Spanking Sydney (2 page)

“Now that you’re back, I need you to do a few things for me,” he said. “I want you to set up a staff meeting for ten tomorrow morning. I’m also going to need you to pull the personnel files and evaluations for everyone in the department, as well as the minutes from the past half a dozen staff meetings. I don’t have time to go through all of them, so could you do it and extract out everything that’s important and put it in report for me.”

“Of course.”

She waited to see if he had anything else to add, but he’d already turned his attention back to the files on the desk. Taking that to mean he’d dismissed her, she started for the door.

“Oh, and Ms. Davis?”

She turned.

“I’ll need all of that before you leave tonight.”

Setting up the staff meeting took more time than Sydney had expected since everything was still crazy from that morning’s pink-slip parade, so she didn’t get down to Human Resources until after three. It took her an hour and a half to pull all the files Max Daniels had requested. Even then, she wasn’t sure she’d gotten them all. Realizing she still had to pull the minutes from the previous staff meetings and type up the report her new boss wanted, Sydney grabbed very thing and hurried back upstairs.

Thinking Max might want the personnel records and employee evaluations right away, she went directly into his office to deliver them. He was on the phone when she walked in. Not wanting to interrupt, she set the files on his desk and turned to leave, but he motioned her to stay.

Sydney did as he asked, using the time to study her new boss. As she watched him take notes on the pad in front of him, she couldn’t help but notice he had extremely nice hands. Like the rest of him, they looked strong. As her gaze settled on his long, tapered fingers, she abruptly found herself wondering what it would be like to feel those hands on her skin.

What the heck was she thinking? Max Daniels was her boss, for heaven’s sake. Definitely not appropriate for the workplace. She blushed and quickly looked away.

On the other side of the desk, Max hung up the phone. He picked up a stack of papers and held them out to her.

“Here’s the agenda for the staff meeting. I’ll need you to type it up and make copies for me before you leave. There’re also some slides I want you to put together in a PowerPoint presentation. I sketched them out for you, but if you have any questions, ask.”

Sydney’s eyes widened. There had to be at least ten pages, front and back, of handwritten notes. The agenda would be quick, but putting the slides together would take forever. And she had to make copies, too. Plus, she still had to go through the minutes. She’d never worked late the whole time she’d been at the software company, but tonight, she’d be lucky to get out of there by eight.

She was just opening her word-processing program when Erika walked in.

“Hey.” Her friend smiled. “You ready to go?”

Sydney made a face. “I wish. I have a ton of work to do.”

Erika gave her an understanding look. “Anything I can help…”

Her voice trailed off as Max came out of his office, her eyes widening at the sight of the handsome new VP. Sydney almost smiled at the look on her friend’s face. Just because Erika was madly in love with her boyfriend didn’t mean she couldn’t still drool over a gorgeous guy.

“Excuse me.” He glanced at Erika before turning his attention to Sydney. “I’m going to need this typed up, too.”

Handing Sydney the paper, he gave Erika a nod, then disappeared into his office without another word. Ericka watched him go, her mouth hanging open.

“That’s your new boss?” she asked incredulously. “Damn, he’s hot.”

Sydney glanced warningly at his office. “Shhh!”

Erika grinned. “Hey, I’m only saying what you’ve probably been thinking.” Her gaze settled on the stack of paperwork on the desk. “I’ll let you get back to work. It is actually work that’s keeping you here late, right?”

“Very funny,” Sydney muttered.

Her friend laughed. “See you tomorrow.”

Sydney gave her a half-hearted wave as she went back to her computer. Though she tried to concentrate on what she was doing, her gaze kept straying to the door between her office and Max’s. Erika’s words echoed in her mind.
Hot
was definitely the word to describe the new VP. While she was still sorry to see Ted go, she had to admit her new boss wasn’t too bad—if you didn’t count all the work.

By the time she finished up the report and the slides, it was almost seven-thirty. She did a spell-check, then skimmed the document for any grammatical errors the word processing program sometimes didn’t pick up before printing it out.

Taking everything to the copy room, Sydney ran the agenda and the handouts through the machine, glad it collated and stapled for her. Hoping her new boss didn’t have anything else for her to do that night, she brought everything into Max, including a print-out of the slides. She sighed with relief when he said she could go home, hurrying out of the office before he could change his mind.

*              *              *

Sydney debated long and hard whether to hit the snooze button the next morning. The only thing that swayed her was knowing she’d be late if she did, and she’d already made a crappy enough impression on her new boss. With a groan, she shut off the alarm and forced herself to get out of bed.

After a shower and a quick bowl of cereal, she put on her make-up and got dressed in record time. She even surprised herself by getting to work earlier than she’d ever done before. She still wasn’t on time, though, something Max noticed. The moment she walked in, he scowled at her.

“You’re late.”

Sydney flushed. “I…”

He didn’t let her finish. “I read over the agenda after you left and found a ton of mistakes.”

He tossed the stack of collated and stapled documents on her desk. She frowned when she saw the amount of corrections he’d made. And with a red pen, no less. She cringed. Maybe she should have proofread them more closely.

“I’m sorry.”

He slanted her a hard look. “Just get it fixed before the staff meeting.”

Sydney sighed as he disappeared into his office and closed the door. “Good morning to you, too.”

She hurriedly made the corrections, then ran off the copies. As it was, she barely got them to the conference room in time. Max was deep in conversation with another executive when she walked in, so she set them on the table, then went to get herself a desperately needed cup of coffee.

To her surprise, the staff meeting took up the whole morning. When Ted had held them, they usually hadn’t lasted more than a half hour. By the time Max returned, it was almost noon. She looked up, startled as he stormed into the office.

“When I asked you to get me the personnel files for everyone in the department, I meant
everyone
,” he growled.

Sydney groaned inwardly. She’d been afraid she hadn’t pulled all the files. “I thought that was everyone.”

His brows drew together. “Well, it wasn’t, and I ended up looking like a complete idiot in there. You’re supposed to be an executive assistant, dammit. Start acting like one.”

Sydney’s face burned with embarrassment, but before she could say anything, her boss turned on his heel and strode into his office. She’d only been working for Max Daniels since yesterday and already she’d made two huge mistakes, not to mention a whole handful of smaller ones. He probably thought she was totally incompetent.

“I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t fire me before the week is over,” she told Erika at lunch.

“He isn’t going to fire you,” her friend assured her.

Sydney wasn’t so sure. Which was why she made every effort to make sure she was back on time. Good thing since Max made a point of looking at his watch when she walked in. She glanced at her own watch. She was a few minutes late. Damn. She braced herself for another lecture, but though her boss frowned, he made no comment.

“I want a report detailing the status of the government contract we’re working on, he said as she tossed her purse in the drawer.

“Okay.” She pulled out her chair. “What kind of things do you want included in it?”

“Everything. Department responsibilities. Budget and expenditures. Subcontractor listings. Work completion schedules.”

He wasn’t kidding when he said everything. “I assume you want it by close of business?”

He did.

Another late night. Great.

Sydney had graduated from college with degrees in both business and accounting, so she knew what a report like the one her boss wanted should look like. She’d also worked at the software firm long enough to be familiar with each department, as well as the subcontractors. It was just that she’d never been asked to do a report like this before, and with calls to make and telephones to answer in between, it took her the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening to get it finished.

While it was hard work, she was kind of proud of the job she’d done. It’d been years since she’d used her college education, and it was nice to know it was still there. She’d almost forgotten how much she enjoyed crunching numbers. Pushing back her chair, she went into Max’s office.

“If there’s nothing else you need, I thought I’d to go ahead and leave,” she said as she handed it to him.

He glanced at the cover sheet, then up at her. “Actually, I’d like you to wait while I look this over.”

Sydney stifled a groan. It was already after eight. Besides the apple she’d brought with her to snack on, she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. She was starving. Not to mention exhausted.

When Max frowned halfway through the report, she hoped it was because of the data and not her work. When that frown shifted to her, she knew better. Dammit. What had she done now?

“Would you please close the door?” he asked.

At that time of night, no one was in the building except the cleaning crew. Come to think of it, she was pretty sure they’d probably already left, too. She supposed he didn’t want to take a chance that anyone would hear the lecture he was almost certainly going to give her. Walking over to the door, she pushed it closed, then came back to stand before his desk.

“How long have you been an executive assistant, Ms. Davis?” Max asked.

She shifted nervously. Standing in front of his desk made her feel like she was in the principal’s office. “Eight years.”

He lifted a brow. “Really? Well, I’m surprised to hear that, because your work is shoddy at best.”

Her face colored. “I-I must have been in a hurry, I guess. My work is usually exemplary.”

“You’d never know it. This report is terrible.” He tossed it down on the desk, his jaw tight. “Between your sloppy work and showing up late, I should fire you. The only reason I won’t is because HR says you have an outstanding personnel file.”

Sydney stared at him. He’d been going to fire her? She knew she’d pissed him off, but she hadn’t even considered he might let her go. She owed whoever it was in Human Resources that had talked him out of it.

“But while you might be staying on with the company, it won’t be as my assistant,” he continued. “I’ve asked HR to transfer you to one of the other departments. It probably won’t be an executive position, but at least you’ll still have a job. When you come in tomorrow, go see Patti and she’ll place you.”

Max went back to reading the report, effectively dismissing her. Sydney stared at him, her stomach in a knot and her eyes burning with unshed tears. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She was the executive assistant to the vice president of the company. Any other job would not only mean less money, but less prestige, too. She couldn’t let him demote her.

She swallowed hard. “Mr. Daniels, please.”

He looked up at her, his dark eyes cool. “I’ve already made my decision, Ms. Davis.”

She took a step closer to the desk. “Couldn’t you just put a letter of reprimand in my file instead?”

He was silent as he considered her words, but then shook his head. “A letter of reprimand won’t deal with the primary issue here, and that’s your work performance. Punishing you is only half of it. Besides, a letter of reprimand would go on your permanent record, and that would hurt your chances of getting promoted in the future. I think a transfer to a less demanding job would be best for everyone concerned.”

Best for everyone concerned? How could getting transferred to a lower paying job be best for her? He might as well just go ahead and fire her right now.

She took another step closer to the desk, pleading at him with her eyes. “Mr. Daniels, please. I really love this job and I don’t want to work in another department.  I have the skills to do what you need. They’re just rusty because Mr. Willis didn’t require as much from me.” Hell, he hadn’t asked he to do more than get him coffee. “If I promise to work harder and do a better job, couldn’t you come up with some other form of punishment?”

Max sat back and regarded her in silence. That thing she’d said about feeling as if she was standing in front of the principal’s desk? This was way worse.

He admitted he’d read her personnel file, so he knew she had the skills necessary to do the work. He just had to give her another chance. She’d pick up his dry cleaning every day for a month as punishment if she had to.

“There is something” he finally said. “Human Resources wouldn’t consider it an approval discipline, though.”

Relief coursed through her, and she nodded. “Then it will just stay between us.”

Whatever it was she knew she would agree to it.  She loved her job that much.

He studied her for another long moment. The knot in Sydney’s stomach tightened. Please don’t let him change his mind.

“Rather than have you transferred to another department, I could give you a spanking instead,” he said softly.

Sydney blinked. She couldn’t have heard him right. “A sp-spanking?”

Was he serious?

He nodded. “In my experience, a spanking can be an excellent method for adjusting a poor attitude. But I’d only do it if you agreed to it, of course.”

Sydney chewed on her lower lip. She’d gotten spanked a few times by an old boyfriend, but it had been during sex, so it had been fun. She didn’t think a spanking administered by her boss as a form of punishment would be very much fun at all. In fact, it would probably hurt like hell. Still, getting spanked would be better than getting demoted. It would also probably be a lot better than getting yelled at again, too. She cringed inwardly as she remembered how Max had shouted at her when he’d come back from the staff meeting that first morning. She really hated getting yelled at.