CHAPTER9
It’s after twelve. My head is a little woozy and stuffy as it’s ridiculously hot in the office now, stiflingly so, and it’s making me feel nauseous. I’ve called maintenance twice to find out why they still haven’t fixed the AC; it’s blowing out tropical heat rather than cold air and it’s baking us all. My face is flaming and my pulse is beating so fast and hard like I’ve been sprinting. My clothes are clinging to me with dampness, and I’m irritated because of the inability to breathe or find relief. It’s oppressive.
Margo has left for lunch and I’m to follow on her return. She was wavering in the heat as much as I was, but I told her I was okay to stay, wanting to prove my abilities.
Ever the hero, Emma! Good move.
This is a huge sign of trust and I think she’s testing my capabilities, leaving me to man the fort and cope alone during a very busy schedule. It’s been three days since Jake returned and I feel like Margo is relying on me a little more, that I’m living up to her expectations and taking it all in my stride.
I can’t stand this heat on my cheeks and my blouse is clinging in places it never has before, sticking like a second skin. I’m obsessively clock-watching for her to return to relieve me for an hour from this damned, infernal sauna before I pass out. My switchboard lights up and my insides tighten as Mr. Carrero’s voice comes across the buzzer.
“Emma, can you come in here please?” he says, deep, low, and sexy. At the sound of his voice, I get the now familiar tingle in my stomach which I still have no control over.
I falter but reply, “Yes, Mr. Carrero.” This is not what I need when I’m melting into a puddle in my chair and already out of sorts.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
I’m on my feet trying to peel my blouse from between my shoulder blades and smooth it down without success. I pick up my notebook and pen and glide past Margo’s open office door and into his, pushing open the heavy dark wood and sliding in. I want this over quickly.
“Yes, Mr. Carrero?”
He looks casually seductive today sitting behind his desk amid an open laptop and piles of folders. His pale blue shirt has its top two buttons undone at the neck, his dark hair ruffled out of its normally spiked style as though he’s been running his hands through it, and his sleeves rolled up revealing one of the tattoos on his inner left arm, a reminder of his rebel teen years. I know from images I’ve seen online that he has a few across his body, all black tribal tattoos and symbols. The effect is devastating, even on me, and I try not to react, annoyed that he still does this to me.
“Are maintenance any further forward with fixing the AC? It’s way too hot up here!” He leans back, putting his hands behind his head in a very ‘guy’ manner. He stretches out and showcases that beautiful physique, his biceps increasing in size while straining at the fabric of his shirt. It is hard not to get a little quickening of the pulse rate.
Eyes down!
“I’ve called down twice, sir. They’re apparently on it.” I keep my eyes averted, my tone level and sounding as normal as possible.
“Emma, you look like you’re about to pass out; I think you need to head to another floor and cool down.” His eyes run over me; I’m already conscious that I must look disheveled. I feel it. But passing out would have more to do with the way he’s sitting now and my body being overly aware of how much sexier he is in just a shirt. It removes the formality somehow.
Really, Emma? He’s your boss!
“I can’t leave until Margo … Mrs. Drake … returns, sir.” I blink at him and resist the urge to let my eyes wander over his figure.
“When is she due back?” He frowns at me, oblivious to the riot of hormones raging through my body. Or just unbothered by them.
“Soon, maybe fifteen minutes or so. She’s on her lunch early, and I’ll go on her return.” I sound polite and factual, trying not to squirm in my damp shoes and hoping I do not look as awful as I feel.
“Soon as she’s back, I want you to go cool down; it feels like it’s melting up here. In the meantime, I need to dictate a letter. Maybe you’ll feel cooler in here as I have the air vents open.” He gestures at the wall of windows, and I note the blinds moving a little as the small amount of air gets in. He’s right; it is cooler in here … marginally. Well, it would be if he wasn’t sitting looking like that.
Emma, again? Really?
“Ready when you are,” I say, holding up my notebook to move things forward and kill my train of thought. He turns his chair so he’s facing the couch to the left of me and gazes at it, deep in thought.
“It’s for the CEO of Bridgestone … a man called Eric Compton. You’ll find his details on the system.” He is in business mode, tone serious and face focused already.
“Yes, sir.” I scribble it down in shorthand.
“Emma?” His questioning tone clicks my attention back to him.
“Yes?” I look up at the tone of his voice, sure I’ve done something he doesn’t like, momentarily phased.
“You can sit down, you know?” He’s smiling at me, amused, and nods at the chair beside his desk, pretty much in his line of vision. It was why he’d turned his chair. I blush and abruptly come around to sit in front of him. I hate that since coming to work for him my inability to control my blushing has returned, but he has a knack for making me feel childish.
“I don’t bite … much!” He smiles with his I-know-I’m-irresistible look. My eyes snap to his, alarmed, and I see the thinly veiled humor. I give a short, embarrassed smile to cover my reaction, my heart moving up a gear, and I inwardly chastise my stupidity.”
My wife and i ended up being thrilled that Albert could round up his studies via the ideas he grabbed using your web page. It’s not at all simplistic to just happen to be offering methods which most people could have been making money from. So we already know we’ve got the website owner to appreciate because of that. All of the explanations you’ve made, the straightforward web site navigation, the friendships you make it possible to engender – it’s got many overwhelming, and it is letting our son in addition to our family do think this idea is pleasurable, and that is quite essential. Thanks for everything!
What Is Aizen Power? Aizen Power is presented as a distinctive dietary supplement with a singular focus on addressing the root cause of smaller phalluses
I conceive you have noted some very interesting points, thankyou for the post.
I like this website very much so much excellent info .
I was curious if you ever considered changing the structure of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Hello this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something informative to read?
I am always browsing online for posts that can aid me. Thx!
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
Usually I do not read post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very pressured me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, very great article.
Hi, Neat post. There is a problem with your website in internet explorer, would check this… IE still is the market leader and a good portion of people will miss your magnificent writing because of this problem.
I have not checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess I will add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
Thanks for sharing excellent informations. Your web-site is so cool. I’m impressed by the details that you’ve on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched everywhere and just couldn’t come across. What an ideal web-site.
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again
Good write-up, I?¦m regular visitor of one?¦s blog, maintain up the nice operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
Sumatra Slim Belly Tonic primarily focuses on burning and eliminating belly fat.
DentiCore is a dental and gum health formula, made with premium natural ingredients.
Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
Renew is not just another sleep aid; it’s a comprehensive nutritional formula
This design is spectacular! You definitely know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Great job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Good write-up, I am regular visitor of one’s blog, maintain up the excellent operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
obviously like your website however you have to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to inform the truth nevertheless I¦ll certainly come again again.
It?¦s actually a great and useful piece of information. I?¦m glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.