I’m more prepared to meet the new president this time around. It’s been a few weeks since that introductory meeting, and although I haven’t heard much from her since then, the town is going insane with gossip.

I’ve heard every kind of rumor. People are saying she’s some kind of floozy from the big city, and that she has a string of ex-husbands. Others claim she killed her father to take over the company. It’s all sorts of small-town bullshit, and I don’t pay it any mind at all. I know there’s plenty of crap like that about me floating around out there. You can’t get away from the gossip in a small town like Wheelville.

Still, I can’t help but wonder about her. Not about the gossip, but about who she really is. I haven’t gotten that body out of my mind since the night we spent together. I’ve tried to forget her, almost went home with one of the girls that calls me “Big” behind my back, but decided against it. I just couldn’t bring myself to fuck some pathetic loser when all I really want is Amelia.

I know what people say about me. That I’m some kind of manwhore and criminal. It’s true that I got into some trouble when I was younger, but I’m not that guy anymore. And I’ve slept around, but that’s none of their fucking business. I fuck what I want when I want, and I can’t help it if I’ve left enough satisfied women in my wake that I’ve picked up this stupid fucking nickname. I can’t help it if it happens to be accurate.

I smile to myself as I walk through the offices, wondering if Amelia’s heard about my name yet. She knows all about how I’m Big, and I bet she still thinks about it. I’m positive she’d be blushing if she heard.

I haven’t mentioned my night with her to anyone, and nobody seems to remember it, or at least they don’t realize that she’s the one I took home that night. I can see why: she doesn’t look anything like she did that night normally. In the office, she’s all dressed up in business clothes, but that night she was letting loose, had her hair down, had an air of sadness about her. In the office though, she’s all business.

I sit down at the conference room table across from Ingram and Amelia. I left Roy behind this time, mostly because I want a chance to talk to these people myself.

“I’m glad you came, Samuel,” Ingram starts out. “We have a lot to discuss.”

“We do,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “But I was hoping I could discuss it with Amelia.”

I smile at him and notice the ripple of annoyance that crosses his face, but he quickly gets rid of it. “I’m here to advise Ms. Evans,” he says to me. “Whatever you say in front of her, you can say in front of me.”

“I’m not so sure that’s true, is it, Amelia?” I stare at her with a wicked smile, and I get a blush out of her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says softly. “But if you want to talk alone, we can arrange that.”

She looks at Ingram and for a second, I think he might scream. Instead, he just stands up promptly. “Call if you need me,” he says, and he leaves the room.

I grin at her openly once he’s gone. “Didn’t think you’d do it,” I admit to her.

She crosses her arms. “You think I can’t handle you?”

I grin and lean toward her. “I know you can handle me, Amelia.”

She blushes again but meets my gaze. “This is a business meeting,” she reminds me.

“So what? Should we pretend that night didn’t happen?”

“Yes,” she says seriously. “We should.”

“I’m not going to. And I doubt you’re going to, either. How long was it until you could walk straight?”

That gets a rise out of her. “Don’t be so… lewd here, Samuel,” she hisses. “We’re supposed to be talking about the contracts. Is this why you wanted Ingram to leave?”

“Yes,” I admit. “It’s exactly why I wanted him gone. I want to be honest with you.”

“Saying lewd things isn’t honesty, Samuel.” She stares at me, and I get a chill. This woman isn’t some weak girl here to piggyback off her father’s legacy. I can see it in her expression, and it makes me want her even more. “We have a serious job to do.”

“You’re right.” I lean back in my chair. “Why don’t we get started then?”

She nods curtly, opens a binder, and starts talking.

I honestly can’t follow most of what she’s saying. She’s laying out market valuations, company prices, global trends, the sort of shit that I never pay attention to but probably should start now that I’m union head. I try to track her argument, but mostly I get lost watching her lips moving, and thinking about those lips wrapped around my cock.

This is going to be harder than I realized. Amelia is goddamn sexy and I want her so badly it almost fucking hurts, but on top of all that, I don’t know shit about contracts or any of that garbage. This is just some job that got shoved on my plate because nobody else wanted it. So here I am, staring at this sexy fucking woman, wanting to take her right here on this conference room table so badly it almost hurts.

When she finally finishes, I just watch her quietly, trying to digest it all.

“So you see,” she says finally. “We need to work together.”

“Because of,” I reach out and take the binder from her, “global trends?”

She nods a little. “That’s right.”

I toss the binder down onto the table. “I don’t know what global trends have to do with the hardworking folks out there.”

She frowns a little. “I said already, it’s all connected. The performance of the company is connected to the performance of the workers, and—“

“Amelia,” I say, shaking my head and grinning. “I had no clue you were such a nerd.”

That makes her flustered, which was my point. “Nerd? What? I’m just, I’m trying to explain,” she stumbles.

“Listen to me,” I say. “You want to work together. I can get with that. But in the end, we’re at opposite ends here. I want what’s best for my people, and you want what’s best for the company.”

“We can do both,” she says softly.

“I don’t think we can,” I respond. “I think we’re going to have to struggle. Since when have big businesses ever given a shit about the little guy? We’re the definition of the little guy.”

She chews her lip for a second. “You care about them, don’t you?”

I nod once, feeling serious for once. “Yes, I really do.”

“Good,” she says. “I don’t know them. Hell, Samuel, I don’t know this town anymore. I’ve been away for a long time, and this job, this whole company, it was just shoved in my lap. I want to do a good job for everyone, but I’m going to need your help.”

I don’t want to believe her, but I do. There’s something so earnest about what she’s saying, so simple and honest. For my whole life, I’ve hated people like her, people in power. The shareholders, the company’s profits, they’ve always mattered more than the workers. Crazy Tommy was a decent guy, but he was still a rich asshole that gave himself big fat bonuses every single year, while we toiled away in his fucking mine, barely making ends meet. They want to slash our benefits every few years, and we have to constantly fight for everything we have. Even basic things like standard of living raises and workplace safety are a constant concern for us.

Amelia represents those people, the people that have historically kept us down and sucked our fucking blood dry. But she’s not one of them. I can tell she’s not, although she might be one day. She’s too new to all this, too clean and pure. She seems like she cares too much.

I don’t want to ruin her, but I want her to see the world for what it is. She knew I was a miner from my fingernails, from the coal dust that’s shoved in there from hours and hours of working down there, coughing up coal and letting it stick to the sweat on my skin. She doesn’t know what it means to be dirty.

But I want to show her. “You really want to help?” I say finally.

“Yes,” she answers.

“Okay then.” I stand up suddenly. “Let me take you on a tour of the mine.”

She looks surprised. “When?”

“Tomorrow,” I say. “Wear something comfortable.”

“Uh,” she says, standing. “What do you mean, comfortable?”

I grin at her. “Not that sexy skirt or those fucking heels that make your ass look fantastic.”

She blushes again but looks annoyed. “Samuel.”

“Just stating a fact. You look more like you want to get fucked than like you want to discuss contracts.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

I turn and leave the conference room. Ingram is lurking nearby, but I don’t even bother looking over at him. I know he’s a lost cause. If he could have his way, he’d cut all our benefits, give us minimum wage, and let us all die down there in the goddamn darkness of the mine.

Amelia might be different, though. I just have to show her the people she supposedly wants to help and the conditions they work in. I want her to see how real all this is. It’s not just numbers on paper, these are living humans with dreams and love and hope.

I’ll open her eyes. And then, if that goes well, I’ll open those pretty legs and get another taste of what I really want.