Or a filthy rich, gorgeous ex-girlfriend.
I rocketed out of my office chair and dug out my phone. The recording I took of Rainer giving me all the credit was still on my phone, and I should have played it for Stan earlier. It had felt petty and childish, but now I knew it was just self-preservation. Rainer got what he wanted whether it was billions of dollars or the cream of high society women, and I needed to make sure he didn't take anything more from me. For once, I was going to make sure I got the credit for all my hard work. Especially since I still had to put up with Rainer on my team.
I jumped two feet when my office door flew open. Amy rushed in with her hands flapping.
"You'll never guess who's here," my temporary assistant squeaked. "Guess!"
"I thought you said I'd never be able to guess, so why don't you just tell me?" I put away my phone and wandered back around my desk.
Amy followed me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me to my office door. "Only the biggest fashion icon in all of San Francisco. Did you know she's had lunch with Princess Kate?"
"I think Kate Middleton's title is actually 'Duchess,'" I said.
Amy shook my arm. "That doesn't matter. She's practically our princess."
"Who?" I asked, prying loose Amy's grip.
Amy rolled her eyes and pointed. "Ellison Ramsey. Isn't she the best? Just look at that outfit!"
I didn't want to look. I tried again to pry my assistant's hand off my arm, but it didn't work. Amy was caught in the grip of awe and could not move a muscle. I panicked, not wanting Rainer to glance up and see me held dumbstruck in the door of my office while Amy practically drooled over his ex-girlfriend.
They didn't look like exes anymore.
Ellison used one elegant hand, glittering with delicate gold rings, to brush back her honey-brown hair. My hair looked like rust compared to hers. She was willow thin, dressed as if the clothes had been made for her, and as tall and self-assured in her posture as royalty.
"Oh my God, can you imagine if they got married?" Amy woke from her trance with a fresh squeal of delight.
I yanked my arm free and spun back towards my desk. Everyone in the office was watching Rainer and his glorious ex-girlfriend, or fiancée. I cringed but had to look again. All the junior executives were milling around, waiting for an introduction or the chance to clap Rainer on the back. He'd be congratulated and revered all afternoon after just one sighting with Ellison Ramsey.
It didn't matter to me. In fact, if Rainer was distracted with someone like her, then I could go back to running my GroGreen campaign on my own. It should have been a good thing.
My stomach hurt, and my chest felt like concrete. I couldn't catch a deep breath.
All over a conniving, ladder-climbing, soulless businessman? No, I told myself firmly. Clearly, office romances were not for me. A businessman would never make me happy, especially not Rainer Maxwell.
"Amy, shut the door. I need to get back to work," I said.
My temporary assistant rolled her eyes again but finally did as I asked. I stared at my computer screen and waited. Work would save me, it always did.
When my office door popped open again minutes later, I swallowed a scream. I was set to finally tell my temporary assistant just how useless she was and that she was fired, and then I looked up. Rainer stood in the doorway with one hand raised to knock.
"I just need a minute," he said.
I squeezed the ball point pen I was holding until I thought it would snap. "People usually knock before they open the door."
"We got interrupted this morning, and I wanted to make sure I followed up," Rainer said. He stepped into my office and shut the door on Amy's curious face.
It was impossible not to feel the pull of attraction. Rainer was dressed in a custom-tailored suit, and yet he still looked as comfortable as a man in his favorite tee-shirt. Maybe it was the way his dark brown hair was jut barely under control. Or the way his wide, strong hands were always flexing as if looking for something to do. Strip away the silk tie and the polished shoes, and he would be drop dead gorgeous. I tried not to remember how well I knew that.
"What do you want, Rainer?" I asked.
He scowled at me. Then he looked just over my shoulder, at something far out the window. He couldn't see farther than the gray building next door, but his eyes were searching. Rainer sighed and dropped his gaze back to me.
"Ellison is an ex. I had no idea she'd be stopping by today," he said.
I tossed my pen down and laced my fingers tight together. "If this isn't about work, then you should go."
"I know what people think I'm like," Rainer snapped. He ran both hands through his hair, destroying the careful control there, and sat down across from me. "I don't just jump from woman to woman. I don't want an endless string of one-night stands."