Teasing The Boss (3 page)

She brought her fingers to her temple as the stress headache she was becoming all too used to came back. “Better than the other direction, I suppose.” She crossed the last few feet to her office and punched in the code in the keypad to open the door.

He followed her in. “How many people have the code?”

She frowned. That didn’t really seem like pertinent information for what she was hiring him for. “Um, just me and Andre, my assistant.”

“You called?” said Andre from his desk.

“Andre, this is Simon West. Simon, meet Andre Sullivan.” She let the men shake hands as she pushed the door shut and gave her office a quick once-over. Andre had made sure there was no sign of her clumsiness, and they always strived to keep the office in tip-top shape. Even though she could do a decent amount of work from her apartment, the calm, earthy color palette of greens and browns was a great atmosphere for bringing in new clients. The ability to get potential new clients away from unpredictable restaurant meetings and stress triggers from meeting them in their own home or office more than paid the exorbitant amount for city office space.

Well, it had before she’d lost five clients in one fell swoop. Now her beautiful little sanctuary was one more expensive noose around her neck.

“You can take off for the day,” she told Andre as she pulled out a chair for Simon.

“Call me if you need anything.” He grabbed a leather jacket much too heavy for the June weather. But she noticed the glinting sliver spikes detailing the shoulders and remembered him telling her how “big” spikes were at the moment. Anything for fashion, she supposed.

“Will do. Thanks again.” As the door closed, she pulled the other chair out from the front of the desk and sat across from Simon, pulling a yellow legal pad and a pen from the desk to take notes with.

“Do you always sit on the same side of the desk as your clients?” His dark eyes roamed over her.

Suddenly self-conscious, Grace sat straighter and crossed her legs as an extra layer of armor. “I think it adds a sense of informality to everything,” she said. “I tend to sit behind the desk for the initial meeting, but once I’m booked, I like to make sure they know their event is a collaboration that they can be as involved in, or as removed from, as they want. I suppose I was hoping we could have the same type of working relationship.”

“Hmm.” His face didn’t give away anything.

Grace fiddled with the pen in her hands and fought the urge to doodle on the paper. Why wouldn’t he just say something already?

Eventually, he seemed to agree with her suggestion of informality, as he shrugged off his suit jacket and twisted to neatly set it on the back of his chair. Grace took a deep gulp as he turned back. What was it about a handsome man in a white dress shirt? She was used to dealing with the workaholics who drank one too many beers and ate delivery food too often. Simon’s toned, powerful physique was not what she expected.

“One thing you’ll come to know about me is that I’m blunt. I say what I mean as soon as I think it, and I expect my advice to be taken.”

She blinked a few times and pushed out all her mental images of unbuttoning his shirt button by button. “I can respect that,” she said.

“Good.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Now tell me everything you know about Mark DuFord.”

The pen slipped out of her hand and clattered to the tile floor. “Shit,” she muttered as she quickly snatched it. “I’m sorry, did you just ask about Mark?”

“You do know him?”

Her brow crinkled. “I suppose. We dated last summer. How on earth did you find out about that?”

“I did an image search on you. Now tell me everything about how you and DuFord met. How long you dated, how serious it was, how involved you were in his business. Everything.”

The hairs on the back of her neck stood as he focused all his attention on her, and she realized she might be getting into something bigger than she’d intended. “Well, I was hosting an event last season, and Mark was a neighbor of my client. He asked me out at the end of the party and we had a few casual dates. We were together for about a month before we realized we weren’t right for each other and split on amicable terms.”

“What about his business? Did he ever mention his clients to you?”

Grace shook her head. “He was a very private man. Now, what on earth does Mark have to do with my situation?”

Simon took a deep breath. “I have a,” he paused as though searching for the word, “
complex
relationship with him. And by complex, I mean I want him in prison and he doesn’t know I exist.”

Grace leaned back in her chair and considered him. “Prison? What did he ever do to you?”

He shook his head. “No details yet. I can help you and your business survive whatever the hell Robert Bar is doing, but only if you help me bring down Mark DuFord.”

She thought back to her short time with Mark. He’d been funny and charming and a perfect gentleman. She’d probably still be with him if her work schedule hadn’t been so erratic, but after a few too many missed dates, they’d called it quits. Now she was supposed to help send him to prison? “I don’t know how I can help. I haven’t even spoken to him in over a year, and we were never that serious.”

“This is my offer, and you need to understand what a deal I’m cutting you. I will dig you out of this hole until your business is just as good, if not better off, than it was before me. All I ask is that you be there for me when I call in a favor.”

A shiver snaked down her spine and Grace stood, crossing to stand behind her desk. The look Simon gave her as his eyes followed her every move told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking. That moving to her position of power would somehow make her feel like she had control over the situation.

“Any favor?” There had to be some sort of boundary. She felt less as if she were negotiating with a respectable businessman and more as though she was making a deal with the devil.

“Any favor that can get me closer to nailing DuFord.” His scrutiny never let up.

She crossed her arms. “I can’t agree to that. It’s way too open-ended.” As tempting as his offer was, she knew all too well how delicate her situation was. She was backed into a corner, and that made her vulnerable to getting screwed over.

And Simon West seemed like the type who could sniff out vulnerability from five miles away.

He stood, and any peace of mind hiding behind her desk gave her was ripped away as his presence seemed to fill the entire office. “Why don’t you tell me what boundaries you want?”

Grace took another deep gulp. She hadn’t expected him to leave that up to her, and she was underprepared for a negotiation of this caliber. “Can I have a day to think about it?”

Simon took a few steps forward and set his palms on the desk. “My fee usually runs well over six figures, Ms. Bell.”

She tightened her lips. Apparently she wasn’t “Grace” to him anymore.

“I hate to sound arrogant, but you’re extremely lucky to be getting the opportunity for me to waive my normal fee. So, no. You don’t get until tomorrow. You have until ten seconds from now to start listing your demands and I’ll tell you if they’re acceptable.”

Everything inside her screamed for her to kick him out. To tell him where he could shove it and declare she’d never work with such a devious, conceited man. But she couldn’t. Once again, she mentally listed off all the other public relations specialists and consultants. But her mind always went back to the same one: Simon West.

“You can help me? Guaranteed?”

“I have a plan,” he said simply.

“Then here are my terms.” She tried to get the words out as quick as possible, not wanting to test his “ten second” limit. “I’m not sleeping with anyone to get you anything.” She paused, waiting for the shock to play across his face that she’d even considered he’d ask that of her.

No hint of surprise.

“Also, I’m not doing anything illegal. No breaking and entering, no stealing.”

He nodded. “I can work with the no sex or breaking and entering. I can’t promise I won’t want a better look at his files.” She started to order him out, but he continued, “I can assure you that you’ll be taken care of. I promised to get your company in the same, if not better, condition. I can’t do that with you behind bars.”

Grace took another deep breath. So she had the word of a man she’d just met that she wouldn’t end up in jail. Whenever she’d been faced with decisions like this in the past, her gut had been her guide. It told her who to trust and when to bail on a job.

But her gut seemed to be turning summersaults at the moment and couldn’t make up its damn mind. Her brain wasn’t much help either. Logically, she knew this was a shady deal and she should run as fast and far as she could. But she also knew that Simon West was the best in the business, and if he said he could dig her out of this hole, he could. His word was worth more than gold in the city.

“Okay, Mr. West.” She allowed her hands to fall to her side. “I’m at your service. What’s the plan?”

A satisfied grin twisted his mouth and she couldn’t help but feel that she’d been had.

“Well, first I have to figure out what the good senator is hiding.”

“The press and reporters have dug through every aspect of his life. What makes you think they haven’t already found everything there is to find?” She was happy Simon had the same thought process she had when it came to the senator’s lies. If he was willing to admit to adultery with her, he had to be hiding something much worse.

“I’m still going to dig around. Whoever he was with, she was probably at that hotel the same night the two of you were caught.”

Grace’s eyes widened. “We weren’t caught. He was caught. I just happened to be there.”

He nodded, but didn’t appear at all concerned about the slip. “While I’m looking into him, I’m going to try to see where DuFord’s been staying.”

“I’m not sure where his main residence is, but I know he’s out in the Hamptons every weekend.” She practically beamed when she saw the surprise flash over his features. Finally! She got the robot to show some sign of humanity. “I have an event there this weekend. One of the caterers I’m working with mentioned he was still in the same house.”

His brows drew together. “You asked about him?”

She couldn’t tell whether he was happy or upset that she was already one step ahead of him. “I wanted to make sure there were no important new neighbors who were left off the guest list. So, yes, I asked about him. You’re more than welcome to come out with me this Saturday. I know Mark was invited, but I’m not sure if he RSVPd.”

He ran his fingers through his short hair. “Saturday,” he murmured to himself, as though he ran schedules and timetables in his mind. Finally, he looked back to her. “That will work.”

“Great. Now how about Bell Planning? When can we start crunching numbers and making plans?”

He blinked a few times and she tried her hardest not to worry. Hadn’t he already mentioned he was working a job? Combine his actual paying gig with her mess and his beef with DuFord, and Simon might be one of the busiest men in the city. Hopefully her company wouldn’t get pushed to the bottom of his priorities.

“I’m heading to my apartment to get some balls rolling on researching Robert Bar. Until then, keep up as normal. Why don’t we meet for dinner tonight to talk over a few things once I have more of a plan in place?”

Relief swept through her. He wasn’t going to hang her out to dry. He just wanted to get a plan first. “Just tell me where and when,” she said with a smile.

He shot his watch a quick glance. “Probably around six thirty or seven.” Without asking whether that worked for her, he picked up his jacket off the chair and moved to the door. “Don’t worry, Grace. We’ll figure all this out.”

She frowned. The comforting words seemed so out of place for him. As though he’d suddenly remembered to be thoughtful as he was leaving.

“Ditto,” she said. He was obviously dealing with his own demons when it came to DuFord. As long as they both got what they wanted, this would be a partnership made in heaven.

But Grace had a sinking feeling they’d both end up in hell if things didn’t go their way.

Simon shut his computer and stretched his arms up. With a roll of his shoulders, he stood and moved out of the office and into the bedroom.

Ever since he’d left the Bell Planning offices, he’d been itching to have a serious brainstorming session about his plan of attack. But first things first. He’d promised Victoria he’d get her the financial projections by the end of the week, showing the various effects of buying the midsize tool manufacturer out in the Midwest.

Now that he’d gotten one of the possible scenarios plotted out, he was ready to start seriously thinking about the DuFord situation. He glanced at the clock on the wall. He still had two hours before he was scheduled to meet with Grace. That would give him just enough time to get a run in.

He quickly changed into shorts, T-shirt, and his sneakers designed especially for city streets. Forgoing the elevator, he took the steps two at a time as he descended the fifteen stories to ground level. He scrolled through his MP3 player, and settled on an up-tempo rock playlist that would keep him at a pace of at least six miles per hour.

The drumbeat started as he reached the warm summer air and he started into his slow jog. As the pavement moved beneath him and he dodged pedestrians, he thought back to his meeting with Grace.

She would be an interesting one to work with. He’d misjudged her and that wasn’t like him. She was smart and calculating, each decision thought out and weighed against the options. Somehow he’d assumed the party planner would be an artistic free spirit. Not a structured businesswoman.

A stereotype, sure, but some stereotypes were there for a reason.

She was probably fantastic at what she did. Able to slide into a room and immediately be best friends with everyone around her. Simon preferred to walk into a room and convince everyone they’d either be screwed or much less rich without his help. Friendship could only get a person so far. Money could get them everywhere.