Martha Kennerson - The Heiress's Secret Romance

“No, thank you. I’m fine. We passed your training center coming in. Will I not be working there?”

“Eventually.” They walked over to the elevator and took the short ride up to the fifth floor. He led her past a small waiting area and down a long hall with offices on each side. They came to the end of the hall and stood in front of a door with a sign that read Operations Administration. Paz opened the door and stood aside as Kathleen entered. It wasn’t at all what she’d expected. The waiting area had two low-back leather sofas sitting against the left and right walls with framed blueprints of the plant hanging above them. An expensive Persian rug covered the slate floors, and a long fish tank filled the back wall.

“Very nice.”

Paz laughed. “You haven’t seen anything yet. Follow me.” He led her toward a door in the corner.

Kathleen’s forehead creased. “No receptionist?”

“It’s not necessary. You can’t get up here without an escort unless you’re an employee or a Kingsley.” He led her through the door.

Time to get to work. “I was wondering, are they here often...the Kingsleys?” She gave him a half smile.

“Sure.”

“How involved are they with the staff? I mean, do they spend much time with the employees? What do they do while they’re here?” Kathleen tried not to sound like she was going down a checklist but she knew she was failing in that effort. She prayed her face didn’t show how unsettled she was. It was not as if this was the first time she had to come into a facility incognito to find out what was going on, but something felt different about this one. Her boss was right—the Kingsleys were a big deal—and she couldn’t mess this up. Kathleen knew the outcome of her investigation could have far-reaching ramifications.

Paz looked at Kathleen as if she was speaking a foreign language and he didn’t understand a word she was saying. “They work just like the rest of us,” he replied, frowning.

They walked down another corridor, passing several more offices until they made it to the large double doors at the end of the hall. “You can wait in here, and Mr. Jones will be right with you.” Paz opened the door, and Kathleen walked in, stopping before she could get more than a foot into the room.

“Back again, Adrian?” a baritone voice said, sending an unfamiliar chill down Kathleen’s spine. The sound came from a olive-skinned man with a short haircut and a fine beard. His long jean-clad legs were propped up on the desk, and he was reading through what appeared to be a report. When he raised his head, and Kathleen caught his gaze, his hazel eyes rendered her mute. Kathleen’s throat was suddenly dry, and she blinked rapidly. The short-sleeved white shirt he wore with the company’s logo on the pocket accentuated his wide chest and big arms.

“Oh my,” she whispered to herself. Kathleen had seen handsome men before, but this man was unlike any of those. The ruggedly handsome gentleman sitting before her looked like someone from one of the old black-and-white Westerns she and her mother used to enjoy watching together. Her mother would tell Kathleen, “That’s what a man’s man is, darling,” when one appeared on the screen. Today was the first time she’d seen one in person, and the thought made Kathleen smile.

* * *

Morgan slowly lowered his papers to the desk, brought his feet to the floor and stood. He felt like his whole body was moving in slow motion. Morgan had seen beautiful women before, but the exquisite creature standing in front of him was different. Her heart-shaped face and flawless skin was mostly makeup free. She appeared to be a foot or so shorter than Morgan; her smile was faint but stunning, and while she tried to cover her perfectly shaped body in conservative clothes, Morgan could see that she had curves in all the right places that called out to him, and his body was responding. It was something that never happened by the sight of a woman.

Damn!

Paz stepped forward. “This is Kathleen Winston. Kathleen, this is—”

He raised his left hand and waved him off. Morgan hadn’t heard anything beyond her name. What he didn’t recognize were the emotions she had provoked in him. He felt warm, he couldn’t seem to focus and he had a sudden desire to touch her. He’d heard about this happening before, only he was usually watching from the sideline of his brothers’ lives.

Morgan quickly righted himself. “You must be the trainer from OSHA,” Morgan forced out, extending his hand. “I’m—”

“Yes,” Kathleen interrupted, offering her hand.

Morgan felt a spark as he gave her small, delicate hand a shake. Get it together. “Excuse the calluses.”

Kathleen smiled, sending another spark through his body, the sweet scent she was wearing attacking his senses. “No problem.” She freed her hand.

“May I?” She gestured toward one of the two large leather wingback chairs that sat in front of the mahogany wood desk.

“Please.”

Morgan returned to his seat and watched as Kathleen quickly removed four medium-sized binders from her bag and placed them on the desk. He told himself he would listen to what she had to say, but he would send her away as soon as she read her last page. There was no way in hell this beautiful woman could teach anything to his men. They wouldn’t be able to concentrate. He sure as hell couldn’t right then.

Kathleen removed her electronic tablet from her bag and turned it on. She handed Morgan a binder and said, “I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting a few deficiencies in your training program.”

“Deficiencies?” Morgan sat forward and opened the binder, feeling annoyed by her assumption in spite of being so turned on by her presence.

“The first tab has my résumé and all my credentials and certifications. If you look behind the second tab, you’ll find my recommendations for improvement,” Kathleen explained.

“That was mighty presumptuous of you, considering the state uses our material as part of its training program.” He hardened his expression as he glanced down at the pages.

“Not really. It’s my job to ensure all safety protocols are adhered to regardless of whose name is on the building.

“I—”

“Look, I’m sure you’re loyal to the Kingsley family.” She shook her head as if that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.

“You have no idea,” Morgan replied.

“However there are some things where loyalty isn’t a part of the equation.”

That was when Morgan realized she had no idea who she was talking to. He remembered that she’d launched into her presentation before he had a chance to introduce himself. She’s arrogant and another know-it-all when it comes to my family. “In my mind and my family’s, loyalty is everything.”

“This isn’t about you or your family. Making improvements to your systems is about protecting you and your coworkers. Shall I continue?” Kathleen’s eyebrows stood at attention.

The girl’s got spunk. The way her eyes bored into him was wreaking havoc on his system. Morgan folded his arms across his chest. “Please.”

Chapter 4

Morgan sat back and watched Kathleen make her presentation as he flipped through the pages of her binder ahead of her. He tried to focus on her words, but her green-gold eyes and luscious lips scrambled his brain. Only a few phases broke through the fog of annoyance and attraction, one of which he had to address.

“Wait, did you say we need to switch from our computer-based training program to a more group-based, interactive one?” That’s not going to happen. “The industry, the world for that matter, is moving more toward digital and you want us to pull back.”