The view overlooking San Francisco from my office on the top floor of Blackwood Energy Solutions was barely enough to keep my thoughts from wandering back to the elevator and back to that encounter with her.
From up here, the cars crossing the Bay Bridge looked miniature, and the people on the streets looked like ants — but that wasn’t what I focused on. I took in Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and even the Golden Gate Bridge from the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrapped around two-thirds of my office. I stared, imagining the lives of every single person in each location, wondering if any of them were locals or simply passing through. Were they going home after a long day at the office? Were they heading back to their suburban two-story to take out their garbage and mow their lawns?
But even that, even placing myself into the shoes of the people who were literally beneath me, didn’t distract me enough from her.
From the moment she’d stepped into the elevator, I’d found her attractive. That wasn’t unusual — she was young, beautiful, timid but defiant. It tracked. But the green of her eyes kept haunting me, the way her thick lashes had batted when she was confused, the curve of her plump, pink lips when she’d folded her teeth over them… Her clear skin save for a smattering of freckles, the way her thick hair had fallen over one shoulder as if the chestnut waves had a mind of their own, how the top of her head only reached my shoulder at absolute best.
And her fucking brain.
The proposal she’d had was brilliant. I couldn’t understand why it hadn’t been chosen, and every word of it I read only proved to me that at the very least, her proposal trumped each one that had been picked to present today. I’d poured over it the moment I’d returned to my office, taking in every possible use she’d thought of, every business strategy she’d outlined for it. It was far beyond what I’d expected, and she easily deserved a full-time job here, if not something better. I wondered if she was chastising herself for how it went down, wondered if there was something I could do to make it better.
That fucking blouse, though.
The way the sides of it parted when I’d grabbed for her binder.
The peek at what she hid beneath it.
The way they’d practically burst out when I grabbed her.
I policed myself heavily when it came to the women who worked at Blackwood — I didn’t need the mess that would inevitably come from sleeping with one. But fuck, none of them had made me that desperate to touch my swelling cock in the confines of that Goddamn elevator.
I’d resisted coming on to her, of course. I wasn’t eager to make an employee uncomfortable or receive an HR complaint on my spotless record. But in the confines of my office with the door locked and nothing to distract me but work, my view, and the binder she’d prepared sitting on my desk, the temptation to jack off was getting harder to beat back.
But just as I was about to give in, a knock sounded on my door.
Fisting the fabric of my slacks and readjusting my throbbing cock, I sank into my leather chair and pressed the buzzer on my desk, begrudgingly unlocking the door.
“I know you’re busy, Damien, but I’d like to remind you that I’m a lawyer, not a lackey,” Ethan quipped, his glasses shifting on his scrunched nose as he shut the door behind him.
“Sorry. My assistant’s out for the day, and you were already heading up.” I leaned back in my chair, kicking my feet up onto the polished wood of my desk. “Did you bring it?”
His eyes rolled as he rounded the wingback chairs opposite my desk and dropped a handful of papers before me. “Yes, obviously.”
I grabbed for the papers, skimming them quickly. The first was a list of names of those joining us on the Vegas trip next week. The second, outlines for how to keep HR happy and content with the Vegas trip. And the third, bundled under the rest, was the employee information for Olivia Martin. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“I literally just carried paperwork from floor fourteen to floor eighteen, but sure, I’ll take it,” he said, eyeing me as he slouched into the wingback chair.
Ethan had a point. Although I kept him here at the offices, he wasn’t technically an employee of the company. He was Blackwood’s lawyer, my lawyer, but more than either of those, he was someone I enjoyed the presence of, even if he didn’t follow me blindly like the rest. “Well, you were already down in accounting,” I said, and his nose crinkled again.
“Do I get a bonus for helping, then?”
“Don’t overthink it, Ethan,” I grinned.
He was roughly fifteen years my junior, but with the disappointment covering his features, I could have sworn he was my father.
“Fine. You can have a bonus. Again.” I flicked through the papers and pulled Olivia’s file to the top. “Do you think HR would have an issue with me inviting an intern on the Vegas trip?” I asked.
He stared at me for a moment, his jaw twitching and his glasses shifting. His button-up shirt and slacks instead of a full suit were lackluster, especially for being on my floor, but I looked past it for today. “Do you mean the Martin girl? If she was chosen to present earlier, then I think they’d understand.”
I shook my head as I flipped a stapled page over, reviewing the photocopy of her resume. “She wasn’t picked.”
“Are you inviting the ones that were?”
I snorted. “No. They’d cause more trouble than they’re worth.”
Ethan leaned forward, his elbows resting on his spread knees. “So you’re sleeping with her.”
I shot him a glare. “You know damn well I don’t do that here.”
He shrugged.
“I met her today. We got stuck together in the elevator with the power outage,” I said, scanning each line of her resume. “She’s brilliant. Her proposal should have been top of the damn pile. I’ve no idea why she wasn’t chosen.”
I slid Olivia’s binder across the desk toward him and he took it willingly, flipping each page as if it wasn’t the most interesting thing he’d seen today. “She’s not even a full employee, Damien.”
“She should be. That proposal is genuinely worth more to Blackwood than all of the interns that presented today put together.”
He sighed as he flipped another page, studying it just a little bit closer. “I understand that you see potential,” he said, his words hanging as he glanced at me over the top of his glasses. “But you’re asking for trouble by bringing along someone that inexperienced to what is likely going to be the most important business trip of the year.”
He wasn’t wrong. Blackwood Energy Solutions would be pitching to envelop multiple other green initiative businesses into our conglomerate. If things went well, we’d be leaving with pocketfuls of new income revenues and avenues to scale up green initiatives across the country. It was crucial that we succeed — but I couldn’t deny that the idea of having her nearby didn’t excite me. Especially when there would be down time. I could tempt myself at least a little, get to know her a bit more.
“I can tell there’s ulterior motives here, Damien.”
“Okay, yes, I’m attracted to her,” I grumbled, slapping the paperwork down on the table. “But that doesn’t negate her being a valuable asset. I’ve already spoken to accounting about offering her a full-time job, so it shouldn’t be a hard sell. And I’m more than capable of removing myself from a situation if I’m too… tempted.”
“You know, you could try women your own age for once,” Ethan snorted, slamming the binder closed and chucking it back onto my desk.
I turned to my laptop, pulled up my emails, and began drafting one to the company address on file for Olivia. “I would if they weren’t so insistent on settling down immediately and using me for my money. Besides, you know damn well what happened with Marissa. It’s not my fault that girls Olivia’s age are more often up for casual things.”
“What are you doing?” he asked, his gaze flicking between me and the back of the screen in front of me.
“Inviting her on the trip.”
“I haven’t even spoken to HR—”
“You will,” I grinned. “And you’ll convince them. For me.”
He pursed his lips as he slid his phone from the pocket of his slacks. “Can we at least discuss the plan for integrating the new companies?”
I typed furiously, writing down the first words that came to mind. “Yes. In a second.”
Olivia,
I want to offer my sincerest apologies that you were not chosen to present in front of the board today. Please know that I’m taking this matter incredibly seriously and will be raising it with the head of your department.
I’ve read more of your proposal. It’s incredibly well done and, honestly, one of the freshest ideas I’ve seen in years. I’ve spoken to accounting to ensure you’ll be offered a permanent role within Blackwood, so please do not worry about not being on that pipeline by not being chosen today.
That being said:
I’d like to formally invite you to join us next week in Las Vegas, Nevada for the pitch we’ll be doing at the Luxor. There are a few companies we’ll hopefully be acquiring and I think it will give you some good experience to see how it all operates. I also think the presentation you prepared for today would go down well if you’d be interested in sharing it in Vegas. Your flight, hotel, and meals will be paid for if you choose to join us.
Have a think and get back to me by the end of the day tomorrow.
Damien Blackwood
Owner and CEO
I read back over the words once, twice, and a third time, contemplating whether I should add the postscript that danced in my mind. With how nervous she’d been around me, the little ways her breath had caught, the blush that had painted her cheeks in a warm pink…
I typed it just to reread it.
P.S. — If you decide to come and present, make sure your attire is as put together as your presentation this time. 😉
I knew it was unprofessional. I knew it didn’t come across as well as the rest of my email. But a part of me couldn’t shake how flustered I knew it would make her, and the temptation that bit at the back of my skull took over.
I clicked send before I could talk myself out of it. At the very least, she’d get a chuckle out of it, and at the most, she’d know that I was… interested. It could even provoke a response.
Maybe I’d crossed a line.
Maybe I was tempting myself far more than I should. But I couldn’t help but find myself addicted to the if only, my mind dabbling in how I could handle that with someone from the office, how I could keep her a secret. It broke every rule in my book. It broke my standards. I’d only met her for, what, ten minutes? But there was something about her, something about her mind and her form that plagued me.
I knew that feeling well.
And I knew it might not stop until I got what I wanted out of her.
