I have to resist fanning my face just at the thought of him that way. If I thought CEO Tanner was overwhelming, I now know he can be even more so in his fae form, tall and lethal, with that long, warrior-like hair—
“Knock, knock. Can I come in?” I glance up, surprised to see Bill knocking on my office door as he pushes it open.
I frown because it’s a little odd for him to come see me now. He’s usually the first to lunch, and almost everyone else has already left.
Tanner will probably drop by to pick me up soon, but I see no sign of him yet.
He’s probably still working, and I smile fondly, thinking that it’s impressive that he’s trying to actually help my company when he only came here as part of his mission.
“I can see you’re a little out of it,” Bill says, walking in and shutting the door. “You okay there?”
I narrow my eyes slightly at the closed door because it’s an unspoken but understood rule that you just don’t do that.
I stand, but he motions for me to sit. For a moment, I’m taken aback by the fact that he’s the COO, second-in-command other than the CEO.
And since Tanner is only an interim CEO, technically, that makes Bill head of the company right now.
“I was about to head to lunch. Did you need something?” I ask, sitting back down warily.
Bill scoots his chair in, bringing it as close to the desk as possible so he can lean in to look at me. He’s old enough to be my father. Balding. Overweight. His white shirt has sweat stains, and there’s sweat beading on his forehead.
“I was thinking about your benefits proposal,” he says.
“Oh,” I say in relief because I’ve been trying to get him to look at it forever. He could approve it with only one signature if he gave it to his father. “That’s great, because…”
I trail off as he stands, pushing himself out of the chair to walk around the desk toward where I’m sitting.
He perches a hip on my desk, making it groan and creak in response. He doesn’t seem to notice, as his eyes are currently wandering over me, lingering at the cleavage that shows at top of my blouse where I undid a button while I was working.
“What about my benefits proposal?” I ask, hoping to hurry this up.
His eyes snap up to mine. “You’ve been with the company a long time, Eva.”
I nod. “Since I graduated.”
“Yes, yes. Talented. Young.” His eyes move over me again, making me slightly nauseous. “Smart.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Your benefits proposal is smart but expensive,” he says. “It might be hard to get enough VPs to sign off.”
I glance up at him. “Or you could just sign off.”
“Eva, Eva, Eva,” he says, shaking his head. “You’ve been in the corporate world for what, ten years? And you still don’t know how this works?”
I shake my head, staring at him. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been pouring your heart into that proposal, but it’s never going to get passed without the right support.” He slides his hand toward me on the desk. “My support. You could do this in a much easier way.”
I freeze, staring up at him and wondering if this can really be happening. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t think you would be up for this kind of thing until I heard you had taken up with Tanner. To be honest, all of us thought you were off-limits.”
“My sexual availability has nothing to do with you,” I say, furious. “Now if you’ll just leave—”
His hand slides forward, covering mine and catching it before I can withdraw.
I want to put up a fight, but I’m too shocked and my head is racing with all the implications of what could happen if I act how I want to act.
His father owns the company. I don’t want to be fired.
I never thought he would do this. Has he been trying it on anyone else?
“What are you doing?” I rasp, trying to pull my hand back again, end this quickly, and make it easier on both of us. “You can’t just proposition employees.”
“I don’t usually,” he says, releasing my hand to lean back a moment, studying me. “But you know I was recently divorced, and…” His eyes trail over me. “I realized there was someone who could meet my needs right here at work.” He runs his tongue over his lip lasciviously. “Surely, you can make a better alliance with me than with Tanner. He can’t even get your proposal passed.”
I stand, furious, hands in fists, ready to throw him out of my office for even suggesting anything about Tanner. “You don’t know anything about what I want, and I would never sleep with someone for business.”
I shove a hand into his chest, moving him back so I can get around him to the door. “If you dare lay a hand on any employees—”
“You’ll what?” He looks at me, irked. I can see a predatorial gleam in his eyes now that he’s seen something he wants that he can’t have. “You don’t have any power. It’s all illusory. My father owns this place. If I want you fired, it’ll be instant.”
“I’ll sue you,” I say quickly.
He walks closer, backing me against the wall before I can reach the door. “Let’s not make it ugly,” he says. “Besides, you know my lawyers would tear you apart. My father can sway anyone powerful in this whole damn town. Just… let’s do what’s good for both of us.”
I look up at him, meeting his eyes only because I hope it’ll keep his hands off me. “And what’s that?”
He puts a hand up, hovering it over my arm like he’s about to stroke down it. I cringe inwardly. “You get your benefits proposal and whatever else you want to happen in this company.” His finger grazes my arm and I jerk back, but I can’t go around him. “And I get you whenever I need a release.”
I shove him back, hard, because I’m stronger than him and because I can’t let him touch me.
And I also can’t hear this gross offer anymore.
Or face that my life’s work has come down to this. Threats from a sexually harassing narcissist who doesn’t care about anything but his own dick.
“You’ll regret that,” he says, taking a step toward me again. “You know you don’t have a choice, Eva. Not unless you want to start over. With no recommendations.”
I gape at him openly, unable to understand why he would try to make my entire life hell just over a proposition.
But then I realize that in saying no to him when he never expected it, I’ve only made him want me more.
“Get out of here,” I say angrily. “Before I throw you out.”
He narrows his eyes on me. “I’d like to see you try.”
“Eva?” Tanner’s voice calls out from behind the closed door to my office. “Are you in there?”
Bill goes tense, then forcibly relaxes himself, smoothing a hand over his combover as he steps back and away from me. “Think about my proposition, Eva. It’s more than fair.”
As he turns on his heel and opens the door, I’m so relieved to see Tanner’s handsome, honest face that I almost sink to the floor.
Seeing my expression, he turns a glare on Bill, but Bill merely pushes past him as if he wasn’t there.