Kiss A Ginger Day: A steamy workplace romantic comedy

Chapter 10

Roger’s aftershave entered her office before he did. He leaned against her doorframe, picking lint off his jacket. It looked new. He always was a clothes horse.

“Something I can do for you?” She set her bag down and shrugged off her coat.

“Only getting in now?” He glanced at his watch. “I trust you rested up over the weekend.”

Jesus, it was only 9:10 a.m. “I picked up Patty. Her car wouldn’t start. And I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” Not. “I spent the weekend in bed.” Dammit, she flushed from head to toe. Probably because she’d spent most of the weekend between the sheets and not getting much rest.

One of his eyebrows lifted. “Good. Listen, I was thinking about our last conversation.”

Damn. She really hoped he’d forget all about showing up at her apartment Friday and finding Theodore. She was trying hard to.

He closed the door behind him, and great, he—and his cologne—stepped in closer to her. She’d have to breathe through her mouth or risk a huge sneezing attack.

“I have a project for you. A test run, so to speak,” he said.

Her heart skipped a beat. “A test?”

He plunked himself down in the chair next to her desk. She really might suffocate. “You want to be CFO, well, then I’d like an asset management plan.”

Oh. That was something she’d wanted to do for some time. “I’d love to.” Maybe Roger hadn’t completely ruled her out as a potential CFO. “It will take some time.”

He waved his hand. “Take all the time you need. But first,”—he leaned down, placed his elbows on his knees, stared up at her—“the O’Flannerys are dropping in this afternoon.”

“I heard.” She leaned back in her chair as if that might put some distance between her nose and his cloud of scent.

He straightened. “You did? Where?”

“Oh. I can’t remember. Probably overheard it in the kitchen?” She would not out Patty because, while Roger enjoyed gossip, he didn’t like anyone else who did. Which was so ironic if she thought about it.

“It’s terrible timing,” Roger continued. “And with you being out this weekend, we didn’t get to prepare for today. I trust you have those reports for me.”

She swallowed a second “sorry,” though guilt crept up on her. It made her a little angry she was even feeling guilty. He was the man who thought she moved too fast—on skis. “Uh, in a few minutes. What do the O’Flannerys want to see?”

“Not sure. They called it a drive-by.” Roger fidgeted, kept clearing his throat. “But I suppose you should prepare the usual financial reports, the PL, etc.”

“Of course. Any thoughts on the discrepancies I found? Did you see what I flagged last week?” Things weren’t adding up in marketing expenditures. A few expenses were connected to vendors she’d never heard of before. It wasn’t the first time—seeing inconsistencies and bringing them up to Roger. He always told her he had it handled.

And unless she brought a sleeping bag into the office, she didn’t have time to do a deep dive on her own. The books eventually went into the black again; though their profits were marginal at best.

Maybe that was why the O’Flannerys were stopping by? The Twins were legendary for having a golden touch when it came to making money.

He raised an eyebrow. “As I told you, things are always up and down in business. But”—he leaned closer—“I don’t need to tell you that discretion about financial matters is key.”

“Of course.” What was he getting at?

He stood up and slapped her desk once. “I have more projects for you, too. Ideas to implement. Even some of yours.”

There was an insult in there somewhere, but she batted it away in her mind. A sliver of hope rose instead. “Does this mean I’m still in the running for CFO?” She’d keep asking until he told her no.

He blew out a breath through his nose. “Ambitious as ever, I see.”

“My career is important to me. Edison is important,” she added quickly.

“Yes, yes, of course. In due time. If things go well.”

Her heart did a little happy dance. Oh, they would go well if she had anything to do with it. “Those reports won’t take me long. I’ll bring them to you.”

He left, leaving her door open (thank God). She blinked, her head swimming a little from the cloud of aftershave over her entire office.

She turned to her laptop, but Theodore’s laughter from somewhere in the office reached her ears. Probably charming the panties off yet another unsuspecting female as he had hers.

Had she always been that easy when it came to men? No, she had not.

Was she sorry she had a great weekend full of multiple orgasms? No, she was not.

Then why did a dark cloud settle in her chest? She was the one who’d put distance between them. Things had worked out the way she’d wanted, right?

And, honestly, she’d just heard she was in the running for her dream job. People did crazy things to try to work for an O’Flannery company, according to Executive Suite magazine, which did a huge piece on them and their successes last year.

Like the guy who reportedly sent different kinds of gourmet coffee from around the world to java addict Samuel O’Flannery every single week for over a year with notes like, “I’d harvest coffee beans for five minutes with you.”

Then there was the woman who snuck into their headquarters mailroom and worked for ten whole days before anyone thought to ask who she was. She thought her stealth initiative would impress Suzy. That one was successful, sort of. She was hired but to work in the mailroom. Not in marketing as she’d hoped.

But Alice worked at an O’Flannery firm already, and she was possibly a soon-to-be CFO.

Theodore’s deep, resonant laughter reached her ears again.

But, shit, he worked there, too.

Concentrate on yourself. There was plenty to occupy her mind, including what was just outside her office door.

She studied the people milling about the cattle pen. Edison employees long ago renamed the maze of cubicles, often called a bullpen, to that more appropriate name. It fit the dirty gray fabric half-walls and lack of privacy. “It’s where all creativity goes to wither and die,” Patty once lamented.

Alice couldn’t disagree.

Corrine, a junior sales assistant, and Tricia, who stood huddled over some paperwork, were shaking their heads. Probably another memo from Roger demanding to know what Corrine’s compensation contract stated in response to a request for a new cell phone or laptop for Corrine’s new duties. Alice could handle it with two phone calls, but Roger had to bless the purchases first. He made people justify every dime like it was his own.

Harrison and two of the marketing and sales guys were standing around holding Styrofoam cups. They didn’t look very happy. She needed to find out who was in danger of not meeting quota and calm his nerves. Make sure Harrison hadn’t moved on to liquor. They had been running low on coffee, and no one had thought to get more last week because she usually handled it. She’d buy more today … and maybe some no-name teabags that a certain someone hated.

Don’t think about him.

“For the love of God,” a male voice cried from the copier room across the hallway. She’d start there. She had hours before the O’Flannerys arrived, and it’d take all of twenty minutes to pull what Roger wanted.

Patty exaggerated the love affair between Alice and Big Whale, which she’d dubbed the large copy machine. But Alice seemed to be the only one who could ever scroll through its display memo to see why it’d stopped working.

Those were all things the office manager, Blanche, used to handle. But she’d left the company six months ago, and Roger hadn’t wanted to add to payroll yet. The man had severely underestimated how many things could go wrong in a day.

Alice did whatever it took to keep the place running. She wasn’t sorry to order office supplies and fix minor tech issues if it meant it’d count toward something better down the road. Maybe it was paying off after all.

She rounded the corner and ran smack into Theodore’s chest. His familiar scent surrounded her, and a sizzle ran through her veins. She could recognize her reaction to him now. Pure physical attraction. Chemistry. A biological reaction. None of which was like her. Not at all. Even if Theodore had turned out to be a sex god—so opposite of his goofy first-impression.

But then his hand grasped both of her biceps, and the frisson of electricity grew like she’d morphed into a lightning bug—on steroids.

“Good morning, Miss Crawford.” His eyes bore down on her.

“Mr. Gaston the Fourth.”

One side of his mouth inched up as his eyes sparkled with amusement. “Good weekend?” He also was still touching her.

“Unhand me,” she hissed. Jeez, he was rubbing off on her fast. She sounded like a British lord about to demand a duel. But another second of him touching her might have her ruin yet another pair of panties.

Who was that woman she’d let herself become?

He let go and stuffed his hands in his pocket, but his smirk didn’t drop one bit. “Cranky. Need me to send you some motivational messages?”

She gasped. “Don’t you dare.” Her eyes flicked around the room to make sure no one was listening or noticing. Of course, all the women were looking their way. “We’re on company property now, remember?”

“Property. Yes.” He nodded slowly. “I’m quite busy today, anyway, Miss Crawford. Lots of interviews.” He winked and strode past her.

Corrine sidled her way into his path. “Ready?” Her smile was threatening to split her face. She was sweet and very good at her job if her sales reports were any indication. Even with a laptop as old as the dawning of the internet. She’d be sure the woman got a new one by end of day, despite her fawning over Theodore.

Theodore gestured for Corrine to step into his temporary office, ostensibly for their interview. Alice wasn’t worried about Corrine’s obvious fascination with Theodore. Every woman in the place had that same besotted look on their face. Even the married ones—like Corrine.

It had to be his energy—positive, easy-going, and confident. Or maybe it was the way he listened to you like you were the only person in the entire world. That would make a nun drop her habit like it was on fire. It certainly had for her.

Theodore’s smile stayed camped on his face as Corrine entered his office.

“It’s National Shareholders Day. Let’s make them proud,” he told her right before he closed his office door.

See? Charm incarnate. Alice shook her head and headed to the copier room. Peter stood with his back to her, punching the copier’s display with so much gusto Alice’s heart hurt for the machine.

“Peter.” Crossing her arms, she leaned against the door frame. “Need help?”

He rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. “Oh, thank God. You’re back.”

It took less than five minutes to get Big Whale working. Less time to assure Tricia she’d handle Corrine’s laptop problem. Talking Harrison off the ledge, the one whose low sales this month were putting him in danger, took longer. But she gave him a Coffee Monkey gift card she had stashed in her desk drawer and told him to walk it off—after fueling up. That got a smile out of him.

She ran Roger’s reports, ordered Corrine’s laptop—hang Roger’s demand to approve it—checked the most recent online supply order and ran a dozen expense reports.

She rose from her desk only every fifteen minutes to glance at Theodore’s office door across the cattle pen’s labyrinth of short walls. Her restraint for not staring at his door all day deserved a medal. Even from there, she could hear the giddy buzz of female voices rising up every time one of his interviewees left and a new one entered his den-of-female-adoration.

As the day progressed, the fact that he seemed to only interview the office’s females irked her. That she was irked made her even more irked, until she was one big ball of super-irked tension. Why was she suddenly jealous? It was ridiculous. She was being ridiculous.

The rise of jealousy inside only added to her growing disappointment in herself. She had one sweaty, sexy weekend with the guy, a promise of further exploration in five months—on National BAE Day—and a deal they’d be professional.

Then it went all south when they almost got caught. So, she did what she had to do, right?

Well, now, she had a project to start that had some meat on its bones—finally. She opened the files on all the technology assets Edison owned or leased.

As she worked, she still couldn’t help herself as she continued to sneak peeks through the long glass window alongside Theodore’s closed door where he and now Jenny sat. Alice had to make sure his desk was still between them. Theodore was leaning back in his office chair, smiling and laughing. He was enjoying himself. Probably turning Jenny on to National Adopt an Armadillo Day.

Maybe Alice and Theodore could go to lunch together. Talk. That was what professional colleagues did all the time.

Stop it.

His door cracked open, and she plunked back down into her seat. She’d almost been caught spying. His low rumble reached her ears. Jenny made a delighted sound. Then laughter from more voices. Alice couldn’t help herself. She slowly rose, likely resembling a gopher emerging from its hole.

Theodore was surrounded. Tricia, Jenny, Corrine, and now Patty—who she really hoped was spying for Alice—circled him in the hallway. All female eyes were trained on his face.

Then, abruptly, Theodore’s hand went to Tricia’s back, and the two of them strode toward the elevator. Tricia turned, waved to the other women, and winked. There was a message in that wink. Ibagged me a Jamie, ladies.

Given it was 12:15 p.m., they were probably headed out for lunch. That was better than Alice’s idea, anyway. She and Theodore shouldn’t be seen together anymore.

The elevator doors whooshed open, and she had a quick moment of relief. The Twins, Suzy and Samuel O’Flannery, stood there. They were talking about something with each other, but they stopped as soon as they saw Theodore and Tricia.

Samuel was the first one out, a huge grin lighting up his face. “Theo. My man.”

“Hey, mate,” Theodore answered, his smile growing impossibly larger.

The two gave each other manly back slap hugs. As soon as they separated, Theodore’s blue eyes turned to Suzy. They sparkled with pure joy, and Theodore quickly shoved Samuel aside. The man laughed about being thrown off.

Theodore opened his arms. “Suzy, get over here.”

The woman moved in so quickly that Tricia had no choice but to take three steps back. Suzy threw her arms around him, then pulled back and gave him a big kiss. Right on the lips. It wasn’t a peck, either. One thing was clear. They knew each other well.

And once again, he’d kept vital information from her. He knew the owners of Edison—as in Kiss A Ginger Day well. The bastard. The man was rife with secrets.