In Over Her Head (Corporate Chaos Series Book 1)

by Leighann Dobbs

  Tanner's narrowed eyes flicked from her to the papers and back again. He sat back in his chair. "I guess that makes sense. I don't know. These look kind of shitty, though. Don't you think? Then again, most of what passes for 'fashion' these days looks like crap. And I am not good with women's designs, anyway. But I need a lot more than these. This is just four designs."

  "I know, Tanner. I got what I could right now since you seemed so insistent that you have something right away." Marly tried not to sound irritated. She didn't want Tanner to get angry. "It's going to take me a lot longer to get the full line."

  "Okay, okay. I guess this is better than nothing. But I expect everything in the next week. Got it?" Tanner picked up the menu.

  "Got it," Marly said.

  How in the hell was she going to pull this off? She still had her presentation due at the management meeting in two days and her regular work to get done. The last thing she needed was to get fired or have anyone monitoring her work.

  They both ordered a light meal, and Marly suffered through small talk during dinner. She would rather have been anywhere else, but Tanner was an old family friend, and she didn't need him mentioning anything to her mother about her being rude.

  Finally, they were done with the meal and the waitress appeared at the table.

  "Dessert?" she asked as she scooped up their dinner plates.

  "None for me, thanks," Tanner replied, throwing his napkin on the table.

  "Me, either. Thank you." Marly really did want dessert. Making small talk with Tanner was stressful, and dessert always helped. But she had decided she would try and cut out sweets for a while. After losing the fifty pounds, she wanted to keep the momentum going and lose twenty more. Working with a bunch of stick figures made it somewhat easy to turn down dessert.

  The waitress left the bill on the table, and Tanner grabbed it, throwing some money down. He stood up. "I'll be in touch, Marly. Good job so far." And with that, he walked out of the restaurant.

  Relief flooded through Marly as she watched him leave. She couldn't believe she had gotten away with what she had done. Those designs were horrible, but Tanner himself had admitted he had no fashion sense. That had always come from Emily. Why Tanner kept up the fashion company after her death instead of selling was a mystery to Marly. Maybe the small restaurants he also owned didn't bring in enough money. Or maybe he was just greedy. Or maybe he needed to fill his time with Emily gone.

  At first, she had felt kind of bad deceiving him, but then smartened up. Tanner wasn't her friend. If he wanted to help her, he could have done it without asking her to risk her job and betray her company.

  Her chest constricted as she thought about Jasper. She had to admit that she kind of liked the guy. He'd put his confidence in her, which made stealing the designs even more repulsive. But at the same time, she owed him nothing and owed her family everything. If it was just the foreclosure, that would be one thing, but Marly had a more urgent reason to have to play ball with the likes of Tanner Durcotte.

  Besides, the warm, fuzzy feelings she had about Jasper were just fantasies. She knew she was just some girl in sales. She'd never be the next VP of sales at Draconia… or anything else to him. Which was good because if she was more than that, she might not be able to follow through with what Tanner wanted. And she knew she would have to do that sooner rather than later—Tanner would not be placated by the designs she'd given him tonight for very long.

  Veronica St. James was not in a good mood as she walked the crowded New York streets toward home. She hadn't had the best day at work, starting with Jasper snapping at her. To make matters worse, he had ignored her the rest of the day, handing off work to Sarah instead. He had even asked Sarah to come in early all week. The nerve!

  Veronica was the best thing that could happen to Jasper—he just didn't realize that yet. And she didn't just mean in the office, either. Veronica had had her sights on Jasper for years now, and she'd made major sacrifices to get the job as his assistant—the first step in her plan to become Mrs. Jasper Kenney. But now, it seemed that was all going to shit. And she had a feeling it had something to do with that new bitch, Marly West.

  She glanced into the window of Café Lazure as she passed, her heart skidding to a stop. She slowed down then stopped. She walked by again just to make sure she was seeing things correctly. She was.

  Marly West was having dinner with Tanner Durcotte, the CEO of Theorim Fashion House. What the hell? As she continued to walk by, her mind raced.

  How the hell would Marly even know Tanner? And why would they be having dinner?

  There was no way they could be a couple. Marly was too frumpy, and everyone in the industry knew that after Tanner's wife had passed away, he had focused one hundred percent on the company, and never dated or even went out with women. Veronica was blown away.

  She ducked behind a pillar so she could spy on them unnoticed. She couldn't tell exactly what they were saying, but just the fact that they were together had alarm bells sounding in her head.

  Suddenly, the day was improving. Taking her cell phone out, she snapped off a few photos. This was an interesting development. Veronica saw it as proof that her instincts about Marly were right. Marly was up to something, and she'd have to watch her very closely. Sooner or later, she would screw up, and Veronica would be there to catch her.

  6

  Jasper stepped off the elevator and headed toward his office. It was six a.m. Veronica wouldn't be in for another hour, and he was starving. He didn't have much food at his place. He emailed Sarah and asked if she could stock his house with some food later. He trusted Sarah more than Veronica when it came to those types of things. Veronica felt it was beneath her to do that, and besides, Sarah was an awesome cook.

  "Well, looks like you take after your old man, huh?" Edward Kenney walked into Jasper's office, referring to the time. Jasper's father had always started work at six a.m. No exceptions. Jasper had thought he was nuts when he was growing up, yet as soon as he started working, he found himself doing the same thing. He liked to get a jump on the day.

  "Unfortunately. Good to see you, Dad." Jasper clasped his father's hand for a formal handshake. There was not much hugging between the two. Why was Edward here? He usually only showed up when there was a problem and for the annual stockholder meetings.

  "It makes me proud to see you take after me, son. I never question if the company is in good hands with you at the helm." Edward's uncustomary praise set Jasper on edge.

  Edward walked over to the windows, taking in the magnificent views. "I always did love this view."

  "Yes. You did a great job picking out the office space, that's for sure," Jasper said. When he was a little boy, he had loved visiting his father at the office, even though Edward was usually too busy to spend any time with him.

  Jasper would look out the window, and Edward's then-secretary, Mary, would point out things to him and then take him to her desk, where she always had candy for him. When Mary died several years ago, it was one of the few times Jasper and his father had hugged.

  Mary had worked for Edward for forty years and had been like a second mother to Jasper. Especially during the times when Jasper's own mother was ill and confined to bed—which had been many times off and on during Jasper's childhood.

  Both Jasper and Edward had been crushed when Mary had passed away. Odd for Edward since he tended to treat all the employees like pieces of furniture, but not Mary. Jasper couldn't picture ever having the same relationship with Veronica that Edward had had with Mary.

  "So how are things, anyway? I've heard there's a new gal around here," Edward asked as he sat down on the plush leather couch across from the fireplace. So that was the real reason for Edward's visit.

  "Things are good. A new gal? Well, there is a woman, Marly West, who has brought some new insight into things, and I have her working on a project for me, if that's who you mean."

  Jasper knew it was. Bill or Steve, or both, must have called his father to
tell him what was going on. Both of them had been hired by Edward years ago, and Jasper had kept them on more out of loyalty than anything. He hadn't been thrilled with them the past few years, but he was always able to count on the managers under them to excel in their departments, so he had left it as is.

  Edward nodded. "Well, I'm sure you have it under control. I just wouldn't want you to be thinking with other parts of your body when making these types of decisions."

  Jasper bit his tongue. Did his father think he was that irresponsible? He knew better than to say anything. He wasn't going to argue about it.

  "I have everything under control. Don't let the panic calls worry you." Jasper would certainly remember that someone had made a call to his father. He hoped he could figure out who. He expected loyalty, regardless of whether or not the person was hired by his father. Jasper ran the company now, not Edward. But as soon as Jasper had that thought, he knew that he wouldn't do much of anything. For some reason, going against his father still terrified him, and it was easier to let things go on as they were.

  "I know you do, son," Edward said as he stood up, smiling. "You know this company will always be my baby. Let's go grab some breakfast."

  Jasper really didn't want to spend the time to eat breakfast with Edward, but he knew better than to refuse his father. Besides, he was starving. He just hoped that he could keep the conversation steered toward mundane company matters and away from Marly West.

  Veronica tapped a perfectly manicured nail on the smooth steel railing inside the elevator as she waited for it to make its way to her floor.

  "Hurry up, for crying out loud." She glanced at her watch. Six fifteen. She'd never been in this early before, but today she had important work to do.

  The doors whooshed opened, and she almost jumped out of her designer heels when she saw Jasper and Edward Kenney standing there.

  "Hello, Veronica. You're looking as beautiful as ever," Edward said, eyeballing her up and down. Veronica wished Jasper had the same dirty thoughts in his head about her as she was sure his father did.

  She sidestepped out of the elevator as they entered, purposely brushing her small breasts against Jasper's arm. She looked up at him, only to see a sour expression on his face.

  Jasper's brows ticked up. "In early, Veronica?"

  "Yes, I have some work I wanted to catch up on," she lied. Let him think she was putting in extra time for the company. It would make her seem that much more valuable.

  "Oh. Good." Jasper seemed surprised. "I'll be down in the café with my father if anyone needs me."

  The elevator closed, and Veronica rushed over to her desk. She logged onto her computer and then onto Marly's PC. No one knew she had full access to everyone's computer, as well as all the servers, aside from Jasper.

  It had been given to her years ago in case of an emergency, which had happened when Jasper was traveling and couldn't get in remotely. She never used it aside from when Jasper asked her to, which was always for accessing reports. She probably shouldn't be using it now, but she was sure the results would justify her actions.

  She scrolled through Marly's files, not seeing anything out of place. Then she noticed something titled 2014.

  Why would Marly have anything from 2014? She hadn't even worked there then. Veronica opened the file. It was rejected designs for the company's 2014 fall line. What the hell? Probably something she needed for the stupid report Jasper had asked her to do.

  But wait. She'd seen paperwork on the table in between Marly and Tanner last night. Had Marly shared designs with him? What would be the point of sharing the crappy, rejected designs from years ago? She didn't know, but this was something she would definitely file away for future use. She took screenshots of the files and tucked them away inside a folder, keeping them ready until she knew exactly how to use them to her advantage.

  7

  Marly was waiting for a group of people to exit the elevator in Draconia's lobby when the one next to her pinged opened. Inside, she saw Jasper Kenney with an older, distinguished-looking gentleman. She could tell by the chiseled looks of the older man that he must be Edward Kenney, Jasper's father.

  They were deep in conversation, and neither one of them noticed her. Good. That was what she wanted to be. Unnoticeable.

  She boarded the elevator and saw them head toward the cafeteria just before the doors closed. The cafeteria reminded her of food, and she made a mental note to ask Sarah to go to lunch, as she hadn't been able to the day before and had felt guilty about it. She proceeded to her desk and turned her computer on, ready to start work.

  Several hours passed, and she realized it was eleven thirty. She picked up her phone and dialed Sarah's extension.

  "Hey, stranger!" Sarah answered in her usual cheery voice.

  "Hi. I wanted to see if you wanted to do lunch today." Marly's stomach grumbled as if to punctuate the question.

  "Well, I would, but I brought some of my latest creations in. Why don't you come up here and sample them? I'm always looking for feedback. God knows I can't ask Veronica. She doesn't eat." Sarah giggled as she said the last sentence.

  Marly burst into laughter. "That sounds great. But are you sure I should come up there?" She didn't want Jasper to be angry if she started to become friendly with his assistant.

  "Of course. I'll come get you," Sarah replied and hung up before Marly could say anything.

  Marly headed toward the elevators, and in a few seconds, the doors opened, and Sarah gestured her inside, pressing E on the panel.

  The elevator glided up to the top floor then stopped.

  "I know Jasper needs security, but this whole card-access-only thing is a pain in my butt!" Sarah said as she slid her employee badge into a slot under the keypad and entered a code. 7842. Marly's heartbeat quickened, and a pang of guilt shot through her as she memorized the numbers. She wasn't sure if the key code would work with her card, but if it did, this could be her way to get the access she needed to satisfy Tanner and be done with him once and for all.

  The doors slid open, and they stepped off the elevator. Marly followed Sarah to her desk, which was not near Veronica's—phew!—and was in a large alcove with a great view. Sarah took several dishes out of her full-size refrigerator and popped one into the microwave.

  "I hope you like garlic," Sarah said, taking the dish out of the microwave and handing it Marly. It smelled amazing.

  "I love it!" Marly tried not to drool at the tangy smell of the garlic mixed with something more savory. She grabbed a fork and used the side to cut off a small piece, and her taste buds tingled with the smooth texture of pasta, coated in creamy garlic sauce and topped with savory rosemary chicken. It was delicious.

  "Sarah, this tastes amazing," Marly mumbled around the food stuffed in her mouth.

  "You really think so? I made it up last night. I'm big on spices and tend to throw a bit too much in at times," Sarah said. "Here, try some of the bread I made, and there's some cobbler, also." Sarah handed over more dishes.

  They ate in silence, Marly relaxing in the comfort of a new friend. She didn't have many of those. Her gut tightened as she remembered how her weight had always made her the odd one out. Never picked for dodgeball. Never invited to parties at school. But she was an adult now. Almost thirty years old. And she was no longer overweight. She let her insecurities slide and enjoyed having lunch with a friend.

  Marly was shoving another large forkful of food into her mouth when Jasper's head peeked around the corner. "I'm headed out for my one thirty meeting, Sarah. I won't be back today. What is that smell?" Jasper's eyes drifted to the dishes lying on the table.

  "Oh, I made a few dishes that I'm testing out for my class tonight. I brought in samples. You want some?" Sarah asked.

  "They smell great, but I don't have any time." Jasper's voice was laced with disappointment.

  Marly stopped eating, feeling self-conscious. She didn't want to be stuffing her face in front of Jasper.

  "Okay, but here—take
a piece of this rosemary garlic bread I made for the road." Sarah handed Jasper a large piece of bread, which he took with him as he walked away.

  "You two seem to have a good relationship. You're at ease with him," Marly said as she finished up her pasta.

  "Yeah. Mr. Kenney's a really nice guy. He can be pretty down to earth, also, believe it or not," Sarah replied.

  Nice guy? That was not what the word on the street was. But Marly was discovering that the word on the street might not be correct. And she remembered how Sarah had said that Jasper had helped her family. She was dying to know more about it. Did they have a relationship that went beyond employer and employee? Maybe Sarah was an old family friend. Hopefully not like Tanner was an old family friend of Marly's. The thought reminded her that after everyone found out what she had done for Tanner, Sarah would probably hate her. No sense in getting too personal with someone who wouldn't be in her life for very long. Too bad because she was starting to really like Sarah.

  They finished up their lunch, and Marly excused herself to go back downstairs and finish up prepping for her presentation the next day.

  In the back of her mind, the "project" for Tanner weighed heavily. As the clock ticked away, she grew more and more anxious. By 6:30 p.m., she was finished. She headed toward the elevators, ready to go home.

  As the elevator doors shut, she had an idea. She pressed the E button. When the elevator stopped, she put her key card into the slot and then entered "7842" into the keypad.

  The doors opened up onto Jasper's floor. Holy crap. It had worked. All the key cards must be the same. It was the code you needed to access this floor!

  Marly stepped off the elevator. Her mind was racing. Jasper had said he wouldn't be coming back after lunch, and Sarah was gone to class. Veronica never worked past five p.m.