Page 19 of Heart of Stone

“Please, call me Laura. Just one moment please.” She walked back behind her desk and pressed a button on the desktop phone. “Excuse me, sir. Miss Cole has arrived for her interview. Shall I bring her to your office? Or would you prefer the conference room?”

“Come to the conference room, Laura. I’m just finishing up with something,” said a male voice from the speaker.

Laura turned back to me, “If you follow me this way, I’ll bring you to Mr. Stone now.”

Mr. Stone?

My eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the name.

No way. It can’t be the same guy. Mr. Blue Eyes. Mr. Keep-me-up-all-night-dreaming-of-sapphire. Impossible.

Then the light bulb went on, a blinding glare that almost knocked me flat on my ass, as I remembered all of the things that I knew about Alexander Stone.

Stone Enterprise. Stoneworks Foundation.

My stomach dropped as panic began to set in. The building that I stood in was called Cornerstone Tower. And I was about to interview for a position at Turning Stone Advertising.

It has to be the same Mr. Stone.How can I be so ridiculously obtuse?

I cursed quietly under my breath, knowing that the smart thing to do would be to leave immediately.

If I can’t figure out what one plus one is, I’m obviously unfit for the job.

“Forgive me, Ms. Kaufman, but I assumed that I would be interviewing with you,” I said with a wobbly smile, scrambling to think of a way out of the situation.

“I’m sorry?” She looked confused by my statement.

“I, um…” I stuttered as I tried to think of something –anythingthat might prevent me from coming face to face with Alexander Stone again. “I didn’t realize that I’d be interviewing with Mr. Stone. I assumed that since you were a large company, you would have an HR department handle your hiring,” I explained, not able to come up with anything better. I could only hope that this actuallywasa large company.

Realization dawned on Laura’s face.

“Mr. Stone must be considering you for an important position, or else that would normally be the case. Our human resources department usually handles the initial applicant screening. However, Mr. Stone personally conducts all of the interviews for high potential candidates,” she clarified with a smile.

High potential?

My palms began to sweat as I silently followed the strawberry blond Laura to the conference room. Her subtle red hair was a reminder of all the articles that I had read online about Alexander Stone’s preference for redheads.

But surely that can’t be a prerequisite for working for him? Or can it?

My stomach constricted into a nervous knot. Everything about the situation was terribly wrong. Not only was I a fool for not connecting the dots, but I also had the wrong hair color for the job.

Someone like Alexander Stone would want to hire someone smart and witty – not someone who’s tongue got stuck to the roof of her mouth every time he was near. This was a disaster in the making. He was toodistracting, nothing but sex and sin and every girls spiciest fantasy. I couldn’t imagine the thought of going through an entire job interview with him.

I felt like I was walking through a tunnel, my nerves gradually taking over every rational part of me. Apprehension caused my steps to lag slowly behind Laura as she made towards the door at the end of the corridor.

I toyed with the idea of bolting right then and there, but my window of time for a quick exit had ended. We had reached the conference room. I took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to still my fidgeting hands.

Keep it together – it’s a job interview. I’m overreacting.

Feeling only slightly more composed, I stepped through the door that Laura held open for me.

Maybe it’s not even the same Mr. Stone.

But it was.

CHAPTER 6

Alexander Stone stood facing away from me at the far end of the room. Even though I couldn’t see his face, there was no mistaking his powerfully built physique. He was on the phone, with one hand in his pocket, looking out through floor to ceiling windows at the Manhattan Skyline.

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