Page 6 of Playboy Boss

“Let me see if he’s available.” Scottie pushed down hard on the hold button. Calm down. Just calm down. She could do this. She could figure out a telephone for God’s sake. Taking in a breath, she scanned the other buttons, some labeled, some not, and set her flickering gaze on a button with Konrad’s name printed on it. Relief came when she managed to call him on a second line without hanging up the first.

“What is it?” His clipped tone annoyed her. Had he no appreciation for screening angry women for him?

“Tamsin is on line one. Can I transfer her to you?” Shit. Scottie would have to figure out how to do that too.

He sighed heavily. “Ah, fuck.”

His swear startled Scottie.

Konrad’s inappropriateness continued, but his swear was exasperated. Dread laced his voice. Scottie turned to face him through the glass wall, watching him rake his free hand through his dark golden hair. She felt sorry for him in a way, though he didn’t deserve it. Tamsin, if she was indeed the same Tamsin White, had every right to call, ready to rip him a new one.

Finally, he said, “Tell her I’m on a call, and I’ll get back to her when I can.”

“She seems really upset…” Now Scottie felt sorry for Tamsin and actually wanted someone to rip Konrad a new one. He needed to be brought down a peg, of that Scottie was most certain.

“That’s not my concern,” he barked, meeting her gaze from across the aisle. “Do as I said, and tell her I’m on a call. Understand?”

Scottie looked back at the phone. She didn’t want her face to betray her. Not on day one. She was suddenly hot in her black pants and long-sleeved, button-up shirt. What a complete ass. As far as Scottie was concerned, Tamsin losing out to Antonia was the best thing that could’ve happened to her. In an even tone, she said, “I understand.”

“Fantastic, Scottie.” The dial tone charged through the line with his dismissal.

Cursing under her breath, Scottie pushed on line one, bracing herself for another round of verbal melee. “I’m sorry. Mr. Korr is on a call at the moment. May I take a message and call-back number?”

“But of course he is.” She grunted, drawing in a noisy sigh that hurt Scottie’s ears. “You tell that tosser I’ve made a reservation for dinner at L’Atelier tonight at eight. He’d better be there.”

Good luck with that.

Scottie wanted to tell her the truth. It pained her that she couldn’t. “I will relay the message.”

I’m a bad person.

Tamsin hung up with a swear and not a goodbye. Again, left with the dial tone raging in her ear, Scottie sighed, placing the receiver in the cradle. God, it was going to be a long day.

****

Almost five. Scottie counted down with her computer clock, relief coming every second. When five came, she finally relaxed. Every muscle in her body loosened. Working sucked. This was not what she expected. It had been almost four months since she’d graduated, and she expected to be in a real career, not desperate for a temp job because she’d run out of the money her grandmother had given her for college. Scottie kicked herself for not getting an internship in the spring as many of her fellow BBA classmates did. Scottie should not have dragged her feet to find a real job. Totally her own fault. She probably deserved a jerk boss for not getting her shit together sooner. Still, that seemed too cruel, considering how much of a jerk her boss had proven himself to be.

Scottie filled in her A-Plus Temporaries timesheet, writing in six hours of work. Six hours was better than no hours. The pay was decent, but she knew this would be temporary for sure. She’d need a permanent job. A career. She needed to take control of her adult life, now that her finances were her own problem and her struggling single mom wouldn’t be able to offer any support. Scottie didn’t want her to. Her mother had sacrificed enough for Scottie, her only child.

Scottie’s gaze fell over Konrad Korr’s name printed at the top of the timesheet. His signature authorized her paycheck. She’d have to remember that when he was being an ass and she wanted to tell him where to get off. But for some reason, she smiled when she thought about him, her body thrumming with light sensations. Her muscles tensed again with the realization of how much she was still curious about him despite his rollercoaster moods. No, you can’t think of him like that. He was a womanizer and an arrogant ass. She should know better.

Standing from her desk, she pep-talked herself. Tomorrow would be better. She knew what to expect. She knew how to appease Konrad. Satisfied with the acceptance of her predicament, she stepped out of her cubicle. Konrad, moving around the corner, slammed into her at near full speed. She yelped, his large hands going for her, grabbing her under the armpits.

“Verdammt!” he said, his gaze wide. Never mind the awkward way he held her. “Are you all right? Did I knock the wind out of you?”

Scottie couldn’t find a word. Language left her completely. Only the hot hands under her armpits, fingers too close to her nipples, had her full attention. To her dismay, waves of heat ran straight down where they shouldn’t have been. She was turned on. No denying this blatant fact. Oh God.

Hot and humiliated, she wiggled free from him. “I’m fine. Did you have to come around that corner so fast?”

“You’re right. I apologize for almost knocking you over.” He stepped back, and stupidly she wanted his hands on her again.

Stop it.

The curve of his lips caught her attention. “I … uhh…” She stumbled over her words, still grappling with the way her body responded to him. Meeting his eyes again, she knew he’d caught her staring at his mouth. Shit. What am I doing?Taking her attention from him, she bent over to pick up her purse, which had fallen to the floor. “It’s fine. No worries.”

“Well, have a good night then. Sorry again.”

“Thanks. You too.” She slipped from under his magnetism and dashed out of the office. For the first time, she’d felt his male power. His sexual power. The power that made women gravitate to him. Despite how much she fought it, Scottie could understand it. She could totally understand why Tamsin was so pissed. If Scottie had met Konrad out in a bar, she might fall under his spell too.

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