He threw back his head and laughed, and her eyes widened in surprise. She looked . . . shocked. He sobered and glanced curiously at her. “What was that look for?”
She immediately dropped her gaze and remained silent.
“Kylie?” he prompted.
She sighed and then lifted her head, her stare rebellious, her chin thrust upward.
“It’s just that I’ve never seen you laugh. Or smile, really. In my office earlier was the first time I’ve seen you look anything but mildly interested. You don’t show your emotions much. No one can ever tell what you’re thinking.”
His eyebrow quirked upward. So she had been studying him. She knew enough about him for him to realize she’d spent a lot of time observing him and his reactions.
His features relaxed into a smile, as he noted again her surprise.
“I’ve been accused of being an emotionless, uptight bastard by more than one person,” he said in amusement. “Perhaps you draw out another side to me that no one else sees.”
She looked disgruntled by that suggestion.
“You wanted something?” she prompted, obviously anxious for the meeting to be over.
He had no such plans for her to scurry back to the safety of her office where she shut the rest of the world out. He knew she went straight home every day. Didn’t have a social life unless you counted her lunches with Chessy and Joss, her two best friends. In fact, their circle of friends were the only people Kylie had any sort of a connection to.
It had to be a lonely life and he hated that for her. Hated that her past had shaped her future—was still shaping her future—and that she didn’t seem to be able to shake off the bonds of her childhood.
He shuffled the stack of papers in front of him.
“I want you to study up on these profiles. As I said in your office, S&G Oil is downsizing one of their refineries. They need to cut one hundred million in expenses so they’re looking for ways to combine jobs. They want to eliminate at least thirty positions and cut nonessential expenses, and they want us to find those for them.”
She was clearly flabbergasted by his request.
“But Jensen, I know nothing about this sort of thing. I’m an administrative assistant.”
He smiled again, watching her reaction to his expression. She wasn’t indifferent to him and that likely pissed her off all the more.
“I want you to learn,” he said gently. “When Carson was alive, he and Dash were looking to take on a third partner. They certainly had the business. After Carson died it was too much for Dash to handle, and he had to work his ass off to keep the business solvent until he brought me in. There is still a need for a third partner and you have the credentials. All you lack is experience.”
Her mouth dropped open and she was speechless. He felt smug over causing that anomaly. The woman was never short on retorts.
“You want me to be a partner?” she squeaked.
“I can’t promise that,” he said smoothly. “Consider this your trial by fire. It won’t happen today or tomorrow or even over the next few months, but there’s no reason to seek out another partner when we have a perfectly capable person working with us already. You know everything that goes on in this office, Kylie. Every single piece of information is passed through you. You know all our clients. You schedule our meetings. You absolutely know the ins and outs of this business. There is no reason you shouldn’t have the opportunity to be promoted.”
She glanced down at the papers he’d shoved across his desk to her. The information she’d collected and organized for him and Dash. She was certainly acquainted with the process.
He could swear excitement flared in her eyes, but it was gone almost before it fully registered.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked huskily.
“We have a meeting with the CFO of S&G in three days’ time. I want you to accompany me. You have three days to familiarize yourself with their business. The positions, salaries and duties of each employee listed. Their overhead and every single penny they have in expenses. I want you to draw up your own plan and present it to me in two days. I want your ideas and then we’ll discuss before you and I meet with the CFO.”
She gaped incredulously at him. “You’d trust this big of a contract with me?”
“I didn’t say that I’d agree with your ideas,” he said mildly. “Merely that I want to see them. We’ll put our heads together and see what we agree—and disagree—on, and then we’ll put together a plan that incorporates both our ideas before we attend that meeting.”
“I didn’t expect this,” she murmured.