Russian Billionaire's Virgin Secretary (2 page)

“Relax, I won’t eat you,” he told her as he sifted through the file. Sarah blushed. She was glad that he couldn’t read her thoughts.

“Now, according to your file, this is your first job?”

Sarah started to answer, but had to stop and swallow as her mouth had gone dry. What was wrong with her? She was never this uptight around people.

“This is my first corporate job. My family owns a large cattle ranch and I’ve been working on it since I was old enough to walk.”

“Not really the same as logistics, is it?”

“On the contrary, Mr. Chekov, despite the dress code and the smell,” Sarah said as she wrinkled her nose in remembrance, “Raising cattle for sale IS all about logistics. Besides having to keep track of several thousand cattle, we have to monitor their health, we deal with the government regularly; there’s marketing, vendor relations, tremendous amount of sales is involved when we are selling off large numbers to make room for more, and of course the transport, and that doesn’t include all the HR stuff as we maintain a regular staff of about twenty workers, plus an additional thirty during peak times.”

As Sarah took a breath to continue, he interrupted her.

“Okay, I get it,” he said with a smile. “And please, call me Vitaly.”

Sarah blushed as she nodded her head. Vitaly looked at her. She was passionate, articulate and lovely when she blushed. Making a quick decision, he continued.

“Now, originally, you had applied for the position in marketing, but I’ve changed that. Normally, I maintain a personal staff of four, but one is out on maternity leave, another was recently let go and my secretary and receptionist are unable to travel because of family obligations. I’m in need of someone with your academic background and obvious passion. There will be a tremendous amount of travel involved at times as well as long hours. You will of course be compensated for your time as well as any out of pocket expenses that you may incur while doing your job. You will learn about all aspects of my organization in a short amount of time. Is that something of interest to you?”

Sarah opened and closed her mouth before she was finally able to speak. Thinking fast, this was an opportunity too good to be true. She had no coursework. No boyfriend. Why not? Nodding her head, “Yes, Mr. Chekov, er, Vitaly, I am VERY interested in this opportunity.

“Excellent. That pleases me. There is one thing,” as Sarah looked up, he continued, “I can see from the pallor of your skin and the dark circles under your eyes that you were up late and drinking. Is this a common occurrence?”

“Oh, no, sir,” Sarah responded immediately. It was my twenty-first birthday yesterday and I just broke up with my boyfriend, so I over-celebrated. It won’t happen again.”

“Good to know. Now, go home, get some rest. Report to Human Resources tomorrow promptly at eight. You will spend the remainder of the week with the other new hires in training. I want you familiar with all aspects of this organization before you dive into the project files. Oh, and you have a passport, yes?” At Sarah’s nod, “Good. Now go.”

As Sarah left, Vitaly set her file down and sat back. He liked this one. She was submissive and he could tell by her reactions that she was relatively inexperienced. He especially liked that there was no boyfriend in the picture.
He was going to enjoy having her around and getting to know her.

Chapter 3

When Sarah returned home, she ran into Lisa.

“Girl, you look as bad as I feel. How was the interview?”

“I got the internship, but it isn’t in marketing. I’m going to be his PA for the summer.”

At Lisa’s squeal, Sarah stopped her. “I get the impression that I’m going to work a lot of hours. He even asked if I had a passport.”

Lisa continued to bounce up and down in excitement. “What?!”

“Is he as good looking as he is in his pictures?”

Sarah smiled. “Better. Now come on, I need help putting some work outfits together until I can go shopping.”

*****

Later that evening, Sarah was checking messages. She had three from Daniel that she deleted without even reading. Clicking on the one from VIC Enterprises, she read a welcome letter from Susan, Vitaly’s secretary, welcoming her to the team and giving her more information on what to expect over the next three days with HR. In addition to the paperwork and explanations on the various benefits and programs available to its employees, Sarah would also be trained on the current project management system VIC Enterprises uses along with all the other performance applications.

When she came upstairs, Mr. Chekov expected her to be ready to go with minimal learning curve. And since she would be spending all her time in HR, she was allowed to dress in office casual, but once she came upstairs, she would have to dress more appropriately. As Sarah read through the message, she took note of the suggestions to keep a travel bag in her car with a couple days’ worth of clothes and to keep her passport close. She also provided her with Vitaly’s tentative schedule, which Susan made sure to point out, changed constantly. It would be her job to know his schedule at all times, so it was mandatory that she be able to access all aspects of their communications software.

The next morning, Sarah reported to HR. Since she knew that she would be sitting most of the day, she had elected to wear comfortable chinos with a breezy top. Gary was their trainer and he took a moment to go around the room and have everyone introduce each other and indicate their role. Sarah was surprised to see a sixth intern in the room, until he indicated that he was in marketing. She had to shake her head at how quickly employment decisions were made around here. The remainder of the week was uneventful as Sarah spent most of it learning the various software systems. Vitaly insisted that everyone who worked for him had a general understanding of the expectations and roles for every department and as his personal assistant, Sarah felt pressured to understand as much of his business as possible. This was her chance to make a good impression and she wanted to do well.

On Friday, they broke for the day around mid-afternoon as Gary congratulated everyone on all the work they did. Since it was still early, Sarah decided to go upstairs to peek at her office and perhaps get a jumpstart on Monday. Both Susan and Laurel had been copying her on emails, so she knew that she had a busy week ahead of her. As she arrived on the tenth floor, she was surprised to find it in semi-darkness. As she walked up to the reception desk, it was obvious that Laurel wasn’t in. Since it was so quiet, she decided to walk around and get comfortable with her new surroundings.

As she walked into the conference room, she gasped at the amazing view outside. While Sarah had been living in San Jose for the past three years, she never paid much attention to the scenery, but the location of the office building and the floor to ceiling windows seemed to command respect for the beautiful mountains that served as a backdrop. She squealed in surprise when she heard a throat clearing behind her. Whirling around, she was surprised to see Vitaly Chekov and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Mr. Chekov, you startled me, I thought you were still out of town.”

“Vitaly. And I came back early. Why aren’t you in training?” he demanded, as he looked her over. She was wearing a sundress under her blazer and he liked how it hugged her curves.

“We finished for the day,” Sarah replied. He didn’t look pleased to see her. “It looks like I’m bothering you. I’ll just show myself out and see you on Monday.” As Sarah tried to scoot by, Vitaly put his arm out to block her.

“Stay,” he commanded as he swept his eyes over her.
She really was gorgeous
, he thought to himself.

Wrinkling her nose, Sarah attempted to move around his arm. “Mr. Chekov, er, Vitaly, sir, it smells as though you’ve been drinking. I think it would be best if I leave now.”

“Come,” he ordered, as he walked away. Sarah wasn’t sure what to do. She hadn’t even started working for him yet and she was already unsure how to respond. “I said, come,” he demanded as he walked into his office.

Shaking her head, Sarah followed slowly, and what was it with the dog commands? As Sarah walked into his office, she took in the files strewn about the table and the partial bottle of vodka and empty glass. Reaching for another glass, Vitaly filled both glasses before turning toward her. Pushing one toward her, he lifted his glass and took a long swallow. When Sarah still hadn’t picked up the glass, he pointed to the glass, “Today is the anniversary of my sister’s death,” he said in a flat tone. “Drink.”

Reluctantly stepping forward, Sarah picked up the glass and sniffed at it. Her birthday was barely one week ago and that was the most she’d ever had to drink at one time.

Taking a sip, Sarah coughed as the vodka burned her throat. She admitted to herself that she much preferred mixed drinks. Taking another small sip, she managed to swallow the burning liquid without coughing. As she looked up, she caught Vitaly looking at her again. Raising her glass to him, she took a larger sip and started coughing harder as she felt the vodka burn her nose.

“You aren’t very good at drinking,” he told her as he drained his glass.

Sarah laughed as she set the glass down, “I’m new at this,” she told him.

“What else are you new at?” At Sarah’s blush, Vitaly could well-imagine where she went in her head and he immediately felt aroused at the idea of bending her over his desk.

Sarah had no idea how to answer the question and was growing increasingly uncomfortable as he continued to stare at her. She reached for the glass as a means to distract herself, but he stopped her. Taking her hand, he turned it over and looked at her palm. Lightly running his fingers over it, he made small circles along her wrist with his thumb as Sarah caught her breath. How could something so small feel so damn good, she wondered?

Looking up at Vitaly through her lowered lashes, she had to admit that he was unbelievably attractive. He wore his hair on the longish side and Sarah had the sudden compulsion to run her fingers through it to see how soft it was. He had a strong-looking face with heavy eyebrows, chocolate brown eyes and a straight nose. His lips were full and Sarah wondered what they would feel like to kiss them. She was startled when she felt him reach up and pull the band off her hair as her hair tumbled around her. She sat quietly as he lifted her hair off her face and laid it behind her.

Cupping the side of her face, she couldn’t resist pressing lightly against his palm. Her lips felt dry and she paused as she was licking them when she saw his eyes narrow. Sliding his hand around her neck, Sarah yelped as she found herself suddenly lying on top of him. Capturing her lips, he plundered her mouth when she gasped in surprise.

While she tasted of vodka, he could also taste strawberries. He groaned, lifting one of her legs over him as he deepened the kiss. Unsure what to do, Sarah held on as he kissed her. While she knew that she needed to put a stop to this, he was doing something to her insides that was making her head spin. At the sound of a throat clearing, they both looked up as Sarah blushed. Ivan, VIC Enterprises Chief of Security was leaning in the doorway with a wicked smile on his face.

As Sarah quickly sat up and straightened out her clothes, Ivan walked in. “I can’t tell if I’m too early or right on time,” he drawled as he walked over to the couches. “Either way, we did have a meeting this afternoon, correct?” he asked as he picked up the vodka bottle and moved it farther away.

Sarah scrambled off the couch and headed for the door. Her face was bright red and she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. It was silly of her to come upstairs and now she had no idea what to do. As she headed for the door, Vitaly called out, “Bright and early Monday morning, Sarah.”

Pausing, Sarah turned around, still unable to speak. She nodded her head before she left his office and made a beeline for the elevator. Once inside, she looked in the reflection and straightened out her clothes. She had lost her hairband when he pulled it off, so she finger combed her hair before the doors opened on the lobby. Exiting, she practically ran to her car before taking several shallow breaths until she calmed down. Flipping the mirror up on the visor, she stared into it. What on earth was she thinking?

That can never happen again
, she vowed as she drove away. 

Chapter 4

On Monday morning, Sarah walked into VIC Enterprises for her first day working with Vitaly. After Friday, she was nervous how to behave around him. As she waited for the elevator, she looked at herself in the mirror. She wouldn’t have any money until payday, so her clothes were a mix and match with borrowed items from her friends. Her skirt landed above the knee and moved with her as she walked giving her a breezy feel.

Despite being shorter than her friends are, she had the larger bust and most of their tops were too snug on her. Settling for a lace camisole, Sarah’s cleavage peeked out the top. She added a short chunky necklace to draw the eye away from her cleavage and to her face. Her suit jacket was fitted, accentuating her curves. Since it was still too warm for nylons or tights, Sarah finished off her outfit with a pair of open-toed pumps showing off her sparkling pink toenail polish.

As she rode the elevator up, she discretely checked out the other women. Since she had spent all her time in the HR training room, she didn’t have a chance to see how the other women dressed. Most were somewhat modestly dressed preferring to wear pants to skirts, but Sarah did not feel out of place. Taking a deep breath, she exited at the tenth floor and walked up to a smiling Laurel who showed her to her office.

Over the next thirty minutes, Laurel gave her a quick tour of the tenth floor, which was used only by Vitaly and his immediate staff, visiting management from other locations, as well as for meetings. She gave Sarah a quick overview of Vitaly’s general protocols, how to access Vitaly’s calendar, and the list of current projects. Sarah was so engrossed that she did not hear Vitaly walk into her office until he set a cup of coffee down in front of her.