Not Sorry

“Understood.”

“Good. Now, our first real less

on will begin at dinner tonight.”

I scrunch my face. “Dinner?”

“Yes, dinner. We both have to eat, and I don’t have time to train you during normal work hours. I have enough on my plate with running my own business and keeping Jamie’s afloat while she’s gone. I need a manager to get on board as fast as possible to help me out when I need to travel for my own business.”

I nod. “I understand that, and I’m willing to come in after hours or do whatever it takes to get this job. It’s just that I was unaware that training was going to start tonight, and…well…”

“For goodness’ sake, spit it out, Olive!”

“It’s my and Owen’s one-year anniversary tonight. We were going to go out to dinner.”

“The training times and places are nonnegotiable. I don’t want to hear your excuses or reasons for not being able to attend them. Either meet me for dinner tonight or consider yourself out of the running for the job, and I’ll just give it to Floyd. It will make both our lives easier. You can go out with Owen or whatever after we finish our training. I don’t care if you starve and wait and eat until after we’re done, most likely nine thirty or ten, but I will be eating.”

I frown, trying to think about what I should do. I think about what Keri would say. That I should go out with Sean. Do something for me for once. Give myself a shot at taking my career to the next level. Owen and I can always go out tomorrow night to celebrate our anniversary.

“What time and where do you want me to meet you for dinner?” I ask.

Just the tiniest bit of a grin forms on his face. “Seven. And we can leave from here. I’m sure you have more than enough work to get caught up on ’til then since I know you got nothing done this morning,” he says with a smirk.

I frown and storm out of his office before he can say anything more to me. I have to cancel my date with Owen, but I have a chance at a job that could change everything for me. Absolutely everything.

As I walk back to my desk, I see the men in the office staring at my chest, and I quickly button up my blouse. I have a chance at the job I want, but somehow, I’m worried that it’s going to feel more like a date than training. I shake my head.

Jamie would be proud of me for what just happened. She always says I need to use everything I have to go after what I want. Not just my head, but my body, too. It turns out that maybe she was right. That my body and dirty mouth might actually come in handy. They might actually get me the promotion. I just hope I’m not biting off more than I can chew when it comes to Sean.

5

Sean

What the hell am I doing?

That’s the question that keeps running through my head as I try to answer the dozens of emails that fill my inbox. I’ve hardly gotten anything done this afternoon since Olive’s interview.

I had no intention of turning Olive into a manager. I don’t even know if it’s possible to turn her into a competent manager. She’s a complete mess. She has zero confidence in herself, which makes me have zero confidence in her ability to manage people. And, to make matters worse, she doesn’t even have her realtor’s license.

But the way she acted when she entered my office changed everything. She had me entranced from the second she spoke. She brought me further under her spell when I looked up and saw how provocatively she was dressed. I usually hate women who dress so provocatively to try to get ahead in the world, but it’s a proven fact that it works. And I had no idea that Olive had it in her to pull such a dirty trick like that. But, evidently, there’s a hint of a strong, fierce woman beneath her weak exterior. Maybe, just maybe, I can find a way to keep that strong, fierce woman on the surface.

But there’s another reason I asked her to dinner tonight. Because I want her all to myself. After seeing her in my office, I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything. Even money.

I glance at my watch. I still have thirty minutes until I told her to be ready to go to dinner. But I can’t wait any longer, and I’m not getting any useful work done anyway. I close my laptop and roll my sleeves down before I walk over and grab my coat off the coat rack in the corner of the room. Then, I walk out of Jamie’s office and find Olive sitting at her desk.

She immediately spots me, like she has been staring at my door, waiting for me to come out, but when I catch her gaze, and she realizes she has been caught, she begins clicking furiously on her mouse while burying her head behind the computer screen, trying to act like she has been working this whole time. But I know that she hasn’t gotten any more work done than I have.

I know that I affect her. As much as she tries to deny it and pretend like she has a boyfriend, I know that she wants me as badly as I want her. And, despite how wrong it might be to fuck my assistant, who has led me to believe she could be a manager, I don’t care. I’ve done much worse in the past.

“I hope you got all your work done, Olive, because I finished early, and I’m ready to go to dinner now.”

She nods and then fidgets with her computer a second more before closing it. I examine every inch of her body as she closes her laptop. I notice that her shirt is buttoned much higher than it was in my office, much to my disappointment. Although I’m happy that the rest of the men in this office didn’t get the same show that I did.

I shake my head. Where did that come from? I can’t be jealous of other men looking at Olive.

I watch as Olive puts her computer into a backpack. I sigh but don’t say anything. She then walks over and grabs the same bright, puffy pink coat that she wore to pick me up from the airport. I grab it out of her hand and then walk over and drop it in the trash.

“Hey! That was my coat! What are you doing? I can’t go outside without a coat. It’s freezing.”