A mischievous smile tipped the other woman’s full, red lips, her long black lashes fluttered only once or twice. “I hope you don’t mind that Deanna volunteered your help in putting together the Christmas party.”

Right. The Christmas party. Somehow, during her absence, Deanna had offered Sam’s services in helping the two women to get the upcoming Christmas party planned and executed. Payback for abandoning her for so long, Deanna had told her.

Truthfully, Sam didn’t really mind. She only wondered whether her discussion with Xavier and Alex that morning would change that.

“I don’t mind.” She smiled graciously at Veronica. Sam didn’t know the other woman well, but Deanna spoke fondly of her, and what little interaction Sam had had with the woman had always been pleasant.

“You’re a life saver actually. We’ve only got a little over two months to put this thing together, and I knew I couldn’t do it myself, even if Xavier thinks I am superwoman.” Veronica laughed, a sexy, raspy, feminine laugh that Sam found herself being envious of.

Veronica Sellers was a beautiful woman, with thick, wavy, black hair that hung down her back, resting just above her butt. With an hourglass figure and ample breasts, Sam wondered how the woman had managed to avoid most of the men in the office to this point.

From what Deanna told her, Veronica had been with XTX for about twelve years, having started out as an admin for one of the finance V.P.’s but quickly excelled to the highly coveted position of Xavier’s admin. She was probably close to fifty, but one couldn’t tell by looking at her. Sam only hoped she looked half as good when she was Veronica’s age.

“Just let me know what I can do to help. I’ll be glad to do whatever you need me to, just give me direction. I’m not good with the party planning thing, and one of this magnitude scares the bejesus out of me to be honest.”

“Well, the marvelous thing is that we have a little time. I’ve reserved the convention center already, since we’re expecting around eight thousand people to attend, and that’s if Xavier keeps it to significant others only and not families.” Veronica stated, her attention turned to the outer door that had opened behind Sam. “Good morning, Alex. Xavier will be just a minute, so if you want to have a seat.”

Sam looked up as Alex stepped into the formal entry to Xavier’s office, nodding her head in recognition and greeting.

Up until now, she’d managed to fight off the butterflies threatening to wreak havoc in her stomach, but seeing Alex made her nervous. She’d avoided calling Logan the night before when she had gotten back to town, wanting to do this the right way. Unsure where her relationship stood with Logan at the moment, she knew the man wasn’t happy with her decision to skip town for so long, Sam had opted to avoid him just a little longer.

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If this went as planned, she would actually be taking a position with Alex’s security company, which might just take some of the zing out of what she and Logan were experiencing anyway.

For the last fourteen days, Sam had done little other than think about her relationship with Logan. She’d thought about the heated nights, and the dirty little deeds she’d done with Logan and his twin brother.

Knowing their relationship was taboo, just from the fact that she worked for the man, she wondered whether that was part of her appeal. Once she wasn’t working for him, would Logan lose interest? Moving on to the next exciting thing to walk into his life? She didn’t know, and right now, she didn’t have the time to ponder it.

“Xavier’s ready for you.” Veronica said sweetly, looking at Alex and then back to Sam. “I’ll set up a lunch meeting for you, me, and Deanna later this week so we can get together and toss our ideas around.”

“Sounds great.” Sam said, standing from the hard back chair she’d been glued to for the last fifteen minutes. Straightening her skirt, she waited for Alex, and once he motioned her forward, she led the way to Xavier’s office.

“Good morning.” Xavier greeted her immediately as she stepped into the luxuriously furnished office of the President and CEO of XTX Industries.

Sam responded to his gesture with a hearty handshake before she was ushered to a seating area that overlooked the beautiful North Texas scenery.

There weren’t nearly as many rolling hills in the Dallas area as there were further south, but the view from Xavier’s office was breathtaking. A small pond, or maybe it was considered a lake, sat off in the distance, surrounded by acres of green grass and tall, live oak trees dotting the horizon.

Taking a seat on the plush, leather couch, Sam addressed both men. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me on such short notice.”