Saving the Sheikh (The Legacy Collection) (28 page)

The woman looked at her blankly for a moment before slowly reaching for her phone. “Mr. Anderson, I have Amy Harper here who says she’s your new executive secretary.” She paused for a few moments. “Okay…Yes, sir.”

She hung up the phone and turned back to Amy, “Mr. Anderson says he already has an executive secretary and has hired no one new. He also said that if you’re a reporter trying for another story about his family, all his answers are,
no comment
.” The woman looked dismissively at Amy before adding, “Have a nice day, Ms. Harper.”

She didn’t give Amy another glance as she turned back to her computer. As far as she was concerned Amy was dismissed.

“Um, excuse me,” Amy looked at the secretary’s name plate, “…Shelly, I was interviewed last week by Mr. Anderson. He told me to be in the office at eight a.m. sharp, so you may want to check again,” she said a bit more forcefully. Shelly glanced up, as if shocked that the disturbing woman was still there.

Before Shelly had a chance to reply, the elevator chimed and in walked an older woman with smiling blue eyes. “You must be Amy Harper. I’m sorry I’m late but I got stuck behind a car accident,” the woman said while walking forward. “I’m Esther Lyon and I’ll be working with you this week – getting you trained for the new position. I was so happy when Joseph called to let me know he’d found my replacement,” she said, warmth seeping through her voice.

Relief flooded through Amy, knowing the job was really hers – for better or worse. “It’s so good to meet you, Esther. I was a bit nervous when Shelly said there wasn’t a job,” she said.

Esther looked over at the woman in question. “We haven’t yet announced I’m retiring, though it’s been in the works for some time. Shelly wasn’t made aware of the situation. I’m sorry about any lack of communication.”

“Walk with me, and I’ll show you your new office as I talk a little about the history of this wonderful company. The original building was created a little over one-hundred years ago, but in this growing city, many updates have been added since then. Joseph’s grandfather, Benjamin, started Anderson Corporation with little more than a prayer and a few dollars. As I’m sure you know, his hard work paid off. We’re now global, with offices all across the United States and the world. Joseph was the next elected CEO after Benjamin’s passing, but his son, Lucas, took over last year, and is certainly following in his relative's footsteps. He’s a brilliant man, and I’m sure you’ll love working for him.”

“I have to be honest; this is all a little overwhelming. I mean, the history of this wealthy family, the amount of business to keep track of, even the building, itself. I don’t know how one man keeps track of it all,” Amy said with awe.

“Oh, it takes a whole team, sweetie, believe me. Don’t let yourself get worked up over nothing. The way to keep sane in this chaotic place is simply to do one task at a time. Look at the smaller picture, and before you know it, the day is done and you’ve accomplished far more than you ever imagined,” Esther reassured her.

They walked down the hallway and through a large oak doorway into a huge office. Was everything in the building done on a much grander scale than your average place? In the middle of the room was a huge three-sided desk. On the surface sat a top-of-the-line computer and an overflowing in and out box. Two chairs were placed in front of the desk, and one large chair behind it.

A bookshelf took up most of one wall, its shelves lined from top to bottom with many titles. Amy hoped she wasn’t expected to read them all in a short time period. Hopefully, they were only there for either decoration, or for when she needed a specific answer, though with the internet, it was much faster to search online for whatever a person needed, nowadays.

Natural light flooded the room from the floor to ceiling windows lined up on the back wall, behind the desk. Amy was grateful for the uncovered windows, knowing if she got too stressed, she could take a minute to face the amazing city of Seattle while her stress had a chance to diminish. It really was an ideal office.

“Come in and have a seat. Make yourself comfortable while I show you what you need to get started. Before you know it, you’ll be excellent on your own, no longer needing my help at all,” Esther said kindly.

“I have my doubts about that, but I’m sure glad you’re the one training me. You seem very nice.”

“Thank you, Amy. Do you mind if I call you by your first name? I’ve never been huge on the formality thing. I feel that an office environment should be enjoyable, and
really
knowing who you’re working with makes a big difference in making it so. Joseph became a dear friend of mine, and so did his beautiful wife, Katherine. I’ve watched their children grow into fine young men, and have been treated like a part of their family. It’s a good thing, too, because there are weeks you’ll see far more of this office than your own place. You need to have a healthy working relationship with your boss.”

“I’d love to keep it informal. Joseph said the same thing to me during the interview, and I didn’t know how to respond, but I’m beginning to see this place isn’t what I thought it would be. I was expecting a rigid staff and endless work,” Amy replied. As she realized what she said, she quickly tried to correct herself.

“I wasn’t trying to say hard work is bad, or being professional is a negative thing. I was just…”

“You don’t need to explain, Amy,” Esther interrupted. “I understand exactly what you’re saying. Before I was fortunate enough to get a job with Joseph, I worked for a large developer on the other side of the city. He was rude, to me and his clients, never smiled at anyone, and didn’t care about those who worked for him. He only cared about the bottom line. There are a lot of corporations like that, but this isn’t one of them. They expect a great deal from you, but they’re also willing to compensate you for your work. They treat their staff, from the lowest positions to the highest, with respect. The benefits are almost mind-boggling, but you’ll soon learn why they can do this. They save a lot of money by having an incredibly low turnover rate, and they never hurt for more business, because they have repeat business in all their divisions. Even in bad economic times, they not only survive, but thrive.”

Amy relaxed as she listened to Esther. The woman should be a recruiter for the corporation, not that it looked like they needed to recruit. Before that moment, Amy hadn’t realized quite how lucky she was to have gotten her job. It didn’t matter, though. She’d work hard no matter what – she didn’t know any other way.

Amy felt slightly overwhelmed as the two women worked together the rest of the morning. By the afternoon, she was starting to pick up on some of the tasks, though, and she really enjoyed Esther’s company. They worked well together, and Amy wished she had more than one week of training with her. Amy didn’t have a mother and tended to enjoy the company of older women, especially when they were open and caring.

Esther put Amy on a project as she cleaned out her email. Amy was glad to find she was able to do the assigned task without asking for help. They sat in a comfortable silence as they worked for a few hours before they were interrupted.

“Esther, can you cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. I need to go to my father’s. Before I leave, I also need the Niles reports if you’ve finished them.”

Amy looked up as the most stunning man she’d ever glimpsed walked through a connecting door on the south wall. He was looking at a piece of paper in his hand, which gave her a few moments to secretly observe him.

The first thing she noticed was his build. He had to be at least six-foot-four, with wide shoulders, a full chest, and a flat stomach. As his arm moved, stretching the obviously tailored dark business suit, she could easily guess he was solid muscle, not an ounce of fat daring to attach to his body. The white shirt clearly accentuated his golden tan. The outfit was complete with a loosened tie, making him look like he’d just stepped off the closest movie shoot rather than his office.

He reached up and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, causing the short strands to stick out in a few places, making him even sexier, in her opinion. In the next moment he looked up, and his deep azure eyes met her startled green ones.

“I’m sorry, Esther. I didn’t realize you had a client in here.”

Amy was shocked by his words. Why was he calling her a client?

“Lucas Anderson,” he said as he held his hand out to her.
I’m in trouble, big, big trouble,
was her only thought as she looked at his hand like it was a snake. Skin to skin contact would feel far too intimate, even though it was simply shaking hands, but when had she ever touched a man of this stunning caliber?  She also knew full well she couldn’t refuse to shake her boss’s hand.

As she hesitated an awkward amount of time, she saw him raise his eyebrows at her questioningly. Her face turned a nice shade of red as she finally broke eye contact.

She snapped out of her trance, realizing he was waiting for her to introduce herself. Finally, she stood and gave him her hand, “Hello, I’m Amy Harper.”

Amy was rooted to the spot as his fingers closed around hers, her breath instantly held prisoner inside her lungs.

………

Billionaire Wins the Game
is available as a free download from all major retailers.

Romance, mystery, and a touch of the South:

Enjoy this excerpt from Kathleen Brooks’

Prologue

Her bare feet pounded down the concrete stairs. Her panty hose were ripped from snagging the cold metal strips on the edge of each stair. Her feet stung with every step she took. She heard the door above her open. She pushed herself faster. She couldn’t let him catch her.

She jumped the last stair on the sixth floor, the impact of the jump reverberating up her body.  She felt as though she had stopped breathing two floors ago. Her lungs burned as she forced her legs to move faster. Her hand was sliding along the railing to brace herself as she raced down the stairs at breakneck speed.

She heard him yell her name. She turned around to see he was now just one floor away. The look cost her dearly as she missed a step and had to slow down to steady herself.

Her heart beat in turn with each slap of her foot. Faster. Louder. She just had to make it to the garage. He would kill her if she didn’t.  He called her name again as if she were a disobedient child. He was taunting her, triggering her fear. Her heart felt as if it would explode as she ran faster and faster down the stairs.

She didn’t feel the cuts causing her feet to bleed. She didn’t feel the pain running up her legs. All she knew was she had a couple more flights to go. She tried to suck in a breath of air but could only manage a small gasp. He was closer now.  She could feel him right behind her.

The door to the garage was so close. She could see it now. She had to reach it. He closed in on her. She could hear him breathing. She willed her legs to move faster.  He reached out his arm to grab her….

Chapter One

McKenna looked around and saw nothing but black, four-plank fences and green grass for as far as she could see. Daffodils were playing peek-a-boo with the bright morning sun.  She looked down at the GPS in her cherry red BMW M6. Only five more miles until her destination. Bringing her eyes back up to the narrow country road, Kenna gasped and hit her brakes as hard as she could.

The stabilization in her car kicked in and kept it from fishtailing off the road. She fought for control of the car as her brakes locked. A massive horse was standing in the middle of the road, calmly watching her scrambling for control over her car. She rested her head against the steering wheel and let out a shaky breath when she stopped the car in the opposite lane. Hearing tires squealing, she lifted her head and saw an old pick-up truck heading straight for her, fishtailing out of control.  Kenna shifted into reverse and floored it. The truck skidded by her, narrowly missing her car. The truck came to a sudden stop in the grass ditch off the side of the road.

Kenna watched a jeans-clad woman wearing a stylish, black, long-sleeve shirt and bright pink scarf belt jump out of the truck. The woman with beautiful, shiny, shoulder-length brown hair was the polar opposite of what McKenna expected to see. Instead of being concerned about her truck, the woman slowly approached the horse with her hand out. Kenna saw her mouth moving as she talked to him. Ever so slowly, she placed her hand on his head and gave him a smile. Sliding her hand down, she grasped the halter and scratched his nose.

Kenna opened her door and got out on shaky legs.  She could hear the woman talking on the cell phone as she walked toward the scene. “Yeah, Bets, I'm out here on Route 178, and it looks like one of your stallions is loose. Another woman and I almost hit him. Yes, we’re okay. No, I have him now. You better have one of the boys bring a trailer. Okay. Bye.”

“Hi. Are you okay?” Kenna asked after the woman put away the cell phone.

“Yes. Thanks. Looks like you made it out okay. I’m Paige Davies. Do you mind helping me for a sec?”

“McKenna Mason. What do you need?”

“Here, hold this.” Paige walked the massive stallion over to her and indicated where she was to hold him. “I need to see if my truck is able to run or if I need to call a tow. Thanks!”

Kenna took a hold of the halter and stared at the horse. She hadn’t been around a horse in decades. She held on for dear life, even though the horse seemed content to just stand off to the side of the road and watch the world go by.