Club Destiny 1 Conviction (3 page)

Sam couldn’t help but smile at
the fact that he was so sure she would take the position. She wished that she
could be as sure as he was.

“So, what time is this vid-con
and can you send me the job description so I can review it?” It didn’t get past
her that he
still
hadn’t given her the information she wanted most.

“Conference call is at one
o’clock. Logan’s assistant will call you a few minutes before to set it up.
And, just to clarify, this isn’t an interview for the job. He wants you for the
position. I discussed this with him several times over the last few weeks.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll just
have to wait for his call.” Sam stood up, grabbing her backpack and coffee.
“Oh, and I hope he’s a better salesman than you are.” She said with a smile.

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Logan McCoy stared at the resume
and employee record that sat on his desk. This candidate undoubtedly had the
background to get the job done. He didn’t doubt that at all.

Especially not after talking to
James Banten.

The man seemed like a proud
father doting on his daughter when it came to Samantha Kielty, and since Logan
and James had known each other for quite some time, Logan knew he wouldn’t be
given the run around.

What he didn’t know was how
everyone would react to bringing Samantha onboard. She had been with XTX for
approximately ten years, but Logan had experienced what happened when he
recruited people from the smaller branches.

Aside from that, he was
intimately familiar with the interworking of company gossip. The situation was
a delicate one at best, but it wasn’t up to him to put it off any longer.

Tapping the mouse so his computer
screen would come to life, Logan waited so he could review his schedule.
Skimming through the back to back meetings, he noticed the conference call with
Samantha was scheduled for one o’clock. That gave him half an hour to grab
lunch and get back to his desk.

Some days he didn’t even have the
chance to make it out of his office, much less down to the cafeteria on the
first floor for food. There was generally a long list of issues he needed to
address.

For example he had to hire
someone to replace his current VP of project operations. At this point,
Samantha was certainly the most qualified and the most highly recommended. He
only hoped she would be strong enough to work through the obstacles that would
arise from transferring into the larger branch.

Not only was being in a larger
office different in the physical sense, it was much more distracting. There was
a constant push and pull in one direction or another, making it difficult to
focus on the most pressing items. On top of that, there were office politics to
contend with that generally didn’t rear their ugly head as often in smaller
offices.

Granted, for the most part, Logan
had been lucky with his staff, they were courteous and professional, and over
the course of the three years he’d been in the role, they’d learned to work
well together. He’d be the first to admit, he wasn’t the easiest man to work
with. He had high expectations and a short fuse.

Hopefully Samantha would fit in
well.

Logan would find out all he
needed to know when he had the opportunity to talk to her. After all, he was
proficient at reading people. Most people at least. And after the call was
complete, he needed to go to the board meeting to give them the news.

The timeline had been pushed as
far as he could push it and now they were down to the wire. This project had to
get underway, and since he was losing an employee he didn’t have much of a
choice. The choice hadn’t been his to make, so when he’d been backed into a
corner, Logan had reached out like he always did. Now, he had a potential
candidate, who could quite frankly take this project to the next level. Now
they needed to get down to business.

Overwhelmed with his thoughts,
and not paying attention, Logan nearly collided with a group of people coming
out of the cafeteria doors. Startled into the present, he stopped abruptly and
took a second to reorient himself with his surroundings. Realizing he knew one
of the men he had nearly run into, Logan took the opportunity to apologize.

 “Sorry. I wasn’t… Hey Alex.
Sorry man, I wasn’t paying any attention.”

“What’s up, Logan? Planning for
the weekend already?” Alex McDermott stopped a foot away, grinning from ear to
ear.

“No. Nothing that exciting.
Actually, I have a meeting this afternoon with a candidate for the VP position
to replace Jeff.”

“Oh yea? Who is it? Maybe I know
him.” Alex asked as he leaned casually against the wall, crossing his arms
across his broad chest.

Logan stared back at XTX’s
director of security and smiled. It was only logical for the other man to
assume his prospect was a man. After all, most of the executive positions at
XTX were, in fact, held by men. It hadn’t been an intentional decision by
anyone; it was just how the cards had been dealt.

“Not a ‘him’, actually. Her name
is Samantha Kielty. She’s currently located in the San Antonio office.”

“Sam Kielty? I know her. We had
an incident with one of her employees a few years ago. Great girl.” Alex smiled
a knowing smile. “Great legs too.”

“Interesting feedback, Alex, but
I’m pretty sure her legs aren’t going to get her the job.” Logan smirked back
at the younger man.

Logan and Alex had been friends
for years; the two of them had actually partied on weekends a few years back.

It wasn’t a secret that Alex had
a profound hang-up for Xavier Thomas’s granddaughter, but the guy couldn’t seem
to get past the age difference. So, Logan, good friend that he was, sat idly by
for years, watching as Alex attempted to replace her repeatedly with different
women. Unsuccessfully.

“Didn’t figure it would, but have
you seen her yet?” Alex smirked.

Knowing Alex, Logan figured
Samantha was probably easy on the eyes. The man might not discriminate in the
number
of women he chose to fill his spare time with, but he was rather particular
about their physical appearance.

“Not yet. I have a vid-con this
afternoon to talk to her about the position. Heard some excellent things about
her though.”

“Well, I can tell you, aside from
her physical appeal, she’s one smart woman. Talkative too. I think she’ll give
you a run for your money, old man.”

“Well, it only matters that she
can handle the job as well as I hear she can. The rest I’ll let you deal with.
How’s that?”

“I’ve got my hands full at the
moment, but to be honest, I think you’re on the right track. I know Xavier’s
had his eye on her for years. Says she’s an up and comer.” Alex nodded a
greeting to a group of passing women before turning his attention back to
Logan. “Don’t think you’ll get any arguments from him on your selection.”

“At this point, I think the only
choice is going to be hers. After talking to Banten, it seems like she might be
a tough sell.” Logan responded as he gestured toward the cafeteria. “Have you
had lunch yet?”

“Not yet. I was making my way
there when Charles stopped me.”

“Care to join me? I have a few
minutes.” Logan glanced at his watch and continued on his path toward the
cafeteria.

“Sure.” Alex fell into step
beside Logan, and the two men made their way through the crowded lunch tables
toward an open area where the food lines were.

Logan turned his attention to
grabbing something that would carry him through the rest of the afternoon. His
meetings would last until well after dinner, so he figured he’d better make
this meal last. The assortment of delicious smells emanating from the area made
his stomach growl.

As he walked through the lines,
glancing to see what the special of the day was, Logan felt eyes on him.
Without making a spectacle of himself, he looked around to see who might be
looking. He caught the gazes of several people who apparently had stopped what
they were doing to see what he was doing. Or rather, what
they
were
doing. Alex was still close behind him, and as always, they seemed to draw
attention to themselves without even trying.

Especially when they were
together.

At six feet five, Logan wasn’t a
small man, so his mere presence had a tendency to make heads turn. When he and
Alex got together, it seemed to get worse.

Alex was about an inch or two
shorter, but with his massive bulk – all muscle – he seemed larger than life. A
few times, usually after a few beers, they’d even joked that they could likely
be a popular circus show act just from their sizes alone.

Shaking off the distraction,
Logan managed to grab two premade sandwiches and a bag of chips before heading
to the cash register. After paying for both his and Alex’s meals, the two men
made their way to one of the empty tables near the windows in the back.

They ate in silence for a couple
of minutes before Logan glanced over at Alex. “So, tell me what you know about
Samantha, besides the fact that you like her legs.”

“Oh, it isn’t just her legs man.
The woman’s a firecracker.” Alex smirked as he forked mashed potatoes into his
mouth.

“Is that right? And here I was
thinking you only had eyes for Ashleigh Thomas.” Logan watched his friend
closely, and the pained expression that flashed briefly across Alex’s face did
not go unnoticed.

“So, when did you plan on
bringing Sam up here? Is she single?” Alex asked, purposely ignoring the
comment.

“I need to get her here like
yesterday. Jeff gave his two week notice a week ago. That doesn’t give me much
time. I think I can convince him to stay a bit longer, but how long, I don’t
know.” The question about her relationship status wasn’t something Logan wanted
to think about.

“Think she’ll take the offer?”
Alex asked as he went back to devouring his food.

Logan didn’t know what his
underlying motive was, but he was reluctant to give Alex too much information.
His sudden desire to hide Samantha from the roaming hands of the playboy
sitting across from him took him a little by surprise. Hell, he hadn’t even met
the woman yet.

“Don’t know for sure. Banten
seems to think she will, but he told me it isn’t going to be easy.”

“I think he’s probably right on
that one. I don’t know Sam all that well, but what I do know is that she knows
her stuff. She isn’t the type just to rush into something without a little
security.” Pushing his chair back from the table, apparently finished now that
his plate was empty, Alex leaned back before he finished his train of thought.
“I’ll tell you that I’m personally looking forward to her coming up here.”

Logan could tell Alex was baiting
him. It’d been a long time since the two of them had hung out, but Logan knew
Alex well. The man was trying to touch a nerve, and he was getting damn close.

For as long as Logan could
remember, Alex had been attempting to set him up with one or another of his
female friends. After Logan finally managed to kick his scheming ex- girlfriend
to the curb, Alex seemed to have doubled his efforts. It wasn’t that he had
difficulty meeting women. He didn’t. But, unlike Alex, the type of woman he was
after didn’t seem to be running in the same circles he was. Other than a couple
of one night stands, Logan left the relationships to those who had the patience
for it. He didn’t.

Pushing his chair back, Logan
stood. “I’ve got to get back to my office. I’ll let you know how it goes with
her. If you’re right, I have a feeling I better get my notes out before I get
on the call.”

Alex grabbed his empty plate and
weaved through the tables alongside Logan. “Well, I trust you’ll keep me in the
loop. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.”

Logan glanced sideways at his
friend and wondered what the hell had actually happened between Samantha and
Alex. The way the other man talked, they actually knew each other a little
better than he let on.

“Talk to you later.” Logan said
over his shoulder, dismissing his curiosity, as he headed down the narrow
corridor that would lead back to his side of the building.

“Sure thing, boss.”

~~  ** 
~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

After spending the last two hours
walking the floor, talking to her direct reports and getting her Friday morning
project updates, Sam managed to work off some of her nervousness.

Like usual, things appeared to be
running smoothly, and her projects were on schedule, but her projects were
always
on schedule.

Her team might have to put in
some extra hours in order to figure out a few defects, or overcome a couple of
obstacles, but they always seemed to stay on target. Being on time was one of
her pet peeves and she’d managed to instill the sense of timeliness in those
who worked for her as well.

Armed with the information she
needed to schedule the rest of her day, Samantha managed to get through most of
her unanswered emails before opting to step out of the office for a quick bite.