Oh Stupid Heart (8 page)

Ian returned to the
guys. “She presented three reasons. How many of them are legit?”

Brian only thought
the first one had value. Charles thought the first two, and Sander chose all
three.

“Sander’s right.
Employees suffer survivor guilt, so how you treat exiting people matters. And
great companies do have a moral compass, and when they lose it, they're no
longer considered great and the best young workers go somewhere else.

“Since you three will
be CEOs later in life, remember what you’ve learned here.”

Carrie didn’t
appreciate being excluded after all her hard work. Why didn’t
she
get to
be a CEO? Ian not only sexually harassed; he sexually discriminated.

During her call to
Trent, Carrie relived her successes and annoyances, sans the kissing comment
from Ian. She changed out of her suit and into her sweats while they talked.
Just the sound of his voice made her ache for home.

He focused on her
solution to the system manager problem. “Your solution won’t work for us. Our
bastard is only in his mid-thirties and while I’d love to demote him, he’d blow
the system up in a second.”

Her neck muscles
tensed just thinking about Bob Ott. “No, we need to fire and possibly press
charges for felony fraud against our guy.”

“Felony?”

“If I’m right and
those twenty-eight checks going to his house are being cashed by Ott, he’s
pulling in two million dollars a year beyond his salary.”

“Now I know why you
got so crazy and lost sight of the big picture. However, I had my lawyer check
the social security numbers. The names match to our employees.”

“Doesn’t mean those
people work for us. We need to hire an investigator to take pictures of Bob Ott’s
house. It would need to be as big as your estate to house twenty-nine people.
You might see if your lawyer has their ages, as well. Ott could have stolen the
numbers from a nursing home. Wherever he got them, I doubt those people have a
clue they are on our payroll.”

“Maybe I should call
my former investigator, who works for the FBI.”

“That’s not a bad
idea. If we give him a slam-dunk fraud case, it could soften his past
resentment. Still, make sure we have the new manager on staff first.”

“We’ve got him. He’s
going through the system searching for bombs right now.”

“How did he get the
password?”

“It hasn’t changed
since Jack went into the hospital.”

A sense of guilt
swept over Carrie, but she pushed it away. She had to put those turtles behind
her. “I’m convinced Jack is the only working systems person.”

He sighed. “I’ve come
to the same conclusion.”

“Why the huff? That’s
good news. We were keeping him anyway.”

Trent remained
silent.

“Trent, I nearly
killed the poor guy. He gets a job for life.” The image of Jack clawing the
walls yelling “Rosebud” filled her head.

“You don’t help his
cause by arguing his case,” Trent replied.

“Man, I can’t wait
until we get to the lesson on managing unreasonable bosses.” No way would she
let Trent’s unfounded jealousy be an excuse to fire their only working
employee.

“I’m not an
unreasonable boss. I’m a jealous boyfriend, which I doubt they’ll be covering.”

His ability to admit
his weakness softened her heart. “Maybe you can find a seminar on jealousy and
we can both attend. I have to admit, I’m not doing too well there either.”

“You can’t possibly
believe I’m interested in Coco.”

She didn’t reply.

“Carrie….”

“Be forewarned, when
I get back I am resolved to have sex with you, even if I have to tie you to the
bed and take you by force.”

“Even though I want
to wait?”

“Yes. I think your
plan is causing us to have bouts of irrational jealousy.”

“Well, I’ll think
about it.”

He didn’t seem to
understand the basic premise of rape. “You can think about it while I tie you
down.”

He sighed. “I miss
you. If you get bored or your instructor gets fresh with you, tell me and I’ll
demand your return.”

“I’m staying here. It’s
a great seminar.”

“I know.”

“Have you taken it?”
The possibility shocked her. If he had, he must have been shunted to the
hopeless team and played soccer for two weeks.

“No, but I made some
calls and verified everyone thought it the best before I sent you there. Giving
you up is hard on me, so I wanted you to actually get some benefit from my
misery.”

“You haven’t fired
anyone have you?”

“No, but I’m still
mad at Mars for letting you see Coco kiss me.”

“That’s unfair. Not
only was he not at fault, but we’ve resolved the issue.” She’d almost cost the
poor man his life with her Europa turtles. She couldn’t cost him his job too.

“Have we? Can you
forgive so easily?”

“Yes.” She meant it,
especially since she’d endured a similar situation. “How’s the hiring going?”

He groaned. “I’m sick
of all these perky people. However, on a happy note, the shoe salesman who went
out of his way to find you stylish, yet comfortable shoes for our dinner at
Chelsies is going to join my sales staff. I told him to stay at Macy’s until we
replace the sales guy.”

“When will that be?”

“The moment you
return. I’m not pulling these triggers without you.”

“Good. I’ll be up to
the challenge when I leave here.”

“Moving on to more
important issues. Have you ever had phone sex? I’m guessing not.”

She sat on the bed.
“No, I never have.”

“Ah, a virgin. Well,
remove your ghastly sweat suit and lie down on the bed.”

“How’d you guess what
I’m wearing?”

“I know you.” His
voice softened. “Better than myself.”

***

After two intensive
weeks, Ian declared the class to be his best students so far. He whispered in
Carrie’s ear, “I want to speak to you before you leave. Give me a moment with
the guys.” When she nodded, he focused on the boys, charming and complimenting
Brian, Sander, and Charles, reminding them great leaders have great people
working for them. “So send me your best men, and I’ll make them better.”
Preening with high ambitions, they assured him they would. Then they hugged
Carrie and wished her well and hurried to their limo waiting outside.

Carrie glanced at her
watch. She needed to leave, as well.

Once the door closed
Ian tugged her hand to his chest, bringing her closer. She eyed him with
concern. While she’d grown fond of her instructor, she was not about to be manhandled.

When she retrieved
her captured hand, he sighed heavily. “You are destroying my longstanding reputation
of being irresistible. Why? I know you like me.”

“I think you’re a
great instructor.”

He grinned and tilted
his head. “And…?”

“And my heart is
already taken.”

“Lucky person. Male
or female?”

She thought it an odd
question, but they were in San Francisco. It probably made sense to ask. “Male.”

He rolled his eyes.
“I was afraid of that.”

“You wanted me to have
a girlfriend?”

“No, but I don’t like
losing to Trent Lancaster.”

She tilted her head.
“I don’t recall telling you who I worked for, and I know I didn’t say he was my
boyfriend.”

“No, you’ve been most
discreet. But I received two emails the day before you arrived. One from Trent,
telling me if I dared lay a hand on you he would flatten me into the ground.
The second from a horrid creature named Coco offering me a bonus of twenty
thousand dollars if I could seduce you and get pictures.”

“Are you kidding me?”
The blood vessels in Carrie’s head threatened to blow. The conniving bitch! The
things she’d like to do to the Prada Viper would land her in jail.

He eyed her
cautiously. “Which one of those is pissing you off?”

“Coco’s.”

“Well, speaking for
myself, I found them both insulting, but Trent’s pissed me off more.”

“He just blusters.
However, I think she was serious.”

“I wasn’t sure. She
has to remember I can’t stand her and I’d be highly insulted at her trying to
make me her gigolo.”

“Wait…How do you know
my boss and Coco?”

“We all grew up in
Long Island society. It’s a small community.” He recaptured her hand. “I went
to the same academy with Trent and I’ve no clue why you’ve fallen for him.
However, when you come to your senses and need a new job, I want you to
consider working for me. You have a natural gift for this. I could start you
off with a mid-six figure salary.”

She choked at the
astronomical salary. “For teaching?”

He flicked his
eyebrows up and down. “That would kill my training margins. My main revenue
comes from doing what I teach: going into businesses and implementing changes.
That’s where your intuitive skills would pay off.”

Carrie couldn’t
believe his offer. “Shouldn’t you wait and see if I can turn Lancaster Chairs
around first?”

“Trent’s business is
a disaster, but you’ll do it—if you get rid of Coco. If not, she’ll poison the
water and steal all your energy. And believe me, she fights dirty.”

“And yet, you took up
her cause and tried to seduce me.”

He kissed her hand.
“Not for her, and if you wish to have sex with me, I assure you, no pictures
will exist. Trent’s email, telling me not to flirt with you set my mind to
seducing you. However, on the first day, you stole my heart. You’re exactly my
type: Bright and Beautiful with an extra ‘X factor’.”

His compliments,
accompanied by intense, hungry lion eyes, made her uncomfortable. She extracted
her hand. “Nothing happened,” she added, hoping he didn’t intend to say
otherwise to Trent.

His lips formed a
smile full of regret. “Your decision, not mine.”

She couldn’t disagree
there. Had he tried any harder, she would have had to call the police.

He reclaimed her hand
and pulled her closer. “Can I give you some advice?”

She nodded.

“Don’t marry Trent. I
can see how he might ask, but don’t do it.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll be
forced to give up everything in life you love. The women of our echelons do not
work. Well…many of the matrons do charity work, but they won’t share their plum
with you. And while Trent might assure you otherwise, he’ll cave to the matrons
within a year, and you’ll be bored, miserable, and feeling inept because those
women won’t let you do a damn thing of value. You’ll be the white trash girl
who can’t even give a proper party.”

She’d stared at her
shoes so he couldn’t see the worry in her eyes. His words stung, but Carrie
feared them accurate. She recalled all too well the way Trent’s friend, Gary, had
made her feel on their first date and how Trent allowed it.

“You probably think
I’m saying this to scare you away from Trent, so I can have you. But I’m not. For
one, I’m married, but even if I were single, I’d never pull you into society,
no matter how intense our affair became. The matrons would attack you like piranhas,
stripping your pride and confidence away. But Trent thinks only of himself. So
he’ll ruin your life, realize he’s made a mistake, and divorce you. But you’ll
never return to the fabulous woman you are right now.”

“So you think I
should just have sex with him?”

Ian pushed back a
strand of hair from her face. “I think you should come to work here and have an
affair with me, but if you have no interest in me, then yes, have a fling with
your eyes wide open. Don’t invest too much of your heart, because it won’t
last. And keep it a secret as long as you can because once the society matrons
become aware of it, they’ll ensure it stops, and if you get hurt in the
process, they won’t care.”

Carrie glanced at her
watch. “I need to leave for the airport, but thank you for the advice and thank
you for all you’ve taught me.”

“Are you going to
follow any of it?”

“Every bit of it.”

His eyebrows rose.
“Even the personal advice?”

She laughed softly
and freed her hand from his grasp. “Even the none-of-your-business, personal
advice. You aren’t the first person who’s warned me about this.”

“Yet, you still want
him.”

“The heart wants what
it wants.”

He leaned down and
kissed her lightly on her lips. “Don’t I know it? Never let him break you and
don’t forget my offer.”

“I won’t.”

As Carrie slipped
into the black sedan waiting outside and headed to the airport, she wished
she’d not committed to having sex with Trent. Ian’s warning had brought the
harsh reality of the huge gulf between them. They truly were two different
species.

***

Trent stared with
impatience at the airport monitor. The screen declared the plane had arrived,
so where the hell was Carrie?

While she had a great
time in San Francisco, he’d endured a horrible time here. He had yet to hire a
sales manager. He had offered the job to three, but they’d all accepted other
positions. And he wasn’t sure about the new systems manager. He wanted Carrie’s
opinion.

Jack, the
workfor-cookies system person, had returned on Monday so everyone would be
paid, and Carrie’s expense check had been sent to her home address. He had
specifically asked his new EA to have it wired to her bank account, but the
idiot delegated the job to someone in accounting and of course it didn’t get
done.