Page 9 of Office Intrigue (Office Intrigue Duet 1)
“Good or bad?” Justin’s eyes held the question his lips spoke.
We all turned to Landon. “For one, she’s younger than I thought she’d be.”
Justin peered down at the notebook in his hand. “Her application says she’s twenty-four.”
I frowned. “I thought we weren’t allowed to ask questions like that.”
“It asks for date of birth.” Justin’s tone was defensive.
“She certainly caught my attention.” We all knew what Ben was referring to.
Although we ran a respectable, multimillion-dollar business, there was no denying that we had a few idiosyncrasies. For example, we lived and breathed Dominance and submission. It wasn’t merely a fetish, D/s was a lifestyle choice for each of us.
On top of that, we were all looking to find a woman we could…share. Perhaps it wasn’t politically correct according to a lot of people, but it was what it was. I certainly wasn’t about to apologize for it and I doubted my partners would either. And considering we spent the majority of our time in the office, we were looking for someone we could interact with in that particular setting. On more than a business level.
Not that we were solely willing to hire based on that. We had several positions we could fill and should the right person stumble upon us, we weren’t opposed to finding them a spot.
“According to Kristen,” Landon said, “she’s a natural submissive.”
“I got that just by talking to her,” Ben noted.
Hell, I got it just by looking at her.
“Me, too,” Justin confirmed. “How long has Kristen known her?”
“A couple of years,” Landon supplied.
“Are they close?” Ben asked.
I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, but we didn’t interrogate Kristen about her friend. She mentioned that she knew someone who was right up our alley and she just so happened to be single and looking for a job. It seemed appropriate to have her nudge the girl in our direction.”
Justin glanced between the three of us. “As with the others, we’re going to have to give it some time, get to know her a little. Feel her out before we take the next steps.”
“First and foremost,” I said, drawing all eyes to me, “she has to be able to handle the responsibilities. Unlike the last woman you hired”—I glared over at Justin—“who didn’t know how to properly answer a telephone.”
“Or the one before that,” Landon added, “who didn’t know what email was.”
“Regardless of our intentions,” I continued, “we need someone who’s competent in the office. I’m not willing to take anything less.”
Justin rolled his eyes. “Point taken.”
“Did anyone bother to ask her why she left her previous jobs?” Ben questioned. “Because she has an extensive list.”
That she did.
I looked at each man in turn. No one said anything. Appeared as though we’d all been too tongue-tied to really find out the pertinent information. Not that anyone could blame us. Personally, I’d been quite taken by the girl. She was probably the most stunning woman I’d laid eyes on in a really long time. And yes, she had a sweet innocence about her that I’d instantly homed in on. I’d known as soon as I saw her that she would fit in here perfectly.
“Well, I found it interesting that she didn’t ask about the job requirements,” Landon said, smirking.
Ben grinned. “No, she definitely did not.”
I cleared my throat and moved to get to my feet. “Well, I say we give her a month, see how she does. We’ll reconvene after she’s been here for a week to discuss where we’re at. Unless something comes up that needs to be discussed before then.”
Justin stood. “I’m good with that.”
Ben and Landon both agreed.
Finally, we were going to get down to real business.
Coffee.
I needed caffeine before I dealt with anything else today.
Unfortunately, since we still lacked a secretary, I would have to make it myself.
Four
AFTER THE MOST UNCONVENTIONAL INTERVIEW I’d been on to date, I headed for the one place that would soothe my anxiety. The mall was my home away from home. Granted, I spent most of my time not buying anything because extra spending money was one of those fictional things I only read about in books, but still. It was nice to be back.
When I parked, I shot a quick text to Kristen, letting her know they had offered me the position and that I started tomorrow. She responded with a smiley face emoji and asked me to meet her for drinks tonight. I automatically agreed, excited to find out how she knew these men.
Unfortunately, that was the easy part. Now I had one thing left to do before I went inside.
I pulled up my contact list and hit the call button.
“I got the job!” I told my mother, cell phone pressed to my ear.
“What job is this?” she asked, her tone calm, casual. Slightly uninterested.
I was excited; she was not. The story of my life.
