Redemption--Sample (Book 2 of The Conquest Series)

2. The Game

"Bev, could you come in here for a moment?"

Carl was in his office and had a stack of papers he needed to make available for the next Board of Directors meeting. He was trying to get rid of is secretary Bev for a little bit as she was making doe-eyes at him. Normally, it didn't irritate him this much and he would mildly flirt, but the next director's meeting was a big one and he didn't need the added distraction.

Bev was wearing a tight pinstriped skirt and red blouse that dipped below her cleavage due to the fact she had the top four buttons undone. She made sure to bend over plenty of times to show off her ample bosom and it had grated on Carl's nerves instead of amusing him today.

He blamed Aiden a little bit for his predicament. The man had bedded and impregnated his ex-secretary, and while most of the office knew about Aiden and Constance and were either supportive or blase about it, it seemed to have amped up his own secretary's desire to be with him. Something she hadn't kept secret before became even more apparent as of late.

Bev had always been a flirt, but she was also efficient in the office. At least until recently.

Carl had always liked the chase. Women who threw themselves at him, though it was fine sometimes, were a bit of a bore. Not that he didn't take advantage of those particular situations- after all, a man has needs.

What Carl didn't need though, was for his irritating secretary to start giving him bedroom eyes all hours of the work day. He didn't get the shit done that he needed when he felt lasers boring holes into his body through the glass windows of his office. He was surprised the glass hadn't damn well melted as of yet.

"Yes, Mr. Smith," Bev said, trying to add a sultry tone to her voice. "How many copies would you like?"

Carl stopped himself from rolling his eyes- just barely.

"Twenty copies and please sort and contain each in one of the clear plastic folders provided in the supply room," Carl told her shortly before bending back to his laptop and pretending to work on an email. Granted, he should have been doing that very thing at this moment. He was horribly behind on correspondence, but he was afraid to send the emails he didn't want to deal with to Bev who would most likely find ways to ask him about what she should say in the mails. She knew damned well how to pen a letter and her sudden ignorance infuriated Carl. He would either handle it in a few minutes or simply work on it when he got home.

"That is all," Carl dismissed his secretary without looking at her as she had hesitated for long enough in his office.

Carlton had wished Constance would have come back to work for Kintech. He even would have offered her a job as his own secretary, but Aiden seemed dead set on Constance staying at home while she dealt with the symptoms of her first pregnancy. The way Aiden spoke of it, it might be their only pregnancy. And Aiden, now that he was pussy-whipped for the first time in his thirty odd years, all of the sudden wanted a slew of children. He had certainly been looking into big enough houses for it.

Hell, at least Constance would have done the work Carl assigned efficiently without getting googly-eyed and trying to affect her voice to sound sexy.

After Bev left, Carl worked on reaching out to the people in his emails and was down to only a few more to respond to when he heard his secretary's voice from down the hall. It was time to make his escape.

Walking out the front door of his office, he called out to Bev.

"I'm heading out for a few minutes, Miss Daniels," he called and grabbed his suit jacket to make as if he was going to leave the building. If she knew he was staying put inside the building, he was afraid she might follow him. Best for her to think he truly was stepping out of the office instead of making his way to the break room. He knew his secretary's break schedule as well as his own and he had a good hour before she would make her way to the break room and grab another diet Coke. The woman lived on the vile beverage.