Page 2 of In Charge

Yeah, I bet she was. I suspected girls swooned over him everywhere he went. By the end of the week, every woman in this office would probably be throwing themselves at him—married or not. “You could’ve called.”

“I apologize. I don’t have your number.” His smile grew and the sunlight beaming through the window behind me reflected off his white teeth. “I hope you won’t hold it against me.”

“Mr. Pennington, I—”

“Call me Robbie.” He grimaced. “Mr. Pennington is my father.”

“You don’t look like your father.” Why did I just say that? He didn’t need to know I noticed what he looked like.

I’d painted an image of an ugly little weasel in my brain so that it would make it easier for me to hate him. How was I supposed to hate someone who looked this damn good?

“Thank God for that.” He laughed. “I take after my mother’s family.”

“Mr. Pennington, my time is extremely valuable.” I had to change the subject away from his looks before he discovered all the dirty things running through my mind. “I expect you to be on time for every meeting. From what I can gather, you have no on the job experience. It’s going to take months to teach you what you need to know to effectively contribute to this business.”

“I’m a fast learner.” He leaned forward with his hands clasped together. He dropped his smile, but a fire sparked in his eyes, adding flecks of orange to the deep brown abyss of his stare. “And I’m capable of a lot more than what’s on my resume.” He nodded toward the papers on my desk and his eyes kept going. He scanned over my body through the glass top of my desk before he jerked his head to the side and glanced around my office. “Give me a chance, and I promise I won’t disappoint you.”

“Maybe tomorrow. If you’re on time.” I shut down my laptop and collected the client files I had to get through within the next forty minutes. It would take most of that time just to get across town in time for a meeting. I’d been working a new client market and I couldn’t afford to be late. Closing this deal could be all I needed to guarantee me the CEO position.

And it was past time for me to get as far away from him as I could. Looks like I’m working in the car.

“I’m going to be out all afternoon. I assume you can get one of the assistants around here to show you to your office. And I expect to see you in the office by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. We have a lot of ground to cover. Good day, Mr. Pennington.”

With my briefcase in hand, I left without another glance at Robbie Pennington. He may be handsome beyond words, but I’d dealt with plenty of men just like him throughout my career, and they were all the same—Daddy’s money, more than their fair share of good looks, and a smile that made any woman weak in the knees. I had Robbie’s number, and he’d have to do a lot more than smile and bat his pretty brown eyes at me to get me to drop my guard. While he was busy flirting, I’d run circles around him in business.

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