by Lexy Timms
Damn, he looked so absurdly handsome. Plus, he was the type of man who probably had no idea the effect he had on women. Sure, girls started throwing themselves at him back in high school after his growth spurt, but Simon always seemed to be a mix of grudging and amused by the attention.
It was like he really had no idea what those blue eyes of his could do. One look alone had her body trembling. Burning with a need she thought she had buried so long ago. She had never burned with this kind of desire during her marriage to Gary.
And the desire wasn’t solely based on looks. What drew her to him was his mind. His intelligence. The way Simon looked at the world. The way he wanted to use his gift to make the world a better place.
There was something about the way he made her feel that she couldn’t shake. In the lobby earlier, he had told her that Heather had been the one to encourage his dreams. If only he knew that she was the Heather he had been referring to. Even as she was forced to keep up her lies it still touched her that, in some way, Simon attributed his success to her encouragement. His gratitude had warmed her heart, which surprised her.
“Hard work isn’t a bad thing,” she said finally. “But you said Dover doesn’t like people getting burned out from so much work.”
“That’s a policy for staff,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “That rule doesn’t apply to me.”
“Do any rules apply to you?”
His eyebrow went up. “I don’t like playing by typical corporate or media rules, if that’s what you’re asking, Heather. Work is important to me. Slowing down isn’t an option.”
“Not even for a social life?” She knew she was probably pushing it by prying. Especially since Simon guarded his privacy. But she was so curious. So curious about what her high school sweetheart had been up to all these years.
“What are you asking?” His gaze held hers.
Damn. There it was again. That hunger that darkened his eyes and made her burn with need.
Air squeezed out of her lungs. She could hardly breathe. Those ice-blue eyes hypnotized her. Made every sane thought in her head vanish. It was crazy how enthralled she was in his presence. Somehow, she was going to have to shake the remnants of this high school crush if she had any hope of keeping this job. “I guess I was wondering if you have any friends.” That was a cop-out, but she couldn’t exactly ask her new boss if he had a girlfriend. “Outside of work.”
Simon laughed. “Friends? Who has the time?”
“Pushing the mad, reclusive genius angle hard, huh?” she asked playfully, trying to compose herself.
“Someone has to,” he replied. “But in all seriousness, I work this hard because for years I never thought I’d be here. Before Heather, nobody thought I could do anything. Let alone run a company like this. My parents weren’t very encouraging of me when I was growing up.”
Her heart ached for him as memories came flooding back. His parents could be downright cruel. There were times when Heather had witnessed it. Simon’s father had thought his intelligence was a waste, while his mother always told him that sports would lead nowhere. In their minds he was destined to work in a factory like his father, and nothing else. As it turned out, they were both wrong. With his talents, he had gotten a scholarship. Changed the course of his life, instead of ending up resigned and bitter like his parents.
“What do they think of you now?” she asked softly. “They have to be proud of everything you’ve accomplished.”
Simon’s face turned to stone. His entire body went rigid and he leaned away from her. “No.” His voice was as cold as marble.
From his tone and change in demeanor, Heather knew that the topic of his parents was no longer up for discussion. Whatever had gone on in their years apart, it looked like Simon still didn’t have a good relationship with his parents.
“Well, how about we discuss your upcoming speech?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation away from his personal life.
“Good idea,” he said. “I plan on doing a rehearsal at the venue the day before. That way we can check the acoustics, do a sound check, and make sure everything is running smoothly.”
“You’ll also have to choose something to wear,” she said.
He frowned. “You say that like you don’t trust me to wear something appropriate.”
“That’s not it,” she said. “It’s just...you may need a more cohesive look.”
“Cohesive?”
What he was wearing wasn’t actually a problem. He had on a sweater vest and a jacket that were both designer-made. Simon was also wearing jeans that were designer-made. No matter how hard he tried to act like he didn’t care about certain things, she had a good enough eye to know that his clothes cost a fortune. “What you’re wearing makes you look like too much of a mystery,” she explained. “The jeans are casual, but the jacket is so formal. You’ve just fired your PA, hired a new one, and the press is dying to prove that you, or your company, can’t handle it.”
There was something both effortlessly masculine and sharply intellectual about him. It was like the jock and the nerd inside him were at war with each other. Try as she might to fight it, it intrigued her. Fueled her attraction to him. But the press was going to be there. Being a mystery might make it tougher for him to get his message across.
“So?”
“Don’t you want to open yourself up?” she asked. “Get the public to get to know you?”
“No.” His frown deepened. “I don’t care what people think of me.”
“You’re selling the public a product,” she pointed out. “Their opinions are going to drive whether Dover’s new generation of products can succeed. I hate to show my own personal life, but sometimes, with business, you have to let a little show. Give them a little taste to prove the product.”
“You’re right, I am selling a product,” he said, his face unreadable. “Which means I’m selling efficiency, cutting-edge technology. Not myself.”
“You are selling yourself, though,” she insisted. “I’ve spent years learning from VLA’s marketing department, and I took my share of online marketing and PR courses on VLA’s dime. I might not have the fanciest degree, but I promise I’m not trying to steer you wrong.”
“VLA is run by flashy personalities who think slick salespeople are the way to go,” he muttered. “No offense to your former employees, but their CEO is a showman. He knows nothing about engineering or creating things that improve people’s lives.”
She tapped her fingers lightly on the lunch table. “So, you’d rather continue to be a mystery to people?”
“What’s wrong with a little mystery?” he asked. “The less people know about me, the better. Dover is about the products we sell. Not the personalities behind them.”
His stubbornness was already infuriating her. How could he hope to get the public interested in his speech if he didn’t care about how he was selling it? Unless...
“Maybe we could use the mystery as a fallback,” she suggested. “Mysterious billionaire CEO gives major speech at Dover conference. Kind of like, Simon Diesel finally breaks his silence, or something. It’s pretty well known that you avoid the limelight.”
“So, my conflicting wardrobe could be an asset.” He sounded serious, but the corners of his sensuous mouth quirked up slightly. There was that look of faint amusement. It was arrogance personified. As if Simon was in on a secret nobody else knew. As if he was the smartest man in the room and knew it.
“Was there often this much pushback when your former assistant made suggestions?” she asked. She might have been mousy and withdrawn in high school, but working in such a cutthroat corporate environment had steeled her spine. Simon had said he welcomed her ideas. She intended to hold him to that.
“You ask a lot of questions, Heather.”
“You’re my boss,” she said smoothly. “It’s my business to find out everything I can so that I can anticipate your every need.”
Simon surged to his feet and grabbed his tr
ay. “We’ll talk some more about the speech when your lunch break is over.” His eyes landed on her, the expression on his handsome face inscrutable. “Let’s see if you’re able to keep up with me.”
Chapter 4
One Week Later
Her first week at Dover, Inc. went even more smoothly than she could have ever hoped.
That should have put her mind at ease, but as she navigated her car to the front of her son’s school the annoyance she had tried to push aside all morning was starting to build.
At the sound of her son unbuckling his seatbelt in the backseat, she turned around and forced a smile. “Okay! Are you ready to have a good day, sweetie?”
Finnley didn’t return her smile. Instead, her six-year-old son stared forlornly out the back window.
Seeing her son in so much pain tore at her heart. Damn her ex-husband for disappointing their son again. Gary had sworn up and down that he would take Finn to school in the mornings, but he hadn’t shown up this morning and gave no explanation. She had bombarded him with texts and called him numerous times without a single reply from him. Her marriage ending was one thing. But that wasn’t an excuse to disappoint their son over and over like this.
Heather let out a soft breath. “Let me walk you up.”
She got out of the car, let Finnley out, and walked with him to class. When she gave him a goodbye hug he held on tighter than he usually did, but still didn’t say anything. His father’s absence today obviously hurt him deeply.
With Finnley safely in class, she got back behind the wheel of her car and headed to work. As much as she wanted to wring her ex-husband’s neck for letting their son down, she had to focus on work. This first week had gone by without much incident, and despite her mess of a personal life she needed her professional life to be a success. Even if that meant continuing this charade with her boss.
ONCE SHE ARRIVED AT her office, Heather immediately started checking work emails on her computer. Simon had sent her a copy of his upcoming speech, so she opened it up to start reading it. The phone beside her computer started ringing. It was Simon.
A tingle slid down her spine. Before she could even bother processing her body’s reaction to the prospect of talking to her boss, she answered the phone.
“Good morning,” she said, hoping he didn’t pick up on the breathlessness in her voice.
“Hey. I just sent you an email of the speech.” Simon’s deep baritone came through the other end of the call.
“I’m reading it right now,” she said.
“Excellent. Sorry I took so long to send it, but I was up all last night revising,” he said. “Listen, I’ve got an impromptu meeting with one of our engineers.”
“Oh, I didn’t know,” she murmured. “Let me come into your office and I can sit in on it. Take some notes—”
“No need,” he interrupted. “It’s nothing major. In the meantime, I’d like you to talk to our media relations officer, Linda. The original gal you were supposed to be working for. Feel free to ask her as many questions as you’d like. She can help get you up to speed on everything.”
“Will do.”
“Right,” he said, sounding distracted. “Also, go over the speech with her. Jot down her opinions on it and we’ll discuss it later today.”
“Okay. Will do.”
With that, he hung up.
For some reason, Heather found herself disappointed. Wishing he hadn’t been so professional. What had she expected? That her handsome, stupendously wealthy boss would declare that he had the hots for her?
She buried her head in her hands and groaned. If she wanted to prove herself within three months, she had to get past her attraction to Simon. Their relationship was not only long over, but she had to keep up the pretense that she didn’t know him. That she was a completely different person from the Heather he had partially credited his success to.
Her first week had gone well. There wasn’t anything she hadn’t been able to handle. Other than this silly crush on her boss.
Sighing, she started to dial Linda Schaffer’s office. The best way to shake off this crush of hers was to do what she always did in times of crisis: Lose herself in work. She wasn’t a workaholic like Simon was, but work was great for taking her mind off stress.
Damn. Her thoughts had drifted back to Simon again.
After a few rings Linda answered, and Heather informed her that she would be heading down to her office soon.
Heather stepped into Linda’s messy office fifteen minutes later.
Linda waved her in and gestured to the chair beside her desk. Her silver hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she had a no-nonsense look on her face. From their brief encounter on Monday, Heather had gotten the distinct impression that Linda was firm but fair.
Heather sank down into the chair and retrieved her new company phone from her handbag.
“Sorry about the mess,” Linda said. “I still haven’t hired an assistant to file things away, so the place is in chaos.”
“What about the other people you interviewed earlier in the week?” Heather asked. “I’m working with Simon now, but there were two other candidates.”
“You were the best candidate. The other two didn’t have experience at the executive level, so it looks like Simon stole you from me.” Linda smiled. “But never mind. I’m sure I’ll find a PA soon. You’ve got some questions for me?”
“Yes.” Heather bit her tongue, realizing that the first thing she wanted to ask was about Simon. What she knew about him came from childhood memories and scant media reports. Linda worked closely with him, and Heather’s curiosity about her boss only got worse with each passing day.
“Well, go ahead,” Linda prompted. “I’ve been at Dover since the beginning. I was here even before Simon invested in the place. About ten years.”
“Simon seems...pretty wrapped up in work,” Heather said.
“You could say that.” Linda chuckled. “Or you could say that he’s married to the job.”
“What kind of boss is he?” Heather asked.
“You’ve been here for several days now,” Linda pointed out. “What kind of boss do you think he is? Your impression of him is the most important thing, you know?”
“He’s demanding,” Heather said. “But not pushy. He just expects things to be a certain way. He’s obviously a perfectionist.”
“What CEO isn’t?” Linda smiled again. “He’s nothing you can’t handle. You look like you’re probably nice, but I sense that you’re tough in your own way.”
“I suppose I am. After the year I’ve had, I guess I’d have to be.” Heather grimaced. There was that bitterness in her voice again.
“Oh?” Linda arched an eyebrow. “What kind of year have you had?”
Cheeks warming with embarrassment, Heather replied, “It’s nothing. Forget I said anything-”
“Simon isn’t interested in our personal lives,” Linda warned. “Work is work. Everything else stays out of the office. You got it?”
Heather nodded. “Yes. Absolutely. I didn’t mean to bring up personal stuff.”
Linda leaned forward. “Simon might not be interested, but go ahead. Tell me about your year.”
Heather paused. As stern as she seemed, Linda’s eyes were full of concern. “I got laid off,” she said. “Then I got divorced.”
Linda winced. “That’s rough. I’ve had three divorces.”
Heather’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Sure. I’m on husband number four.” Linda grinned like she had just told the most hilarious joke. “It hurts now, but it’ll get easier with time. Besides, your ex was probably a bum. Am I right?”
Biting her lip, Heather shook her head. As angry as she still was with Gary about his absence this morning, she wasn’t going to badmouth her son’s father to a near stranger like this.
“Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on your ex,” Linda continued.
“Oh no. I’m not. Not with Simon around—” Heather real
ly did bite her tongue. The sudden rush of even more embarrassment made her wish the marble floor would open and swallow her whole. Talking to Linda felt like talking to a friend, and she had just blurted out something that was supposed to be secret.
Linda blinked. “Simon? You...have feelings for Simon?”
Heather waved her hands frantically. “No. That’s not it at all. I just meant that working for Simon keeps me busy. Distracted from the divorce—” She shook her head. “That’s embarrassing. I totally didn’t mean it to come out that way.”
“So that’s why you blush every time I say his name,” Linda murmured.
What? Had she really done that? Forget the floor swallowing her. She wanted the whole building to crash down on her. Save her from her humiliation. And Linda’s stern gaze. “No. You have it all wrong,” Heather rushed on. “I’m not the least bit interested in Simon—”
“First his former PA betrays him, and his new PA has a crush.” Linda tsked. “It could be worse, but he isn’t going to like this—”
“You’re not actually thinking of telling him anything, are you?” Pure panic made her quiver with terror. Surely Linda wouldn’t go blabbing to Simon.
“Oh, calm down,” Linda said. “You wouldn’t be the first young woman to have a crush on him. Just keep it yourself, okay?”
“I don’t have a crush on him,” Heather insisted, knowing deep down what a lie that was. “Really I don’t.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Linda said, ignoring her pleas. “Besides, he won’t give you a second glance. He’s too wrapped up in work to notice anyone.”
“Oh. So, he doesn’t have a girlfriend?”
Linda arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said you weren’t interested.”
“I’m not,” Heather said.
“He’s single,” Linda said. “It seems to be a perpetual habit with him. Most of his relationships don’t last long. Hell, he doesn’t even have friends.”
Heather chewed on her bottom lip. That sounded so lonely. Add all that to his strained relationship with his parents and Heather’s heart ached for him all over again. All that wealth and it seemed he had nobody to share it with. “That’s sad.”
