Taking Heart: Men on a Mission Book 3 Read online

  Brilliant, light green eyes. Too much eye-liner for my liking. Flawless skin and full lips, but a lot of lipstick too.

  Never did like too much makeup on a girl, especially one who so obviously doesn’t need it.

  Another thing I can’t help but notice is how she fills out the front of that severe business suit.

  “Sorry to have kept you waiting,” I say, stepping back as I gesture for her to follow me into my office. “It’s been a crazy time around here. I didn’t get your name?”

  She comes forward, her face serious. “Heart Flannigan. You’re Kyle Ross?” Sweet voice, yet professional and composed.

  “Yes.” I hold my hand out and she takes it, the briefest touch. She doesn’t smile though, not even one of those fake ones.

  “I’m sorry, what was your first name again? I didn’t quite catch it.” I turn to head back to my office, expecting her to follow.

  Only to get halfway down the hallway and realize she’s not behind me.

  She’s still standing there, looking at me. Exasperated.

  Bewildered, in my head I re-wind what I just said to see if I fucked up.

  No, don’t think so.

  Frowning, I open my mouth to say something, but I don’t get a chance.

  “Heart,” she says. “My name is Heart, as in, the organ that pumps blood. It’s, y’know, the first line on my resume.”

  Oh, sarcasm, right off the bat. Way to start off a job interview, young lady, I think to myself.

  But it makes me snap to attention, that’s for sure.

  “Pardon? I…”

  Adjusting the laptop strap on her shoulder, she interrupts me: “Mr. Ross, my time is just as valuable to me as yours is to you. I’ve been waiting for two hours to meet with you. I have to be honest with you. I’m not impressed.”

  I stand stock-still and stare at her. Wha…? Wow. That was…pretty fucking direct.

  No one has ever said that to me.

  I’m not impressed. Sheesh.

  Her gaze never wavers, those green eyes taking me in.

  Well, shit. This is something new right here.

  But…she does have a point.

  And she’s Nancy’s pick…and I really need help.

  Taking a deep breath, I start again.

  “I…look, I did say I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. My assistant has been taken ill and this is roll-out day for Bilt, our new software.”

  “I know.” She frowns at me like I’m stupid, taking me aback again. “My aunt practically ordered me to come see you. I said I would, as a favor to her, but big corporations aren’t my preferred work environment. Especially since I have to wear this…” With her hand, she gestures at herself. “…get up. It’s hot and scratchy as hell, if you wanna know the truth.”

  Drawing a complete blank, I blink at her. “I…huh? What do you mean, your aunt ordered you to come see me?”

  “Yes. She didn’t tell you?”

  First she tells me she’s not impressed with me, then she looks at me like I’m an idiot, and now, she’s speaking gibberish.

  She’s beautiful and ballsy and she’s got my attention, I’ll give her that.

  But what the fuck is she talking about?

  I open my hands. “You’ve lost me completely.”

  Those green eyes look puzzled and the frown deepens. “My aunt…you know, your assistant?”

  “Oh! She…Nancy? Nancy is your aunt?”

  “Yes. She said filling in for her would be well worth my time.” The tone of her voice says she finds this rather doubtful.

  “Ahhh…okay.” I rub my chin, trying to recall exactly what Nancy told me. “She…she said she had a hand-picked candidate. She didn’t mention you were related.”

  “Ohhhh… shit. Well, that’s strange. Um, sorry you weren’t informed.” She gives me a big-eyed look, then she bites her lip, chewing some of the lipstick off as she does.

  My mouth twitches but I manage not to smile.

  “Ah…no, no, it’s okay. I think I see what’s going on here. She said she was lining up the best assistant in Toronto. Heh.”

  Pause, those green eyes sizing me up. “Well she wasn’t shining you on just because I’m her niece. I am extremely good at what I do. I take temp jobs to pay my way through night school. However…I try to avoid doing the corporate thing, as I said. Er, no offense.” She cuts her eyes around the office in a not-so-flattering way.

  This girl’s a bit on the haughty side, as they used to say.

  But it’s kind of…I dunno…sexy. Challenging. Like, Katherine Hepburn in her heyday.

  Keeping my poker-face on, I hold my hands up. “Nope, not doubting your skills. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

  She nods, adjusting the laptop strap again.

  Putting my hands in my pockets, I look at her for a moment, thinking. Then, I say, “Listen. I want to tell you…we…all of us here, but especially me…we were all devastated about what happened to Nancy.”

  The expression on her lovely face softens. “Thank you. She did say you were in to see her in the hospital. I assumed she’d told you about me then. In any case, we appreciate you taking the time to visit her, very much. And it means a lot to Nancy.”

  She smiles, coming towards me now.

  “I couldn’t not visit her,” I reply, running my hand over my head. “Around here, we call her Miss Moneypenny, after M’s secretary from the old James Bond movies.”

  That earns me another smile, this one brief, but so broad that her eyes almost disappear behind her full cheekbones. Wow! Stunning smile. “Oh, Moneypenny! Lois Maxwell played that character in the original Bond films,” she says, her eyes alight. “She was a Canadian actress, did you know that?”

  “Yes! She had a column in the Toronto Sun newspaper, too, for a while. That was a bit before my time, though.”

  “Well, so were all those movies. I love them, though!”

  “Yeah? Me too.” I nod, giving her a small smile. “Anyway, I want you to know that all of us here are pulling for your aunt. She means a lot to us.”

  I lead her down the hall towards my office and now, she follows willingly.

  “That’s very kind of you. Yes, we were so worried about her. I wonder…maybe she’s still somewhat confused. Otherwise, I don’t know why she wouldn’t have told you about me.”

  “Could be short-term memory loss,” I reply. “But, as I’m sure you know, the doc had good news when I was there last so, let’s keep our fingers crossed.”

  “Definitely! I can’t imagine life without her,” Heart says.

  “Me neither.” I say it so she knows I mean it and she rewards me with another smile.

  Gesturing for her to take a seat in one of the plush chairs in front of my desk, I find myself seized with a sudden wish that we could be chatting in some other setting than a “corporate environment”, as Heart so aptly put it.

  She watches me go around the desk to take my own seat. “Um, Mr. Ross? I’m sorry if I was rude back there. I do hate to wait for people and, Aunt Nancy made it sound like you knew I’d be coming and that it was all set up. ”

  “I did know someone was coming, yes. Just, not that it was you. I mean, not that it was her niece.“ Chuckling, I say, “For a minute there, I was starting to feel like I was in an old “Who’s on First?” routine.” Plucking a pen from the holder on my desk, I look at her with a raised eyebrow to see if she knows the reference.

  “Abbot and Costello.” She returns my raised eyebrow, then adds a small smile.

  “You know them, too? You are well-versed in the old stuff, aren’t you?”

  “My mom and I used to stay up late on weekends and watch old shows on cable.”

  “Very cool. So, Miss…hey, do you mind if I call you Heart? Very unusual name, by the way. I like it.”

  “Thank you. Sure, you can call me Heart… if I can call you Kyle.”

  “Of course. Alright, so, let’s get the formalities over with. Heart, I have to admit, I don’t usually do
interviews anymore. Especially for admin people. That’s Nancy’s job.”

  “Okay?” With both hands, she pulls on the hem of her pin-striped jacket.

  “Okay…well, I’m saying that I’m not even sure what to ask you, to be totally honest.”

  She squints her eyes at me while tilting her jaw comically. Ah, another glimmer of a sense of humor? “Usually you’d want to see a resume. Aunt Nan said she emailed you mine, but I have a paper copy if you’d like to see it.”

  Not too sure what to make of this girl. Very hot, definitely. And she can be cute, with that face she made, but that severe hair, outfit and demeanor signal a serious person.

  Yet, there’s that smile…and the way she keeps tugging on that jacket.

  “Sure, thanks.”

  She opens her laptop bag, locates a brown letter-sized envelope and offers it to me.

  I take it from her. “I do remember Nancy saying she had a niece. But for some reason, I thought she…you…were a kid.”

  “Well, I used to be,” she says, eyes twinkling.

  “Right, right. Time flies, as they say. Okay, let me just take a look at this.”

  A quick check of her resume shows some very impressive credentials for someone so young.

  “This looks pretty good,” I say. “You went to U of T, business admin…good, good…minored in psychology, wow! Proficient with Mac and PC, and all of their products…? Excellent…DOS too? Wow, that’s going back a ways.” I look up at her. “Are you an aficionado of all things retro or something?”

  “Yeah, you could say so. My mom got me into the old movies and TV shows. But she’s a tech dinosaur. It’s Aunt Nan who taught me computer stuff when she started to learn herself.”

  “Nancy told me she was a late bloomer where tech is concerned but she took to it well. It certainly shows in her skills.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t understand any of that until I got older. All I knew was, Nan was the cool Auntie who bought me toys and tech gadgets. Tamagotchi, GameBoy, video games and all that.” She flashes me another heart-melting grin. “Professionally, I’m fluent in most software and pretty much any digital platform. Or, I can learn it very quickly.”

  She pulls distractedly on the hem of the jacket again.

  I notice something else on her resume. “You’re taking graphic design at night school?”

  “Yes. I plan to have my own sign shop some day.”

  “Interesting.” I twirl my pen through my fingers thoughtfully. “Certainly, not your typical stuffy corporate environment.”

  “Not at all. I’d make sure of it. I’d rather be temping for something along those lines but…the money here is very good. And Aunt Nan said I’d be doing her a favor.” Tug, tug, on the hem of her jacket. “I’d do about anything for Nance.”

  I nod, saying, “I know the feeling. I’m very fond of her myself.”

  She meets my gaze and smiles softly. “She seems to think highly of you as well.”

  There’s that pang in my chest again. But I cover it with a nod and another smile. “I’m curious, Heart. What kind of sign shop do you want to have someday?”

  “Mainly small signs and decals, you know. Industrial and commercial. Lots of repeat business there. I can make money, have fun and use my skills instead of just helping someone else get rich.” Her eyes widen. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  “Nah, no worries. I agree with you. This is a very well-paid and interesting job, but there’s nothing like success on your own terms.”

  She nods. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Well, I think you’re what they used to call a shoe-in, Heart. The job’s yours if you want it.”

  “Wouldn’t want to disappoint Aunt Nancy,” she says. Then, lowering her voice into a very passable Lauren Bacall impression, she adds, “So I guess you better pencil me in.”

  Chapter Three

  Heart

  I’m getting pretty steamed about being made to wait so long to meet with Nancy’s boss.

  So steamed, I’m ready to turn and walk away. Aunt Nancy means the world to me but I had my doubts about taking over her job as a temp gig in the first place. And I didn’t expect to have to stand up for myself before I even got a foot in the door.

  Except…

  Once I start talking to Kyle Ross, my annoyance evaporates. He’s gorgeous, for one thing, so that kind of throws me.

  I get vibes from people sometimes. And right away, I get a distracted, vulnerable vibe from him. It’s immediately endearing, which throws me even more.

  Everything about him is distracting as hell.

  From his blond shock of hair, to his chiseled jawline; broad shoulders to his tapered waist, down to the way his butt fills out his pants as he walks…I mean, holy shit.

  Wow.

  And those eyes! What an interesting color. A very light brown. You don’t usually see blonde hair paired with brown eyes like that.

  This dude is way more attractive than I was expecting.

  Aunt Nancy certainly never mentioned how hot her boss is.

  Maybe she’s too old to notice? Then again, we never did get into much discussion about men in terms of love and romance, though. That was always Mom’s thing.

  Me and Nancy were more like tech buddies than girlfriend-types. Not that I’m complaining. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

  And of course, since her stroke, talking about who’s hot and who’s not is hardly topmost in her mind.

  No, naturally she’s only worried about her job and what’s going on at work.

  She’s always been dedicated like that, always had that admirable work ethic. So it’s not really a big shock that she wants me to fill in for her.

  She knows how good I am.

  And I know that she asked me to do this so that she can focus on recovering in peace.

  So…how could I say no?

  Now, interview over, I’m officially hired and sitting at Nancy’s desk, making myself familiar with everything here.

  “Do you think you’ll need help with anything?” Kyle’s kind-of hovering over me at the desk. “Need me to explain anything? I could sit down with you for a bit if you like.”

  I hate when people hover over me when I’m trying to work. And Kyle…this vibe and how attractive he is…dammit! He’s making me extra nervous.

  “Nope. Thanks, but I’m good. There’s a lot of work here, but it’s all standard stuff.”

  “Oh? You can handle all this?”

  “Sure,” I say. “The bulk of it is built up admin tasks, by the look of it.”

  “Right, yes,” he says. Is that a tinge of disappointment in his eyes? Nah, can’t be, why would he be disappointed that I don’t need help or training?”

  “No worries, Kyle,” I say, smiling. “I work better alone anyway. I’ll need a few days but I’ll get it under control.”

  “Okay, great,” he says, backing away. “I’ll leave you to it.” And off he goes back down the hall to his office.

  Getting busy, I can see there’ll be no problem having it running smoothly for Aunt Nancy’s return, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.

  Even as I dig into the backlog, in the back of my mind I’m thinking about this whole situation.

  But most especially, my temporary new boss.

  Kyle Ross. A name I’ve heard but never had reason to give much thought to, until now.

  Nan’s talked about Kyle over the years, of course. Spoke well of him, although she did say he was a typical businessman.

  And we all know what they’re like. Alpha. Proud and stubborn. Driven.

  Workaholics.

  She said he works too much and seems lonely at times.

  Decent, respectable, rich…but lonely.

  Just goes to show you, money and success isn’t everything.

  Again, I feel that tinge of worry that Nance forgot to tell him that I’m related to her, but like Kyle said, it’s probably a short-term symptom of her stroke.

&nb
sp; Just one more surprise in a month full of surprises.

  Most surprising maybe, is how sincere Kyle seems to be in his concern for my aunt. And how he seems kind of knocked off track by this turn of events.

  Maybe if it’s because he’s so alpha, so used to being in control.

  When something happens that a Type A personality can’t control, it tends to freak them out.

  He looks fine and well put-together on the surface, but…yeah. I definitely get a mixed vibe from him.

  He said all the employees are affected by Nance’s stroke, but it seemed like there’s more going on with him personally. Internal stuff of some kind.

  Not that it’s my business, of course, but as I sort through and prioritize emails about overdue reports, I also keep getting a feeling of almost…well, pity for him.

  Like he could use a friend.

  Driven, successful men have one thing they all seem to have in common: They lack regular, down-to-earth people around them. They seem to either be surrounded by yes-men or hot women, all kissing ass and being fake in order to get what they want from the guy. Users, fakers and poseurs.

  Successful people attract bad people like flies to…well, that’s a bad analogy but yeah. Goes with the territory.

  Bottom line is, success seems to attract superficial and inauthentic relationships, one way or another.

  Well. None of it’s my problem and I’ll mind my business but I already have no doubt that he needs to relax and learn to let go, another thing alpha dudes aren’t so good at.

  Better stop thinking about things that I’m not getting paid to think about and worry about getting this pile of work sorted out.

  * * *

  That night after work, I head out to my local second hand clothing shop, a huge emporium with racks and racks of decent items in every size, style and color imaginable.

  I go straight to the office attire section and start looking.

  Normally, for work, I wear jeans or leggings under a long shirt and call it good.

  But now, I feel I need to look more professional. I just need a few things. No need to break the budget for a temp gig after all.

  Very aware that I’m representing Aunt Nancy, I feel the need to appear more…grown up and put-together.