Marrying Her Billionaire Boss

“In the sense that…” She sighed and turned her attention back to him. “I’ll be honest, Mr. Banick. In my younger days I was a bit wild. I did things that got me into trouble and made my already overprotective family even more protective. They knew my last employer and they thought he would make a great husband for me. He seemed to think the same thing. Since I’m not interested in a relationship or in getting married, I was the only one who didn’t think Barry and I were well suited.

“No one was forcing me into anything, of course, but the situation still became very awkward. When I declared my lack of interest, Barry asked me to leave. But rest assured that I didn’t get fired because of incompetence. And also rest assured that my youthful ways are behind me. If you hire me for this job you won’t regret it. I need this position and I do exemplary work. I hope you won’t hold the circumstances of my last job against me. For what it’s worth, I was very good with the customers. I just wasn’t very good at telling my boss that I wasn’t interested in him as a man.”

Beth finished this long speech, two bright spots of color in her cheeks. It was obvious that the subject of her last employer was more than a little uncomfortable.

She didn’t realize it but she had just said exactly the right things. She had been a bit wild in her younger days. So had he, so he knew about trying to move past that. More importantly, she wasn’t interested in romance. That simplified things. In a working relationship this close he couldn’t afford even the possibility of an inappropriate entanglement, especially given the fact that he’d finally accepted that he needed to marry and produce an heir to keep the Banick line going. Still…

“Ms. Krayton,” he began, knowing that his tone was enough to ready her for bad news.

“Don’t say no yet. I realize my background isn’t ideal, but…why don’t you hire me on a trial basis?” she offered suddenly. “If I don’t prove useful in two weeks I’ll help you find a replacement. I’d even be willing to work those two weeks for free.”

Carson raised a brow. She didn’t look like someone who could go without a paycheck for two weeks. “That’s very accommodating of you, Ms. Krayton.”

Carson looked at the clock and then at the calendar. When Patrick began this project, he had planned to complete it by the end of the year. Since his accident three months ago, little had been done and the shareholders were getting restless. Disaster threatened, and the future of the business, Patrick’s pride and joy, was at stake. Carson had waited too long to step in. Now he had to move mountains.

The truth was that he didn’t know if Beth Krayton was the best candidate, but she appeared to be totally committed to acquiring the position and proving herself. That was more than he could say for any of the other people he’d interviewed, most of whom had been more interested in the salary and benefits than in the job itself. And she had offered him an easy out if things didn’t work.

It was tempting to hedge his bets. He was almost as new at this as she was. But there would be no tiptoeing around for him or for anyone who worked for him. Once they began, life would become a whirlwind. The schedule for the hotel was being stepped up.

“No trial period,” he said. “I’ll hire you until you do something that justifies firing you. Banicks treat their employees fairly.” Carson held back a groan. He sounded just like his father. Beth grinned.

“What?” he said.

“You said you would hire me.”

Carson allowed himself a hint of a smile. “Yes, I did, didn’t I?”

He looked across the desk and saw that his new, petite assistant was practically bouncing. “Thank you, Mr. Banick. And thank you for not making me go through a trial period. I would have gone through with it, but being able to eat for the next two weeks will be nice, too.”

He shook his head and smiled again. “I wouldn’t want my assistant missing meals. You’ll let me know if that’s ever a problem, won’t you?”

Bright pink suffused her face. “I shouldn’t have said that. I was kidding.”

She hadn’t been. He was sure of that. “Of course. Still, you’ll let me know if you need anything.”

A curt nod from her was the best he would get. Carson nearly sighed. So the woman was proud and he would have to waltz around that pride. That didn’t exactly bode well for their working relationship, but it was too late for regrets. Beth Krayton was officially his new assistant.

He held out his hand and she placed hers in it. Her fingers were unusually long and graceful.

He frowned.

She looked alarmed, and he shook his head.

“Welcome to Banick Enterprises,” he told her, trying to smile the way Patrick or his father might have.

She smiled back. “I’m happy to be here.”

“You’ll start at nine tomorrow morning.”

Beth nodded. “I’ll let you know where I’m staying as soon as I have an address.” She started to withdraw her hand, but Carson was still holding on.

“You don’t even have a place to live?”

She shrugged and blushed. “I left home suddenly.”

“Suddenly?”

“This morning.”

Carson nodded, wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into. He was, of course, going to do a background check on Beth Krayton. He wondered what it would turn up.

Not that it really mattered. He wasn’t interested in anything about her except for her ability to help him get this job done.

He was on a mission and nothing, especially not a pint-size woman, was going to stop him.

CHAPTER TWO

BREATHE DEEPLY.

The next morning, standing in the doorway of her creepy little rental room on the far edge of town, Beth coached herself to breathe, trying not to think of how much had changed in one day. This temporary home had been all she could afford, and it wasn’t exactly pleasant. It was a far cry from the clean, bustling beauty of most of the lakeside town, but that was all right. For the first time in her twenty-five years she was living on her own, a fact that brought a sense of triumph to her soul. Moreover, she had survived her interview with Carson Banick and she’d landed a decent job. Now all she had to do was keep it, get settled and stop thinking about her new employer’s dangerous silver eyes.

Beth took another deep, ragged breath. “Well, that solved one problem,” she finally said to herself. She was definitely breathing deeply now.

Too bad it was the thought of her boss’s eyes that was causing her to hyperventilate, because that just wouldn’t do. This would not be like her last job. No one was matchmaking. Carson Banick wasn’t interested in her. It was good that she could think logically about the situation, because she had been stupid about men before.

Beth tried not to think about how idiotic she had been about Harrison, the man she’d fallen so hard for two years ago, thinking he loved her when he’d only wanted a physical relationship. She came from a poor family so they weren’t from the same class at all, he had explained, as if she should have known that his words of love had been lies. But what she had realized after she finally stopped hurting was that her foolish mistake had given her brothers even more reason to protect her.

As surrogate parents, they had always worried she would be an easy and naive sexual target. In the past Beth had never told them about the passes men had made. She’d never believed any of the lies until Harrison had lied more convincingly than the rest. Now, her brothers knew for sure that she had been used. At last they had been proven right, and, despite the fact that she was an adult, they had set out to protect her in every way they could.

Which was well meaning, but…

Sighing, Beth tried not to think of her brothers as captors. They had raised her after their parents’ deaths when she was ten. Her brothers loved her, and she adored them, but as the only girl and the youngest, a somewhat rebellious youngest at that, she had frequently wanted to escape their smothering ways. Now, she had taken the first steps in that direction.

Her brief conversation last night with Roger, her eldest brother—when she’d finally decided to let him know that she was safe and settled—had gone as she’d expected. Poorly. Roger had threatened to come to Lake Geneva, but she’d held her ground.

“I’ve got a good job and a good place to live,” she said, stretching the truth. “If you come up here in your current state, you might jeopardize my situation.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you, Bethie,” he argued.

“You wouldn’t mean to,” she agreed, “but I told my boss I was capable of acting independently. This job is temporary, but it can be a stepping stone to something better. I’m working directly under Carson Banick of the Banick Enterprises Banicks.”

Roger had sworn. “I’ve read about him in the business pages. He lives a reckless existence.”

“I’m not helping him do that. I’m helping him build a hotel. That’s all.”

“Beth…”

“Roger. I love you and Jim and Albert and Steve, but you’re not letting me breathe. Mom and Dad wouldn’t want you to stand in the way of my success.”