Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) (20 page)

“I…nothing. I just. It’s that you came into this office and got a huge budget and allowed to run everything the way you want to run it and I have to play by the rules at every turn. I play by the rules. I make sure I do everything I’m supposed to and I still don’t get half the respect from Mr. Buchanan that you do.”

My blood was starting to boil that this whole time she was just jealous of me and I couldn’t see it. “Oh so you’re in a pissing match with me and I didn’t even know it.”

“Pissing match?”

“Yeah, pissing match. You’re trying to get Perry’s attention. What…did your siblings get more attention than you and now you’re taking it out on me? That’s just fucking great. You’re using me as your head case.”

“That’s not true. And I’ll have you know I’m an only child,” She yelled back at me.

“Heh. Even better. A spoiled brat,” I retorted.

“I am not a spoiled brat. And you should talk! You’re just scared and using every trick in the book to get your sales up. Resorting to drinking at the office.”

We were raising our voices to an unreasonable level and Izzy came over putting her soft hands on both of us. “Uh, if you guys need to use the office to talk, you are more than welcome.”

I took a swig of my beer while still glaring into Hargrave’s eyes. “Nope. We’re pretty much done here now, Izzy. But, thank you.” I walked away and decided I needed to mingle since everyone was looking at me. I pasted a happy smile on my face and walked over to the people who were staring at us the most. I glanced over and saw Perry watching me. Great. Just fucking great.

******

Clark and I headed over to Z and Izzy
’s house for Sunday dinner. Izzy’s a great cook. She used to cook for the gang when everyone roomed together over at Flynn’s. They usually get together on Sunday nights, but since Flynn and Mel were still on their honeymoon, Izzy wanted to have it over at their place.

We walked in the front door and that amazing aroma that makes you instantly “feel” at home hit hard. Izzy really should be a gourmet chef with the skills she has. Some of the meals don’t always turn out as great, but for the most part they would overshadow some of the finest five star restaurants I’ve dined in.

Clark rubbed his hands together as he walked into the kitchen grabbing Izzy for a hug. “Wow, that shit smells amazing. I can’t wait to eat,” he exclaimed as he tried to swipe a taste from her bowl.

Izzy smiled sweetly, excited to share her menu for the evening as I pulled her in for a hug after shaking hands with my brother. With a British accent and her body in straight posture, she began to tell us our menu, “Herb roasted pork loin, golden potatoes with caper brown butter crumbs and…”

“What’s up with the British accent?” Clark interrupted Izzy.

Her smile fell from her face as she frowned at him. “I was trying to pretend I’m a gourmet chef.”

“They have British accents?” Clark teased her.

Defensively Izzy replied, “The one in my head does.”

Clark started laughing. “Oh, I guess that whole role playing you guys do in the bedroom is carried out into the kitchen now?” Izzy’s eyes got really wide. She turned to Z as his eyes were just as wide while he started laughing.

Izzy started walking towards him as he started backing up, but ran into the wall as he held up his hands, protesting, “I didn’t say anything to him.”

“You told him!” Izzy started to hit Z with the towel. “You can’t keep a secret to save your life!” Z was now against the wall as Izzy continued to swipe at him with the towel before he finally caught it and pulled her into a hug.

Both Clark and I groaned in frustration, damned honeymoon stage.

“Hey, knock it off you two. You’ll burn dinner,” Clark yelled out. Izzy gave Z a kiss and went back to the stove.

I opened the fridge and started passing out beers to everyone as I asked what’s the latest. Clark started telling us about the drama going on at his office. Turns out two girls slept with their boss and only one got fired. All the women in the office are angry about it.

“And, it really hurts my chances of screwing anyone else. Now there’s rumors of a no-dating policy being put into place.”

I laughed and remarked, “Sounds like my office. Vanessa put that fucking policy in place. I can’t be with Kara and I certainly can’t try for Vanessa now.” I paused and took a drink before adding, “Not that I want to after her little bitch display the other night.”

Izzy turned around from cutting the ends of the green beans at the sink, her eyes showed her concern “So, have you spoken with Vanessa since your fight Friday night?”

I shook my head as I took a swig from my beer. Clark chuckled as he threw in his two cents. “Nah, he actually hid in the apartment last night.”

“I didn’t hide,” I argued as I threw an evil glare at Clark.
Asshole
.

My blood started boiling as he continued his jabs at me. “Sure you did. You worked out and then turned on the TV. You always go out —”

“You were going out with Tina!” I yelled at him, interrupting him mid-sentence.

“So? It’s not like you’ve never hung out at the bar with us before.”

I rolled my eyes as Izzy asked me in a soft voice, “Why didn’t you go out, Matt?”

What the fuck? I felt like everyone was ganging up on me for this stupid little thing and it was pissing me off. “It’s not that big of a deal. I just felt like staying in
one
night. Why is everyone getting on my case about it?”

“Because you’re a huge partier, Matt. I’ve never known you to stay in on a Saturday night,” Z felt like adding his assessment of me.

“Bullshit. Everyone stays in once in awhile,” I countered angrily.

Clark huffed. “Sure, if they’re dating someone and doing that cuddling bullshit.”

I threw him an angry stare as I took a swig from my beer. “And I’ve seen you do that with Tina.”

“That’s just to get in her pants. Who the fuck wants to snuggle on the damn couch when they could be sinking into her hot pussy.”

Izzy glared at Clark in her usual manner. You’d think after all this time hanging around him she wouldn’t be surprised by what he says anymore. Not to mention how we all discuss stupid shit like this all the time. She turned her attention back to me. “Maybe you’re into Vanessa a little more than you’d care to admit.”

“You started that crap with me at the bar on Friday night, Izzy. I’m not into her like you think. If anything at all, she’d probably be just a grudge fuck.”

Izzy’s mouth fell open, just as wide as her eyes did. “A what?” All three of us guys exchanged glances as we burst out laughing. “It’s not funny. What’s a grudge fuck?” Izzy asked, clearly frustrated with all of us.

Z put his arm around Izzy’s shoulder as he explained the term ‘grudge fuck’ to her. “Basically screwing a chick you’re not that into so you can get your frustration out.” He told her as he gave a small shrug and then added, “Or if you’re just trying to get back at her.”

Izzy scrunched up her face, completely disgusted as she snapped her head back to me. “That is not the case with Vanessa. I can tell. You. Like. Her.” She turned back around and started stirring one of the pots as she continued, “and you better admit it sooner than later.”

Yeah right. “Or else what?” I couldn’t help but taunt her.

She spun around flinging food off her spoon as she waved her spoon in my face. “Or else you’ll die a lonely, sad pathetic person.” Then she glanced at Clark. “Like him!” She pointed her spoon at Clark and then turned back around to tend to the food. All us guys had wide eyes, stunned at Izzy’s behavior. She was pissed, which was really rare for her.

******

I rolled into the office the next day and said my good morning to Kara. Perry called me into his office and I sat down with that douche guy, Ted, to go over my old territory and specifics of my customers. I held off on the personality traits that I knew from memory. I can’t give him all my secrets; I still want my old territory back. Eleven months to go and each week seemed to kill me more than the last.

I got back to my office and noticed Kara’s adorable ass half sitting/leaning on Tom’s desk. She looked like she was writing something on a notepad while he was on the phone. I remembered how I briefly met Tom’s roommate Friday night, the guy Kara really likes, so I assumed that she was having Tom say things to the guy on the phone. Tom’s sales weren’t great, so I needed to get him back to work. I went to my desk so I could listen in to his call, so I had some type of proof. I didn’t want Kara to be to
o upset, but she needed to realize we’re still at work here.

I was wrong.

Tom was on a sales call and he was negotiating a price. I was listening to his sales tactic and cringed a bit while I peeked out the door. Kara was giving him a shake of her head and then wrote something down. Then I heard Tom correct himself and sell the item properly. Kara smiled brightly as Tom got off the phone and she high-fived him, standing up from his desk.

I watched her walk back to her desk smiling brightly. I called her in to my office. “Kara, what was that?” She looked confused and worried.

“What was what?” I watched her swallow nervously.

“Did you just help Tom make that sale?”

Her face fell and she began to sputter, “I…well, I…”

I held up my hand and told her “I’m not judging or yelling at you or mad about Tom, I’m just asking.”

Her shoulders dropped and she cringed. “Yes, I thought he could use a little boost.” Her face brightened as she told me, “He made the sale. It was high margin too!”

I nodded and told her to head back to her desk as I sat there thinking about it more and more. Of course she’d be great at sales. She could make a hell of a lot more money too. I resolved I’d discuss that with Vanessa, probably just make another argument for us to have, but at least it
’s some type of interaction with her. I’ll take what I can get from her.

After our fight on Friday night, I made sure to try to avoid Matt over the weekend. Anytime I was about to leave our apartment, I made sure to check the peephole to make sure he wasn’t near his door or the hallway.

I did the same leaving for work on Monday morning. Renee, my assistant, popped her head in. “Vanessa, Mr. Buchanan wants to see you.”

I looked up from my paperwork, stunned. “Mr. Buchanan? Did he say what it was for?” I asked nervously, but tried my best not to show it.

Renee shook her head and flatly said, “No, his admin didn’t say.”

I walked nervously over to his office. He can be temperamental, so I never know what to expect. Once I thought I was going into his office to discuss a pay raise for one of the employees only to be told that he wanted to discuss firing a different employee. I was unprepared and he snapped at me for not having the correct information on hand. After that fiasco, I’ve been on edge every time I’m called in there.

I began to wonder if it was about the fight between Matt and I Friday night. I was positive he was far enough across the bar that he couldn’t have overheard our conversation, but then again you never know. That had to be why I was being called in here today. My stomach was churning even more now that I realized that has to be the reason he called me into his office.

I tapped on his door after his admin waved me to go in.

“Vanessa. Have a seat,” he instructed me without looking up, but pointed his pen in the direction of his chairs. I nodded and took my seat; a lump in my throat that I couldn’t swallow down plagued me. I pressed my lips together and tried my best not to start crying if he was going to yell at me.

“I was just going over your request to attend this seminar. I want you to get Matt Williams in there too,” he ordered me, still not glancing up from his paperwork.

Slightly relieved that I wasn’t getting yelled at about the fight Friday night, my heart still sank at the thought of having to be with that asshole at the conference; the conference I’ve been planning to attend since my last job because it was so important to me. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to it. Knowing how tough it was to get in to, I told Mr. Buchanan, “I’m sorry, but that seminar has been booked for months. I wouldn’t know how to get him in there.”

His head popped up from his work and he snapped at me, “Well figure it out. I don’t care who you have to call or how much extra you have to pay, call whoever you need to or better yet, give up your space. This is something that Matt needs to help his managerial skills and I want him in there. Any questions?” I swallowed, terrified that I might have to give up my space.

I nodded, “Yes sir.” I continued to sit there unsure if there was something else he wanted to say to me.

He looked up briefly. “Anything else, Ms. Hargrave?”

I swallowed and shook my head, not that he could see me doing that since his head was back down staring at his paperwork. “No, nothing else.” He nodded and gestured towards the door with his pen. I practically jumped out of my seat and quickly left.

I walked back to my desk annoyed that I had to scramble to get Matt Williams into this seminar. To think that I might possibly have to give up my seat made me incredibly agitated.

I sat at my desk and tried to think of other colleagues I was going to meet there. One came to mind who knew one of the facilitators setting up the two-day seminar. I quickly sent out an email and received a call from her shortly thereafter. I let her know what was going on and she made a quick call, getting back to me later on that Matt was in.

Relieved, I exhaled a breath and slumped into my chair. I was still going to be able to attend after all. There were several key people I was meeting there; people who could help me get out of this place and into a better job. I like it here, but nothing I do is ever good enough for Mr. Buchanan. I have to fight him it seems, on every new policy or procedure I want to put in place.

Shit.
I realized I never asked to make sure there weren’t any conflicts; although, Mr. Buchanan said he wanted him in there no matter what, so I guess it didn’t matter.  I sent Matt a quick email letting him know the details and that it was under direct order from Mr. Buchanan, making sure to copy Kara and my assistant.

I’m sure he’s going to love that after our fight in front of everyone on Friday. Despite that, I felt a little smug that I had some control over his schedule for this. Or maybe it was that I was going to spend more time with him. That couldn’t be it considering how badly he tends to annoy me. Arrogant. Smug. Sexy. Handsome. Greek-God physique.
Shit.
I had to stop myself from thinking about him like that. I tried to go back to describing him as arrogant in my head and smiled to myself.

A brief knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts as I glanced up. My breath hitched when I saw Matt standing there with that arrogant smirk. He leaned against the doorway and his eyes seemed to sparkle, I could tell already he wanted to taunt me with something.

“If you wanted to get away with me, Vanessa, you could have picked somewhere more fun than a seminar in New Jersey,” he teased with that sexy husky voice which made me weak in my knees.

My heart fluttered and I quickly diverted my eyes from him. I glanced back down to my paperwork, acting
as if he didn’t really affect me, especially with his teasing comment. “I don’t want to get away with you, Matt. Mr. Buchanan insisted you attend the same seminar since it could help you with your management skills.” I tried to pretend I was working on whatever was in front of me, which I realized was a résumé for one of his new sales employees.

“Are you saying you don’t want me to go?” he asked in such a deep voice, it made my heart quicken. Shit.
He’s just a guy, Vanessa. A cocky salesperson,
I tried to tell myself.

“Well I hadn’t planned on you coming with me, that’s for sure.” I glanced up and noticed his smirk, probably to my stating something about “coming.” He can be so childish.

He walked in and sat down in a chair that I hadn’t asked him to sit in. I looked up realizing he was staring at me, waiting for my attention.

“Is there something else?” I looked back down at my paperwork, hoping he would say what he needed to and leave quickly.

I heard him inhale before telling me, “Well, I was thinking that since we’ll be traveling together, we might want to start getting along a little better.”

I took a deep breath and put my pen down. “I can’t say I disagree with you. Friday was pretty…” I looked out the window trying to figure out the best word for our spat. “Stormy. I didn’t go there looking to fight, Matt.”

He chuckled, “Sure you did. That’s why you came there in the first place. You weren’t there to mingle with the employees at all. You went to make sure I either screwed up or you wanted to mess with me. You got your wish.”

I looked out the window thoughtfully before I spoke. “I’m sorry. That really wasn’t my intention.” I exhaled and looked back to him. “I think it went well, besides our argument. Didn’t it? Your employees seemed well entertained and had a great time relaxing. Letting off steam, as you wanted them to, right?” I asked in a hopeful manner. I really did want the employees to benefit from the party, which was the whole point of it.

He nodded, pressing his lips together. “Yep, it went well besides our mini fight. Maybe we could try to work together a little bit better.”

I nodded with a slight smile. “Sure. I’d like that.” I glanced back sheepishly at my paperwork. He was right, there was no need for me to have acted like that.

“Good.” He paused for a moment and I was wondering if we were finished with our conversation. “I need to talk to you about something else.” Another mini pause and I looked up at him, unsure of what he needed to discuss. His eyes darted away from mine as he blurted out, “I need another admin.”

I knew it. I could feel my blood boil as anger welled inside of me. He was crawling to me about something else. Now I was pissed I extended an apology to him about our fight. “Ha. Yeah, I told you not to come crawling back to me when Kara couldn’t do the job,” I snapped.

He shook his head, almost laughing. “That’s not the problem. I want her bumped up to sales,” he told me. He sat back looking just as arrogant as when I first met him.

“What?” I stared at him in disbelief.

He shrugged and confidently told me, “I think she has a knack for it. I want her to try it out.”

I shook my head, determined not to let him get his way on this one. “No way, Matt.” I pressed my lips together, hoping to contain my anger from slipping any mean words out. It was very tough not to say anything else.

“Why? Come on. I think she’d do great,” he insisted.

“There is no way she can handle the pressure of sales. She seems so fragile all the time.” I wasn’t too sure of that statement, but she always seems so timid when I’d watch her ask the other admins for advice.

“I know she can do it and I’d like to give her the chance.” His voice was firm and already decided he was getting his way.

I stared at him, trying to figure out his real motive. Maybe Kara really stuck with my no dating rules and he was frustrated. That had to be it. “Why? So you can get another woman as an admin that you can try to sleep with?”

His eyes popped open and he snapped angrily at me, “I never tried to do anything with her and I resent you saying that. I am all business here. I can teach her sales no problem and she’ll be really good at her job.”

I paused trying to think things through before I spoke. It didn’t work and all I could come up with was what I blurted out. “Alright, Mr. Williams. I’ll bet your job that she sucks at sales.” Okay, maybe that came out a bit more snottily than I should have said it.

“What?” I took him completely by surprise with that statement.

I smiled that I caught him off guard and loved every second of it. I figured it was worth a shot. I probably wouldn’t be able to hold up to it, but if anything it was worth the look on his face just now. I leaned forward, placing my arms crossed on the desk as I glared at him. “If she can’t hit her numbers, then you’re not that great of a sales man.”

At first he looked a bit squeamish, but then he nodded his head. “Deal.” He threw me a cocky smile as he stood up. “Feel like having lunch with me?”

I shook my head and tried my best not to roll my eyes that he keeps trying. “No. Thank you though. I brought my lunch today since I have a lot of work to do.” Matt nodded his head and looked around as if he had something else to say. He turned just as he hit the doorway.

“Are you going to make the flight and hotel arrangements?”

“No, I’ll have Renee contact Kara. That’s what her job is, for now. I’ll work on her job transfer.” I said with a small smile. “Are you going to tell her? Or do you need me to do that for you, too?” Yep, a bit too snarky on that last question, but at that point I couldn’t care less.

He actually rolled his eyes at me as he gave his head a small shake. “No, I’ll do that.” And with that he left my office.

With Kara moving to sales, Matt needed a new admin. A fresh idea popped into my head and it made me smile just thinking about the look on his face when he meets his new admin.

******

It was two weeks later and time to board our flight to New Jersey for the conference. Matt and I had only seen each other at work in passing and oddly enough for living right across from each other, we only passed each other a couple of times. Both times the ride in the elevator was uncomfortable, yet we were cordial to each other. Neither of us would speak, except for the brief friendly
‘hello,’ and we kept our eyes forward for the most part.

While it was nice not having that daily tension, I seemed to always wonder what he was doing. Anticipation of him doing another crazy stunt at the office seemed to keep me on alert.

I already checked in and was reading an HR article while waiting for my section to be called. Matt had yet to arrive, which didn’t surprise me. I was actually wondering if he was going to show up at all.

“Rows 21-11, boarding now,” the female attendant standing by the gate door called out through the speaker. I stood up and began to drag my carry on behind me.

As I started towards the gate, I noticed Matt striding towards me with that perfect smile of his and my heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest. Does he ever look less than perfect? He was wearing jeans and a simple blue t-shirt, making his gorgeous eyes stand out more. He looked hotter than hell. I tried my best not to smile huge from the excitement of seeing him. Was I actually happy he was going with me? Is that why I was so happy to see him?

“Hey Vanessa, why aren’t you on the plane already?” He asked as he approached me. His leather garment bag and briefcase were thrown over his shoulder and he was holding them with one hand.

I pulled back slightly giving him a questioning look. “They’re just boarding my row now,” I replied.

“Really? First class is just now boarding?” He asked as he looked around, not understanding why so many people were boarding right now.

I laughed. “First class? Are you nuts? We don’t get first class.”

He pulled his brows together and chuckled. He glanced down at my boarding pass in my hand and took it from my grasp. He dropped his bags and leaned in whispering, “step aside and wait for me.”