Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Personal Assistant - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 2) (22 page)

“I really don’t do this kind of thing so… Yes,” he nodded and sucked in a deep breath before meeting her eyes again. “Yes, that’s it. I probably won’t see you at the office later today, but when I do tomorrow, I’ll say hi.”

When he turned the second time, it was much faster than the first. Jennifer didn’t stop him and nothing more was said. By the time she slid to the floor, she already knew her mascara was running again.

Chapter Nineteen

Harvest Time

There were days when sitting in his commander’s chair while he faced the glass panels offering the inner city view of Chicago’s hottest downtown hub made him feel like King of the World. He didn’t get that feeling today though.

He had clocked out of work for the past two days and it was hitting him full force in the chest. Coming in Tuesday afternoon from Jersey made him miss an important conference call. He tried to right the wrong over email, but after a quick teleconference, he wasn’t so sure that his client was any better.

The conference call was more than just a checkup, but several of their private investors had been scheduled to be present, and had been left waiting. They were interested in where some of their funding was going. The contract they had with the Melone Group wasn’t trivial by any means and represented a good chuck of their retrained earnings.

That would be another face-to-face meeting he’d need to make to soothe the feathers out. He made note on a piece of paper. Jennifer would kill him with the notes he had for her to sort through. He couldn’t worry about her reaction though, Elaine from the front desk had just called and told him Jerry was on the line. He snatched up the phone on the first ring.

“James,” he answered in a gruff.

“Mr. Melone, it’s good to finally get ahold of you, Elaine’s a dud.”

James chuckled. “It’s not her fault. She didn’t know about the last minute ride to Jersey.”

“Yeah,” Jerry muttered. “You could have warned us about that. I really needed your direction yesterday.”

“I got your email. Tell me where the hiccup is.”

Jerry hesitated before he responded. “Well, Mr. Melone—”

“Cut that out and give it to me straight,” he nearly barked.

“James, I told you HR should just hire the people. They were working on some applicants and when I told them not to worry about it. Seogen contacted me yesterday and said they need things two weeks
ahead
of schedule. Once they started marketing their expansion, bits of New Mexico and Utah became interested and they need something out there fast. Their fish are ready to bite and they want to bring the boom.”

James rolled his eyes. He hated the way Jerry spoke when he got excited. It was so unnecessary.

“Okay, so what have you been able to do as far as an analyst and project manager is concerned?”

“Well, I contacted some folks back in Illinois, but I got nothing. I can’t manage this and cover the slack from Seogen because we’re screwed. I still need to order office chairs and start a contract for marketing.”

James closed his eyes and sighed. There was silence and for a while, no one spoke. Jerry was the first to break the silence.

“Is it true someone in New Jersey is looking to expand into New York?”

A growl rumbled deep in James’s throat. He hated rumors. Whenever he found that gossip…

“Because I just think that’s a mistake. We’ve got Carnal but if they want to move fast too, they we’re doubly screwed. You took me off for three days and I feel like I’m so far behind I don’t even know where to begin and—”

“Jerry,” James interjected, “calm down.” The man stuttered, but eventually came to stop talking. “No one’s mad at you. Let me worry about New Jersey. Tell me what you need to get caught up on Seogen’s orders and—”

“I already did, James,” Jerry said with a huff. “I sent your assistant an email about any updates, like you told me to,” he added with emphasis, “two days ago. She never responded so I called you and—”

“Jerry,” James cut him off again, “calm down.” There was more sputtering and James fell silent. “I’ll talk to Jennifer. She’ll get back to you with a phone call later today. Give me HR’s number and I’ll call them directly about the new hires.”

“Thank you. We’re so screwed,” he tacked on quickly.

James forced a chuckled. “Calm down, and keep outbursts like that to yourself,” he commented.

“We’re screwed, right?” Jerry asked. “I mean, I don’t know how we can make the time back.”

“Jerry,” James stressed his name. “Focus on your part, okay?” His voice was soothing. Jerry sputtered, but he agreed.

“Okay. Yes. I’ll get HR’s numbers and shoot them over in an email.”

“Thank you. Email me when Jennifer calls you.” They hung up and James pinched the brow of his nose.
“When this blows up in your face, please don’t call me about it.”

He took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face. They were screwed. He couldn’t tell Jerry that though. There was still time to put the pieces back together. He was good at that. A fixer. He could fix this. His phone rang and he snatched it up.

“Melone,” he nearly growled.

“Andrew’s here to see you,” Elaine squeaked.

James frowned. “Andrew?”

“Yes, he flew in for the afternoon, remember?”

“Uh, yeah. Send him in.” Lying at this juncture was just out of necessity. No, he didn’t remember reading that Andrew was flying in. He felt like the whole company had gone to shit in a matter of three days. That didn’t make sense. Then again, he had never purposefully orchestrated such a faux pas before either.

James took a deep breath and reached for the bottle of water on his desk. He glanced at the time. 12:17 pm. He couldn’t wait for Jennifer to arrive. She’d help him make sense of the scheduling errors caused by their absence. She’d help him gather his thoughts to create an action list and one thing at a time, he’d regain the ground he lost.

He was still drinking water when the door opened. Andrew stepped in and acknowledged him with a raised hand and a nod. James took a deep breath. It wasn’t difficult to meet Andrew’s eyes.

“Just the man I needed to see,” James commented.

Andrew pursed his lips together and raised a brow. “Are you sure about that?” He asked coyly. James frowned. Andrew lingered by the door and crossed his arms. “There’s no smoke without fire,” he murmured.

James’s brow bunched.

Casually, and quite a bit relaxed, Andrew cleared his throat and shifted his weight. “I spoke with Jerry before I left.”

“Jerry?” James blinked. “You spoke with Jerry?”

Andrew smiled something unpleasant and nodded. “I wouldn’t have normally, but after I couldn’t get ahold of you
or
Jennifer past Monday afternoon, I tried Jerry to see if you had spoken with him.” James wet his lips in the silence. “What the hell are you doing?”

James opened his mouth, but Andrew suddenly cut him off. “And,” he pointed a finger at him, “I want you to tell me just what the hell is going on between you and Jennifer.”

Up Next

The Next Book in the Series!

Wow. I’m going to just take a moment and let that last little bit sink in for you.

…

James really screwed up, didn’t he? But what about Jennifer? How do you feel about that? Personally, I think it’s kind of crazy! How is all of this going to pan out?

James just got an investor-level partner to the firm, and the contracts that would make his business boom—it hasn’t even been a month and he has pissed off the talent.

Will Andrew leave the firm? Are he and Jennifer really done? Also, what’s up with this Jennifer - Melone thing? Is that really over, or is Melone gonna try his frisky hands with her one more time? Your guess is as good as mine!

So many questions—sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger, but at nearly 54K words, this book was overdue to call it quits. You know the deal, if you’re wanting more, sign up. If you’ve already signed up, show me some love and
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