Normally, he would’ve been turned on by the sight of a sexy lady propped up on the edge of his desk, deliberately showing off her uncovered thighs. He’d never been attracted to Amy, though. She wasn’t his type, in the least. He liked a far less power hungry type of person in his bed.
“Why don’t you and the other’s go out to lunch? I have a lot to get done before we start bringing people in. Besides, I will be going over some records with Ms. Freeman in a while,” he told her.
Her eyes narrowed again at the mention of Jasmine, and cemented his decision of letting her go. He wasn’t going to tolerate a jealous woman in his offices, especially when she had nothing to be jealous about.
There was another knock on the door and then his two most trusted employees stepped in, looking a bit frazzled. They weren’t easily shaken, so he was concerned. “What is it?” he asked them.
“Ms. Freeman basically kicked us out of her office and we weren’t sure of what you wanted us to do so thought it smarter to talk to you than cause a scene,” Greg said.
“I see, well you did the right thing. Ms. Freeman and I will be talking but for now go have some lunch and we will get things worked out this afternoon,” Derek said. He needed a break. It was always difficult when you had to fire people, especially when the takeover was a complete surprise to all those involved. He never enjoyed this part of his job. This company was his exception though and the ones who got fired were having it done because they deserved it.
The two men left before he could change his mind. Amy lingered for a moment and then followed them out the door. He called his head office and spoke to personnel there. He had them arrange a severance package for Amy and would have her employment ended before the day was out. Once she got back from lunch he’d send her over there. He hated when things got messy. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to go quietly, which was too bad.
He ordered some food to be delivered and then walked over to Jasmine’s office. He stood at her door and watched her for a while. She was engrossed in what she was doing and didn’t notice him standing there for several minutes. When she finally looked up and their eyes collided it was like he was being punched in the gut again. He really hoped that went away soon.
“Have you gathered together the files?” he asked her, proud his voice carried the cold note to it that had made so many people tremble in their boots.
“Yes, everything is together but it would be easier to do it here. There’s a lot and it will take several trips to get it to your office,” she said.
“I prefer my office. We have a large table we can lay everything out on, plus that’s where we will be calling people in,” he said, expecting her to cave to his wishes. She blew her breath out in frustration before standing up.
“Fine, we can do it your way but I’m not breaking my back to lug all these boxes over there,” she told him and then walked out the door with the stature of a queen, expecting her servants to follow behind her.
Before Derek could stop himself, he felt a smile tug across his features. She was definitely hot when she was angry and she’d been angry since she had walked into his office. He was now looking forward to the incredibly drawn out afternoon.
Derek grabbed several of the security guards to transport the boxes to his office. By the time they got everything over, his lunch arrived. He ordered plenty of food and offered some to Jasmine, which she refused. He smiled at her stubbornness.
“Can we please get started, I can’t stay late tonight,” she said to him.
He was instantly irritated she was trying to assert her authority. He decided it was time to put her in her place. She was no longer the daughter of the boss. She needed to understand that quickly.
“You need to realize during a restructuring of a company this size there will be many nights of overtime. I expect you to put in the hours needed to make this place a success, if you expect to keep your job,” he told her, with no room for mercy.
Her shoulders slumped and he was surprised to not feel joy at her defeat. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He wanted to destroy her, so why was his little victory not pounding through his veins?
She pulled out the first file and they went through it. He had two different piles on the table. There was a stack with records of the employees he was letting go, with no chance at keeping their jobs. The other was a stack of files where the employees would at least get the chance to interview with him. If he liked what they had to say, they’d keep their positions. If the interview didn’t go well they’d be let go.
Amy and his men got back and he sent her to the main offices. She huffed as she went out the doors. He didn’t miss the look she shot at Jasmine. It just reinforced his decision to let her go.
He sent his men into the conference room next door, with a handful so they could start calling in employees to be let go. He could hear the yelling through his walls as some of those employees, very vocally, expressed their outrage.
It was six in the evening when Jasmine looked up wearily. “I really need to get home. I have something I have to do tonight,” she said to him. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he wondered what it was she had to get to. Was she late for a date? He knew it was none of his business but he’d decided he wanted her again and he didn’t want another man interfering.
“We can work on this more tomorrow. I can already see it will take us all week,” he said to her. He was going to find an excuse to go to her place within the next couple of days to find out why she was in such a hurry to leave the office.
“Thank you,” she muttered, like it was choking her to say the kind words. She quickly left, needing to get far away as quickly as possible. Derek was exhausted himself and decided to call it a night.
He walked out of the building, which was pretty much empty, except for the security staff. He drove home, wanting the night to get over with so he could be with her again. He tried to convince himself it was for his revenge but the more time he spent with her the more the line faded.
Chapter Four
Jasmine rushed in the door of the school gym. She hadn’t even had time to run home and change. Her son was in the fourth grade and very proud to be on the wrestling team. He had a match that started twenty minutes ago and she was praying she hadn’t missed it. She hated missing any events in his life.
She ran through the doors and found where the kids were sitting. She walked over to him and wanted to give him a kiss but knew that would embarrass him in front of all his friends.
“I didn’t miss you wresting, did I?” she asked with concern.
“No Mom, I’m up next,” he said with a shrug. He was trying to act like it didn’t matter but she could see the relief in his eyes she was there.
“Good. I’m sorry I got here so late but there was some extra work to be done at the office,” she explained.
“It’s okay, Mom,” he told her in his far too understanding voice. He was such a good boy. She couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. She walked over to the bleachers and sat down. When it was her son’s turn to wrestle, she cheered him on and clapped the loudest in the crowd when he won.
He ran up to her and gave her a rare public hug afterwards, forgetting for a minute he was too old to give his mother public affection.
“I’m so proud of you,” she exclaimed to her son.
“Thanks Mom, I have to go back over with the team now,” he said, as he practically danced back over towards his teammates. She’d love to go back to being a kid, carefree and excited so easily. Her stomach clenched as she thought about the excitement that rushed through her body when Derek had stood so close to her.
She pushed those thoughts out of her head. She was with her son now and wouldn’t think of Derek. She had to put up with him in the office but he wasn’t allowed to invade her private time. She sighed, as she realized how hard it was going to be to keep the man out of her thoughts when she had to work with him all day.
Age had been far too good to the man. His boyish muscles had matured and when he'd taken off his suit jacket, exposing his wide shoulders and large biceps, she had to fight drooling. She'd once known his body as intimately as she knew her own and she missed the feel of his hands on her. She hadn’t had any man’s hands on her in far too long.
Maybe it was time to start dating again. She’d been asked out by Jacob’s wrestling coach and put him off. Maybe she should just accept the invitation. She’d think about it and not do something rash because her hormones were in an uproar.
The match ended shortly and she and Jacob headed to the car. “How would you like to go to dinner tonight?” she asked him.
“Yes! Can we have pizza?” he pleaded with her. The kid could eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner if she let him.
“That sounds perfect,” she replied and headed to the local parlor. She gave him a bunch of quarters for video games and then sat watching him from the table. They soon ate and then headed home. Both were exhausted from their busy day and quickly went to bed.
The next morning, Jasmine rode the elevator up to her floor, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She was hoping Derek would have other things to do that day and not want to spend the entire time with her in the office again. She didn’t know how many days in a row she could stand being with him all day long, before she exploded.
The man smelled far too good for a stuffy executive and when she was with him, she couldn’t get the images of herself wrapped in his arms, out of her head. She had to remind herself not only had he walked away from her, after stealing her innocence but then he had come back to take over her father’s company as well. He was heartless and she’d be much better off remembering that.
She could in no way allow him to know about her son. He cared only for himself and anything he deemed his, he’d take mercilessly.
She sat down at her desk and no more than five minutes later, her buzzer was ringing. She picked up, already knowing who was on the other line. “When did you get in, I have been trying to get ahold of you for an hour,” Derek’s voice snapped over the line.
“I got here a few minutes ago and I’m twenty minutes early, as it is,” she said with frustration.
“Get over here, we need to go through the rest of the files,” he commanded and then hung up.
She wearily got to her feet and walked to his office. The secretary wasn’t even there and she had passed many empty offices along the way. He really was changing everything about the building. All those familiar faces were going to be gone. She didn’t particularly like any of the people who were getting fired but it was still nice to have familiar faces around her. There was some comfort in it.
Jasmine walked in the door and Derek had to make sure his features remained void. She was stunning in her green skirt suit. It matched her eyes to perfection. She once again had her hair up in the unflattering bun, which he wanted to yank out, but her face was stunning. She wore hardly any make-up, being she was one of the few women who simply didn’t need it.
She sat down at the table and he sat next to her. Her light scent drifted over to him and he could feel his pulse start to race and his pants start to get far too tight. He’d have to take her far sooner than he planned just to get her out of his system. Then he could get his libido back to normal.