Marrying the Billionaire - Macie St. James Page 0,2

the street who paid me every summer to watch their kids. Then they’d go on vacation and I just stayed in the house to take care of the dogs. I kept that job through high school, so I never had to work in a restaurant or store. But caring for kids is hard work.”

She felt like she was blabbering. She probably was. She needed to just say a closing statement and get the heck out of there.

“Justin said you’ve had your work cut out for you since the downsizing.” Nicholas turned to the machine and dropped the pod in, closed the lid, and pressed the button for the strongest cup. “I imagine keeping morale up after something like that is a challenge.”

Charlie closed her eyes and nodded, letting out a big breath. “Yes. It is.”

Her days had been filled with meeting requests from random staff members who didn’t reveal what they wanted until they were behind closed doors. It was almost always concerns related to the layoffs. Questions about raises, worries about retirement plans—all the while secretly trying to get information out of her about possible future cutbacks.

Surprise meetings were not Charlie’s thing. But easing the concerns of the remaining staff members was definitely not her thing.

“You do seem like you’d be a calming influence,” Nicholas said, turning to face her while his coffee dropped into the cup in a steady stream. “I guess that’s an important personality trait in an HR person.”

Great. That again. Charlie had been told that all her life. She had a soft voice and a calm, relaxed demeanor that made people assume she meditated all the time. She’d never meditated. She just looked calm. She didn’t feel that way inside.

“It comes in handy.” She took another step toward the door. “Well, I have to prepare for a meeting this morning. Just pick a desk anywhere out there if you’d like to wait. We do hot-desking here, so most of the employees sit where they want.”

“Where do you sit?”

“I have a desk in the back, near one of the smaller conference rooms.” Why she was explaining this, she had no idea. “HR people have a lot of meetings and…privacy issues.”

Coffee cup in hand, he turned to look at her, eyeing her over the top of it as he took the first sip. “I imagine.”

She felt the need to add more but resisted. For some reason, it seemed like he was inferring from what she’d said that she was the one with privacy issues. There was no reason to think that whatsoever, aside from the fact that it was true.

This man was infuriating. He was not only the most handsome man she’d seen in a while, but he seemed to be able to see right through the façade she’d so carefully crafted. Having someone around who could do that could be dangerous.

Luckily, he wouldn’t be in her life much longer.

2

“I see you met my HR director.”

Nicholas plopped down in the guest chair in his best friend’s office, his second cup of coffee grasped in one hand. He might need a few more to get through what was coming up that morning.

“Charlie.” Nicholas let the word hang out there a moment, savoring it a little. Fascinating woman. He’d had a hard time taking his eyes off her, but it wasn’t just those large, blue eyes and perfectly plump lips. It was her poise. Her calm. Just looking at her made him feel at peace, and he’d always thought of himself as a pretty easygoing guy.

“She doesn’t know about you.” Justin sat forward in his chair as he dropped that bomb on Nicholas. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Charlie hardly acted like she knew who he was when she’d let him in. If Justin had briefed her ahead of time, she would have at least understood why he knew her by name.

“So what does she think is happening?” Nicholas had to ask.

“I thought I’d surprise everyone with an expert speaker.” Justin looked out the glass wall behind Nicholas briefly before responding. “They should all be down there by now. Let’s go.”

Nicholas didn’t join Justin in standing, though. “Wait. Does Charlie think she’s running this meeting?”

That seemed to bring Justin to a stop. He looked around, seemingly confused. “Yeah. I guess. I don’t know.”

That was Justin. He was a great guy, but he tended to be a bit on the all-work-and-no-play side of things. Nicholas, on the other hand, had always been all about play. It annoyed Justin that Nicholas