Her Billionaire Boss Page 2

  Turning to my suit jacket, I used the paper towels, which were close to dissolving, to try blotting out the stain. I dabbed and dabbed and dabbed, until the jacket had a big wet spot surrounding the still very visible stain. Well, that was pointless.

  Why couldn’t I have an easy, stress-free first day on the job?

  I threw the paper towels in the trash, where they made a wet thud against the side of the can, and then I whipped the jacket off the counter. Stalking toward the bathroom door, I weighed my options.

  I couldn’t take a picture for a major publication like The Mercury News without a jacket on. It would look weird and unprofessional. Could I cover the stain somehow?

  I scoffed at my thought. Yeah, it wouldn’t look weird at all to stand with my hand covering my chest.

  It seemed that I was doomed to be embarrassed.

  “How’d it go?” the assistant asked as I returned to her desk. What was her name, again? Cherie?

  I shook my head and held the jacket out to her. “It’s a hopeless mess. Do you think I have time to run home and change?”

  “I doubt it. Your dad said the reporter and her photographer would be here at two.”

  I glanced at the clock. That was in fifteen minutes.

  “Well, it’s game over, I guess. I’m just going to look like a fool,” I said bitterly. “I’m sure that’ll be great for the company’s image.”

  “Are you always so negative?” she asked, taking the jacket from my hand.

  “Not usually, but I had honestly hoped to go at least a whole day without disappointing my dad.” I wanted to bite my tongue as those words slipped out. I hadn’t meant to say something like that to a stranger.

  Her eyes softened as she looked at me, and I saw a kindness reflected there for the first time. I had expected pity, but she just looked like she cared. There was a lump in my throat as she smiled at me.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”

  “How?”

  “What kind of fabric is this? Wool?”

  “The finest Italian wool on the market. And the cufflinks are eighteen-karat gold,” I added, trying to impress her.

  “Okay, I wasn’t asking so you could brag. I wanted to know because I’m going to try and get the stain out.”

  “Oh.”

  “Come on,” she said, leading the way to the break room. I trailed along behind her silently, wondering what she was planning to do.

  Chelsea foraged around the room while I watched, checking the cabinets above and below until she let out a happy sound and pulled out a small glass bottle.

  “Vinegar?”

  “Yep, white vinegar. You’ll end up with a bit of a smell, but you’ll be stain-free.”

  “That’s amazing,” I said, meaning it. I had never needed to worry about cleaning my clothes, especially my suits. That was what the dry cleaner was for.

  “You just go to your office and meet the reporter. I’ll bring the jacket in when I’m done with it.”

  “It’ll be dry?”

  “Of course. I’ll use the hand dryer in the bathroom.”

  “You know, you’re a heck of an assistant,” I said, smiling at her.

  She paused, looking at me closely, perhaps to see if I was teasing her. After a moment, she returned my smile.

  “Thanks.”

  As I reached my office, I saw that my dad was already there with a woman in a bright red business suit and a smile that was so wide, I was sure I could see all her teeth.

  “Hello, I’m Shelly. You must be Jay. I hope it’s okay I call you that; your father said it was,” she said, holding her hand out to me to shake.

  “It’s more than okay. I prefer it,” I told her, grasping her hand briefly before pulling away.

  “This is my cameraman, Doug,” she introduced, indicating the man leaning against my desk holding a large camera and chewing a piece of gum. He looked young, probably not even twenty yet.

  I glanced at my dad and saw his eyes focused on my outfit. He looked confused but didn’t say anything. Glancing down at my crisp white dress shirt tucked into my gray suit pants, I was just happy that they were clean.

  The four of us settled into the less formal seating area of my office, my dad and I occupying the couch while Shelly and Doug took the chairs.

  “Tell me about yourself, Jay,” Shelly said, and I started talking.

  I kept everything general and related to the company. I talked about my relationship with my dad and the vision I had to take the company even further than it had ever gone before, together.

  I was charming without being flirty, even though I could sense that Shelly was interested in me. Her eyes kept trailing over my frame, and she did nothing to hide the glint in her eye. I wasn’t interested, but even if I had been, this was not the time nor the place.

  Dad occasionally interjected during the short interview but mostly left the talking to me. We knew that this was a small puff piece, and we acted accordingly. It was still going to be great publicity.

  As our interview was coming to an end and the four of us stood, my assistant finally came through the office door with my jacket draped over her arm. I felt my shoulder muscles relax at the sight of her.

  “So sorry to interrupt, but you left your jacket in the break room after lunch,” she said, striding toward me.

  “Thank you, so much,” I said as I held the jacket out and saw that it was spotless and dry. She had saved me.

  “And you are?” Shelly asked, turning to her.

  “Chelsea Perrelle. I’m Jay’s assistant,” she said.

  That was right. Her name was Chelsea. Shrugging my jacket on, I watched her talk to Shelly and knew that I wouldn’t be forgetting that name again.

  Chapter 3

  Chelsea

  “That’s great news, princess,” my dad said when I told him about the job. I had my phone mounted on the dashboard of my car with speakerphone on as I navigated the streets of San Jose, heading to the office. The traffic was thick and slow-moving; it seemed that everyone was on their way to work at this time of day.

  “Yeah, I guess,” I replied as the massive building of Production, Inc. came into view. I was still a few blocks away, but the place was huge.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just… I’m not quite a success story, am I? I don’t know; I thought I’d be in a better job than this by now. That’s why I worked so hard to get my degree. It was supposed to pay off.”

  Dad chuckled. “You always have been an impatient one. You got that from your mother,” he said with a twinge of sadness in his voice. My mom passed away eight years ago, but I’d swear he still loved her just as much as ever. “Your hard work will pay off. You’re just getting your hard knocks out of the way now.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “The good thing is that you’re too darn stubborn not to reach your goals; that’s also a gift from your mom. Just hang in there, kiddo.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” I said with a small smile. I had reached my destination and was looking for a place to park in the lot. “So, how are you doing?”

  “Just fine,” he answered, a little too quickly.

  “Really? It doesn’t bother you to be alone in that old, empty house?”

  “Are you kidding? The nest is finally empty! Why would that bother me?”

  I shook my head. I knew better. Dad had to be lonely now that I had followed in my older sister’s footsteps and left home. It was the natural order of things, of course, but I worried that he was having a hard time adjusting to life without us. He’d never admit it, though.

  “Whatever you say,” I replied. “I just got to work, so I better go. Just remember that I’m only a short plane ride away if you need me.”

  I parked my car in a shady spot and watched other people entering the building as I sat there. I wasn’t in a particular hurry. I was a little early and the last few days on the job had taught me that Jay wasn’t punctual in the least.

  “Don’t worry about me. Y
ou just get in there and kill it.”

  With a smile, I ended the call. Grabbing my purse and a blueberry muffin that I had picked up from my favorite bakery, I stepped out of the car. This was my fourth day of work, and I had to admit that it wasn’t a terrible job so far. I simply had to get past my prejudice against working as a glorified secretary. The problem was all in my head, and I knew it.

  Well, Jay was also something of a problem, and not just because he was cute. He was completely aware of it, too. It was his arrogance that was ruffling my feathers.

  “Morning, Ellen,” I chimed as I walked past her desk, heading to Jay’s office. I stopped at the coffee pot along the way. Despite my initial irritation when he told me his coffee preference, I had relented and started bringing a fresh cup to his office every morning. He was a real bear without it, so it was in my best interests.

  I let myself into Jay’s office, flicking on the lights as I went. It came as no surprise that he wasn’t here yet. I set his coffee on the desk and retreated to my workspace. Taking a seat, I fired up the computer and nibbled on my muffin while checking my email.

  I was in the process of updating Jay’s calendar, fitting in a last-minute phone conference with a marketing survey company, when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head just in time to see a hand reach out and snag the uneaten half of my muffin off the desk.

  “Hey!” I cried out, shooting Jay a glare as he took a massive bite.

  “Sorry, you want it back?” he asked after swallowing his mouthful. As I opened my mouth to reply, he stuck his tongue out and licked the top of the muffin. I wrinkled my nose in disgust in response to his teasing grin.

  “You’re gross,” I told him. He just chuckled and turned to walk into his office. I called out after him. “And you owe me a muffin!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he called back to me, his voice muffled by his mouthful of baked goodness.

  Smiling in spite of myself, I printed out a copy of Jay’s meetings for the day and headed into his office. He was sitting behind his big desk, sipping his coffee and thumbing through an automotive magazine.

  “I see you’re hard at work already,” I said sardonically.

  “I’m not much of a morning person,” he shrugged. “I don’t know how you’re so chipper at nine in the morning.”

  “I usually wake up around six, actually.”

  “Six? Why in the world would you wake up so early?”

  “I’m a runner. I like to go on a morning jog to wake myself up.”

  “Wow,” he paused to take a sip of his coffee, “that sounds terrible.”

  I smirked.

  “Thanks for the coffee, by the way,” he added, lifting his mug in my direction.

  “And the muffin?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.

  “Of course, very thoughtful of you.”

  I rolled my eyes and stepped up to his desk, placing the itinerary on top of the open magazine under Jay’s nose. It was still warm from the printer, and he picked it up.

  “Wow, lots to do today.”

  “Well, you are vice president of the company.”

  “I was going to take a long lunch today,” he complained. I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my hip.

  “Chuck has a new idea he wants to pitch to you and the only time you were both available was right after lunch.”

  “New idea? What is it? And who’s Chuck?”

  “He’s a part of the development team. I think he wants to expand into making an organizational software program that’s geared toward colleges.”

  “Hmm, I don’t know about that.” His forehead creased as he frowned. “We’ve been targeting business owners for years, and it’s been really successful, obviously,” he gestured to the room around us.

  “Yeah, they love our financial and human capital management programs, but we could reach a whole new demographic with this. It’s a good opportunity for growth.”

  “Maybe…” he replied, not sounding too sure.

  “Well, I think you should hear him out, so you’ll just have to be back from lunch by one.”

  “Okay, jeez,” he conceded, mumbling under his breath about who was really in charge around here. I shot him a satisfied smile and turned to leave.

  “I could use a refill here,” he said just as I reached the door. I turned back to him and he indicated his drink. I narrowed my eyes.

  “You’re dreaming if you think I’m doing that after you stole my breakfast,” I said with my hands on my hips.

  “You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

  “Not a chance,” I replied, shutting the door behind me as I left the office.

  I couldn’t help thinking that this high-powered businessman had a tendency to act like a spoiled rich boy. What am I going to do with him?

  Chapter 4

  Jay

  I left the office at noon on the dot, with Chelsea’s firm reminder to be back by one ringing in my ears. That woman was an enigma. I had never encountered someone so willing to stand up to me. Born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I had to admit that I was used to getting my way.

  Money had a way of bending people to my will, whether I intended for that to be the case or not. Outside of that, I liked to consider myself charming. So, I hadn’t encountered much disapproval from others in my life.

  Too bad Chelsea wasn’t impressed.

  I liked it, though. She was different from other women I had known. There was no hidden agenda with her, no feeling that she was trying to get on my good side because of my wealth. It was…refreshing.

  I walked across the street to a little diner, where I had plans to meet my best friend, Martin. Walking into the fifties-style restaurant, I found him sitting in one of the red vinyl booths, facing the door. Making my way across the black and white tiled floor, I slid into the seat across from him.

  “Hey, man,” I greeted, picking up my menu and scanning the lunch specials.

  “Hey, what’s up? Why’d you change our lunch to the diner? I thought you wanted to check out that new pizza place on Lincoln Ave.?”

  “We can do that next week. I need to make sure I’m back at the office by one for a meeting.”

  “Whoa, seriously? You’re only taking an hour for lunch?” Martin’s face reflected his surprise.

  “Lots of people only take an hour; it’s a standard lunch break,” I said, having been informed of this by Chelsea.

  “Yeah, but not for you.”

  “I’m an executive now,” I defended weakly, knowing he was right. This was probably the first time in history I had ever put a job before my leisure time.

  “My assistant scheduled the meeting,” I admitted. “She thinks it’s important.”

  “Ah, I see.” He shot me a knowing smirk.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Just that you’ve mentioned this woman every day this week. She seems to be on your mind a lot.”

  “We work together. I’ve seen her every day this week.”

  “I don’t know; I think you’re interested in her. Is she hot?”

  “Maybe,” I said, breaking eye contact and looking down at my menu again. “She’s not bad to look at.”

  “Another way to say that would be ‘yes.’”

  “Fine. Sure, she’s hot and maybe a little…intriguing. That doesn’t mean I’m interested. She’s not my type.”

  “Because your usual type is a supermodel with no body weight or intelligence to speak of?”

  “Don’t forget that she should be enamored with me,” I added jokingly.

  “So that’s the problem? This woman isn’t a big Jay Keller fan?”

  “Not really.”

  Martin gave me a calculated look and I wanted to squirm under his gaze. “Good,” he said after a long minute. “I think it’ll be good for you to be around someone that doesn’t try to feed your ego all the time.”

  The waitress chose that moment to approach and we placed our orders: a Reuben sandwich
for me and a bacon cheeseburger for Martin. As she disappeared, I glanced at my phone. I still had plenty of time.

  “You remember that girl Tracy that we met at Nordstrom?” Martin asked me after the waitress dropped off our drinks. I sipped my soda and searched my memory.

  “The redhead at the cologne counter? You got her number, right?”

  “That’s the one, and yeah, we’ve been texting, but I want to get together in person. I was thinking I should invite her to a party this weekend.”

  “Who’s having a party?”

  “Well, I was hoping that you would,” Martin said with a grin.

  I considered his idea. I hadn’t thrown a proper party in a couple of weeks, so the notion was appealing. But, should I really be focusing on that right now? A small part of me knew that I should try to put my partying ways behind me; I had a career now and my get-togethers could get out of control once the alcohol started flowing.

  On the other hand, I was feeling a little stressed lately. The responsibilities of working for my dad were proving to be more than I anticipated, and a big party would be a great way to blow off some steam. I deserved a chance to unwind, right?

  I could recognize that I was trying to talk myself into it, but I didn’t care.

  “You know what? That sounds like a great idea. I just had a new hot tub installed at the house,” I said, referring to my beachside mansion. It was where I hosted all my parties; the location couldn’t be better.

  “Nice!” Martin exclaimed.

  We spent the rest of lunch hashing out plans for Saturday night, and I could feel the excitement coursing through me by the time I returned to the office. I had plans to call a dance studio that provided entertainment for my last party. This time I wanted Hula dancers. I could just picture them on my private stretch of beach, delighting my guests with their synchronized movements. It was going to be a blast.

  My mind was lingering on my party plans as I returned to the office. So much so that it was jolting to round the corner and see my office come into view with Chelsea standing at her desk talking to a man I didn’t know.

  “Jay, this is Chuck. He’s your one o’clock appointment,” she said, indicating the man at her side.