My Boss's Boss: A Steamy Older Man Younger Woman Romance Page 3

  “And objectively speaking, how many of those qualities do you think John has? Don’t answer aloud,” Aiden said as I started to object. “Just think about it.”

  And I did. Mr. Miller was some of those things. Knowledgable about his own store—no one knew it better. But perhaps not knowledgable about business practices outside of Fayetteville. And he was confident, but I wouldn’t necessarily say driven. “He inspires loyalty by having integrity. And passion.”

  “And do you think that’s enough?”

  I wanted to say yes. I really did. But instead I sighed. “Obviously not if Triple H bought us out.”

  He laughed at that. “We’ve been called worse. John fascinates me, though. I’ve seen very smart men—and women—who went to the best schools and had the best education money can buy who can’t inspire even a quarter of the loyalty that your boss does.”

  That pleased me. I knew Mr. Miller wasn’t perfect, but he was a good man. And he’d done well by this store that his father had started. No one was perfect, myself included. For example, if I were perfect, I wouldn’t be gazing at the handsome man sitting next to me and wondering what it would be like to run my hand over his thick biceps, clearly visible even through the white shirt. Or thinking about if his five o’clock shadow would tickle if he kissed me. Maybe I should have interviewed Mr. Miller after all—it would have been far easier to keep my mind on the topic at hand.

  “What kind of leader do you think you are?”

  I blinked at him for a moment in surprise. I thought he’d been going to say “what kind of leader do you think you’ll be.”

  He noted my reaction and raised an eyebrow me. “What, do you think that because you’re young and cute and look great in green tights that you’re not a leader?”

  My face flushed at his words, and warmth spread through my body… reactions that had nothing to do with him calling me a leader and everything to do with him calling me cute. He chuckled at the expression on my face. “You were the assistant manager in all but name. That makes you a leader. You run most of the day-to-day aspects of the store.”

  I nodded.

  “What are your plans for after you get your MBA?”

  “Plans? To continue here, of course.” His odd question jolted me out of the spell his earlier words had put me in.

  “Don’t you think that’s aiming a little low?”

  “This is a great store. And a great town,” I said, bristling.

  “Not arguing with either. But you’re already a leader in the store. Do you really want to peak at twenty-three? Don’t you want to challenge yourself? See how much further you can go?”

  “But Mr. Miller—”

  “Is a great man,” Aiden finished. “But if you stay here, this is as far as your career gets.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” I demanded though his words had planted doubt in my head.

  “What’s wrong is you’re letting your feelings get in the way of your career.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Yesterday, when you and John spoke out against the new set-up for the deli counter, you were acting from feelings.”

  He was leaning toward me now, his forearm resting on the table, his hand inches from mine. “I—I don’t have any feelings about the deli counter,” I protested, but my mind was wondering what it would be like if his long fingers suddenly linked with mine.

  Aiden chuckled. His easy grin was mesmerizing up close. “Your feelings were for John. He didn’t like the changes, so you didn’t either. Out of loyalty. Not because it wasn’t a good idea.”

  “So? It’s not going to make that much of a difference.”

  “Not on its own. But it’ll make things run more effectively, and shouldn’t that be the goal? You’re going to do a lot better in the business world if you think with your brain, not your heart.”

  I wasn’t ready to admit the truth in his words, so I fought back. “Do you always think with your brain instead of other body parts?” As soon as the words slipped out of my mouth, I realized how bad they sounded. Embarrassed, I couldn’t meet his eyes, and my gaze fell down his shirt, past his belt, and then between the his spread legs.

  Desire washed through me but was quickly replaced by mortification. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned my head away.

  Aiden’s low, sexy laugh seemed to enter my body and settle deep down inside me. Then I felt his warm palm on my face, his fingers in my hair and his thumb lightly brushing along my cheek. I froze, sure that his touch was just my imagination.

  When he spoke, his voice was a note or two lower than usual. “It’s safe to open your eyes. Your gaze isn’t pointed at any body part I think with.”

  Slowly, I opened them, seeing the scratched-up white table come into focus. Aiden’s hand was still on my cheek, and when I didn’t move, he fisted a handful of my hair and tugged until I was looking at him. “I have feelings too, you know. But I don’t let them affect my business decisions.”

  Did he mean that he might actually have feelings about… me? I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I knew that his hand in my hair, his face so close to mine was causing my heart-rate to spike.

  “For example,” he said, his voice low and husky, “My first week here, the absolute best part of my day was seeing you in that elf costume. The way that red tunic covered your backside. The way the green tights showcased your thighs. Every time I saw you in that get-up, I imagined picking you up and holding you to my chest… your legs wrapping around my waist… my hands running up under your tunic…

  Oh god. His words were so hypnotic. Such a turn on. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t blink, could only wonder what was going to happen next.

  “But I followed corporate policy,” he said, his voice a whisper that caressed my ear. “I didn’t give into my feelings… until now.”

  Aiden pulled my head toward him as he moved in. Just before his lips met mine, I closed my eyes. I was in shock, I was turned on, I was waiting on pins and needles to feel his mouth on mine. And then I did… for a brief second. Only a second of his warm lips brushing against mine. And then there was a noise and we both jumped back, his hand leaving my hair so fast it felt like my head was going to fall off.

  Blinking as if waking from a dream, I looked up. Mr. Miller stood in the doorway, staring back and forth between Aiden and I. He looked upset, and my heart sank. “You…” he trailed off, staring at me. Finally, he found his voice. “You got him to help you with your assignment?”

  Relief washed through me. He hadn’t seen our almost-kiss! Maybe he’d been looking down when he came in the room. Still, he seemed genuinely hurt. Luckily, Aiden came to the rescue.

  “I believe Emma’s instructor suggested she interview someone whose views varied greatly from her own. You’ve taught her so much, but it never hurts to get a counter-point.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Mr. Miller said, though he still looked a little doubtful. But not suspicious, thank god. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was to hurt him. I’d never do that.

  But I wished so much I was free to get to know Aiden better.

  6

  “The man is the devil.”

  A few days later, Mr. Miller was pacing back and forth in his office. I sat nearby perched on a chair, waiting to hear what was upsetting him this time. Then I’d be dispatched to go talk to Aiden, who was indeed, the devil. As in devilishly handsome. And devilishly sexy. But that probably wasn’t what Mr. Miller was referring to.

  “We can’t do it. I won’t let that happen. The staff—the need to be with their family.”

  At an employee meeting earlier today, Aiden had announced that all HH&H stores would open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving to catch early Black Friday shoppers. The corporate office had already sent all the promotional materials, and Aiden had asked me to make a schedule of which employees would need to work. But then Mr. Miller had told me not to make it.

  “I won’t do it. They said that this would still be my store. My store. And no employe
e at my store is going to miss Thanksgiving dinner.”

  It had shocked me, too. No businesses were open in Fayetteville on Thanksgiving. Sure, we opened at six a.m. on Black Friday itself, but not Thanksgiving. “It’ll be okay. He just doesn’t know how things are done in our town. I’ll talk to him.”

  “No,” Mr. Miller said, his voice suddenly calm. Resolved. “I’ll talk to him myself.”

  “Think of their families,” Mr. Miller said as he stood across the desk from Aiden. Aiden had offered my boss a seat, but he’d refused. So now all three of us were standing around the desk. “They have to be with their families.”

  “Emma can make a schedule that allows everyone the maximum time to enjoy their holiday. If any employee volunteers to work that evening, they can earn overtime pay. And, of course, any staff member who works on Thanksgiving won’t need to work on Christmas Eve.”

  “We close at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve,” Mr. Miller said.

  “Not anymore,” Aiden said, impervious to my boss’s distress. I was alarmed to see how red his face was. A vein bulged in his forehead. He was seriously upset, and suddenly I was more worried about him than about the employees’ holidays.

  “Please sit, Mr. Miller. Lets just talk this through.”

  “Unfortunately, there’s nothing to talk through,” Aiden said..

  “Miller’s has never been open on Thanksgiving,” Mr. Miller said. “We never wanted it to be.”

  “We’ll do everything we can to make sure no employee has to miss too much of the holiday.” Aiden said.

  Mr. Miller finally did sit, and I was glad because he’d seemed a little shaky on his feet.“Mr. Donovan, you may know what’s best in your stores in California, and Florida, and New York. But I know what’s best for stores in Fayetteville. For the people of Fayetteville. No store has ever been open on Thanksgiving Day in this town.”

  “Then our early bird sale should attract a big crowd.”

  “Exactly,” Mr. Miller said. “So now you’re not just taking thirty of my employees away from their families on Thanksgiving, but a couple of hundred shoppers will be leaving their families, too. Because they don’t have a lot to spend on Christmas, and they need these discounts.”

  “Which again, will benefit the store,” Aiden said.

  “But at what cost to the town? If we advertise we’re open on Thanksgiving, then maybe the grocery store will open, too. And then the card shop. And the boutiques. Each year, stores will open earlier and earlier until Thanksgiving is just another day. Nothing special. Np reason to get together with the people you love.”

  Mr. Miller looked at me as he said that. I’d had Thanksgiving dinner with him and his wife Helen every year since my parents had moved away. Blinking away the sudden moisture in my eyes, I looked at Aiden. Surely he couldn’t be that heartless.But before he could speak, Mr. Miller continued. “Those same folks will be out en masse at 6 a.m. on Friday. Doing their Christmas shopping. Spending just as much. This store has always done well on Black Friday. Just give us a chance and you’ll see. This is better for the employees, the customers, and Miller’s Hearth & Home.”

  His use of the official new name of his beloved business seemed to soften something in Aiden’s face. We both knew that Mr. M preferred to still call his store Miller’s.

  I was proud of my boss even though I was worried about the heavy way he was breathing. Mr. Miller’s quiet but impassioned speech seemed to be the polar opposite of Aiden’s insistence about not letting feelings interfere with business decisions. This disagreement was about family and friendship and feelings, but Mr. M. was right. It was also about our town. Our values. And the best business model in the world would fail if it didn’t factor in what made its customers unique.

  “Why don’t you let Emma take you to the break room, John? Maybe get some coffee?” Aiden had apparently noticed the way Mr. Miller was breathing, too.

  “Thank you, I will do that, but first I’d appreciate a response from you.”

  I watched Aiden as he stared at the older man. I hoped that I saw a hint of compassion in those blue eyes. Finally, he sighed. “All right, I’ll talk to them. No promises, though.”

  “Thank you,” Mr. Miller said.

  And as I led him away, I wondered what it might do to Mr. Miller if Aiden couldn’t get HH&H to back down.

  .

  7

  I avoided Aiden the next few days. It wasn’t hard. He was often busy with conference calls up in his office, and the store was gearing up for the holiday season. Though we couldn’t wear elf costumes, Mr. Miller had us preparing to put up the Christmas decorations as soon as Black Friday was over.

  Aiden and Mr. Miller appeared to have reached an uneasy truce. Neither man spoke about the issue of Black Friday, but the flyers that corporate sent, the ones announcing our Thanksgiving hours, had not gone out yet. So maybe that meant that they were going to respect Mr. Miller’s wishes on this.

  Still, it was aggravating not to know. Employees kept asking me if they’d be able to spend the holiday with their families. And I wanted to know for my own planning, too.

  But deep down, I had a more personal reason for wanting to know. I’d almost kissed Aiden. I’d fantasized about him ever since he got here. I needed to know if the guy I’d spent so much time thinking about was a good man or not.

  He made it hard to figure out, too. At times, he’d show his kindness to an employee or customer. The other day, I’d been helping out in the corner of the store reserved for farm and ranch equipment. A customer had had a question about one of the horse bridles we carried. I knew nothing about horses, but before I could go find old Doug who was working that section Aiden had appeared, answered the question, and helped the customer choose which one to buy. Much to my surprise, he’d really sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

  But then just as quickly, he could become Mr. Corporate. When he found out that Mr. Miller let employees set aside items they wanted to buy for Christmas before they had the money, he nixed our unofficial employee layaway plan. Nancy had practically been in tears when she put the doll her granddaughter coveted back on the shelf.

  After that, I was so angry I needed to cool off, so I grabbed a clipboard and went to check the inventory in Storeroom C.

  I let myself in, carefully pushing the doorstop in between the door and the frame so there’d be no danger of it locking behind me. Though the idea had some merit. It was quiet in here. I could barely hear the hustle and bustle from the floor. I loved working retail, but sometimes it was good to find some place quiet for a while.

  After a few minutes of calming deep breaths, I went to work, checking our supplies of higher end liquor, electronics, and jewelry. Not that we sold top of the line items in any of those areas, but the things in this room were more expensive than our usual merchandise.

  I was checking the serial numbers on some video game consoles when I heard my name. And his voice. Didn’t he know I’d come in here to escape him?

  “Hi,” he said.

  I nodded but kept up with my task.

  “So, I see you’ve decided that I’m officially the grinch who stole Christmas.”

  Now I looked up at him. “I was thinking more like Scrooge, but either way.”

  His mouth twitched into a half smile at that, but then he sobered. “It’s not personal. It’s just business.”

  “Tell that to Nancy. She has so many bills and so little money for Christmas presents for her family. By the time she saves up enough money, that doll will likely be sold out.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. But how is it fair that she gets to set that doll aside? Then someone else won’t be able to put it under the tree for their child or grandchild.”

  Damn. He had a point—which was annoying.

  And he didn’t stop there. “Everyone at this store is going through a big change. It’s hard. That’s why they send me out. But you’re the one they know. You’re the one they trust. John’s taking this all too personal
ly. But you—you could be a real asset during this transition period if you’d stop fighting me about everything.”

  “How does it help the employees if I capitulate to all of these changes?”

  “Not all change is bad. My company wouldn’t be doing so well if our policies didn’t work. And I think you know that—or you would if you weren’t so damn loyal to John.”

  I tossed the clipboard on a stack of digital cameras. “I’m loyal to the store. The employees. The customers and this town. Those are four groups your corporation doesn’t seem to care about. Or even know about. One size fits all may work in the clothing section, but it doesn’t work in business.”

  Sweeping past him, I felt my anger grow. One size fits all didn’t even particularly work for clothing. At five foot three, the clothing in the women’s department was almost always too long for me. For some reason this made me even madder. I hit the heavy door with both hands, leaning into it to push it open.

  It didn’t budge. At all. Wincing, I pulled my hands way, rubbing at them.

  And then I looked down. “Umm… where’s the doorstop?”

  8

  “And in all this time, you never got it fixed?”

  “We tried!” I said, after explaining the situation to him. Then he’d insisted on banging on the door for five minutes, even though I told him that never worked. Nor did his phone—there was no reception at the back of the store. He’d sent a text to a buddy of his, asking him to call the store and let them know we were stuck, but I doubted the text went through, either.

  “Was this what you meant when you said that this store was unique? Not a clone of all our other stores? Because I guarantee that none of them have a storeroom that’s a Venus Flytrap. First thing I’m doing when we get out of here is getting the damn door fixed.”

  “Everyone knows not to let it shut behind them,” I said, though it was only partially true. We had signs posted on the door, but at last once a week someone got stuck in here. It wasn’t something I was particularly proud of, but it wasn’t like we had a pile of employee skeletons in here. Someone else always opened it eventually.