Too Close to Touch (3 page)

“Hey, I told you I had things to do.” She watched the stylish brunette out of the corner of her eye, enjoying the sight of her bending toward the mirror to touch up her mascara. Kylie’s eyes drifted down over the curve of hips and nicely shaped behind. “Preparations to make.”

“For new boss day.”

“Exactly.” A toilet ß ushed and an older woman with gray hair and a friendly smile joined the brunette at the sink, blocking Kylie’s view.

“You sound nervous,” Mick commented.

“I
am
nervous. I have to learn a whole new person starting today.”

“You’ll be great. As soon as he sees how terriÞ c you are at your job, he’ll be thanking his lucky stars. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll go to the mall and buy you some tighter clothes.”

“It’s a she.”

The older woman dried her hands and left. The brunette was now applying lipstick. She blotted her lips together and ran a precise Þ ngertip over each corner, tidying. Kylie swallowed.

“What’s a she?” Mick asked.

“My new boss. It’s a she, not a he.”

“Even better.”

“Funny. What if she doesn’t like me?”

“She will.”

“Oh, God. What if I don’t like her?”

“Would you stop with the panicking already? It’s all good.

Everything will be Þ ne. Just relax and do your job. She’s going to love you.”

Kylie sighed. “Okay, okay. You’re right. Listen, I’ve got to go. I need some strong black coffee to calm my nerves.”

“Your logic is bizarre, Ky.”

• 21 •

GEORGIA BEERS

“It’s one of the many reasons you love me. Hey, wait. Who was the date Saturday night? UPS Girl?”

“Nope. Post OfÞ ce Chick.”

“You’re a dog.”

“I wasn’t the one doing the howling, babe.”

Kylie couldn’t help but laugh. “Ugh. You disgust me. Do you know that?”

“It’s one of the many reasons you love me.”

Kylie snapped her phone shut, still grinning, and turned toward the mirror. She tucked her dark blond hair behind her ears and neatened her eyeliner with her Þ nger. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping to relax at least a little. Then she smoothed her hands over her hips, willing away the wrinkles in her navy blue skirt.

Next to her, the brunette snapped her purse shut. As she passed Kylie, she smiled, her dark eyes sparkling. “Have a great day,” she said in a voice that was so deep and husky, it made Kylie raise her eyebrows in surprise.

“Thanks. You, too.” As the door shut, she muttered to herself,

“Wow. That was fun to look at.”

She spent another ten minutes in the bathroom emptying her nervous bladder, Þ xing, reapplying, and adjusting her make-up, and fussing with her hair. The level of her anxiety was disconcerting and she had to give herself a little pep talk before taking a Þ nal, cleansing breath and heading back to her cubicle.

She stopped dead in her tracks and stared when she saw the steaming cup of black coffee perched on her desk. Turning slowly, she looked toward the ofÞ ce opposite her area and saw the brunette from the ladies’ room unpacking her briefcase behind the large mahogany desk Kylie herself had dusted earlier that morning.

Crap.
Picking up the coffee cup, she took a too-large sip, hoping to bolster her nerves, but only succeeding in burning the roof of her mouth.
Time to face the music, O’Brien.

She crossed the hall and rapped her knuckles lightly on the door frame. “Morning,” she said.

The brunette looked up and smiled. “Hi there.” Her eyes pointed at the cup. “Strong enough for you?”

Kylie felt a blush rise in her cheeks as the sensual timbre of the woman’s voice hit her low in her belly. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

• 22 •

TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

The brunette held out her hand over the enormous desk. “Gretchen Kaiser.”

Kylie stepped toward her and placed her hand Þ rmly in that of her new boss. “Kylie O’Brien.” Despite her smaller hand, Gretchen’s grip was a combination of softness and power. Kylie hoped hers gave the same impression.

“Not Irish at all, are you, Kylie O’Brien?”

“Maybe just a touch.” Kylie smiled, still too unsure to be charmed by the easy banter and still tingling from the zap of embarrassment knowing Gretchen had heard her voice all her fears and worries in the bathroom.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same here.”

“They tell me you’re my right hand, that I can rely on you to keep this department running smoothly.”

“I’ve been here a long time. I know this company very well.”

“Good. Being the new kid on the block, I’m going to count on you for your expertise. You okay with that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Excellent. The Þ rst thing we need to do is to set up a meeting of all my sales reps.”

“All of them or just the ones here in Rochester?”

“Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany, and anywhere in between.

I want them to see my face so they can picture who’s screaming at them through the phone when their numbers are down.”

Kylie winced inwardly at the thought of the reps being yelled at.

Jim had been a gentle manager, and verbally berating his people would never have crossed his mind.

Gretchen interrupted her thought process. “Make it a mandatory meeting. Next Wednesday. If anybody can’t make it, I want them to talk to me directly about it.”

“Okay. I’ll get on it today.”

“Can you contact the shipping department as well and Þ nd out if my boxes have arrived? I had some things sent from my old apartment, but I don’t see them here.”

“Got it.”

Gretchen stopped unpacking and blinked at her. “Do you need to get a pad or something to write on?”

• 23 •

GEORGIA BEERS

“No.” Kylie held her gaze. After a couple of seconds, she tapped her temple with a Þ ngertip. “I’ve got it.”

Gretchen looked skeptical, but nodded and continued with her task. “Okay.”

v

The morning passed so quickly for Gretchen that she began to wonder if maybe she’d fallen through a hole in the space-time continuum and lost several hours. Her ofÞ ce was looking livable and she could Þ nd almost everything she’d unpacked. Still awaiting her boxes from Poughkeepsie, she’d headed off to a meeting with J. Edward Emerson himself, along with several of the VPs and three other regional sales managers who’d ß own in to welcome her aboard.

She was sure she’d shaken the hands of at least a dozen new people since she’d arrived that morning, and she hoped against hope that she could actually remember their names…not that it mattered.

She would probably only see them once a year or so at the company stockholders’ meeting. These meet-and-greet type things were a nice gesture, but she was more annoyed than anything else. There was a ton of work to be done and she felt like she was wasting time shaking hands with everybody and their brother.

Deciding to stop by her ofÞ ce before she met her immediate superior for lunch, she heard Kylie answering the phone and was impressed with the professionalism in her voice.

“Gretchen Kaiser’s ofÞ ce, this is Kylie. May I help you?”

Though it was ridiculous to pass judgment after only a few hours, she had a good feeling about the competency of her EAA.
And I have
my own personal eye candy
, she thought with a devilish grin.

Kylie was quite a trafÞ c stopper with her all-American good looks.

Her dark blond hair was cut simply, just skimming her shoulders, and her build was most deÞ nitely feminine, but held a hint of athleticism.

Gretchen wondered absently if she played any sports, remembering the creamy expanse of muscled calf that peeked out from under the conservative skirt.
Treadmill
, she thought.
I’ll bet she’s on the treadmill
every day
. Sighing, she made a mental note to stop by the gym she’d noticed near her apartment before the week was out.

She waved at Kylie and entered her ofÞ ce to grab her purse, noting with disappointment that her boxes from downstate had yet to arrive.

• 24 •

TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

“Kylie, were you able to get ahold of shipping?” she tossed over her shoulder as she bent to open her bottom drawer. When she stood back up, Kylie was standing in front of her desk not two feet away.

“I’ve got a call in. They haven’t seen them yet.”

“Jesus.” Gretchen pressed a hand to her chest, trying to recover from Kylie’s silent appearance. “You scared me.”

Kylie smiled. “Sorry. Jim always said I moved like a cat. Would you rather I stomp in?”

“It might save me a heart attack or two.”

“Do you have your paperwork from when you shipped the stuff? I can trace it and Þ nd out where it is.”

“Good idea.” Gretchen pulled the papers from her bag, handing them to Kylie as she headed for the door. “Thanks.”

“Lunch with Margo Wheeler now?”

“Yeah.” Gretchen lowered her voice and asked, “Do they really call her Hell on Wheeler around here?”

Kylie laughed outright, surprised that Gretchen had heard the nickname already. “I’m afraid so.”

“For good reason?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Gretchen nodded. “You know, I am hoping to be able to actually
sit
at my desk before this week is over. Really. I swear.”

“Such is the life of a big corporate executive. Do what you’ve got to do. I’ve got everything under control here.”

Gretchen stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Kylie.

She was surprised that she hadn’t noticed how blue Kylie’s eyes were.

The thought that she and Kylie were both the same height as long as Gretchen had heels on zipped through her brain for no reason at all.

Note to self: always wear the heels
.

Aloud, she said, “That’s good to know. You’ve got my cell number, right?”

“Got it. Enjoy lunch.”

“I’ll try.”

v

Okay, these people need to leave me the hell alone. Anytime soon
would be good
. Gretchen’s head was so full, she was surprised it hadn’t just exploded by now, leaving her brains in colorful splashes all over

• 25 •

GEORGIA BEERS

the walls of one of the posh conference rooms of Emerson, Inc. She considered herself a rock, able to withstand enormous amounts of pressure without cracking—she certainly hadn’t got where she was by being a shrinking violet. But the stress and anxiety of the job change, the move, the new city, the new coworkers, and the seven hundred meetings she’d taken part in were conspiring to turn her into a raving lunatic.

A very large part of her wanted to shriek at all of upper management to get the hell out of her face so she could do her damn job already. She knew she needed to have time to sit at her desk and go over the Þ les of her sales reps or she’d be woefully unprepared for her Þ rst meeting with her new subordinates. That was not the way to instill conÞ dence and respect. Despite the fact that it was only Monday, she already knew a weekend of working from home was in her very near future. Not that that was anything new to her.

She was relieved to note that she’d just completed the last of her meet-and-greets of the day. “Thank God,” she muttered.

It was after four, but she was now free to take a deep breath and sit at her desk for a while…hopefully undisturbed. There was so much to do. She touched Kylie on the shoulder as she passed; the EAA was on the phone and looked up at Gretchen with a smile and a small wave.

She found herself feeling a twinge of jealousy that her assistant seemed fresh, energetic, and unfazed by the day.

With a heavy sigh, she dropped into her leather chair but resisted the urge to slide down into a comfortable slump. It was still business hours, her ofÞ ce had windows, and the last thing she wanted was for anybody in the company to think the hectic schedule had gotten to her on her Þ rst day. A quick glance around the room told her that her boxes still had not arrived. She growled under her breath. Having some of her personal ofÞ ce items would go a long way in helping her to settle in.

“Kylie?” she called. “Any news on my stuff?”

After a brief silence, the phone on her desk beeped. “You know,”

her EAA’s voice dulcetly conÞ ded, “this thing on your desk is called a phone and it actually has an intercom that you can use to call me.”

Gretchen laughed before she could catch herself. “Are you saying you don’t like me hollering to you from in here?”

“I’m not saying that at all.” The playful grin was apparent in Kylie’s voice. “I’m just sharing information.”

• 26 •

TOO CLOSE TO TOUCH

“I appreciate that. Any information to share on my boxes?”

“According to UPS, three boxes were delivered here on Thursday.”

“Thursday? Then where the hell are they?”

“That’s the big question. I’ve got a call in to the shipping department right now. They’re looking.”

“God damn it.”

Gretchen rang off the intercom and riß ed through her drawers until she came up with the Emerson Company Directory. She had experience dealing with more than one shipping department in more than one corporation and was inclined to believe that more often than not, they were staffed by idiots. She ß ipped through the directory until she found what she was looking for.
Shipping Manager: Michelle Ramsey
.

“Okay, Ms. Ramsey,” she muttered as she dialed. “Where the hell is my shit?”

The phone was picked up after the second ring. “Shipping.”

“Michelle Ramsey, please.”

“Hang on. I’ll see if she’s still here.” The phone was mufß ed and Gretchen could hear muted voices. Then it was picked up again.

“Ramsey.” The woman’s voice was strong, conÞ dent.

“Ms. Ramsey, this is Gretchen Kaiser up on the fourth ß oor.”

Gretchen kept her voice stern, making it very apparent who the boss in this conversation was. “I had some boxes shipped here from downstate and UPS says they were delivered on Thursday. It’s Monday and I have yet to see them. Can you help me with that?”