I tried not to let how excited I was show. “Thank you, Sir.”
“And, Miss Jensen,” he added. “You are one of our most promising candidates.”
Now I couldn't stop the smile. “Thank you.” I almost sounded like I was gushing and I forced myself to rein it in.
“Your driver will take you to your hotel. Enjoy the rest of your day here and be back at nine tomorrow morning, prepared for a more in depth interview. We are only conducting two second interviews, so it is imperative that you come fully prepared.”
I wasn't sure, but that sounded to me like a warning. Taylor's comment about DeVon Ricci came back to me. As I walked out of the office, I wondered if that's what Mr. Duncan had meant. Was I going to be meeting the big boss tomorrow? And if I was, what could he possibly have planned that I would need to prepare for? I had to admit, the thought did make me a little nervous.
I set my jaw as I walked back out into the California sun. I wasn't going to let it bother me. I knew I was perfect for this job and nothing was going to keep me from making sure everyone at Mirage Talent knew it too.
Chapter 4
I had a feeling my driver was taking the scenic route to the hotel. I wasn't minding, though. I'd never seen anything like this city before and even my excitement over how well the interview had gone couldn't distract me from the view. When we finally pulled up in front of the hotel, I was eager to get to my room, shower and head out into the sunshine. I hadn't eaten much that morning, not liking to fly on a full stomach, and I was starting to get hungry. I couldn't wait to see what Los Angeles had to offer.
I thanked the driver as he handed my bag to the valet waiting at the entrance. This was a nicer hotel than any I'd been to in New York, but it was impossible to compare them, really. New York was stone and history. No matter how updated their buildings were, they always had a sense of being old, especially the swankiest hotels. This one was modern, with clean-cut lines. If New York was 'old money' then this was new, and I loved it.
“Miss Jensen, you've been upgraded.” The clerk at the desk gave me a pleasant smile.
“Excuse me?” I knew I couldn't have heard her correctly. Mirage was a wealthy company and they obviously liked to show their potential employees a good time, but a hospitality suite at a hotel like this was already above and beyond.
“You've been upgraded to a top floor suite,” the woman clarified.
“By whom?” I didn't mean to sound rude, but it was a bit of a shock. I mean, my interview had gone well, but this was ridiculous.
The clerk's smile faltered for a moment, then came back, steady as ever. Definitely a wanna-be actress. “Mirage Talent, of course,” she said. She slid a keycard across the desk. “Marcus will help you with your bag.”
“That's okay,” I said. “I can take it from here.” I held out my hand and, after a moment, was handed my bag. I just wanted to be alone to process.
When I got off on the top floor, I still hadn't figured out why I'd been upgraded. Maybe tomorrow was just a formality, I thought. This could be their way of welcoming me to the company. If it was, wow. I smiled. Whatever the reason, I was going to enjoy it.
I took half a dozen steps into the room as the door swung shut behind me, and that's when I realized I wasn't alone.
In the center of the room was a massive couch and my trio of visitors were centered around it. I stared at them for several seconds, unable to believe what I was seeing. Two were women: one a red-head, the other blonde, neither of them naturals. I could tell because, unfortunately, neither of them was clothed. One was on all fours on the couch, her ass towards me as she kissed the man sitting on the couch. The other woman was kneeling between his legs, running her hands up and down his thighs. He, at least, appeared to be clothed. Not that it made things better, because while he was kissing the red-head, he had one hand between her legs, two long fingers sliding into her. His other hand was on the blonde's breast, pinching and twisting one rose-colored nipple.
I processed all of this in the time it took for me to regain my voice and to overcome my shock.
“Excuse me.” My voice came out stronger than I'd expected. “What are you doing in my room?” And, as I always did when I was mostly at a loss for words, I said exactly what I was thinking, no matter if it was appropriate or not. “Is this some kind of orgy?”
The man on the couch rolled the red-head onto her back so that she was lying across his lap, her legs spread so that I could see more than I wanted to. His fingers slid back inside her and she moaned, writhing on his lap.
“What else would it be?” The man had a faint accent; Italian, I thought. “Come join us.”
I looked at him now, my temper flaring. Who the hell did he think he was? “Join you? No fucking way.” I sneered at him. “You couldn't handle me.”
I let my eyes rake over him, taking in the wild black waves of hair that fell across his forehead, the rich brown eyes. He was handsome, with strong features rather than the pretty-boy look Taylor had going on. His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a firm, defined chest. He was lean but his body was cut in a way that would usually make me wet. The fact that he was still fingering the red-head and the blonde was crawling up next to him, her large breasts swaying as she moved...that all kinda pissed me off, so arousal wasn't exactly my emotion at the moment.
“Get the fuck out of my room before I call security.” I gave the women my most derisive glare. “And take your bimbos with you.”
His eyes flashed, but the corners of his mouth twitched like he was amused by something. When he spoke, however, his voice was flat. “You don't know who you're talking to, do you?”
“Yeah,” I retorted. “An asshole.”
He laughed, sliding his fingers out of the red-head's pussy. He held his hand out to the blonde, barely glancing at her as she began to lick his fingers clean. The red-head made a mewling sound, but he ignored her, too. “I like your smart mouth,” he said. “Duncan will definitely be pleased with you.”
I frowned. Duncan? He couldn't mean Leon Duncan, the head of the legal department at Mirage Talent, the man I'd just interviewed with.
“Oh, that's right. We were never properly introduced.” He stood, spilling the women off of his lap.
I couldn't stop my eyes from flicking down over his torso to his narrow waist, my curiosity getting the better of me. I tried very hard not to lick my lips at the impressive bulge at the front of his tailored, gray slacks.
“Krissy.”
My name brought my attention back up with a snap. I could feel heat creeping up my cheeks.
“I'm DeVon Ricci. Your new boss.”
My stomach plummeted. Fuck. What kind of shit-storm did I just walk into? I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “I never met DeVon Ricci. How do you know who I am?”
He grinned and held out his hand. The hand that had been between the red-head's legs. No way in hell was I going to shake that. I folded my arms across my chest. He dropped his hand and used it to gesture towards the coffee table in front of the couch.
“I was watching your interview. Duncan has a webcam on his computer that allows me to watch all of his interviews. I find it saves time weeding out the candidates.”
“So, what is this, then?” My hands curled into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms. “I jump in to the fun and I get the job?”
He raised an eyebrow, a gesture that usually went straight through me. I wasn't going to let this one do that. I focused on how pissed I was.
“Well,” he said. “I never give out guarantees.” He ran his gaze down my body in that slow way that said he was imagining how I looked naked. “But it might put you at the front of the line.” His eyes were darker as they met mine and I knew he'd liked what he saw. “That is how my last assistant got hired.”
His voice was dripping sex, promising pleasure I couldn't imagine. Damn, he was hot. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Too bad he was a complete tool. There was no way in hell I was joining in. ??
?Like I said.” My voice was even, but I could hear the fury in every word. “This is my room and I'll give you and your bimbos thirty second to get the fuck out before I call security. I have another important interview tomorrow and I'd like to relax.”
DeVon's eyes narrowed as he studied me for a moment and I held his gaze. I had nothing to be ashamed of here and I wasn't going to look away first. Finally, he glanced over his shoulder and held out his hands. “Ladies.”
The women stood, bending over to pick up what I assumed were their clothes. They pulled skimpy dresses over their heads, not bothering with any undergarments. I really hoped that was because they hadn't been wearing any. I didn't want to sit down and find a pair of panties under the cushions. I glanced at the couch. On second thought, I'd just sit in one of the chairs.
DeVon let the women leave first and then he paused, turning back towards me.
“Congratulations, Miss Jensen.” His tone was serious now, no hint of flirtation. “If you had joined us, you wouldn't be getting to stay here in this lovely suite preparing for your interview tomorrow. You would be on your way back to New York. Mirage Talent does not hire women who use sex to get ahead.”
I gaped at him. Seriously? The whole thing had been a set-up? I wasn't sure if I should be relieved, horrified or even more furious. I chose the latter. I scowled. “I thought you said that's how your last assistant got hired.”
A glint appeared in his eyes and one side of his mouth tipped up, giving me that sexual smile again. “There is always the exception to the rule.” He stepped into the hallway, getting the last word in as the door closed. “She was fucking hot.”
Chapter 5
DEVON
The thing I hated the most about what I'd done was the fact that I'd had to carry my jacket in front of me while I waited for my hard-on to go down. I was glad Krissy Jensen had turned me down – my lips twitched at the memory of how pissed she'd been – but it definitely made for an uncomfortable ride back to the office.
I was still thinking about the way her dark eyes had flashed when Leon Duncan stepped out of his office before I could get on to the private elevator to my office. I was turned towards him when something flew through the air, narrowly missing my face.
“You bastard.” Leon's face was red. “You were spying on me!”
Sometimes, I wondered if complete honesty was always worth the trouble. I looked down to see the webcam I'd had installed shattered at my feet. I looked back up at the head of my legal department and spoke in a cool, even tone despite feeling anything but cool.
“You will do well to remember that I am your employer, and calm the hell down.” I waited for a moment to see how he responded. As I'd hoped he would, he took a slow breath and some of the color receded from his face. “If you look over the contract you signed – and you wrote, may I remind you – there is an entire section that states all company property may be monitored at any time at my discretion.”
“I-I thought that was to keep people from surfing for porn or making personal calls on company time.” Leon was flustered, but I didn't know if it was because he'd just realized that he'd thrown something at his boss or because I was right and he had no legal standing to be mad.
“That is the main reason,” I admitted. “But it allowed me to monitor the interviews.” I paused, then added, “And that's all I monitored. I wasn't spying on you, Leon. I wanted to see the remaining candidates before they did their interview with me.”
Now he just looked puzzled. The man was great at the legal stuff, but he wasn't a businessman. His brain just didn't work that way.
“Why?” Leon asked. “Whoever I hire isn't going to be working directly under you. She'll be in my department. You've never been interested in who I hired before.”
“This time, it's different,” I said. I didn't have to explain myself, but Leon was a good man. When he wasn't throwing expensive electrical equipment at my head. I wanted him to understand. “I don't want to keep thinking so narrowly. There could be potential among these candidates. Maybe someone who could rise above just being a lawyer sitting behind a desk.”
Leon raised an eyebrow. “Like who?”
“Krissy Jensen,” I answered immediately. She'd been the only one who'd struck me as anything special. “There's something about her.” Something more than a tight ass and nice tits, I wanted to add, but that wouldn't have been appropriate.
Leon shook his head. “Jensen, really? She's good, I'll give you that. And I like her attitude, but Melissa Tomes is much better qualified. I'd put Ms. Jensen as a runner-up, but Ms. Tomes scored higher on every test. She has to be first choice.”
I had crossed the distance between us before I'd realized what I was doing and it was all I could do not to grab the front of his shirt and yank him up onto his tiptoes. That would've been a bit extreme, I thought.
I spoke slowly and clearly so that he would understand me. “It's not about test scores or experience. Someone could look good on paper and be as exciting as a pile of dog shit. In fact, that is your first choice. Melissa is books and ass-kissing. We work with people and we need to hire people with skills in that field. Someone with fire in their veins and steel in their backbone. That is what Krissy Jensen brings.”
I turned and walked back to the elevator, catching a glimpse of Leon's face, pale and mottled with pink from the sudden change from anger to intimidated. My entire body was thrumming with energy as I got onto the elevator. Maybe I should have gone to the gym, I thought. I was way too tense. I should've known better, getting wound up like that without any release.
I was two steps into my office when I realized that I wasn't alone.
Cheri was leaning against my desk, completely naked. The skimpy dress she'd worn out of the hotel was lying in a chair.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I snapped. “How did you get here before me?” I looked around, fully expecting a blonde to appear. “Where's Tina?”
Cheri grinned at me as she ran a hand over one pert breast, cupping the firm flesh. “She had to leave to see her dentist or something, but I snuck in while you were talking with Duncan. You really should get better security.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” I spoke through gritted teeth. I was pissed, but I couldn't quit looking at her fingers playing with her nipple.
“Do you mind that I came to see you?” She pushed herself off of the desk and walked towards me.
“Yes, I fucking mind! Get the hell out!”
Cheri's smile widened as she leaned against me. I should have taken a step back, but I could feel the heat of her blazing through my clothes and all of the pent-up tension I had from the hotel came rushing back. Never one for subtly, she ran her hand over my crotch and my blood went straight south.
“You seem tense,” she teased. “Do you need a massage?” Her hand slowly rubbed the bulge in my pants.
I closed my eyes and clenched my hands into fists. I could feel myself swelling under her hand. “Fuck,” I muttered.
Then her hand was gone and I opened my eyes. I wasn't sure if I wanted her to have left or still be there, offering herself to me. I was strung so tight that I wasn't entirely sure I could remember my name. If she'd left, I'd have to spend a couple minutes in the bathroom before I'd be any good at work.
She hadn't left. She'd just moved to her knees. When she saw me looking down at her, she reached for my zipper. As she opened my pants, she licked her lips, leaving no doubt as to what she intended to do.
Aw, hell. How was I supposed to say no to that?
I buried my fingers in her hair as she pulled my cock out of my pants. I was so hard it almost hurt and I knew I wasn't going to last long. Cheri was tall, making access to her mouth easier than it would've been on someone shorter, like Tina.
“Open your mouth,” I growled.
She did as she was told. She knew exactly what I wanted. I shoved the first three inches between her lips, groaning as she swirled her tongue around my swollen shaft. There was no way I
would last long at all.
“I'm going to fuck your mouth.” My accent had thickened as my need grew.
“Please.”
Cheri only managed that single word before I was shoving her head down the length of my cock. She'd given me a blow job before so I knew how far she could take me. I took her to that point over and over again, using her hair to pull her off of me before shoving back into that hot, wet cavern. I looked down at Cheri, her mouth stretched wide around me, my cock glistening with her saliva, and suddenly, it wasn't her red hair and porcelain skin I was seeing.