Page 2 of Midnight & Magic
“You can wait over there; someone will come to get you when they are ready for you.” The woman pointed to a bunch of sparsely placed couches next to the elevators.
“Thank you,” Cassidy said with a half-smile. She knew she’d be wicked early but still found it hard to judge the NY transit. There was zero chance she’d risk being late and losing the interview spot to the only interview she’d locked in before the holidays. Not when she needed to heat her apartment.
Cassidy always prided herself on never being late—not even for a party. She would instead be waiting on someone than the other way around. It’s what Alec taught her, and she took that to heart after Auntie Lil likened lateness to selfishness. Being late means taking up someone else’s time, and time is more precious than anything else in the world. To waste it by making someone wait is simply selfish. Not that vampires cared much about time. Hell—they had an eternity of it. But none of them wanted to be stood up.
She sat down on the dark couch that was just as stiff as its presence in the waiting area. Clearly, these leather sofas were meant more for show than sitting down. Cassidy took out her cell phone and pulled up her resume. She was glad to have those few quick minutes to go over the key points she wanted to express to Camden Connell before he would bombard her with questions he’d indeed have on his own for her.
Within a few minutes, it was Cheryl that actually came down to greet her and send her up to Camden’s office. Cassidy had never met the man in person before. Still, she knew he was easy on the eyes from the papers and publicity he’s received over the years. That was the main reason the media was always taking his picture. The problem was, these paps always pictured him with some random girl—a twig of a thing that didn’t look like they were any older than the first time Cassidy had come out of college. Every. Stinking. Time.
Ah yes! To be 20-something and still believe that you can change the world! Those were good times!
The fact of the matter was, she would probably still maintain the same notion if she wasn’t a divorcee. According to the 20-somethings and even her general practitioner doctor friend, Cassidy appeared she was “getting up in age.” Of course, she wasn’t since a vampire never ages. But? She was turned later in life. Her GP friend even once told her that everything goes downhill once you reach the age of 35, and with how her ass was dragging this morning, she suspected the jerk might be right.
Cassidy slid into the buttery leather seat Cheryl directed her to. She tried to cross her legs but found that her butt kept sliding, so she opted to just sit as straight as possible so she looked like she belonged there.
Suddenly the door flung open, and Camden strolled through the threshold carrying a stack of papers. His stride was determined, and his legs and chest muscles seemed to bulge through his tailored pinstripe gray suit and button-down white shirt. He got to the desk before he spoke.
“You come highly recommended by Cheryl. She’s been a great asset to my company, so I hope you can fill her shoes.” He said to her without lifting an eye off of the papers he had in his hands walking in. “You’ll be training underneath her for the next two weeks. You will work weekends, which include Sundays. And that’s if I need you. Your first day off will be Thanksgiving.” He said after finally looking up from his paperwork. “I’ll have Cheryl draw up all the paperwork for your salary contract.”
“Oh?” She sucked in a breath as he was talking. Her eyes darted between what little she saw of his chestnut eyes and mouth.
That mouth! God, it’s luscious enough to savor. Just one taste! That’s all I want!
Nothing he said—or dare she say? Mentally saying was making sense to her, probably because the sex was dripping off him. She found it hard to take her eyes off his gloriously god-like body and a thousand-watt smile. And then… Wait? Did she just land the job?
God! Did I just think about wanting to sleep with her? I’m a boss she’s known for less than five minutes! No! Down boy! Down! You can’t shag the new PA! Not when you’ve sworn off women! Especially a bad boy like yourself!
His eyebrows narrowed as she heard his thoughts.
“What else did you expect? I’m a busy and successful man. I’m certainly not going to waste my time interviewing people. Especially PA people. They don’t understand my… quirks. And from what Cheryl told me, you’d understand that since we are both at least vampires. I’m willing to give you a shot because of Cheryl, so be grateful and take this opportunity.”
“Right. You are correct.” She paused for a minute before continuing. “So I have the job?” She was now staring at him blankly, entirely off guard by what he was saying.
He shook his head up and down after letting out a sigh.
“Yes, you have the job. It’s not every day that I get a recommendation. What did you think would happen?”
“I guess I thought you’d grill me.”
His eyes met her wide gaze for the first time.
“That’ll be after I train you. After Thanksgiving, I expect you to be the sole go-to gal for planning our Christmas Eve Gala Event. It’s the biggest event all year for this company. We raised close to six million dollars last year for cancer research. Cheryl told me you were great at stuff like that.”
“Oh? I see.” Cassidy said as she shifted in her seat, hoping to disguise her nervousness.
“Well, you’ve done interior design, so planning something like this should be right up your alley. Fru-fru is your thing—isn’t it? Plus? We’ve already booked the venue, so you just need to do that frilly tchotchke stuff you girls are so good at.” He said while fanning the air between them with one of his hands in a dismissive tone. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got proposals to look at. Go see Cheryl in the next room.”
Her mouth opened. She wanted to speak. Tried to tell Camden he was wrong about her talents. She was great at interior design, sure. But that was a far cry from planning a party event. She didn’t have the first clue how to invite the heavy hitters—let alone beg them for money. She felt the sweat pooling between her cleavage that she thanked the gods was covered with her cami. She hoped the rest of her body didn’t give away the evidence on the unforgiving leather chair seeming to emit more and more heat as she sat there in her heated perimenopausal state. Hot flashes suck--just saying.
“Right! Okay. You can count on me, sir.”
He peered up from the paperwork sprawled on his desk to look at her for only the second time.
“Call me Camden, please.” His face softened, and his lips curled into a half-smile—something she never thought she’d see given his clearly psychic outburst she’d heard only moments ago. “I don’t like any of my employees calling me sir. Especially my secretary, because without you I’d be lost. Your job is critical to my success.” His smile was now full-on, something that Cassidy didn’t expect. “Once you are settled in, I’d like to take you for lunch—well, given the hours, dinner might be a better bet. I do that with all of my employees. It’s like a celebratory welcome aboard kind of thing.” He picked up his phone and pressed the intercom. “Cheryl, can you make a reservation for two at Delmonico’s, please?”
“Certainly, sir. Shall I call your party to inform them of the time you’d like to meet?”
“No need. Cassidy already knows. Can you finish her paperwork and initial training by 4 PM?”
