Taken (Dark Desires 1)

He pressed the buzzer again and got through to Lily in an instant.

“Set up the board room for the first meeting, I’ll be there in five minutes,” he said and with that, he took two large gulps of his scalding coffee.

Belle

She was nervous as she walked towards Devon Rymer’s office. Her team leader, Susan, had informed her that Mr Rymer wanted to personally meet with her at quarter past eleven, and Belle had no idea what for. Susan couldn’t give her the details of the meeting either, so Belle had spent most of the morning fretting over what she had done wrong.

As far as first days at work go, Belle assumed that it had been going well. She had been given the task of conducting some simple market surveys, and she had spent the morning doing that; completing her task well before the eleven fifteen meeting with Devon Rymer.

So, now she walked self consciously towards his office, as directed by Susan and found his secretary sitting at the end of the corridor behind a desk.

“You must be Belle,” the middle aged woman said, looking up at her from over her crescent shaped spectacles.

“Yes, I’m here to meet with Mr Rymer,” Belle said and stuck out a hand to the woman.

“I’m his secretary, Lily. Nice to meet you Belle. Mr Rymer will be with you shortly,” Lily said and shook Belle’s hand weakly.

“Sure,” Belle said and took in a few deep breaths. Try as she did, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had conducted herself wrongly in some way. That Mr Rymer wanted to talk to her to tell her off. Maybe it had something to do with the way she was staring at him!

“Don’t be nervous. He told me that he thinks you’re an enterprising young woman,” Lily interrupted her thoughts. Belle looked at her and forced a smile on her face.

“Really?” she asked, surprised to hear that. Lily shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

The phone beside her on the desk rang and she pressed a button.

“You can send Ms Freedman in, if she’s arrived,” the deep voice said and Belle instantly recognized the voice to be Devon Rymer’s.

“You can go in now,” Lily said kindly and Belle nodded.

She took small slow steps as she walked down the corridor towards the only door that was located at the end of it. Devon Rymer’s office was isolated from the rest of the floor in one corner. She couldn’t even imagine how wonderful the view had to be from that room.

She knocked softly on his door, and heard his voice asking her to come in.

Belle turned the knob and pushed open the door. Devon Rymer was sitting behind his desk, signing a sheet of paper. He looked up at her, and she was struck again by how intensely attracted she was to him. Belle gulped.

“Take a seat, Ms Freedman,” he said, straightening himself in his chair.

Belle closed the door behind her, and walked nervously towards the desk. His office was made of only glass walls, so bright sunlight flooded the room. She noticed the sleek, minimalistic decor of the office, the eggshell white leather chairs, the large oak desk, the potted plants. He had a pretty simple room, with no paintings or additional decor. It seemed like Devon Rymer was a no-fuss kind of man.

Without a word, Belle took the chair across from his desk, and realized how intimidated she was in her surroundings now. Despite what Lily had told her outside, she wasn’t feeling too confident. She couldn’t think of one good reason why he had called her into his office.

“How has your first day been going so far?” he asked, breaking the silence. His clear blue eyes were trained on her, and he was looking at her with an intensely fiery gaze. Belle could barely find the strength to keep looking at him without blushing. He seemed to be the kind of man who knew everything about everything.

“It’s been going well. I’m learning a lot. I’ve been conducting some market research for clients who sell teenage magazines,” Belle replied, shifting in her seat. Her hands were clasped together on her lap and she was pressing her fingers together.

/> “Good. What would you say has been your one major finding?” he asked, sitting back in his chair. Belle gulped before answering. She noticed how broad his shoulders were, he didn’t have his suit jacket on and she could see the muscles rippling under his thin white shirt.

“I would say that teenagers will only subscribe to magazines if they get free samples of products with each copy. Otherwise, they just have the internet for everything,” Belle replied, and tried to match his eyes with a confident gaze.

A soft smile was grazing Devon’s face. He looked handsome, with rugged features, in the bright light of the room. Belle wondered if she had ever seen eyes as blue as that before.

“You’re picking up fast,” he said finally, and she nearly breathed a sigh of relief. She had prepared herself for an onslaught of complaints. She smiled at that, and he smiled too. Despite how intimidated she was in her surroundings, she couldn’t help but admire how comfortable he had managed to make her feel.

“You’re not from New York, are you?” he asked and she was slightly taken aback by that question. Belle cleared her throat and lifted her chin in the air.

“I’m from Little Canada, Minnesota,” she replied and Devon Rymer’s eyes narrowed.

“Where did you go to school?” he asked.