OLDER MAN: The Secretary's Secret Baby (Best Friend Brother Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Sport Comedy Romance) by Alexandra Stone Page B

peel off my clothes for him.  Why wouldn’t I?  He was hot, and in command, and I was his easy lay.  The nerve!  He might be covering up his bad boy persona with an expensive suit, but all his cocky confidence was still there.  What an ass.
    At nine-twenty-five I exited my office to head to the contractor bullpen—where my employees worked.  Victor was already there.
    I felt the heat rise up my neck as I watched Victor, his hand on Carla’s shoulder, studying something on Carla’s computer screen.  “You did this, Carla?” he asked.  She nodded, like a stupid little puppy.  “That’s some fine work.”  Look at her just lapping up his attention!  It didn’t bother me on an emotional level, but Carla was my employee.  Victor supervised me, and I supervised all the contractors in the bullpen.  Plus, she was flirting with him, and Victor was eating it up.
    I should say something to him.
    “Tengler,” Victor said without looking up.
    “Please,” I said.  “Nancy.”
    Victor stood up and fixed my gaze with his clear blue eyes.  His voice was cold.  “Tengler, if you’re not five minutes early to my meetings, you’re late.”  He patted Carla on the back and told her once more what a fine job she’d done.
    “Thank you Victor,” Carla said.
    I couldn’t believe it.  He’d dressed me down right in front of all my employees.  In one short sentence, he’d completely undermined me.  Totally unacceptable. 
    There was no doubt about it.  Victor wasn’t happy that I’d left before he woke up.
    Well too frigging bad.  This was like the separation of church and state—inviolable.  He couldn’t bring what happened Friday night into the workplace.  Neither of us even knew we were destined to be coworkers. 
    “Ladies,” Victor started.  Oh, look at them, hanging on his every word.  They acted like he was a rock star.  And they all got so quiet and attentive for him, right away.  I usually had to clear my throat several times, or bang on a cabinet to get their full attention.  Not so with Victor.  For him, they leapt up like prairie dogs.  Great. 
    “Ladies, I understand you’re all a talented bunch,” Victor said, clasping his strong hands and rubbing them together.  “When I interviewed with corporate, they assured me that everyone under Tengler was a top talent.”  He raised an eyebrow at me.  “Isn’t that true, Tengler?”  I nodded.
    “And it’s good that you’re so talented,” Victor continued, “because we have a crisis on our hands.”
    June was sitting closest to Victor, and she leaned forward like it was the Sermon on the Mount.  Victor must have noticed, or sensed it.  He sat down on the corner of June’s desk, and he patted her hand.
    First Carla, now June—Victor Andrews was quite the hands-on boss.  All in the first hour of the workday, no less.  Well, his little tricks wouldn’t work with me.  I knew better.
    “What’s the crisis, Victor?” June whispered.
    “Shirt Watches,” Victor said.  “I know, you’ve never heard of them.  I’m sure Tengler hasn’t either.  But they’re coming, and our client wants to be first in people’s minds when people think ‘Shirt Watches.’”  Victor turned to me and said, “Shirt Watches, Tengler, are watches built right into the shirt.  They’ve gotten the technology so small, and so flexible, that they can put it on fabric. The first thing…”
    Victor droned on, but I was so hopping mad that I barely listened.  Shirt Watches, Tengler, are…  He deliberately made it sound like I was the only person in the room who needed Shirt Watches explained to them. 
    This was why I never did one-night stands.  Bad things happen.  Okay, I couldn’t have envisioned this, but still, bad things happen and this was bad.
    We had forty-eight hours to come up with the sketches of a complete branding plan: logos, slogans, internet ads, strategies, and print campaign plans.  All of them had to be