Amanda Strickland was bored out of her mind. The executive staff meeting was approaching the one hour mark and showed no signs of ending soon. Usually the President and CEO, Bob Palmer, ran a short meeting with a fast moving agenda, but today, for whatever reason, he allowed the meeting to go at a much more leisurely pace. Amanda was Vice President, Legal Counsel and Legal Services for Stratacor International, a diversified corporation involved in developing and manufacturing a wide range of scientific, medical instruments and related products.
Amanda was 33, a graduate of Harvard law and a fast rising executive in the corporate legal profession. Recently
Fortune
magazine did a short profile on the legal "wunderkind" who had quickly risen to the top of one of the world's foremost companies in its field. One thing that helped make her a media star was that she was drop-dead gorgeous. Her father was African-American, a retired Army Major General now doing defense consulting, and her mother a Korean-American, also a lawyer. The result of this union gave Amanda rather exotic looks. She was tall, close to 5'11", had long black hair, skin the color of coffee with cream, almond-shaped eyes with light brown irises and a trim athletic figure with full, firm breasts. She was single and by nature a private and reserved person. So far as anyone knew she did not have a boyfriend or even date very much. She was gracious, friendly and charming. She was also brilliant, impatient, and had a killer instinct regarding legal matters all of which made her a formidable force in the courtroom and the board room.
Amanda let her eyes wander around the room. Most of the other executives looked as bored as she was as Larry Bently, the VP HR, droned on about staffing ratios and salary plans, all necessary and important, but dry as dust. Her gaze lingered on Steven Clark, the VP Sales and Marketing. If Amanda was somewhat of a mystery to her fellow employees, Clark was a total enigma. Outside of his official biography little was known about him and when the work day was done he simply disappeared. He would attend the obligatory company functions and was certainly congenial enough, but at times he seemed to retreat behind an impenetrable wall of silence. He definitely was not the typical back slapping, glad-handing sales person type, but there was no doubt that he was highly effective in his job. Much of the recent success of the company and its rapid growth in both revenue and profits could be attributed to him and his department. As far as Palmer was concerned, he was the fair-haired boy and rumored to be in line to become Chief Operating Officer.
Clark was a strikingly good looking man, about 6'2" with wide shoulders and the slim waist of an athlete; he had blond hair with a slight reddish tint betraying his Scottish-Irish heritage, blue-green eyes, a fair complexion with a slight tan, rugged features with a square jaw, a nose that looked like it might have been broken at one point and a faint scar near his hairline just above his left eye. He was the kind of man that women are naturally attracted to, not quite movie star handsome, boyish but dangerous looking too. As was Amanda, Steven was single and had never been married. If he dated or had girlfriends he kept that far from the prying eyes of the company.
Someday, Amanda thought, I'd like to push a few of his buttons and see what happens; maybe get a peek behind the wall. God knows I could use a little fun and excitement in my life ... and sex. It's been a long, long dry spell and the sad truth was that the men she met had very little appeal. She also knew that she could be quite intimidating and made her dates nervous. She had the feeling that Steven would not fall into that category.
Steven sensed that Amanda was staring at him, turned to look at her and gave her a subtle wink and a smile. He then rolled his eyes as if to say "get me out of here." Amanda smiled back conspiratorially and shrugged.
Bently finally concluded his remarks and there being no further business, Palmer adjourned the meeting. Amanda gathered up her notes and tablet computer and headed for the door, almost colliding with Steven. "Sorry, not paying attention," she said. "Not a problem. I never get in the way of someone so eager to get back to work," he said with a smile.
"It's not that I want to get back to work so much as I want to get out of here. That was a long meeting," she said.
"Not the usual crisp all business approach that Bob takes," he said. "I guess he liked the quarterly numbers and took a more relaxed tone today."
"Yes. Your team has really done well. Congratulations."
"Thanks. But that just raises the bar for the next quarter. Maybe you can help Bob make another acquisition and take the pressure off."
"We've got a few in the pipeline. Not likely to help you in the next few months though," she said, and headed to the west wing with a wave of her hand.
Steven watched her walk away and thought, world class ass. Maybe someday ... but he really had doubts about getting involved with someone in the company, even someone as nice and as attractive as Amanda. It had been a very long time since he had been in a relationship and was resigned to the fact that, unless he was willing to settle for a purely physical "roll in the hay" hook up it was going to be a while longer. Like Amanda he just hadn't found anyone he really enjoyed being with long term.
Chapter 2
Friday, 8:00 p.m. Amanda looked out of her window on the eighteenth floor of the Stratacor headquarters building in west Bloomington, Minnesota. Late September and it was already getting dark. Clouds had been rolling in all afternoon and the forecast called for thunderstorms this evening. It had been a long day and an even longer week. The workload was crushing, with so many deals and contracts closing and a major union negotiation underway. Amanda was exhausted and looked forward to a drink, some dinner and a hot bath, maybe a good book too.
As she walked down the darkened corridor to the elevators she was surprised to see light spilling from the open door of Steven Clark's office at the end of the other hallway. On an impulse she walked toward his office and tapped lightly on his door. He looked up in surprise and smiled when he saw Amanda. "I thought I was the only drudge left here tonight," he said.
"I had to clean up a few loose ends and didn't realize how late it was," Amanda said. "What are you doing here so late a Friday night? I thought you'd be long gone by now."
"Much the same as you, I guess. Had some stuff come in from the west coast and I didn't want to put it off until Monday or have to come in on Saturday either," he said. As he was talking he looked at Amanda appraisingly. Even at the end of a long day she still looked terrific. She wore a black silk jacket and skirt, hemmed a few inches above the knee, short enough to show off her long, toned legs, but long enough for the office. Under the jacket was a white silk blouse that revealed a little cleavage, not enough to be distracting, but enough to hint at the full breasts underneath. Around her neck was a single gold chain that matched her earrings. She must have touched up her makeup before leaving her office since her deep red lips looked fresh with lipstick. Steve felt a little twitch in his loins. Down boy, he muttered to himself.
While Steven gave her the once-over Amanda did the same. Steven was in his shirtsleeves with the cuffs rolled up over powerful forearms. His tie was still pulled up and neatly knotted under the spread collar of his light blue shirt. There was light stubble on his jaw. He must have shaved very early this morning, Amanda thought. He still looked like a hunk in spite of the long hours he'd just put in.
"Well, I'm getting out of here," Amanda said as she turned to go.
"Wait. I'm leaving too and was going to go down to Findlay's for a drink and a bite to eat. Would you like to join me?" He said.
"Yes. I'd like that. Thanks for inviting me. I think we earned one or two adult beverages," she said.
Steve rolled down his sleeves and was fumbling with his cufflinks, trying to get them in. "I like wearing French cuffs but sometimes these are a real pain," he said.
"Let me help you with them," Amanda said and took the cufflinks from him. Standing close to him, Steve could smell her perfume. Something very light and very expensive. God she smells good, he thought.
Amanda deftly inserted the cufflinks, Steve put on his suit coat and they headed for the elevator.
Findlay's is on the ground floor of the Stratacor office building and was a popular spot for power lunches and dinners and attracted a crowd after working hours as well. It had the feel of an old time club with dark wood paneling, discrete lighting and very private booths where conversations could not easily be overheard. The food was very good and the drinks even better.
