Chapter 2

 

 

Rhett shuffled through the stack of resumes on his desk on Tuesday morning. “Looks like four candidates to meet today,” he mused. “One from your department, Zach.”

“Yeah? Which one doesn’t want to work with me already?” he asked with a wink.

“Freddie—you talked to him yet?” Rhett asked. “Pretty good reputation within the company for only being here a year so far. I think I’ll talk to him first.”

“Freddie? I don’t think I’ve met him yet,” Zach replied.

Rhett set the resume on top of the stack and sent a message to Freddie’s computer to meet him in an hour. As far as takeovers went, the acquisition of LM Solutions was going extremely well. His four older brothers spent their college years and beyond taking over the family business, changing the name, and revamping how it ran. Rhett used to be merely another employee until his brothers decided it was time for him to run a small company of his own—under their supervision, of course. This was his test. If he managed to keep LM Solutions running and make it even more profitable, then he would be ready for the big league.

“Did you guys notice all the sexy ladies working here?” Adam mused from the window.

“I guess this is where all the hot ones have been hiding,” Zach added. “I have one in my department I’d love to sink my teeth into. She is one fine-looking broad.”

Rhett rubbed his back against the chair, settling into his new role as CEO. “Yeah, there are some, but don’t do anything that’s going to get you in trouble with me. The last thing I want to deal with are harassment claims against my management staff,” he warned as he remembered the black-haired beauty from the meeting yesterday. He meant to get around to seeing her, but time got away from him. Perhaps today, after his interview with Freddie, he would take another stroll through the building and search for her. “Right, you three, don’t you have work to do?”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Big Shot,” Jeremy teased. “If you catch any good ones, I want pics…and a video if you manage to sneak one.”

Rhett frowned as they cackled like a pack of hyenas, leaving his office to, hopefully, start working. He’d wanted to bring his three friends with him—the guys who’d made it through prep school and college with him—but now that he was in this position and they were beneath him, he feared they wouldn’t take him seriously. He watched as Zach cornered a pretty blonde, who blushed as he leaned against the wall beside her.

“Typical,” he muttered. Zach was the playboy out of the four of them, always with a girl on his arm or in his bed.

Rhett would enjoy a morning of flirting, too, but this job was serious. His brothers warned him if he didn’t grow up and act like a real Macon brother, he would be kicked out of the company and on his ass. Granted, he had plenty of money from his inheritance, but eventually, the life of a bachelor would bore him. Women and fast cars were great, but only for a limited time.

“Hell, who are you trying to kid?” he asked himself with a bitter laugh. “Why should you grow up?” The world was his to do with as he pleased, his playground, and this new company was no different. He had several ideas he couldn’t wait to implement, and if the previous workers didn’t like it, they could kiss his ass and quit.

The time had come to modernize this tiny company and bring it up to the standards of the Macon family business.

An hour later, a soft rap sounded at his door and he glanced up. The black-haired woman was standing in the doorway, her eyes red and puffy, and she lacked the same flawless makeup she’d had on the day before. No jewelry adorned her either, and her outfit of black slacks and red blouse was so lackluster compared to yesterday.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” she asked in a watery voice that was nothing like the husky voice he’d dreamt of hearing coming out of lips that had been bright red yesterday.

“I’m sorry, did I send for you?” he asked sharply. This was not the same woman. It couldn’t be.

She stiffened visibly and her polite smile faltered. “You sent me an e-mail this morning.”

He paused, glancing at the resume on his desk. “To Freddie.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. “Freddie Sable.”

“I’m confused… your name is actually Freddie?”

She sighed in frustration and shoved her messy black hair behind her ears. He caught a flash of blue and realized the under layer of hair was dyed. “My name is Frederica because my mother hated me as a child. I go by Freddie, have since I was in high school. Do you not like that I use that name instead?”

“No, not at all, I guess. Come in and sit down,” he said, offering her a chair without getting up from his own. Her hand lifted as if to shake his, but he didn’t offer her one. Out of sorts from the name confusion, he picked up her resume and cleared his throat. “You left me your resume as an application to be my assistant.”

“I did,” she answered simply.

He tapped his pen on his desk. “Right, well, I’ll be honest with you right off the bat. You look like you are currently drunk or horribly hungover. Is this a regular occurrence? Because I will not tolerate such behavior.”

“I’m not drunk,” she snapped. “Allergies.”

“Allergies. You expect me to believe that?” His eyes flickered to the door as if the woman from yesterday would magically appear and this grouchy, pitiful woman would disappear.

“Yes, I do. I have never been late a day here or missed a day either.”

“Yes, I see that, but you’re not being truthful with me right now.” She lowered her dark-blue gaze to her lap where she picked nervously at her nails. “Frederica,” he started.

“Freddie, please. I can’t stand to be called that.”

He huffed. What was the world coming to when he had to call a woman Freddie? “You want this job?”

“Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t have applied.”

“If you’re going to work directly under me as my personal assistant, do you not think it’s important that we’re able to be honest with each other? That I can trust you and not worry about missed calls or messages? Messed up travel plans? You will be in charge of pretty much everything.”

She planted her hands on her thighs. “I understand that.”

“Good, then I need you to tell me why your eyes are so red.” Subtly, she shook her head as if trying to talk herself out of something, but he lost his patience. He stood and she flinched when his chair zoomed back the few feet to the wall and hit it hard. “I must ask you to return to your desk and get back to work.”

“I’m not drunk!” she argued hotly.

“Tell me the truth,” he insisted, leaning on the desk before her, giving her the same hard stare he’d learned from his older brothers when their employees acted out.

Her eyes closed, and when they blinked open again, they were filled with a rage he’d never seen on a woman’s face before. “You want to know why my eyes are red?” she seethed, standing to mirror his intimidating poise, though hers made his jaw clench in sudden worry she would lash out at him. “My eyes are red because I was in the bathroom crying—again. Why was I crying, you ask? I’ll tell you. I went to surprise my boyfriend last night and walked in on him fucking one of his clients! I spent my Monday evening breaking up with the bastard and getting drunk on wine alone, sitting on my kitchen floor.”

The intensity of her words nearly backed him into his chair. Nearly. “Well, that doesn’t sound like a great way to spend your Monday night.”

“No. No, watching my boyfriend fuck someone else is certainly not something I would recommend.” Her face suddenly paled and her eyes widened. “Oh, my God, and I just said all that to my boss. Jesus, I’m sorry. I’m not usually like this.”

He grinned. “I gathered. I noticed you yesterday and figured something must have happened for such a drastic change.”

Her cheeks blushed, and he saw a hint of the woman from yesterday. “I’ll…uh, I’ll go then.”

“Go?” he asked, confused.

“Yes. I cursed quite a few times at you and told you several things you didn’t need to hear, and on top of that, yes, I am partially hungover. I’ll understand if you want me gone by the end of the day.” She was moving towards the door before he opened his mouth.

“Freddie, stop,” he ordered, and she did, her hand ready to open the door.

She hesitated but turned. “Yes, sir?”

“First,” he said, striding towards her, “drop the sir. I don’t do sir. I’m not my dad. Second, you will clean out your desk; however, you will move yourself to the desk outside my office. Tomorrow. How does that sound?”

She squinted at him like he’d lost his mind, and for all he knew, he had. If she’d ranted like that to any of his brothers, she would’ve been on her ass before she could blink. Rhett, on the other hand, embraced people as normal human beings. Everyone had bad days. It was his fault she went off on him anyway. He’d pushed first.

“This is a joke, right? You’re messing with me?”

“Not a joke,” he promised, reaching to remove her hand from the door. Her soft skin against his sent a strange shock through his body. For a few, long seconds, he held onto that hand, confused by the urge to keep holding it, to draw her closer and tell her that her fool of an ex-boyfriend was an idiot for hurting her.

Freddie cleared her throat and he released her hand, shoving his hands in his pockets before he did something stupid to embarrass himself further. “Then why?”

“Let’s just say that if you can be this open, blunt, and honest with me now, I have no doubt you’ll do so in all aspects of your job.”

Her laughter was husky and thrilled him in ways he did not expect. “If you insist.”

“I do. This is a new experience for me, and I need to make a good impression on everyone here, as well as my brothers who put me here.”

“I guess a thank you is in order,” she told him and held out her hand.

He grinned at the blue-painted nails. Her blouse sleeve tugged up slightly and he spotted the edges of a tattoo. Asking her seemed too forward during their first meeting, so he let his curiosity wane as he enjoyed the few seconds of holding her hand again. “You’re welcome. Pass your current workload to someone you trust and report here first thing tomorrow morning.”

She smiled brightly, and some of the rage and sadness in her eyes faded. “Tomorrow.”

As she walked away, he followed her out but stayed near his office. Her hips sashayed, and he groaned inwardly at her perfect ass, shaped for holding. Fantasies of picking her up by that ass and holding her against his office walls or splaying her out on his desk filled his mind until Zach’s obnoxious whistle sounded in his ear. Jeremy and Adam weren’t far behind, and Rhett opened his door for them to slip inside.

“Did I call this meeting?” he asked the three.

“No, but we all saw that beauty leave your office. I think she’s the hottest one here,” Zach mused, twisting his body so he could gawk at her again.

Rhett’s chest tightened and the urge to deck his friend rose. “What are you doing?”

“Checking her out, man, what else?” he replied casually. “Damn, that is one fine ass.”

“Yeah, yeah, it is,” he murmured. He’d spent most of his college days chasing girls with Zach and knew his antics like the back of his hand. Why did they suddenly bother him now? Frederica—Freddie—was extremely attractive. Of course Zach would check her out.

“I wonder if she has a boyfriend,” Zach said thoughtfully.

“Recently single. They broke up last night, apparently,” Rhett told him without thinking. The hungry glint in Zach’s gaze flickered to life, which always meant trouble. “Leave her be, man.”

“But she’s ripe for the picking,” he protested. “That’s rebound material right there. An easy one to get into the sack. The way she walks? I bet she’s damn good, too. Who broke up with who? I don’t want to get stuck with some clingy girl, especially if I work with her.”

“I didn’t want to pry into her life and you shouldn’t either. You’re treading on dangerous ground here, and I’m not going to deal with a lawsuit because of you.” Rhett resumed his seat and tried to busy himself so he wouldn’t continue glaring at his friend. “If you three have work to do, can you get on with it?”

Zach pushed off the wall and sauntered towards Rhett’s desk. “Since when are you worried about lawsuits?” He scrutinized Rhett with a hard look and snapped his fingers as his eyes widened with realization. “Well, look at that, boys. I think our friend has the hots for the black-haired beauty of the office. If you wanted first dibs, all you had to do was say so.”

Rhett grinned, even though smiling was the last thing he felt like doing. “No, I never said that. She went through a bad break-up, so leave her be. It’s not like she’d fall for your shit, anyway,” he added smartly.

“You think you can land her first, is that it?” Zach asked, obviously excited.

Adam and Jeremy perked up, smiles lighting their faces. Rhett did not like where this was headed, but when his friends got an idea into their heads, it was hard to get them to back off.

“I’m not saying anything about it.”

“No… no, I think you believe you’re better than I am,” Zach pushed. “Why not make this interesting?”

“Zach,” Rhett warned, but his friend waved him off.

“What do you say, make it like old times?” he asked Jeremy and Adam.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Adam said, chuckling. “Want to put some money on it?”

“Money?” Rhett asked, his interest piqued even though a voice in the back of his mind told him it was a bad idea. These were exactly the type of antics his brothers lectured him about once he became CEO of this little part of the world.

“Yeah, why not?” Zach agreed. “Let’s bet on who can win the fair maiden’s heart first. Or rather, who can get her into bed first.” He rubbed his hands together mischievously, nodding at his own genius.

“Really? This is how you want to start your first week here?” Rhett argued. He blinked and the image of Freddie in nothing but a set of sexy lingerie appeared in his mind’s eye. She was the type of woman he desired in his bed. And really, how bad could this bet be? He wasn’t worried about landing the woman before Zach, but if his friend wanted to compete for her, that was fine with Rhett. He never lost. As he debated his answer, Zach shrugged, pacing around the office.

“Why not? I’m a tad rusty anyway, so it’ll be fair for you.”

“It’ll be even fairer because she is my new assistant.”

Zach’s smug grin fell and he threw his head back. “Of course she is. Well, this should be really interesting.”

“Put a time limit on it,” Jeremy told them both. “None of this running around forever trying to get her to sleep with one of you. How about three months? Since we’re all starting here, it may take time.”

“I’ll take that bet,” Zach said, jumping on it eagerly.

He held out his hand, waiting expectantly for Rhett’s. At some point, his gut told him, he would regret this moment, but his hand was in Zach’s before he had a chance to change his mind.

“Thousand bucks to the man who gets her first?” Zach asked before they let go.

“Deal,” Rhett agreed and let go. “Now, if you don’t mind, my brothers will call soon and I’d like them to think the three of you are actually working.”

Zach held his hands to his chest in mock shock as his mouth gaped open. “Us not work? For shame, how dare you think something so heinous?”

“Out,” Rhett ordered firmly, and they finally left, one by one.

At eleven o’clock on the dot, Skype chimed on his computer. He straightened his black tie, smoothed down his lapels, and clicked on the video answer button. From oldest to youngest, four faces appeared on his screen, all with the same dark-brown hair and sharp cheekbones. Only their eyes were varying shades of brown, hazel, and green. Ryan, the eldest and head partner of the brothers’ company, was the one brother who looked the most like Rhett. The rest, Ray, Rodney, and Reese, took after their mother with her green eyes.

“Rhett,” Ryan asked in his deep timber of a voice, “how have the first two days been?”

Oh, you know, big bro, just making bets with my friends about sleeping with my new employees, he thought, annoyed. “Good. I’ve settled in well, and so far, everyone seems on board with me being here. We’re taking the changes slow.”

“What’s your timeline look like?” Reese asked. He was the timeline and numbers guy out of the five brothers.

“At the outset, two months for the first-level changes and six for the major overhaul. After that, we’ll have to see if the changes implemented turn profit or if we’re wasting our time,” he said with the professional air his brothers somehow managed to adopt from their dad.

By the way Ryan’s eyes narrowed, he wasn’t buying it. “And the other three clowns you chose to bring with you?”

“They’re doing their jobs, as I said they would,” Rhett said. He had wanted to keep this conversation civil, but if Ryan was going to dig into him in the first few minutes, he doubted it would last long.

“The three executives we picked to work with you would still do better.”

“Maybe, but they don’t know me and suits are really not my style.”

Ryan glowered at his baby brother. “Rhett, we gave you this chance to prove to us that you were ready to grow up. One slip up, one mistake, and we may decide to end this little test and shut down LM Solutions for good. Understand me?”

“Yeah, I do,” Rhett muttered. “I can do this, Ryan. Have a little faith in your baby brother.”

“If our baby brother wasn’t such a selfish little prick half the time, we could,” Ray pointed out. “Your track record is not the greatest when it comes to proving us wrong.”

Rhett wasn’t about to argue. He’d barely scraped by in college due to his tendency to party at all hours of the day and forget to do his assignments. If it wasn’t for his last name and the influence his family had with the school, he wouldn’t have graduated. His brothers saw him as a lazy freeloader, their damn kid brother.

And isn’t that what you are? You made a bet about who could get into bed with a woman first, you dumbass.

“Rhett, you with us?” Reese asked, annoyed.

“Yeah, I’m here, and you guys will be impressed with what I pull off, I promise.”

“I hope so,” Ryan replied. “We expect weekly updates, and if we do not receive them, we won’t be having Skype conversations.”

“Don’t worry, I got it, “Rhett assured them all and disconnected the call. He sank back in his chair, rubbing his hand across his mouth and the beard stubble at his jaw. His father had rubbed off on his brothers, but Rhett was the baby of the family. By the time he was born, his dad couldn’t have cared less what he was up to. He’d gotten away with so much shit and lived a very carefree life. This CEO gig was meant to be his moment to shine, to show his brothers what he’d learned.

So far, all he learned was how hard it would be to leave his old ways behind him. And how attractive a woman with the name Freddie could be.