They’d get to pick their own path and chase their own dreams without the weight of King Corp, the family, and all our futures coloring the way. I made sure we stayed close and present in each other’s lives and didn’t drift apart after we lost Dad.
But have I used it as a crutch?
Have I gotten too comfortable living this life?
When Dad died, I asked Jace if he wanted to stay at the house or if he wanted to live with me at my place in the city. Jace chose Dad’s house because he didn’t want to switch schools and didn’t want the hour-long commute that living in the city would have equated to with traffic each morning. So I made it work. But Jace has grown up and moved on. He lives in the hockey house at Kroydon University now. While I still live at Dad’s.
Maybe it is time to start making some changes.
I make a note on my phone to have my new assistant get me set up with a realtor tomorrow. Knowing part of the deal with Will Brenner was guaranteeing his daughter’s job, I asked Taylor, my assistant with the Kings, to stay and work with Scarlet. Her assistant didn’t want to transition out of marketing, so he’ll be working with the new head of that department, and Taylor will run Scarlet’s world.
If I can’t get rid of Daphne Brenner, I might as well use her.
Which leads to me recalling the haughty way she told me she wasn’t happy about us buying the team this morning. The level of nerve that took surprised me. She stood in front of me, looking every bit the image of a 1950’s pin-up model with her sinful curves, shiny blonde hair, and her chin tilted up. Refusing to back down. Intriguing me more.
Little does she know, strong women are my kryptonite.
In the boardroom and the bedroom.
Not that Daphne Brenner can ever be in my bedroom.
That fantasy has to be packed away.
I’ve crossed quite a few lines, all in the name of King Corp, but sexual harassment has never been, and never will be, one of them. Imagining my mouth on her skin is as far as that can go. Maybe tomorrow she won’t make my mouth water and my cock jump.
* * *
The next morning, I’m in the office before anyone else, ready to get started like any other day. Movers came in last night and cleared out Will’s office, then set mine up so I didn’t have to miss a beat. The only problem is the woman sitting right outside my door, who hasn’t stopped humming since she walked in unless it was to give me a death stare.
Pretty sure she’s tried to kill me with her eyes a few times so far.
As the office comes to life, Daphne has a conversation with each employee who walks by her desk. Every single one. She smiles and talks with everyone. Which is more than she did with me yesterday, or today for that matter, and it’s beginning to grate on my nerves.
It’s not my fault her father was an asshole who decided not to tell his staff until after the deal was signed. His CFO was the only officer he looped into the deal, and as the finance guy, I don’t think there was much choice.
I obviously would have handled things differently, but this is the shit show I’m going to be dealing with.
She’s shown no initiative yet.
Really the only thing she’s shown me is that she’s capable of slamming drawers and socializing. That doesn’t bode well for her. It should be interesting to see who’s left standing at the end of the day.
Taylor anticipated all my needs. If I had a meeting on my schedule for that day, the agenda and any necessary information were in a folder on my desk when I sat down that morning. She had a system in place for everything and didn’t like anyone to interfere. It worked for me.
My sister... I’m thinking not so much.
And with that thought, I realize I’ve given enough attention to my sister and her assistant instead of dealing with my own angry little spitfire of an assistant. Pushing up from my desk, I walk out into the hub of this wing of the building. There are two executive admins, including Daphne, and two offices other than my own. One is the General Manager/Head Coach’s office. The other is empty right now.
“Daphne.” I wait patiently until she looks up from her computer.
When her pale blue eyes meet mine, they appear frostier than yesterday. “Yes, Mr. Kingston?” falls from her lips like an insolent schoolgirl, and my palms itch to spank her perfectly heart-shaped ass while she’s panting my name, bent over my desk.
“I’d like to speak with you in my office.” My words come out with smooth practice, not betraying my body’s reaction to this woman, and I wait until she’s standing, then follow her into my office. Today, she’s wearing a sleeveless white blouse, with a little ruffle at the neckline, tucked into a bright pink pencil skirt that would look amazing rucked up around her waist, and a pair of sexy black heels, adding at least three more inches to her legs.
I close the door behind me and wait until we’re both seated to begin. “I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, Ms. Brenner.” A beautiful red flush covers her cheeks, and I swallow. “I’m sorry the sale was kept from you, but that decision was not mine.”
“D.” She sits straighter in her chair. “Please call me ‘D.’”
It doesn’t fit her in the least, but I give it a try. This job will be a lot easier if my assistant doesn’t fucking hate me for the next twelve months. “Okay, D. Call me Max.” She relaxes slightly. “How about you tell me what exactly you did for your father? Then we can discuss my expectations.”