“I have a job, thank you very much, and Jason is not going anywhere—I just got him here, after a lot of cajoling and harping,” Helen said, smiling. “But a trip to Washington for us sounds good.” She fielded a few more questions and comments, then departed. Jason continued to chair his meeting, going around the table getting reports from all of the operations branch directors, and it broke up about an hour later.
Jason walked up to Helen’s office a few minutes later and knocked on the doorframe of the open office door. “I have that report for you,” he said through the doorway, holding up his tablet computer.
“Come in, Jason,” Helen said, working on her laptop at her desk. “Close the door.” Jason did as she ordered, then walked over to her desk and initiated the file transfer from his tablet to her laptop.
“It’s kind of a long file,” he said. “You know Boomer—why say something in just two words when he can think of twenty?”
“That is fine,” she said. “What shall we do while we are waiting?”
“I’ve got a few ideas,” Jason said, smiling, and he leaned down and gave her a deep kiss, which she returned with equal enthusiasm. They kissed for several long, lingering moments. “I wish I could take your hair down right now,” he said in a deep, quiet voice. “I love watching your hair cascade down from being pinned up . . . especially if it comes down across my naked chest.” She responded by pulling him down and giving him another deep kiss. “Are you free tonight? I haven’t been with you in days.”
“Jason, we should not be doing this,” Helen whispered. “I am your boss, and I am over ten years older than you.”
“I don’t care how chronologically old you are,” Jason said. “You are the most exotic, most alluring woman I’ve ever been with. Sex radiates from you like a laser. And you may be older than me, but I can barely keep up with you in bed.”
“Stop it, you randy goat,” Helen said with a smile, but she gave him another deep, lingering kiss in gratitude. She grabbed his face and gave it a playful shake. “I have that speech for the Lander County Chamber of Commerce meeting tonight, remember, and the city manager, planning-commission chair, and police chief want to talk afterward. I think it is about extending utilities to build more subdivisions near the airport and revising the letter of agreement with airport security, the county, and company security. I want to make sure housing stays well outside the airport noise zone, and I do not want our security officers tied down by the sheriffs in federal and state security agreements. Charles Gordon from the governor’s office will be there too, and I want to talk with him about getting some seed money for an airport expansion.”
“Damn.”
“Why don’t you come with me? Everyone knows you as the guy who designed and built the Cybernetic Infantry Device that saved the city from Judah Andorsen and the Knights of the True Republic—I am sure they would like to meet you.”
“I’m not into politics,” Jason said. “I’m into you. I don’t think I could keep my hands off you.”
“Oh, I think you have more impulse control than that, Jason,” she said. “Besides, I am sure they would want to meet the future president and CEO of Sky Masters Aerospace.”
“We need to talk about that some more, Helen,” Jason said. He took a seat across from her. “I don’t think I’m CEO material. You had to persuade me to take over as chief of operations after Patrick McLanahan was killed—”
“And you are doing a great job,” Helen said. “Your team is the best in the business. You have only been in the position for a few months. It will become second nature before you know it. You need a little more business education, maybe an MBA to add to all the other degrees you have, but you are obviously a leader.”
“I feel more at home in a lab, not behind a desk.”
“Nobody says you have to stay behind a desk,” Helen said. “Leaders do their thing in all sorts of ways. You know how to assign, delegate, and organize—that leaves you the time and ability to spend more time with your engineers as well as do all the things that CEOs have to do.” She got up from her desk and stepped beside him, pressing her breasts against him as she knew he liked. “Come with me tonight. Afterward, if it’s not too late, I would love to have you over.”
“Thought you said we shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Oh, we should not,” Helen said with a smile. Jason stood up, and they shared another deep, passionate kiss. “I might lose my job if the board found out that I was sleeping with one of my vice presidents, even though I cofounded the company.” Another kiss. “You would definitely be fired, and you would probably be sued for your signing bonus.” Yet another kiss.
“Stop talking now, please, Miss President,” Jason said.