Falling for the CEO (Entangled Flaunt) (2 page)

Chapter Three

Meredith forced herself to stand up and look Andrew in the eye. He had just turned back around with a look of shock in his face, and she was deathly afraid that he was going to fire her on the spot even as some insane part of her prayed that she’d still get to go to the gala with him. Not that the evening together meant anything. She knew better than to attach the dream of a future to anyone in life. That way lay only heartbreak.

And if she delivered the news about the fund and he did fire her, well—it still wouldn’t make for the worst Christmas she’d ever had.

“What kind of trouble, exactly?” Andrew looked distinctly upset.
Jeez, dummy, of course he would be upset.
Sure, she had only been here for two months and was taking over an absolute financial mess from the former CFO, but everyone knew how important the Christmas Bonus Fund was to Harbor. It was practically synonymous with Andrew’s good name. She shouldn’t have overlooked it.

Her nervousness had only grown since he’d appeared at her side in the hallway and so gallantly helped her. But it wouldn’t do to continue worrying in silence. He had to know. She gulped down the lump in her throat and forced the words out. “The Christmas Bonus Fund is short this year by over two hundred
thousand
dollars and there is less than one week left before we release the money to Harbor’s twelve hundred employees.”

There. That felt a bit better, to recite a few numbers. Her world stabilized slightly.

Andrew leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling, his bag sliding off his shoulder and onto the floor. Not good. She braced herself for the words, “Get out and don’t come back.”

But they didn’t come. Instead, after a moment, he leaned down to pick up his bag and straightened on a frustrated sigh. “A week isn’t much time. Many of the charities that our employees donate to have already been promised the money. It
does
state in every employee’s contract that we take no responsibility for pledges they might have made, but it doesn’t change the fact that people are in need and this money will help them.” His voice was strained and he was frowning. “Where is it? Did we invest it in tulips?”

That he was referring to what was a fool’s investment in the seventeenth century wasn’t exactly heartening. She winced at that, feeling like an idiot.

“I looked through the summary statements and, from what I can see, the money went missing four months ago—two months before I started working at Harbor. But from a cursory look through our portfolio, there’s no trace of it in our other accounts.” Andrew’s face had softened a bit, but Meredith still felt like she deserved every censure. “I’m sorry. I feel terrible that I allowed something like this to happen. I should have realized—”

Andrew held up a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. “Please, you don’t have to apologize. I realize that the money went missing before you came on board and you’re just the unfortunate messenger.” He took a deep breath, and he managed to give her a small, reassuring smile. “I have some cash available that would at least help to make up some of the difference. I can get the rest by liquidating some investments, but it will take a couple of days longer than we actually have, which will delay the dispensation.”

“Delay the dispensation? But—”

He waved his hand in the air. “There’s no other choice. I’ll take care of it. I’ll make some calls tomorrow and we’ll make an announcement that the fund will be late by a couple of days.”

Was he seriously offering to use his personal money to fill in the gap in the Christmas Bonus Fund? The
two-hundred-thousand-dollar
gap? Meredith’s heart skipped a beat. Not only that, but he also hadn’t gotten angry or told her to leave Harbor. And a frivolous, completely insane part of her almost cheered that he hadn’t uninvited her to the gala.

But she couldn’t allow Andrew to just throw his own money at the problem. Not just because it wasn’t fair to him, but also because her work was the only thing she had, and she took it seriously. If he simply stepped in and saved the day every time she couldn’t deliver, what would become of her?

“That is—incredibly generous. And I really appreciate it. But there are other options I’d like to explore, like borrowing from a lending institution, or—”

“No loans,” he cut in. “The whole point of the Christmas Bonus Fund is that it comes just from Harbor. That we’ve made a conscious effort to pay back our success from our own bottom line and not to rely on someone else’s money.”

She swallowed and nodded. “Very well. But the fund statement just came in today. Seeing as I should have been more proactive and requested the information earlier, I feel a responsibility to make this up. I’d like some time to review our financials again to see if we can solve this internally and deliver the Christmas Bonus Fund on time.”

She held her breath.
Please give me a chance. Please say yes!

He studied her for what felt like an eternity, those warm brandy eyes of his bright with an intelligence that she had come to appreciate and admire over the time she had been working with him. When didn’t reply immediately, she tipped her head forward, glancing down at the stack of papers in front of her on the table.

“I’ve managed to stabilize our losses thus far, and some of the investments are already starting to come up. Of course, it will still take approximately six months for Harbor to regain solid financial footing, but I think we’ve finally reached a turning point.”

Shut up now. Stop trying to fill the silence.

Small crinkles appeared at the corners of those dark eyes. “I knew you could do it. I hired you because you’re the best. But while delivering the money a little late is better than not delivering at all, I don’t know if I can take that chance. The Christmas Bonus Fund is a big part of the public image of Harbor Technologies, and it’s a very big part of my plans for the coming year. I’m working on a separate venture…” Andrew trailed off.

What plans?
she wanted to ask. But she didn’t dare. It was one thing for her to inquire about finances that had to do with Harbor. She wasn’t going to ask him about a “separate venture” that he obviously hadn’t shared with her for a reason.

He ran a hand through his hair, then dropped his arm with a sigh. “I’ll offer you a deal. I’ll set the wheels in motion on my end, just in case. But meanwhile, you’ve got until the day before we have to disburse the fund to our employees—five days—to turn it around. If we don’t have all the money by then, we’ll announce the delay and I’ll take full responsibility for the remainder.”

“I’ll find out what happened and fix it, I promise.” She tried to continue, to thank him for giving her the chance to make things right, but he held up a hand to stop her.

“But only if you agree to my conditions.”

***

Andrew watched Meredith’s chin jerk up at that. Clearly, she didn’t like the idea of conditions. But he wasn’t going to back down. Tomorrow night, at the gala, he needed to be able to point to the success of the Christmas Bonus Fund as evidence for why other companies should support his new initiative. Besides, if Meredith could pull this off, he may well have found the perfect person to run it, too.

He raised his left hand and began ticking off on his fingers as he named his conditions. Thumb first. “I won’t accept any solution that involves lowering the amount that every employee gets, or excluding anyone from the bonus.” Index finger. “No loans,” he repeated. Middle finger. “If you make up the difference in these six days, I will add ten thousand dollars to your signing bonus.” He paused, studying her face for a reaction to the proposal that he had just laid out. She had been promised a signing bonus of thirty thousand dollars after completing her third month of employment and it was essentially a done deal, in his mind. He had meant it before, when he’d said that she was the best.

She let out a little yelp at that, and he had to suppress a smile. For some reason, he was starting to find her awkwardness endearing. Or maybe he always had. It certainly hadn’t bothered him before.

He pushed past the thought and touched his ring finger. “But if you do not manage to make up the difference, I’ll put that extra ten thousand dollars into the fund, instead.”

“I can’t allow—” she began, but he cut her off.

“
My
conditions, remember?” He said it with a wink and a smile, making her blush. It shouldn’t have thrilled him to see it, but he couldn’t stop an image from forming, of Meredith lying on his bed, naked, looking as pink and flushed all over her body as she did on just her cheeks right now.

He barely managed to suppress a groan.
Focus, man.
She was looking away from him again, probably beating herself up over this. She was the kind of person who’d be convinced that it was her personal responsibility to fix, even though the missing money wasn’t her fault.

Andrew didn’t like what that implied about the former CFO, both professionally and personally. Over the years they’d worked together, Bob had become more of a father figure to Andrew than a colleague. That Bob might have done something shady with the money wasn’t something he could think about right now. He’d deal with that later.

“Final condition. You’ll work alongside me, in my office, for the next six days. Any possibility you come up with, any number that can be tweaked even a little bit, I want you to share it right away. It’s not because I don’t think you can handle it. But this is just too big for me to take it less than one hundred percent seriously.”

Her throat worked in a delicate ripple. He’d never noticed before just how fine her skin was, pale and smooth and probably soft to the touch.

Get a grip.
He stepped back toward her, offering his right hand. “What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

Those green eyes darkened, the pupils growing large in the irises. An irrepressible thrill shot through him, something primal that made him feel like a predator in the midst of hunting a particularly juicy prey.

Her gaze flickered from his outstretched hand to his face before her warm fingers slid into his grip.

“I accept.”

Chapter Four

What had she agreed to?

Meredith pulled the pillow over her head, muting the sounds of the city beyond her window. Even at five o’clock in the morning, things
happened
in New York.

It was something she had never quite been able to adjust to. Fostered in Memphis, all three homes where she had lived after her parents died had been single-family houses with a backyard, in neighborhoods with quiet streets.

However, New York offered something that she simply couldn’t get elsewhere: anonymity. Not the kind that allowed famous people to walk the streets in a pair of dark sunglasses and only be recognized by a handful of paparazzi. The kind that allowed people who were the exact opposite of famous—people who hadn’t been recognized by anyone in decades—to feel like they finally found a place where they fit in.

And until last night, she thought she’d been happy to live out her inconspicuous life the way she always had. But now…

Not only was she attending the Myerberg function with Andrew, who was arguably the most eligible bachelor in New York, but she had also agreed to basically live with him for the short-term future. Sure, it was sharing an office and not an apartment, but given that she spent significantly more time at work than at home, it was more like living together than if they were sharing a residence.

And so help her, she wanted to be beautiful for him. Even if it was just a one-sided fantasy, she didn’t want to be Klutzy Klaus tonight. She didn’t want to be Little Orphan Annie for the next six days as she worked alongside him. Until the clock struck midnight on their bargain, so to speak, she wanted to be Meredith, seductively graceful CFO by day, sex kitten extraordinaire by night.

Even thinking those words had her blushing, though. She groaned and yanked the pillow away from her face. “You’re off to a great start,” she said aloud, and the empty room seemed to laugh at her.

Maybe she should have claimed a prior engagement for tonight. After all, on such short notice, it wasn’t unrealistic that she would have already made other plans. But she wasn’t a liar. There were never any plans in her calendar on Friday nights. Or any other night, for that matter, unless work counted as a “plan.”

On a sigh, she turned and fumbled on the nightstand for her glasses. Her fingers landed a bit short, and instead of closing around the frame, her knuckles knocked against one of the lenses, sending the glasses sliding off the nightstand onto the floor with a clatter.

“So much for seductively graceful,” she grumbled, untangling her legs from the sheets and rolling out of bed to search for her glasses on the floor. But she’d barely taken two steps when her right foot landed on something hard. She immediately jumped back, but not before a loud
crack
reached her ears.

She’d stepped on her glasses. Of course.
Please don’t let them be broken.

But when she picked them up and slid them on, she groaned in defeat.

Leave it to Klutzy Klaus to crack one of the lenses. Right in the middle, too, fracturing everything in her vision. There was no way she could wear them now.

For a moment, she simply slumped against the nightstand, dropping her head between her knees. Forget about being beautiful. If she could simply make it until Christmas without seriously injuring herself or Andrew, it would be an accomplishment in and of itself.

At least she had another pair of glasses in a drawer in the bathroom. She’d bought them on a whim last year, adoring the way the style had made her look young and chic, but when she’d put them on again back home, standing in front of the mirror in her quiet, conservative bedroom, they’d looked too brash. Too bold.
Not like her
. She’d fallen back on using her old pair of glasses.

She sucked in a breath. Was it possible that some higher power had caused this? She started to shake her head, but stopped. Maybe it
was
possible that something beyond her comprehension had manipulated her fingers and made her break these glasses on purpose, just so that she would have to wear her more stylish pair…

Goodness. Even the
thought
sounded absurd.

“What’s next, a fairy godmother with a Saks card?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes at her own foolishness. There were a few evening gowns in her closet, but they were all sedate, innocuous things that helped her blend into the background. There simply wasn’t time to find something new. Even if fate
had
played a hand in this little incident, it wasn’t deft enough to finagle a new formal dress in the next few hours. The deficit in the Christmas Bonus Fund would demand all of her attention today. No time to duck out and go shopping.

She
pffed
. “Enough with this foolish daydreaming! Get your head out of the clouds and your butt on the elliptical,” she commanded herself, picking herself up off the floor to dress in her gym clothes before heading to the fifth-floor fitness center in her building for a quick workout.

***

By a quarter to seven, she was on the sidewalk in front of her building, shivering in the cold December air. The temperature had dropped during the night, and even with a heavy tweed skirt suit and stockings on, plus a down-filled coat, knit cap, and gloves all covering her from head to knees, the cold was still nearly unbearable.

“You’ll warm up if you move fast enough,” she chattered to herself, and set off at a brisk pace. It was a ten-block walk to the office, one she did every day as it was faster than taking the subway. At this time of year, the city was aglow with the sparkling trappings of Christmas, the lights and shiny garlands everywhere creating such an enchanting atmosphere that Meredith almost forgot that she hated Christmas.

Almost.

The excitement of Christmas Eve and the celebration of Christmas morning had never been the same since that night two decades ago, when a semitruck had slid on black ice and slammed into her family’s car on their way home from a party. The impact had killed her parents instantly and put Meredith in the hospital with a concussion and a broken leg. Since then, the holiday had been forever marred in her mind by the image of twisted metal, the too-bright lights of a hospital corridor, and screaming at the nurse who told her on Christmas morning that her parents were gone.

But there would be plenty of time in the coming days to steel herself against the profound loneliness of Christmas. She forced herself to concentrate instead on Harbor’s current financial portfolio as she walked past the beautiful window decorations, and by the time she passed through the glass double doors of the high-rise headquarters of Harbor, she was feeling both warmer and more optimistic. She’d even managed to convince herself that there was a good chance that they could save the fund without having to resort to using Andrew’s money.

She waved to the security guard, then passed through the electronic turnstile and ran toward an elevator whose doors were starting to close, expecting it to be empty this early in the morning.

But just before she hit the threshold of the car, someone from inside the elevator put an arm out to stop the doors from shutting completely, surprising her in mid-stride. She gasped.

Andrew
.

It was too late to slow down. Meredith caught a glimpse of his strong chin and wide brown eyes before she collided with him, the impact knocking her off-balance. She grabbed blindly at something to keep herself from falling—Andrew’s shoulders. Her fingers dug into hard muscles that she could feel through his clothes at the same time that his arms came up to brace her. They closed around her waist as their bodies slammed together, the momentum propelling them both toward the back of the elevator.

The doors rolled softly shut. Her embarrassment was so strong that it nearly became audible in the ensuing silence.

“Well. Good morning to you, too, Meredith.” Andrew sounded amused, but immediately followed up his greeting with, “Are you all right?”

She could feel a hot flush rising up her neck.
Klutzy Klaus! Klutzy Klaus!
She shouldn’t have felt so clumsy over something that could have happened to anyone, but the voice in her head still enjoyed taunting her. Her shoulders slumped and she twisted her lips in a wry smile. “No one could ever say I don’t know how to make an entrance, at least.”

His laugh sounded shockingly loud in the quiet elevator car. “Indeed,” he replied, his eyes twinkling as he looked down at her in his arms. “But I can’t let you take all the credit for it.” His voice gentled, and she felt his arms tighten around her, ever so subtly. “I apologize for stepping in your way. I was trying to hold the door for you, not to trip you. Although…I certainly can’t complain about the result.” At that, he grinned, a playful, teasing expression, and her breath caught at the sight. Without thinking, she leaned into him a fraction of an inch further, his hard chest against her soft breasts creating an arousing contrast.

“You got new glasses.” His eyes roamed all of her face, as though that new detail made him wonder if there were any more things to discover on her.

An image of him, exploring her entire body as she lay naked before him, popped up in her mind. Her tongue felt thick and unwieldy as she spoke. “Not new, but new to you, anyway.” She had lowered her voice so as not to deafen him, as she was still clasped in his arms, their faces mere inches apart. The words came out as a near-whisper, like a secret shared by lovers in the dark.

His gaze shuttered immediately, and he pulled away from her. “Ready for a full day?” he asked, his tone still light, but different somehow. Professional.

She stepped back, too, reluctantly, ruthlessly tamping down the urge to linger in his arms. “I am. I got your message with all the information about tonight. Thank you for arranging a car to pick me up.”

He snorted. “Please don’t thank me. It’s the least I could do. I’m sorry I can’t pick you up myself, but I’ve got a last-minute meeting at five o’clock with a politician. He’s trying to introduce a bill in the Senate that would require New York companies to give to charities and needs some help reviewing the draft.”

Meredith couldn’t help feeling pleased that Andrew had considered coming to get her. Even if it was just a nod to gentlemanly courtesy, it made her feel like more than just a last-resort choice. A
companion
.

The elevator stopped and he gestured her forward. “Let’s head to my office right away and get started. I’ve got another meeting around ten, but otherwise my focus today is on the Christmas Bonus Fund.”

“Sure,” she replied, heading past her own door to his large corner office. He had a similar setup to hers, only his conference table and desk were both much bigger. She pulled out a chair at the table and set her bag on the seat. To her surprise, he strode over and set up his own computer right next to her place.

When he said they would be working side by side for the next six days, he meant it literally.

She straightened up and pulled her hat off, shaking out her deep-red tresses. She’d worn her hair down because she’d had to spend so much time searching for her replacement pair of glasses that she hadn’t had time to blow it completely dry as usual, then put it into a clean, tight bun. Instead, she’d just run the dryer haphazardly over it a few times so that her wet hair wouldn’t freeze, bundled it into her knit cap, and headed out the door.

The sight of it surprised him, that much was certain. He made some kind of sound that might be best described as “Oh,” but wasn’t really a word at all. She swallowed hard at the sudden throbbing between her legs. That moment in the elevator, and now this…

Nerves had her hands suddenly seizing up, knotting in the fabric near her collar.

She smiled. Couldn’t contain a blush. “Uh, yeah. My hair. It’s just—I didn’t have time—well, it’s down today.”

“Ah. Of course.” A simple enough reply, but her body practically went liquid at the
way
he said it. Her fingers felt clumsy as they worked the buttons of her coat, slowing her progress in slipping each one from its mooring. She was embarrassingly aware that the pace made it seem like she was performing a striptease, but that only made her fingers cooperate less.

Thankfully, he moved behind her to help her with the coat, and she finally managed to open the entire placket. But then she could feel his hands on her shoulders, making her blood heat and her vision cloud, and there was no choice left but to allow him to slide it off, revealing the sturdy brown tweed she wore underneath.

Would he laugh at her for that? Would it make him forget that her hair was down and her glasses were cuter and remind him instead that,
oh yes
, Meredith was clumsy and unattractive? It wouldn’t be the first time that she’d been put in her place. When she was thirteen, she’d knelt in front of her windowsill and wished upon a star for a new family for Christmas. Her foster father, Mr. Ferris, had been walking by at that moment, overheard her wistful plea, and informed her she was too old to be adopted. People wanted younger children they could make into their own, not frizzy-haired, nearsighted beanpoles whose clumsiness cost more than they were worth in broken china and chipped furniture. She’d never have the family she so desperately wanted.

It had been the last time she’d asked for anything for herself.

But Andrew didn’t say anything. Didn’t make a sound. He just pulled the coat away and stood in silence for a moment. She could feel the weight of his stare on her neck, moving lower, lower—

Her body drew tight. What was he looking at? Surely not
her
. It must just be her imagination, that sensation of his eyes on the curve of her bottom.

After a long moment, he finally cleared his throat and shifted behind her. “I’ll put this away” came the rumbling voice, close to her ear. She shivered. Before she could turn to thank him, he moved away, walking toward the wardrobe to hang her coat.

And in the next minute, any thoughts of how sexy she’d felt flew away when he flung the door to the wardrobe open and she saw what was inside, blurting out before she could think better of it, “Why do you have a
gown
in your closet?”