Chapter 1 #2
“This is the non-disclosure document. Think carefully before you sign it because not even a top-notch lawyer will get you out of the problems I will heap on you should you decide to sell any proprietary information. Why are you wearing that weird, gawking expression? The employment agency must’ve told you I expected you to sign this agreement before you commenced work for me. ”
“I have no problem signing a non-disclosure, but I would like to read the terms and scope of it first,” Suzie said, her voice professional and polite.
The starch exited him, and he gave a tiny nod of what might be approval. He handed over a document. Huh, more than the one page she’d expected. Her eyebrows winged upward, and she shot him a glance. His face remained expressionless. Wow, his was a resting grump face if ever she’d seen one.
She turned her attention back to the document and started reading.
At the end of page one, she sipped her coffee.
Yum, that was delicious. After another quick taste, she glanced at the bear.
Heck, she didn’t even know his name and didn’t want to ask because the employment agency would’ve told her. Wouldn’t they?
She kept reading, the clauses long and convoluted but reasonable, given the circumstances.
Whatever he was working on was top-secret and commercially vulnerable.
A product in development. Her brow creased before she consciously smoothed it.
A bad habit, and according to her grandmother, she’d develop early wrinkles.
Suzie read to the end and hesitated, her pen hovering over the signature spot.
Maybe it was best for her to confess she wasn’t the temp he was expecting except…
She battled with her conscience, her boredom, and her love of adventure.
And failed to do the right thing.
Yet again, her grandmother would say.
Suzie signed the document with a flourish and handed it to him. If the temp showed up, she could talk her way out of trouble. She surreptitiously crossed her fingers. Hopefully.
After another sip of her excellent coffee, she arched her brows, attention on him as she held her pen poised over the pad. While dictation wasn’t her favorite thing, she was no slouch and confident in her ability.
He started slowly as if doubting her skills, but once he saw she didn’t falter, he sped up. Leaning back in his chair, his eyes partially closed, he focused on spouting facts about honey production.
Suzie almost laughed at the cliche, and losing focus had her pen spluttering to a halt. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”
Honey? Hardly a groundbreaking secret. Honey was a subject she knew little about, apart from the fact it tasted delicious spread on her favorite granary bread, and her father was rather partial to a teaspoon in his hot toddy.
The man glowered at her, but instead of being intimidated, Suzie saw the growly bear more clearly.
He wasn’t handsome in the traditional sense—she’d describe him as rugged—but his hazel eyes drew the gaze.
They were stunning, surrounded by the long, dark lashes women strove to possess. And again, that sexy accent…
He gave his head a faint shake and plunged back into the dictation, moving on to the marketing aspect.
Suzie’s pen raced across the page while she listened to his rough Scottish accent and assimilated the information.
She found it fascinating. Honey was to him what music was to her, a surprising revelation.
Finally, he stopped speaking and picked up his empty coffee mug. “More.”
She stared at him before accepting the mug, but he plowed into returning phone calls.
“No, Michael. That’s fine. Harris is working this morning. He’ll take care of the honey for me. Your time is better spent at the plant. Aye, I’ll let you know if I need you.” He hung up and punched in another number.
Suzie shook away the accent-induced trance and ceased her eavesdropping to focus on the coffee. After taking her temp boss’s mug over to him and receiving a grunt, she assumed he’d want her to type these notes in readable form.
Suzie sipped her vanilla coffee and quickly found the relevant programs to do her thing. While the notes were comprehensive, they raised questions. She swiftly glanced at her growly boss, who appeared immersed in a sheaf of papers.
She shrugged inwardly and wrote her comments and questions in red italics beneath each point that made her curious. Some bosses liked their secretaries or personal assistants to use their initiative. She wasn’t sure which camp he fell into, but she’d learn soon enough.
Suzie completed transcribing her dictation and read through what she’d written. It was correct, and she felt her comments were relevant. She sent the document to a printer and stood to retrieve it. After another quick check, she took them to her temp boss.
“What is so great about this honey?” she asked, hoping she received more than snarls in reply.
“What?” he asked absentmindedly. His hair stood in tufts, although she hadn’t noticed him dragging his hand through his curls.
“Why is this honey important to you? Is it a bear thing?”
Niall jerked his attention from his research and formulas to gawk at her. Had he heard right?
“Are you obsessed with this honey because you are a bear?” she asked.
Genuine curiosity sat on her features. She didn’t mean to sound rude, or perhaps she did. Her green eyes certainly twinkled with mischief.
“Have you transcribed my notes?” he snapped.
“Yes.”
And to his surprise, she handed over the printed version. He scanned them rapidly and did a double take. She dared to pencil in comments. His brows squeezed together, his eyes widening at her concise wording and questions. Very interesting.
He lifted his head and honestly looked at her for the first time today.
She had long black hair and green eyes that reminded him of the jade he’d seen during a visit to China three years ago.
Her skin was fair but held the faint kiss of the sun, which led his thoughts in an entirely unprecedented direction.
He wrenched his gaze away, his heart thumping against his rib cage.
Despite that, her oval face remained in his mind’s eye, her small straight nose and full lips devoid of lip color.
She wasn’t tall because he towered over her, but he dwarfed most humans.
This one wasn’t human, though. His nostrils flared, his senses catching more now that he fully engaged them.
Feline.
“Please, can you tell me what is so special about your honey?” That was interest in those fascinating green eyes and an Antipodean accent. His last secretary hadn’t cared and had never asked questions, apart from requesting a raise for sub-par work.
“My honey has the usual health benefits. It is rich in nutrients and antioxidants. It has antibacterial properties that can soothe burns and sore throats. But it also has an added component, an unexpected benefit.” Pride rose in him because this was a freakin’ miracle.
“My honey increases performance in speed and strength.” He paused for her reaction, and she didn’t disappoint him.
“How? Do you mean if I ate your honey, I could raise heavy weights above my head?”
A startled laugh escaped him. “Do you normally lift heavy weights?”
She wrinkled her nose. “That will never happen.”
He stared for a beat longer and experienced the strange urge to laugh.
Quite unlike him. What magic did the woman use?
He was driven. Exacting. He expected his employees to work hard and rewarded them well for their labor.
He relied on instinct, along with research and careful plans.
His goal: to become successful enough that his family would finally pay attention to him instead of ignoring him as the runt of the litter.
It shouldn’t, but their lack of support hurt, and he was determined that one day, they would see him as a successful businessman.
Her dark brows knit together in a fierce frown. “How are heavy weights related to your honey?”
He saw no harm in telling her since she’d signed a non-disclosure. “I’ve discovered if a training athlete eats my honey, they gain the benefits of increased speed, increased strength. My honey is a natural performance-enhancing drug. Taking the honey has no side effects or rule violations.”
“Wow! That has far-reaching implications. What if you tested your honey on a person with a physically demanding job? Would it make a difference?”
Hellfire! How had he missed that angle? “So far, I have worked with two athletes who are personal friends. Regular consumption of my honey has made me faster. I’ve cut several seconds off my best time on my daily runs.
My runner friend regularly wins races when he’d be lucky to place before.
The other friend specializes in decathlon, and his all-around improvement has thrilled his coaches.
I’ve also approached a gym to use my honey in their drinks and monitor user performance. ”
“That is all the testing you’ve done?”
“So far. I’ll do further testing before I market my product, but I need to find more trialists,” he muttered, more to himself than her.
“Perhaps I could find test subjects for you. How long until the honey works?”
“The effects are almost immediate. After eating a slice of toast and honey or adding a teaspoon to a cup of tea, my friends and I noticed increased energy. But I don’t want my honey to go to too many people because if competitors get wind of my creation, they’ll try to steal my formula.
The honey world is cut-throat, and some of my competitors lack scruples. ”
The woman laughed. What was her name, anyway? He hadn’t thought to ask. Something about her knocked him off-stride. No, perhaps it was best to focus on his goal. He did not need a woman interrupting his smooth forward progress.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked belatedly.
“I’m trying to imagine a group of guys in white suits with those special masks they use while collecting honey from the hives, and each of them engaged in fisticuffs.”
Niall’s mood went from perplexed to angry with one quick blink. “This is not a laughing matter. And there would be no fisticuffs involved. I suggest you search online for honey thefts and read the stories. That will stop your humorous flights of fancy.”
She gawked at him, her green eyes wide, and he could tell she didn’t believe him.
“I had a security man injured last year. He still can’t work because the thieves beat him so badly. All they wanted was honey to sell on the black market. They didn’t care who they hurt or what they needed to do to steal my product.”
She pressed her lush lips together, and everything inside him went still.
His bear loosed a lusty sigh that, thankfully, remained inside his mind and not out in the open for her to hear.
He cast his mind back and silently cursed.
Why hadn’t he asked her for her name instead of merely ordering her to start work?
“Is honey that valuable then?” she asked.
“It’s liquid gold and very profitable if you hit the market right. Consumers are searching for natural products these days. They want to feel good about themselves and purchase the best they can afford.”
“A status thing,” she scoffed.
“Don’t knock it. Honey is paying your wages.”
A strange expression bolted over her face, lightning-fast and way too speedy for him to decipher.
“Should I try to work out a list of potential trialists for your honey?” she asked.
“Yes, I have to make more calls before I go through my correspondence. I’ll have letters for you to type, replies, and such.”
She returned to her desk.
A tap sounded at the door, and Angus appeared. “Your temporary secretary has arrived,” he said, standing aside to gesture at the petite woman behind him.
Niall’s gaze snapped to the green-eyed woman sitting at the desk. “What the hell?”