Page 22 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

She closed the folder and stood, surprising me. I thought we might sit and chat a while longer. Out of politeness, I rose from my seat.

"Where will I be working?"

Holy shit. Why hadn't I considered that? I quickly scanned my brain, trying to determine whether there was an open office I could assign to her. I remembered we had a vacant office in the marketing department, which, considering what she was doing, would be perfect.

"I will take you there myself. It will probably need a few things, but you can let me know what you will need." I opened the door to my office and then held my hand out, gesturing for her to precede me. Like the perverted old man I was, my gaze drifted down to her heart-shaped ass as she exited my office. I had a flash of memory of the first time I had taken her from behind. I’d had the sweetest, sexiest view of that ass as my hands gripped her hips and I pumped deep inside her.

Jesus, Banion. You have to stop this.

I led her down the hall toward the elevator. On my floor were all the executive offices, and the marketing department was one level down. I would've much preferred to put her in an office on my floor, but it would look strange to my staff to do that. And of course, it would be counterproductive in my attempt to keep my distance from and my hands off Samantha.

The ride in the elevator was awkwardly silent, and I thanked God that we were only riding down one floor. As I led her down to the empty office, I realized another task I'd neglected, which was telling the head of marketing that Samantha was going to be consulting and auditing online media and marketing. I decided I would get her settled first and then I would visit him and bring him to meet Samantha. She was already suspicious that I was flying by the seat of my pants on this job offer, and I also understood that it made her feel like I was giving her charity. But it wasn't charity. It was restitution.

I opened the door to the office, hoping it hadn't been turned into a storeroom or was completely devoid of office furniture.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the desk and a chair. "I will make sure the tech people set you up with a computer. Would you prefer a laptop?"

She stepped into the small room, looking around, which didn't take long because there wasn't much to see. "I'd prefer a laptop. I could also use a company phone. So much of the content consumed online these days is done through phones, so I like to be able to see the content as others see it."

"Absolutely. I'll have them here within the hour."

She stepped over to the small window that overlooked Manhattan. Was she disappointed? Was she changing her mind?

"I know that it's not much, but—"

She turned, looking at me as an employee would look at her boss. "It's fine. I like the fact that it has natural light. Besides, I imagine that I'll be spending more time out at the various platforms and working with them there." She cocked her head to the side. "I'm assuming you will want me to travel to your other offices at some point as well."

I hadn’t considered that, but I nodded. "Absolutely. I'm putting you in charge of all this, Samantha, so you just let me know what you need and where you need to be, and I'll make it happen."

There was a subtle shift in her expression, and for a moment, I thought I saw the woman I'd met five years ago. The one who was eager to get started on her career. But then Samantha turned away, and I couldn't be sure whether she didn't want me to see it or I had just imagined it.

“Perhaps you can give me a list of all you’ll need beyond the laptop and phone,” I said.

She sat at the desk, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen, writing on it. A few moments later, she handed it to me. Along with the laptop and phone, there were office items such as a printer and paper, pens, and folders.

I put the paper in my pocket. "I’ll go take care of these things while you get settled." I left her, heading down to Alan Sprout’s office. His secretary announced me as I entered his office.

He rose from his desk with an expression of surprise at my unannounced visit. "Mr. Banion."

"How are you doing, Alan?" I extended my hand toward him, giving it a shake.

“I'm good. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to let you know that I have hired a consultant to do a full audit and assessment of all our online media and social media."

His brow furrowed. "Is there a problem?"

"No problem. I just like to get a pair of outside eyes to take a look at everything and let us know if there's areas that we could improve or maximize. I'd like to introduce you to her. I've put her in the office down at the end of the hall."

Alan didn’t look pleased by my news, but I suppose he felt my actions suggested I was unhappy with his work.

I patted him on the shoulder, hoping to calm his nerves. "I think you’ll like working with her. Come on, let me introduce you."

I walked him back down to Samantha's office, finding her at the desk, looking at her phone, and occasionally making notes. She looked up as I stepped in with Alan.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to introduce you to Alan Sprout. He's the head of all marketing."

She rose and stepped around the desk, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet you. Will I be reporting to you?"

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