Boss

Three

It’s been a week since Alastair told me he was retiring, and now I’m sitting at my dresser, preparing for his retirement party. He’s hired out a posh hotel on Michigan Avenue where over three hundred employees will gather to celebrate his time at Cupid’s Arrow.

“I still can’t believe how gorgeous Alastair’s youngest is,” Ellie says. “I can’t believe Alastair asked you to help teach him the ropes.”

I start brushing my hair and smirk at her. “Good genetics. Alastair is very good-looking, too. He has two sons from different marriages and a string of affairs to attest to how those Walker men are candy to the ladies.”

I twist my hair back into a bun as quickly as possible so that I can finish my makeup. I may be a designer, but styling hair has never been my strong point. I continue with my makeup, ensuring that it enhances my blue-green eyes and light skin tone.

Why am I so nervous about tonight?

Is it because Alastair is leaving...or because Kit is taking over?

“I’m sort of dreading this whole thing, Ellie. I mean... Why does Alastair think I have the ability to change some playboy into a model boss and entrepreneur? It’s ludicrous, really.”

“But you did notice the way you two sort of lit up the whole room when you saw each other?” Ellie, not one to miss anything, asks.

A little tingle races down my spine at the thought of seeing Kit again.

I try to push the memory of our initial meeting aside, but the nervousness increases. I examine my face and figure in the mirror, wanting to look perfect.

My hours at the gym have paid off and my slinkiest black dress finally fits me again. It hugs my hips and shows off the perpetual flatness of my chest and stomach. It makes me look professional, at least, and that’s what I need this evening.

I spritz some perfume on my neck and wrists. “No, I won’t admit to that,” I finally say in my effort to put that meeting past me. “In fact, I think you’re seeing things, and I blame your new low-carb diet.” Fixing my hair one last time in the mirror, I quickly change the subject. “Okay, I’m ready. You?”

I cross the room to find a suitable pair of shoes while Ellie takes my place on the vanity bench. “I’m ready. But are we seriously not going to talk about this? Alex, we’ve been friends for ages. Even before Cupid’s Arrow. We grew up together. I know you.”

“Okay, fine. I haven’t been on a date in two years and I suppose I was struck by the man’s utter beauty and his gorgeous—we can’t deny it—British accent,” I say, slipping on my favorite red heels. “That speaks volumes about me, don’t you think? That some stranger can just throw me off the way he did?”

Ellie laughs. “It speaks volumes that you need to get laid. Even workaholics need a little playtime.”

“Not this one. And especially not with him. God, he was such an ass in Alastair’s office, Ellie!” I stand up, wriggling my toes in my shoes to make sure they’re comfortable enough to drive in. “I suppose if a decent man asked me on a date, maybe I’d go out with him.”

This week I’ve been sleepless, wondering why meeting Kit has made me think a lot about the romance in my life—or lack thereof. And how much I’d love to change that.

“Like who?”

I shrug. “I don’t know.”

Ellie arranges her bun and twirls around, inspecting herself in the mirror. “Yeah, well. I do. Alastair’s son. You would totally date him.”

“No, I shouldn’t. Alastair once told me his eldest son, William, is like his first wife, who was very responsible and divorced Alastair because he was such a mess in his younger years. But if Kit is anything like his father when he was younger or that stripper second wife he married, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole. Players aren’t my thing.”

Ellie frowns at me, looking disappointed.

I laugh. “I just like guys that aren’t complete assholes, Ellie. Like that one boyfriend who was so easygoing. Maybe too easygoing to the point maybe I thought he didn’t care?” I grab my car keys from my dresser and pull Ellie to the door. “I know what you’re thinking. But I’m not picky. I just have standards.”

Ellie and I head out to the car together, complimenting each other’s outfits.

“I have standards, too, but I occasionally date, you know?” she counters as we get in my car. “It’s not a bad thing to recognize that you’re a woman and have needs.”

I groan and playfully swat her shoulder before starting the engine. “Stop it. I need to be professional tonight and I can’t be moping around about my datelessness these past two years.”

The truth is that I’m more nervous than I’m letting on.

I haven’t been to a party in a while, let alone one as important as this. Kit will be there tonight. I need to make the right impression from the start. Do I act professional? Do I try to be friendly with him in a way that’s totally out of character for me? I’m not sure what Alastair will expect.

“Are you going to pull out of the parking spot?”

I blink, realizing I’ve been sitting in the driver’s seat for a solid minute. I shake my head at myself, shifting into Drive.

“Wow. Alex Croft, completely dazed by a guy.” Ellie laughs.

As I pull into traffic, I rub at my eye absentmindedly, then quickly pray I haven’t smudged my makeup. “This has nothing to do with a guy. We barely exchanged words. It’s just that tonight is important.”

“I’ve never seen you so flustered. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” I say bluntly. Then I laugh when she just wags her eyebrows. “You know I’m nervous about this whole deal. Me babysitting that...player. I’m nervous that after Alastair gives his goodbye speech later tonight, there’ll be no turning back and we’ll all have Kit Walker as a boss.”

Ellie sighs dreamily. “Another reason to wake up with a smile in the morning. Just to see him in the office—”

“Ellie!” I groan, part of me wishing I could be so carefree about men and dating like she is.

When we park outside the hotel, I grab my handbag from the backseat and spend a minute fixing myself up in my wing mirror. Ellie does the same.

“Speaking of possible dates...look who’s here just in time. Methinks some guy at the office likes you.”

As I peer out the window, I spot Ben walking toward us. “Hey, Alex. You look great.” He opens the door for me.

“I—ah, thanks Ben.”

“No, really, you do. You sound like you don’t believe me.”

“I, uh, no, I’m...”

“Ben, she knows she looks hot.”

He frowns at Ellie, then shoots me this sad little smile. It’s probably the kind of look that normally has girls swooning at his feet. He’s got a certain charm, that one. Not that it appeals to me much. He’s a friend, and that’s how I want it to stay.

“Okay then,” he says absentmindedly. As I straighten up, he offers me his arm and I take it, letting him lead Ellie and me inside the hotel.

The party is already getting going, even though it’s early.

Alastair has always known how to throw the best parties. The music and decor are just right: young, simple but edgy. When the guests are happy, everything is good. I just wish I could get in the spirit of it.

“Alastair knows how to get the best vibe. I’ll miss his parties,” Ben says, staring around in awe as Ellie goes over to talk with Angela.

A waiter passes by with glasses of champagne and Ben thanks him as he accepts a glass. The waiter offers me one with a smile and I shake my head, though a drink would really calm my nerves right now.

But I’ve always told myself that I’m not one of those people who need a drink to feel confident.

I guess I’m regretting that stance now.

“Where’s Kit? Have you seen him?” I ask Ben. He wrinkles his nose, half his glass already poured down his throat.

“Who cares? I’m sure you’ll see him later. We should be having fun.”

“It’s a staff party. It’s not meant to be fun.”

“Everyone else is having a good time,” Ben points out. He gestures over to Tim, who has a girl from Accounting on his arm and three empty glasses of champagne on the table beside him. I sigh.

“I can’t cut loose. Not tonight.”

“Suit yourself,” Ben says, finishing off his glass. “Are you coming with me?”

He points to the bar and I shake my head. “I’ll wait here awhile.”

Ben shrugs and wanders off alone, grabbing another glass of champagne as he saunters into the thick of the party. I curse myself for being no fun, but tonight is about business for me. I have to be ready.

I spot Ellie chatting with the other girls and smile at her, motioning that I’ll be right over. I make a trip to the bathroom and when I emerge, male voices coming from a nook down the hall catch my attention.

British-accented voices.

“...hope you act responsible for once like your brother. I’m asking Alexandra to take you on and report to me as you learn the ropes and that’s that.”

“I don’t need to be taken on by your favorite pet. I know a thing or two about business.”

“Right. Dropping out of college to travel around the world taught you all the ropes?”

“Gut instinct. Believe me, Pops, you can learn things out in the streets that you can’t learn in a classroom.”

“Well all I know is this is the only chance you’re getting, Kit. Your brother already has a—”

“I know William made it big on his own. I never asked for this company. You want me here. Face it.”

“True. So show me I wasn’t wrong.”

“You’re not wrong, but I appreciate you letting me bring my own cards to the table and not stepping on my toes.”

I ease away when the voices sound closer and hurry back into the ballroom.

And seriously?

Ouch.

I’m smarting over being called pet. I’m not Alastair’s pet. I like pleasing my boss. Hell, I need this job. It’s not my fault Kit has it all on a silver platter and doesn’t want someone like me looking over his shoulder and reporting back to his dad. I’m fuming and feeling irritated at the guy. It also irks me that he’s young and that he’s handsome, and that for a moment there, on the day we met, I was interested in him in a way I haven’t been interested in a man in a long time. I felt something. A connection.

Stupid Alex.

I shake my head at myself, then scan the room for Ellie. There’s sudden loud applause coming from the main ballroom. Alastair must be about to make his speech. Trying to forget what I just heard, I enter the room and push through the crowd to get a good spot at the front. This speech matters to me more than I want to let on. I’ll be sad to see Alastair go.

When I reach the stage, the applause is dying down and Alastair is standing with a microphone, looking casually cool and collected as usual. As if the conversation between him and his youngest son was nothing out of the ordinary.

“Good evening, everyone. Welcome to my retirement party. I know you’re all thrilled to see me go, and I see some of you are already celebrating so much you won’t remember this whole evening even happened.”

There are laughs and cheers from the corner of the room. I suspect it’s Tim and Ben in their semidrunken state, but I’m praying for the sake of our department’s reputation that it’s someone else.

“Now before I get far too drunk myself—” Alastair pauses amid another smattering of laughter “—I’d like to say some thank-yous.”

I scan the room to see if I can spot Kit but the crowd is too thick to see much of anything.

“Thanks to my trusted friend and finance manager, Erin Gough,” Alastair is saying, “To Ben, on the technical side of things. We’d trip up without you, Benny! And I’d especially like to thank my design team. For an app like Cupid’s Arrow, you need a vision, and my most faithful employee helped me bring my idea to life.” He finally spots me in the crowd and fixes me with his amber eyes, so much like Kit’s. “Thank you endlessly, Alexandra Croft, for working far too hard to make my dream a reality.”

I blush as the crowd applauds. I’ve always known that Alastair holds me in high regard, but it’s nice to hear his appreciation. He winks at me as he sets his microphone back on the stand, then picks it back up. It can only mean he’s about to introduce his son. Nerves seize me again as I remember Kit’s amber eyes and the connection I felt between us when we met, but I have to keep cool. This isn’t like me. Not at all.

“Now, despite my retirement, I do plan to pop in from time to time to observe how my company is doing. There will, of course, be new management, and it’s my great honor to introduce my successor tonight. I hope that he can do me proud as we enter a new era at Cupid’s Arrow.”

This is it. Here he comes.

“Please give a warm welcome to my pride and joy, my son, Kit Walker!”

Loud applause erupts around me, but my senses are engulfed by the man taking the stage.

Four

I can’t believe it, but my nipples actually prick when Kit steps up to the microphone. Is it possible that he’s even more handsome than I remember? His hair is standing up, going this way and that, his tie knotted loosely in the collar of his shirt with its top button undone.

He starts speaking in that lovely British accent. I try not to get sucked in by the deep timbre of his voice.

If I’ve learned one thing in the years I’ve worked as a designer it’s that good product design is like a good man. Both are rare.

It’s almost impossible to find a design good enough to compliment a good product, and it’s even harder to find a product good enough to match a good design. And the same goes for men: personality and good looks rarely go hand in hand, and I’m sure that Kit Walker is no exception to that rule.

It’s such a shame when the contents don’t match the packaging.

“When I told my father I was ready to get down to business,” Kit is saying, “he asked me, what business?” There’s laughter. “Because you see, Cupid’s Arrow is more like love than work to my father. This company has always been more like his family. It’s enough to make me jealous.”

He’s cool and casual and upbeat as he teases the crowd, acting like he’d just gotten an award for being the world’s most clever schoolboy or something. I can tell that he’s cocky and full of himself and I suddenly resent that. I also resent how the crowd is calling out to him from the sidelines, every employee thinking he can be chums with the new boss. Good grief. This guy has done absolutely nothing to earn his position. He hasn’t even worked a day at Cupid’s Arrow yet and everybody already loves him.

Or pretends to.

“Are you impressed by your team at Cupid’s Arrow, Kit?” one of the rowdier men calls out.

“Well, I have to say, I can’t wait to work with such a beautiful bunch of people,” Kit replies breezily, his attention finally falling on Erin from accounting, who’s been waving from the sidelines as if she’ll die if he doesn’t personally say hello to her very soon. She blushes when he finally acknowledges her with a smile and I’m embarrassed on her behalf. I really am. I wouldn’t like to be swooning so openly in front of him. But then I feel myself blush, thinking that maybe, when we met, I was wearing a besotted look just like Erin is.

“I must admit, inheriting Cupid’s Arrow represents a lot of firsts for me. And, well...the first time I rode a bike, I got a scar to prove it. I may make mistakes...” He pauses and looks at me then, as if all this time, he’s known exactly—exactly—where I’ve been standing in the crowd. Then in a lower voice, he goes on. “In fact, most assuredly I will make mistakes, but at the end of the day, I plan to get it right. I will bring Cupid’s Arrow into the new era with better service, a catchier design, a better slogan... Everyone into online dating and even those who aren’t will be using our app.”

This gets loud applause.

I can’t believe my new boss has got them all in an uproar. He’s never had a job in his life, and now he’s heading one of the largest companies in Chicago. As someone who has had a job ever since I was sixteen, it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

And I keep remembering how he looked at me when he talked about making mistakes, and I wonder why Alastair had to tell him I’d be his damn spy. Bloody hell, as these Brits would say.

Knotting up in discomfort, I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around. Ben is behind me, his eyes half glazed in drunkenness and a smug smile on his lips.

“He seems to look forward to working with you,” he whispers. His breath stinks of alcohol. I turn my face away in annoyance.

“I need a little air,” I breathe, wanting to collect myself. I turn.

“Leaving so soon, Miss Croft?”

I turn back and Kit has his eyes fixed on me. He brushes his hair back from his face and though the move is casual, his gaze is anything but. The challenging gleam pins me in place.

Feeling defensive, I glare at him as he smiles slowly, raising an eyebrow at me.

“The party’s only just getting started,” he says as everyone watches. “Stay and play.”

His eyes slide to Ben, then back to me. I inhale nervously. Kit stares at me like he owns me. Well, I can stare back for as long as he wants to keep up this little charade. All night if I have to. He won’t get the better of me.

Kit’s grin only grows wider.

He pulls the microphone stand with him like a practiced stand-up comedian, his gait relaxed as he heads from center stage to his left. Now we’re directly opposite one another and only yards apart. Somehow, this power play is the most exciting part of the evening so far.

“Everyone,” he says softly, his lips close to the microphone. “It’s the woman of the hour, Alexandra Croft. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

The way he says it makes me feel complimented and at the same time, exposed. Because his words make me flush. And my whole team can see it. I swallow, torn between glaring and turning away and meeting his gaze and demanding what it is he thinks he’s doing. What else has Alastair been saying about me to Kit?

Kit sits down at the front of the stage, his legs dangling over the edge. He smiles, his breathing magnified by the microphone.

“I hope you enjoy this party, Alex,” he says, a gleam in his whiskey eyes. “And I look forward to working with you as I...learn the ropes. Three cheers for Ms. Croft, everyone.”

There’s scattered applause again, but this time I sense a shift in the mood. No one could miss the tension between Kit and me. He smiles at me one last time before standing up and moving back to center stage.

“I think you’ve heard enough from me for now, folks. Let’s get wasted, yeah?”

I think everyone in the room cheers but me. I think everyone here likes Kit but me. I think everyone here is blind but me. Those amber eyes and all those sexy smiles don’t fool me one bit. I’ve seen beneath the surface, and I don’t like what’s there. Suddenly I want to be anywhere but here. Anywhere where that cocky kid isn’t sharing my oxygen.

I head to the bathroom and splash my face with water, not caring when my mascara dribbles down my cheeks. Kit has wound me up so tight that I feel like anything could happen.

I went from dreaming of kissing him all week to wanting to knock him off his high horse. He’s good. He’s got everyone wrapped around his little finger. He’s got women laughing at jokes at their expense. Because every woman loves a bad boy, right? Well, not me.

After I redo my makeup, I go back into the hall, hoping to find Ellie so that we can head home. Instead I spot Ben, Alastair and Tim at the bar. I head over. “Alastair, can we talk?”

Alastair nods and draws me closer, guiding me to stand near an unoccupied table nearby. “Aren’t you having a good time?”

“In all honesty? No, I’m not. I’m...concerned about this whole thing. Does your son know that I’m supposed to report his...progress to you?”

I know the answer, but I can’t very well admit to overhearing their conversation, can I?

Alastair puts a hand on my arm, looking into my eyes. “Of course, Alex. He’s my boy, he needs to know that I’m going to be watching his every move. Why? You’re not going to quit on me now, are you?” He teases, a light smile on his lips.

“I am not a quitter,” I promise. “But I also feel uncomfortable being put up against my new boss like that.”

Alastair’s face softens. “Of course you do, Alex. But don’t look at it that way. That’s the mistake he’s making, too. You’re on the same team. Why do you think I asked you to get involved? You can help that boy.”

I shake my head in anger. “No. I really don’t know that I can help him at all or that he wants my help.”

“Ah. You’re just backing away from a challenge.” Alastair steps away from me coolly. “I thought you were better than that, Alex.”

“Alastair, I’m not sure this is something I can do. I don’t know if I can work with someone who may not take work as seriously as I do and I’m not sure...” I trail off.

That I can get along with your son, seeing the hostile gleam in his eyes.

I went from being the girl who could relate to him on our first introduction to his enemy in the space of a week. I hate that that happened and hate that I feel physically drawn to him regardless of the wall that’s now gone up between us.

Alastair sighs, removing a key card from the dozens of keys he has in his pocket. “If you need a breather, go up to the suite I’ve rented and think this over. You’ll have the place to yourself. I know you’ll feel differently in an hour or so.”

“I won’t. Please ask someone else, Alastair,” I beg.

“Your stubbornness will be your downfall, Alex.” Alastair sighs and for the first time, I see a tiredness in his expression that’s never been there before. “Do you think I wanted to see my youngest son turn out like this? I’m asking you to help me. As an old friend. If you don’t think you can do that, then I guess you’re not the person I thought you were.”

Alastair leaves the key card on the table and walks away. I’m left alone in a sea of people enjoying the night. I long to walk straight out the door and head home. But Alastair’s right. I’m not a quitter. I can’t let some reckless British trust funder ruin my career. I snatch up the key card and head up to Alastair’s hotel room to settle my mood.