“Such as?”
“For example, your pay.” He named a figure that momentarily stunned her.
“Do I get medical and dental?” she asked.
“Of course. And how about 401k while we’re at it?”
Her head spun. She’d been certain he’d come to confront her about sneaking out like a thief, not offer her a job! “Uh…what will my responsibilities entail?”
“You’ll be going over some family business. My family, to be exact. The Lloyds Development.”
“I thought you were working at Global Strategies.”
“I am. That’s why I need you. I don’t have the time or energy to devote my full attention to TLD, and it’s important I become familiar with it ASAP.”
“You said it was your family business.”
“Right.”
“But you don’t know much about it?”
“I know the basic outlines of the business, of course, what we’re involved with and so on. But I don’t work there and I’m not part of management.”
“That’s kind of hard to believe. Not that I don’t think you’re telling the truth, but most people wouldn’t be able to stay away.”
“As long as the company’s doing well and continues to provide for the people who depend on it, I don’t care who gets the credit for running it.”
He gave her a small friendly smile, but it sent shivers up her back the way a shark’s fin cutting through dark water would. A man who didn’t care who took the credit so long as he got what he wanted was ten times more dangerous than one whose ego couldn’t take not being number one. No manipulation would shake someone like Ethan from his course of action until he achieved the desired outcome.
“Who would I report to?”
“Me. And only me.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Where would I work?”
“TLD has a fully furnished corporate penthouse in Northern Virginia, so you won’t have to waste time looking for a place you’d only be leasing for a few months. It’s not a bad perk.”
She shook her head, unable to follow his train of thought. “You don’t actually work at the company, but you want me to report to you, and not to the other executives?”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I presume you want me to sleep with you, too?”
“I do, but that has nothing to do with the job.” He steepled his hands and leaned back in his chair in that particular boneless way he had. “I want you, period.”
Steady, Kerri, steady. “And you’ll leave when you get bored?”
“Just like you will, I’m sure. Stay together until we find somebody else we’d rather be with.” He gave her a gleaming smile. “But until then, we’ll be totally exclusive, no fooling around with anybody else. I don’t like to share.”
“Neither do I.”
He watched her over his fingers. “Look, it’s a great deal. Your housing’s fully paid for. If you want, I’ll even toss in housekeeping and groceries.”
She considered. She couldn’t believe what he was proposing. “How bad is this job anyway, that you’re offering me so much?” she asked.
“Honestly? I don’t know.”
“It’s your family business. You must know something.”