Even though I would never sleep with McGregor, there was something about looking sexy and professional that made me feel like I had power over him. My heels added a little extra height but also ensured that he would spend at least a couple of minutes staring at my shapely legs. And although he wouldn’t see the lacy black bra and panties I had hidden under the rest of my clothes, they also gave me a confidence that I wasn’t totally feeling.
I was nervous. I wanted this position to work out, in spite of my confusion about what McGregor was really looking for. I wanted this to be the position I had been looking for, the one that I had initially thought it could be when I saw the ad in the paper. I wanted him to challenge me.
But there was also a part of me that just plain wanted McGregor to think I was sexy. I might not want to sleep with him, and I had long since gotten over the fact that I would never be a model, not with curves like mine. But I knew that McGregor was an attractive man, and I knew he liked to surround himself with attractive people.
I could tell that he had hired me for my brain, but it would be nice for him to appreciate the way that I looked around the office too. I wanted to make a good first impression. Or second impression, I supposed.
Besides, McGregor had warned me it was going to be a busy day. Every bit of confidence would help.
I got off the elevator on the top floor and headed over to greet Erin, the receptionist, just as I had the day before. Erin grinned at me and handed me my badge with my name on it. “Let me take you on a tour of the office,” she said, putting her incoming calls on hold and coming around the desk to greet me.
She introduced me around the office, and I was surprised at how friendly and welcoming everyone else was. I wondered what they thought of me, if they were sizing me up for my business acumen. Or did they all think that I was just there because McGregor wanted to sleep with me? Did he want to sleep with me?
I couldn’t believe that he would. I knew that Leanne would have tried to convince me otherwise. What were best friends for, after all. But I hadn’t told her I had accepted the job. I had thought about calling her the previous night, but ultimately, I had decided that I wanted to see how things went with the job before I told her about it. If I had to suffer some terrible humiliation at McGregor’s hands, I might not want to talk to her about it, or at least not right away. She would understand, I was sure.
I felt strange, keeping something like this from my best friend. There were no secrets between the two of us. But it wasn’t a secret, I told myself. I would tell her about my new job this weekend at the latest. Once I knew what exactly McGregor was looking for from me.
I glanced into one of the glassed-in conference rooms. It was full of men in suits, all chatting quietly amongst themselves. I wanted to ask Erin about them. I wondered who they were and if they were other people who worked here. Somehow, I didn’t think so, but I wasn’t sure what about them made me so sure that they were outsiders. There was just something about the people that worked for McGregor Enterprises that seemed at once so put-together and also casual. Those guys in there, they were 100 percent formal. Or something.
We reached the end of the tour, pausing outside McGregor’s office where I had interviewed the previous day. Erin tapped lightly on the door and then opened it. She nodded for me to go inside. When I did so, I saw that McGregor was on the phone, his feet propped up on the desk in front of him while he absentmindedly twirled a pen around the fingers in the opposite hand as the phone.
He nodded distractedly at me, giving me a quick smile, but he continued listening to whoever was on the other end without pausing to greet me.
“Go ahead and have a seat,” Erin told me in an undertone. “He should be off the phone soon, and he asked me to send you in here as soon as we were done with our tour.”
“Thanks,” I told her, smiling at her.
“Don’t worry about it!” Erin said before retreating back to her desk, shutting the door quietly behind her.
I turned back toward McGregor, slowly making my way into his office and trying to ignore the loud beating of my heart. It was just the two of us now, me and my new boss. With him on the phone like that, I got the chance to size him up in a way that I hadn’t the previous day.
I wished suddenly, wildly, that he wasn’t so damned hot. I felt like I could barely think straight now that I was alone in the room with him. It wasn’t just his physical looks, either. He had a certain charisma about him, the kind that drew a person in, the kind that made you want to do whatever you could to make this man happy. I had no doubt that the tabloids were right about the number of women around town who were just dying to please him.
Not that I was one of those women. Except that he was my boss, and I guess it was my job to keep him happy. Or at least to advise him well so that the business continued to thrive.
McGregor finished up the call he was on and set down the phone. “Good morning, Mr. McGregor,” I said pleasantly, trying to cover up the fact that I’d been staring at him through the end of his call.
He gazed at me for a long moment, a smile tugging at his lips. Then, he got to his feet. “Daniel, please,” he told me. “Mr. McGregor is too formal. We’re going to be working together a lot, you and I. I want you to feel comfortable around me.”
There was no chance of that happening, not unless he showed up at work wearing a burlap sack over his head, but I didn’t tell him that. Instead, I just nodded at him. “Daniel,” I agreed
.
“Ready for your first opportunity?” Daniel asked me, folding his arms across his chest and arching an eyebrow at me.
“Guess so,” I said, getting to my feet. Daniel nodded approvingly but didn’t say anything more to me. I was tempted to ask him just what our agenda was for the day, but I figured if that was something he wanted me to know, then he would tell me. Instead, I trailed after him as he led me out of the office and down the hall to the conference room I had spied before, the one full of men in suits.
Daniel breezed into the room as though he owned the place, and I could see the approving looks on a few of the other men’s faces. I trailed after him, wishing that I could feel as confident as him. Fake it ’til you make it, I reminded myself, pasting a smile on my face as I fell into the seat beside Daniel.
There really wasn’t so much of as reason to be nervous. I had done as much research on McGregor Enterprises as I could before I had even walked into the interview with Daniel the previous day. Not that I’d really had too much time to prepare. But whatever holes there had been in my knowledge, I had done even more research the previous evening. I knew what the company stood for, what Daniel worked for. Even beyond what little I had studied in my final year of business school.
I knew what my job was, here in the conference room. It was just when I was alone with Daniel that I had to wonder just what it was he was looking for from me. As long as there were other men around, though, he wouldn’t dare be too familiar with me.
Would he?
But no, I knew that whatever the media had to say about Daniel McGregor, his business associates were full of praise for his professionality. All I had to do was focus on this meeting and offer any advice I could, when asked for it. I’d need to think on my feet, and I’d need to pull out something that was at least a little bit creative.
It was nerve-racking, that was for sure. But at the same time, I had to admit that it was oddly exhilarating. None of my previous jobs had challenged me the way I needed. Maybe this was just the thing for me.