Chapter 3
Chapter Three
My first month on the job went smoothly. I had gotten to know the department heads, our clients, and suppliers. I was booking Caleb’s appointments and starting to handle some of the smaller business items.
I’d been able to handle all my assignments, so the fear of being punished was lessening.
I was competent at my job, and for the most part, Caleb was easygoing.
He’d give me a task and trust me to do it.
No looking over my shoulder or double-checking that I got things done.
I liked that, not only because it made me feel like he trusted me, but because it gave me plenty of chances to take sneak peeks at him.
No matter what was on his schedule, he always came to work in a suit and tie.
I had ample time to fantasize about him unbuttoning his wrist cuffs and rolling his sleeves up, getting ready to punish me for some slip-up.
The thought of him pushing things off his desk so he could lean me over it and spank my ass was such a turn-on for me. I tried to avoid fantasizing about him at work, but I often found my mind drifting into distinctly unprofessional territory.
“Good morning, Theresa,” Caleb greeted me as he walked into the office. I startled out of my fantasy. “We have a lot to go over today,” he said, tossing his bag onto his desk. Thankfully, he hadn’t seemed to notice that I had been daydreaming instead of working.
“Give me one second to send this email,” I said, hurriedly finishing what I was typing.
I grabbed my notebook and pen and took my seat in front of his desk.
“I got an email from the president of Amperage and Co. He wants to meet sometime this week to discuss us investing more in his business. He claims we’ll see a ten percent ROI.”
“Ok. Should I make accommodations for him at The Drake?”
There were so many hotels to choose from when a client visited us. I liked having them stay somewhere that was iconic. Granted, there were several hotels that fit that description, but The Drake was my personal favorite.
“No. He wants me to go down and tour his new facility.”
“The one he has located in…” The name was on the tip of my tongue. It was somewhere in southern Illinois.
“Marion.”
“That’s it. Thank you,” I said, jotting it down on my paper. “Where would you like me to make reservations for you? It’s far enough away that you’ll have to spend at least a night.”
“Research the area and pick out what you think is best. Book the rooms for this Wednesday to Saturday morning.”
“Rooms?”
“Yes. I’ll need you to come with me. It will help to have an extra set of eyes check out his new facility. Besides that, he still insists on paper copies of all documents. I’ll get them all mixed up, and it’ll be a disaster. I need you down there.”
“Alright,” I said a little too slowly.
Caleb looked at me. “Is there a problem?”
“No, Sir.”
“Are you okay accompanying me down south?”
“Absolutely.”
His dark gaze locked on mine, and I suddenly felt like I was under a magnifying glass. I couldn’t lie to him.
“I’m just surprised that you’re trusting me with this so soon after I started. I thought you’d want someone more senior, who knows the client and their needs.”
He leaned forward and folded his hands on his desk. “Theresa, you might have only been here for a month, but you have done exceptional work. You’re a quick study, and I’ve heard nothing but positive comments from the other staff and clients. You will be the perfect person to come with me.”
I felt my cheeks heat up at his praise. It was a high compliment coming from him.
“Thank you, Sir,” I said, nervously tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’ll make all the reservations now.”
“Good girl.”
Time froze. Good girl wasn’t something I’d expect to hear from my boss. In fact, no one had ever said it to me. But I found I liked hearing it from him.
“I—” he started, but I held a hand up.
“Don’t think anything of it, Sir.”
He nodded, and I went over to my desk and got started on the research. I wanted to make everything perfect for this trip, and possibly get him to say that phrase again. It had become my new favorite.
“I’m sorry this isn’t what you’re used to, but this was the best hotel I could find on such short notice,” I said as Caleb and I got out of his Mercedes-Benz GLB SUV.
He had insisted on driving his own car down. I had informed him we could’ve hopped on a small plane at O’Hare or Midway, but he refused.
Since it was only the two of us going, we drove together.
Not that I did any driving—Caleb did all six hours of it.
I wasn’t complaining; it was fun watching him behind the wheel of a powerful, fast car.
He drove smoothly and maintained control, making it look easy.
I couldn’t help but imagine he was the same way in bed.
Stop thinking that way, I chastised myself. It had been a while since I had had sex, but I had to stop fantasizing about my boss. How did the saying go? Don’t dip your pen in the company ink? Granted, I didn’t have a pen per se, but the quote still applied.
“This is fine,” he said as he grabbed my suitcase out of the trunk and handed it to me before getting his own. “Honestly, I would’ve been fine camping in Shawnee National Forest.”
“Really? I didn’t peg you as a camper.”
“You’d be surprised,” he said, giving me a smile and a wink.
My legs felt a little wobbly. Good God, get it together, girl.
“Checking in?” a hotel concierge asked as we walked in.
“Yes, please. Two rooms, both should be under the name McDuffie,” Caleb said, pulling out his wallet and handing the man his license and credit card.
As his assistant, I thought I’d be the one to handle this stuff, but I enjoyed that he took care of it. It showed he wasn’t too prideful for simple tasks.
“Ah, yes. We have the two rooms from tonight, February twenty-first, to Saturday, February twenty-fourth.” The man went over other details about the hotel as he scanned Caleb’s ID. “Do you have any questions?”
“Yes, are our rooms next to each other?”
What? Why would he want to know that?
“Let me check,” the clerk said, looking at his computer. “They are not, but they’re on the same floor.”
“I’d like them to be next to each other.”
“Let me see what I can do,” the concierge said as he handed Caleb’s cards back to him and began typing on his computer again.
“I’m sorry I didn’t coordinate this ahead of time. I didn’t realize this was important,” I said.
“No worries. I just think in case we want to go over anything, it’d be easier to open the door between the two rooms than have to walk down a hallway.”
I could see his logic. “Makes sense.”
“All right, Mr. McDuffie, I was able to switch things around, and now the two rooms are together. You will have rooms 306 and 308 for your stay. How many keys would you like?”
“One for each room, please.”
The man gave us our keys, and we headed toward the elevator.
“So, is there anything you’d like to do or see while we’re here?” Caleb asked as we stepped on.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t know we’d have time for recreational activities, so I didn’t do any research.”
“See what’s in the area and let me know. We won’t have time for anything tonight. We’re meeting with Mike tomorrow morning. I imagine he should be able to show us his new facility, and we can get everything squared away tomorrow. That’ll give us Friday to do whatever we please.”
“Wouldn’t you want to go home then?”
“I’d like to keep the day open and still plan to leave on Saturday in case negotiations with Mike take longer than a day.”
“Makes sense. Okay, I’ll research some local hot spots,” I said as the elevator dinged and we got off on our floor.
“Thank you. While you’re at it, please look into some places where we could either order in from or go out to eat tonight. Either works for me.”
“You got it,” I said as I reached my room.
I rolled my suitcase over to the bed and opened it up.
My stay might be temporary, but I liked to unpack and get settled in.
In no time, I had my toiletries in the bathroom, my nice work outfits hanging up in the closet, the rest of my clothes in the dresser, and my suitcase zipped up and lying on the luggage rack.
There was nothing like a bit of organization.
Taking a seat on one of the chairs, I began researching restaurants.
One place caught my eye, Giant City Lodge.
It was a little bit of a drive, but it had raving reviews and was a local hot spot for both regulars and tourists.
I put it down as a contender for tonight and kept searching.
Another local place that popped out was called 20’s Hideout Steakhouse.
It had great reviews, and a cheeseburger did sound awfully tasty right about now.
There was a knock at the door connecting our rooms. I walked over and opened it up.
“Yes?”
Caleb had changed into a pair of jeans and a black short-sleeve shirt. It was nothing fancy, yet he looked devastatingly handsome in it. I was starting to become convinced that he couldn’t look ugly in anything.
“Have you picked out a place for us to eat tonight?” he asked.
“I found two potential spots. One is about thirty minutes away and is more of a fried chicken, home-style cooking place. The other is five minutes away, and it’s a steakhouse.”
“Let's do the steakhouse tonight. We can save the other place for tomorrow if that works for you.”
“That works for me. I could go for a cheeseburger.”
He smiled. “Then we’ll get you one.”
When we arrived, a hostess got us seated in a booth. The restaurant was fairly crowded for a Wednesday evening, but it wasn’t loud. The lights were dimmed, creating an intimate atmosphere.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Caleb asked, taking a sip of his water.
“You mean you didn’t hear enough of them on our car ride down here?”
“Please. As soon as we got out of the city and onto I-57, you were sound asleep until we pulled into the hotel parking lot.”