Noelle Constance:If you don’t mind me asking, what was it about my candidacy that caused you to select me. I understand Val Montgomery—
Aloysius Holstein:Val did direct our attention to your resume, but you have the background and credentials. We were obviously swayed by the evidence you won’t be the sort to bring anymore of these sex scandals to the company.
Maxwell Baker:Our investors won’t stand for any hint of scandal. We believe we’ve won back their trust. Please prove our faith well founded.
Noelle Constance:I have every intention to.
Dane’s mood had increased with the possibility of working with Selena. She was both pretty and eager—his favorite combination. It would be the perfect distraction from his other affair. Plus, he’d been looking for a way to get back on the system. Since he oversaw technology, he had no real reason to work on live trading software in production. By the end of the week, they’d have to let him create a login for Selena. She’d be operating on the trading floor soon, and as her mentor, he’d get to play.
He spent the rest of the morning going through his email. He didn’t even need to read the subject headers before hitting delete, delete, delete. So much garbage. He marked all the meeting requests withTentative, but then stopped with one that stood out from the mass ofRelease 4.2 deployment final code walk through for gold buildtypes of invitations.
The single-subject title almost registered as spam.
Coffee?
The request had been sent while he was grilling Selena. And it was from Noelle. He quickly checked the other invitees to verify it was sent to him alone. But to what end? She couldn’t fire him. He held his cursor over theDeclinebutton. But his curiosity was piqued. What could she want? She’d made it clear she had no interest in him—not yet. His behavior had even grossed him out.
He stared at the email a moment longer, savoring what might be a small victory. She’d come to him.
Tempted to decline, he decided instead to delete the invitation without a response. Just in case things went bad, he wanted no record to exist anywhere in the system that indicated he’d encouraged her in anyway. But an outright refusal might turn her away right when she was coming around, no matter how unlikely that scenario.
Anyway, she’d set the time for later this morning, and he had so many meetings to attend. At least, on paper.
Sophie!!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I got it! I get to work with Dane!
You should have seen the looks in the eyes of the other interns. I thought they might gang up to kill me. But I rocked the interview. He had no choice but to take me. OMG OMG OMG!
Selena
The sushi menu lay on the carpet just inside her door, slid there while she worked with the interns. She picked it up and opened it to find the time written in black felt pen.11:45
Never mind her own plans.Drop everything, Val. Stay at my beck and call.She nearly threw the menu into the trash can, but her vexation didn’t last longer than it took to cross to her desk. Of course she’d meet him. He was the closest thing to fun around here.
The sushi restaurant was only a few blocks away and had the advantage of quaint private rooms with stereotypical sliding bamboo doors that used rice paper in place of windows. Val entered and slipped her shoes off. She knelt at the table across from Dane, who’d already ordered a pot of sake and checked off his sushi order.
Val did the same and handed their slips to the waitress. Then she settled in for whatever Dane needed to say.
“Do I owe you an apology?” He lifted the corner of his mouth in what he knew damn well was his apologetic grin. He could get away with murder with that look.
Val considered toying with his apparent sense of remorse, but she didn’t believe he actually felt any. “You want to apologize for giving me a glimpse into what I have to look forward to when you finish your dalliance?”
His grin twisted into smug satisfaction. “I like the sound of that.” He looked around. “This room is private. Would you like another sample of projected earnings?”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to couch your seduction in ridiculous innuendo around me. Speak plainly.”
“I thought I did on Friday. You didn’t seem to like that so much then.”
“Oh, I liked it plenty. I’ll like it better when I’m not sharing your attention with your conquest.”
“Say the word and I’ll set that aside. It could be you and me. Noelle is just entertainment.”
Val’s breath caught. The offer tempted her, but words without action meant nothing. “Is she? I have to confess I have my doubts.”
“About what exactly?”
“Honestly, Dane. I’m losing faith in your abilities. Are you really such a loser you can’t seduce one girl?” Appealing to his vanity usually provoked him to show his hand.
