Chapter 2
TWO
PARK CITY, UTAH
GEORGIA
Two Months Before Christmas
Later that Day
Lean down a little bit more…
If I lean my head any lower, this ink pen will slice through my eyeball and splatter blood everywhere. I won’t beg my coworkers to call an ambulance when it happens, though. I’ll just ask if I can finally leave this boring ass meeting.
I’ve been stuck in this cold conference room since nine this morning, and my eyes are burning from staring at the oversized screen. For some strange reason, I feel like I’m the only one who wants to escape.
Maybe I should stab both my eyeballs instead of just one…
“What do you think about the final proposal, Georgia?” Mindy Sterling, the company kiss-up, foils my mission within seconds. “Georgia?”
“Yeah, um…” I set down the pen. “It sounds super great.”
“Were you even listening to my presentation?”
“Sorry.” I shake my head. “It’s been a really long day, Mindy…”
“Days at Reiss Enterprises are never long.” She sounds offended. “They take as long as they take because we believe in our beloved CEO’s vision.”
My brainwashed coworkers murmur in agreement, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
Our “beloved CEO” is the epitome of what it means to be a terrible boss. His only saving grace as a human being is how fucking sexy he is.
“Since you’re the best at hospitality, Miss Grey—” Mindy slides a folder toward me. “When December comes, we need you to handle our incoming business guests from the moment they land at the airport, to the second they arrive at headquarters for our holiday marketing presentation.”
“What if I’m still ‘just a demoted intern’ by then?”
“You will work hard to regain your previous position to ensure that won’t happen.” She narrows her eyes. “Your decor budget is limitless, and we’re all looking forward to seeing that “holiday magic” that you brought from your previous employer. Do you have any other questions?”
Can you please let me go home now? “Not at this time.”
“Great! Now, onto the fourth quarter projections, and how we’re measuring up against the competition.”
I tune out her words and return to thoughts of impaling my eyeballs.
Then again, from the sound of things, that probably wouldn’t get anyone’s attention.
I’ve been working at this company for a little under a year, and I’m officially convinced that corporate life is not for me.
I don’t even know what we “do” here.
The impossibly early mornings, paper-pushing afternoons, and “emergency” evening meetings have broken bits and pieces of my soul.
Since every employee is cutthroat and desperate to move up the ladder, bonding with a single coworker outside the office has been impossible.
Once, when I brought custom cookies to share in the break room, someone reported me to Human Resources for “trying to poison the competition with gluten.”
If that’s not bad enough, the “beloved” CEO thinks that every person on the planet lives to serve his every waking need. Being the overworked yet empathetic person I am, I’ve decided to take the high road by saying a daily prayer for him.
Dear God, please murder my boss. Thank you so much in advance. Amen.
As Mindy passes out a new set of folders, the entire room falls silent. Heavy footsteps sound behind me, and the woman beside me gasps, which only means one thing...
“Good evening.” Mr. Reiss’s presence spins my heart into a reckless rhythm. Rumor has it that his deep voice alone is capable of making any woman’s panties wet with ease.
Any woman’s panties except mine, of course.
“I hope you won’t mind if I sit in on this meeting,” he says.
“We’d prefer if you put us out of our misery and finally end it.” I mutter.
“What was that, Georgia?” Mindy asks.
“I said, what’s better than having our beloved boss look over our shoulders and watch our every move?”
“There’s nothing better!” She practically trips over herself as she pours him a cup of coffee.
Taking his precious time to walk around the table, Mr. Reiss takes the seat directly across from me. Then he smiles his perfect “I know I’m sexy as hell” smile that makes his chiseled jawline even more pronounced, and my nipples harden under my blouse.
I can’t help but cross my legs next.
No matter how many times I see this ma—in person or in print—my mind veers down a winding, wet lane of forbidden fantasies.
When I first saw him, I thought he was a walking, breathing dream. That the angels above had sprinkled every bit of their “most attractive man on earth” dust on him to cement him as their best work.
But the first time I heard him speak - a mere, “I’m not paying you to stare at me all day, Miss Grey” – I wanted to stab him in the throat.
“Don’t let me derail the meeting,” he says. “Carry on with your presentation, Miss Sterling.”
She picks up without missing a beat, and I try to look away from the devil dressed in black, but I can’t.
At least not right now…
He brings the mug to his lips, taking a slow sip while keeping his deep blue eyes on mine, and my body betrays me with a rush of heat.
“I want to ensure all the hotels have special gift bags to make our guests happy.” Mindy drones on, and I finally force myself to look away, but I can still feel Mr. Reiss staring in my direction.
By the time Mindy gets tired of hearing herself talk, it’s ten o’clock in the evening, and I’ve missed the season premiere of my favorite show.
I stuff my folders into a briefcase and head toward the door, hoping to make it home to catch the replay.
Mr. Reiss presses his hand against the doorframe as I approach.
“Can I speak to you for a moment, Miss Grey?” he asks.
“I think you and I have spoken enough for one day, sir.”
His lips curve into a smile.
“Do you need to speak with me about anything, Mr. Reiss?” Mindy clears her throat from the hallway.
“No, Miss Sterling. I don’t have any issues with you.”
“Okay, great!” She smiles and saunters off as if his approval can be put in the bank.
Mr. Reiss waits until the elevator pings before turning his attention to me.
“I’m shocked my car hasn’t experienced a flat tire on any day this week,” he says.
“Me too.”
“There wasn’t a stranger rapping outside my office about how much he hates me either.”
“I guess he’s having issues communicating with his scheduler.”
“Oh, I’m sure she is.” He smirks. “Anyway, Human Resources told me that you’ve requested to go home for Christmas. Something about introducing a boyfriend to your family?”
“No, that’s not it.” I can’t believe I told them the truth. “It’s because someone I know passed away. I need to pay my respect.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He furrows his brow. “Who was it?”
“You don’t know her.”
“Tell me, please.”
“She’s the person I used to be,” I say.
“What?”
“She seems to have lost her mind and her way, so I need to go home and mourn her properly. Hopefully, it’s not too late for her to come back to life.”
“Please send her my deepest condolences.” He smiles. “Unfortunately, I’m not approving your request on such short notice.”
“Two months in advance is short notice?”
“It is for something trivial as a boyfriend introduction,” he says. “I’ll consider letting you go home for New Year’s, though.”
“You let Mindy take off for Easter because she wanted to pet some bunnies in the park.”
“That was her first time requesting off in five years.”
“That’s…tragic. But, that’s still unfair and I have every reason to get an approved week off from this place.”
“You haven’t been dating Dante long enough for him to meet your family.”
“Excuse me?”
“You met him four months after you started working under me.”
“And?”
“That’s not long enough.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I roll my eyes. “Didn’t I update your calendar with a holiday vacation for you and your girlfriend, Amy, yesterday?”
He doesn’t answer.
“Exactly,” I say. “So, what makes you think that some of your miserable peons don’t want to do the same thing?”
“Miss Grey.” He steps closer. “I apologize.”
“You’re forgiven, Mr. Reiss. I accept your apology.”
He stares into my eyes like he always does whenever we’re alone, like on the nights when we’re working late, and he sits next to me and temporarily acts like a human being while we talk until sunrise.
In those moments, I felt a bit delusional, like he had an angelic lining and saw me as more than an employee. Like he was actually my friend.
“I mean that I’m sorry for giving you the illusion that this conversation was a debate.” He returns to his Satanic form. “It’s not.”
“Have you ever looked into getting some personal therapy for your mood swings?”
“You’re behind on your work anyway.” He ignores my comment. “The last thing you need is time away from me.”
“You mean, work?”
“Same thing.”
“I’m not working on Christmas,” I say.
“We’re past that, Miss Grey. There are two other things we need to discuss now.” He pulls an envelope from his pocket and holds it out for me. “I received this from Webster’s Dictionary this morning.”
“So, they’re finally adding ‘unbearable-ass-boss’ to their vocabulary?”
“No.” He doesn’t deserve to be this damn good-looking. “They wanted to let me know that an anonymous employee has been sending them ten requests a day about adding my photo next to the word ‘bastard,’ and they were hoping that she would get tired of being rejected after her ninety-eighth time.”
“The ninety-ninth is the charm. I mean, how awful.” My cheeks heat as I take the envelope from his fingers. “I’ll be sure to mention this in the team email and hopefully that employee will focus on her work.”
“That’d be a first.” He looks amused as he opens the door for me. “Have a good night, Miss Grey.”
“Thank you.” I step into the hallway. “Wait…I thought you said there were two things you needed to discuss. What’s the other one?”
“Your boyfriend.” He pauses. “Are you sleeping with him?”
What? “What type of question is that?”
“It’s a curious one.” He looks me up and down. “You’ve never come into work looking ‘slightly fucked’ or passionately disheveled, so I’m just wondering.”
“Am I allowed to ask the same thing about your girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Okay, then.”
“I mean, no, I’m not sleeping with her.” He pauses. “She’s not technically my girlfriend…”
I swallow. I have no idea what to say to that.
“Are you in love with him?” he asks, stepping closer.
Silence.
“I’ll see you on Monday, Mr. Reiss.”
“It’ll probably be tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is Saturday.”
“I have a feeling the CEO is sending out an emergency work email in a few hours.” He walks past me without another word, and I remain standing there, confused and aroused as ever.
I’m tempted to go after him, but then I remember he doesn’t want to let me off for Christmas.
Fuck him…