Temporary To Tempted. Jessica Lemmon

his beer bottle, delaying. The kissing and fingers in her hair were an impossibility but his curiosity to watch her reaction still burned. He was trying to decide what she would do when he said no. Would she slap him or scream at him or run from the bar?

      “Yes, now,” she said through her teeth.

      Damn. Maybe he could convince her to stick around after he shot her down.

      “I can’t help you out, Strawberry. I don’t particularly like the Midwest. And despite what first impression I must’ve given you, I don’t need two thousand dollars. But if you’d like to finish your wine—”

      That long swath of hair flicked as she turned on her heel and tromped toward the exit. Option C it was. She left behind a plume of softly scented perfume and a fantasy that lasted the rest of the week. One about long, silky hair and a parted pink mouth. About her beneath him naked atop those bills scattered over his bed...

      Whoever she was, she left an impression. The way looking at the sun left bright light burning behind his lids for a while.

      Gage turned back to his beer. Even though Strawberry was a little nutty, he honestly hoped she found a date to that wedding in Ohio.

       Three

      “Today’s the day.”

      Gage rubbed his hands together and then fired up the espresso machine in the executive break room.

      “What day’s that?” Reid, back from his recent trip home to London, asked.

      “The day that Andy Payne guy comes to save Gage’s rear end,” Sabrina answered as she tipped the half-and-half into her mug.

      “Not my rear. Our rears,” Gage corrected. “This is going to help boost sales, yes, but this will also take some of the pressure off Flynn.” He grinned at Sabrina. “You’re welcome.”

      Last year Gage had come up with the perfect solution for the senior staff at Monarch Consulting, who had been giving Flynn holy hell. When Flynn’s father died, leaving Flynn in charge of the company, a lot of the men and women who were used to the way Emmons had run things hadn’t taken too kindly to Flynn. Gage’s suggestion—brilliant suggestion—was to focus on sales, create a huge boom in business, which would satisfy shaky investors and give a needed boost to everyone’s bonuses. It was hard to complain when extra money rolled in.

      “Oh, I’m welcome, am I?” Sabrina chuckled.

      “If it’s gratitude you want, mate, just ask,” Reid commented.

      Gage didn’t want gratitude, but he did want results. The company had felt as if it was teetering on a foundation of marbles last year and he hadn’t liked it at all. Monarch Consulting was the workplace Gage had called home since college. He didn’t want to work anywhere else. He loved what he did, loved his friends and in no way wanted to end up working at a fish hatchery like his parents. Flynn’s success as president ensured all of their successes.

      Flynn stepped into the room, picking up on the conversation. “Let me guess. You have your panties in a wad of excitement over the arrival of the guy made of smoke?”

      The guy who was the key to stabilizing Monarch, bringing in extra money and a business boom?

      Hell, yes.

      Andy Payne was a fixer of sorts who was known for not being known. He’d been interviewed but never filmed, and his About page was devoid of a photo or any description of him as a person. Gage wasn’t sure if he bought into the hero-worship BS surrounding Andy Payne’s reputation, but the man’s results were rock solid. Every employee had signed nondisclosure documents before Payne’s arrival.

      Plus, if this Andy guy was half as good in person as he was on paper, Monarch would be set and Flynn’s leadership would go unchallenged. Succeeding was the only option. Gage had never taken a backwards step since he’d set foot in Monarch and he wouldn’t start now. He had goals to double the company’s revenue, and making his sales department shine would tuck in nicely with that goal.

      It was a big goal, but Andy Payne was a big deal. With his help there wasn’t anything standing in Gage’s way.

      * * *

      Andy strolled into the Monarch building wearing her best suit. Bone-colored, with a silky black cami under the jacket, her Jimmy Choos an easy-to-navigate height. She had to work in them, after all.

      She’d never understood any woman’s desire to sacrifice form for comfort. She wasn’t a fan of compromise.

      Andy hadn’t accepted her fate from the weekend, either. Yes, she’d quit the dating app that’d been a total waste of resources. And, yes, she had felt the sting of embarrassment about propositioning a handsome stranger at a bar, but that didn’t mean her search was over. There was still a chance, though slim, to find a stand-in date. Maybe she would meet a nice guy on her way out of this very building. Or maybe at the resort.

      Doubt pushed itself forward but she fervently ignored it. Instead she allowed herself to feel the familiar thrum of excitement as she rode the elevator up to the executive floor. First days were her favorite.

      She’d done extensive research on Monarch, noting that the only photo of the staff was one gathered outside the front of this very building, their faces tiny and nondescript. If businesses were to entrust Monarch with their well-being, they needed to see the trustworthy faces who worked here.

      Unlike most businesses, Andy had worked hard to keep her identity under wraps. She had no qualms about pulling a bait and switch on day one. By then everyone was invested and her reputation had preceded her. She never blatantly led her clients to believe Andy Payne was male, but much like the assumption that a surgeon was always a man, so, too, was one made that the wild success of her Fortune 500 business must be attributed to someone with a penis instead of a pair of breasts.

      The pay gap that existed between men and women didn’t exist for her, thanks to her subterfuge. Her clients paid what was asked, and it was too late to pull the plug once the contracts were signed. She wouldn’t apologize for it.

      She was absolutely worth it.

      She was the best at what she did and she endeavored to leave every business better than she’d found it. Monarch was going to be another link in a long chain of satisfied customers.

      With a flip of her hair she exited the elevator on the executive floor. Three huge offices with glass walls stood empty, a front desk staffed with a young blonde woman in front of one of them. Andy was early, so probably the executives hadn’t come out of the coffee or break room yet. Muted voices and laughter came from an unseen room in the back.

      One of those voices likely belonged to Gage, the senior sales executive who’d hired her.

      “May I help you?” the assistant asked.

      Andy addressed her by her name, advertised on the nameplate on the front of her desk. “Hello, Yasmine. Andy Payne for Gage Fleming.”

      “Andy Payne?”

      “That’s me.” She grinned.

      “Oh, of course, Ms. Payne. We have you set up in the conference room as you requested.”

      Yasmine quickly recovered from her surprise at discovering that Andy was a woman. Good for her.

      In the conference room, Yasmine pointed out the projector and offered to fetch Andy an espresso.

      “Americano, if you can.”

      The other woman dipped her chin in affirmation and left.

      Andy unloaded her bag on the table—a rigorous sales plan and a dossier on Monarch minus details on the man she was meeting, since she’d learned virtually nothing about him via the website.

      Done right, they could implement her suggested changes in the week and a half she had before