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I walked to Susan and instructed her to take care of everything we needed to hire Erica Hudson. Shane was in the vicinity, and he whistled through his teeth.
“You still have twenty-four candidates to work through,” he said.
“That won’t be necessary. She’s perfect.”
“I’ll say, she’s sex on a stick. Fuck me, if only all secretaries were that hot.”
I laughed. “If they were, you would always be in trouble. The only reason HR hasn’t clamped down on you is that Carol is old enough to be your mother.”
Shane shrugged. “I keep thinking I should trade her in for a newer model, but she’s really good at what she does. I don’t know how you’re going to control yourself around that one, though.”
“I have better self-control than you do,” I said.
The truth was, I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull myself in either. Erica Hudson was drop-dead gorgeous, and something about her had attracted me instantly. I had been with many women in my life, but I had never felt like they drew me. I had always gone on the hunt to find one I liked. This was different. Those brilliant-green eyes lingered, and I wondered if I would be able to handle the sexual tension that came with Erica.
Of course, if I had to choose between meaningless sex and my company, my company won out every time. I had worked long and hard to build my empire to what it was, and I wasn’t going to risk losing it for just anyone. Right now, Erica didn’t look like she was just anyone, but it wouldn’t take long before I got to know her if we were going to be working together. Eventually, the chances were that I would realize she was just like everyone else. A lot of people had great first impressions until I got to know them, then they proved to me that I was in a different league. Sometimes, I thought I might be destined to be alone.
I scolded myself for being such a pussy. I had everything I wanted—I was so rich I had no idea what to do with all my money, Loomis Industries was doing well, and without people in my life to distract me, the only way to go was up. So what if I didn’t have someone to share in my success? I didn’t need validation from anyone else. As long as I kept reminding myself of that, I would be perfectly fine, even around people like Erica Hudson.
Chapter 2
Erica
I met Katie at the bar for drinks. The Wayland was full, even for a Monday night, and Katie and I found a spot at the bar. I looked around. How long had Katie and I been coming here? Since we had started working—which felt like forever ago—we had been coming to The Wayland to take the load off and to gossip about whatever was happening in our lives.
The bar was decorated in mostly brown. It wasn’t the biggest place in New York, but the atmosphere was always good, and Katie and I could hear each other talk over the sound of the music instead of being drowned out like at some other places we had tried.
“Hired on the spot, huh?” Katie asked after we ordered our drinks. “Sounds like someone thought you were hot.”
I chuckled. “If you saw some of the other women who were waiting with me, you would know it wasn’t my looks that got me the position. Some of them looked like they stepped right off the covers of a fashion magazine. With a few of them, I wasn’t sure if they were in the right industry.”
Katie shook her head. “You’re too modest, Erica. You’re so much more attractive than you think.”
“I still don’t think that got me the position.”
Katie shrugged and sipped her drink. I did the same. We had both ordered gin cocktails, our usual. Katie and I were creatures of habit.
“So, when do you start?” Katie asked.
“Tomorrow.”
She raised her eyebrows. “That soon? Sounds like they are desperate.”
“Maybe that’s why they hired me on the spot,” I offered.
Katie shrugged. “I think it’s because you’re attractive, and I’m sticking to it. Besides, you have a wild side to you hiding just beneath the surface. Maybe Mr. Loomis saw that in you.”
I laughed. Katie was a great friend, but I didn’t always agree with her views. We had been roommates at Columbia. We were very close and offered each other support and casual insults, whichever was called for at the time.
