CHAPTER ONE
“With a name like Rockford St. Stephens, I can just imagine what he’s like. Probably a pompous ass.” Dana twisted a lock of hair around her left index finger as she stared out the window of her ex-boss’s office.
Normally, she would have been impressed with the view of the city of New York from her position on the thirty-fifth floor of the building which housed Premier Holdings, but today she was seething. As she held the cordless phone to her ear she was glaring at the pedestrians way down below as they hurried along the streets of Manhattan.
“I mean, what kind of beast would bully a sixty-year-old man into selling out his business just like that? Mr. French was nowhere near retirement. That St. Stephen’s guy forced his hand, Becky. I just know it.”
“Now come on, Dana,” her friend soothed. “Don’t jump to conclusions. Remember, you’re going to have to work with this man so it makes no sense to build up all this resentment against him.”
“I don’t have to work with him. I can quit.” Dana’s frown turned to a scowl. The very first time her new boss did anything to piss her off she would walk. Let him just try it.
“Yeah, and how easy do you think it’s going to be to pick up another good paying job like this one?” Becky clucked in her usual ‘mother hen’ way. No matter that at twenty-five she was a year younger than Dana, she was always giving advice. The sad thing was, she was usually right. “In this economic climate you’d better hold on to what you’ve got. I could understand that attitude if you had another job lined up but you don’t. Do you?” Becky’s tone was firm. It was almost a reprimand.
Dana sighed. “You know I don’t. That’s just the impulsive me talking. As usual.”
“Just think before you act, Dana. That’s all I ask. And don’t make assumptions.” Becky chuckled. “And for heaven’s sake, give your new boss a chance. For all you know he may be a sweetheart. Next time you call, it could be to tell me that he’s a dreamboat and you’re in love.”
“I doubt it,” Dana said drily. “Whatever this Rockford St. Stephens guy is like, I know I’ll hate him.”
“I appreciate the warm welcome.”
Startled, Dana jumped and dropped the cordless phone. She whirled around to face the office door. There, big and bold and very imposing, stood a man who took her breath away.
She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Holy crapola! What had he heard? Everything? Just the end? But it didn’t matter. The last comment she’d made had been the worst and she knew that her job with Premier Holdings was now history. Hell. Talk about bad timing.
Slowly, she slid her hand from her mouth and dropped her arms to her sides. Lifting her head, she stared him full in the face. Okay, so she’d misspoken. Put her foot in it, as Becky would say later when she told her she’d been fired. But she would not show fear. That was what her army officer dad had taught her and she would not let him down.
“Dana Daniels, I presume?”
The man walked into the executive office, his bold presence filling the spacious room, and stepped past her to drop his briefcase onto the huge mahogany desk that stood bare, all traces of Richard French now gone.
“Yes.” That was all she said as her eyes ran up the length of him, from his shiny black shoes and up the obviously expensive business suit that covered a solid body and to his face, so cold and stern.
Dana swallowed. She almost dropped her gaze, his look was so intimidating. But no, she would be just as bold. It took everything in her but she faced his glare head on.
The unexpected visitor folded his arms across his chest as he looked down at her from what must have been at least six feet plus an additional two or three inches. As tall as she was, five feet seven inches in heels, he towered over her. “My executive assistant,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft.
But Dana was not fooled. Soft and gentle, he was not. She could see it in his rigid stance and in the cynical twist of his lips. This man could be cruel…and she’d gone and pissed him off.
“Since you’ve already decided we’ll start off as enemies, we might as well forgo the pleasantries and get down to business.” He released his arms and walked around the desk where he pulled out the chair. “Go get your notebook or whatever it is you scribble in. You’re going to organize a staff meeting for me tomorrow at ten o’clock. I have a quick phone call to make. Be back here in five minutes.”
He sat down and reached for the phone then glanced over at her when she still stood there as if turned to stone. “Still here?” he asked, and this time there was no sardonic smile, only a scowl.
Dana blinked. He hadn’t fired her. He expected her to come back and take notes. She’d been so shocked she hadn’t even known how to react. But now, with his amber-colored eyes flashing in annoyance, she suddenly found herself with a great incentive to move. She had to get out of this line of fire.
Without another word she spun on her heels and marched through the door then reached behind her to close it with a firm click. Luckily no-one was in the outer office so there was no need to keep up appearances. Expelling her breath, she sagged against the solid oak door. What a way to start the morning.
Dana pushed away from the door and, knees trembling, walked toward her desk which was right outside the big boss’s office. Now, instead of the kindly man with gray streaks in his hair, the one she had grown so used to seeing every day, she had found herself executive assistant to a cold, hard man who seemed as unyielding as the rock he’d been named after. Not a good situation…at all.
Throwing a quick glance at the door she made a dive for her cell phone and dialed Becky’s number. She must have been waiting for the call because she picked up on the first ring. Dana didn’t even bother with a greeting.
“You won’t believe what just happened,” she half gasped, half whispered into the phone.
“Your new boss walked in on you talking about him?” Becky asked drily.