Page 1 of In Charge

Chapter 1

Maya

My time was the mostvaluable resource I had, and my new senior manager was currently wasting it. I checked the time again and my anger spiked. He’s twenty minutes late.

I didn’t ask for this kind of help, and I certainly didn’t need any. I handled my job just fine on my own. But Mr. Pennington insisted I take his son, of all people, under my wing and teach him the business so he could take over a vice-president role in the future. The boss’ son, working for me. Please. Mr. Pennington should train Robbie himself if it was so important to him.

For ten years, I busted my ass to get the corner office. When Mr. Pennington made me senior vice-president three years ago, with the insinuation of promoting me to CEO of PenTalent when he retired, I’d finally proven to him that a woman could do the job just as well as any man. I never thought I’d be the next in line to take over the business he started and be appointed the next CEO of a high-profile PR and talent management company, but I worked hard for it anyway. And I earned it.

At the turn of the year, he even hinted a possible retirement in December. In less than eight months, I could be CEO.

But being a bitch to Robbie would not be a good start.

I picked up the only picture I kept on my desk—a wedding picture of my mom and dad. Growing up, I watched my dad sacrifice time with his family for his job at the factory only to be forced out three years before his retirement. My mom’s teaching salary wasn’t enough to cover their debt. Ever since I landed this job, I’d been sending money home to help them out. My promotion to senior VP made it possible for me to live here comfortably and provide for them. Becoming CEO meant I could pay off their mortgage and then some.

I couldn’t afford for Robbie to waltz in here and screw up my opportunity to be CEO.

Pushing back from my desk, I stared out the vast windows of my office to calm my frustration. From this height, the city looked peaceful and quiet, but I knew that wasn’t the case. Every time I stepped out the lobby doors, my senses were overwhelmed by screeching tires, horns, construction, and the low rumble of voices. It had been almost fifteen years since I moved to the city and left my country life behind, but no matter how much I missed the rolling hills of southern Ohio, my job was more important. I needed it if I wanted to keep helping my parents. I may prefer the quiet, but no amount of Manhattan chaos would cause me to give this up.

I pulled my eyes away from the city skyline and adjusted in my seat behind my modern, sleek glass top desk. With several pieces of artwork on the walls and sculptures arranged around the room, my office had the airy feeling of a well-curated art gallery. It was larger than the average city apartment, and I could’ve easily added five more pieces of furniture and it still would have looked perfect. But I liked the openness and decided my desk, a couple chairs across from me, and a small seating area with a sofa and table for clients was more than enough. It took me years to get here and I was proud of the space I created.

I worked too hard to lose all this now.

Reading over his resume again, Robert (Robbie) James Pennington, III had very little work history. He graduated from Harvard five years ago and as far as I could tell he hadn’t worked a day since. At least he has a business degree. No MBA, though.

There was nothing else worth noting. He had no experience and she didn’t understand why Mr. Pennington was just now letting Robbie try his hand at the family business. He had to be in his late twenties based on when he graduated. He could’ve started working to learn the business years ago. As it was, he was grossly under qualified for an executive level position. Must be nice to be the son of a millionaire.

I checked the time again. Dammit, twenty-five minutes late. He was probably late on purpose just to prove to me it didn’t matter what time he showed up. He could do whatever he wanted, and I couldn’t fire him.

Mr. Pennington had been clear he didn’t expect me to go easy on his son. In fact, he’d said the exact opposite. Robbie needed to learn how hard it was to run a multi-million-dollar business, and that was exactly what I intended to teach him. With any luck, he’d quit before the summer’s end.

That was what bothered me. What if he didn’t quit? And if I was to be the next CEO, why was Mr. Pennington suddenly pushing his son to learn the business? I was the one busting my ass to keep this business growing, not Robbie. Everyone knew Mr. Pennington undervalued women and announcing that I would be taking over the helm had created quite the stir. Maybe he’d changed his mind about me.

Screw him. Might as well get back to work.I tossed Robbie’s resume aside and revived my laptop. I had three client meetings this afternoon and still needed to prepare for one of them. One of my elite clients was caught with his pants down—literally—and it was our job to make it go away. To make it worse, he was a senator and touted himself as a holier-than-thou Christian. When will these people learn?

Since my promotion to senior VP, I wasn’t supposed to handle public relations anymore. My focus was on client relations and new client growth. But when an elite client got himself into hot water, I always stepped in to handle it. I was the best at making this shit go away.

I had just gotten back into my work groove and started jotting down ideas for a series of press releases attempting to bury the senator’s indiscretion when a knock on my door interrupted my thoughts.

I didn’t bother looking up. “May I help you?”

“I’m sorry. I’m looking for Maya Stone. Are you her assistant?” A young man’s voice called from the door.

“I’m Maya Stone.” Is he kidding? Definitely not going to look. I had a mountain of work to get through and I was behind. If he wasn’t going to give me the respect I deserved by being on time, I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop working just because he decided to show up.

“You’re ... seriously?” He choked on his words and I could’ve sworn I heard him gasp. “Sorry, but I was expecting someone ... older.”

“Excuse me.” My eyes shot up at the bluntness of his admission. Dressed in a well-tailored suit three shades lighter than his sandy brown hair, he looked the part of an executive. But it was his nicely trimmed, short beard framing his hard jawline and his deep-set eyes that got my attention. Shit, he’s hot. I pinched my lips together, but it was too late. Before I caught myself, he saw my gaze rake over his body and chuckled. “And you are?”

“Sorry.” He marched up to my desk with his hand held out. “Robbie Pennington, at your service.”

Yeah, I don’t think so. I accepted his hand with a firm grip and thank you Jesus for making him squeeze tight, otherwise he might’ve felt my tremble. At this range, his deep brown eyes bore down on me with a fierceness that set my stomach aflutter. His smile was playful and softened the hardness his beard added to his sharp appearance. Unlike his father, he was tall—I guessed six feet—with broad shoulders. His suit jacket revealed every curve of his chiseled arms and with no tie, the top three buttons of his dress shirt were undone. It was just enough to tease the eye with a glimpse of his muscled chest.

This gorgeous specimen of a man couldn’t possibly be Mr. Pennington’s son. There was zero resemblance. Mr. Pennington was shorter than me and I was only 5’5 and his face was long with bug eyes.

“You’re late.” I pulled my hand back before he felt the shudder his touch sent through me. Get a hold of yourself, Maya. It’d been over a year since I broke it off with my last boyfriend, and the lack of sex combined with a stressful job took its toll. That was all this was.

“I got held up in HR.” Without being offered, Robbie sat in the chair opposite my desk. “That receptionist is a chatty girl.”

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