Steph looked at her as she left and thought that her comment had seemed rather odd but made no response.
“It looks like Andrea missed you, too.” Jon passed Steph a cup of tea that she willingly accepted.
“If you say so.” Smiled Steph wryly.
“What is it you doubt, Stephanie, the fact that she missed you or that I did?” He stood in front of her now.
She had previously had no intention of doing this today. They were going to talk tonight. This was business, work, but she wasincapable where he was concerned of not reacting to him and if she was honest she didn’t want to resist the effect he had on her.
“I don’t doubt that you missed me. I missed you, too, a lot.” She laid her hands flat against his chest and looked up at his face.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from you this morning when you were so pissed off with me on Saturday,” he admitted seriously.
“Neither was I.” Steph smiled as she felt his arms snake around her waist before pulling her tightly against him. “Sorry about the weekend. Burying my head in the sand when I don’t want to face up to something is one of my default settings I think.”
“I’m beginning to see that. Maybe we could rearrange the meeting with Grant and we could do something or go somewhere or both,” Jon suggested bending his head so that he was resting his forehead against hers.
“Very unprofessional, Mr Brooker,” she chided him.
They both jumped as Andrea announced Grant’s arrival through the intercom on the desk.
“Or we could meet with Grant now and go somewhere or do something later.” Steph grinned as she picked her tea up and took her seat opposite Jon’s at his desk.
They hadall exchanged pleasantries when Grant said, “Right then, if it’s okay with you Mr Brooker maybe we could get on.”
“Of course.” Jon looked down at the papers in front of him before handing back over to Grant.
“Your contract with us is now due for review and what we propose is a permanent contract with a revised role and responsibilities and of course the salary does reflect that,” said Grant as he passed a piece of paper to Steph and then to Jon.
Steph looked down and gasped as she saw the job description in front of her. “I can’t accept this,” she said still shocked at the details.
“It’s a very fair package we’re offering you,” said Grant obviously surprised by her reaction.
“What? Yes I appreciate that Grant, but it’s too much,” said Steph still reeling.
“What’s too much?” asked Jon, “The salary? I can assure you that you will earn every penny, Miss Pryor. We have been looking at restructuring other parts of the company after contracting Bakers for additional legal services and this is one of the next steps, but you have forced our hand in so much as we are dealing with accounts sooner than we had intended. However, the role of Head of Financial Services has been devised specifically with you in mind, Steph.” Jon sat back in his chair leisurely.
“But why me?” she asked seriously.
“Because you have proved to be an invaluable asset to the company. You have spotted flaws in existing systems, saved me money on prospective contracts and you know what I want in new deals. You understand me and the way I work, like with Richards. oh, and I trust you implicitly,” said Jon, shocking Steph, but rendering Grant wide-eyed and open mouthed at his openness and honesty.
“And I don’t want anyone else coming along and whisking you away from under my nose,” he said with a smirk, but Steph was unsure whether he meant professionally or personally.
“I see,” she replied, “But the salary . . .”
“Not enough? There’s room for negotiation there, isn’t there Grant?” asked Jon of the still wide-eyed H.R. Manager.
“What? No!” protested Steph. “It’s too much.”
“Nonsense. It’s in line with equivalent roles in equivalent companies,” said Jon sternly.
“Mr Brooker is right there, Miss Pryor, I did research the details,” verified Grant and then added. “The period of notice that you would need to provide us with is six months and although this is an extended period, the reason for this is because we feel that it would take this amount of time to recruit a replacement and for you to hand over the workload to them, that is non-negotiable.”
“Can I take it away and think about it?” asked Steph nervously.
“Why? What’s to think about?” asked Jon as Grant had nodded his head to agree to her request.
“It’s a big commitment and I had been considering my option to set up in an independent consultancy role,” Steph revealed causing Jon to arch an eyebrow in response.
