Alastair opens the door to his office for us, gesturing for me to enter first. “Have a seat.”
I straighten my suit jacket as I enter, suddenly a little nervous. I barely ever make room for nerves in my life. Usually, everything is on my own terms, and I can’t help feeling relaxed that way. But this mysterious meeting has thrown me off. Suddenly, I’m paranoid that my job might be on the line.
Can it be?
Don’t be silly, Alexandra, this place would crumble without you.
Alastair laughs at my expression as he crosses the room to sit behind his desk. “There’s nothing to worry about, Alexandra. You know how much I value your contributions. Now please, sit down.”
I’m awash with relief. I try and regain my composure, settling for a wan smile as I take a seat.
Alastair threads his fingers together and places them on top of his desk.
“This is hard for me to say. We’ve been colleagues for some time now, and you’re one of my top employees. That’s why I’m letting you know before the rest of the team—I’m leaving, Alex.”
“What do you mean?” I sit up straighter, alarm shooting through me.
Alastair chuckles. “I thought you’d be pleased to see the back of me.”
“Of course not!” I cry. How can my boss be leaving? Leaving where?
“I’m messing with you, Alex. Just teasing.” Alastair watches me fondly, sipping the tea his assistant, John, brings to his desk.
“I don’t know why you’re so surprised. We all have to retire at some point. Even workaholics like you, eventually.”
“Well, yes. But you’re still...”
“Young?” Alastair finishes for me. He laughs again, shaking his head. “One of the things I love most about you is that you’re so funny without meaning to be. Are you telling me you didn’t see this coming?”
“Of course not. You didn’t exactly give us any warning.”
Alastair waves his hand dismissively. “Well. I’m telling you now. In fact, you’re the first person to find out. I’m announcing my retirement officially at the end of the week.”
I resist the urge to chew my nails, but I can’t help feeling anxious. New management could change everything. I’m comfortable here in part because Alastair is British and has a laid-back management style. He moved here over two decades ago with his first wife, a wealthy American, and stayed here even after his divorce. He has been a very easy and kind boss. He basically gives me the run of my office. I’m able to do things my own way. If he leaves, what else will change?
“So what does this mean for us?” I ask. “And why are you telling me?”
“I’ll get to that in a moment. I actually have a favor to ask.”
“Anything you want,” I tell him, and I mean it. Alastair made me what I am today. He took a chance on me, and I wouldn’t have gotten this far without him. I will happily do anything he asks.
“I’m telling you first because you are responsible. I know you carry a lot of the workload, possibly more than me. I’m not embarrassed to say that I’ve had very little involvement in this company, because I’m lazy. It’s true, you can’t deny it. A bit of a womanizer, too. I started this business trying to bring dating into the information age. I never thought it would be the success it is now, top three in the field. It’s a lot in part thanks to you, Alex.”
My lips twitch a little. “That’s okay. You’ve been a great boss. Two marriages, two divorces, two sons to look after, plus...well, you’re charismatic. We can’t deny your presence is required at every red carpet event ever thrown in this city.”
Alastair laughs a little louder than necessary, slapping his hand down on his desk. “True, true. Well, I admit I’ve grown—my character has matured—along with this business. And I’ve always seen you as my little protégée I think you could help run this joint someday. But of course, there’s someone else set to inherit by default.”
I know he’s speaking of his sons. I know his eldest is some hotshot at a media company and that Kit is the party boy, that he’d been off in Thailand or somewhere for three years.
“William’s got his own empire to run,” he begins, as if reading my mind. “And Kit...he was in Thailand for a while. But it’s time he learned the meaning of hard work. Or at least work.”
He leans back. “Kit has absolutely zero experience, but I don’t see that as an issue, to be honest. When you came to me you were inexperienced as well, and look how far you’ve come? Kit...” He frowns as though considering how to phrase it. “The issue lies in his personality. He’s not cut out for company life as of yet. Kit’s just like his old dad at his age—lazy, unfocused, immature. It runs in our blood, I’m afraid. And his mother didn’t do much to improve our bloodline, I might add.”
Everyone knows Alastair married his second wife, some sort of stripper he met on a trip to London, only because she got pregnant with Kit. She was a party girl and Alastair gave her the boot pretty quick.
“But the thing is, Kit’s still young. He’s not set in his ways like me. I think with some guidance, he could be good at this whole thing. He seems keen on taking over, anyway.”
Of course he is, I think to myself. Let’s be honest, what guy wouldn’t want to be in charge of a multibillion-dollar company with hundreds of employees?
“He’s smart as a whip, Alex,” my boss continues, eyebrows drawn as if sensing my reluctance. “He’s cool as a cucumber, too. He could excel here. I’m determined that he’ll be of some use. I couldn’t bear it if he turned out to be a failure and brought shame to the family name. He has so much potential.”
I chew on my lip to squash my growing discomfort. The idea of someone so inexperienced in charge of me doesn’t appeal in the slightest. But what can I do? I need to suck it up and keep hustling, like I always do. This job is everything to me.
“So what can I do to help you feel more at ease with this...transition?” I ask him.
Alastair chuckles. “Straight down to business as always. Well, in truth, Kit could use a mentor, but he would never accept that. He doesn’t like to be told what to do. While he gets settled, I’m still going to flit in and out to keep an eye on him. But I can’t be around all the time. I want you to guide him.”
Guide him.
Guide that hot, sexy, womanizing playboy who’s about to start playing the boss? Worse than that...my boss? My stomach clutches at the prospect.
“Why so silent now, Alex? My little prodigy, always with something to say, has no words for me?” He raises his brows. “Remember, you just promised you’d do anything for me.”
I sigh, quietly admitting with a smile, “I shot myself in the foot there, didn’t I?”
“I suppose you did.” He smiles back.
I swallow the lump of nerves in my throat. I know that I don’t have a lot of choice but to comply. But I know boys like Kit. They’re cocky. They probably did well at school, breezing through exams easily with minimum effort. They feel ready to take on the world, but they never want to put in the work because they’re not used to it.
I’m radically different. Preferring studies to parties. My parents were workaholic perfectionists with little time for me, and it’s in my DNA to be a workaholic perfectionist, too.
Work was, and still is, my parents’ religion. To the point we talk by phone only on Christmas and birthdays—and mostly, about work. All I have is my little sister, Helena, whom I’ve endeavored to put through the best college thanks to—once again—my hard work. She’s in her second semester at Stanford and she and I are both very proud of that.
My parents have always believed that hard workers aren’t born that way, they are made. They’ve given Helena and me very little financial help since we finished high school. They think it’s formative. But I think that Helena, who is smart as a whip and hopes for a career in technology, deserves the best college education, too.
That’s why this job is so important to me. Accomplishing my own dreams is helping me give my sister the same opportunity with hers.
A man like Kit would never know a thing about sacrificing for someone else. A boy, who’s clearly enjoyed the good life and all the pleasures to be had before work even came into the picture. Babysitting him sounds complicated and that’s not what I studied so hard for. I just don’t like this idea at all.
I don’t have time for lazy boys!
Unless my job depends on it, of course.
“Well, what do you want me to do?” I ask Alastair in an effort to grant his last request.
“Just be a guide to him. Once he trusts you, he might see how hard you work and want to follow in your footsteps. Watch him, teach him and...report to me.”
“What is it that you want me to report?”
“How he’s doing. His inheritance will hang in the balance. I want to be sure my boy is deserving of it. And I’m hoping, to be honest, that with you as inspiration he will be even more adept at this than I am.”
I clasp my fingers together tightly in my lap to contain my feeling of dread. I’d hate bearing the burden of being his son’s new judge, but I love Cupid’s Arrow too much to let it fall into the wrong hands, too. “And if my report is not...what you hoped it would be?” I ask.
“Then you help him change that. For the good of the company.” After dropping that bomb on my lap, Alastair stands. “Let me call him in.”
“Alastair, wait—” The idea of seeing Kit Walker again while I’m still getting my bearings doesn’t sit too well with me yet.
Alastair is already at the door, summoning his playboy son through his assistant. “John, call my son in, will you?”
I’m on my feet and within two minutes, there’s a triple rap on the door. It’s light and casual—and Kit doesn’t even wait for Alastair to invite him in. The door swings open—and yes.
Alastair’s youngest son is still the hottest man I’ve ever seen.
Alastair is back behind his desk. “Come in, Kit. Alex and I were just discussing you and Thailand.”
Kit leans his shoulder against the doorframe and slides his gaze to me. “Of course you were,” he croons in that soft British accent.
What’s that supposed to mean?
“So, Alex,” he says as he moves farther into the office and heads around his father’s desk, “you ever been out of Chicago?”
“I go by Alexandra. Or Ms. Croft,” I say all of a sudden, tipping my chin back haughtily.
Alastair laughs, and Kit raises his brows. “Ah well. Miss Croft,” he murmurs, a playful twinkle in his eye. “Any other instructions for me before I take charge here behind this...very...desk?” He raps his knuckles on it and inspects it, pretending to be impressed as if he had never seen one before.
Is he making fun of me? Did he overhear us, or is it simply that he’s smarter than he looks and knows what his father was up to from the beginning?
I bristle a little. Almost wanting to warn him. Yes. Watch your back! This place is for people who value work and don’t throw time away like you do your girls! But I don’t say that.
Still, emboldened by what Alastair has just requested of me, I say, “Only that your father has always trusted me to do what’s best for my team—I expect the same courtesy from you, Mr. Walker.”
“Oh. I go by Kit.” His lips begin to curve upward. “And I’ll do my best to grant you as much freedom as my father does, Miss Croft.” He smiles completely now; a drop-dead gorgeous smile perfectly suited to that drop-dead gorgeous face.
I know he’s playing with me. And I start to suspect there is more to this boy than just a pretty face—like Alastair said, he has intelligence, pride and obviously a keen sixth sense. And I can’t help but feel my reaction to Kit’s smile deep in my gut.
God help me. It’s going to be a long day. A long month. Worse...a long year, if the bastard stays. I smile tightly in return and nod my head. “Well then, I’ll be ready. Now, am I excused? Some of us need to get back to work.” I try to say that playfully, though Alastair knows I’m a workaholic and rarely make room for chitchat at work. He nods and I head out. Back straight, shoulders rigid, as if I’m not acutely aware of Kit Walker’s eyes on me as I leave.
“Is he not the most gorgeous—” Angela, one of the most boisterous members of my design team, purrs the moment I reach my floor.
“Get back to work,” I snap. Everyone looks up from what they’re doing.
I head to my private office in the back and exhale, wondering why that sexy, coddled playboy pushed buttons I was never really aware of before. Until now.