Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Raina squared her shoulders, and that stubborn set to her jaw intensified. “I expected that too. But I can’t control other people’s response times.” She held my gaze without flinching. “This is my job, Mr. Powers. You’re going to have to give me a chance to actually do it.”
“Haven’t I given you a chance? I assigned this task hours ago.”
Part of me knew I was being unreasonable. The rest of me was too focused on maintaining control, on ensuring everything was done correctly and not letting anything slip through the cracks.
“You’ve given me a task,” Raina said, her voice firm. Still no anger, just quiet resolve. “Now you need to give me time to complete it in a reasonable amount of time.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but the truth of her words landed before I could speak. She was right. I was being unreasonable.
She must have seen the shift in my expression, because her posture softened slightly. A small smile curved her soft, kissable lips.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” she said. “I’ll get the meeting scheduled. You leave it to me.”
I couldn’t entirely silence the voice insisting I should handle it, but I reminded myself this wasn’t urgent. I needed to meet with the CFO soon, but soon didn’t mean today. I could give Raina a day or two to make it happen. If she didn’t, I’d step in.
“Fine,” I said.
She was already settling back into her chair, her attention returning to her computer screen as if the confrontation hadn’t happened. As if standing up to her brand-new boss on her first day was nothing remarkable.
Kurt was right. She was tough.
I retreated to my office and closed the door behind me, letting out a slow breath. I removed my jacket and dropped into my chair, ready to review the profit-and-loss analysis for our first portfolio company.
But my gaze caught on the plastic container still sitting on the corner of my desk.
I thought about Raina’s nervous chatter this morning. The way she’d rambled about her experience, about us being a great team, about her allegedly amazing cookies. She’d been trying so hard to make a good impression, and I’d given her nothing but a cold reception.
A small smile tugged at my mouth—unfamiliar, almost startling me.
I reached out and opened the container. The smell of chocolate hit me immediately, rich and sweet. I grabbed a cookie and took a bite, leaning back in my chair.
A low groan escaped me before I could stop it. Damn.
She wasn’t lying. The cookies were incredible.
CHAPTER SIX
Raina
My first day was going well, if I didn’t count the less than warm greeting I’d received from Simon this morning. I was starting to think he was just one of those men who naturally had rough edges. I could handle that. Who knew? Maybe he’d soften over time.
Although, honestly, I had a hard time imagining it.
But it didn’t matter. He was my boss, not my friend. He didn’t need to be warm and cuddly. I just needed someone who would pay me fairly and wouldn’t try to force me to compromise my ethics like my last employer had.
I had plenty on my to-do list, and I’d only left my desk twice, both times to use the fancy espresso machine in the break room because I needed the extra caffeine. Now, I finally had a moment to circle back to the task that had been nagging at me all day: reaching the man Simon wanted to meet with.
Harry Frazier was the CFO of a cybersecurity company that Simon and Liam had invested in over a year ago. My earlier message had gone ignored, so this time I placed a direct call, pulling Mr. Frazier’s office number from his digitized file.
“Thank you for calling Mr. Harry Frazier’s office,” a woman answered. “This is Ellen speaking. How may I help you?”
I smiled because I wanted her to hear it in my voice. I’d learned long ago that warmth could open doors that formality couldn’t.
“Hello, Ellen. This is Raina Seager from Mr. Powers’ office. I’m calling to see if Mr. Frazier has availability for a meeting, preferably in the next week?”
Speaking to his assistant seemed like the logical approach. Scheduling appointments was part of my job; surely it was part of hers too.
A brief pause. When Ellen spoke again, her voice had cooled several degrees. “Mr. Frazier is out of the office and isn’t available at the moment, so we can’t get anything on the schedule. Perhaps you could try again another day.”
My smile faded. “Are you saying you can’t schedule a meeting on his behalf?”
“Mr. Frazier is very hands-on. He prefers to handle these things himself.”
That didn’t ring true, but I wasn’t going to argue about how her office operated. “Is there another way I can reach him? Mr. Powers would like to get this scheduled as soon as possible.”