Dirty Talk - Julie Kriss Page 0,1
say? “But I think you should look at our record of success. I sent you a portfolio of testimonials from a dozen Fortune 500 companies, and all of them say—”
“My executive assistant,” Catharine said as if I hadn’t even spoken, “will, among other duties, accompany me to script and set meetings. It means that she will be in contact with some of the most famous actors in the business. I need an assistant I can trust not to be tempted to act out of line.”
Cold sweat was trickling down the back of my neck, and I kept my arms to my sides because I had the suspicion there were sweat marks in the arm holes of my sleeveless sheath dress. “If you’d prefer, I can find you an assistant of a more mature age. Or a man.”
Catharine held up one hand, which had a series of beautiful one-of-a-kind rings on it. She was a great dresser and, I thought, an interesting woman. The kind of woman who would be cool to know if she wasn’t currently raking me over white-hot coals. “I am not hiring a man,” she said with finality. “For God’s sake, you think any man can keep it in his pants in Hollywood? Gay or straight, not a single one of them can manage it. And my assistant is a reflection of me. I’m way over the hill in Hollywood terms, but no one minds, because I have the money. But my assistant should be impressive.”
Impressive. Young and attractive, female, and immune to Hollywood sex appeal. Where was I supposed to find this unicorn? “How about a lesbian?” I asked. It was a callous question, and any HR department would tear me limb from limb, but I was desperate. I didn’t have any lesbians that I knew of in my current recruits, but if I had to, I’d scour the fucking earth for one.
“I don’t care who my assistant sleeps with on her own time,” Catharine said. “I want one of your recruits, Emma. But this report says I can’t trust them the way you say I can.”
“You can trust my recruits,” I said. “They go through a complete background screening before I even take them on. Then they take IQ and personality tests. If they pass those, I put them through training and job shadowing for months. Less than ten percent of the people who apply to Executive Ranks ever make the cut.”
Was I begging? Maybe I was. Executive Ranks was my baby—me, Emma Riley, a girl who came from nothing and climbed her way up in the world, lonely step by lonely step. I’d built my baby from nothing but a website URL, a five-thousand-dollar loan, and an unbeatable willingness to make something of myself. I was twenty-one at the time. Now I was thirty-one, I had recruits in some of America’s biggest businesses, and I had no life outside of this business.
No friends, no boyfriend, no social life, no children—not a fucking thing. Just this.
Catharine Knowles leaned back in her chair. “Emma,” she said, “I’ll be honest. I need someone, and Executive Ranks was my first choice. Your reputation is that you’re a bright young CEO on the rise who runs a tight ship. But these reports show the cracks in the foundation.” She motioned to the papers in front of her. “There seem to be a lot of cracks.”
“There are no cracks,” I said, a notch louder than I needed to. I pinched the bridge of my nose and got myself under control. “I can handle this. I can find someone for you. Just let me take care of it. You’ll see what I can do.”
Catharine shrugged. She slid her papers across the table to me. “I’m willing to see what you can do, if that’s what you want. But I’m not signing a contract until I’m satisfied.”
I got it. Again, she was only doing what I would do in her position. But it still burned, because reputation was everything in my business. If word got around that my executive assistants were too horny for their own good, I could kiss my hard-won business goodbye. “How confidential are these findings?” I asked, picking up the papers and putting them in my Italian leather bag.
“No one has seen those except me and my investigator,” Catharine said. “I run a tight ship.”
Unlike me. She didn’t say it, but her meaning was crystal clear. There seem to be a lot of cracks.
I thanked her and walked