Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (18 page)

Krista’s heart constricted before she
realized his meaning. Her type. Dangerous. Her pistons sensed the
thrill of danger. It was a bad sign.

“Oh,” was all she said before the soup
came.

The dinner passed uneventfully. Food was
adequate. Sean basically ignored her in his quest to chat up
everyone else. Marcus, likewise. Krista had yet to see Phil, but
apparently he had settled in quickly. He had already made
improvements and his people loved him. Krista was happy for
him.

She glanced at Blake a few times, and
couldn’t help but notice he was regularly glancing back. She needed
to stay away from him, yes. She knew that. She couldn’t trust
herself around him and it would be career suicide to sleep with
him. But she could
look.
He was hot.

Plus, her wine was boring to look at. It
never changed facial expressions. Although, it was definitely
talking to her. And if she wasn’t careful, later it might talk
through
her.

When dessert came, Sean rigidly said
goodnight as he left for his room, probably worried she would go
try to find Blake and wanting to get out of there so he wouldn’t
see it, and then Marcus escorted her to her room so she could do no
such thing. She felt like a prisoner between the two of them. She
might have a soft spot for hot, confident a-holes, but it’s not
like she’d
act
on it! Wasn’t it
she
who said Sean
needed to stop peeing in the company pool? Well, Blake was that
chemical that turned a person’s pee bright red so everyone would
see it. Krista knew not to go there.

But a girl could
look
for heaven’s
sake! Marcus of all people should know that!

The next morning Krista dressed in a plain
black suit and was told to march straight back into her closet and
get the suit the tailor in San Francisco made. Krista thought it
was too dressy, but she was loudly outvoted.

In retaliation, Krista told Marcus to march
back into his own closet, and stay there.

Marcus didn’t know whether to think that
insulting, hilarious, or worth using on someone else. He settled
with a stern, “Just hurry up.”

Sean showed up in a similar suit. He walked
into the room and leaned against the bathroom door as Krista did
her makeup. It was as far as he’d ever come into their room. Krista
had a feeling Janice was hovering close by, monitoring for no
hanky-panky in the girls’ dorms.

“Geegee,” Sean said, all business, “Good, I’m
glad to see you wearing a suit. I instructed the other guys to
dress well, too. I want to make an impression.”

“What will everyone else be wearing?”

“The admins will wear business casual and
most of the managers will wear shirts and ties. VPs will all be in
suits, as will the more serious managers. After lunch we’ll all
dress down, I believe. That’s when the games start.”

“The games?”

“Team building. That’s where the competitions
start.”

“Sean, why am I the only female manager?”
Krista asked, her vulnerability peeping through.

Sean’s eyes softened and he straightened up.
For a second, he wavered between stepping closer and staying
put.

He stepped closer and put his hand on
Krista’s shoulder. “I guess there haven’t been many women that
could step up to the plate.”

Krista shook her head, leaning into his
touch. “It sucks. It’s discouraging.”

“But look, where there’s one, there are bound
to be more, right? Someday you’ll be a VP, and I’m sure you’ll
steal Kate and Jasmine from me to be your managers.”

“I guess.”

He rubbed her back, wanting to step closer
again, but this time refraining. She wasn’t sure if she was sad
about it, or relieved.

“Hang in there, okay? Soon you’ll make your
mark. I’m sure of it.”

She now wished he did take that step. That he
did get a little closer. She was in turmoil and lonely. She didn’t
belong in this world, but was too stubborn to back down. She could
have used the increased contact. Instead, she fell back into her
haze of depression, finished up, got her computer, and headed
toward the door. She noticed he wasn’t following.

“You coming?”

Sean had a moment of indecision. Then said,
“No, I need to speak to Janice before we head down.”

“Is Marcus coming, do you know?”

“I think he went down early to mingle.”

She would have to brave it alone. Not only
was she the only female manager, which no one would talk to, but
not even her own region wanted to hang out with her. She had an
uphill climb, and she had to do it without support of any kind.
This weekend just kept getting worse.

Her eyes filled with tears before she could
help it or turn away. Sean flinched, but Krista was out the door
before he could react. Once in the hall, she took a couple of deep
breaths, straightened her back, put her head up, and started
walking faster. She was good at what she did. She deserved her
spot. She proved herself over and over again. To hell with this
oversized boys’ club!
It will not beat me!

Krista got to the meeting hall, took another
deep breath, and crossed the threshold. Marcus was over talking to
all the admins, which made sense because he was supposed to be one
of them, and also because they would have the best gossip in the
place. She also noticed with pride that she was the best dressed
woman. She even gave most of the men a run for their money. Eyes
found and followed her as she made the long walk to her table, head
held high, importance flaring. She pretended she was on the way to
a presentation. Today they would all know she was a manager. The
Big Bitch manager, to be exact. She wore the title like a banner as
she found her table and again sat next to Bob. Sink or swim.

“Hey guys,” she said as she sat down.

“Hello Ms. Fields,” Donald replied. He was
ready to take notes today. He had one pencil, one pen, and one
eraser all lined up beside his notepad.

Georgie glanced over, but other than that, it
was like she didn’t exist. Outwardly unperturbed, she took out her
laptop and opened her word-pad. While she waited, she also opened
solitaire.

Some minutes later, Sean showed up, looking
dapper in his suit, and took out a laptop as well. Janice sat with
him, her pen and paper at the ready.

“Alright everyone,” Sean said, leaning toward
his team, “Managers will have team building after this. Admins will
also, but separately. For each win we get, we get a point. Regions
with the most points at the end of the weekend get a prize. I don’t
care about the prize, but I do care about winning. In addition to
whatever prize the company gives, I’ll give each of you $100.”

“$500,” Krista said without looking up.

“Excuse me?”

She did look up, then. It appeared that in
order for Krista to prove she was an asset this weekend, her region
would have to produce. If their region would have to produce, she
would need them to get their stinkin’ heads out of their asses and
get with it. Sean had tried his way of motivating; Krista was now
going to use hers. She wanted to win. She wanted the one region
with the chick to beat every entrenched asshole in the place. And
by God, her team would show up this weekend and learn to work or
she would taunt them until they had nervous breakdowns.

She pointedly looked at everyone before
turning back to Sean. “$500. $100 will barely cover the celebratory
drinks. I want money to buy a new handbag. I have my eye on a
Burberry. They’re expensive.”

“Krista, this is your job. I am just giving
you a bump,” Sean said tersely. The other managers got nervous.

She shrugged. “My job is showing up and
participating. What’s winning worth to you?”

“What guarantee can you give me?” Sean
countered, a spark in his eyes.

Krista looked at the guys. “Well?”

“There is no guarantee,” Donald said.

“Donald, you’re not helping,” Krista
reflected. “How’s this—first place, $500 each. Second place, $400.
Third $200. None, $100.”

Sean stared at her, trying not to smile.
“$500 to win, $100 for second. All or nothing.”

Krista turned back to the guys, leading the
negotiation, but doing it democratically. They had to be on board,
or this whole thing was a no-go. “What do you say, guys? That
fair?”

Five hundred dollars had their eyes alight.
Bob looked at Dean, who looked at Georgie. Georgie and Donald were
looking at Krista with expressions of shock.

“Sounds good to me,” Georgie said quickly.
“That’ll get my daughter the new bike she’s been talking about for
her birthday.”

“Yeah but,” Krista said, leaning over the
table to get closer, “I don’t want to get my hopes up for that
handbag if I’m going to be the only one busting my ass…”

“What help do you think you’ll be?” Bob said
snidely.

Sean opened his mouth to say something, but
Krista beat him to it. “Goddamn it, Bob, I’m here to win. I’m here
to do a good job, as a
team.
And I think we can. You guys
don’t have to like me. And guess what? I don’t care. But like me or
not, you have to work with me. And you know what else? I’m making
you all look like fools—not because your branch has the only woman
in it, but because a girl half your age came in, changed things up,
saved the company money, and took you ol’ farts to the cleaners.
And all you can think to do is try and put me down? That makes
you
look ridiculous, Bob. So now we have a chance to prove
ourselves, to unite against the other branches and rub their faces
in it, and you are still bickering with me. Is that what a man does
in your eyes?”

The whole table stared at Krista with their
mouths open. She’d never thrown her weight around before. They
hadn’t known she
had
any weight to throw. Which she didn’t,
but it had never stopped her in the past—the overachiever complex
was a grueling thing.

Finally Donald said, “That’s a fair
assessment. But I’m still not sure we can win. New York has been
working together for a very long time. They’ve won 95% of the
competitions.”

“They’re complacent,” Georgie countered. “We
have new blood. Plus, Sean and Krista work exceptionally well
together. That’ll help.”

“You’re on then, Sean. I’ll collect the $500
on Monday.” Krista went back to her game of solitaire. The guys
wouldn’t want to be her friend. Not yet, and maybe not ever. They
also wouldn’t appreciate that overachiever status—they didn’t seem
like the kind of guys that were at the top of their classes in
school. Her being aloof and withdrawn let them off the hook.

They started talking strategy. They didn’t
even know what to expect and they were talking strategy.
Boobs.

~*~*~*~

Ordinarily, Sean would be staring at Krista,
trying to figure out how to get in her pants. She was hot when she
took control. This time, however, he was staring at the guys.

He wasn’t sure what, but something had lit a
fire under her butt. She was ready to kick some ass. What he also
didn’t know was how the hell she had done that? Ten minutes. It had
taken ten minutes, and they were working together more now than
they ever had. What’s more, they were on board. They’d been led by
the chick they hated, agreed to what she proposed, and then trudged
along happily on the path she set for them. It was incredible.

If Krista had had an MBA, she should have
taken a role similar to Sean. She was an excellent leader. He’d
just seen proof and he couldn’t wait to tell Tory, who would get a
kick out of what he’d just witnessed.

Sean went to his computer and opened IM. He
sent Krista a message:

Thanks


Krista looked up briefly, glanced at the guys
to make sure they weren’t spying, and angled her computer away from
Bob’s prying eyes.

The message back said:

Sorry to step on your toes. They need to
step up their game if you want to win.

I thought you needed a bad cop to get them
pointed in the right direction.

From Sean:

I’ll take it. I wish you would’ve done it
sooner.

It was impressive…

Krista looked up bashfully and met his eyes.
He winked.

She flushed and looked back down, a smile
curling the edges of her pink lips.

From Krista:

Ah shucks. It twernt nuthin.

Sean laughed outright. It was his old Krista.
And it felt so damn good to talk to her without barriers again. It
wouldn’t last for long this time around, but it was a start. It was
a beginning. He had more groveling to do—she wouldn’t be satisfied
until he was crawling on his belly—but it was a definite start.

Sean muttered something about a funny email
to the guys, who had looked up when he started laughing, and closed
the IM. He couldn’t help but notice Krista was still smiling.

Chapter Thirteen

When the meeting started, the subject was
structural development. Krista’s hands were flying on the keyboard.
She was going so fast at one stage, working to get every last idea
and the corresponding detail, that the table next to them looked
over. She was too rushed to be embarrassed, though. It was really
interesting stuff, not to mention useful to what Sean was trying to
do, and she was desperate to get it all down. She was hoping Janice
or Sean would get what she missed.

When the talk finally ended, she leaned back
with a sigh.

“How many words can you type?” Georgie asked
with interest. Bob snorted, much like a pig would, and got up from
the table with Dean.

Since it was the first time Georgie openly
asked her a question, she wanted to be cordial and inviting in her
response. She didn’t want to burn the olive branch he was offering.
“Um, I’m not really sure. I’ve never taken one of those tests. But
in school the laptop was my main source of note taking, and I am a
pretty adamant taker of notes, so I got pretty familiar.”