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I sighed and stood up, rounding my desk. “There’s no way I can keep you on here,” I said. “People will know there’s favoritism at play.”
“I understand,” she whispered, then set her jaw with determination. “But if I could—”
I held up a finger, and she fell silent, her head slowly lowering in defeat. “I can’t keep you on here, but I can switch you to a different position if you want.”
Her chin tilted up, and her eyes widened, full of fresh hope. “Anything, yes. I already accept.”
A slow smile took over my face as I moved past her to lock the office door. “Good. Let me tell you the details.”
Chapter 9 - Jenna
I huddled in Vera’s office, waiting for the hammer to swing down on me, kicking myself for making such a stupid, rookie mistake. I had completely forgotten that Europeans wrote out dates differently and had added a meeting to the calendar way out in December when it was really this week. Yesterday evening, to be exact, when the Swiss delegates from a prestigious medical equipment firm were looking forward to speaking about getting their new product approved in the US.
Because of me, no one showed. When they called the office, everyone was already gone, since they didn’t know there was a dinner meeting planned as soon as the Swiss delegates arrived in San Francisco. They were currently stewing, and not receptive to a reschedule, and Vera wouldn’t let me get on the phone with them to grovel. It was a mess.
I was a mess, and it was made worse when Vera reappeared in her office, tight-lipped.
“Mr. Volkov will speak to you now,” she said. “He’s been fully apprised of what occurred.”
I prickled, wondering if she thought I might try to lie my way out of it, and nodded, trying to apologize yet again.
“You have to learn that apologies don’t mean very much when high stakes like this are involved. It’s far more important not to screw up in the first place.”
The fact I wasn’t crying was a miracle when I stuck my head in Lev’s office. Except I couldn’t call him Lev while we were here, and it was doubtful he’d ever want to see me outside of the office again after I had just cost his company so much money.
Gathering up every last bit of fight I had left, I turned and apologized, promised to make things right and all but offered up a kidney to keep the internship. I could already picture my advisor’s sick glee when he learned I was fired and lost the credit. The last thread connecting me to my scholarship.
Because, of course, he was going to fire me. How could he not? And indeed, he told me there’s no way he can keep me on and risk showing favoritism. But, wait a second. Did he say he couldn’t keep me onhere?
Suddenly, he got up and crossed the room from behind his desk to stand in front of me. He was larger than life just by his personality alone, but he was also darn tall, and it took all my courage not to quake under his intent gaze. Or lean closer to him. Either one would have been bad. Why did he have to smell so good, and why was his heady cologne reminding me of that kiss he gave me? That was the worst thing I could think of at this moment. He was way too close, or not close enough. Either way, I was slowly going insane, half from fear and half from anticipation.
He wouldn’t really fire me, would he? I didn’t know him at all, beyond the charm he showed me the other night. Beyond that kiss that had me shaken to my core.
“I can’t keep you on here, but I can switch you to a different position if you want.”
It took me a second to process the words, then I clung to the hope he tossed out like my life depended on it, which it did. I assured him I’d do anything, already accepting his offer. A successful man like him certainly had other businesses. I could scan documents anywhere, as long as it meant I didn’t get kicked out of college.
His smile sent shockwaves through me as he moved around me to lock the door. Seconds later, he was looming over me. In a locked room. If my heart wasn’t beating out of my chest before, it was now.
“Let me tell you what the offer entails.”
I nodded up at him, ready to agree to anything. “Yes, sir,” I said, my voice surprisingly strong. I wasn’t leaving this place jobless, after all.
“Marry me,” he said.
I blinked and tried to rewind my brain. What did he just say? Had I thought about that kiss a little too much and made up fantasy scenarios to escape the reality of getting fired on my second week at the job? Or had he also been thinking a little too much about that kiss?
The way his hands moved against my skin, the hungry way he’d almost devoured me, that gleam in his eyes when he left me about to collapse in the hall outside my apartment. I’d spent the entire weekend wondering if he was going to ask me to have a clandestine affair. At the time, it was wishful thinking, another daydream during study breaks. I knew I’d say yes if that question ever came out of his mouth.
It was something I’d never thought I’d consider, but Lev was so magnetic and irresistible. A secret affair with my boss was reckless and completely unlike me, but a wild fling with a man like him—no, only him, would be just the thing to take away all the stress of finding out what Katie had married into and having to strike out and forge a path on my own.
I was silent so long, he said it again, and I realized I heard him right. Pissed off that he could be joking around when my entire future was on the line, I turned to leave.
“This isn’t funny to me,” I said, grateful to my anger for holding back tears.
Lev took my arm and stopped me, moving around to stand in front of me again. “This isn’t a joke, Jenna. I’m completely serious.” His eyes weren’t lying, and neither was the set of his strong jaw. “Marry me.”
He wasn’t proposing; he was telling me to marry him. Commanding me.
