Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) by Janice Baker Page B

everyone doing this fine morning?” I watched the confusion sweep over all my employees and realized it wasn’t the best way to go. I gave a small chuckle and said, “Now that I have your attention, I’ll tell you why you’re all here.”
    I proceeded to let them know how I was going to divide them out into teams by territory and I was going to meet with each team on a weekly basis to go over their plan of attack. I also let them know about the vendors that were going to come in and train them on new products for us to sell and the bonuses they could earn by selling those products.
    By the end of the meeting, I had everyone’s attention and they were not only happy employees, but were also excited about their new boss. Several of them even came up to me and told me how pleased they were. I walked back to my office with Kara following behind, chatting with some of the other employees. I was glad a couple of them were my female sales force and hoped she would make more friends.
    ******
    Clark called me, asking to meet me out for lunch. I headed down to a diner that wasn’t too far from either of our companies. As soon as I got there, I briefed him on my Kara problem.
    He sat there listening with his arms crossed over his chest. He took off his glasses, resting them on the table and then chuckled, “You’re fucked, buddy.” His blue eyes were practically shining bright, as if he were excited to give me this information.
    “What do you mean by that? I can get around this,” I told him, adamant that this thing Kara’s doing would pass.
    “No, you can’t fucking touch her. You try to do anything and that HR lady will probably get it into Kara’s head that you’re sexually harassing her. You need to drop that bitch,” he told me firmly.
    I rolled my eyes at him. “She not a bitch. You know that. Kara’s the closest I’d come to a girlfriend. Think about if this happened with Tina,” I pointed out to him as I gestured my hand towards him.
    He shook his head vehemently and blatantly stated, “Wouldn’t happen.” He took a drink from his glass as he glanced around the room.
    Pissed off at him, although I knew it wasn’t his fault, I shot back, “What do you mean ‘wouldn’t happen’?”
    He leaned in resting his arms on the table, shaking his head. “I never would have convinced Tina to work with me.”
    I threw my hand up in the air, frustrated. “I didn’t do that on purpose. I had no idea she’d wind up working at my company.”
    “But you knew after you saw her there at work for her interview. Then you went even further to push that HR lady to hire her. You fucked this up yourself,” he stated, proud of himself for chastising me.
    Shit. He’s right. I really screwed this up myself. I sat there thinking about it for a little bit and Clark watched me think it through, giving me a smug look.
    He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it. You gotta let her go.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “I see your mind working. There’s no way out of it. She’s determined to have a good job and you’ve found her one. She’s not going to screw it up by letting you fuck her. And if she did give in and you’re caught, she’d regret it and probably use it against you. Sexual harassment.”
    Shit.
    I got back to the office after my talk with Clark and was extremely disappointed. I sat at my desk going over what I needed to accomplish for the day. God, I hated being in an office.
    I stood up and started walking around the office trying to think things through. Yes, the Kara situation. Clark was right and I knew it. I could really kick myself and I was becoming more agitated at the thought that I might have to not see Kara in our personal way.
    I realized I needed to get back to something work related. Commission schedules needed to be revised and brought up to date. I called Kara into my office, using the intercom system. I knew that would make her happy. It did. She