Текст книги "Big Bad Wolfe"
Автор книги: Danielle Doolittle
Соавторы: Elle Doolittle
сообщить о нарушении
Текущая страница: 1 (всего у книги 10 страниц)
BIG BAD WOLFE
ELLE DOOLITTLE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author makes no claims to, but instead acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the word marks mentioned in this work of fiction.
Copyright © 2015 by Elle Doolittle
BIG BAD WOLFE by Elle Doolittle
All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by Swoon Romance. Swoon Romance and its related logo are registered trademarks of Georgia McBride Media Group, LLC.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Published by Swoon Romance
Cover designed by Najlaqamberdesigns.com
Cover copyright © 2015 by Swoon Romance
For everyone who gave me the courage to write.
BIG BAD WOLFE
ELLE DOOLITTLE
Chapter One
“Ah, good you’re here.” Sarah lifted her face from the cradle of her hands to study her grandfather. Standing as he was, feet crossed at the ankles, shoulder leaning against the door jam, he looked surprisingly chipper for a man about to shut his business down. Maybe he’s been sneaking into the emergency Scotch again.
“Hey, Gramps.” An indulgent smile lifted the corners of her lips as she watched him practically vibrate with energy.
“Everyone is gathering in the conference room in five minutes, don’t be late.” He turned and nearly skipped down the hall. Wait, was he whistling? Ralph Maxwell did not whistle.
Not the Scotch then.
Maybe Frank slipped him something for his nerves. She wouldn’t put it past the talent agent to innocently offer some pharmaceutical assistance. On a day like today, she was surprised the whole office wasn’t medicated.
Shaking free of the thoughts of what Frank could have gotten his hands on and tricked her grandfather into taking, she figured she had better head to the conference room as well. No use sitting here stewing over something that was out of her control.
“What’s up with Ralph?” Marcy asked as soon as she entered the hall. Apparently the old man’s odd behavior hadn’t escaped her coworker’s notice either.
“Noticed it, too?”
“Yeah. You would think that he would be a little less … upbeat today, of all days.”
Sarah nodded.
“Frank,” they said in unison, knowing if anything unusual was going on the man wasn’t too far away and more often than not directly involved.
“You called, my lovelies?” Frank appeared out of nowhere.
“What did you do this time?” Marcy asked her on again, off again lover, prompting him to hold his hand to his chest in mock affront.
“I don’t believe I know what you mean, Marcy.” Sarah watched in amazement as he leaned into the other woman. “What you would like me to do?”
“Now’s not the time,” Marcy huffed. “Have you seen Ralph today?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
The man looked genuinely confused. “And what?”
“You didn’t notice anything off?” Marcy stopped walking and was now tapping her foot impatiently on the carpet.
“Well, of course, but I thought the old man had gotten into the Scotch again.”
Sarah stood for a moment watching the two of them stare each other down. The tension in the air was becoming palpable. And strangely fascinating. She felt heat race from her chest to her cheeks and knew she was blushing. Things were obviously about to be on again and she didn’t want to witness their romantic reunion.
“All right guys, now that we have that settled, can we get in there?” She pointed to the large wall clock at the end of the hall. “Wouldn’t want to be late.”
The two sobered up with one more heated look and she couldn’t decide if it was anger or passion that zinged between them.
“You’re right,” Marcy said. “Let’s get in there.”
The rest of the walk down the hall was made in silence as the implications of the meeting that was about to start settled in for the three of them. As much as Marcy and Frank liked to have fun and goof off, they had worked hard for the agency over the years. The two of them had been the first to take her under their wings when she joined the ranks right out of college. They didn’t care that she was the boss’s granddaughter and didn’t put up with those who said she only got the job as Accounts Director because of that connection.
The fact was Sarah was ridiculously good at what she did. She had a way of making things happen that astounded most of those who took the time to see beyond her last name. Those first few years when they had the clientele to still be competitive, she had given them all she had and how did they repay her? By finding a new agency with a bigger name as soon as their contracts expired. She shouldn’t take their desertion personally, and that it was only business, but she lived for her job. It was the only thing that she had besides her grandfather.
When the three of them entered the conference room, Ralph was seated at the head of the long table waiting patiently for them. He smiled brightly as he gestured for them all to enter and take a seat. Sarah shot a narrow-eyed look at Frank, who just shrugged and shook his head. He really didn’t have anything to do with the drastic mood change in her grandfather. Feeling uneasy, she took the seat closest to her last living relative, assessing him for signs of a stroke or mental illness. Something had to explain his behavior.
“You can stop looking at me like I’ve gone off the deep end, Sarah.” Her eyes shot up to meet his and she noticed for the first time the mischievous sparkle that had slowly died over the past few years. What was going on? Sarah licked her suddenly dry lips. His smile was reassuring before focusing on the others in the room, her nervous gaze following his. Oh God, this could be really bad. While she had been studying her grandfather, she hadn’t noticed the three remaining staff members slip into the room.
“As all of you know, things have been steadily declining over the past few years here at Maxwell, Williams, and Blake. And as Greg in accounting has reminded me, yet again this morning, the agency is nearly out of money.”
Where he was going with all of this?
“I know that most of you believe that I called you in here today to bestow upon you my parting words, a sparkling reference, and your last paychecks. I thought the same thing until late last night.” Ralph held up a hand effectively silencing the oncoming uproar. “Last night my last ditch effort to pull us out of the mud came through and if you are all willing to stick out the next few months with me I can assure you that we will be back and better than ever.”
“But how?” The question came from Betty, the only remaining receptionist.
“A very old friend of mine owed me a favor and his grandson has agreed to pay it back for him.” Now Sarah was really confused. She heard nothing of this before now. Usually her grandfather confided in her when it came to the business.
“I can tell you’re all confused how this will help us out of the little bind we’ve found ourselves in, but I would really like him to explain things.” Ralph looked down at his watch. “He should be here any minute.”
She was about to ask her grandfather just what was going on when a knock on the door stopped her.
“Ah, here he is now.” Ralph rounded the table with more pep than one would expect in a seventy-five-year-old man. When he pulled open the door, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “As I can see by the looks on your faces, to most of you this man needs no introduction but spare an old man his manners. Everyone, this is Falon Wolfe.”
The slow inspection that started at the tips of a pair of obviously expensive leather shoes stopped somewhere in the vicinity of the third button from his belt. She felt her stomach drop as she looked into the face of a man she thought she would never see again. Never wanted to see again.
Memories—mortifying, ridiculous memories—rushed back and she felt her face flush. She tore her gaze away from cataloging how good the last nine years had been to him. What was he doing here? Her stomach dropped as it filled with razor-winged butterflies. Dear Lord, she was going to be sick.
She could only sit and watch Falon shake her grandfather’s hand and smile charmingly at the rest of her coworkers. The same confident walk she remembered from years ago carried him across the room with the same predatory grace that could hypnotize a girl into losing articles of clothing. She shook herself. Well it wasn’t going to work on her. Not this time. No matter how the liquid pooling in her belly and the sudden acceleration of her heart rate tried to convince her differently.
“Yowza—what a hunk,” Marcy whispered. She couldn’t contain the reflexive snort at her friend’s words. If she only knew. Catching Marcy’s questioning eyes, she felt that men like Falon Wolfe were probably right up her alley.
***
Falon stood at the head of the long table taking in the motley mix before him. Six pairs of eyes looked back at him expectantly as he tried to remember how he had let his grandfather talk him into this mess. He said that he owed Ralph Maxwell some sort of favor and the man’s business was failing. His grandfather’s persistent heckling that Falon needed to remember what it was like to do something nice for another human being was the only true driving force behind his agreement to take on this job. That, and to get the man to stop looking so guilty. The past was the past. He had moved on and the old man needed to learn to do the same.
He was doing this job nearly pro bono at that! If that wasn’t nice, he didn’t know what was. And maybe he didn’t, but what did it matter? He hadn’t gotten where he was today by being nice to every person he ran into in the business of business. Most of the time, these people needed a firm hand. That was his specialty. One last look around the room gave him the sinking sense this was one of those cases.
“Good morning, everyone.” He smiled at their expectant faces. “I’m sure you’re all aware why I am here. It’s no secret that I am the best at what I do, and that’s taking companies on the downward spiral and turning them around to be profitable again. That’s just what I plan to do here. And if you will all bear with me over the next few weeks as I familiarize myself with the way things work here, and how I can best get Maxwell, Williams, and Blake back to the forefront of the talent industry, I promise to do everything in my power to make sure we’re a success.”
“And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?” He zeroed in on the little redhead who boldly held his gaze. His eyes narrowed. There was always one determined to rock the boat. “I’ve seen what you have done with other companies, Mr. Wolfe, are you planning on using the same tactics here?”
“I am willing to do anything to make this agency a success again.” He paused just long enough to make her uneasy. “Aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
He watched as a slow, mischievous smile raced across her lips and something tugged at his memory. He shook off the sensation when she began speaking again.
“I would give almost anything for this company to be what it once was, Mr. Wolfe. Almost anything. But I would say that I would draw the line with what you did with Browning, Inc., Faraway LTD, and a list of other companies that you pulled from the gutter.”
He was struck speechless, which was a wonder in and of itself, as she practically sneered the end of her little speech. Air quoting to add a bit of drama. He could only stare at the woman in utter amazement. Who did she think she was? Anger began to uncurl in his gut. They had called him in to save their asses and she was criticizing his business strategies?
“What did he do at those places?” the woman sitting next to the little imp asked. She answered her coworker without taking her eyes off him, and he couldn’t help noticing the fire burning in their tawny depths. If he didn’t know any better, he would say this was personal.
“He dismantled them completely. Restructured and rehired nearly every position with the exception of those in charge.” Her smile grew. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Wolfe?”
The room erupted. He was unaware five people could make so much noise. Letting them take a moment to work it out of their system, he glared at the little troublemaker. His eyes promised that if it came to it, she would be the first to go. He turned to Ralph Maxwell, who was staring at her in disbelief. Apparently this wasn’t normal behavior. Shaking it off, he decided that enough was enough.
“People. People, please.” He raised his voice only enough to gain their attention. “What your coworker here has so kindly pointed out is true. Ah, let me finish. It is true that after examining several companies and their business strategies I made the call to restructure. That isn’t to say that it will happen here. It isn’t a secret, I wasn’t hiding it, and your employer here is well aware of my track record. As I am sure most of you are. I am the best at what I do for a reason, and you’ll have to trust me to make the right calls for Maxwell, Williams, and Blake, or this will never work.”
He let his eyes fall on the little troublemaker again and felt an odd sense of disappointment mixed with the satisfaction that he had successfully cowed her. For some reason, a part of him was hoping she would have a little more fight in her. Looking down at her lowered head, he fought his instinct to reach out and tilt her head to meet his eyes. He wanted to know what was going on behind those amber orbs and that thought, more than anything, had him turning his attention back to the rest of the room. He wasn’t there to probe the depths of one mouthy redhead’s mind; he was there to get the agency back on track and get the hell out of dodge.
“All right, Mr. Maxwell here has been kind enough to lend me an office that is no longer in use. I will be setting up shop there until I have assured that this agency is stable again and headed in the right direction. I will be making rounds over the next few days to get to know what each of your jobs entails and developing a strategy from there of how we can be more efficient.”
He wasn’t sure, but intermixed with the sound of chair wheels on the carpet he thought he heard a snort coming from the direction of the red-haired minx. His lips twitched and he had to fight the unexpected grin that threatened to surface. Telling himself he was only mildly thrilled by the idea of the challenge of taming her, and not the way she looked in that tight pencil skirt.
“Thank you so much for doing this.” Ralph Maxwell’s voice drew his attention from watching her sway out of the room. “I know that you don’t normally work with companies such as mine and that you’re doing this as a favor for your grandfather, but I just want you to know how grateful we are.”
Looking down at the old man, Falon allowed himself to feel a margin of sympathy for him. Ralph Maxwell was a dinosaur in a world where you needed to remain cutting edge or risk losing it all. The man had to be in his mid-seventies and Falon couldn’t fathom why he was still in the business instead of selling out long ago. It was poor business sense and if there was one thing that broke through his icy resolve, it was poor business. Why hadn’t the man passed the company on to his children to run?
“There will be a lot of work that needs to be done to save the place, Mr. Maxwell. If I’m going to get your company back up to par, you are going to have to be willing to make the changes necessary.” He couldn’t give in to the questions circling in his mind. He learned early on to never get personally involved with a client. It only led to emotional entanglements that he could ill afford.
“Yes, of course.” The older man extended an arm for Falon to lead the way. “Let’s get you settled into your office and we’ll get things started.”
Waiting for Ralph to exit the conference room, Falon caught himself looking for signs of the imp from the meeting. Not that he was interested in what she was doing. No, he wanted to make sure that he steered clear of her. At least for the next ten minutes or so.
Shaking his head at the path his thoughts seemed to have wandered down, Falon walked beside Ralph in the direction of the various offices the building held. Looking through the glass walls that separated each room from the hall, he noticed that they all had a large window overlooking what must be the street and the park beyond that. Not bad digs for a company on the outs. Lucky for Ralph Maxwell, he purchased the building nearly fifty years ago and didn’t have loan payments to contend with. At least that was one point in his favor.
The idea of leasing the extra space while the agency found its footing flitted around his thoughts and he made a mental note to look into the profit margins of leasing office space. Keeping his eyes on the glass walls to his left, Falon nearly tripped over what he would later convince himself was a wrinkle in the rug. Surely the sight of a compact, lithe body topped with cascading red curls hadn’t been the reason his body refused to follow his brain’s instructions to keep moving.
Watching her march around the office gesturing wildly while the woman who was seated next to her earlier looked on in horrified amusement, he couldn’t help but think what a pity it was to have all of those lush curves and slender lines attached to such a mouth. Not that her mouth didn’t appear perfect when closed, he mused as she stopped her rant long enough for her friend to get a few words in. The problem was, it didn’t stay closed for long.
“I apologize for her behavior earlier,” Ralph said. The man had obviously doubled back for him when he realized Falon had been struck dumb by the strange combination of lust and morbid curiosity that was now pumping through his system. Not that the old man knew what he was struggling with. Well, he hoped not.
“I take it this isn’t normal behavior?” He pointed to the obviously outraged woman on the other side of the glass.
“Not at all, Sarah is usually the only level head in the place.” Ralph chuckled. “Most people drawn to this business are nearly as high-maintenance as the clients they represent.”
“And Sarah would be?”
“Accounts director, strictly behind the scenes.” He watched the old man watch Sarah through the glass with a familiar softness to his features that pricked his curiosity. “I will say that she was in rare form today.”
Rare form indeed. Falon watched as she threw her head back and laughed at whatever her friend was saying. That nagging pull on his memory returned with a vengeance stirring up thoughts of warm sheets and entwined limbs.
Whoa. Where had that come from? Clearing his throat and forcing his brain onto the task at hand, he figured he better get down to business before he embarrassed himself in front of a man who obviously had some connection to the firecracker.
“Right. So my office?” He needed to get himself behind a closed door and out of temptation’s way as soon as possible.
“Oh yes, right over here.”
Of all the offices, it would be the one right next door to the current object of his lustful imagination. Only a thin wall separated him from the woman that got his blood pumping in more ways than one. He could only hope the annoyance won out because he wasn’t sure how long he could last if he actually found her personality marginally appealing. Lord knows marginally appealing was what he traditionally aimed for. It was easier to leave them when he could barely stand them.
“Something wrong with the office?” Ralph asked looking around the bare space.
“No. Nothing wrong.”
He hadn’t realized he had been grimacing and schooled his features into his typical mask of bland indifference as he walked further into the room. No use letting the old man know he was hot for this accounts director. Ralph nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Stifling a groan, he slumped in the desk chair and threw an arm over his eyes. He could safely add yet another thing to the list of reasons he shouldn’t have taken this job.
