“Good,” Stone said. “After you finish the letters, I’d like you to organize some information for me.” He pointed to a stack of folders on the floor next to her desk and grimaced. “I know, it’s a mess. I’ve been meaning to get to them for the past couple of months and I haven’t found the time. I’d like you to design a spreadsheet. One file for each client. I don’t have any idea on the best way to sort the information, so I’ll leave that up to you.”
He looked around. “I guess that’s everything. Oh, there’s a small service room across the hall. Ula keeps the refrigerator stocked with snacks and soda. There’s coffee and mugs. Let her know if you want anything else.”
“Thanks, I will.”
He gave her another smile. “Then I’ll leave you to it.”
With that, he was gone.
Cathy stared after him until he’d closed the door between their two offices, then she leaned back in her chair and covered her face with her hands. Now what? She didn’t have the first idea about where to start. The letters would be easy. When she’d first bought her laptop, the computer store had offered a couple of hours of free instruction so she could learn how to use different software programs. But a spreadsheet? She remembered a little about what the instructor had showed her on those, but not enough to be proficient.
“Start with what you know,” she told herself. “Try or leave. There’s no middle ground.”
She straightened in her chair. “Right,” she said. “I’ll do my best. No one can ask for more.”
She moved the mouse until the arrow pointed toward “Programs,” then she clicked. She read the display and was pleased when she realized the word-processing program was the one she was familiar with.
It took her an hour to write the letters and print them out. Fifteen minutes of searching yielded manuals for the various programs along with the physical equipment. She read the section on printing out envelopes, then took care of that. After a quick break for coffee, during which she found that Ula had left her fresh fruit and nonfat yogurt, she returned to her office and tackled the pile of folders on the floor.
The task was less daunting than she’d first thought. After sorting them by type of client—individuals versus corporate—and reading through Stone’s notes, she designed a simple spreadsheet to track the requested information. She was hard at work on entering data on the third account when their common door opened and he walked into her office.
“You look busy,” he said.
“I’m trying.” She pointed to the neat pile of letters on the corner of her desk. “I didn’t know if you wanted me to bring those in to you or wait for you to ask for them. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Good idea.” The praise was absentminded as he leafed through the letters. “Nice work. Very clean style.”
His praise made her glow.
He walked around the desk and peered over her shoulder. “What did you decide about these accounts? Hmm.” He moved the mouse and clicked to expose more of the spreadsheet.
Cathy waited, her throat tight, her stomach doing its usual line dance under her ribs. This wasn’t all about Stone’s close proximity, although she could feel the warmth of his body as his shoulder pressed against her arm. It was also because she wanted him to be pleased with her work.
“I wouldn’t have thought of sorting them this way,” he said as he straightened. “I like your way better. It’s simple and to the point. I’ll have everything I need without flipping through pages. Well done.”
She couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks.” She fingered the pile of folders left. “I should have these finished by the end of the day.”
He waved aside her comment. “You can get to them in the morning. This afternoon you have a couple of notebooks to work through. Human resources insists that all new employees complete an orientation. There might even be a video. To be honest, I can’t remember. Then there’s the piles of paperwork for the government and our records, not to mention picking the health-insurance package you want.”
“Just like a real job,” she teased.
“Exactly.” He moved around to the single chair opposite hers and sat. “Speaking of real jobs, how did your former employer take the news of your resignation?”
“Eddie wasn’t happy, but he understood. He said if I ever changed my mind to let him know.”
“I hope you’re not considering going back.”
“Not really,” she said. Not in a million years, she told herself. Her morning’s work had shown her she was capable, at least with the easy stuff. She would grow into the rest of it.
Ula knocked on the adjoining doors. “I’ve brought lunch. Do you want to eat in the conference room?”
Cathy glanced down at her watch and gasped. She would have sworn she’d been working for two hours at most, but it was already nearly one o’clock. The time had flown. At the answering service, every hour had been an eternity, except for the time she’d spent talking to Stone.
“You don’t mind keeping me company, do you?” Stone asked as he ushered her into the conference room.
“Not at all,” Cathy said. Being with Stone was hardly a hardship. She barely had a moment to take in the gorgeous view and rich wood tables and chairs before Ula was serving her a delicious salad. She caught the other woman’s gaze. Ula gave her a quick wink as if to tell her that everything was fine, then left.
Stone poured them each a glass of iced tea from the pitcher Ula had brought. “I know this is none of my business, but I’m going to ask anyway.”
Cathy took one of the rolls, but ignored the dish of butter. “What?”
“You’re obviously bright and articulate. Why didn’t you go to college? Was it because of your mother?”
She nodded. “By the time I graduated from high school, she was very ill. I had to take care of her. She lingered for nearly two years. By then I was physically and emotionally exhausted, and there were medical bills to pay. I couldn’t imagine starting back to school, so I went to work instead. I used to dream about what I would do one day.”
She thought about the past. She’d been so alone and so very lonely. Her life had felt like a trap, and she couldn’t find a way out. “One day the dreams became more and more difficult to imagine. I finally just gave up, I guess.”
Stone leaned forward and covered her hand with his. “We have an employee-assistance program,” he said. “For employees who want to go to college while working. When you are more comfortable with your job and your responsibilities, I think you should look into that. You have a lot to offer, and it would be a shame to see it go to waste.”
His dark gaze was steady. Cathy didn’t know what she’d done to deserve his generosity, but she was grateful. Still, her throat was tight, and all she could manage was a strangled “Thank you.”
Apparently it was enough. Stone gave her hand a quick squeeze, then he released her. He proceeded to bring her up-to-date on the workings of the stock market that morning. Cathy nodded and pretended she even had a clue as to what he was talking about.
*
Cathy knocked once, then paused.
“Come in,” Stone called.
She stepped into his office with an armful of folders. He glanced at the clock and saw it was 3:10 in the afternoon. They generally had their catch-up meeting between three and three-thirty.
“You’ve been busy,” he said as she set the pile on the comer of his desk.
“I know.” She flashed him a cocky smile. “Here are the minutes from the meeting, as per your request.” She handed over the first folder. “Mary faxed them this morning. The fax is pretty readable, although the machine is making this really weird noise. I called for service. The guy will be here around four. Second, two personnel problems, both executives, so now they’re your problem.”
Two more folders moved from her pile to his. He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “Go on.”
“Oh, I plan to. I’m leaving all of this with you.” She picked
up the next folder. “Research I did on the Internet about that company you’re thinking of buying.” She hesitated. “Their website is very slick, but I don’t know if that means anything. And here’s the analysts’ report on the IPO.” The last folder moved from her pile to his.
He laughed. “Confess, Cathy. When you started a month ago, you didn’t know an IPO from a type of washing machine.”
She sank into the chair opposite his and grinned. “You’re right. I still remember that first lunch we shared. You went on and on about the stock market and for all I knew, you were actually speaking a foreign language. But I’ve been studying and reading. An IPO is an Initial Public Offering. It’s when a private company goes public for the first time and their stock appears on one of the stock exchanges.”
“Very good.”
Her increased knowledge wasn’t the only change, he thought, studying her. She wore a sleeveless cream-colored dress that barely came to her knees. The tailored garment skimmed over slender curves, hinting at a fullness below that often left him in a very uncomfortable state.
She started work promptly at eight-thirty in the morning, but she was up long before that. He often saw her leaving the house around six-thirty to go jogging on the grounds. Between her flattering hairstyle, her new shape and the way she used makeup to emphasize her best features, she’d come a long way in three and a half months. There weren’t any traces left of the unhappy, plump young woman who had lied to him over the phone.
She tilted her head. “You’re staring at me. Do I have something in my teeth?”
“Not at all. I was just admiring the changes. You’re jogging nearly every day, aren’t you?”
She nodded as a faint blush stained her cheeks. “I promised Pepper, the physical therapist, that I wouldn’t give up exercise. I’ve lost twenty-three pounds and I’m the size I’ve always dreamed of being.” She paused, then leaned forward as if to confide in him. “I’ve been thinking of joining a gym. There are a couple around here, and I want to start lifting weights. Nothing heavy.” She wrinkled her nose. “I want to tone up a little. Maybe get some definition in my arms.”
She was classy and confident, but still as funny and bright as ever. He was pleased to have been a small part of the changes she’d made. Her world had opened up. That’s what he’d wanted. To heal her. To make it right.
“You’re welcome to use my weight room,” he said. “The machines are fairly simple, and I would be happy to give you a demonstration if you have any questions.”
A light flared to life in her eyes. Stone didn’t know what it meant, and he wasn’t prepared to ask. Affection, maybe? He would like Cathy to care about him a little. After all, he cared about her. They worked well together. They were friends. Ula had been wrong in her claims that Cathy would fall for him. There was no evidence that had happened at all.
“Thanks,” Cathy said. “I’d love to work out in your gym. If it’s close, I won’t be able to come up with as many excuses to avoid the process. I’m still lazy at heart.”
“We all are. How about today before dinner. Say at six?”
“Wonderful.” Cathy rose to her feet and walked toward her office. “I’ll see you there.”
She closed the door behind her. Stone found himself unable to return his attention to work. Not only had Cathy started dressing differently, but also she now wore perfume. The soft, feminine fragrance lingered in the room and taunted him.
Just being close to her, even in a working situation such as this, left him hard with wanting. No, Cathy hadn’t fallen for him, but he was having a difficult time controlling his unexpected needs. Sometimes he wished things were different, that he was different so he could approach her. But he couldn’t. For one thing, it would be dangerous to her. For another, he had a goal and that didn’t include a passionate affair with his new assistant. Besides, Cathy would never want him that way. She saw him as a combination of older brother and benefactor.
He pushed away the desire flaring inside of him and ignored the hardness throbbing between his legs. Just as he ignored the real reason he couldn’t get involved with Cathy. That hadn’t changed. He couldn’t because of Evelyn.
*
“Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” Cathy muttered as she climbed the stairs to the third-floor exercise room. It was at the east part of the house, over the garage. She’d had to go into the kitchen and ask Ula where it was. The housekeeper’s expression had remained impassive as always when Cathy had told her what she wanted.
So here she was, climbing yet another flight of stairs on her way to work out with Stone. The bad news was she knew the pounding of her heart came solely from nerves. She’d been working out so much that a couple of flights of stairs didn’t affect her at all. Which was both good and bad news. After all this time, she hated that Stone still got to her.
Or maybe it was just to be expected, she thought. They spent part of each day together. They were co-workers, they shared lunch and usually dinner. They discussed world affairs, read the same books, occasionally watched television or a movie together.
“Just like being married without all the hassle,” she told herself cheerfully. They were also missing all the good points, too, she thought. No loving, or lovemaking. No commitment.
She’d reached a point of confidence where she felt that Stone liked her. They were friends. He thought she was smart. But she wanted more than that. She wanted to matter to him. Because he mattered to her. He had for a long time, and working together had only increased her feelings. But she was determined that he would never figure that out. It would all be too humiliating. What if he felt sorry for her? She shuddered. Better to keep things the way they were.
So she would never tell him that her feelings had changed. That she thought about him all the time and wished they could be more than friends. She never told him about her daydreams for their future or how the fantasies sustained her through long nights when she couldn’t sleep. She never mentioned how often she thought about that kiss they’d shared.
As she reached the third-floor landing, she heard rock music coming from down the hall. She followed the sound and ended up in a large mirrored room. Several pieces of weight-lifting equipment sat on the hardwood floor. There was a treadmill and stair climber. In the corner was a cross-country-ski machine. No wonder Stone was in such great shape.
He was already in the room, crouched down in front of a stereo system. He’d exchanged slacks and a shirt for shorts and a cropped T-shirt that exposed his flat, muscled belly. Cathy tugged on the hem of her T-shirt. It was oversize and fell nearly to the hem of her bicycle shorts. Over the past month, she’d been swimming on the weekends, so her legs were faintly tanned. She was the size she wanted to be, and with all the aerobics, she was in decent shape physically. But this was Stone, and she knew no matter what the circumstances, or how she was dressed, he had the power to leave her feeling breathless and inadequate.
He glanced up, caught her reflection in the mirror and grinned. “You made it.”
She laughed. “This room is so far away, it’s practically another country. I had to leave breadcrumbs to make sure I made it back.”
“I can show you the way,” he promised.
“Hah. Like I’d trust that.” Her voice was teasing.
He rose to his feet and crossed to her. “Come on, kid. Let me show you how the big boys work out.”
She glanced at all the gleaming equipment. “Don’t hurt me or let me hurt myself.”
“Never.”
Oddly enough, she trusted him. At least in that.
“We’ll start with light weights,” he said, approaching a machine that looked like a medieval torture device. “The trick is to work big muscles first, then smaller ones. Here’s what you want to do on this machine,” he said, and described the mechanism.
She slipped into the seat and took the position he told her. “I think the trick is not to get maimed.”
But it wasn’t as hard as it looked. The
y took turns, with him going first, showing her what the exercise looked like. Then he would adjust the weight and the seat for her. They worked slowly. Cathy felt her muscles awakening, then protesting the unfamiliar activity. Stone was a patient teacher, guiding her slowly. She knew she should be grateful…and she was…if only the man would stop touching her.
A hand to her arm, fingers on her knee, a pat to her shoulder. He was driving her crazy. How was she supposed to concentrate on what they were doing? And he was so darn close to naked! Again and again she caught herself staring at his long legs or his firm belly. More than once she admired him as he bent over. The man had the best butt she’d ever seen. It just wasn’t fair.
They took a break after about thirty minutes. Stone crossed to a small refrigerator in the corner of the room and pulled out two bottles of water. Cathy took one and gulped down half of it. Then she walked to the windows and stared out at the grounds.
She’d never seen the view from this side of the house. The ocean was behind them, but she could see trees and well-manicured grounds. In the distance was another large property.
He came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t know whether to groan or swoon.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Fine. I’m going to be sore tomorrow, though.”
“Try a hot bath tonight. It works wonders.”
Great. Now she could add thinking about him in a tub to her list of fantasies. If only she were his type, she might have a chance. But she wasn’t. Stone was the kind of man who would date women who—
She frowned. She had been in his house nearly four months, and to the best of her knowledge he didn’t go out with anyone. Evelyn had died over three years before. Was he still recovering? He must really have been in love with her.
“Did you live here with your late wife?” she asked.
Stone took a drink of water and nodded. “Evelyn is the one who found this house. She adored it. When we moved in, she did a lot of the decorating herself. She’d grown up pretty poor. They lived in a trailer park, but she spent a lot of time at my place. She said that gave her ideas and she’d been dreaming about the perfect house for years. So when we bought this one, she already had most of the rooms planned out.”
The Millionaire Bachelor Page 13
