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Until the day he met Addison Greyer. He pegged her wrong, never imaging that she’d have sex with him in an elevator and then refuse to return his calls or answer his emails. That was his game. And he’d never been beaten at his own game. Had she not been injured, he told himself, he never would’ve paid it any further attention. But as the days went on and he thought about their encounter, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
He sent her flowers in the hospital and on her first day of work, which she ignored. And the more she ignored him, the more interesting she became. Women just didn’t treat him this way. It never happened. So he was taken aback and all the more intrigued when it did. The thing about William was that he trusted his intuition, and, when it told him to pursue something, he did.
Seven
The days until Patrick’s departure were flying by in a blur. Addie found herself collapsing from sheer exhaustion each evening, which made it fairly easy to put what she had dubbed “The Elevator Event” out of her mind, despite the fact that Mr. Hartman had called and emailed several times. Addie hadn’t read the messages, instead forwarding them off to a folder to be opened and dealt with later, when things settled down.
A week before Patrick was scheduled to leave for China, Addie started her new job. The Carlisle Agency was an upscale placement service, which supplied household staff, everything ranging from a single cleaning lady or butler to full-service staff, capable of managing entire estates. Addie’s job in particular was to interview potential clients, to understand their needs, and then sell them on the agency.
Thankfully, she used the agency to find nanny extraordinaire, Kelsey, to care for the boys and considered it beneficial to have gone through the entire process and client experience herself.
It took some getting used to, having to be somewhere every day, but overall, she was getting acclimated to being in an office again. It wasn’t hard. Her office was beautiful, overlooking the Austin Skyline. Spacious and contemporarily decorated, Addie did admit to feeling a little out of place, a little undeserving of such luxury. In addition, there was something about her colleagues that made her a little uneasy. There were ten women in her office and three men. All of whom were beautiful enough that they could easily grace the cover of the latest fashion magazine. Apparently, they only hired beautiful people, which added slightly to Addie’s insecurity. Sure, she was pretty—she had always been told so, anyway. She knew that what she wasn’t lacking in the beauty department she was lacking in sheer confidence. On her second day of work, her boss Sondra Sheehan barged into her office and ordered her to follow. Addie was led to a conference room that had been set up to mimic a small fashion show. There were clothing racks and shoes everywhere. Soon people were circling her, measuring her body in more ways than she imagined possible. Addie took a step back, motioning for the team to give her space. “Whoa. What’s going on here?”
Addie couldn’t help but notice the disdain cross Sondra’s face. Next to her, a petite man, who Addie knew as Javier, Sondra’s assistant, cleared his throat. “Honey, there is no particularly nice way to say this, but your style is absolutely dreadful.”
Addie cocked her head to the side, a mixture of annoyance and confusion on her face. Admittedly, she thought she looked pretty good. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Sondra shook her head before finally throwing her hands in the air. “I knew this one would be trouble.”
Javier chimed in. “Look, everyone within the agency has a clothing budget. We just figured you could use some help: a makeover of sorts. Consider it our gift to you.”
Addie shifted her weight from foot to foot and surveyed the room. “That’s really nice, but I’m pretty sure this is all unnecessary. Really, I can manage fine shopping on my own.”
Sondra slammed her hand against the massive mahogany table. Hard. “For God’s sake, Mrs. Greyer. You are in sales. And your taste is shit. Javier may have put it nicely, but I won’t. You are a representative of this agency, and you will look and behave like it at all times. Do you understand?”
Addie felt the sting of her words, but, determined not to let her emotions show, she simply replied. “Well, when you put it like that, it all makes so much sense. Although, I have to question your judgment a little, seeing that you are the one who hired me.”
Ms. Sheehan turned and left the room just as abruptly as she had entered; Javier gave Addie a look of warning as he trailed right behind. Addie knew she irritated Sondra. She knew that her words were out of line, so it only added to her confusion as she noticed the slightest hint of a smile playing on Sondra’s face as she rounded the corner. If Addie hadn’t known better, she’d swear that there was a hint of satisfaction in it.
The day of Patrick’s departure had finally arrived and Addie hadn’t slept all night long. She tossed and she turned. She stared at the ceiling. She considered telling Patrick about the elevator incident, thinking maybe she should come clean. She considered not telling him and begging him to stay instead. Finally, by four a.m., she dragged herself out of bed, went downstairs, and made some tea. After filling her cup, she sat down at the table and opened her laptop, figuring Google might give her an inkling of what to do. She laughed to herself, considering the phrases she might use. “Husband leaving family for a year” or “Wife is a cheater. Should she come clean?
Still, her thoughts led her back to William and their time in the elevator. Curiosity got the best of her and she opened the folder she’d set up for emails to go in to. Six emails. Addie clicked on the first.
From: William B. Hartman
Date: 6/12/12
To: Addison Greyer
Subject: Thinking of you
Dear Addison,
I’ve tried calling several times with no luck. I wanted to visit you in the hospital, but I thought better of it, not wanting to make matters any worse. I felt a little better knowing that you were given a clean bill of health. Hopefully, you received the flowers I sent: orchids. I hear they are your favorite.
I was wondering if you would like to have dinner. I understand that your life situation may preclude this, but I can’t stop thinking of you and was hoping to get to know you a little better. Clothes on this time, I promise.
Sincerely,
William
What the hell? Who does he think he is? Addie had to admit she was flattered and intrigued, but, seriously, who was this guy? An
d how did he know personal details about her life? Sure, she knew that he was some big shot who came from a wealthy family. Hell, the building was named after them. She knew that he’d put in a good word for her, basically landing her the job, but, in all honesty, Addie hadn’t really thought beyond that. For the most part, she tried to keep from thinking about him, to think about everything but him. And on the other hand, she’d been too busy just trying to survive the last week that she hadn’t given it much thought. Now, she decided to do a Google search of a different kind. Up popped his Wikipedia page, complete with a photo. Addie gasped, the wind knocked out of her. She remembered him being gorgeous, but seeing him there up on the screen staring at her took her aback. In the photo, his hair was shorter. It looked to have been taken a few years ago. Addie read about him, shocked that not only was he a billionaire but that the building she worked in wasn’t his family’s. It was his. Dinner, of course, he wants to have dinner. She knew his type. At least she thought she did, anyway. No thank you. Addie closed out and shut the screen, frustrated. Angry with herself, for being so stupid.
“What’cha doin’ down here.”
Addie jumped, feeling Patrick come up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist.
