“Yes.”
She slid it into the envelope. “You’ll inform me anytime someone is approved as a winner, or else we will meet in my office in one year’s time.” She stacked the envelopes in front of her. “I certainly hope whatever you win is worth what you all might lose.”
Nathan thought about Teresa and the succession of women before her. “It will be life changing.”
“That explains the stakes,” Frankie said, gathering the envelopes and standing up. “Good night, gentlemen.”
They stood and watched her stride out of the room. Miller raised his glass. “To our wager of hearts. May we be guests at each other’s weddings.”
CHAPTER 1
“Trainor Electronics. May I help you?” Chloe Russell smiled into her headset as she spoke, knowing it would make her sound friendlier. She nodded to the three middle-aged men who came through the office’s front door carrying laptop cases and wearing button-down shirts and khakis. Middle managers. In the two days she’d been temping at Trainor Electronics, she’d learned that the high-level executives had their own entrance two floors up.
“Chloe, it’s Judith. I’ve got a new assignment for you.”
“But I’ve been here such a short time. Won’t it look bad if you pull me out so soon?”
“It’s still at Trainor Electronics, so, no. The CEO’s executive assistant has come down with this darned flu. He needs a temp.”
“CEOs of multinational corporations don’t use temps. They take someone else’s assistant and let their underlings deal with the temp,” Chloe said, smiling at the twentysomethings sauntering by with their laptop carriers slung over their shoulders. Probably programmers.
“You’ve heard the word epidemic?” Judith asked. “Everyone’s sick.”
Luckily, Chloe never got sick.
“Besides,” Judith said, “you’re way overqualified to run a reception desk. You belong in the executive suite. And the pay is higher.”
Higher pay was good. She needed it to hire a companion for Grandmillie so that she didn’t have to go to a nursing home. “When can I start?” Chloe asked.
“As soon as Camilla gets there to replace you out front. Then head over to HR and they’ll introduce you to your new boss.”
“Got it,” Chloe said. “Thanks for the raise.”
“You’ll probably get overtime too. I hear Mr. Trainor works long hours.”
Not so good. She didn’t like to leave her grandmother alone. Grandmillie always told her it was fine, but Chloe worried. That’s why she was so determined to scrape together the money for a caretaker.
She glanced down at her outfit and frowned at the blue cotton blouse, beige trousers, and navy ballet flats. She’d dressed for entry-level clerical, not executive assistant. She’d gotten good at gauging those nuances of the corporate world after two months of temping for Judith’s agency. Once Camilla arrived she’d take fifteen minutes to dash out and buy a faux silk scarf to throw on. There was a discount clothing store down a side street from Trainor Electronics’ skyscraping office building. She could find something in her price range there.
Chloe made a slight adjustment to the red-and-blue striped scarf as she followed Roberta Stern, head of human resources, out of the executive elevator. Chloe had twisted her brown hair up into a sleek bun that mostly hid the blonde streaks and applied some red lipstick she’d found to match the scarf. Both adjustments made her look older and more sophisticated. The one thing she couldn’t fix was her flat shoes. In her opinion, executive assistants should wear heels.
At least the carpeting on the top floor was so thick that it felt like her feet would be entirely hidden from view as they sank in. The receptionist behind the front desk looked like a model out of the pages of Vogue, with her perfectly fitting black suit and high cheekbones. Chloe’s scarf suddenly reeked of bargain basement.
Roberta stopped at the desk. “Priscilla, this is Chloe Russell. She’ll be working for Mr. Trainor until Janice is feeling better.”
To be fair, Priscilla gave her a genuine smile that showed no judgment of Chloe’s wardrobe inadequacies. “If you have any questions about where things are up here, just ask me,” she said.
A resource. Chloe had learned to value those when she came into a new working environment. Some office workers were more willing to share knowledge than others. In fact, some were downright hostile to a temp, something that always baffled her, since she was no threat to their jobs. Judith said it was because Chloe was too good at hers and made them look bad. So Chloe tried to keep a low profile, although she refused to do subpar work.