“So when you say he just lost his assistant…”
“I mean Ingrid, the girl downstairs. Yes. Mr. Calloway didn’t find her services up to snuff, I’m afraid.”
“I…” Cam said, then shook her head.
Stephanie slid her a look.
“Don’t worry. Your résumé said you’ve worked for three CEOs. This won’t be any different.”
“Right,” Cam said. She gave Stephanie a smile, trying to appear calm and collected.
The elevator doors opened, and Cam walked out into another reception area, this one all done in chrome. There was a receptionist here too, a plump brunette. She frowned at Cam until she saw Stephanie escorting her.
The brunette shot to her feet.
“Ma’am,” she said, dipping her head to Stephanie. “I suppose you know that Ingrid just walked out?”
“Yes, yes,” Stephanie said. “Lucy, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is Lucy. Cameron will be taking over Ingrid’s position.”
Lucy’s jaw dropped. “Already?’
“Would you have Mr. Calloway be without an assistant, Lucy?”
Lucy paled and swallowed. “No, ma’am.”
“Lucy, would you get Cameron settled in? Show her around. I have calls to return.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Stephanie left with a wave of her fingertips, her heels clicking. Cameron turned to Lucy, a little wide-eyed.
“Don’t even start asking questions,” Lucy said, sighing. “Come on, I’ll get you set up.”
“Okay,” Cam said with a shrug.
Lucy led her through a set of chrome doors and down a hallway. She stopped at an empty desk beside a breathtaking view of downtown. Behind the desk was a single door, obviously leading to Mr. Calloway’s office.
“Here’s your desk,” she said, brow creasing. “There’s Mr. Calloway’s office. He keeps the door closed when he’s in a meeting or doesn’t want to be disturbed. Here’s Mr. Calloway’s paper calendar. You should probably take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with his online calendar, too.”
Lucy pointed to the computer on the desk. Cam walked around and pulled out the chair, putting her purse down.
“Okay,” she said. “What else should I know?”
“Umm… the bathrooms are at the end of this hall. Press nine to dial out. Otherwise just dial an extension number to call someone in the building. Lunch is twelve to one, unless Mr. Calloway says otherwise. Mr. Calloway will be out of his meeting in about five minutes. I would be as prepared as possible by then. And…” she bit her lip. “Well, let me just log you into the computer system.”
For the next couple of minutes, Cam watched as Lucy showed her around the company network. Using Cam’s last name and the last four digits of her social security number, Lucy gave her the keys to the kingdom.
“Okay, that’s the calendar portion. The rest of the job changes depending on what Mr. Calloway needs,” Lucy said. She looked at Cam skeptically. “But apparently you know all that.”
Cam smiled, pretending she didn’t notice the other woman’s tone.
“Yeah, I’ve worked for three high-level CEOs, so we’re probably good.”
Lucy started to say something, but just then the door behind them swung open.
“We’ll see what the market does,” said the first man to exit.
The man had a posh British accent. He talked to someone inside the office, but Cam couldn’t see who without seeming rude. Gray-haired and well-dressed, he stopped when he saw Lucy and Cam.
“Ladies?” he asked.
Lucy stood up straighter, grabbing and raising Cam by the arm.
“Mr. Calloway,” she said, nodding politely. “This is Cameron, Ingrid’s replacement.”
“Ah! Spencer Calloway. A pleasure to meet you,” he said, shaking Cam’s hand.
“You too, sir,” Cam replied. She noticed that he was tall and broad, probably quite the ladies man in his day.
Was this her boss?
The man gave her a once-over, then turned back to the office.
“Smith! Your new assistant is out here!” he called.
Cam had about three seconds to turn the name over in her mind before its owner came out of the office. She only put it together half a second before he was in her face.
It was the same Smith from last night, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome himself. Only now he was dressed in an expensive suit, not punk rock gear.
Her mouth opened in shock.
“Hello—” he said, then paused. He looked at her, taking in her black business dress. She saw the moment of recognition, then saw him blow past it. “Uh… what was your name?”
“Cameron,” she said, blinking. She held out her hand. “I’m your new executive assistant.”
He took her hand. The moment they touched, the skin-to-skin contact caused the fine hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Their eyes caught and held, the moment stretching a bit too long.
“All right, then. It was nice to meet you, Cameron,” the senior Calloway said. “Lucy, why don’t you walk me out? We should let her get settled in.”
“Yes, sir,” Lucy said, throwing a look over her shoulder as she escorted her boss down the hall.
She was busy trying not to eye fuck the hell out of her new boss. It was just… he wore the hell out of a suit, and she happened to know what was underneath.
Cam and Smith were silent until they were out of sight, then he turned around and picked up the phone.
“Who are you calling?” she asked.
“Stephanie,” he said, looking at her as he dialed the phone. “No need to discuss what happened last night. I’ll just have you transferred.”
“Stop!” she said, stepping over and pressing the switchhook to disconnect the call. “Wait.”
He frowned. “Why?”
She knew her best shot at finding out about financial matters would be in this office. If she let him transfer her, she was blowing an amazing chance. She scrambled for something to say.
“Look, I need this job,” she said, throwing her head back. “I really, really need this job. Without it, I’ll be thrown out of my apartment.”
“So? You can have this job and work for someone else,” he said. That British accent was so smooth, it gave her chills.
“But—” she started, then put her hand on his wrist. The contact was shocking, like licking a battery. He looked up at her, making eye contact. “I was recommended to this job by someone that works here, okay? If I’m making trouble and getting transferred all over the place, it would be… let’s just say it would be bad for me. Really bad.”
Smith grimaced, pulling away from her touch.
“So what, then? What is it that you want?” he asked.
“Just give me a week,” she said, trying not to let her excitement show. “We both pretend nothing ever happened, and you try me out for a week.”
For a moment, she wasn’t sure he was going to go for it. He ran his hand through his hair, looking annoyed. Still, he couldn’t hold last night against her, could he?
“One week,” he said at last. “You’ll be here when I’m here, yeah?”