Suddenly an alarm from his watch went off. “Could you give me a second?”
“Would you like me to leave?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, getting up and moving to his desk. “I get headaches sometimes. Comes with the stress of the job.” He opened a drawer in his desk and retrieved a bottle of medication.
“Does everyone around here get headaches?” It was the nicest way she could think of asking just how much work she’d be doing if she worked under him.
Under him...
Oh shit.
Her palms were beginning to sweat. Imagining Dover, Inc.’s CEO without his clothes had to be all kinds of wrong.
“I mean, I’m used to hard work,” she said. “It’s just that I want to be prepared for any issues.”
He opened the bottle, shook out some pills onto his hand, and popped them into his mouth. “I’m not going to lie to you...Miss?”
“Mrs. Hall,” she said. “I’ve recently gotten divorced, but I think I’ve more than earned that title.” She tried to keep her tone light, but it was hard to keep some of the bitterness out of it.
Gary, her ex-husband, hadn’t exactly been her ideal match. They’d only gotten married because she’d gotten pregnant, but the final months of their marriage had taken such a toll. Gary had been so cold. Refused to try to fix their marriage. Not to mention he was a master manipulator and, if Heather admitted it now, probably verbally abusive.
Her confidence and self-esteem had been low for years because of Gary’s treatment. Okay, so she was just a bit mousy and uptight. She was a mother. With a son to think about. Of course, she wasn’t going to be some spontaneous sex kitten every day of the week.
Now that she was free of her ex-husband, she was going to finally live her life on her own terms. Revamp her career. Try new things. And none of those things could happen if she was rehashing the past with Simon. Better to keep on pretending she didn’t recognize him or know him.
“If I’m being honest, we’re on first-name terms here at Dover,” Simon said. “But if you’d rather I refer to you as Mrs. Hall—”
“No. First names are fine,” she interrupted. “You can call me Heather.”
“And you can call me Simon.”
The deep baritone of his voice sent a tingle down her spine. For months after he had dumped her and went to college, she had played his name over and over in her head. Then, the heartache had subsided, and she started to follow his career in the press.
Simon had gotten into Stanford University on a scholarship—half academic, half athletic. He had played hockey. Graduated with top honors. By the time he had graduated he had already invested in Dover, Inc. At the time it had just been a little tech start-up he invested his minimal savings in. Then, he had taken over the company, and within seven years had turned it into a billion-dollar empire.
“Simon,” she finally said softly, enjoying the sound of his name on her tongue. Enjoying it more than a little too much.
No. Focus.
If she was going to finally start living her life, she had to make the most of this opportunity.
He leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk as he looked over her resumé. “You used to work at VLA Technologies.” Simon raised his eyebrow. “They’re our rival.”
“Yes,” she said.
“Why did you leave them?” he pressed.
“It was part of a company restructuring,” she said. “About ten percent of the workforce was offered a pretty good financial package if they agreed to resign.” She wasn’t exactly rich, certainly not by billionaire Simon Diesel’s standards, but the money she had gotten from VLA meant she wasn’t hard up for cash. Plus, she had inherited a tidy sum from her grandfather now that he had passed away.
She had been out of work for several months, and she was getting back into things because she wanted to make something of her life. Working at another prestigious company like Dover, Inc. would be a dream come true. She’d get to meet interesting people. Travel the world. Learn about new technology before anybody else did. The employee discounts were to die for. And she’d prove to her rotten ex-husband that she could make it without him. Didn’t need him to have a fulfilling life and contribute.