Hers to Love: Sisters of Springfield 3 Read online

  Kori marched forward and planted herself in a warm seat. She ignored the feeling and gave Marshall a cold look in response to his easy grin. She set her iPad on the desk and scrolled through a couple of pages and then screen shared a document she had prepared to his computer.

  “What you’re seeing on your screen is a collection of missed suspenses for various departments under your immediate direction.”

  Marshall’s head snapped to his screen. “How did you get access to my computer?”

  Kori willed his gaze back to hers. “Sir, I’m good at my job. I pride myself in being efficient.”

  “Point taken.”

  “The ones in red, at the top, are the most urgent. The rest I’ve categorized by color to make it easier on the eyes to spot those needing immediate attention.”

  He inclined his head forward, his eyes narrowed in concentration. “Good, good. I’m following.”

  “I’ve researched the files left by the previous assistant and can find no follow-up notices or any plans to conduct the needed audits. With your permission, I’d like to schedule meetings with the heads of the departments immediately to discuss a way forward.”

  Marshall was still reading the massive laundry list of things to do. Red all the way down the page. That list was followed by another extensive block of yellow, and a splattering of green mixed in. Several departments were completely in the red. None were all green. Kori suspected he would probably not want to deal with any of it.

  “You’ve come up with this all on your own?”

  “It’s my job, sir, and I do it well.”

  Marshall’s jaw ticked. He met her still-hard gaze. “You’re implying I don’t do mine.”

  “Sir, I don’t have to imply anything. All I have to do is point to this list.” She raised a brow and sat a touch straighter.

  “Do you know who started this company?”

  “You did, sir.”

  “Do you know how much work it took?”

  “I don’t.” Her voice was clipped.

  “Then you have no idea the kind of work ethic I have. And your assumption that I’m sorely lacking in it is without merit.”

  She stared at him without speaking for a few seconds. She met his defiant gaze with facts. “I refer you back to the list of items that need your immediate attention and that are overdue, some by six months. You might’ve had an impressive and unmatched work ethic when you started, but you seem to want to end your tenure here without one.”

  Marshall chuckled. Kori inched her nose a little higher. He could laugh all he wanted. Probably thought she’d crossed the line with her opinion. Considering what she had discovered, they were past lines. He’d leapt over several by not doing his job, and it was now on her to run after him and drag him back over.

  “I know you’re just here for a paycheck. You think the most effective way of getting that is to offend your boss on the first day?”

  She inhaled sharply. Her gaze wavered, and she blinked against the fire burning the backs of her eyes. She wouldn’t let him do this to her. She was well within her right as his executive assistant to point out missed appointments and failure of duties. When her gaze returned to his, her eyes were bone-dry.

  “Sir, I’m here because I need the money, yes. Just like a lot of people in the departments that are listed on the spreadsheet in front of you. Now, you said we only have the summer. Am I right to assume you’d like to leave this place better than it is now? If so, then you’ll allow me to set up appointments with those departments. That way, the board won’t be looking for a reason to fire other people for incompetence. People who probably need a paycheck too.”

  She stood and left the room as she came in, back straight, head held high, marching to her own commanding cadence.

  And she slammed the door for effect.

  * * *

  Marshall’s heart was hammering. He couldn’t determine why. Fear? Excitement? Attraction? An impending anxiety attack?

  He would be fuming if her challenge didn’t make her even more alluring.

  He reined in his attraction. He had to tread lightly. He was on thin ice with the board of directors. Kori was right—he’d be a complete idiot to give them even more cause to toss him out before the end of the summer. He could kiss whatever compensation package they were willing to offer goodbye. And he wasn’t about to leave his company with just stock options.

  Kori admitted she wanted a paycheck. She was suing her former boss, whom everyone believed to be right. Sabrina hadn’t mentioned the real reason behind Kori’s dismissal. Did she think he wouldn’t believe her? That he’d be susceptible to gossip?

  From what he could tell, Kori wasn’t at all interested in sleeping her way to the top. She was here to do a job and not even the CEO was going to stand in her way. Marshall shook his head, remembering her boldness. Brigham owed some of his success to the strength of his former executive assistant.

  A notification came on his screen of a file being imported into their shared Dropbox, and then the screens disconnected. Marshall pulled up the spreadsheet again.

  Kori was one hundred percent correct to challenge his work ethic and point out areas of neglect. And she was also right about the board. The members would likely be all too willing to place the blame on lower-level employees or even middle management. Heads would roll, and the one who’d be spared—at least for another few months—would be the king.

  Me.

  It wasn’t fair to his employees. They looked to him for leadership, and he had even let that slide in the last year.

  Another popup.

  A meeting with the company counselor was set for this evening, an hour before he was scheduled to leave the office.

  Marshall immediately rang Kori’s office. “Ms. Kaye, explain this meeting.”

  “The company has an extensive wellness program, including counselors that are on staff to meet with employees. Since you are facing several challenges, I thought it would be a good idea for you to have an appointment and talk through priorities. That will help you focus the rest of us.”

  And then she hung up.

  Hung up the phone on the CEO.

  Marshall was so stunned he couldn’t form a cohesive thought for a solid minute. Who does she think she is? Did Brigham have to put up with this? He doubted she would’ve lasted longer than a week if this were how she had conducted herself.

  At the top of his email came a forwarded message. He opened it, needing something else to focus on before he shoved his monitor off his desk.

  A message from Kori. Great. She’d done a lot of talking in different ways today, and none of them he liked. She had forwarded a message from the board recommending Marshall see a counselor. It was dated ten months ago. Two months after his divorce was official, and right in the middle of the darkest period of his grief. Full on denial and self-condemnation.

  So the appointment with the shrink wasn’t something she had come up with on her own. She hadn’t been completely out of line suggesting it, although he couldn’t exactly blame her if she were. Marshall continued reading the message and saw Kori had strung together a number of requests from the board for him to seek professional help.

  Well, he had three months left. And Kori did pose the question: how did he want to go out? Kicking and screaming?

  Or like a boss?

  Marshall accepted the invitation and saw it immediately change colors in his digital appointment book. He then noticed a lot of meetings had been scheduled—with the departments he oversaw—and they were all awaiting his approval. He smirked. She had only asked his permission to schedule these appointments out of respect for his position. No way she had confirmed these—over a dozen—with the appointment heads in the few minutes she had left his office.

  I could love you…

  No, he couldn’t. She fascinated him. That was all.

  And made him want to be a better man. But that wasn’t love.

  One by one, Marshall checked yes to all the appointment
s.

  And just like that, he was back to work.

  Chapter 8

  This was how it started.

  Kori nervously bounced her right leg and tapped her fingers on her armrests. She let her eyes roam around the small restaurant on the bank of the river she and Marshall had sailed down a couple of weeks earlier. The sun was setting, and the streets were full of people walking about, enjoying the cooler evening air. Patrons sat around her conversing in Italian, and Kori pretended like she didn’t feel completely out of place by ordering a water…in Italian.

  That ought to do it.

  She had wanted to be more fluent by now—and conversing with the hotel staff had helped—but she spent most of her hours in the office, or in her hotel room doing her job, that the only time she had to venture out was to the hotel gym. The daily itineraries she had designed for Marshall had kept them both crazy busy. Outside of office meetings, they rarely spoke.

  Which was a good thing. From day one, she felt like every time they conversed, she was snapping at him. And he was probably sick of hearing her voice.

  So why did he invite her to dinner?

  She blew out a breath and tapped her phone’s home button. Marshall was thirty minutes late. Her waiter had been eyeing her for well over fifteen of those minutes. In a minute, he would probably ask her to leave if she didn’t order something, so she raised her hand for him to come over. She managed to get out bread in Italian, and he briefly smiled before snapping his book shut. No, she wasn’t going to order one thing an hour. She just worked for a guy who came and went as he pleased without regard to people or the time.

  She shouldn’t even be here. When she wasn’t discussing business with Brigham over a meal, she ate alone. Already she had had lunch with Marshall, and now he wanted dinner. If he asked for breakfast the next morning, she would have to firmly refuse. Meals would become parties with too much booze and then end in limos—or gondolas—with indecent proposals and Kori back in a sleazy extended stay hotel, jobless.

  And she had already made Marshall angry by pointing out what an incompetent boss he’d become over the last year. His demeanor since had been coldly professional. It had suited Kori fine, except she did miss his easy smile—the one that made the corners of his eyes crinkle.

  And her stomach flip.

  Stop thinking about your boss. She accepted the bread offered by the waiter and tore into a piece.

  It wasn’t her fault she had to call him out, she mused while chomping on the bread. But bosses always blamed their subordinates for their mistakes. She’d witnessed that behavior often from Brigham. She hadn’t been at work for more than a couple of weeks and would probably soon hear it from Marshall for however long this job lasted.

  It wouldn’t last long. Kori was sure of it. Once Brigham started asking her to join her for “brainstorming” sessions, she should’ve seen the giant red flag waving in her face. He never wanted to hear her ideas about anything he was working on. Narcissistic to the core, Brigham didn’t appreciate any ideas other than his own. He’d built the company from scratch—much like Marshall’s—and that meant he was the brainchild. The brain. The only one whose opinions mattered.

  She was just an assistant. Emails and appointments. Not too much thought behind that. And it shouldn’t have taken much thought to say yes to the boss. But Kori had a brain and wanted to be respected for it. Saying no was the easiest response she’d ever given him. Brigham had the gall to tell her she should be grateful for his advances. And as often as she was away from home and the position she had, when was she ever going to find a man who respected her? Marry her?

  Never.

  A man to love?

  She wasn’t home long enough to form a relationship, and Brigham never would’ve authorized enough time off to get married.

  And here she was again. Only this time it was a bribe.

  Marshall hated the idea of going to see the company’s therapist—she’d heard it in his voice when he’d asked her about the appointment. Every time she mentioned it, he would groan. He had stormed into Kori’s office right before today’s appointment to declare he wasn’t going unless…

  Unless she had dinner with him after.

  Dinner.

  Dinner?

  Kori had been so stunned she didn’t respond. He wanted to have dinner. Why? She was his daughter’s age. He couldn’t think… No. Kori had laughed it off after he’d left, all the while fear invaded every part of her being. She hadn’t stopped shaking since.

  She figured the dinner was to discuss her future with the company. A future that wasn’t meant to be. After all, she did give him a long list of tasks to do before he too would be fired. Who wanted to finish strong when they had already left?

  Or maybe the board had finally made a decision and now it was time to face the music. Well, she had enjoyed her hotel—and this street. It was really all of Italy she had seen. She’d told herself this job would be different; that she’d take more time for herself. But the state her duties were in when she took up the mantle had left her little time to explore her surroundings.

  Maybe…just maybe if her lawyer won the case, Kori could return to Italy on vacation.

  She saw Marshall enter the restaurant. If she didn’t know he was over forty then she would’ve guessed thirty-five. His sandy hair barely had a touch of gray, and she only saw wrinkles around the corners of his eyes when he smiled or laughed. Even now, he looked amazing with dark shades on, light linen pants, and a comfortable light green top, his suit jacket slung over his shoulder like he’d stepped out of some ’80s television show.

  He could get any woman at any age.

  Marshall took a seat across from Kori and removed his shades. His light eyes briefly assessed her, but didn’t reveal his thoughts. “Thanks for meeting me here,” he said. Then he ordered a glass of water.

  “You didn’t give me much choice.”

  He smiled easily. “I wondered if you were all talk or not.”

  “Sir, before we start, I’d just like to say how uncomfortable I am right now.”

  Marshall frowned. “I know, and that’s my fault. I thought if I didn’t make this dinner a condition of my going to see the therapist today, then you wouldn’t accept the invitation. I didn’t know how else to thank you.”

  Kori blinked. “Thank me, sir?”

  Marshall’s easy smile appeared. “Yes. Thank you for what you’ve been doing these last couple of weeks. I know we haven’t interacted much. I blame you for that, by the way. My schedule has been packed, thanks to you. But, in all honesty, I owe you”—he looked around the table—“more than dinner.” He had a devilish look in his eyes. “I’m going to give you an increase in salary.”

  “Uh…” Kori didn’t know what to say. Already? After two weeks? She’d only be here three months anyway.

  “You can’t say no, or I’ll fire you.” He laughed, seeing her shocked expression. “I’m sorry. I won’t fire you. You can refuse, but since you can’t cut your own check, you have no way of giving it back.” He winked.

  “Sir, that’s too much. I’m only doing my job.”

  “No, no. I appreciate initiative. You’ve shown that since day one.” His look turned serious. “We’re going to have a lot of work ahead of us because of me. Because I put this company behind. We’ve made progress, but it’s the tip of the iceberg. That’s going to mean you’ll be working even more than what’s required—and I know you have already. That’s my fault. I’ve put you in this position.”

  “Sir, I don’t mind,” Kori said swiftly. “I just want to work.”

  “And you should be appropriately compensated. That means a bump in salary. I’ve already had it approved. That’s what took me so long in getting here. I practically had to threaten a board member that I’d shut down the whole company tomorrow.”

  Her eyes widened on him. He had to be joking. They were supposed to be proving themselves to the board. “You didn’t!”

  He chuckled. “I did. Dr
amatic, I know. But they’ve come to expect that of me. And I know I could’ve told you this at the office, but that’s so impersonal—handing you an official document and saying ‘congrats, you’re doing better than everyone else.’ You’re my assistant. I can pay for a well-deserved meal.”

  The waiter came back and took their orders. Marshall placed a napkin in his lap and gestured toward the bread that was placed on the table. Kori wordlessly nodded her permission, and Marshall took a piece and dumped it into the oil and vinegar mix he had swirled on his bread plate.

  Kori couldn’t believe what he’d said. She wasn’t here because he wanted to make a pass at her or fire her. She was getting a pay raise. That meant extra money for her legal team. How often had Brigham offered her a raise? Once or twice in five years? And he had worked her like a dog.

  She didn’t want to appear rude and ask how much. Instead, she calmly ate her bread while excitement brewed in her. Perhaps she had misjudged her boss. Her heart skipped a beat.

  “How did the therapy session go today?” Kori asked, curious about what was discussed.

  Marshall only smiled.

  Kori quickly put up a hand. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.”

  Marshall’s smile faded into a pensive look. He shrugged. “You’re my assistant. You should know me better than most, even if it’s only been two sessions. The therapy session went fine, thank you. Still doing preliminary work. Takes me a while to open up. Haven’t been able to get too deep into the weeds.”

  “Of course, of course. Right.”

  Why hadn’t she thought about that? Her expectations were unrealistically high after her experience with Brigham. She couldn’t expect Marshall to have a revelation and immediately know what to do to fix his life in a couple one-hour sessions.

  As embarrassment nauseated her stomach, she chewed on her piece of bread while staring at the crumbs on her plate.