Chapter 5
Pulling together the information on the two jobs for Rose should have been a simple and quick task. Unfortunately, my mind continued to wander back to the woman, her silky tresses, her spirited temper, those bottomless green pools of passion that were her eyes and let’s not forget, her ass. It had to be the finest ass I’d seen in years.
If I hadn’t needed these things done in real time, then it would have been tempting to not give her enough information, thereby making the task impossible. For my sanity alone, a huge part of me wanted her to fail, an out of sight, out of mind type of thing. It would be better if she failed, and miserably, so I could write her off and never think of her again.
Okay, there was little to no possibility of me never thinking about the red-headed vixen again. I just wouldn’t have to worry about work becoming awkward and pursue her privately, maybe talk her into doing a scene with me at the club. If she didn’t work for me, then it was game on. I could find out from Mari if Rose might be interested in visiting the club and doing a scene.
What was she into? I couldn’t imagine Marissa being close friends with someone completely vanilla. With my luck, my intuition was way off, and she would be a Domme like my friend and utterly uninterested in anything I could offer. Actually, it would be better if she was a Domme. Then I could hire her and get my wayward cock back under control with images of Rose trying to lock him up in a cage. The shiver that went down my spine was enough to kill the semi I’d been sporting for the last hour.
My computer beeped with the notification that someone had walked into our front office. It was 1:55 p.m., which would mean it was most likely Rose. With a quick click, I brought up the cameras for that area and unmuted the sound.
Rose looked as put together as she’d been this morning for her interview. I wondered what she had been doing for the last few hours. Had she gone home and freshened up before coming back? The idea of her standing naked in her bathroom, applying lotion to bare flesh sent a signal to my cock.
Down boy! This isn’t the time to make your interests known.
Great, now I was talking to my cock like a total rookie.
She walked with a confidence that made an observer think that not only did she belong here but that she’d been around long enough to be comfortable. Was she really a good actress, or was she actually that sure she was going to get the job? To my surprise, our usually stern receptionist, Yula, perked up and seemed happy to see Rose again.
“This is for you, an almond milk caramel macchiato.” Rose handed over the drink to our secretary with a smile. Her voice was rich and clear, coming through my computer’s speakers.
“Oh my goodness, how did you know this is my favorite?” Yula took the drink, surprise evident on her face. “How incredibly kind of you, Rose.”
How had she known?
“When I came in earlier, I noticed one on your desk. I read the label. When I stopped to get myself a Chai, I figured I’d grab one for you as well, and you’re very welcome, Yula.”
“Thank you. You are the best.” Yula was practically bubbling over with enthusiasm and gratitude.
I’d underestimated Rose, she was way more resourceful then I’d given her credit for. Being observant was one thing, but adding in tactics to get Yula on her side was pure brilliance. A grudging smile lifted my frown upside down.
“My pleasure. Should I go down to the meeting room? I can find it on my own this time so you don’t have to bother Lincoln.”
Yula took a sip of her coffee and let out a contented sigh. “Mr. Dakos wants to see you in his office. It’s down the hall, take a right, and it’s the last office at the end.”
“Thanks!”
Rose walked past Yula, the sexy sway of her hips tempting me like a siren”s call. If I didn’t know better, I’d peg Rose as being a woman who liked to be watched.
I closed out of the video feed and tried to gather my thoughts. I needed to treat her as a potential future employee, and not one I wanted to see naked. Her knock on my door was clear and confident.
“Come in.” I pretended to read a document on my computer as she entered the room all while watching her for the slightest reaction. I didn’t know why it was important to me, but I wanted to know what she thought of my office. Ignoring her for a moment gave her the opportunity to check things out.
While the furniture was made of the same dark wood as the rest of the items in the office, I’d turned the walls and space into a high-tech dream. Large monitors currently displayed artwork as if they were paintings, but with a click of my mouse, I could quickly shift to any of our active missions.
I gave her a moment to take everything in before I closed out of the file and stood. Rose had a good poker face but I could tell by her slightly widened eyes and the way she was slowly taking in every item in the room that she was surprised.
“Welcome back, Ms. Dodds, and thank you for accommodating us on such short notice.”
“Us?” She looked around as if she thought Colin was in here somewhere hiding.
“Us, meaning the greater us at GH.” I smiled and gestured to the chair in front of my desk. “Please take a seat. Can I get you anything?”
“No thank you.” She sat and crossed her legs in a way that was probably supposed to be professional, but my mind wandered down dirtier paths. Those sexy stems of hers wrapped in silk cord, tied to a fuck machine that had her throwing her head back and those plump lips parting as she let out a moan of pleasure.
I sat back in my office chair and directed my mind to the reasons we were here. Rose looked over my desk like she was admiring fine art. It was an impressive piece of furniture that had taken professional movers with specialized equipment to get it in the building. Though technically constructed from several pieces of wood it had been designed to look as if it had been carved from one massive log. I noticed her gaze caught on the single photo I kept on my desk. It was taken a dozen years ago on one of our rare get togethers.
With a smile, I picked up the focus of her attention. “It was a good day. We were celebrating the opening of Midgard. We were still young and optimistic. Colin and Lincoln hadn’t yet enlisted and we were still riding on the glory of graduating college.”
She seemed surprised by me opening up and sharing with her. “You all look happy,” she offered as if suddenly uncomfortable with the topic.
“You’ve met Colin and Lincoln. This is Erik.” I pointed him out in the picture. “I don’t know if Marissa told you, but the clubs were his idea. Turned out to be one of our best investments. This is Noah. That’s Jared, the one all in black, and beside him is Declan, who was our fearless leader back in college. And, of course, you know Marissa.”
“You all seem very close.”
We were more than close, but it wasn’t something you could explain to someone not part of our circle. These people were the core of my life, my chosen family, and I was lucky to have them. So many people drifted apart after college, but regardless of the challenges, we’d remained loyal to one another.
I placed the photo down. “We are. Now, onto other things. Thank you for attending this morning’s interview, but after giving it some thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way I’ll be satisfied that your job history can transcend into the private security world is if we test your abilities. I’ve put something together that hopefully will satisfy us both.”
“Oh? I’m definitely into mutual satisfaction.”
I didn’t miss the innuendo, and neither did my damn cock that chose that moment to harden in my pants.
I cleared my throat, and Rose smirked at me. I chose to ignore her antics, though I appreciated her attempt at softening the mood. “When we spoke earlier, I didn’t get deep into the logistics and realities of the job. While planning and logistics mostly happen on a normal nine to five schedule, there will be times you might be needed off hours for emergencies or last-minute priority placements.” I paused to make sure she understood the 24/7 nature of the job.
“That’s not a problem. I am used to putting in extra hours at odd times in extreme circumstances.”
I nodded my head. “If you are going to be unreachable for any length of time, you need to arrange a backup and inform us so that we aren’t wasting our time trying to hunt you down.”
“Understood and still not a problem.”
She smirked at me as if she thought I was trying to challenge her. Was I? Maybe. While the intelligent part of my brain wanted her to take the position, a very selfish part of me still hoped she would back down. It’s the only excuse I had for the next question I asked.
“Do you have a problem acquiring guns, rope, handcuffs, or any other items we might need?” I expected a shocked reaction, but her green eyes lit up with mischief.
“Are we talking fur-lined leather cuffs and silk jute, or police issue steel and twine?”
It happened so fast that I wasn’t sure if I’d see her pupils dilate at the mention of silk jute.
“Either way, not a problem,” she continued, “but I’m just curious as to what you prefer.”
Damn, this woman just got more interesting the more she talked. I still didn’t know if she preferred to be the one tied up or the one doing the tying, but all I could imagine was her wrapped in silk jute, head thrown back as I forced Os from her body. I cleared my throat and grabbed the laptop I’d set up for her, and the documents I’d had Legal draw up so she could see the information on the computer.
I slid the paperwork to her along with a pen. “This is a non-disclosure agreement. I need you to sign it before I show you the contents on that laptop. If you’re hired, we’ll have a lot more paperwork for you.”
She picked up the papers and began reading. “If I’m not hired yet, why must I sign this?”
“When I said mutually satisfying, I meant that I’ve devised a test for you using real-time situations that we need resolved. As that information shows the contractor information, it is considered classified and highly sensitive. We value our privacy here, Ms. Dodds, you may as well know that up front. If you successfully devise a plan for both these real-time situations within the time provided, then you’re hired.”
“And if I don’t?”
She must have finished reading through the document because she signed at the bottom with a flourish. The challenge and daring in her voice made me want to threaten to punish her. Damn it! This woman was way too tempting.
“Then I guess you aren’t what we need.” I took the paperwork, spun the laptop around, and gestured to the screen. “I have created two spreadsheets containing all the details of the jobs in question. I’ve included the location, timing, and the requests from the agents assigned. For each item, I want you to either list how you would acquire it or what additional information you would need before sourcing. On the final tab, I want an estimate for how long it would take you to complete everything on the list and any concerns or recommendations you might have for the job.”
Rose leaned forward and studied the information I’d pulled up, giving me a view down her shirt of her pale creamy skin. The perfect ivory temptation lightly dusted with a scattering of freckles. Not only did I want to know where else she had freckles, but I wanted to play connect the dots. Damn it! What type of witchcraft did the woman possess that made me unable to concentrate past the need to strip her down and make her mine? It was like I was a teenager again, with my mind completely turned to mush by raging hormones.
“How long do I have?”
I’d initially planned to give her two hours but decided I needed to make the task almost impossible if I had any hope of hanging on to my sanity. “One hour. Your time starts now, Ms. Dodds. I suggest you don’t waste any of it.”
Her smile was more a baring of teeth, as I stood to take my leave. I knew I was being an asshole, but honestly I couldn’t help it. I headed directly to Lincoln’s office under the ridiculous hope that he’d help me get my head on straight. I didn’t bother knocking before entering and pouring myself a glass of his prized twenty-six-year-old Lagavulin.
“Help yourself.”
Lincoln’s sarcastic words didn’t have much heat behind them, so I wasn’t worried he’d throw me out. My friend and business partner was always a man of few words and even less social skills than I had, preferring to stay behind a keyboard than be in front of customers.
“Thanks, I will.” I took a slow sip and enjoyed the strong smoky taste.
“Don’t you have a job you are supposed to be doing?”
“Probably, but I needed a minute and some of your expensive scotch.”
“What’s wrong?”
I tilted my head to the ceiling and leaned back in the chair, praying for some answer to give him other than the truth. Unfortunately, as usual, the universe was silent.
“Rosette Dodds.”
I was surprised by the way his eyes lit up and he smiled. “You should hire her.”
“Pray tell, why should I hire the ever popular Ms. Dodds?”
He shrugged. “She hooked me up with the perfect gift for Julia.”
How the hell had Rose managed to bribe or influence everyone in the office? The woman had flown into the country less than twenty-four hours ago, yet somehow she even had the company’s recluse rooting for her.
“Shit! Her birthday’s coming up. Why didn’t you remind me?”
He gave me a pointed look. “What’s your problem with Ms. Dodds?”
Of course, the asshole wouldn’t take the change in subject gracefully.
“She’ll be a distraction.”
Lincoln snorted. “For whom?”
I took another sip of my scotch before confessing, “Me.”
“No rule says you can’t date an employee.”
It was my turn to snort. “Only if I publicly disclosed the relationship.” Why had I thought that was a better policy than banning relationships or having no rules on the situation? The idea of sending a company-wide email to inform everyone I was fucking Rosette Dodds seemed insane. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t date employees. It’s too messy and you know it.”
He shrugged, which only made me angry. I tossed back the last of my drink. “Thanks for the scotch.”
He rolled his eyes and returned to his work as if I wasn’t still in the room. Eventually, I left his office and wandered through the halls until my watch told me an hour had finally passed.
I expected to find Rose still furiously working on the spreadsheets, but instead, she stood in front of my Nespresso machine, calmly making herself a drink. What the hell? Had she given up already?
“By indulging in my coffee, am I to assume the task you were assigned was too difficult to even give your best effort?”
She looked at me with a calm, smug expression and took a slow sip of her drink before answering. “I think you will find everything you require in the files, Mr. Dakos.”
There was no way she could have done all that in an hour. I stalked over to the laptop and clicked through the files. Each tab was filled out, and she added some good suggestions. Did the woman type a thousand words a minute? I couldn’t have even gotten through a quarter of the information, and she had finished with time to spare. There was only one thing I could say.
“The job is yours. Can you start immediately?”
“I would love to, Mr. Dakos.”
I was so screwed.