companion. That safe, bland word annoyed him, but it seemed to do the trick with her. “Of course I will. Anything to help Harbor.” She took a deep breath and put out her hand to shake on the deal.
He grasped her hand and gave it a firm shake, the curling warmth between their skin making him hold on a bit longer than necessary. When they let go, he had to resist the urge to flex the strange tingling sensation from his fingers. “Thanks. I owe you one. I’ll e-mail you over the details tonight. If you need a new”—he waved his hand in the general direction of her body—“dress or outfit or something, please send me the receipts and I’ll happily reimburse you.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she demurred.
“Great. Well, great.” Time to leave, before it really gets awkward. He gave her a brusque nod and turned to go, but apparently the night wasn’t finished throwing him curveballs. Her voice stopped him before he could walk out the door.
“Actually, um, there’s something else before you go. Speaking of the Christmas Bonus Fund…it’s in trouble.”
Chapter Three
Meredith forced herself to stand up and look Andrew in the eye. He had just turned back around with a look of shock on his face, and she was deathly afraid that he was going to fire her on the spot even as some insane part of her prayed that she’d still get to go to the gala with him. Not that the evening together meant anything. She knew better than to attach the dream of a future to anyone in life. That way lay only heartbreak.
And if she delivered the news about the fund and he did fire her, well—it still wouldn’t make for the worst Christmas she’d ever had.
“What kind of trouble, exactly?” Andrew looked distinctly upset. Jeez, dummy, of course he would be upset. Sure, she had only been here for two months and was taking over an absolute financial mess from the former CFO, but everyone knew how important the Christmas Bonus Fund was to Harbor. It was practically synonymous with Andrew’s good name. She shouldn’t have overlooked it.
Her nervousness had only grown since he’d appeared at her side in the hallway and so gallantly helped her. But it wouldn’t do to continue worrying in silence. He had to know. She gulped down the lump in her throat and forced the words out. “The Christmas Bonus Fund is short this year by over two hundred thousand dollars and there is less than one week left before we release the money to Harbor’s twelve hundred employees.”
There. That felt a bit better, to recite a few numbers. Her world stabilized slightly.
Andrew leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, his bag sliding off his shoulder and onto the floor. Not good. She braced herself for the words, “Get out and don’t come back.”
But they didn’t come. Instead, after a moment, he leaned down to pick up his bag and straightened on a frustrated sigh. “A week isn’t much time. Many of the charities that our employees donate to have already been promised the money. It does state in every employee’s contract that we take no responsibility for pledges they might have made, but it doesn’t change the fact that people are in need and this money will help them.” His voice was strained and he was frowning. “Where is it? Did we invest it in tulips?”
That he was referring to what was a fool’s investment in the seventeenth century wasn’t exactly heartening. She winced at that, feeling like an idiot.
“I looked through the summary statements and, from what I can see, the money went missing four months ago—two months before I started working at Harbor. But from a cursory look through our portfolio, there’s no trace of it in our other accounts.” Andrew’s face had softened a bit, but Meredith still felt like she deserved every censure. “I’m sorry. I feel terrible that I allowed something like this to happen. I should have realized—”
Andrew held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. “Please, you don’t have to apologize. I realize that the money went missing before you came on board and you’re just the unfortunate messenger.” He took a deep breath, and he managed to give her a small, reassuring smile. “I have some cash available that would at least help to make up some of the difference. I can get the rest by liquidating some investments, but it will take a couple of days longer than we actually have, which will delay the dispensation.”
“Delay the dispensation? But—”
He waved his hand in the air. “There’s no other choice. I’ll take care of it. I’ll make some calls tomorrow and we’ll make an announcement that the fund will be late by a couple of days.”
Was he seriously offering to use his personal money to fill in the gap in the Christmas Bonus Fund? The two-hundred-thousand-dollar gap? Meredith’s heart skipped a beat. Not only that, but he also hadn’t gotten angry or told her to leave Harbor. And a frivolous, completely insane part of her almost cheered that he hadn’t uninvited her to the gala.
But she couldn’t allow Andrew to just throw his own money at the problem. Not just because it wasn’t fair to him, but also because her work was the only thing she had, and she took it seriously. If he simply stepped in and saved the day every time she couldn’t deliver, what would become of her?
“That is—incredibly generous. And I really appreciate it. But there are other options I’d like to explore, like borrowing from a lending institution, or—”
“No loans,” he cut in. “The whole point of the Christmas Bonus Fund is that it comes just from Harbor. That we’ve made a conscious effort to pay back our success from our own bottom line and not to rely on someone else’s money.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Very well. But the fund statement just came in today. Seeing as I should have been more proactive and requested the information earlier, I feel a responsibility to make this up. I’d like some time to review our financials again to see if we can solve this internally and deliver the Christmas Bonus Fund on time.”
She held her breath. Please give me a chance. Please say yes!
He studied her for what felt like an eternity, those warm brandy eyes of his bright with an intelligence that she had come to appreciate and admire over the time she had been working with him. When he didn’t reply immediately, she tipped her head forward, glancing down at the stack of papers in front of her on the table.
“I’ve managed to stabilize our losses thus far, and some of the investments are already starting to come up. Of course, it will still take approximately six months for Harbor to regain solid financial footing, but I think we’ve finally reached
a turning point.”
Shut up now. Stop trying to fill the silence.
Small crinkles appeared at the corners of those dark eyes. “I knew you could do it. I hired you because you’re the best. But while delivering the money a little late is better than not delivering at all, I don’t know if I can take that chance. The Christmas Bonus Fund is a big part of the public image of Harbor Technologies, and it’s a very big part of my plans for the coming year. I’m working on a separate venture…” Andrew trailed off.
What plans? she wanted to ask. But she didn’t dare. It was one thing for her to inquire about finances that had to do with Harbor. She wasn’t going to ask him about a “separate venture” that he obviously hadn’t shared with her for a reason.
He ran a hand through his hair, then dropped his arm with a sigh. “I’ll offer you a deal. I’ll set the wheels in motion on my end, just in case. But meanwhile, you’ve got until the day before we have to disburse the fund to our employees—five days—to turn it around. If we don’t have all the money by then, we’ll announce the delay and I’ll take full responsibility for the remainder.”
“I’ll find out what happened and fix it, I promise.” She tried to continue, to thank him for giving her the chance to make things right, but he held up a hand to stop her.
“But only if you agree to my conditions.”
…
Andrew watched Meredith’s chin jerk up at that. Clearly, she didn’t like the idea of conditions. But he wasn’t going to back down. Tomorrow night, at the gala, he needed to be able to point to the success of the Christmas Bonus Fund as evidence for why other companies should support his new initiative. Besides, if Meredith could pull this off, he may well have found the perfect person to run it, too.
He raised his left hand and began ticking off on his fingers as he named his conditions. Thumb first. “I won’t accept any solution that involves lowering the amount that every employee gets, or excluding anyone from the bonus.” Index finger. “No loans,” he repeated. Middle finger. “If you make up the difference in these six days, I will add ten thousand dollars to your signing bonus.” He paused, studying her face for a reaction to the proposal that he had just laid out. She had been promised a signing bonus of thirty thousand dollars after completing her third month of employment and it was essentially a done deal, in his mind. He had meant it before, when he’d said that she was the best.
She let out a little yelp at that, and he had to suppress a smile. For some reason, he was starting to find her awkwardness endearing. Or maybe he always had. It certainly hadn’t bothered him before.
He pushed past the thought and touched his ring finger. “But if you do not manage to make up the difference, I’ll put that extra ten thousand dollars into the fund, instead.”
“I can’t allow—” she began, but he cut her off.
“My conditions, remember?” He said it with a wink and a smile, making her blush. It shouldn’t have thrilled him to see it, but he couldn’t stop an image from forming, of Meredith lying on his bed, naked, looking as pink and flushed all over her body as she did on just her cheeks right now.
He barely managed to suppress a groan. Focus, man. She was looking away from him again, probably beating herself up over this. She was the kind of person who’d be convinced that it was her personal responsibility to fix, even though the missing money wasn’t her fault.
Andrew didn’t like what that implied about the former CFO, both professionally and personally. Over the years they’d worked together, Bob had become more of a father figure to Andrew than a colleague. That Bob might have done something shady with the money wasn’t something he could think about right now. He’d deal with that later.
“Final condition. You’ll work alongside me, in my office, for the next six days. Any possibility you come up with, any number that can be tweaked even a little bit, I want you to share it right away. It’s not because I don’t think you can handle it. But this is just too big for me to take it less than one hundred percent seriously.”
Her throat worked in a delicate ripple. He’d never noticed before just how fine her skin was, pale and smooth and probably soft to the touch.
Get a grip. He stepped back toward her, offering his right hand. “What do you say? Do we have a deal?”
Those green eyes darkened, the pupils growing large in the irises. An irrepressible thrill shot through him, something primal that made him feel like a predator in the midst of hunting a particularly juicy prey.
Her gaze flickered from his outstretched hand to his face before her warm fingers slid into his grip.
“I accept.”
Chapter Four
What had she agreed to?
Meredith pulled the pillow over her head, muting the sounds of the city beyond her window. Even at five o’clock in the morning, things happened in New York.
It was something she had never quite been able to adjust to. Fostered in Memphis, all three homes where she had lived after her parents died had been single-family houses with a backyard, in neighborhoods with quiet streets.
However, New York offered something that she simply couldn’t get elsewhere: anonymity. Not the kind that allowed famous people to walk the streets in a pair of dark sunglasses and only be recognized by a handful of paparazzi. The kind that allowed people who were the exact opposite of famous—people who hadn’t been recognized by anyone in decades—to feel like they finally found a place where they fit in.
And until last night, she thought she’d been happy to live out her inconspicuous life the way she always had. But now…
Not only was she attending the Myerberg function with Andrew, who was arguably the most eligible bachelor in New York, but she had also agreed to basically live with him for the short-term future. Sure, it was sharing an office and not an apartment, but given that she spent significantly more time at work than at home, it was more like living together than if they were sharing a residence.
And so help her, she wanted to be beautiful for him. Even if it was just a one-sided fantasy, she didn’t want to be Klutzy Klaus tonight. She didn’t want to be Little Orphan Annie for the next six days as she worked alongside him. Until the clock struck midnight on their bargain, so to speak, she wanted to be Meredith, seductively graceful CFO by day, sex kitten extraordinaire by night.
Even thinking those words had her blushing, though. She groaned and yanked the pillow away from her face. “You’re off to a great start,” she said aloud, and the empty room seemed to laugh at her.
Maybe she should have claimed a prior engagement for tonight. After all, on such short notice, it wasn’t unrealistic that she would have already made other plans. But she wasn’t a liar. There were never any plans in her calendar on Friday nights. Or any other night, for that matter, unless work counted as a “plan.”
On a sigh, she turned and fumbled on the nightstand for her glasses. Her fingers landed a bit short, and instead of closing around the frame, her knuckles knocked against one of the lenses, sending the glasses sliding off the nightstand onto the floor with a clatter.
“So much for seductively graceful,” she grumbled, untangling her legs from the sheets and rolling out of bed to search for her glasses on the floor. But she’d barely taken two steps when her right foot landed on something hard. She immediately jumped back, but not before a loud crack reached her ears.
She’d stepped on her glasses. Of course. Please don’t let them be broken.
But when she picked them up and slid them on, she groaned in defeat.
Leave it to Klutzy Klaus to crack one of the lenses. Right in the middle, too, fracturing everything in her vision. There was no way she could wear them now.
For a moment, she simply slumped against the nightstand, dropping her head between her knees. Forget about being beautiful. If she could simply make it until Christmas without seriously injuring herself or Andrew, it would be an accomplishment in and of itself.
At least she had another pair of glasses in a drawer
in the bathroom. She’d bought them on a whim last year, adoring the way the style had made her look young and chic, but when she’d put them on again back home, standing in front of the mirror in her quiet, conservative bedroom, they’d looked too brash. Too bold. Not like her. She’d fallen back on using her old pair of glasses.
She sucked in a breath. Was it possible that some higher power had caused this? She started to shake her head, but stopped. Maybe it was possible that something beyond her comprehension had manipulated her fingers and made her break these glasses on purpose, just so that she would have to wear her more stylish pair…
Goodness. Even the thought sounded absurd.
“What’s next, a fairy godmother with a Saks card?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes at her own foolishness. There were a few evening gowns in her closet, but they were all sedate, innocuous things that helped her blend into the background. There simply wasn’t time to find something new. Even if fate had played a hand in this little incident, it wasn’t deft enough to finagle a new formal dress in the next few hours. The deficit in the Christmas Bonus Fund would demand all of her attention today. No time to duck out and go shopping.
She pffed. “Enough with this foolish daydreaming! Get your head out of the clouds and your butt on the elliptical,” she commanded herself, picking herself up off the floor to dress in her gym clothes before heading to the fifth-floor fitness center in her building for a quick workout.
…
By a quarter to seven, she was on the sidewalk in front of her building, shivering in the cold December air. The temperature had dropped during the night, and even with a heavy tweed skirt suit and stockings on, plus a down-filled coat, knit cap, and gloves all covering her from head to knees, the cold was still nearly unbearable.
