Chapter 3 Wyatt
As we both sat down, I asked, “Would you like some coffee or water?”
“Oh, I made myself a coffee while I was waiting but didn’t have a chance to drink it. It’s all good, though.” She laughed. “I’m a bit nervous. Water would probably help.”
I went over to the mini fridge in the corner of the office and grabbed a bottled water. “Thank you for giving me your time today, Kinley. Do you mind if I call you Kinley?” I handed her the bottle, and she thanked me.
“No, not at all. Kinley is fine,” she replied, taking a quick drink and swallowing hard.
“Tell me a bit about yourself. I read your résumé, but I want to know what drives you personally. What are you hoping to achieve working here? How would you begin with the projects you’d be working on?”
She removed her bag, putting it on the edge of my desk, and straightened up in her chair.
Kinley was stunning. I could tell her blonde hair was thick and luscious, even though it was pulled up in a ponytail.
Her red glasses were giving me wild ideas.
It didn’t matter if she was attractive, though.
She was here in a professional capacity and was obviously feeling uncomfortable.
I didn’t want to put her even more on edge.
“I find what you do fascinating.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Because not only are you successful with your financial business, but you’re moving on from financial services into a completely new industry. It’s unusual and admirable.”
I nodded. “It is different. But I like challenges.”
She smiled. “Of course. Going into the wine and hotel industries at the same time is no small feat.” She smoothed her dress and then interlaced her hands on her lap.
“Since you asked, I’d start by visiting the locations to see what needed to be done.
Hopefully that would give me the inspiration I’d need to develop a proper business plan for each.
Where are you with those companies? Are they fully under your ownership now? ”
She was getting straight to business, and I liked that.
“We took over a winery in Napa, so there’s been no interruption in operations.
We’ve already finished with the rebranding, and the existing team is running the day-to-day operations.
Your job would be to work with them and make any changes you deem necessary.
The hotel business is still up in the air.
We’re in talks with a small chain that I plan to acquire but really haven’t gotten down to the final negotiations. ”
“Then I would hit the ground running with the wine business and review all aspects from HR to sales and purchasing. I am very thorough in my work.”
“But you worked in tech, yes? Quite a different industry.”
Her smile dimmed a bit—clearly she didn’t want to talk about her previous employment. “Yes, but the business basics are the same.”
There was a lull before she asked, “Is the wine produced and bottled at the winery? Or are there multiple locations?”
“Everything is happening in Napa in one location. It’s sufficient for the business’s current volume, but I want to grow it exponentially, and that’s where I’d need your expertise. I’d want you to get to know the team there well.”
“Great. Do you like to be involved in all the decisions?”
“At first, yes, but I don’t micromanage.”
She nodded. “Even better. I would, of course, run any important decisions by you. Would you want the new hires to be here or in Napa?”
“In Napa. There’s no reason to split the team.”
“Excellent. Especially with an acquisition, I do think it’s important to keep that cohesiveness. Of course, I’d fly out there as often as needed to ensure all is running smoothly.”
“That would be important. So, there’s nothing keeping you here or that would cause a problem with travel?” I only realized after asking how unprofessional that was of me. It was illegal to ask her if she had a family, but I wanted to know.
“Absolutely nothing.” She plastered on a huge smile that looked completely fake. “I’d be fully committed to this job. Are you planning to offer the wines for retail sale, too, or strictly wholesale?”
“Both. But high-end only. The price point starts at fifty dollars per bottle and goes up from there.”
“Right. I would suggest an online commerce site as well.”
I nodded. “You read my mind. That’s something I’d like to get in place quickly, especially with the new branding.”
Damn. Why did she have to be involved in that fucking scandal? I liked everything about her, from her energy to her ideas. She instantly focused on the important points, the things I wanted whoever I hired for this position to do.
“Do you already have a website?”
“No. The business was a small winery before we took it over, and they weren’t interested in expanding it. But the product is excellent, and I think this is a no-brainer to grow and make money.”
“Great. After my trip to Napa, that’d be the first thing I do—get the website up and running. I’d probably outsource it to a specialized company to make sure we get what we want. No worries, as I have a lot of expertise with that.”
I detected a hint of pride, which was good. I liked confidence in my employees.
“I’ll make sure the website is a user-friendly interface so we can do updates in-house. It’s never a good thing to rely totally on an outside contractor.”
“I like you, Kinley,” I said, almost without thinking.
“Really?”
Her voice was so raw that it shocked me. I was beginning to think she’d gone through a hell of a lot for nothing. After meeting her, I doubted that she was involved in any of that bullshit.
“You’re very efficient. And clearly we’re on the same wavelength. You’ve mentioned all the things I was hoping to find in my new hire.”
Her face lit up with a huge smile. Damn, she was beautiful.
And I was about to crush her. I felt like shit for it, but it had to be done.
It wasn’t fair to her to continue this interview.
She still had the stink of the scandal on her heels, and it wouldn’t be smart for me to bring that into the family business.
I cleared my throat. “But...”
She glanced at her lap and took a deep breath as if bracing herself for what I was about to say.
“Your previous job...”
She closed her eyes briefly, took another deep breath, and opened them. “I have no secrets, really. You can ask me anything.”
I looked at her intently. Damn, those beautiful green eyes could be the death of me. I decided to hear her out. “What happened?”
“Would you like the long or the short version?”
“Whatever you feel comfortable sharing.”
She swallowed hard, glancing away briefly before looking back at me. “What do you know?”
“That it was a huge scandal, and someone ended up in prison.”
She nodded. “I started working at BuzzPage right out of college.”
“I saw that on your résumé.” I respected that she didn’t try to hide it, and I assumed it was because she was innocent. But still...
“It was a very dynamic place. I truly enjoyed what I did. I was promoted through various departments over the years, which gave me a bird’s-eye view on the whole company.
The CEO at the time trusted me with setting up new ventures.
I’d been dating the CFO, Mark Donaldson, almost since the beginning of my employment, and I trusted him implicitly.
There was no reason not to, and our CEO did, too, obviously, as did our board of investors.
Mark was a prodigy, smarter than anyone I’d ever met. ”
There was a hint of admiration in her tone, and that bothered me. Why the fuck would she admire a con? Her poor judgment was a concern.
“Apparently, he was too smart, because he embezzled money from the company for a very long time before anyone caught on. I’m sure you’ve read most of the details. It was on every news channel and in every paper.”
I nodded. It was quite the buzz for months.
“And you never suspected anything?” I asked.
“No.” She pressed her lips together, sounding affronted. “I’m sure you find that hard to believe. Most people do, but it’s different when you’re there, when you’re involved.” Her tone was belligerent now.
I waved a hand. “You’re smart as a whip, Kinley. I’ve only known you for ten minutes, and you strike me as a person who doesn’t miss a thing.”
“Thank you for saying that. But I wasn’t very involved in the finance department. And Mark was very sneaky.”
“You were dating, right? So, his spending habits didn’t clue you in that something was awry?”
“Am I on trial?” she snapped.
Damn, I’d hit a nerve. She’d literally been on trial the whole year, and what was I doing? She came here for a job, not an interrogation.
I shook my head. “No. Sorry if it came across that way.”
“You do know that the jury found me not guilty, right?”
“Of course. We wouldn’t be having this conversation otherwise.”
“Are you afraid that if someone were to embezzle from your company, I wouldn’t catch on? Or are you concerned I might? Because if we don’t have a basis of trust from the start, we should end this interview right now.”
“No, no, of course not. And you’re right, trust is important,” I said, then decided to be honest with her. “I think we’ll have trouble making connections and building these businesses if you’re involved. I worry others will have concerns about working with you.”
Her shoulders slumped, and the corners of her mouth dropped. Her eyes were glassy when she met mine.
“I see,” she whispered. “Then why did you bother to ask me here? It couldn’t just be to please the recruiting company. You don’t strike me as a man who does things to please others. Nor someone to waste his time.”
“No, I’m not. I figured, why not? There isn’t much more to it. Though I’m sorry for wasting your time. That wasn’t very fair of me.”
She put her hands on the desk, looking down at them. “So, there’s no chance of you changing your mind?”
This was a very uncomfortable conversation—even more so for her than for me. Why the hell had I put us in this position? On top of it all, Kinley would have been a good hire... if it weren’t for the scandal.
“I’ll think about it, but honestly, the chances are very slim.” Why I said that, I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to hire her, no matter what.
“Mr. Sterling—”
“Wyatt. Please call me Wyatt,” I told her.
“The scandal will die down. It’s already much better than a year ago.”
I wasn’t convinced. The article the recruiting company sent me had been recent.
Maybe it would die down eventually, a few years down the road.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of time, but I didn’t want to disappoint her any further.
“I’m sure it will. For what it’s worth, I’m truly sorry that your previous employer put you in this position and that you have to deal with the consequences. ”
“Right. Thank you.” She pushed her glasses up her nose even though it wasn’t really necessary. I wondered if it was a nervous tic. “Does this mean the interview is over?”
I nodded. “Yes, it is.” I could have spent hours talking to her because her brain was fascinating and sexy. Hell, she was a sexy woman. Those fucking glasses were almost nerdy, but they fit her. But I’d already wasted enough of her time. “I’ll walk you out,” I said.
“No, no, there’s no need.” She immediately rose to her feet. “I know my way out.” She grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. Her eyes were even glassier than before. “It was good meeting you.”
“You as well.”
“I hope you find a person who you’re happy with.”
“Thank you, and I wish you all the best in your job hunt.”
Her lower lip trembled lightly.
Fuck my life! I’d made her cry. I felt like the biggest asshole on the planet.
Turning around, she quickly walked out of the office.
I was fighting the impulse to go after her, but that would only make the situation worse.
Clearly she wanted to be alone. I’d put her into a very embarrassing situation, and I couldn’t see how I could make it better.
Besides, it wasn’t really my responsibility.
Everywhere she interviewed, they were going to ask her the very same questions. Things didn’t look good for her.
Clearing my throat, I focused my attention on my laptop. I had a shitload to do today, but for the next hour, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kinley. I wasn’t at all happy about how I’d handled the situation, and I wanted to rectify that... but how?