Would going to his room without shoes on be weird? I had only brought a single pair of shoes, the plain black flats I usually wore. The idea of putting shoes back on after getting clean settles it, I’m not wearing them. Out of all the dumb things I’ve done today, going barefoot has to be the least embarrassing one.

Another deep breath and I grab the notes I have been making on Hungry Harvest and my room key. I knock on his door. Don’t screw this up. Don’t screw this up.

6

Ivan

What the hell am I doing? Exactly what I would be doing with any other new assistant. What I had done with Rebecca, Tim, Ashley, Ryan and the other personal assistants who had come before Christina. I wanted to gauge her insight, to determine her ability to discern what she learned today.

Never mind she would not remain my assistant for long. There is no need to go through this with her. The better to avoid time alone with her. Only this, giving her the ability to freely give her opinion on how to proceed, how she thought I should handle the purchase, needs to be done for a completely different reason, and the sooner the better.

Based on her work today, there is no limit to how far she can go, how invaluable she could be to my company. I needed to know who she was before I gave her the leeway I am considering for her. First, and most importantly, would her plan be a good one? Second, would she be honest or choose flattery thinking it would advance her?

None of that has to do with the agony I am in. Every time I blink the image of her standing in front of me, her gorgeous ripe curves outlined in vibrant red silk, taunts me. Those heavy breasts swelling in front of me, her nipples tightening against the silk. The way those hazel eyes glowed green, locked to mine. I know without a doubt her eyes will glow just like that when I am deep inside her.

Fuck. Even now I have no idea how I stayed standing. How I kept from reaching for her and taking what she so clearly wanted to give me. It played out clearly in my mind: backing her into the room and burying myself deep inside her body for hours, for days.

Until a noise knocked me out of my fantasy into harsh reality. I remembered who she was, who I was. How I would be condemning myself to a shit ton of aggravation if I started something with an employee that would end with more trouble than it was worth.

It was humiliating, the way I had been unable to force my body under control and had to jerk off like a horny teenager to relieve my swollen cock. What is even more aggravating is how I am hard again for her. It has been years since I had to masturbate. There was no need to take things into my own hands when I had only to make a quick call or text to have a woman in my bed very willing to satisfy my desires. Going without release is a new, unsettling experience. I do not like it, at all.

I am pacing again. Damn it. The knock I have been waiting for for more than twenty minutes finally comes. Taking a seat at the small table I had set up for us to work at earlier, I call for her to come in. I lean back, the better to take the pressure off my thickening cock.

Her beautiful silky hair is flowing down around her. Even though she is wearing clothes that hide her body from me, my memory recalls it all too easily. At least her face is clean from the makeup she wore before. A knot of tension is furrowing her brow. I do not like seeing it there. I long to make it go away, only I cannot bring myself to do so. Better to maintain the distance I need, until I can find someone to replace her and move her beyond easy reach.

“Have a seat.” I motion to the chair across from me as I review the questions I have lingering. “I cannot shake the feeling you are holding something back. What is it?”

She shakes her head. “I can’t be sure, which is why I hav

en’t said it, but I think the decision is with the two sisters. It’s clear the father and brother want to believe what they say goes, since they are the ones doing the heavy lifting. But the two women, they did all the research, they reached out to every one of the artisan sellers. The men might be doing heavy lifting, but it wouldn’t be close to what it is without the women.”

I agree with her. “It was clear the young women are the driving force behind this.”

“Yes, but they don’t feel they can say that out loud. You know, take the credit. If they do, they alienate their dad and brother. They’re too young; they don’t know what they are talking about. But obviously they do.

“While you did a good job of pushing Volkov Holdings as behind the scenes support only, I think they are wary you’ll come in and push them to the back like their brother and dad are already trying to do. Which is why I suggested showing them the other companies we’re invested in and downplaying our sales once we turned a company around.”

As she focuses on her notes it’s back, the way her spine straightens. Her tone is clear, her confidence brings her chin up and clear green eyes meet mine.

Why the fuck do I want her so badly when I have had women far more beautiful than her? “I do not like how unwilling you were to share this with me. You could have cost me this deal.”

She shakes her head slowly, her eyes never leaving mine. “You knew it too. I might not have said it, but you were already going there from the very beginning. I watched you with them. You don’t need me to tell you anything. Which is why I didn’t. Maybe you would have given more away in negotiations, but you would get all of it back in returns.”

My instincts were correct. Christina Connolly is good, very good. “You would have said nothing at all?”

Her eyes drop from mine. “If you had pushed too hard on the women when you came back from talking with the dad and the brother, yes. The way you divided and conquered isn’t something I thought you were going to do. I’ve never been involved in anything like this. It worked getting there when the sisters and the mom were in the office of the farmhouse working together. You handled them nearly perfectly.”

I would take it as a compliment if I were not annoyed at the way her eyes widen as she comprehends my actions were not by chance.

“Then you made sure to meet the men in field on their turf; you pushed but made them feel like they were calling the shots. And then ending it with bringing them all together in the house, where they could all kind of air out their grievances and concerns to each other over the pressures they were under, and you laying out how we could resolve those issues.”

I give no quarter. “Regardless, I want your full appraisal of the situation as it is happening. Not after I have put a step wrong when it is of no fucking help at all. Do you understand me?”

She flinches; her head drops as she nods.

“If you do not feel comfortable voicing it directly to me, then you will put it on paper or an email or a fucking text. I do not care. All I care about is knowing that I can depend on my support staff with their damn support. I cannot be all-seeing and all-knowing. I depend on you, Tim, and Connor to see things I do not, to be aware of things I cannot always focus on and bring them to my fucking attention. Do. You. Understand?”

“Yes.” The word is barely audible.

Tags: Fiona Murphy Erotic
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