Page 30 of Tempt the Boss

CHAPTER 11

CHRIS

Getting that text from Ali two weeks ago was enough for me. It confirmed what Jenny thought: Ali wasn’t being totally truthful when she left me that day. Because my editor was adamant that the girl loved me, and merely tongue-tied and tangled every which way. Okay fine. I’ll take it for what it’s worth. It still doesn’t change the fact that I declared my love, only to be trampled on.

But I haven’t given up because maybe Ali’s just confused. She’s young, after all, and doesn’t realize that what we have is precious. So it’s my job to make her see it, and I’ve been working like a fiend as a result. Jenny and I spent the last two weeks preparing materials to bring to the board to convince them that this fucking dating rule is ridiculous. Obviously not in those words, but I think we’ve prepared well for this. We have a real chance of convincing the board to change the guidelines.

And today, the board’s gathered in our conference room of Carmichael Publishing. Who knows what they’re discussing while we wait, but I really don’t care. Only Ali concerns me now.

Jenny meets me in my office ten minutes before our appointed time. “You ready for this, Chris?”

I pick up my stack of papers, which includes the best chapter of my girl’s novel, as well as statistics about dating in the workplace. “I’m ready. Do you think it’ll work?”

“I hope so. I don’t want to lose this book.”

At this point, the book is nothing to me frankly. I just don’t want to lose her.

We walk to the other side of the office floor and knock on the conference room door. Steven, the chairman, lets us in.

“Right on time,” he says, gesturing for the table. Jenny and I take the only two empty seats in the room. The board is made up of four women and three men. They make business related-decisions and stop me from doing anything stupid. Like sleep with one of our authors.

Steven returns to the head of the table and sits down. “Next up on the agenda, Ali Hartman.”

A murmur travels through the group, but Steven silences them with a harsh look. “We’re here to decide if Ali Hartman’s novel should be published by this company. Ali and our CEO have had a sexual relationship, which makes her a liability to us.”

“The relationship has ended,” I say calmly. “And the sexual relationship had nothing to do with her contract. The contract was our standard one, and duly executed by the author.”

“I don’t know, Chris. She could use this to hurt us,” Monica says. A forty year-old mother of three, Monica is practical and realistic. Her grey-flecked chestnut hair is piled on top of her head in a tasteful bun. “It might not be the best idea to keep her book in the catalogue given liability issues.”

Liability, schmiability. I stand with my stack of papers and hand the sample chapter out to the group. “This is the novel you’re considering turning away over my indiscretion.”

A couple board members roll their eyes.

“Chris, we don’t need to read the project. We’re here for business. We don’t do editing. That’s your job.”

But I’m insistent.

“This is our business. Books. You need to read it to understand why it’s important we publish this manuscript. Take your time. I’ll wait.”

It takes the group all too long to read the chapter. Jenny and I went through the entire book to pick the one that would evoke the most emotion without any context. Luckily, Ali sent her final revisions over last week and the chapter we have on hand is perfect. The main character, Sarah, just discovered that her father is a serial killer and offed her entire family. All of the board members have tears in their eyes when they finish reading.

“I get it now,” Monica says quietly. She discreetly wipes her eyes while the rest of the board murmurs in agreement.

But Steven’s a fucking hardass.

“This is a huge risk,” he says. His voice is hoarse. “But if we don’t publish this, someone else will pick it up and it’s going to be a giant hit.” He turns to me. “Is she worth the risk, Chris?”

“Yes,” Jenny and I say at the same time. Some of the board members laugh.

“All those in favor of publishing Ali Hartman’s book, say ‘Aye.’”

All the voting members of the board chorus “aye.” I can’t believe it. Ali’s in! My heart races because I can’t wait to tell her that everything’s okay and that her book is going to be published by Carmichael Publishing. But there’s something else we have to deal with.

“If that’s everything on the agenda, I hereby call this meeting of the board ….” But before Steven can adjourn the meeting, I interrupt him.

“There’s something else I’d like to propose,” I say, standing up. I hand out the packet I’ve prepared with statistics on why dating in the workplace isn’t harmful and a proposed new rule to add to the handbook. “I think the workplace intraoffice dating guideline needs to be overturned.”

“Chris,” Steven starts.

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