Weird ass employees.
My own day was mostly consumed by the articles being sent to me for edits and approval. When I wasn’t watching over the employees or editing, I was continuing to perfect my broad strategy for the magazine. This job was my chance to prove I could build something from nothing. Sure,The Squawkerhad a somewhat respectable following, but only in state. I wanted to make it national. I wanted to widen the scope. I wanted it to give readers everything they could want from intellectual junk food to a side of political informity.
That was the trick, as I saw it. We’d lure them in with the junk food and trick them into getting informed.
I was smiling to myself when my door opened again.
Darcy visibly swallowed, then closed it behind her with a soft click. She had on a white blouse that wasjusttransparent enough for me to see the outline of a white bra beneath. I wondered if she knew, or if the lighting at her place was different.
Ever since I’d given her shit about the jeans, it seemed like skirts were her weapon of choice. I almost regretted ever saying anything. The truth was those fucking jeans had been distracting as hell for me. Her ass and legs were absolutely incredible, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus if she was prancing around like that all day. Was I an asshole for setting the dress code because I couldn’t keep my eyes to myself? Of course I was. But I was also adumbasshole, because the skirts were worse.
She had a goddamn arsenal of them from tight blacks to frilly grays and even a baby blue one with flowers that was just short enough to be criminal. I wanted her gone because she made me feel out of control. I was always in control. I always had a tight leash on my emotions and my body. But not around her. She got straight past my defenses and into my head, and I wanted to punish her for it.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Did you have a chance to look at my pitch yet?”
She’d sent me some long ass email with a bunch of attachments late one evening last week. I had enough on my plate, so I’d stuffed it in the “maybe never” folder.
“No,” I said. “I have a lot of work to do.”
Darcy looked uncharacteristically meek. She actually wringed her hands and still hadn’t taken a full step into my office. Her back was against the door like she was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. In fact, I’d barely interacted with her since the day I had Steve’s desk moved. She just came in, sat down, worked her ass off, and never got off task. I’d never once checked her screen and seen anything but her researching for a piece or actually writing it. I had to admit I was already impressed, but I wondered how long she could keep this up.
I hadn’t seen this nervous side of her, and some dumb part of me wanted to relieve her of whatever was stressing her. I wanted to promise I’d take a look at the pitch, but I was stronger than that. Maybe I could’ve simply given in. I could’ve been the nice boss for a change, but I knew what a slippery slope that was. I had mountains to prove at this magazine my father thought was beyond saving. If he thought there was a chance I could actually turn it around and make it profitable, he wouldn’t have dared leave me in charge of things.
No. My father expected me to fail here. He thought I’d come crawling back to him with the seared in knowledge that I couldn’t hack it on my own–that I needed my dear old man to hold the wheel. It was a power play, and I intended to turn it on its head.
To do that, I needed to run things here without mercy. I couldn’t make the “nice” decision because it felt good. I couldn’t overlook underperformers because I didn’t want to hurt feelings. I needed to be ruthless,especiallywhen it came to Darcy McClain. Because whether I wanted to admit it or not, she was a distraction. The sooner she was gone, the sooner I could get myself back under control.
I watched her sitting there holding my gaze while I said nothing. She was undeniably gorgeous with that upturned nose, full lips, and the cheeks reddened from a weekend probably spent in the sun. Then I imagined how incredible she’d look in a bikini and had to pinch the bridge of my nose, willing the image to flee from my mind.
This was why I needed Darcy McClain gone. Maybe it wasn’t fair. It definitely wasn’t her fault–other than the mouth she seemed unable to stop running at the wrong times. But it was the truth. So I kept my mouth shut and continued to wait until she finally broke the silence.
“Before you took over,” she said. “I was supposed to pitch this to Jasmine. She was going to give me my own weekly article. Actually, the day she quit was the day I was going to make the pitch. I just thought you could maybe take a look. It might fit with what you’re wanting to do with the magazine, or I could take feedback and try to tweak it for the new direction. It’d just mean a lot if you looked at it.”
I stared. Every impulse in me was screaming to be an asshole. Dismiss her. Say something so unforgivable that she storms out and can’t keep up the act.Make her crack.
But I was an asshole, not a monster. I clenched the armrest of my chair. She’d kept her head down all week. She hadn’t so much as crossed me or looked my way. Maybe there was a world where we could have some sort of cease fire agreement. Of course, I’d have to learn to stop eye-fucking her every chance I got, but that was my problem. That was the truth, wasn’t it? If I really cared about sticking it to my father and proving I could turn this place around, I should at least look at the pitch, shouldn’t I?
I sighed from what felt like the depths of my soul. I knew I was making a dangerous choice, but I could feel something deep inside pulling me to do it anyway. “I’ll take a look. Is that all?”
Darcy brightened so quickly it was like rain clouds parting to reveal the sun. She smiled and took a few quick steps toward my desk, bounced on her feet, then rushed over to my chair and actuallyhuggedme.
I sat there frozen, trying and failing not to notice how fucking good she smelled or how her short brown hair was tickling my chin as she leaned into the hug.
“Alright, alright,” I stammered, clearing my throat. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“Thank you!” she said, bouncing once more before practically running out of the office.
I smiled, then realized I was smiling and forced myself to frown. When I looked down, I made a sound of disgust.Jesus Christ.I needed to have a serious sit down with my cock at some point and explain this was not going to go the way it was hoping. We were not going to fuck Darcy McClain, little c, big C. She was an employee, and I was going to get my shit together and act like an adult,not a hormonal teen who can’t keep it in his pants.
She caught me looking at her through the window and smiled, waving.
My stupid cock twitched again in excitement and it was all I could do not to bury my face in my hands.
7
DARCY