Counting the Days (Counting the Billions 1)

I felt stupid the minute the words were out of my mouth. Way to show my intelligence: open with some generic small talk. I should have just cut to the chase and started talking about the weather. Shit.

But McGregor honestly looked relieved I had asked. “I have to be honest with you, I’ve interviewed a few other people for this same position today,” he warned me.

I frowned. “Yes, I saw the other woman leave right before me,” I told him, though that should have been obvious.

Another awkward silence filled the room. Finally, McGregor cleared his throat and shuffled some of the papers on his desk. “As my advisor, I would need you to stay on top of current news in the business world,” he said finally. “Can you tell me what sources you currently use for that?”

I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. Hopefully, that meant we were on track for a real interview. Even if I knew I was no longer interested in the position he was hiring for—that of his latest fling—I figured I might as well give it my all. I could always use more practice with interviewing, I reasoned to myself. And besides, maybe McGregor had friends in the industry who were actually hiring. He might mention me to one of them, even if it was just in passing.

I knew the chances of that weren’t exactly high, but either way, there was no point in sabotaging the interview. I’d answer every question he’d shoot at me without batting an eye. I straightened and waited for the next question.

“Sounds like you’re pretty good at problem-solving,” McGregor said as he wrapped up the interview. I had noted the grudging appreciation in his face as I adeptly answered his situational-based questions. I hoped he realized that I wasn’t looking for the kind of position that he wanted to fill.

I shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve had a lot of experience at the other companies I’ve worked for,” I said, knowing from the way he had studied the papers on his desk that he at least did have my resume in front of him there. Maybe he needed an advisor who wouldn’t embarrass him at company functions and so he wanted to make sure that they had some sort of background in business?

For a moment, I thought about how that would be. If he really was looking for arm candy for company functions, there was no doubt that I might meet some interesting people and be able to network a little. People who would actually see me for what I was.

But of course, I wasn’t going to sleep with McGregor, and the tabloids, as much as I hated them, painted a pretty clear picture of the man. That was what he was looking for.

It wasn’t only the sex part that bothered me, though. I was through being arm candy for any guy. I wanted to shine for my own merit, not just because I looked good next to someone else. And I knew that there would be rules that went along with such an arrangement. McGregor would expect me to dress a certain way and act a certain way. He might even forbid me from talking to anyone when he wasn’t around, which would make it damned difficult to find other people willing to hire me for my brains.

No, that wasn’t a good idea. Even if McGregor somehow looked past my curves and thought I was worthy of showing off at the kinds of lavish company parties he had been rumored to have.

“Why McGregor Enterprises?” the man asked suddenly, as though he could tell that I wasn’t interested in the position any longer.

I shrugged again. “I happened to see your ad in the paper,” I admitted.

“Why did you quit your previous job?”

“There was no upward mobility,” I told him. Also true. At McGregor’s confused look, I elaborated. “They wanted me to keep the same bottom-floor job for the rest of my life. I’m just a girl in the business world.”

There was a thoughtful look to McGregor’s eyes, and I wanted to call him on it. It wasn’t like he could understand where I was coming from. Not only was he not female, but he had never had to work to get to where he was now. He had never started out on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, and he hadn’t really had to work his way to the top. No, the company had been handed over to him when his father died. He couldn’t possibly understand.

I held my tongue, though. No point in getting into that. No point in hearing him try to tell me that my rank in the office would have nothing to do with my gender, or that my lack of mobility at my previous job must have had something to do with a lack of drive on my part. Or a lack of commitment, or a lack of ability. I had heard it all before. The business world was still an old boy’s club and they covered for each other. Guys seemed to love to make excuses on behalf of dudes they had never met, and women were just as quick to jump to conclusions that other women must be wrong about such things.

“What position would you like to have, one day?” McGregor asked suddenly, surprising me for the first time.

I grinned at him, knowing that I wasn’t going to get this job anyway. So why not be blunt about what I wanted?

“CEO,” I told him. It managed to startle a laugh out of him, but he didn’t sound at all incredulous or disparaging. He sounded... impressed.

Chapter 7

Daniel

I STARED DOWN AT ABBY’S resume as I thought back over the interview I’d had with her. I had to admit, she had impressed me. She definitely knew what she was talking about when it came to dealing with clients and everything else. Not only that, but she had done her research on McGregor Enterprises; that much was obvious from a few of her answers. She was the first person I’d interviewed who made me feel certain that she knew more about the company than she knew about what was said about me in the tabloids. I liked that.

I liked her, to be honest. She was spunky and bold. Confident, but not arrogant. I could tell that she was the type of person who would stand up for what she believed in, even if it meant standing up to me, her boss. She could be just what I was looking for.

Except that some of her answers, as well as the tightly clenched jaw and some expression in those pretty green eyes of hers, made me wonder if she even really wanted this job or if she just wanted to see if I would hire her.

There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” I answered reflexively.

It was Erin. “How did it go today?” she asked.

I sighed and shuffled together the papers on my desk. “You were right,” I told her. “Abby did have potential. At least for a probationary offer.”

Erin grinned lopsidedly at me. “So you’d like me to send Ms. James an offer of employment?”