Suddenly his imagination veered from the subject of business. In his mind’s eye, she was challenging him, but it wasn’t with reports or emails; instead it was with her glossy full lips. They were so tempting. And the berry-red hue made them stand out against her ivory skin.

He swallowed hard and drew his gaze upward to meet hers. “Then it sounds like we’ll make a great team.”

“Not so fast. I didn’t say you were hired.”

“But you will. You need me.” He sent her one of his best smiles.

She didn’t appear phased. “I don’t need anyone.”

“So you’re one of those.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Not about to stumble down that rabbit hole, he said, “You need me, you just don’t know it yet.”

Sage leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. If she was trying to look intimidating, it wasn’t working. “You have a very odd way of interviewing.”

He did? That was quite possible, but he’d gained her attention. She wouldn’t forget him.

“I’m the man you need. I’m smart, timely and efficient.”

“And not lacking in conceit.”

He shook his head. “It’s not conceit when it’s a fact. Give me thirty days and I’ll prove it to you.”

He could see by the look in her eyes that he was getting through to her. She would hire him. He was certain of that. This interview had lingered longer than he’d ever imagined and she genuinely seemed interested in him—in his skills, that is.

CHAPTER TWO

HE WAS COCKY. She’d definitely give Trey that much.

But sometimes that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Sage always did like a challenge. It was his third day on the job and he’d presented a very big challenge. But of all the candidates, he struck her as a get-it-done type. And that’s who she needed on her team right now—if she hoped to continue to turn around this magazine.

An email popped up. Sage was just about to call a management meeting, but the subject line caught her attention: Elsa White. That name was enough to send her good mood in a downward spiral. What was her stepmother up to this time?

Sage had always known that her stepmother had outmaneuvered her into gaining control of White Publishing. Sage had been young and naive. She’d wanted to believe that her stepmother wasn’t a monster, but reality was much harsher than Sage had been prepared to accept at the tender age of eighteen. It had been that particular birthday when she’d lost her childhood home, her destiny and her naivety. She’d been forced to grow up—it came with a lot of painful life lessons.

She knew that if she was wise, she’d let go of the past and keep moving forward, but she couldn’t. She remembered being a little girl and sitting behind her father’s large desk at the headquarters of White Publishing. Her father would swing her chair around until she was looking out over the bustling city and he would tell her that one day all of this would be hers. But she was never to take it for granted. As the head of White Publishing, she would have a great responsibility and it went beyond the quarterly results. She needed to be generous, understanding and compassionate with everyone around her.

That had been before he had been bewitched by Elsa. After that, nothing was ever the same. Had her father truly changed his mind about the business and her role in it? It was a question she’d been contemplating off and on for years. Sometimes she thought she knew the answer, and other times she wasn’t so sure.

Knock. Knock.

Trey ducked his head inside the door. He looked as though he were going to say something but then he hesitated.

“What did you need?”

“Um...” He stepped farther into the room. “I’ve sent out that email to the department heads, so I was going to head out to lunch—”

“Already?” She glanced at the time on her computer. A quarter till twelve. She frowned. Did she strike him as some sort of pushover?

“I was in early.”

This new role as management was taking some getting used to. For so many years, she’d been the one taking the orders; now she was the one handing them out. But she couldn’t let anyone see her discomfort. If she did, she’d lose their respect and it’d be all downhill from there.

“Lunch can wait.”

Trey’s brows rose. “But I have plans.”

“This work needs to be your priority.”

Trey opened his mouth, but he immediately closed it.

She grabbed the stack of manila folders from the corner of her desk. In this modern day, they still did a lot of things via hard copy. Going forward, she’d like to automate a number of functions, but for now, like so many other things, it’d have to wait.

Sage held out the files. “I’ve approved these reports and disbursements. Please see that they get to the appropriate departments.”

He stepped forward and accepted the files. “Anything else?”

She refused to let his cool tone get to her. She didn’t ask anyone to work any harder than her. “Yes, there is.”

And then she began to explain a new report she wanted him to prepare each month analyzing the ad space. Advertising was their bread and butter. She needed to keep a close eye on it and if possible expand the magazine to accommodate a higher frequency and larger campaign. Fashion and cosmetics were their biggest contributors, but she was interested in expanding to other areas such as upscale furniture or designer products.

Trey made notes. “Couldn’t you just get this from the advertising department?”

“I could.” But she wasn’t sure she trusted the supervisor. It was rumored that his work was declining and his lunches were more of the liquid variety. Until she had proof, she was unwilling to act on the rumors.

“Then why don’t you?”

She leveled a cold, hard gaze on him. “I asked you to do it, not them.”

He at least had the decency to look uncomfortable. “I’ll get right on it.”

Trey walked away with his tasks in hand. She wondered if she’d handled everything correctly with Trey. She needed to be forceful but not too over the top. Had she pushed too hard?

Second-guessing herself was a bad habit of hers. It was something she’d started to do after her father died and Elsa had found fault with everything Sage did, from the cooking to the cleaning. Sage shoved aside the unhappy memories. There was work to do.

And an email to read.

Sage turned back to her computer monitor and sighed. For every email she’d responded to that morning, there were two new ones. She worked her way from top to bottom. She assured herself that this was her normal routine and not a stalling tactic, but at last, she opened the email from her private investigator.

The first thing to catch her attention was the fact that the investigator was on to something regarding her stepmother. Thank goodness. He was the third investigator she’d hired. The first had taken her money and produced zero results. The second one had been caught snooping around White Publishing. This third man cost her all of her savings and more. She’d bet everything on him. He was her last hope.

But the second thing to catch her attention was that he needed more money. The sizable retainer she’d previously paid him had given her serious pause. It had wiped out her savings and then some. The only way to pay him more was to get the board’s approval of her business plan for the magazine’s future and receive the bonus stated in her contract.

Knock. Knock.

At five after twelve, Trey returned. “The paperwork has been dealt with and I have your report started. I’m going to lunch.” He studied her for a moment. “Unless that’s a problem?”

“That’s fine.”

“Are you sure? Because you’re frowning again.”

She nodded. When she saw doubt reflected in his eyes, she said, “Seriously, it’s not you. It’s an email I received.”

“That’s what the delete button is good for.”

She leaned back in her chair. “You don’t know how tempting that is right about now. I have enough headaches. I don’t need another one.”

“Well, there you go. Problem solved.”

“I wish. But deleting the email isn’t going to make this problem disappear.”

“I take it we’re not talking about QTR.”

She shook her head. “Afraid not. But I can deal with the email later. Go and enjoy your lunch.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“It’s lunchtime. Remember? You need to take a break and eat.”

Was he working his way up to asking her to lunch? The startling realization that she’d enjoy spending a leisurely hour staring across the table at him jarred her. Trey wasn’t just any guy. He was her assistant.

She gave herself a mental shake. With the board meeting at the end of the month, she had to stay focused. “I don’t have time for lunch today.”

“I’m beginning to notice a trend with you.”

This was the first personal conversation they’d taken time for since he’d started. The reason she’d chosen him over the other candidates wasn’t his dark and mysterious eyes or his potential to be a male cover model. Her reasons were far more basic.

He was smart and cocky—enough so that he’d want to do what it took to make himself stand out in a good way. And that’s what she needed. A person ready to hit the ground running. And that’s exactly what Trey had done. He’d taken on every task she’d given him—even when it’d kept him here after hours.

She was almost afraid to ask, but she couldn’t resist. “What trend would that be?”

“You never have time for lunch or anything else that isn’t business related.”

Lunchtime was her quiet time. She did eat, but it was always something simple that she could eat at her desk while answering emails and reviewing deadlines.

“It’s the way I like it.” She’d been working so long and so hard to keep herself afloat that she didn’t have time for a personal life. Maybe one of these days when the magazine was back on track and she resolved things with her stepmother. “I need that report completed as soon as you get back.”

The truth was she didn’t like Trey analyzing her. She didn’t want him unearthing her shortcomings. Because aside from his sexy good looks, Trey was astute and not easily won over, which made her want to gain his respect. Did that make her a bad boss? Was she supposed to be immune to the feelings of her employees—even when they were six foot two, physically toned and had mysterious dark eyes?

* * *

“Hey, Trey.”

Trey nodded and smiled at the passing mail lady. It was the following day and he had yet to complete the advertising report to Sage’s satisfaction. Every time he thought he’d nailed it, she changed the criteria. He didn’t know if she was trying this hard to make a good impression on the board or if she was trying to make him quit. Either way, she was only delaying the inevitable. Come the end of the month, the board would vote to shut down the magazine.

He honestly never thought when he went undercover that he’d have this much work to do. He thought he’d answer the phone, sort mail and fetch coffee. So far Sage had answered her own phone, the mail provided more projects for his growing to-do list and the boss lady had her own coffeepot. In other words, this job was not the cushy position he thought it’d be.

“Trey, just the person I need to see.” Louise, the head of human resources, stood just outside her office door.

He came to a stop. “What do you need?”

“For you to settle a debate.” She waved at him to follow her into the office. The older woman with short, styled silver hair sent him a warm smile. Try as he might to remain immune to her friendliness, he liked her.

Something told him this wasn’t work related. “I really need to get going. Sage needs this information.” He held up the papers in his hand. And for emphasis, he added, “Right now.”

Louise shook her head. “Don’t worry. This will only take a moment.”

He glanced around, finding he wasn’t the only one who’d been drawn in. Ron, from subscriptions, was propped against a file cabinet in the corner. He waved and Trey returned the gesture. On the other side was Jane with the short blond hair with pink streaks, but he couldn’t recall which department she worked in. She flashed him a big flirty kind of smile. He didn’t smile, not wanting to encourage her attention. Instead he gave a brief nod. What in the world had Louise drawn them in here for?

Louise moved to the doorway, checked both directions in the hallway and then proceeded to close the door. She turned to them. “It’s come to my attention that Sage’s birthday is this month. And I think we should do something for her.”

Trey didn’t like the sounds of this. He’d come to QTR to shut it down, not to make friends. The longer he was here, the harder it was to keep his distance. Just like he knew that Ron loved to surf. He could tell you anything you wanted to know about surfing—even some things you might not care to know. Once Ron started talking, it was hard to get away.

Day by day, the employees of QTR were changing from nameless numbers on spreadsheets to smiling faces with families to support. He hadn’t factored that in when he’d devised his plan to put his father’s cherished company out of business.

And worse yet was Sage’s unflagging devotion to saving the magazine. In the little time he’d been here, he’d witnessed her long hours and her attention to details. How was she going to take it when they closed it—when he closed it?

“Trey?” Louise’s voice drew him from his troubled thoughts.

He glanced up to find everyone staring at him as though expecting an answer. The only problem was he didn’t know the question.

As though sensing the problem, Louise held a plate of cookies out to him. “Go ahead. Take one of each. I need to know which to make for Sage’s birthday.”

He made a point of eating healthy, preferring fruit to desserts. He’d watched his mother drown herself in food after his father abandoned them. His mother’s health problems had eventually spiraled out of control. As he waited for her at a doctor’s appointment, he swore not to follow in her footsteps.

Still, Louise had made a point of making him feeling welcome at QTR. And it wasn’t like one cookie was going to hurt anything.

He took the double chocolate cookie with a swirl of white frosting. “But isn’t a birthday cake more traditional?”

Louise sent him a knowing smile. “I’ve already done some investigating and the birthday girl prefers cookies. And since this is her milestone birthday, she can have whatever she prefers.”

“Milestone?”

Louise nodded and placed a couple of other flavored cookies in his hand before moving to Jane. “Yes, she’s going to be thirty. I couldn’t believe it when she’d mentioned it, but I double-checked her personnel file.”

Trey had to agree with Louise. His boss didn’t look like much more than a college grad, if that. And he was finding it increasingly hard to concentrate on his work with Sage around. Her beauty was stunning. He just wished that she didn’t try so hard to micromanage everything—including him.

He made short work of the baked goods, finding them all quite good. In the end, he voted for the double chocolate cookie. Louise beamed as he complimented her culinary skills.

As he walked away, guilt settled on him. He was about to take jobs away from these people. The QTR employees weren’t cold and heartless like his father. They were warm, friendly and caring. The exact opposite of his father.

On the way back to his desk more people greeted him with a smile. This was the friendliest office he’d ever been in—even on a Monday morning. It only made him more conflicted about his plan.

CHAPTER THREE

TREY LEANED BACK in his chair, stretched and placed his feet on the corner of his desk. After days of pulling numbers from various sources, the advertising report was officially done—well, at least until Sage gave him yet another adjustment or addition.

Today marked his sixth day on the job and he’d not only completed the report but he’d also managed to cut his workload in half via a combination of macros and a few short computer programs. He was feeling pretty pleased with himself.

He removed the eyeglasses that he hadn’t quite adjusted to, closed his eyes and leaned his head back as classic rock music pounded in his earbuds. It was nice to just sit back for a moment and enjoy all that he’d accomplished. After all, he deserved it.

He’d been working nonstop since he’d taken this undercover position. He’d made inroads with the new managing editor, but so far he had yet to uncover her secret to success. Sure she was first in the office and the last one out, but there was more to it. She did keep her office door closed a lot. So what was she up to in there? Were there bribes involved—

His feet were shoved off the desk.

He jerked forward in his seat as his feet hit the floor. His eyes snapped open. Was this someone’s idea of a joke? Because it wasn’t funny.

And then his gaze met Sage’s. Her eyes darkened and appeared almost violet. If it wasn’t for the distinct frown on her face, he might have been moved to compliment the striking color of her eyes. But now definitely wasn’t the right time.

He straightened up, not sure what to say.

Sage continued to frown as she gestured for him to remove his earbuds.

He’d totally forgotten about them. His full attention had been on his boss. Was it strange that he found her even cuter when she got worked up? Her face flushed. It made him want to pull her into his arms and kiss away her worries. Not that he would ever act on the impulse.

Trey scrambled to pull the earbuds from his ears and then press the pause function on his phone. “What did you need?”

“I’ve been buzzing you. Didn’t you hear?” And then realizing the foolishness of her question, she continued. “There’s a red light on your phone. Right here.” She pointed it out.

“I was busy.”

“Doing what? Taking a nap?”

“Hey, that’s not fair. I just finished that report—again. And I needed to rest my eyes for just a moment.”

“You finished it?” The frown on her face eased.

He nodded. He reached around her and retrieved the printed and proofed copy from the top of his desk. He still wasn’t quite sure of the purpose of this report, but as he handed it over, he noticed Sage’s pleased expression.

He hadn’t known her long, but in that period of time he’d studied her. She cared a lot about the people that worked for her—except him. They butted heads a lot. He realized that was as much his fault as hers. Thankfully this arrangement wouldn’t last too much longer.

He’d also noticed that she held back a lot. Many women he’d dated had been more than willing to share the intimate details of their lives. Not Sage. It wasn’t like they were dating. That would never happen. But she never mentioned anything about her life outside these office walls. He found that a bit odd.

“Thank you for this.” She started toward her office and then turned back. “From now on, earbuds are prohibited in the office.”

He opened his mouth to counter a defense, but the firm line of her glossy lips had him closing his mouth without uttering a word. This was her office—her rules. Even if he didn’t see the harm with earbuds. He allowed his employees to use them. His motto was happy workers were productive workers. But the problem was that he wasn’t the boss here.

She continued to stare at him. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I didn’t realize...” His voice trailed off as he scrambled to his feet and followed her.

“I thought you might be interested in the process of deciding on a cover for next week’s edition.”

She was right. He was definitely interested. Perhaps this was where she sprinkled her fairy dust that made all the vendors sit up and take notice of QTR once again. “Yes, I would be very interested.”

She gestured for him to follow her into her office. Three large computer monitors sat on a table. She moved to her desktop computer and pressed a couple of keys. Her gaze moved to the monitors, which remained dark. Her fine brows drew together as her rosy lips pursed together. She tried again with the same results.

Computers were his field of expertise. “Can I give it a try?”

She shook her head. “I’ve got it.”

She tried again with the same results.

“I’m pretty good with computers.” He moved to her side ready to take over.

He reached for the keyboard at the same time she did. Their fingers touched. Her hand was soft and warm. And her touch sent a wave of attraction washing over his eager body.

When he raised his gaze, he caught the look of desire in Sage’s eyes. But in a blink it was gone and he was left wondering if it had ever been there at all.

She glanced away. “I’ll get it. Just hang on.”

“You do realize that I’m your assistant, right? So let me assist.”

“No. I can figure this out.”

“Are you always so stubborn?”

Her gaze met his. “I refer to it as independent.”

He shook his head and backed off. He wondered what had happened to her to make her so stubborn and unwilling to accept help.

After flipping through a couple of papers and reading something, she tried again. A triumphant smile lit up her face as the monitors flickered on. “There we go. I hit the wrong key before.”

Each monitor displayed a cover of QTR. There were different headlines and different fonts. He had to admit that this was all new to him as for so much of his career he’d focused on software development and website design.

“These are the three layouts that my staff has put together for the upcoming week.” She gave him a moment to read the headlines. “Now they want me to choose which will have the biggest reach both online and in the supermarket aisles.”

He read each headline.

Superstars Go Pink and Blue

Serenaded Beneath the Stars

Singing for Angels

Trey turned to Sage. “They’re each different stories?”

“No.”

He frowned. He hoped she wasn’t going to slip into his father’s old ways. Had she decided that responsible journalism was just too hard? Disappointment hit him. He’d expected so much more from her.

He crossed his arms. “Is this a bit of sensational journalism? A tricky headline to draw in the reader and then a story that takes enormous liberties with the facts of the story—”

“Certainly not.” She studied him for a moment. “I was hired to put integrity back into this magazine and that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

“So there’s a country superstar in the backwoods?”

“Something like that. There’s a charity event in San Diego to fundraise for the children’s ward in a local hospital. There’s a lineup of celebrity singers from pop to classic to country. The benefit concert will be televised and have a very special audience. The children in the hospital that are well enough will be moved by wheelchair to the outdoor garden area. Others will see it televised live in their rooms and they will also meet some of the performers afterward.”

He breathed easier knowing that she hadn’t resorted to nefarious means of keeping the magazine afloat. And then it struck him that he was rooting for her. When had that happened?

He gave himself a mental shake. She was getting inside his head with her pretty smile and her good heart. But he couldn’t let himself get caught up in her plans as he had his own job to do.

“What do you think?” Her voice jarred him from his thoughts.

“It sounds like it will be a successful event.”

“It will. The tickets are all sold out.”

“I’m assuming you got a couple.” He wouldn’t mind helping such a good cause. He could accompany Sage—unless she already had a date. The thought didn’t sit well with him.

“I did.” She gave him a strange look. “Is something wrong?”

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