Just as Alexander promised, Hale was waiting for me at eight sharp on Monday morning. I thought about how quickly the weekend flew by as I climbed through the rear passenger door that Hale held open for me.
“Thanks, Hale.”
“Yes, Miss,” he replied in his ever so sullen way. He closed the door behind me and walked around to the driver’s side of the black Porsche SUV.
As we pulled into traffic, I ran through all the information that I read in the client files for Turning Stone. There were opportunities to say the least, and Alexander was right to say that the employees at Turning Stone were mediocre at best.
Or perhaps they just need a bit more direction.
The task that awaited me was a daunting one, but I was looking forward to the challenge. When I thought about the long workdays ahead of me, I reconsidered my start time. An eight o’clock start may not suffice if I had any hopes of having free time in the evenings. I looked to Hale, wondering if he would be my ride to work each day.
Surely, I can’t expect him to chauffeur me daily.
“Has Alex instructed you to pick me up every morning?” I asked him.
“No, Miss,” was all he said. I pursed my lips and frowned at his reply.
Yes, Miss. No, Miss. Aren’t you a regular ole chatterbox.
I should not have been surprised by his short responses, as they were in typical Hale fashion. I just wanted someone to talk to, in a shoot-the-shit kind of way. I was full of restless energy, excited for my first day at Turning Stone. I thought that I might be apprehensive about working for Alexander, but after spending all day Saturday and Sunday going through the client files, I couldn’t stop the enthusiasm from bubbling over. This opportunity was what I had been waiting so long for.
However, excited or not, I knew how challenging Alexander could be on a personal level. I wondered how difficult he would be to work for.
“Is it hard to work for Alex?” I mused the question aloud to Hale. He just smiled at me through the review mirror. “Come on, Hale. You packed my underwear into a duffle bag just a few days ago. I think we can drop a few of the formalities.”
He snorted at my statement, his face showing more emotion than I had ever seen before. When he spoke, there was a hint of humor in his voice.
“No, Miss. Mr. Stone is not hard to work for.”
“That’s all you can say? You can’t give me just the teeniest bit of insight?” I teased.
To my disappointment, he remained silent as we continued the short drive.
I should be happy that he said that much.
I stared out the window at the passing streets, contemplating how my first day might go. When we eventually pulled up to Cornerstone Tower, my excitement had turned into a ball of nerves.
Hale got out of the SUV first and came around to open the door for me. When I stepped out onto the pavement, he took hold of my elbow.
“Miss Cole,” he said, startling me. I couldn’t believe that he was actually speaking to me without being asked.
“Yes, Hale,” I replied, waiting patiently for whatever it was he was about to say.
“Mr. Stone instructed me to tell you that he will meet you in the lobby. Reception will call up to tell him that you have arrived.”
“Oh, um…. Thank you.”
I thought that would be it, but he didn’t release his hold on my arm.
“One more thing. I can see that you’re nervous,” he said and looked pointedly to my hands that I hadn’t realized were fidgeting. “Don’t worry. Mr. Stone may come across as hard, but he’s not as bad as you might think he is. He has a good soul.”
And with that, he turned and climbed back into the vehicle. I stood on the curb, stunned speechless, watching as he pulled away.
Well…okay, then.
I looked up at the looming building before me, an impressive structure topped with a sleek ornamental spire. A feeling of déjà vu settled over me. The nerves that rattled me were very similar to the ones that I had when I came here for the first time.
The interview.
I smiled to myself when I thought about that day.
If I only knew how drastically my life would change…
The thought put me strangely at ease. Feeling more confident, I pushed through the turnstile doors. I was ready to start a new day. And a new life.
****
I stepped out of the elevator and made my way through the lobby to where Krystina was waiting for me. My eyes traveled up the length of her. She looked polished in her mint green suit jacket and skirt, yet still sexy as hell. The color complimented her creamy skin and chestnut curls. I had forgotten how good she looked in shades of green. Even so, I still wanted to rip the clothes from her body.
She’s damn hot. It’s going to be hard keeping things strictly to business during the day.
“Miss Cole,” I said when I approached her.
“Good morning, sir.”
Sir.
My cock gave a slight twinge at that one little word, having rarely heard it come from her lips.
Hard is an understatement. It’s going to be near impossible to keep my hands off of her if she continues to address me like that.
“Let’s keep it to Mr. Stone when we’re at work,” I told her. Then I winked and whispered, “You can call me ‘sir’ later.”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed a delectable pink.
“Alex, not here,” she hissed. “We have to try to keep it professional.”
I flashed her a cocky grin and took hold of her elbow.
“No promises, angel.” Leading her to the bank of elevators, I punched the button that would take us up to Turning Stone Advertising. “Your offices are located on the thirty-seventh floor. I recently had the floor completely remodeled. I trust that you’ll find it to your liking.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” she said as the elevator started to ascend. I glanced at her and saw that she was twisting her hands. I turned and boxed her in against the wall between my arms.
“Why are you nervous?”
“Starting a new job is always a bit nerve wracking, Alex.”
I leaned in, wanting to take a bite out of her, but the elevator pinged to signal that we had stopped. A computerized voice announced that we were at the nineteenth floor.
Not our floor.
I quickly stepped away, just in time for the doors to open. A man joined us in the five by five space. Dark hair. Early twenties if I had to guess.
Patrick something or another. Mailroom employee.
I tensed when I saw the way he looked at Krystina.
Keep your eyes to yourself, buddy.
He glanced up and saw that I was watching him. He quickly averted his attention to a random spot in the corner of the elevator.
That’s right. She’s mine.
The doors opened again and the employee got out.
“Jealousy is not very becoming on you, Alex,” Krystina remarked after the doors closed once more.
“What?”
“I saw the way you stared down that poor boy. I’m sure it was innocent on his part. Seriously, I’m the new girl. People are going to stare for a minute. It’s normal until they figure out who I am.”
I stared at her, completely awed by how oblivious she was to her beauty.
The elevator chimed again, this time announcing that we had reached the thirty-seventh floor. The doors slid open to reveal a long corridor of offices. The smell of new carpet and fresh paint assaulted us. I pinched up my nose and wondered how long the smells would linger for.
“Here we are, angel. Turning Stone Advertising,” I announced.
“You probably shouldn’t call me that when we are here,” she whispered.
“It’s fine for now. Nobody’s here at the moment. I’ve instructed the staff to tie up loose ends at the old office this morning. Your team will join you after lunch. I figured that you might want the morning to yourself to get acclimated.”
We walked down the main hallway and I pointed to the various offices that employees would use. I led her into one of the large design rooms that could be used for both client meetings and strategy planning.
“Wow, Alex! I couldn’t ask for this space to be laid out any better,” she walked around the long oval conference table and over to the large windows on the far wall. “The lighting in here is simply fantastic.”
“It is, but my designer thought differently. She said that you might find the late afternoon sun to be somewhat of a hindrance. She had an automatic shade installed so that the light doesn’t interfere with the flat screens and white board. You’ll probably want to explore this room more extensively later. There’s quite a bit of equipment at your disposal.”
Her eyes were wide as she took in the rest of the room.
“I can see that,” she murmured as her eyes settled on the state of the art stereo, audio, and recording systems that she could utilize for radio advertisements.
“Follow me this way. There’s more for you to see,” I told her, anxious for her to see the space that was designed specifically for her.
We walked to the far end of the hallway, where the doublewide glass doors for Krystina’s main office faced us. Turning Stone Advertising had been etched into frosted glass in a large swirling black font, with her name imprinted right below it.
Turning Stone Advertising
Krystina Cole
Chief Executive Officer
“Fancy,” she commented. “Wait. That says Chief Executive Officer.”
“Yes. So it does.” I chuckled as I pushed through the glass doors. “Welcome to your new office, Miss Cole.”