She had bigger things to think about right now. Like, how she was going to tell Andrew that thousands of charitable organizations chosen by Harbor employees were going to get proverbial coal in their stockings instead of fat, feel-good donations. Even though Harbor Technologies built superior products and delivered the best service in the industry, the company owed its success to the wild publicity around the Christmas Bonus Fund, from which each employee could draw five hundred dollars during the holiday season every year to donate to a charity of their choice, Without it, they were just another tech company.
She slipped off her glasses, held them in one hand, and applied the palm of the other to her head, trying to mash her growing headache into submission. Not working. She tried closing her eyes and shifting a bit, tipping up her chin and leaning her head back against the wall before moving her hand to her neck, but the awkward position of her arm only made her back arch and tense even more.
A frustrated whimper escaped her. Maybe it would help if she imagined that these were someone else’s hands. Big. Long-fingered. Skimming over her skin, rolled-up cuffs baring his arms to the elbow as sexy brown eyes watched her squirm—
“What are you still doing here?”
She started as the very voice from her fantasy sounded in the hallway, and before she could think to stop it, his name pushed past her lips on a breathy sigh.
“Andrew.”
Chapter Two
Who are you, and what have you done with my CFO? For a moment, all that Andrew Stanton could do was stare.
It was as though this evening was playing a horrible joke on him. First, having to break things off with Amanda the night before the big Myerberg gala. Then, coming out of his office to find the normally nervous, buttoned-up Meredith with her hair coming out of its usual tight bun, glasses off, barefoot, and arching sensually against a wall in the corridor.
Although that particular surprise hadn’t been horrible. At all. The way she’d said his name…it made him want to slide a hand between the buttons of her conservative gray oxford shirt and push that ugly skirt up around her waist before laying her down on the rough carpet and—
Damn it. He coughed and shifted his laptop bag to cover the evidence of his arousal. “Everything okay?” he asked. Thank God his voice hadn’t cracked like a preadolescent boy’s.
She snapped herself upright, grinning at him almost maniacally. “Oh! Yes. Of course.” But when she jammed her feet into her shoes, he didn’t miss her slight wince.
“You’re hurt.” He frowned, his momentary attraction to her forgotten. He walked to her and offered his arm. “Let me help you into your office so you can sit down.”
Her cheeks went pink and she gave a nervous laugh. “N-no, I’m okay. I just—” She broke off with a sigh. “I dropped my computer on my foot. It’s only a little sore now.”
He finally noticed the laptop lying on the floor. “Oh, hey. That had to hurt.” He stooped to pick up the computer and tucked it under one arm before he turned back to her, trying not to shake his head at what had happened. It was no surprise that she’d managed to do some kind of harm to herself.
When he’d interviewed Meredith for the Chief Financial Officer position, he’d noticed right away that she was a nice-looking woman behind her shapeless clothes and too-tight hairstyle, but they hadn’t spent more than five minutes together before she’d accidentally ripped her résumé in half by mistaking it for a page from her notepad, knocked over her coffee cup, and then stumbled when she’d jumped out of her chair to stop the spill from spreading. She was a walking disaster. Hardly like any of the women he was used to dating.
Not that he had any thoughts about dating her, of course. Above all else, she was his employee and a financial wizard. Far too valuable to the company.
Still, he couldn’t help but look at her from time to time and wonder if she was much more coordinated in the bedroom than she was in the boardroom. And if he might have imagined her naked, panting, and sliding up and down his hard cock, well…he always pushed those thoughts away immediately.
He offered his arm again. “I insist.”
She blushed again, but this time she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. His heart raced as though she were draping her body flush against his. That was unexpected. Apart from the handshake they’d shared in her interview, they’d never touched. Certainly not like this, with the heat of her body so close to his that he could smell the faint flowery scent of her shampoo.
She felt good.
He shook it off. Probably it was just the effect of the stress of breaking up with his girlfriend the night before a big event. Not that he minded the loss of Amanda all that much, especially after she’d called his family just another one of his charity cases. Since when was it charity to spend time with one’s family at Christmas? That had been enough to make him end it over the phone right then.