“It’s too late, you’ve already ruffled them, but it’s not your fault,” Vanessa said, getting up from her desk and getting another chair. “Just try to keep your head down and do your job, it will pass. Now let me show you our computer system, it’sancient and antiquated since Sandra won’t let us upgrade, but it gets the job done, eventually.”
Half an hour later, she had a pretty good idea of what the computer would and wouldn’t do, and it was time to go look for Sandra. “Good luck,” Vanessa said with a sympathetic smile. “Her bark is way worse than her bite, and just remember that she can’t fire you without Roger’s approval.”
“That was not at all reassuring,” she said, getting to her feet. “Thanks a lot.”
Vanessa grinned at her, “If you make it through the day, drinks are on me tonight after work,” she said. “That should give you something to look forward to.”
“Make it coffee instead and you’ve got a deal,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “I’m off to do battle.”
Sandra was in her office sorting through a stack of papers when Rose found her and knocked on the open door. She looked up, then a frown appeared on her face. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, going back to what she was doing. “There’s a stack of invoices on the table over there, they need to be sorted by job site and date, then entered into the computer, and when you’re finished, there are more in the file room.”
She looked around, not sure which table Sandra meant. “Over there by the door, can’t you see it, open your eyes, it’s right there,” the woman said, waving her arm around, then got to her feet and walked over to a table by the door, muttering under her breath. She grabbed a big stack of multi-colored invoices and shoved them into her hands before stomping back to her desk. “I don’t know why I have to put up with this, it’s absolutely unacceptable. I should just quit. Now you get the hell out of here before I do something I’ll regret.”
She stumbled out of the office, invoices clutched to her stomach, the urge to head straight for the front door driving her toward the waiting room again. Planning to drop the invoiceson Vanessa’s desk on the way out, she held back the tears that burned her eyes, humiliated by the way she’d been treated and afraid of what she was about to do. Her sister was depending on her, but she couldn’t stay here and be abused; it was more than she could take. She’d just have to find another way to get close to Malcolm; there had to be one.
CHAPTER 3
***MALCOLM***
Flying high from his morning spent touring what would be the first property in his empire, Malcolm glided through his late morning class, then headed off to work, looking forward to sharing his good news with his boss. Since it was payday, he knew that he’d find Roger at the office camped out in his big office chair, the stack of checks on the desk in front of him. It was a bit of a ritual every Monday, and unlike the rest of the guys, he didn’t mind. It was a chance to pick his boss’s brain about anything that had popped up during the week on the job site.
When he saw Vanessa sitting behind the reception desk, his spirits lifted just a little bit more and he sauntered over to her, looking forward to their usual banter. “Hey there, hot stuff, what’s happening around here?” he asked, shooting her a big smile. “What have I missed since last week?”
Vanessa didn’t grin back at him; instead, she looked over her shoulder and whispered. “Sandra is on the war path. I wouldn’t cross her today if I were you,” she said. “I’m just sitting here keeping my head down until the storm is over, but it might be a while. Roger hired someone for the accounting position without telling Sandra. She was planning on giving the position to herniece, so you can imagine how well that went over. Of course, she’s taking it out on the new girl, even though it’s not her fault. Honestly, if I were you, I’d just turn around and leave right now. I’m not sure a paycheck is worth all this.”
He laughed. “Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad,” he said. “I’ll just pop back and see Roger. If I see Sandra coming, I’ll go the other way.”
“Good luck,” Vanessa said. “You’re going to need it if she catches you.”
He was so busy looking over his shoulder for Sandra, he didn’t see what was in front of him, and as he came around the corner, he crashed into something warm that let out a familiar gasp of surprise. His arms went around her instinctively to keep them both from falling, but that meant pressing her body up against his and to his horror, his body responded instantly. He sucked in a shocked breath at the strength of the need that flared to life inside him, waking the dragon and bringing it to life as the woman’s scent filled his lungs.
All too aware that he needed to put some space between them, he gently untangled himself from her arms and looked down at her, an apology on the tip of his tongue. He was just beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with him, if his celibate life was catching up to him, and then he was gazing into the same beautiful hazel eyes he had been almost a week before.
The woman gasped, clearly recognizing him as well, and he panicked. “Sorry, didn’t mean to almost knock you down,” he said, stepping carefully around her. “I’m in a hurry, gotta go.”
He booked it down the hallway, leaving the woman staring after him, the ground littered with the invoices she’d been carrying, the creature inside him roaring with indignation that he’d run away. Roger was sitting behind his desk when he racedinto the room. A look of alarm appeared on his face, and he set down the stack of papers that he’d been holding.
“Malcolm, what’s wrong?” he asked, starting to get to his feet.
“Nothing, don’t get up,” he said, forcing himself to calm down. “I just ran into someone in the hallway, I mean literally…”
“Oh, you must have just met Rose, she’s our new accountant,” Roger said, waving his hand in the air. “Sandra is mad as a wet hen about it, but I owe her father a favor, and she is qualified, which is a lot more than I can say for Sandra’s niece.”
“Keep me out of it,” he said, sitting down across from Roger, feeling more in control. “What’s the news this week? Did we get that new contract?”
“Yes, I got the new contract, but we won’t be working on the job unless you finish your safety training,” Roger said, giving him a dirty look. “In fact, if you don’t, you won’t be working on any job site any time in the near future.”
“I hate that stuff, it’s just a huge waste of time,” he said with a sigh. “I can make the company a lot more money out on the job site. I don’t know why you even bother with those stupid classes. They don’t do any good.”
“The insurance company disagrees with you; in fact, they feel so strongly about those safety videos that they’ll raise my rates if we don’t watch them,” Roger said. “That doesn’t sound like very good business to me, but maybe you know better, college boy.”
“I didn’t think about the insurance,” he said, properly chastised. “Sorry, Roger, I guess I got ahead of myself. I’m sure you’re carrying some heavy liability insurance, and I bet it costs an arm and a leg.”
“You got that right, and if you don’t watch those videos, it will cost me even more,” Roger said, giving him a dirty look. “Now get your butt down to the training room and watch those videos. I don’t care how long it takes, but you’re officially banned from the job site until you do. Is that clear?”
“Fine, no more messing around, I’ll get them done,” he said, then brightened up. “Do you want to hear about my morning? I finally put an offer in on the property I’ve been looking at, and I think the sellers are going to accept it.”
“Congratulations, that’s great news, I just hope you’ve thought this through completely,” Roger said, shaking his head. “That old restaurant is in bad shape. You’re going to have to gut the entire building and start over.”
