Mastered by the CEO(7)
Fuck, why had he ever let her get away.
* * *
In the morning, Rachel woke up in King’s strong arms, her head resting against his solid chest. After their shower last night, he’d sat her down on the chair and stripped away the sheets, remaking the bed with spare sheets kept in the large bedroom closet. Then he’d ushered her back to bed and into his embrace.
He’d woken her up two more times during the night and asked her questions, ensuring she was cognizant.
She felt so cared for. She smiled and pressed her lips to his chest, kissing his satin flesh, stretched taut over the muscles beneath.
“Morning,” he said groggily.
“You must be tired. Having to wake me every few hours didn’t really allow you a good night’s sleep.”
He smiled warmly. “I’m fine.” He kissed the crown of her head, gave her a light squeeze, then rolled away. “I have pushed the timing, though. I’ll have to get a move on.”
She sat up and started to follow him, but he stared her down. “No. You stay there. I have to work today, but you don’t.”
Her heart stopped. “Is that because you’re giving me the day off? Or because I’m fired?”
His lips pulled tight and he returned to the bed and sat on the side. He stroked her hair.
“Sweetheart, you’ve been in a car accident. I just don’t want you worrying about anything right now. Just stay here and get better.”
But when he stood up and walked across the room, she wrapped the sheet around herself and got out of bed, too. He might be happy to walk around naked—and she appreciated the view of his sexy, tautly muscled body—but she needed the small barrier the cloth afforded her.
He headed into the bathroom and she pulled on her clothes. Then she went into the dining room and ordered breakfast. A few minutes later, he stepped out of the bedroom, freshly shaven and looking devastatingly handsome in a crisp, new suit.
“I told you to stay in bed.”
“I ordered breakfast,” she said, ignoring his frown at her defiance.
He glanced at his watch. “I doubt I’ll have time. Room service will take too long.”
A knock sounded at the door and she hurried to answer it. King raised an eyebrow as the waiter set the plates and coffee on the table.
“I asked them to put a rush on it,” she said.
He signed the check and the waiter left.
She lifted the cover off the plates and poured the coffee. “I ordered western omelets. You used to like those.”
“That’s perfect. Thank you.” He joined her at the table, sitting at the end just like last night.
They ate in silence. She wasn’t really sure what to say, but hoped that he would finally tell her whatever he had intended to say when he’d met with her yesterday. Finally, she couldn’t take it any longer.
“You have to talk to me sometime.”
He sipped his coffee, then glanced at her.
* * *
King’s chest compressed. He really didn’t want to have this conversation with her. It was going to be difficult, to say the least.
When he’d seen her name on the list of executives of his newest acquisition, he’d known he’d have a hard decision.
She was right. She had been difficult to work with. She’d so often second guessed his decisions, pushing him to reconsider. She always had a reason… based on streamlining a process, making a better work environment for the employees… always somehow improving things. He respected that.
What he didn’t like was that she didn’t trust his judgment. That she’d never seemed to realize that sometimes she just didn’t understand the big picture as well as he did.
At the same time, she’d been a delightful workplace affair.
Fuck, after last night, he knew she’d always been more than that to him. That’s why he’d tried to get her back on contract, and found she no longer worked for the company she’d moved to. He knew back then he should never have let her go.
But he couldn’t keep her on as an employee because he liked to have sex with her.
And he couldn’t have someone who worked for him who wouldn’t do exactly as he said, when he said it.
“We do need to talk.” Maybe he could figure something out. He didn’t know what, but—
His cell phone vibrated. He tugged it from his pocket and glanced at the text.
It was from Candace Danner, the one he’d charged with handling the details of the merger. He’d texted her yesterday, telling her he’d be unavailable until ten this morning, so he knew it had to be important for her to contact him sooner.
“Damn, I have to take this.” He dialed her number. “What is it?” he said when she answered.
“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Taylor, but the way Mr. Baird handled the layoffs yesterday was a total disaster. I’ve sent you an email detailing what went on. Some of the other executives of Brenier are screaming about it, blaming us…well, me. Demanding I be fired. I will, of course, tender my resignation if you feel I haven’t handled things appropriately, but right now all hell’s breaking loose and… It would help if you were here.”
“I’ll be right over. And Candace, don’t worry about this. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Thank you, sir.”
After he hung up, he opened his email and found the message from Candace. Fuck, Baird was an asshole. He remembered overhearing Rachel’s words yesterday when she was talking to Baird.
You don’t know what it was like there for the staff.
His answer was, I don’t give a shit about the staff.
That was certainly clear from this email. At the time, King had been focused on the fact Rachel was being her usual difficult self, but now he realized she was doing what any good executive would have done. She was standing with her staff in the trenches.
“Rachel, yesterday… the layoffs. How bad was it?”
Her eyes widened. Then her lips compressed. “It was awful. The way it was handled was just…” She shook her head. “The staff were all so frightened for their jobs.”
He noticed the sheen in her eyes.
“The phones kept ringing,” she continued. “Finally, they all huddled in the meeting room, waiting to see who would be next.”
“Fuck!” He jerked to his feet. “I have to go.”
“But wait. We were going to talk.”
He sucked in a deep breath, and released it. “I know. I’m really sorry.”
“But can’t you just tell me—”
“No, I can’t, Rachel, but we will have this discussion. I promise. I just have to deal with this first.”
Damn, was he being just as inconsiderate as Baird had been?
But it wasn’t simple. He needed more than a minute or two to talk to her. Anything less wouldn’t be fair to her. Even if he had to keep her on tenterhooks until then.
He grabbed his briefcase and strode toward the door.
“Just stay here and we’ll talk when I get back.”
* * *
Rachel stared at the door King had exited. She couldn’t believe he’d leave her hanging like this. He wanted her to just sit here and wait?
But it’s not like she didn’t understand. If he was going to fire her, at least he seemed to want to do it in person.
She finished her breakfast and sat back, then sipped her coffee. Well, she was not just going to sit here like an invalid waiting for him. Until she was actually fired, she still had a job to do.
She set down her cup and walked to the buffet, where King had moved her briefcase. She picked it up and headed out the door.
Twenty minutes later, she got off the bus and walked into the lobby of her office building, then stepped onto the elevator. It was eerily quiet when she got off at her floor, walking past empty cubicles to go to her office. The staff that were left worked quietly at their desks. No chatting or socializing in the coffee room. Everyone was hard at work.
Shell shocked.
Jay noticed her walk down the aisle and stood up, then followed her into her office.
“Good morning,” he said. “Any news from your meeting yesterday? Is the worst over?”
“I don’t know. I met the new owner, but when he found out about my car accident, he insisted I go to the hospital. He refused to talk business with me.”
“Well, that’s… nice.”
“It was great he was concerned, but it means I still know nothing about what’s happening. Even this morning…” Oops. She hadn’t meant to let that slip. Damn her less than functional brain.
“This morning? You met with him again or you spent the night with him?”
She and Jay had known each other long enough that he didn’t pull punches.
She sighed. “I know him. King Taylor. I used to work with him. He went to the hospital with me and when he found out I have a minor concussion—”
“A concussion? You should be at home.”
“A minor concussion. Anyway, the doctor wanted someone to keep an eye on me.”
“And so he stayed the night with you?” Jay grinned. “Well, it seems you’ll be fine.”
She wanted to curtail his knowing look with a protest, telling him there was nothing between her and King. But she wasn’t that good an actress.
“I wish you were right, but when he wouldn’t even ease my anxiety over breakfast by telling me I still have a job…” She shrugged. “I have a really bad feeling.”