The Promise by Kristen Ashley
Electric.
He ran a hand over her ass. “I get greedy and make a mess, I got a big shower.”
“Mm,” she murmured, eyes dropping to his mouth.
“You gotta hold that thought, tesorina. I gotta put the dog in the kennel and I won’t be in the mood to leave this bed to do it after I do you.”
“Okay, honey,” she whispered, then leaned in and touched her mouth to his.
He gave her ass a squeeze before he let her go. She swung off him and he got out of bed, found the dog, scooped him up, and headed to the door.
“Ben?” she called when he was almost there.
He turned back and saw her and her hair and her body sitting on one hip, legs curled under her, eyes on him.
“Yeah, Frankie?”
“I’ll give you nighties and chocolate sauce, all you want,” she told him. “But I’m still gonna find a way to give you more so you’ll remember it forever in a way that never fails to make you smile and feel allover happy, like I’m gonna remember tonight.”
Jesus, seriously?
She was giving him that when he was a room away from her?
“Don’t be sweet when I’m naked, got a puppy in my arms, and I’m a room away from you.”
It was then she gave him all the gratitude he needed.
She smiled that smile. That smile that said she had a secret and it was a really good one.
Then she urged, “Hurry.”
Ben turned and moved into the hall knowing Frankie didn’t have any secrets. What she wanted to whisper in his ear wasn’t words.
It was moans.
And he liked hearing them.
So he didn’t waste any time.
Chapter Eighteen
This Was Family
I was there and I didn’t even know why I was there. It was the last place I should be.
I should be in my car driving home to get ready for Cal and Vi’s rehearsal dinner and the hour-long drive to get to the lakeside resort where I needed to be.
But unless I hit crazy traffic, I had time. Not much, but I had it. And I didn’t want to hit the scene while they were rehearsing. They didn’t need hangers-on for one. I wasn’t in the wedding party, though Ben was as Cal’s best man. For another, I had enough to do that I didn’t need to be hanging around waiting for them to finish.
That wasn’t true. I had everything sorted, and chilling at a lakeside resort was hardly torture.
The thing I needed to do I shouldn’t be doing.
That was why I was there, using my employee ID to get into our production facility. It was a twenty-minute drive away from our main offices, and although I’d had a tour during my employee initiation, there was absolutely no reason for me to be there.
And if Ben knew I was there, and why, he’d lose his mind. So there was not only no reason for me to be there, I shouldn’t be there.
But that morning, something happened and I just couldn’t seem to stop myself.
This something was Randy Bierman showing up in my office. No knock. No warning. No eyebrows-raised, do-you-have-a-moment, nonverbal inquiry. He just walked right in, crossed his arms on his chest, and stared down at me where I was sitting at my desk.
It was then that all that was Randy hit me.
He was tall and lanky and probably about ten years older than me. He had brown hair that wasn’t light or dark but did have a subtle cast of red to it that wasn’t unattractive. Neither were his features. He wasn’t take-your-breath-away good-looking, but if I was single and he bought me a drink at the bar, I’d have time for him.
That was, I would until it became clear two seconds later when he’d no doubt show he was a huge dick.
I’d been on the phone with my rep in Charlotte and was nowhere near finished talking to her, but I couldn’t keep talking to her with him staring at me. It was uncomfortable, he was creeping me out, and I couldn’t focus on what she was saying.
So I ended up telling her something came up and I had to go.
The instant I put my phone in the receiver, Randy stated, “Your rep in Chicago, his numbers are way too low. Markedly lower than the numbers of the rep who was there before you started.”
I had no idea why he barged into my office to share this with me, seeing as I already knew it. I also didn’t much like the “before you started” part, like the problem was me, not my rep. Further, I had a huge team who, besides the Chicago guy, was not only making their numbers, but exceeding them and the numbers they’d made prior to me being employed there. So his insinuation was not only not nice, it was ridiculous.
Further, he was research and development. I was sales. Why he was walking into my office to have a word with me about my Chicago rep was beyond me. It wasn’t like it was none of his business. It was like I had a boss that was on his level, so if he had concerns, he should take them to my boss, not waltz into my office, scowl me off the phone, and give me information I already had.
My only choice of reply was, “I’m aware of that.”
“You’ve been here for quite some time now, Francesca, and he’s been with us for some months, and his numbers are not improving,” he noted.
God.
What a dick.
“That hasn’t escaped my attention,” I shared.
“Is he going to be able to support Tenrix?” Randy asked immediately.
I felt a chill glide up my spine at the mention of Tenrix.
“Of course,” I answered.
“He’s not supporting our current product catalog so it stands to reason he won’t do much better with Tenrix, and Wyler has a lot riding on that product doing well.”
More information I knew.
“I’m also aware of that, Randy,” I returned.
“I prefer those under me to call me Mr. Bierman,” he shot back instantly.
I blinked, then stared, mostly because I’d been working with him for ages, and although I had the occasion to address him directly only a handful of times, I’d always called him Randy and he’d never breathed a word.
But more than that, that was totally an outrageous thing to say.
“And I prefer that my team refer to their colleagues by their given names.” My boss, Lloyd Gaster, was suddenly there and my eyes flew out my wall of windows to Tandy.
She was sitting at her desk, looking over her shoulder into my office, giving me wide eyes and a stretched out “eek” mouth, so I knew she’d heard Randy being a dick and went to Lloyd to tell on him for me.
Totally liked Tandy.
Randy turned to Lloyd. “Did I invite you to this meeting?”
“We’re having a meeting?” I asked fake innocently, giving my attention back to the men in my office, and Randy turned his glower back to me.
“I should hope not,” Lloyd put in. “A director having a meeting about sales and the performance of a member of my team with another member of my team without my knowledge wouldn’t make me very happy.”
I tried not to smile a gloating smile as Randy turned his bad mood back to Lloyd.
“It probably wouldn’t make Travis very happy either,” Lloyd continued before Randy could say anything. “He tends to like it when we follow the chain of responsibility. I do believe he’s also pretty keen on not shoving the hierarchy down anyone’s throats, say, by making them address you formally.”
“She has an underperforming rep,” Randy clipped out.
“Frankie and I are both very aware of what’s happening in Chicago. We’re keeping our eye on it. Taking measures. Hoping for improvement. But if there isn’t any, we’ll be quite capable of making difficult decisions and carrying them out.”
“That’s good to hear,” Randy returned curtly.
“I’m glad you’re pleased,” Lloyd murmured, then his focus on Randy intensified and he stated in a much louder voice, “In the future, if you have concerns about what’s happening in my department, I’ll ask you to bring them to me, as, should I have concerns about how you and your team are performing, I’d bri
Randy didn’t reply to that. He just gave Lloyd a dark look, turned it on me, and prowled out.
When he was gone, Lloyd walked to my desk and said quietly, “Sorry, Frankie. That guy’s an ass.”
I pressed my lips together in order not to agree verbally. I managed that (barely), but I couldn’t stop myself from nodding.
“He gives you any more trouble, let me know. Okay?”
“Okay, Lloyd,” I agreed.
He smiled at me, then moved out the door, and Tandy, totally being the shit, waited the exact right amount of time before she wandered into my office with a file I didn’t need.
“Oh my God,” she hissed before putting the file I didn’t need on my desk and sitting across from me. “Randy Bierman is such a dick.”
It probably wasn’t good to talk that way in an office setting, but since she was entirely correct, and our head honcho had just called him an ass, I said not one word to refute her.
“What’s up his butt today?” she asked.
“What was up it yesterday?” I asked back.
“Well, yesterday, Miranda requested to be transferred to someone else.”
I stared at her.
Miranda was Randy Bierman’s assistant.
“She said she didn’t even care if it was a demotion or she had to work on another floor or something,” Tandy went on. “She’s d…o…n…e, done.”
“That’s news,” I noted, though I didn’t note it was news she should have shared with me yesterday.
It probably also wasn’t a good thing to encourage office gossip, but since I was always on the receiving end, not the giving end, I encouraged away. But I liked my gossip fresh, not day-old stale.
“She went to Mr. Berger to make the request.”
This time, I blinked, hard, and asked, “Seriously?”
“Yeah, she went in, had a chat with him, and he came out looking big-time angry. He had a chat with Mr. Bierman, then Mr. Bierman took off and didn’t come back. Miranda was at her desk after that, but she hasn’t been there today. Jennie says she’s moving to production. One of the scientists’ assistants is going on maternity leave and Miranda is going to take over for her while she’s gone until they can find her a new place to be. That new place to be, according to Jennie who got it from Miranda, is guaranteed.”
My eyes drifted to the glass wall as I murmured, “That’s very weird.”
“Yeah, you want a transfer, you don’t talk to the VP. You go to HR,” Tandy agreed.
You absolutely did.
But more, if you didn’t like your boss and a transfer was not to be had, other things were done. Like getting to the bottom of the issue and fixing it, or trying to. Or, say, telling the employee you’re sorry they can’t get along with someone and telling them to move on.
Not going out of your way to find them a slot while you went out of your way to transfer them permanently within a day.
That smacked of something bigger, hinting that Miranda had leverage. I didn’t want to be intrigued. I wanted to stay out of it. But I was Frankie Concetti. I was intrigued.
“Miranda told me he’s totally tripped out about Tenrix,” she declared, and my eyes shot back to her, another chill going down my spine.
“Tripped out how?”
“Lloyd is an awesome dude but when I heard Mr. Bierman going at you, I didn’t hesitate to walk to his office and give him a heads up. This is because pretty much everyone knows yesterday Bierman went after Heath and his reps aren’t doin’ as well as yours. Lloyd blew a gasket when Heath told him but Heath told him when it was over. So he was all over making a statement when Bierman went after you.”
Heath was my colleague in sales, his territory the west side of the US. And although his reps weren’t turning in the numbers mine were, his numbers far from sucked.
More gossip that was not fresh.
I’d have to have a word about that with Tandy.
Before I could, Tandy kept going.
“Bierman acts like the only product we have or ever will have is Tenrix. I don’t know, I’ve never been around when we launched, but he seems Tenrix-crazy to me.”
I’d never been around during a launch either, but he did seem Tenrix-crazy.
Absolutely.
We were launching a brand-new product in six months. He should have plenty of other things to do rather than walk across an office floor to give me shit about one under-performing rep.
“Frankie?” Tandy called, and I realized I was looking at her but not focused on her.
I was focused on the weirdness.
Weirdness that wasn’t just about a jacked up co-worker who made people’s lives a misery. Every office had at least one of those.
No, the weirdness I was focused on included a jacked up co-worker who was “tripping out” about a new product, assistants going to VPs for transfers (and getting them), and scientists being shot in the head for no apparent reason.
“You okay after he was such a dick?” she asked.
“Takes a lot more than a guy like Randy Bierman to get to me, honey,” I answered.
She grinned, popped out of her seat, and said, “Yeah.” She tipped her head to the side, still grinning. “Anyway, my turn to go down to the coffee cart for lattes. I’ll be right back.”
Without another word, she took off to get us lattes, our daily lattes another reason Tandy was the shit.
But I couldn’t get any of that out of my head. Not after Tandy left. Not all day.
The thing was, I didn’t know what was in my head.
It wasn’t like I’d never worked with a dick. Hell, my first boss was a total jerk and every single one of his salesmen made Randy Bierman look like an amateur.
Then again, no one at the car dealership had ended up dead.
Not able to get it out of my head, instead of going home, getting ready, and getting on the road, I went to Wyler Production. I used my employee ID to gain access. Then I went to the observation deck to stare down at the mammoth space, with its sterile machinery and people wondering around doing stuff wearing white jackets, white hairnets, white gloves, and goggles. I did my staring gig like the space could talk to me.
What I wanted it to say or what I’d do with the information, I had no clue.
What I had was a wild hair, and I should have learned long ago when I got one of those, to pluck it, throw it in the toilet, and flush.
Instead, I was there, the last place I should be, and this became even more apparent when I heard, “Frankie?”
I turned and started when I saw Travis Berger walking my way.
Shit.
“Hey, Travis,” I called fake casually.
He looked to me, the production floor, then back to me before he stopped a few feet away.
“There a reason you’re here?” he asked.
No there was not.
I thought fast but spoke slow.
“Brainstorming.”
His brows drew together. “Sorry?”
I thought faster and immediately commenced bullshitting.
“I have…well, I’m concerned about the performance of a member of my team. Lloyd and I’ve discussed it, and I’ve had a variety of conversations with him but nothing’s working. His numbers were better before I was managing him so I know he has it in him. I’m just…well”—I threw a hand out to the production floor—“thinking maybe he’s too far away from home. Not his home, of course, he lives elsewhere,” I babbled. “The home of Wyler. Maybe if I brought him down here, gave him another tour, reminded him of what we do and how cool it is.” I tipped my head toward the floor and finished lamely, “I don’t know.”
Berger studied me and I tried not to squirm.
Finally, he said, “Chicago.”
Very on the pulse, Travis Berger, to know that kind of detail.
Then again, that was why he made the big bucks.
“Chicago,” I confirmed
“You’re being very patient,” he noted.
“Yes,” he said, turning toward the windows. “I agree, however irritating these endeavors can be.”
I was glad he wasn’t looking at me because I felt my eyes get wide, seeing as I had a feeling he was referring to the person whose antics had me standing right there.
“Well!” I said too loudly, and he turned immediately to me. “I have a rehearsal dinner to get to. I better get going.”
He nodded, not cracking a smile or even a grin when he said, “Enjoy it, Frankie.”
“Thanks, Travis, I will. Uh…later.”
He nodded again and looked back at the production floor.
I got my ass out of there.
I did it thinking that whatever was happening was none of my business.
I sold pharmaceuticals. I was not in human resources and I was not investigating a murder.
So, Randy Bierman took asshole to extremes and someone on his team got whacked.
It had nothing to do with me.
And yet, I couldn’t shake the thought that, even if it didn’t, it still did.
* * * * *
Dusk was forming by the time I hit the lakeside resort where Vi and Cal were holding their wedding.
During one of the many times I went over to Cal and Violet’s place to drink wine, shoot the shit, and be a casual observer while Vi, Kate, and Keira discussed wedding plans, Vi had shown me brochures. But as I got out of my Z, left my bag to grab later, tucked my clutch under my arm, and made my way toward the stately-but-welcoming, flower-festooned, red brick building with its white columns in the front, I saw that this was a case of pictures not doing it justice.
The rehearsal dinner was in one of the private rooms inside. The wedding was going to be outside by the lake.
And taking in the graceful building, I knew it was going to be amazing.
I walked in and found signage that directed me to the Lakeview Lounge, where the dinner was going to be.