Chapter 13
STEPHANIE
“My expectations?” I repeated, blinking hard to swallow the answer I wanted to give him. I doubted he wanted to hear what I expected from him with the way he was looking at me.
His demeanor was entirely cool and professional, the exact opposite from the heat of Friday and the cocky bastard from lunch. His eyes though, they gave him away. They were hungry on mine, starving even. It looked like he wanted to eat me.
How a good-looking, rich man like him was turned on by me, I didn’t know. What I did know was that I was turned on by him too, which wasn’t a good sign.
Maybe I should convince Neil to hire me as his secretary instead. Now that would work. Neil looked like someone I could learn a lot from. We got on well, and he hadn’t once looked at me like he wanted me for dessert.
But Neil wasn’t hiring. Bummer.
Jeremiah smirked knowingly like he could hear the thoughts running through my mind. “Yes. I’d like to see whether what you are looking for out of this job is what it’s offering. Wouldn’t want you resigning in a week because it doesn’t live up to your expectations.”
I lifted a brow, choosing not to focus on thinking what I wished he was offering. “Does that mean I’ve got the job if my expectations line up?”
“Not so fast.” Another line I wouldn’t mind hearing from him under totally different circumstances. Sigh. If I did get the job, I was going to have to buy new batteries for my vibrator before I started and possibly spend the weekend getting him out of my system. No way would I be able to concentrate on work with this persistent need between my legs. “Let’s get through the rest of the interview first, how’s that?”
Stupid hormones.I hadn’t felt this affected by a man in years, if ever. My body just had to go and choose this dick, both literally and figuratively, to be attracted to. Figured.
I nodded. “In that case, I expect this job will challenge me. At least at the beginning. I welcome that about it. I also expect to work hard in a professional, fast-paced environment, and I expect respect from my colleagues.”
“It will be all that and more.” His eyes slid to a mountain of papers on his desk. “My office is starting a new project. This week, actually. There won’t be any time for myself or anyone else here to hold your hand or ease you into anything.”
“I’m not interested in hand-holding.”
One of his brows started lifting suggestively, but he caught it and schooled his expression. I recalled reading once how tall, dark and mysterious he was. He wasn’t that mysterious to me. I didn’t know what it was, but I could read him somewhat. Somehow.
“Good,” he said, leaning back on his desk and sliding his fingers into his pockets, thumbs hooked on the outside. It caused the front panel of his trousers to stretch a little tighter. I tried not to look, but it was right there. He was standing, and I was sitting, I couldn’t not see the bulge right in front of me.
It didn’t look like he was hard or anything, just well-endowed or hiding a roll of his cash in his pants. My tongue darted out without my say so, wetting my lips.
A rush of heat bloomed between my legs. I wanted that. Too bad it was attached to a man like him, who also happened to be my boss potentially.
“Because the long hours I mentioned earlier are likely to start immediately. Basically, you’d be required to be at my beck and call at all times. Especially in the next few months.”
Like a cartoon devil on the run only to notice he was headed for a cliff, my mind screeched to a halt at his words. I could practically taste the trail of dust being kicked up by my thoughts or hear the cartoon train hit the wall. “Wait a second. Let’s just back up. I’m nobody’s beck and call girl.”
Specifically, not the call girl part. I wanted this job. Well, a job at this company, but not like that. There were plenty of bimbos around yesterday who happily would’ve complied with that requirement. I wasn’t one of them.
As I was about to continue my rebuttal, he told me what the salary would be to ensure I was properly compensated for my trouble. He cocked his head, dark eyes intent on mine. “We take good care of our employees. It’s one of my father’s philosophies and why there generally aren’t so many positions available with the company for one its size. That’s the cash component, there are benefits as well that human resources will discuss with you.”
And just like that, I shut up. That kind of money would change a lot of things for me. Surely, he didn’t mean beck and call girl in the real call girl kind of way. There were laws against that, right?
“If you think it’ll work, I’m in,” I told him, a part of me already starting to wonder if it would be worth getting Herbie fixed or if it was time to invest in a new car. And my student loans, I would be able to—
“Excellent.” He interrupted my spending of the money I hadn’t earned yet. “Have dinner with me tonight, we’ll continue to talk then.”
“No.” The word jumped out of my mouth. He looked taken aback but then gave me a swift nod to continue. “I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
“Well, what if they could be one and the same?” Jeremiah asked after pausing for a minute, curiosity in his eyes.
I got up to go. There was nothing for me here. Okay, a very generous salary. But it looked like my first instincts about him and the call girl he was looking for were right. And I wouldn’t be that for anyone. Not even for him.
I laughed, shaking my head at myself. People didn’t pay straight-up secretaries that kind of money. “You’re looking for a slut, not a secretary.” I walked to the door, looking back at him over my shoulder. “Good luck with that. Please ask Neil not to call me again. Unless he’s looking for someone new, that is.”
He crossed his office in a few long strides, placing his palm on the door to keep it shut before I even realized what was happening. My hand stilled on the doorjamb. Jeremiah was a foot away from me, maybe two.