Entry-Level Mistress - By Sabrina Darby Page 0,32

to keep the irritation out of my voice. The petulant part of me wanted attention. Was frustrated at coming in second to a stack of papers. And yet, it was daytime and we were at work and as much as it felt like a real relationship, it likely wasn’t. “I said, I wouldn’t be coming over tonight because I have a party but that you are welcome to join me.”

“Why don’t you come by after your party?” he suggested. “I’ll need to work late anyway. I want to give this kid a decision tomorrow.”

Despite my disappointment, despite my frustration, I was curious. “What kid?”

He looked up again, studied me as if he were weighing something carefully in his mind. In the growing silence I realized that he was wondering how much he could trust me. Realized that whatever he was working on could be so secret that no one, not even Lance or any of Daniel’s other top-level staff, knew anything about it. Why share that information with the daughter of the man he hated most in the world? Especially when Daniel had to know I resented him for hurting my father.

I did still resent him, didn’t I?

I perched on the edge of his table, waiting for him to make up his mind. Stared at my hands in my lap, studiously avoiding any look at the file still open in front of him. When he did finally speak, his words came abruptly, low and measured. I focused on his face, on his eyes.

“My assistant, Janine. Her nephew is a student at MIT. Has a revolutionary idea for making space travel more affordable and manageable. It’s the sort of thing NASA and the space industry should be jumping on but thanks to Janine I have a chance to beat everyone out. With the right offer. The kid’s not naive. He knows what he has.”

I felt petty for being irritated about the release party. It was a big thing for that band but what Daniel was talking about—

“If it’s this amazing, why haven’t you made an offer yet?”

He leaned back in his chair, templed his hands against his mouth. He was staring at me, or rather through me but in my general direction. I’d seen him like that before, deep in thought. Then his gaze snapped to me.

“The reason Marketing is floundering right now?” He raised his eyebrows meaningfully. I could only nod in agreement. “The reason you have your numerous meetings and nothing ever seems to get done is that your department is the communication wing of the company. We can’t go through a redesign when there is no new vision, no new direction.”

“And you’re not sure what direction you want to go.”

He nodded.

“I get involved in the space industry, it’s a whole different beast. New suppliers, new factories, new competitors. And what about the old operations? If I keep them, Hartmann Enterprises will expand. Can Hartmann Enterprises expand? Do I want to devote myself to doing that? Or do I want to sell?”

I understood suddenly just what crossroads he was at. At thirty-one and successful, with his partners retiring around him, Daniel knew he could do the same. Would I ever be so successful that I’d have to make a choice like this? A decision where other people’s jobs were at stake?

“Are there any other choices?”

“Like what?” He seemed interested, curious, and the attention encouraged me.

“Like selling and not starting a new company?”

He laughed, and the mirth reached his eyes. I couldn’t help admiring him physically, and wishing, despite the seriousness of our conversation, that I could curl up in his lap. Or maybe it was that the intensity of it was turning me on again. His brain was as hot as his body.

“You think I’d be happy living an idle life, visiting friends on their yachts?”

I laughed. No way. Daniel Hartmann worked hard and played hard.

But I was devil’s advocate here.

“Are there any other investment possibilities? Why take such a huge leap into another industry?”

He nodded again, but as he looked away the excitement seemed to dim from his face and I knew then the decision had been made, even if he hadn’t realized it yet.

“He’s a lucky kid,” I said, feeling a little bit of the surge of energy that Daniel must get planning his new direction.

Daniel’s eyes flickered up to mine. “He’s only a year younger than you.”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to do with that, how to reassure us that what we were doing