Accidentally Flirting with the CEO (Whirlwind Romance Series)

ACCIDENTALLY FLIRTING WITH THE CEO

Shadonna Richards

Copyright 2010 by Shadonna Richards

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and
incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you, God for all my blessings. To my wonderful family and friends
for your endless support.

And to JP, the best editor ever!

ACCIDENTALLY
FLIRTING WITH THE CEO (Whirlwind Romance Series)

What happens
when a seductive e-mail goes to the wrong recipient—your boss?

If Jess Tandon
were any hotter, he’d be a fire hazard! The sexy, arrogant president of TLC
Advertising is more than just delicious eye-candy. He’s caught the eyes and
heart of his normally-play it safe executive assistant, Alexa Worthington.

Too bad the
only sex Alexa is having is safe text.  She’s only just gotten over tragic
heartbreak in her life, but she wants to move on now. She takes a romance
writing class for therapy and creates a sizzling fantasy love scene starring
her boss, Jess, and herself. When she e-mails it to a friend to critique, it
ends up going to the wrong recipient—to Jess himself. Is this a disaster
waiting to happen—or the beginning of something too hot to handle?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Alexa Worthington’s heart began to beat erratically as she
sat up on her bed glaring at the screen of her laptop computer. The display
read ‘sending message’ then the confirmation screen popped up.  Something
was not right. She just sensed it. A green tick appeared on the screen followed
by ‘Message Sent.’ She glanced further down the screen and there it was:

Recipients

Jess Tandon

She continued to look at the screen but didn’t think too
much of it at the time. Then it struck her hard like a bucking
bull at a rodeo.

“Crap!”

Alexa felt as if she were going to have a cardiac arrest.

“Lex? What’s up? What’s wrong? Did you send the e-mail to
me?” Her friend Jessica Macy Brown, who went by the name Macy, queried as her
voice boomed through Alexa’s speaker phone.

Alexa’s entire body went cold.

Did she send the email?

Oh, yeah! Her salacious e-mail assignment to her critique
partner got sent all right. To the wrong recipient!

Alexa had stayed up late that night working hard on creating
a sizzling love scene for her online romance writing course—the
assignment was due the next day. Heck, Macy and she had enrolled joking that
maybe one day they could become published novelists and maybe even quit their
day job—if they were lucky.

The trouble was, she named her character after her sexy,
arrogant boss Jesse ‘Jess’ Tandon, CEO of TLC Advertising as her leading man—the
hero of the story. Heck, a woman could fantasize couldn’t she?

The online workshop was more or less therapy for her. It had
been two and a half years now since Eric, her serious boyfriend of one year,
died overseas in the Middle East while serving in the Armed Forces. It took her
two years to finally deal with the tortuous pain of her loss.

Now she was ready to move on filling the empty void in her
heart and her soul. Macy had encouraged her and told her that taking the
romance writing course would be a fun way to dream, release her tension and
believe in happily-ever-after again. She really needed to focus on the
beautiful aspect in the world for a change. Something she thought she would
never ever be able to do again.

She glanced over her notes that were spread out over her
bed. It was already late at night and she would have work in the morning. Her
stomach tightened in knots when she read over her own words.

Jess Tandon is hot. If he were any hotter he’d be a fire
hazard!…I’m addicted to his firm flesh, the spicy scent of his aftershave and
his dark sexy eyes framed with the longest lashes I’ve  ever seen on a
man. The delicious feel of his smooth skin on mine….  I crave his taste…
his hardness thrusting inside my walls of desire….His muscular, well-defined
body holding me, bringing me to the brink of ecstasy….  His soft lips
brushing mine…

Alexa squeezed her eyes shut and held her head in her hands
sensing a migraine coming on. A feeling of horror washed right through her. She
couldn’t even go further reading what she had just written—words that
were never meant for Jess to read. After all, it was a private in-class
assignment. Oh, why did she have to name the character after her sexy boss?

“Oh.My.God.”

“What?” Macy’s voice was impatient now.

The recipient should have read Jessica Macy Brown, not Jess
Tandon.

How the hell did she make
that
happen?

“I’m screwed. I’m so dead.”

“What is it?”

Alexa got up from the bed and paced frantically. The screen
was still on the e-mail confirmation waiting for her to hit the ‘Okay’ button.

No. It’s not okay!

Her life. Her career. Everything she’d worked for flashed
through her mind. One by one, her dreams toppled like her grandfather’s antique
toy soldiers.

Her thoughts whipped around frantically in her mind. Then
like a merry-go-round it stopped at one memory she had of Jess at TLC
Advertising.

It was a serious meeting with the company’s lawyers. Jess
had been slapped with a sexual harassment suit that was deemed later to be
fabricated by a disgruntled ex-female employee. Then the company’s accountant
and part owner. The L in TLC. His ever so stoic, old-fashioned older
half-sister, who could practically be his mother, Lee Leon warned all employees
about sexual harassment in the office and inappropriate conduct. She fired two
employees on the grounds of misconduct for sending inappropriate e-mails to
each other as per violation of the company’s bylaws.

And Jess became totally distant after that time. His
personality hardened somewhat and though he kept his courtesy, he eyed his
employees especially the females with suspicion almost every time. Who could
blame him after what happened?

He could be charming and command respect one minute and icy
cold the next. He was one person you just didn’t want to tick off in the
office. No one was stupid enough to cross his path after that. Word got out
that the employee in question who admitted that she faked the whole scenario
got blacklisted everywhere. Jess was a well-connected man who didn’t take too kindly
to his name being dragged through the mud by an opportunist.  

Tomorrow morning before her employee evaluation with Jess,
Lee, and Chase, his laid-back cousin who was also part owner of the
firm—he was going to read that e-mail.

Alexa told Macy what just transpired.

“What? You did what?” Macy’s voice rose. Then she laughed
hysterically.

“Girl, you’ve got to make sure he doesn’t see that e-mail.
Unless you want to have something going on with him.” Macy tried to make light
of the situation so that Alexa wouldn’t slip into a depressive state of mind
and think she was a total screw-up with everything in her life.

“Come on, Macy. You know what happened at the firm with that
woman and the lawsuit.” Alexa ran her fingers nervously through her hair as she
paced back and forth around her bed. She peeked over and saw Mittens, her sweet
little three-year old ginger shorthair cat, was fast asleep on the bed. Alexa
wished
she
were a four-legged feline with no cares in the world. No
access to the internet. Damn! Why couldn’t a person retract an e-mail that was
sent in error? One would think with all the technology they figured out how to
reach back into cyberspace and delete what was not meant to be sent. If it were
up to her, they’d be a pop-up box that read “Are you sure you want to send this
email to xyz?”

“Oh.” Macy’s voice sounded dry and low. “Listen, you’ll be
fine. Just don’t go running for office or become a celebrity sportsperson and
it won’t come back to bite you in the butt. Then again, you might be able to
get a reality show out of the scandal.”

“Macy, this is no joke!”

Macy sighed. “Sorry. I’m just trying to make you see it’s
not the end of the world. Worrying about stuff doesn’t make it go away—it
just gives you added heartburn. If you can’t do anything about something,
forget it. Don’t let it ride you up.”    

“But, Macy, you have no idea what I’m up against. How am I
going to get any sleep now? I’m going to look like crap in the morning with
bags under my eyes and Jess and the entire team will get that e-mail. This was
supposed to be my appraisal, my employee evaluation for my conduct over the
year. My potential raise.”

“Oh, no, girl! I see what you mean.”

“Let’s face it, Macy. I’m so screwed.”

Jess Tandon reached over to the night table from his bed,
eyes still closed, to stop his BlackBerry
from
buzzing.

It was another incoming e-mail. He could tell by the way the
phone vibrated twice.  

He had a bad habit of keeping his cell phone on as it still
charged overnight. He was trying to get into the environmentally friendly
energy-saving thing. Not just because of one of his clients at the agency, but
it was the right thing to do. He always said if he ever lived long enough to
settle down and have kids, he sure wouldn’t mind a planet that was still in
decent shape for them to inhabit.

It was dark in his bedroom; he lay naked under the blue
satin sheet on his king-sized four-poster bed. Oddly, he always felt
comfortable with no clothes on. While at home, of course. The room felt slightly
cool tonight with the window cracked open slightly to allow some breeze to seep
through. It had been an unusually humid day in the month of May for Mercy
Springs, Texas—but thank God, the night was cooling down.

He pressed the button to power off his cell phone.

“Who the hell could be sending an e-mail at this hour?”

He peered at the alarm clock with squinted eyes. It read:
12:03 a.m.

“Great!”

He’d been up since the crack of dawn and was sleep deprived
the entire weekend as he planned for the work week ahead. Busting his butt,
meeting client demands. Setting up new strategies on his computer with files he
brought  home from the office. All this from one of his clients. And that
was because a new major launch was about to spring. Otherwise he would be on a
less-stress-diet plan. He was on a new path now.

Though at twenty-nine he was part owner and CEO of TLC
Advertising Agency, he sure didn’t want the heartache and ulcer that often
paired up with top-dog positions. He had to learn to  play it cool now.
He’d known too many of his buddies in the industry, the corporate world, some
not too much older than himself, with that old familiar zigzag surgery mark on
the center of their chest. Triple Bypass
surgery.               

Usual precursor? Poor diet, too much stress. Clogged
arteries were just not his thing.

He ate well, most of the time, and exercised hard at the
gym, his second home apart from the office of TLC.

He lay on the bed, eyes open now with a lot on his mind.

Too much on his mind.

He had to satisfy his newest client, Hot Spot Resort, with
their impossible demands and get a major photo shoot on the island done ahead
of schedule. Hot Spot was having an extreme image makeover and wanted to
relaunch this year to compete with other Caribbean resorts. A challenge in this
economy. But if it wasn’t a success that meant that Hot Spot might not renew
their contract. He knew the owner of Hot Spot, a spoiled rich brat who
inherited a whack of cash from her grandfather and teamed up with a friend to
get this holiday resort thing going. They were known to ditch contractors at
the drop of a cap.

They might
be hot but their
demands could be damn right cold.

That meant he would have to fly his creative team out there
and scout out local talent then get this show going. At such short notice.

Jess groaned.

Stress.

He had to watch his heart and his back in this industry. The
owner of Hot Spot already hinted she might not renew. Which could cause a huge
financial dent in the company that he’d
started
with his older sister and cousin.

Chase, his cousin, had told him to take a vacation while
down there. Unwind. Get away from office politics and running the business. He
even offered to foot the bill out of his own pocket for Jess who promptly
refused. Jess just didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary at a
romantic resort.  He had his share of women but falling in love and
romance just wasn’t his thing—never would be. The more he guarded his
heart the better it would be. He’d been burned one too many times by gold-diggers
and opportunists.

When his parents died, they left him and his half sister
with a generous life insurance payout. He felt he would rather have his folks
back than the money. If only. 

He decided to open up an ad agency after finishing college with
Chase but his ever-so-watchful and untrusting older sister didn’t think his
decision was wise and since she held the keys to the money at the time, she
only allowed him access to the funds on the condition that she could be the
company’s accountant and part owner. Reluctantly, he agreed.

But that was the only thing that they agreed upon. Since Lee
had been part of the company, which was from the very beginning she’d been
nothing but cantankerous and challenging.

With his staff.

With his past girlfriends.

With him.

Still, he couldn’t blame her for wanting to watch her little
brother’s back. Though he didn’t always agree with her method.

Of course, she was there for him, when he needed her the
most like that deadly lawsuit filed against him with an ex-employee. He still
felt sharp pains in his heart when he thought of the devastation.

The lies.

The deceit.

Yet another reason why he would never run for political
office.

You never know when somebody would make something up to make
a name for themselves. Luckily, into the mediation, the claim was dropped when
it was revealed the plaintiff made the whole thing up to get back at him for
pulling the firing trigger at her dismissal meeting. She hadn’t been with the
company long and was barely finished with her probationary period.

Speaking of meetings. He would be faced with another
employee meeting tomorrow. With Alexa Worthington.

Another thing Lee and Jess could not agree on. She never
wanted to hire Alexa, because she was young and pretty—she would be a
distraction for Jess, especially with his track record. Lee didn’t want any
more potential damage done to the company’s name. Alexa also didn’t quite
finish college at the time.

But still, Jess took a chance on her. And he was glad he
followed his gut instinct—and his male libido, he smiled to himself.

She was fantastic. Not only did she perform her job well and
didn’t throw herself at his feet like some of the other female employees but
she proved she could get her degree. She studied hard online and got her papers
and was now working on her Masters degree online. Something Jess respected
about her. She was all business. A smart little go-getter!

And all legs too.

Jess pulled the sheets off his body and got up because he
was thirsty. He opened up the door—then on second thought
went back over by the bed and picked up his silk
boxers to put on. He would often get up in the night and roam the house in the
nude. No problem. But when you have a house guest, or someone you were helping
out, it was better be safe than sorry.

He yawned as he walked down the hall then scuttled down the
stairs to the fridge where he grabbed a cool drink. The digital clock on the
stove read: 12:50 AM. He had to get a life. And a good night’s rest.

“Jess?” The loud piercing cry shattered his earlobe. He
almost dropped the cup from his hand.

“What the—?”

It was his sister, Lee, his house guest. He was beginning to
have regrets about agreeing for her to stay with him for a while as her house
got renovated. She was always on his back one way or the other.

“What are you doing up at this hour?” Her eyebrows furrowed
while her dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. Lee hastily adjusted her pink fuzzy
dressing gown and rubbed her hand over her head of rollers and tied scarf. Her
matching pink fluffy slippers and matching pink rimmed glasses were quite a
sight. But he loved his sister, though sometimes she got on his last nerve.

Is she forgetting this is
my
house?
 She is a guest on my turf. I could get up any hour of the night if I want
to.

She looked older than her 55-years. Her lips were mostly
pinched. She rarely smiled. She always reminded him of a strict old-time school
teacher. She pretty much felt more like a strict stepmother who treated him as
naughty child than someone who was a grown man who could hold his own court.
Heck, he was CEO of his own company.

“I should be asking you the same thing, Sis.” A grin touched
the corner of his lips as he pried his eyes open and raised an eyebrow.

She recoiled and narrowed her eyes further. They never
really grew up together. His father left Lee’s mother and married a younger
woman, Jess’s mother. Somehow Jess got the feeling Lee wasn’t too keen on him
from the beginning. Still, he managed to warm up to her and she did defend his
honor in that awful scandal.

Lee’s home was damaged in a storm and was going under major
renovation. Sometimes, Jess thought that Lee could use a little personality
renovation, too! But he didn’t dare say it.

“You’re not still thinking about going down to Tandor Island
for that photo shoot, are you? Waste of time.” She pinched her lips, walked
over to the kettle, switched it on and turned around to face Jess. 
Waiting for an answer.

Oh, great. She wants to talk business at this hour.

“Already told you, Sis. That’s not subject to negotiation.”
He took a sip of his drink which suddenly tasted bitter rather than refreshing.

“Everything’s subject to negotiation, darling baby brother.”

“Not a baby, Lee,” he forced back, annoyance swept across
his face.

“Fine. Fine. But you have to realize Hot Spot and that woman
who owns it, is causing us more trouble than she’s worth. Who are you going to
have head that new project of hers? That extravagant launch.” She rolled her
eyes and shook her head.

“Alexa.”

“What?”

“You mean…who?”

“I know what or whom you are talking about,” she fumed,
dismissively. “But why? Why her? She’s only a coordinator.”

“Until tomorrow.” Jess swigged down the rest of his drink
then placed the cup in the sink. “She’ll be account manager.”

“You’re not going to wash that out? You know how I hate to
see dishes in the sink.”

Jess paused. He could not believe his sister. “Need I remind
you Lee, this is my house, and my kitchen sink.”

“Whatever,” she dismissed. Once the water in the kettle
bubbled up and whistled, she poured herself a cup of tea. “I still think you’re
making a big mistake. I don’t think she’s ready. Besides I thought we agreed
that she’ll work up to account executive and stay in that role for at least two
years.”

“I disagree. Why have her waste her talent and time. Alexa’s
very ready. She’s worked damn hard on all those other accounts and she’ll be
completing her masters soon. She’s got what it takes. She’s an asset to the
company.”

“I don’t think so. She takes way too long on client
projects.”

Jess wrinkled his eye brows. “So she’s a bit of a
perfectionist. Just where are you going with this, Lee?”

“Never mind. I just want you to be focused on your duties.
Not—side tracked by a pretty young face.”

Jess’s lips tightened into a hard line. Shaking his head and
narrowing his eyes, he walked over to his sister. “Let it go, Lee. Not every
young woman in the firm is out to seduce me. Besides, she’s the last thing on
my mind where that’s concerned. Okay?” he said as he lovingly held her shoulders
and gave her a hug.

With a peck on the cheek, he said, “Good night, Sis.”

He really didn’t want to go through this all night. But
truth be told, he thought about Alexa a lot. He kept that information to
himself.  She was totally, completely, irrevocably—off limits!
Period.

Though she seemed different from the rest, no way in hell
was he going to date, or see an employee and risk having his heart slit again
and his reputation damaged. His career and reputation were all he had now.

Alexa was hot, but he would have to learn to cool his
thoughts of her.

He would go in tomorrow and not focus too much on her legs.
Or her smile, or her gorgeous figure.

Or her charm and the sweet scent of her perfume. God, she
really knew how to arouse him.

But the meeting tomorrow would be all about business. What
would be good for the business—not his libido!

Just her work.

Nothing else.

He went back into the bed and glanced at his BlackBerry. He
knew he had dozens of new e-mail messages that linked to his cell phone. But
what the heck, the new and improved Jess was not a workaholic and was not going
to switch back on his cell phone until tomorrow.

Whatever messages were sent, he’d read up on his e-mails
tomorrow. Before going into Alexa’s employee evaluation.

He just prayed his sister wouldn’t screw it up at that
evaluation since all senior members of the firm would be evaluating her.

He needed Alexa for the account. She was the only person who
he could trust to head it up and do a wicked job. Her track record at TLC was
unimpeachable.