I kept on Brad’s old assistant, Scott, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to bring my assistant Sarah up from San Francisco. Sarah kicks all kinds of ass and she’s quick enough to keep up with me. I’ll make do with Scott for now, but I can already tell he and I aren’t a good match. He seems fairly smart, but he doesn’t have that go-getter attitude I like to surround myself with.
Scott comes in and I glance at the clock on my laptop screen. It’s nearing five-thirty.
“I found the profit/loss spreadsheets you wanted and emailed them to you,” Scott says.
I nod. “Good, thanks.”
“If you don’t need anything else today, I think I’ll head out,” he says.
“You can tackle this in the morning, but I need to find a current market analysis,” I say. “Did Brad have something like that?”
“You should ask Selene Taylor,” he says. “That sounds like something she’d have.”
“All right, I’ll do that. See you in the morning.”
Scott nods and leaves, closing my door behind him.
Interesting. That’s not the first time today someone told me to talk to Selene Taylor in response to a question I had. A clearer picture of this company is starting to form. I’m realizing there are a few specific reasons Brad didn’t run this company into the ground, and Selene appears to be one of them.
I haven’t bothered her all day, so I decide to swing by her office and see if she’s still here. She might have gone home for the day—she was in early, so she’d be justified in doing so. As I round the corner, I realize that I really hope she hasn’t left. I’m starting to crave her, and my blood pumps harder as I walk. I feel the leading edge of a rush, like the first hit of adrenaline when I’m going up for a wingsuit dive.
Fuck, this woman is going to get me in trouble.
I get to her open door and catch a glimpse of her. She’s sitting at her desk, and some guy in a cheap polo and black Converse is talking to her.
“So when are you going to let me take you out?” the guy says. By his tone, he’s trying to make it sound like he’s kidding, but leaving it open in case she actually bites.
“Never, Justin,” she says, without looking up from her laptop.
“Come on, Selene,” he says. “What if I get Seahawks tickets?”
“My brother gets me tickets all the time,” she says. “I’m good.”
I step through her doorway. “I haven’t been to a Hawks game in years.”
They both look up at me, and Justin’s eyes widen.
A flash of emotion moves across Selene’s face, but it’s gone in half a second and she’s all business. “Ronan,” she says. “Do you need something?”
“I need a lot of things, but most of them would be better without an audience.”
She raises an eyebrow at me—she has that expression down—but I feel a hit of satisfaction at the slight flush of her cheeks. Justin’s mouth drops open.
I walk in and take a seat in a chair facing her desk. “Mind if I sit?”
“Apparently not.” She looks up at Justin. “Are you heading home for the night?”
“Yeah.” His eyes flick toward me, then back to her.
“Sounds good,” she says. “See you tomorrow.”
Her voice is friendly, but I can hear the boundary she sets, like it’s a fence this Justin guy is going to have to be content to look over. I can tell he hears it, too—and by my guess, he’s used to it.
Interesting that he still tries. I suppose I’m not the only one who finds Selene hard to resist.
The difference is, this guy doesn’t have a prayer.
“See you,” he says, then turns to me. “Um, goodbye, Mr. Maddox.”
I give him a pleasant smile and nod.
“What do you want, Ronan?” she asks.
I decide the only approach with her is the direct one. Targeted strike, going straight for the kill. “Dinner with you, tonight, and you in my bed afterward.”
She rolls her eyes and crosses her legs. “Honestly, Ronan, I don’t know what you think you’re doing.”
“I don’t think I’m doing anything,” I say.
“No? What was with that comment while Justin was here?”
“What comment?” I ask, feigning ignorance.
She lets out a sigh. “Look, I realize that you and I have a certain … past. But I’m determined not to let that influence our working relationship. Whatever happened between us was a long time ago. Now you own the company I work for. You’re my boss. I think we can both be adults about the situation and move past whatever history we have.”
“Of course we can,” I say. “Quite honestly, I’m looking forward to working closely with you.”
She raises her eyebrow again.
“I’m being serious,” I say. “I keep hearing your name come up from the rest of the management team. I have a feeling Brad was relying on you pretty heavily to keep things from completely crashing and burning around here.”
Her face softens a little, and I see a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.