Fresh Temptation

melodic voice on the phone drove him wild. She was a breath of fresh air in his life. Fresh air he didn’t know his life was missing.
    The phone on his desk buzzed at fifteen minutes till two.
    “Yes?” he answered.
    Gary said, “ Ms. Green’s here for her two o’clock. ”
    He swallowed, tempering his voice in case she could hear. “Thanks. Please ask her to have a seat in the waiting area. I’m almost ready.”
    Victor stood and walked to the sideboard, straightening his tie in the mirror on the wall above it. He had to calm down and act like he was really interviewing her. Like he hadn’t invented a fictitious job posting to spend time with her. He made sure he had a list of questions to ask, printed straight off the Internet. Screening new employees wasn’t one of his usual duties. The last person he’d interviewed was his assistant, Gary, and that was almost an entire year earlier.
    He flattened his palms, sliding them against his suit to make sure they weren’t sweating. He hadn’t been this nervous about a woman in years. As he rushed around his desk to his chair, he pushed a button on his desk phone. “You may show her in now.”
    When the door opened, Victor stood behind his desk, waiting and watching. Cara’s long blond hair floated across her shoulders as she turned around to smile and say, “Thank you,” to Gary, who held the door.
    Cara then looked straight ahead at Victor and said, “Hi,” before her eyes went around the room, bouncing among the furnishings. The door closed softly behind her. “Nice, big office you have here. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    “It’s a perk of being one of the partners.” Victor grinned. “We always get the best stuff.”
    “Oh, I didn’t realize you were a partner. Your title is ‘Chief Consultant,’ right?” She now stood in front of his desk, clutching her briefcase against her stomach.
    He gulped as he peered into her shimmering green eyes. “Yes. But it’s just a worthless moniker. I made it up myself. I stay out of the day-to-day operations and try to keep a low profile.” He gestured for her to have a seat.
    She nodded and smoothed the back of her black skirt before sitting.
    He waited until she was in her chair before he sat. Then he clenched his teeth, feeling like an idiot. He had forgotten to shake her hand. That would certainly tip her off to the informality of this interview. Nonchalantly, he slid his hand across his pants and rose slightly in his chair. “How rude of me. I didn’t shake your hand.”
    She followed his lead and stood up just enough to lean forward, reaching across the desk. “I guess that’s the proper job interview protocol, right?”
    Victor smiled and kept his eyes on hers as they exchanged a firm handshake. Unfortunately, she had bent forward enough to barely show her full breasts peeking out atop her tight blouse.
    As she eased back down in her seat, her hand went to her blouse’s top button, tugging it up toward her neck.
    Shit, she caught me looking , he thought. Time for a quick subject change . “So, Ms. Green,” he said, “I’m glad you were able to meet with me on such short notice.”
    She shrugged, then pulled a notebook and pen out of her briefcase. “It’s not like I had anywhere else to be. You knew that, Mr. Barboza.” She smirked. “Would you mind telling me how you knew about Doyle Construction?”
    “I knew where you worked because your mother mentioned it when we spoke.”
    “Yes, but how’d you know they were shut down this morning?”
    He half-smiled and folded his hands on the desk in front of him. “Coincidence, I guess. New York is a big city but it’s still a small world. You’d be surprised how many people I know around here.” Before she could speak again, he picked up her resume and continued. “So, you’ve worked for two companies since graduating college. One of them Fortune 500.”
    “Yes.”
    “Which company was your favorite?”
    “Lowdon and Shore, definitely. They promoted from within and offered a wonderful benefits package. I would have stayed there if they hadn’t cut most of my department. I hoped to stay till retirement.”
    “That’s good to hear.” Victor stared at the resume, thankful he’d made notes in the margins to remind him of what to ask. Otherwise, the excitement he felt from seeing her right in front of him would have caused his mind to go completely blank. “We’re looking for employees who wish to stay with us for