Or stop trying to remedy.
“I’m happily single at the moment, but I do need a new book boyfriend. Do you have any suggestions for me?”
She grins and tosses her long dark hair over her shoulder. “Of course! Follow me.”
Rounding the corner of the counter, she leads me over to the romance and erotica section where she starts pulling books from shelves.
“I know you like erotic thrillers. This one’s a scorcher. A widow starts getting letters from a guy in prison who says he knows her, but they’ve never met. There’s a twist you won’t see coming. And here’s the latest release in that mafia series with all the hot Irishmen. Oh! Okay, I can’t remember if you’re into stalker romance, but this one’s amazing.”
I crinkle my nose. “I don’t know if I could ever find a stalker sexy.”
Eyes shining, Emery turns to me. Her laugh is low and mysterious. “Trust me, stalkers can be incredibly sexy.”
When she laughs again, I get the feeling there’s more to that comment than just a book recommendation. “Okay. If you say so. You haven’t steered me wrong yet.”
We spend a few more minutes chatting about books and getting up to date, then I happen to mention how I’ve been thinking of making a job change.
She stares at me for a beat, gears turning behind her eyes.
“You have an accounting degree, right?”
“Yes. Good memory.”
“Do you have any experience working for a CFO?”
I shrug. “I report directly to the CFO in my position now.”
For some strange reason, Emery is starting to look excited. “How about a big international firm? Ever worked for one of those?”
“The company I work for is on the Fortune Global 500. Why do you ask?”
“Because a customer of mine is looking for an assistant. He’s the CFO at a multinational corporation.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and I think you’d be perfect.” Her tone brightens. “You’re exactly the right combination of tough and experienced.”
“The way you say that makes me think tough might be the more important requirement.”
She hesitates, quirking her lips.
“Let me guess. This customer’s a piece of work, isn’t he?”
“He’s been through four assistants this year alone.”
“Yikes. Please tell me he’s not handsy.”
She looks shocked by the suggestion. “No! Oh God, no, nothing like that. He’s very professional. But he’s…”
I laugh at the way she’s trying to find a nice way to say something bad. “He’s a dick.”
“I was going to say temperamental. Well, no, I don’t want to make it sound like he goes around throwing tantrums. It’s actually the opposite. He’s controlled, but in a really intense way. Like it always seems as if he’s about to blow up, but he never does. He’s got this supercharged energy. Most people are extremely intimidated by him.”
A brief but vivid memory of the way Cole stared at me from across the bar flashes into my mind’s eye.
Talk about intense and intimidating. Mr. Dark and Stormy practically invented the words.
Smiling, I say, “Sometimes people who seem the most off-putting at first are actually the biggest softies once you get to know them.”
“If you’re interested, I can email you the job description to see if it might be a good fit for you. Their main office is located downtown.”
“Oh, you don’t have to go to the trouble. I can look it up on the company’s website if you tell me the name.”
“It’s not listed on the website. They’re using a recruiting firm to try to find a match this time.”
“Ah. Because they’ll have to replace the candidate at their expense if it doesn’t work out.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you have any idea what salary they’re offering?”
Emery names a figure so high, I think she’s joking. I laugh, but when she doesn’t crack a smile and only stares at me, I realize she’s not.
“Seriously?”
“Yes. The position comes with amazing benefits too. Health insurance, life insurance, 401(k) with matching contributions, lots of paid time off, all kinds of perks.”
“It sounds like the only drawback is the person I’d be working for.”
She waves a hand in the air, smiling like a model in an infomercial. “Who knows? Maybe you two will hit it off immediately.”
Her fake smile doesn’t fool me. “Uh-huh. Or maybe I’ll want to throw myself out a window after a week.”
After a beat, she says, “Yeah, that’s more likely. But—and this is a big but—if you can make it through a year there, you’ll be able to write your own ticket for a position in any other company.”
“Why do you say that?”
This time, her smile is genuine. “Because everyone in the industry knows his reputation.”
“Jesus. Who is this guy, Genghis Khan?”
Ignoring that, she says, “So what do you think? Should I email you the job details?”
“I don’t know, Emery. I don’t want to get myself into some kind of hostile working environment.”
“Oh, he’s not hostile!”
When I narrow my eyes at her, she relents. “Okay, he’s hostile. But it’s not personal. He’s that way with everyone.”
“This is sounding less and less appealing by the second.”
“That salary is pretty appealing, though, isn’t it?”
When I make a doubtful face, she keeps trying to convince me.
“I think the problem with the other people it didn’t work out with was that they weren’t prepared for his…forceful personality. But I’m telling you, so you can go into it with a different perspective.”
“It sounds like you know this guy pretty well.”
“I do.”
“Would you work for him?”
“Oh God, no, I’d kill him before lunch on the first day.”
“You’re doing a terrible job selling this position.”
She names the ridiculously high salary again, dangling it out there like a carrot.
“What company is this job with?”
“I can’t tell you.”
I lift my brows. “Why not?”
“They’re very private. Which reminds me, you’d have to sign a nondisclosure agreement before going in for an interview. And if you got the job, there’d be another NDA.”
“Are they the Mafia or something?”
She opens her mouth, then closes it. Then, very seriously, acting as if she’s telling a big fat lie, she says, “No.”
I burst out laughing. “Okay, now I’m intrigued.”
Looking excited, she grabs my arm. “Does that mean you’ll interview?”
“No, it means you can email me the job description. It probably won’t be a match for what I’m looking for, anyway, but we’ll start there.”
We head to the register. Emery rings up my purchases while I write my email address on the back of one of her business cards. I give it to her, we say goodbye, and I head home.
By the time I get there, Emery has already sent me an email with the position’s details.
I read it over, growing more surprised by the moment.
It’s exactly what I’m looking for. The duties, the responsibilities, the growth potential…they’re all a perfect fit for me.
Absolutely perfect.
And she wasn’t kidding about the benefits package. It’s so generous, it doesn’t seem real. Combined with the astronomical salary—double my current pay—it’s a temptation I can’t resist.
I email her back saying I’d like to interview for the position.
Thus sealing the fate that first curled its dark tendrils around me the night of Chelsea’s birthday.
Cole
It’s been four weeks since the night at the hotel with Shay. It feels like four lifetimes.
I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind. She lurks in my thoughts all the time, always ready to distract me with a memory of her smile, her laugh, her moans.
Her loud, lusty moans as I fucked her.
The bar where she walked up to my table is the place I’d visit several times a week after work to decompress. I’ve avoided it since.
I know what would happen if I saw her again.
I’d take one look at those gorgeous green eyes, and my fate would be sealed.
So, to protect us both, I drink at a different bar now. I sit alone, people-watching, pretending I’m not secretly hoping she’ll walk through the door.