Surprise Seduction (4 page)

Regardless, it was the best she could come up with that gave her what she needed in the allotted time frame.

“You still hiding in here?”
 
Sheila entered the bathroom, walked to the mirror, and freshened her lipstick.

“I’m procrastinating.”

“Oh?”

Adrienne glanced at the cheap watch she’d bought prior to her interview to replace the one her father had given her.
 
She couldn’t afford any stupid mistakes.
 
Like showing up in a watch that cost more than ‘Adrienne Morris’ made in six months.
 
“I’d better get going.
 
Can’t be late on my first day.”

“Have fun,” Sheila called as Adrienne left the bathroom.
 
“Just not too much.”

Adrienne walked to her desk, sat, straightened items that didn’t need straightening, and wondered what she should do until Chase arrived.
 
She stared at his closed office door and jumped when it burst open.

“You’re here.”
 
Chase’s gaze settled on her face.
 
“And on time.
 
Good.”

“Yes, Sir.”
 
She resisted the urge to leap to her feet and stand at attention.

“Call me Chase.”

She didn’t say anything.

“Let’s get started.
 
I’ll go over my schedule for the next few weeks, what I expect from you, and we’ll address any questions you have before my meeting at ten.”

“Yes, Sir.”
 
She followed him into his office, silently saluting behind his back and hoping her new found skills would see her through and that the extra help hired through Sheila could take care of the rest.
 
All without Chase ever having a clue, of course.

Chase sat down at his desk and let his gaze travel over the woman across from him.
 
All weekend, he’d found himself thinking about her and how he’d been so aware of her presence.
 
He’d finally convinced himself he imagined the whole thing.

He hadn’t.
 
His body was doing the same weird jittery thing this morning.

Today, his new assistant wore a dark charcoal suit.
 
The skirt fell down to her ankles and the jacket hung loose giving little clue as to what she hid beneath.
 
Her thick-framed glasses had gone out of style forty years ago.
 
Her dull hair was pinned back to her scalp.
 
The tight style made him want to wince.

Admit it, she intrigues you.

Okay, he admitted it.
 
Now he wanted his fascination with her to go away.
 
She wasn’t his type.

“Where would you like to start?” she asked.

At your hair.
 
I’d like to pull those pins out and
...He blinked.
 
He’d never been interested in one of his employees.
 
Never.

“Let’s start by going over my schedule.
 
And yours.
 
For the rest of the week, you’ll go everywhere I go, do everything I do.”

She swallowed.
 
“Yes, Sir.”

“We’ll be working closely together.
 
Call me Chase.”
 
He picked up a packet off his desk and tossed it in front of her.
 
“You need to know everything in this backwards and forwards by the end of the week.”

Her finger’s closed around the packet.
 
“Yes, S--”

“Don’t even say it.”
 
He held up his hand.

Her eyes widened.
 
“Okay.
 
What else?”

“We’ll go over what I need you to have on my desk each morning when I arrive.”
 
He launched into how he wanted things done.
 
At least, the things he could tell her.

The things he’d imagined her doing over the weekend, he’d keep to himself and hopefully soon forget altogether.

Two Monday mornings later, Adrienne soaked up every word Chase spoke as he discussed the projects he currently worked on and what he needed her to accomplish with each one.
 
She made meticulous notes.

“What kind of research do you need on the Miller Project?” she asked, scribbling down his previous statement.

He leaned back in his chair, eyeing her.
 
“You don’t actually do any of the research, Adrienne.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Your job is to make sure each department has their end done and the full report on my desk.
 
If you have any questions on how to organize it, check with George Weston’s assistant as she can tell you most anything you need to know.
 
I plan to let you spend the last week of the month working with Mrs. Gray.
 
I’m flying to Chicago and won’t be back until Friday, the night of the anniversary party.”

“Chicago?”
 
Adrienne swallowed.
 
Had he heard how her voice broke as the word escaped her mouth?

“Yes.
 
A much larger conglomerate, Morrigan’s, owns Weston.
 
Ted Morrigan passed away two months ago.
 
Since his death, there’s some question as to who will step into his shoes.”
 
Chase’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly.
 
“Morrigan’s stock has dropped significantly since Ted’s death.
 
Millions have been lost.
 
The board owes it to its stock holders to stop this trend.”

“How will they do that?”
 
She hoped she didn’t sound overly curious.

“My guess is they’ll publicly acknowledge Drew Steinberg as heading the company.”

Her stomach plummeted.
 
That’s what she feared his answer would be.
 
She didn’t want Drew named anything, but it would be a few more months before she could effectively compete with her stepfather for control of the company.

“Who is Drew Steinberg?”
 
As if she didn’t know.
 
The jerk.

Chase’s bitter laugh had Adrienne looking up from her notepad.
 
“Now, there’s the kicker.
 
He’s married to Ted’s ex-wife.
 
He holds a large chunk of shares and the seat on the board that Ted’s wife was awarded in their divorce settlement.”

“You sound as if you don’t like him.”

Seeming to catch himself, his gaze met hers.
 
“It isn’t my place to like or dislike.
 
Morrigan’s needs to present a strong front, with Ted gone, Drew now owns controlling stock.
 
If the board doesn’t back Drew, it’ll leave the company too vulnerable.”

Actually, Drew didn’t own majority shares.
 
She did.
 
But, she wasn’t going to point that out.
 
Especially as she didn’t have control of those stocks.
 
Not yet.
 
But she would.
 
Soon.

“Vulnerable?”

“For a take-over attempt.”

Her eyes widened.
 
She’d thought she only had Drew to contend with.
 
But it made sense others would want Morrigan’s.

“So you’ll vote him in?”

“The only other real contender is Roger Hillington.”

Her ex-fiancé.
 
She managed not to flinch.

“Is he more qualified to run the company?”
 
Roger had certainly tried to convince her that he was.

Chase nodded.
 
“Hillington has the credentials, and is a shrewd businessman, but Steinberg has influence over the board.
 
Hillington doesn’t stand a chance—-not unless he manages to get Ted’s daughter to the alter.”

Adrienne’s head shot up.
 
Chase knew about her former engagement to Roger?
 
“Oh?
 
How would that help?”

As if she didn’t know exactly.

“If Hillington marries her, the shares she owns would revert to him.
 
Currently, Steinberg controls them.
 
Combined with the shares he inherited from his wife, he by far wields the most power at Morrigans.
 
Few will take a stand against him.”

“Will you?”

“I haven’t made up my mind.”
 
He glanced at the stack of papers on his desk.
 
“How did we get off subject?
 
Back to the Miller Project.”

Adrienne nodded and tried to concentrate on what Chase was saying, but her mind raced.
 
Maybe Roger had been telling her the truth when he’d told her their marriage was the only real way to save Morrigan’s from Drew.

Had she been wrong to break off their engagement and go undercover?

Later that day Adrienne tried to ignore the blow-up Barbie doll standing in Chase’s open office doorway, however the giggling woman had her sneaking a curious peek.

One corner of Chase’s lips lifted, deepening the dimples she thought his best feature.
 
She couldn’t hear what he whispered in the woman’s ear, but his words sent her into another fit of ecstatic giggles.
 
The blonde melted against his lean frame for one last, lingering kiss.

His gaze met Adrienne’s.
 
She rolled her eyes and looked away, but not before catching his gaze.
 
He grinned, then landed a pert love pat on the blonde’s behind and gave her a gentle nudge from him.

Adrienne had to admit that despite his playboy charisma, she admired Chase.
 
He worked every bit as hard as he played.
 
No wonder her father had thought so highly of him.
 
The man was super efficient and accomplished amazing amounts of work—-and play.
 
Just as her father had, George Weston, the CEO of Weston Pharmaceuticals, sang the praises of his golden boy president to anyone who’d listen.
 
Chase was simply a dynamo at his job.
 
And with women.

Today’s hot number sighed with a perfect rise and fall of a bosom that rivaled Dolly’s.
 
Adrienne resisted an unflattering glance down at her own tightly bound breasts, purposely flattened beneath the brown flour sack of a dress hanging loosely over her body.

“He is such a dream.
 
How do you get any work done?” Barbie-come-to-life cooed as she passed Adrienne’s desk on her way out.

“Because he thinks I’m gay, and if he ever found out otherwise, I’d lose my job,” she mumbled low enough the departing woman couldn’t possibly hear.

Chase a dream?

Yes, he epitomized the kind of man most women’s dreams starred.
 
Gorgeous.
 
Sexy.
 
Rich.
 
Intelligent.
 
Fun.
 
The quintessential bad boy.
 
And those full sensual lips of his adorned a mouth made for caressing a woman’s body.
 
But she was convinced the twinkle in his eye and his inner charisma were what brought women to him in droves.