Deceiving Her Boss (9 page)

 
"I'm good at what I do," Allie was saying.  "I just wanted a
chance to prove it to you.  But I knew that you wanted to hire someone
different this time -- someone older, more sensible.  Someone who wasn't trying
to get the job so they could become Mrs. Greyson.   But I also knew that you
wouldn't see how responsible I was, even with my strong resume."

 
She unfolded herself from the chair and leaned forward.  "Please believe
me.  Deceiving you was never the goal.  I never intended to hurt the company in
any way.  I wanted this job, and I wanted to work for you.  That's it.  I
swear."

 
Sean leaned back on the couch, one leg crossed over the other.  With one hand,
he rubbed his face wearily.  "And now?  What do you want now?"

 
Allie didn't hesitate.  "The same thing.  I want to work for you.  I love
my job.  I look forward to every day.  It's interesting, it's challenging, and
I learn so much from you."

 
He stood up then, and walked over to where she was sitting.

 
"And how do you propose we deal with this?" he asked, reaching down
and gently caressing her cheek.

 
She turned her face into his hand and softly kissed the palm of it before
looking up at him.  "We have to let this go.  We have to."

 
Sean grasped her shoulders and pulled her to her feet.  Hauling her back into
his arms, he leaned down and kissed her.  Thoroughly.  A possessive kiss.  When
he raised his face at last, he said quietly, "I'm leaving now, Allie,
because I am very close to pulling you back into my arms and to hell with the
consequences.  So we're not done, Allie.  Not by a long shot."

 
But Allie pulled away.  "We have to be," she said softly.  "You're
my boss.  I can't sleep with my boss."

 
With one last hard kiss, Sean moved away from her, reached down to grab his
jacket from where he had dropped it, and headed to the door.  When he got
there, he turned around and held her with a gaze.  "I'll see you in the
office on Monday morning, Allie.  We'll talk more then."

SIX

 
On Monday morning, Allie dressed in her usual work clothes.  She left off the
horrible makeup, and just scrubbed her face clean, pulled her hair back off her
face, and shoved her feet into her normal pumps.  Despite the ugly suit, she
looked a little better, she thought.  Not so much better that people would be
talking about her, but better enough that she could take this a step at a
time.   

 
She was at her desk and on the phone when Sean came in.  She knew that he would
be displeased with her clothing choice that morning, but was hoping to be able
to explain it to him.  Still, after how they had left things on Saturday night,
Allie was kind of surprised that she still had a job this morning, and that he
hadn't simply called her the next day and told her that she needn't bother to
show up.

 
When he summoned her to his office, she took a deep breath, then knocked
lightly on Sean's door.  He opened it almost immediately to let her in, and one
look at his face told her that she was really in for it.  His eyes were as cold
as an arctic winter, and the firm set to his jaw only accentuated his icy gaze. 
She moved into the room, and he shut the door behind her.

 
"Have a seat, Allie," he said quietly, his voice cold and stern.

 
Allie sat down in her usual chair, pulling her notebook toward her like a
shield.  But Sean was not interested in providing dictation to his assistant. 
Instead, he stood a short distance away, leaned against his desk, and looked
her up and down from her head to her sensible shoes.

 
"I haven't decided what to do with you, Allie," he said quietly.  
"But I want you in the office tomorrow morning, dressed normally.  I'm
glad you chose not to wear any of that crap you've been wearing on your face,
but the rest needs to change too.  The disguise goes, Allie.  Is that
understood?"

 
But Allie shook her head.  "No," she said softly.  "I will do it
gradually, Mr. Greyson, but not all at once.  If I show up looking like I did
at the wedding, people will think...."
  "I don't give a damn what people will think.  Your suits will fit you
from now on.  You will look professional."

 
Allie looked up into her boss's eyes.  "You may not care what people
think, sir, but I do.  You are the boss.  You can do anything you want, behave
anyway you want, say anything you want, and people will still listen to you and
support you.  Not me.  I'm OK if they think that I'm gradually working on my
appearance, but  I don't want them thinking that I had a complete makeover,
because they will think that I did it for you.  To sleep with you.  And that's
not OK."

 
Sean's eyes narrowed.  "Was that your intention?"

 
Allie looked puzzled.  "Was what my intention?"

 
"To get me so dependent on you professionally that when you revealed what
an attractive woman you are, you'd get me to want more from you?"

 
Allie looked at him incredulously.  "You have got to be kidding me."

 
"Other women have been more direct, but have been equally
interested."

 
"I'm not interested."

 
But Sean just smiled coldly.  "Yes, you are.  Shall I prove it to
you?"

 
Allie just looked down at her lap, gathering her courage before she raised her
eyes to Sean's.  "I think you can easily prove that I'm attracted to you,
though I had no idea how much until this weekend," she said honestly. 
"But I'm not interested in taking this anywhere.  I love my job.  I enjoy
working for you.  I don't want to jeopardize that."

 
Sean's eyes narrowed.  "Then tell me why I shouldn't fire you immediately
for lying to me."

 
"I never lied to you!"

 
"You led me to believe you were someone you're not."

 
"No, I never did.  I just knew..."

 
"Knew what?"

 
"I knew what happened with previous secretaries, Mr. Greyson.  What I told
you on Saturday is true.  I really wanted to work for you. 
Work
for
you, sir.  Nothing else.  But I knew you'd never hire me if you thought I was
like them.  I'm good, Mr. Greyson.  You know I am.  And I would never do
anything unprofessional.  But I needed a chance to prove that to you."

 
"Seems like you managed to do something completely unprofessional after
all, Allie."

 
Allie's cheeks flushed bright red when she thought about her behavior at her
apartment on the night of Anna's wedding.  "I'm sorry about that, sir. 
Please chalk it up to the day, or the wine, or...."

 
"I'm not talking about Saturday night.  I'm talking about this," he
said, waving his hand to indicate her outfit.

 
Allie's eyes when bleak.  He was firing her, she thought.  There wasn't any
other possibility, and truthfully, she didn't blame him.  She should have
slowly made changes to her appearance over time, while she had the chance.  But
now, it was clear that he neither liked her nor trusted her.

 
"Is there anything I can do to fix this?" she finally asked.

 
Sean moved around his desk and sat down in his chair, his arms folded on the
surface in front of him.

 
"I'm going to think about this, Allie.  You're right -- you're the best assistant
I've had in over a decade.  So I'm not going to make any decisions lightly. 
But I expect you to make the changes I ask you to.  If people think things
about you, that's too bad -- you brought this on yourself."

 
Allie nodded.  "Yes, sir.  Is there anything else?"

 
"Nothing at the moment.  Now go get the Foster paperwork and meet me back
in here in ten minutes."

 
Allie stood up.   Back on solid ground again, her confidence returned. 
"It's sitting on my desk.  I have the report back from legal on the
contract nuance you were asking about as well -- I'll e-mail that to you before
I come back in."

 
"And Allie," Sean added as she was about to slip out the door. 
"Tomorrow.  Decent clothes.  Understood?"

 
"Yes sir," she said quietly as she left the room and headed to her
desk.  Making a mental note that she needed to do some quick shopping at lunch,
Allie slipped back into the role of perfect assistant.

 
The next day, Allie appeared at work in a beautiful light grey suit with a
light pink camisole under the jacket.  She drew the line at wearing makeup or
styling her hair in a different way, but she knew that she needed to make an
effort at dressing better or Sean was likely to drag her off at lunchtime and
shop for her.  And she was worried enough about appearances in the office. 
Already, three people had stopped her to tell her that they loved her suit, and
to ask if she had gotten some color that weekend.

 
By the time Sean came in to the office in the afternoon, Allie had made it
through her entire in-box, and was working on catching up on her filing.  She
heard him come in behind her, and turned to look over her shoulder.  He was
leaning on her desk, flipping through the mail.  When she looked up, he caught
her eye and ran his gaze over her.

 
"Better," is all he said.  "Hair, makeup, and shoes are next. 
And the glasses."

 
Allie rolled her eyes, but didn't argue.  As he sat on her desk, Allie ran
through her list of questions and issues with him, taking a few notes as he
told her how to handle some of the problems.  When they were through, Sean
moved back to his own office, and Allie sat down at her desk to deal with the
few things he'd asked her to.

 
By the end of the following week, the real Allie was showing up to work.  Her
hair was styled, though she often pulled it back into a neat pony tail.  Her
makeup was extremely light, but tasteful.  Her shoes were professional, without
being clunky.  Her glasses were only on when she needed them to read.  And she
felt utterly and completely exposed, each time she went into Sean's office for
anything.  She had needed her old clothes and old disguise for far more than a
way to get her job.  She needed them to feel comfortable in her role.  Now,
even though she was fully covered and very professional in her attire, she
still felt like her very life was bare and open to scrutiny.  It was
disconcerting, and she wondered if she would have felt that way if she had been
honest about her appearance from the start.

 
Her co-workers were far more accepting of the changes to her appearance than
she had thought they would be.  Allie was popular at work, both because of her
personality, and because she often stood between them and their boss, who was
less approachable than Allie. So when she started to dress differently, and
started to look nicer at work, their response was not just positive, but
enthusiastically so.  In some ways, it bothered Allie more than if they'd been
derisive -- she felt like she had deceived everyone there, not just Sean.  So
she just made more of an effort to be kind and accommodating, and nobody
worried about her relationship with her boss.

 
Which was good.  Because, thankfully, nothing had changed between them.  Sean
had adjusted to her new look, and had stopped criticizing her attire.  He
treated her as he had always treated her in the office -- as a partner and a
very competent assistant.  And he seemed to have forgotten the night of Paul
and Anna's wedding.   Occasionally, Allie would feel him looking at her, but
when she glanced up at him, she would find him looking beyond her, rather than
at her, and feel silly for thinking he'd been staring.  But for the most part,
things were back to normal.

 
"What are you doing?"

 
Allie had thought she was alone in the office, and the sound of her boss' s
voice behind her startled her so much that she nearly knocked her head against
the file cabinet drawer.  Standing up, she rubbed the back of her head and
shook her head ruefully. 

 
"Oh, you scared me, Mr. Greyson," she said with a slight smile. 
"I thought everyone was gone for the night."  Sitting down in her
chair, she looked back up at her boss.  "I was trying to reach a folder that
fell back behind the file cabinet.  Which is a lot heavier than it looks, I
should add."

 
Sean sighed, his arms crossed in front of him.  "You couldn't wait to call
maintenance in the morning?"

 
But Allie shook her head.  "No.  There's a business card in there that I
need.  I normally scan them and save them electronically as soon as I get them,
but didn't for some reason with this one.  So I need it tonight."

 
Taking off his jacket, Sean moved over to the file cabinet, and easily managed
to move it over far enough for Allie to reach back and grab the file before he
moved it back into place.

 
"Thanks," Allie smiled.  "I appreciate it."

 
"No problem.   When you've got that taken care of, can you come back to my
office for just a moment?  I know it's late, but I need your help, and this
should only take a minute."

 
"Sure," Allie said, getting up to follow him back to his office.  He
stopped at his desk, and motioned for her to take a seat in his chair, facing
his computer.  When she did, Sean leaned over her back and pointed at the
screen.