The Bare Truth part 2

Chapter 9

"Have you seen him yet?" Kelly asked.

Sierra was pouring cream into her "No Coffee No Workie" mug in the break room at The Post. She'd had yet another night of nightmare plagued sleep and really needed the caffeine boost this morning. At least this time she hadn't woken up with claws.

Kelly was helping herself to a yogurt cup from the refrigerator.

"Seen who?" Sierra asked.

"The new owner," Kelly said.

The office had been buzzing for days about the new majority shareholder, Dorrian Taylor. He was some rich guy from New York, who apparently just got it in his head last week that he'd like to own a newspaper.

"He's here?" Sierra asked.

Kelly nodded.

"I guess he wanted to see what all his money bought him," she said. "So you haven't seen him yet?"

"No. Why? Does he have a really bad comb over or something?"

Kelly gave her a knowing look.

"Just wait till you see him," she said, grinning.

Sierra returned to her desk, coffee in hand. Joe had gotten her yet another new desk. This one was a black maple with silver hardware. She kept a picture of her and Joe at his cabin in Sleuth in one corner. The silver frame perfectly matched the desk. The surface was a mess of post it notes and crumpled paper.

She was working on a story on the mayor's mistress; a much younger staffer and BDSM practitioner. Sierra almost had the girl convinced she should sign the photo release. She picked up the phone to call her. Maybe she could take her out to lunch again. Some place expensive, with a lot of wine.

"Well, you're as breathtaking in person as you are in your photograph," a man's voice said from behind her.

Sierra wheeled her chair around. The man held out his hand to her.

"Dorrian Taylor," he introduced himself. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sierra."

Sierra immediately understood why he had made such an impression on Kelly. He was young to be so successful, maybe early thirties, and knock down gorgeous. He had the most piercing blue eyes Sierra had ever seen. They were the color of the sky at midday in the springtime. He kept his golden blond hair neatly trimmed and styled. The orderly hairstyle went well with his custom tailored suit. The fit of it nicely accentuated his thin, muscular frame.

Sierra found herself momentarily speechless. Finally she managed to choke out, "You've seen my picture?"

"Sierra, darling, the entire office has seen your picture," he replied smoothly, indicating the nearby framed photograph on the wall.

It was the picture of her being attack by Eric. The one that brought her her first front page byline.

"Right," Sierra said, embarrassed.

"Not to mention you're sleeping with the Washington State Governor and that makes the press ever so fond of snapping your picture. I'm certain everyone is quite familiar with your visage at this point. And yet I maintain that all those photographs fail to do you justice."

"Th-Thank you," Sierra stammered.

"I'd like to take you to lunch. Does one o'clock work for you?"

"Ummm..." Sierra seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to make words. "Is this a work related lunch?"

"Whatever else would it be?" he asked.

He said it was work related, but the way he smiled at her said anything but. She didn't really like the way his eyes seemed to drill into her either. Still, you didn't exactly turn down a work lunch with the owner of the paper.

"One is fine."

"Perfect," He flashed her another million-dollar smile and walked away.

Sierra turned back to her computer, still feeling like his eyes were on her. Kelly shot her a knowing look from across the room. Couldn't he go hit on Kelly instead? Kelly, who, unlike Sierra, was not in a loving, committed relationship with a man who could, quite literally, rip Dorrian's head off should he feel sufficiently compelled to do so? Sierra stared at the picture on her desk and wondered what Joe would think about this "working lunch".

After some consideration, she decided it would be fine. She could handle herself. Having a gorgeous stranger shower her with compliments was not the end of the world. And if things got really out of hand she could always nail his ass for sexual harassment.

Or, she thought with a smile, she could always rip his head off herself.

She turned to her phone, intending to call the Mayor's dom, then paused. She looked over her shoulder. Dorrian was stepping into the editor's office, not likely to sneak up on her again. It couldn't hurt to do a little digging on her lunch date.

She opened up her web browser and queried "Dorrian Taylor".

Dorrian was old money. Very old money. His great great grandfather was a railroad tycoon. Tristen Taylor had died young at age thirty-eight from TB, leaving his considerable fortune to his estranged son, Cyrus. Each subsequent generation of Taylor men had gown the family fortune to its now considerable sum. Dorrian Taylor was worth billions. He'd made a name for himself in corporate takeovers, ruthlessly buying out companies and then restructuring them as he saw fit. Sierra was rapidly getting the impression that this was a man who liked to own things. And to be in charge, at least for awhile. Most of the companies he purchased he actually would manage himself for a few years. Then he would put someone else in charge and move on to his next acquisition.

Birth records showed that he had a 12 year-old son who lived with his mother in Greece. He wasn't married, or best as she could tell, dating anyone. That basically made him the most eligible bachelor in the United States. He'd even been approached about doing one of those trashy harem reality shows last year, but had turned them down.

Sierra hurriedly closed her browser as Dorrian stepped back out of the office. He flashed her another smile as he glided by her desk.

Sierra cursed herself for staring at his perfectly sculpted ass as he walked away. She was going to have to be careful about this man.