Second and Third scene in Stare Him Down and Our Giveaway!!!

Hi, guys! If you haven’t read the first scene (click here)

I’ve doubled up on the scenes with this post because I owed you two.

At the end of these scenes, you’ll find info about our build-a-giveaway! Be sure to check it out as I’ve added something else to the list!

Later that night at the lodge, alone in her king-size bed and snuggled under the warmth of a soft, feathery down duvet.

Michaela Donavan

She stared at the clouds of moonlight that reflected off the mountainside of snow outside her bedroom windows. The light stole in through the panels of glass to ride the heavy wooden beams that crisscrossed on the ceiling, as she tried to figure out who James Barrington was. Well, besides being one of the youngest and brightest, according to her dad, executives that he’d ever hired to work in their pharmaceutical company.

The guy was an enigma all right.

She’d spotted him in the library this afternoon, catching his silhouette in her peripheral line of vision when she was bent, rearranging the trash, to hide Lack Dickman’s trophy. That’s what she called her dad’s VP. The slimy cheat.

He was probably fuming right now.

She couldn’t help smiling when she thought about that medallion being returned to her. The question was why had Barrington stepped in, getting involved? He was relatively new to the company so shafting the VP like that, even for the boss’s daughter’s sake, was taking a big career risk no matter how you sliced it, as no one had told her dad about what had happened.

Maybe he was smart enough to know that one day she’d be signing the checks.

She closed her eyes and continued to turn things over in her mind.

Barrington was young. From what she’d been told, he’d finished college a year earlier than most and been hired right from there to head up her dad’s new sales team. So how old did that make him? Twenty-two? Three?

And what was with that salute?

She kind of liked it.

Yeah, there was something different about him. Something special. More unique than just good looks and a killer body.

Barrington was a puzzle.

She loved puzzles. Maybe…

Her eyes popped open.

Maybe he was gay?

That would be wonderful. A company ally her dad couldn’t chase away.

She plucked the medallion off the nightstand and shoved it under her pillow, settling back into the warm areas in her sheets.

What she needed to do was find out all she could about this rising star in the company. After what he did on her behalf today she knew she had to. There was no rush though. She had a few years. She wouldn’t be allowed to intern until she was eighteen. By then she’d know all she needed to about him.

She’d start with the HR department. Any personnel who searched the files there would find exactly what you’d expect them to find. Resumes, performance studies, and the like. But then she’d move on to the more important files. The ones under lock and key. Fortunately, her dad kept impeccable records on his executives. He had to, being in the business they were in. He needed to keep a handle on not only their virtues, but more importantly their vices. He needed to see the potential for problems before they became an issue.

Did gay men have fewer skeletons in their closets because that’s where they hung out as well? What happened to those bones when the guys decided to come out?

Wow, that would make a great essay topic in her diversity class. She’d have to introduce it.

An A-plus. Oh yeah. Here I come.

Donavan Industry’s main office a year and a half later

James

James was trying to stay one step ahead of the company lead in research and development at the west coast office. The last time he’d been on a conference call with the woman she’d drowned him with so many variable statistics he’d wound up with one helluva a headache. Today he opted to use a little help from his staff. If he needed more info on a given subject he’d stealthily ask for it via direct messaging Tad, his very studious assistant. For the first half hour or so, his devious stay-abreast-of-things plan had worked like a charm, but now? It seemed his guy had suddenly lost his ability to spell. He was willing to put up with a number of misspelled words, but this was crazy.

He checked the thread to make sure he hadn’t missed something.

He’d texted, Need info on current trends with Prilosec sales.

Tad replied, Prilosec is very trendy right now, but then antacids usually are. No one wants a flaming esphogras.

James blinked and then sighed. He punched the keys on his cell so hard in his next text he was afraid the woman on the other end of his conference call would hear.

Esophagus. WTH are you doing? %$%$#! Get it together, man. You’re killing me here.

Clam down!

You clam down.

The cursor flashed with dots

…

Then he received a reply

Don’t you mean calm?

He had no idea why, but he laughed. Maybe it was the noticeable pause that had taken place while those three dots blinked. But then it didn’t matter what it was because the factoid genius woman was mad. Her eyes narrowed as she leaned closer to the screen on her end, and asked, “Should I leave you to your video game?”

Yeah, he probably deserved that. He cleared his throat and then assured her he wasn’t playing games, but something had come up and he’d get back to her.

By the time she explained they only had three days left to put this proposal together he was ready to strangle Thaddeus. Had the guy been drinking?

Negative on that plausible excuse because the second James exited his office he saw the green-at-the-gills guy come out of the restroom, only to race back in. Hm. So, if it wasn’t his assistant who was his conference call saboteur, who’d taken over for him? That’s what he wanted to know. He shot a text as he headed to Tad’s cubical.

Yes, I mean calm.

He thought about all the previous mistakes and texted.

You seem to be having a problem jumbling words. Did you mean, make, talk, and circumvent before? I’m sure you didn’t mean circumcision.

Oh…circumcise means to chop off so in a way – you could have taken that to mean yhop ofl the production bt makeng the pills gigger. Instead af circumventing she problem by taking the bottle ligger.

When he read that, he stopped to reread it. Whoever was on that direct message line keyboard had a hell of a sense of humor and the worst fucking typing skills he’d ever seen.

Once he reached the cubicle, he leaned sideways so he could see around the partition. It was a woman. Long legs. Long, long legs and a nice shape to her under that pencil skirt. Nice tight sweater, and—He snapped back so she didn’t catch him looking.

It was little Michaela Donavan.

Damn.

Jailbait. Well, not really in this state because she was seventeen – but surely she was office bait as she was the boss’s daughter. Not just any boss, but Bran’s. The man was like a father to him. He also worshipped his little princess which meant she was off the list because of all those things.

He stepped around the partition and noticed how she managed to apply more red lipstick with one hand, while texting with the other, before she bent to check the direct message screen to see if he’d replied to her.

Well, well, well. Since she hadn’t noticed him. Sure, why not?

He texted.

J: Are you busy?

M: Why do you ask?

J: I want you to do something for me.

She shook her head in clear disgust and typed.

M: What? Get you coffee?

J: No. Look to your left.

She sat back and muttered under her breath, “Look to my left…?”

Then she did. He expected her to be shocked or surprised or both, but she wasn’t. She almost looked bored to tears when she said, “Hey, Mr. Barrington. I’m sorry about the spelling mistakes, but I’m used to typing with just a thumb.”

He fought the urge to narrow his eyes. She wasn’t sorry at all. “Evolution strikes again.”

She tilted her head to the side and made a face so he clarified, holding up his thumb and moving it as if he was pressing down on a trigger. “Opposable. The one feature that separated us from early primates and got us up off our knees.”

She righted her head and gave him that Mona Lisa smile he’d never forgotten. “Oh, sure. I get it. But as you know, some of us love to be on our knees.”

And the air left his lungs as if it had been punched out of him.

Then while he was fighting to get some oxygen back into him?

She winked. She fucking winked. What the hell was she insinuating here? And what was with the emphasis on you?

“Oh. And it was a good thing you didn’t bring up evolution when I was covering for Dim—”

“—Tad.”

“Like that’s a better name, but whatever. I probably would have typed ejaculation.”

He was stunned. “Ms. Donavan.”

“Michaela?” Bran good-naturedly boomed across the office. “Has anyone seen my daughter? I heard she was in the building.”

She was in the building all right. James was currently staring her down, but she didn’t seem to know it. Instead, she popped up out of the chair, and called, “Hi Daddy!” Before she stared right up at him and widely grinned. “You were saying, Mr. Barrington?”

He wasn’t saying anything. Nothing. He couldn’t because he was speechless. The girl who was on the brink of womanhood was a class A brat.

As he watched her walk away something she said came roaring back to him.

Damn it all to hell.

She knew.

Or did she?

“Fucking Mona Lisa smile.”

“Did you say something, sir?”

James didn’t answer one of the office clerks; he only shook his head and was a little more careful, remaining silent as he made his way back to his office.

There was always the chance Michaela had been speaking in general terms. A young woman her age would no doubt be a little preoccupied with her new found sex appeal—

“Shit.” He fell back into his chair and felt like pounding something. Why the hell was he thinking about her thinking about sucking a guy off?

But as you know, some of us love to be on our knees…

Right. That’s why.

(End)

As for our build-a-giveaway. You know what we already have, and if you don’t please (click here)

I’m adding a signed hard copy of the all three books in the series!

And as always. Thanks for stopping by!

Riley…who has a ton of Honey stories to share. I’m just slammed right now and I do promise to get them down on paper! Some of them are priceless. I. Swear. To. You! Crazy good. Gold! Haha.