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Yeah, that fits in better with what I know about men like him. But I mean, who could blame them? He’s one of the hottest men in Seattle and he’s stupidly wealthy. Hell, he can even be a little charming when he wants to be. But he’s obviously not looking for any sort of commitment. I’d do well to remember that. I won’t be one of those women desperately clinging to him while he can’t get away fast enough.
“Okay,” I shrug, not wanting to talk any more about the women he dates, “but don’t blame me if she goes barging into your office again when she can’t get ahold of you.”
The corners of his mouth tip down in a frown, making him look like some kind of sexy, grumpy bear. “You’re right. We should probably alert security that she’s not allowed up to the executive floor without permission.”
He snatches his keys off the counter and heads towards the garage, leaving me to trail behind him. Not that I mind. The back of Archer is almost as hot as the front. I barely suppress a frustrated groan. This job is getting more difficult by the day. I’m still unbelievably attracted to my boss. Hell, half the time I think I’m going to jump his bones even though I’ve never been very assertive in physical relationships. I shouldn’t want him the way I do. Even if he insists he doesn’t have a girlfriend, getting involved with him would be a mistake. It’s not only the fact that he’s my boss and it’s against the rules. Archer would use me up and leave me ruined for anyone else. That’s obvious from how my body reacts to his mere presence.
I’m firm in my new resolve. No more nighttime fantasies. No more thinking about how he smells. And definitely no more almost kisses. It’s fine. I can do this. What other choice do I have?
Twelve
archer
That night at the bar, and afterwards at my place, something was knocked loose in our relationship. Yes, we’re still completely professional, but we’re also a little more comfortable. We call each other by our first names. We make more small talk. I even occasionally say please and thank you.
Hollie is still the most amazing assistant that I’ve ever had. She’s so efficient that I’m able to accomplish more in a day than I ever have before. The minutia has been taken off my plate. She either handles it herself or passes it off to other employees. When she first started as my assistant, she was timid, almost shy. Over the past weeks, she’s grown more outgoing and confident. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sexy as hell.
Our new, more familiar relationship has done nothing to stop my increasingly depraved thoughts of her. Ever since that night when she gave me that chaste kiss then later blurted out she’d only had sex with one man, I’ve been in a bit of a sexual haze. I don’t know how it’s possible that she’s almost completely untouched. I wasn’t joking when I told her it makes me want to fuck her until she can’t remember his name. It definitely does. Now I can’t get the image of me fucking her while she screams my name out of my mind.
Hollie was in my house for only a few brief hours and somehow, it’s seemed emptier ever since she left. I never invite anyone over to my place. I don’t have many friends to speak of and if I meet a woman for sex, I take her to my reserved suite at The Clarke. It’s convenient and there are no awkward morning afters trying to get her to leave. I can take off and head home. It’s always worked for me. Now the place seems a little colder. I swear I can still smell honeysuckle in the guest room she stayed in.
Not only has Hollie taken to running my business schedule, but she’s also got my home life whipped into shape. She’s taken charge of my housekeeper, gardener, shopping services, you name it. All it took was one off handed mention that I noticed my fridge wasn’t stalked so the service may have not shown up and next thing I know, Hollie has them dropping groceries to my housekeeper within the hour. From then on, she’s basically taken over the running of my daily life.
I’d like to say I didn’t love it, but I do. Besides the fact that I now only have to concentrate on the most important work issues, I’m pretty sure it’s the fact that Hollie is the one doing all these things for me. She’s taking care of me. No one’s even attempted to take care of me since before my parents died. Sure, I’m paying her, but I didn’t ask her to insert herself so deeply into my life that I’m not sure how I’ll ever get her out.
The intercom buzzes, and Hollie’s voice fills the room. “Archer, Caroline DuPont is on the line for you.” I straighten up in my chair and reach for the phone, quickly bringing it up to my ear.
“Go ahead, send her through.”
The line clicks as the connection is made. “Mrs. DuPont, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Please, Mr. Clarke,” she says, her voice as calm and confident as steel through the phone. “Let’s cut out the pleasantries, shall we? I realize you want The Village, but you should know that I’m not going to just hand the property over to the highest bidder. I want you to present me with a proposal.”
“A proposal?” I get out. My brain is still trying to catch up with what she’s saying. I wasn’t expecting her to run headfirst into this conversation. She’s actually caught me off guard. Point one to Caroline DuPont.
“Yes, that’s right. I want to know what you’re going to do with The Village if you get it. If you’ll be doing anything for the community or local businesses. You realize I don’t need the money from this sale. I want to make sure that whoever buys my land has the best interests of the city in mind.”
“Yes, I completely understand. A Clarke Hotel will bring in more dollars for local businesses and raise the profile of the entire city.”
“We’ll see about that.” There’s skepticism in her voice that’s difficult to miss. It’s going to be an uphill battle getting this woman to give me an inch. “I’ll need you here Friday to pitch your ideas to me.”
“There? In Santa Cruz?” I ask. Again, she’s throwing me for a loop. I can see this woman doing battle with some of the toughest business titans in the country and still coming out unscathed.
“Yes. Will that be a problem?”
“Of course not. I’ll have my assistant contact your team and set everything up. I’m looking forward to meeting you in person, Mrs. DuPont.”
“Good bye, Mr. Clarke.” With that, I hear a click and she’s gone from the line. I place the phone back into the receiver while I try to figure out what just happened.
She wants me to give her an actual proposal presentation to buy her land. I’m not used to people caring about what happens after they sell me a property. Normally, we absorb and move on. Even though a part of me didn’t quite believe it, it seems the article Hollie found is completely accurate. Caroline DuPont wants to make sure whoever buys her land means to help the community. At the very least, it has to show that the company will enrich the town. It’s Monday now. That means I have four days to come up with a strategy and put together an entire proposal.
I spend the rest of the afternoon holed up in Richard’s office strategizing about the upcoming meeting. I wanted to put together some kind of charity program where we donate a percentage of our profits to local charities. However, Richard pointed out to me I would need board approval for that kind of commitment. I don’t have the time or inclination to go to the board for anything right now. If she really pushed me, I would go back to the board but I don’t want to give them the idea that this deal isn’t in the bag. They’re already skittish with the amount of money we are sinking into this project.
Eventually, we come up with a loose plan. One thing we need to show are the statistics on how much money destination resorts bring into the surrounding town and businesses. There’s a lot of data on that out in the world, what with most luxury resorts in the Caribbean and South Pacific being in poor countries and communities. It’s not as if people in Santa Cruz are hurting for money. Not at all. But small business owners and workers may be from the less affluent surrounding areas. I decide that I’ll personally commit to large donations from the Clarke Family Foundation to local charities as part of our community outreach.
When I finally make it back to my office, Hollie is still sitting at her desk, even though it’s far past the time everyone else leaves for the day. I know she’s been waiting for me to get back. She never leaves until I do unless I forcefully tell her to go, but even then, she wants to argue. Besides myself, I can’t think of anyone with a better work ethic than this girl.
“Did you nail down a time with Mrs. DuPont?” I ask her.
