Chapter Thirteen
Noah
I couldn’t get Elena off my mind. I had never been the kind of man to fuck around all the time. It had its place, but I had Lilly to think of. But I had never felt like this about a woman. I hadn’t even felt like this about Cheryl and I had married her and had a child with her. I didn’t know what it was about Elena that made me feel the way I did, but I wanted to see more of her. I wanted to be with her outside office hours. I wanted to kiss her and hold her and fuck her.
Since Monday, we hadn’t been able to talk much. It was almost the end of the week, and we were working hard on the beta product and the marketing campaigns we were going to put into motion.
Elena’s plans had gone down well with everyone. There wasn’t one person working on this project that disagreed that it might be the best project we had done yet. And to think she was only a secretary in this company.
I wanted to give her a better job, where she earned the money she deserved for her business mind and she could help with more of these kinds of ideas. Having her as my secretary was great because I saw a lot of her, usually, but I wanted her to move onward and upward. She could do so much more for the company.
And I would still see her because she worked for me. And I wanted her around, not only in the office but in my personal life a well.
On Thursday afternoon I met with the Marketing team. We had to go through the market research. They had launched a survey that targeted both current customers as well as potential buyers, and we were ready to look at the numbers.
“What do we have, Stan?” I asked the guy I put in charge of the surveys. “Where do we stand.”
“So far, it looks great,” Stan said, putting the numbers up on the projector. “It looks like the crowd loves it.”
I smiled, happy that it was finally going in a positive direction. I needed some good news for a change.
“And the subscription prices?” I asked.
“It’s on par with competitive prices for similar products, and no one seems to be complaining about it being too much. They like having an option, and they’re excited about the new products SI is offering.”
I glanced at Doug. He nodded at me, smiling. He had been telling me to push up prices for months now, telling me my stubbornness would sink the company. He had been right in some ways, but pushing up prices this way was what I had wanted. This was how I wanted to treat loyal customers.
“Give me numbers,” I said to Stan to wrap up the meeting.
“Our projections indicate that in as little as three months we can quadruple our turnaround. It’s all hypothetical, of course, but I don’t see how this is going to fail.”
“Quadruple?” I asked, incredulous. I had never imagined it could go this far.
“Four hundred percent,” Stan confirmed. “And that’s assuming that we lose a quarter of our client base.”
I frowned. “Why would we lose them?”
“No one likes change. There will be consumers that are unhappy, but we can afford the loss.”
I wasn’t happy to hear it, but Stan was right. In any instance, there would be customers that didn’t like where we were going. But if we could make it work despite the loss, it was terrific news. It looked like we were going to make it, after all.
When the meeting adjourned, Doug came to me.
“I’m proud of you,” he said. “It’s fabulous work, and it looks like this is going to turn everything around. Well done.”
I smiled and shook the hand Doug offered. “Thanks, man,” I said. “But this wasn’t me. It was all Elena.”
Dough raised his eyebrows. “Really? Looks like she’s more involved than I thought.”
“I asked for advice, and she gave it to me,” I said. Elena deserved to be acknowledged for what she had done for the company.
Doug didn’t seem very happy about it, but he didn’t say anything. He clapped me on the back, and we left the boardroom where the meeting had been held.
When I was back in my office, I called Elena in. She hadn’t been in the meeting, but I wanted to share the news with her. She deserved to know how well her idea was working. She deserved to know that she had effectively saved my company.
When she walked into the office, Elena took my breath away. She wore a red and black power dress suit with low heels and pulled-back hair. Her eyes were a spring green and he wore natural makeup that made her beauty stand out more than anything else she had done with her hair and makeup before. Or maybe I was becoming more and more biased.
“How did it go?” Elena asked when she sat down opposite me. I fought the urge to walk around my desk and sit down next to her. I wanted to be close to her. But the last time I had done that we had ended up having sex. It was safer to keep the desk between us.
“It was amazing,” I said with a smile. “I called you in because I wanted you to know how well everything went. You gave us an idea that saved the company, and for that, I am eternally grateful.”
Elena blushed lightly, and I smiled. I loved it when she blushed. It brought her features out even more, and it was like a breath of fresh air. So many women were used to compliments, expecting them, demanding them, that her surprise at my compliments was wonderful every time.
I explained what had happened in the meeting, relaying the numbers to her. When she heard how things had gone with the survey, she was as surprised as I had been about it.
“I can’t believe the surveys went that well,” she said. “I never imagined it would be that good.”
“You and me both, sweetheart.”
When I said the pet name, it hung in the air between us. I wasn’t sure where we stood, we hadn’t labeled anything, so the pet name was a risk.
“Lilly is asking about you,” I said, changing the topic to fill the loaded silence that had developed between us.
“How nice to hear,” Elena said and she was being serious. Her smile was real. She liked that Lilly was asking about her.
“I was hoping, if it's not too much, that you would join us for dinner tonight,” I said. I looked at Elena. I wanted her to come over again. I liked how Lilly was around her, and I loved that she was so good with my daughter. But most of all, I wanted to spend time with her away from work, where I didn’t have to worry about anyone watching us or that we should be working instead of talking about other things.
“Tonight,” Elena said.
“It’s short notice so if it doesn’t work, let me know,” I said.
Elena shook her head. “Not at all. I didn’t have specific plans. I’d love to join you.”
She left my office shortly after that to wrap up the day’s work, and I sat back in my chair, thinking about how things had evolved with Elena. When I’d met her in the first interview, something about her had told me that I needed to have her as my assistant. I wanted to see more of her, to work with her at my side. I hadn’t known what it was then, but her looks had played a significant part.
Now, she was so much more than that. She was still drop dead gorgeous, of course, but she was also a stunning person. She was beautiful inside and out. She was sharp, clear-headed and intelligent, and I enjoyed spending my time with her, whether we were talking about work, about personal business, or about nothing at all. Not to mention she was sexy as hell.
But that wasn’t the half of what I found attractive about her. Everything about her was amazing.
Before I left, Doug stopped by my office.
“I saw the memo about the reveal date,” he said. “I think it’s working out nicely. They’re very happy.”
I nodded. ‘They are. And naturally, that makes me very happy. For the first time in a long time, I can relax about the company, despite how hard we have to work to make this happen.”
“Being busy is always good,” Doug said, and I agreed. Being busy meant the money was rolling in.
“I want to push Elena up in the company,” I said. “After her creativity with these ideas, Elena deserves to showcase her talent.”
Doug nodded slowly. I couldn’t tell what he thought, his face was carefully blank.
“Why don’t you talk to HR about it?” he asked. “It might be good to get her out from underneath your feet.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Doug shook his head. “I mean that someone like Elena could be a temptation, and that could ruin the company. So it would be better to put her somewhere she won’t make you think of other things than the business.”
I swallowed. If only Doug knew.
“Well, I’ll talk to HR about it,” I said, not answering him directly. I started packing up my things to leave. “And I’ll see you in the morning. We have a lot to cover.”
Doug nodded and took his leave. I let out a long breath. I had to be very careful with Elena. Doug was sharp, and I didn’t want to cause trouble.
But we could figure it out.