Bossed By The Billionaire [Book One] Page 2

  “Sadie,” Cameron said, ignoring them. “Do you have any ideas on how to market my new lingerie line?”

  “I…” Swallowing, I glanced over his shoulder at my boss standing behind him. Greg looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. Bill was wiping sweat from his brow with his meaty hand, and Eric and Janet were staring at me as if to say ‘Come on, give him something.’ While at the same time, shooting laser beams of hatred at me for having the temerity to open my mouth at all.

  I forced my gaze back to Cameron. “Yes, I have lots of ideas.” It was a lie. I didn’t have one single idea on how to market his lingerie, or any clothing line for that matter. Those executives were right. I was just an intern. I didn’t know the first thing about advertising a wealthy man’s brand.

  “Fabulous.” Cameron strode back to his chair and made himself comfortable. “Let’s hear them.”

  “Well.” Glancing down at my clipboard, I noticed the word I had wrote earlier. Different. He wanted something different. I placed down my things and smoothed my skirt with my sweaty palms.

  “Well?” Cameron asked after several more moments of silence. “What are you waiting for?”

  The walls felt like they were closing in. Everyone was looking at me, and I knew that no matter what I did or said it would get me into trouble with someone. It was so much pressure, and I was horrible at thinking on my feet.

  I opened my mouth, then shut it again. Wringing my hands, I glanced around at the expectant faces and realized that, if I didn’t say something, I was not only going to look like an idiot, I was also going to get fired from my internship before the end of my first day.

  I couldn’t keep quiet. I had to say something, anything. Perhaps if I started talking, some great idea would come to me and I could somehow get us all out of this mess.

  “You are the brand, Mr. Wolff.” I turned to him and forced myself to look into his steely gaze. “You are the face of your company, and its selling point.”

  He rubbed his chin as he considered my words. “Go on.”

  I stared at his long fingers as an idea began to form in my mind. “I feel that a good campaign might be one that centers around you.”

  “Me.”

  “Yes, you.”

  Janet rolled her eyes.

  Cameron Wolff, however, just nodded towards me. “Please, continue.”

  “Men want to be you,” I said, trying not to allow my voice to quiver. “Women want to be with you. They can’t do that, so they go out and do the next best thing—buy your products.” The more I spoke, the more my idea took shape. “Perhaps there aren’t even any women or women’s clothing items shown. They’re just hinted at, kept mysterious, with the focus being on ‘what a man wants.’”

  The room fell quiet as Cameron’s nostrils flared, and his gaze became hot and heavy. He looked at me with a small smirk playing at the corners of his gorgeous lips.

  “And what does a man want?” Cameron’s voice was quiet, but firm, and the tone made the question sound as if he was asking about more than just the ad campaign.

  “Excuse me?” I breathed, wondering if I’d heard him correctly.

  His gaze darkened. “What do I want?”

  His words went straight to my pussy, causing it to tighten with need. He dragged his gaze down my body, as if mentally taking each piece of my clothing and tossing it onto the floor. I felt so deliciously bare, so exposed and naked before him.

  “You want the same thing all men want.”

  His eyes seemed to go black with hunger. And now I felt as if we were the only people in the room. “And what do all men want?”

  “They want to be like you. Powerful. Handsome. In control.”

  “Do they now?” he purred.

  “Of course. You are the epitome of wealth and power. You’re famous, and always have beautiful women at your side. I think that a successful ad campaign would need to emphasize the fantasy.”

  “And what fantasy would that be?”

  “The one that tells men that if they buy your products, their lives will turn out more like yours.”

  “Interesting.”

  Raising my chin, I drove my point home. “So I think the most successful ad campaign would involve only one thing—you.”

  Silence descended around us, and suddenly I was unsure of my words. Did he like my idea? It was hard to tell. I glanced at the other executives, but they were only looking at him.

  “ Mr. Wolff,” Greg finally said. “You know that everyone respects you here at Chase and Williams Advertising. If you could just give us a few days to come up with a suitable campaign—”

  “We will work day and night,” Bill added.

  “We won’t rest until we find something suitable,” Janet added. “We’ll use all of our resources—”

  Tearing his gaze away from me, Cameron stood and buttoned his suitcoat. “I have seen and heard enough for one day.”

  I watched in horror as he strode past my colleagues, strode past me, and opened the conference room door

  I had failed. He had heard me and judged me just like he did the others in the room. And of course, I’d come up lacking.

  It wasn’t fair. I had no idea what I was doing and had never wanted to be put in that position, but he’d cruelly put me on the spot anyhow.

  Already the others were looking at me with contempt, and I could tell that they were going to blame me for this mess. They would need a scapegoat for their failures, and blaming the new girl was all too convenient. My internship was officially over, and considering the company’s reputation, I could probably kiss my career in advertising goodbye as well.

  Not only was this a severe professional blow, but it felt personal, as well. Despite knowing that I wasn’t anything like the beautiful girls he was known to associate with, I had sworn that sexual tension had flowed freely between Cameron Wolff and me. The way he had looked at me had made me feel special. Now I knew that it was nothing more than my over-active imagination.

  “Please, Mr. Wolff,” Greg said. “If you could just give us one more chance.”

  “No need to do any more groveling,” Cameron said over his shoulder. “It’s unprofessional, and I’ve already decided that I’m going to give this opportunity to Chase and Williams.”

  Several of the executives gasped in surprise.

  I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

  “Thank you, Mr. Wolff.” Greg nudged me aside and intercepted Cameron at the door. “I promise we won’t let you down.”

  “We’ll do everything in our power to give you the best campaign possible.” Janet stepped in front of me and shook Cameron’s hand. “By this time next year, your lingerie line will be the talk of the country. Everyone will want it.”

  “We will make your brand larger than life,” Bill added as he motioned me to stand aside.

  “I hope that you do.”

  Easing back, I watched as my colleagues congratulated themselves and thanked Cameron for his business. Part of me was hurt that they didn’t include me—I was a member of the team, after all—but a much larger part of me was relieved that at least I wasn’t going to lose my internship. I needed it to fulfill the last course credits I needed for graduation. Without it, I’d have to put my entire career on hold.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Wolff,” Greg said. “No matter who takes lead on this project, it will be the best thing to come out of Chase and Williams Advertising. We won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t let me down, because I have finally found someone who understands what I am trying to accomplish with my brand.” Cameron turned and nodded to me. “Sadie is going to head my campaign. She is going to be the creative lead on the project.”

  Chapter 4

  “With all due respect, Mr. Wolff,” Greg said, taking a step back and looking at me. “She’s not ready to run a large campaign. She’s very green, and just an intern. You’d be setting her up for failure.”

  Cameron shook his head. “I
really don’t care. She knows my brand, and I know my gut. She’s taking creative lead.” He studied me for a moment before continuing. “But you do raise a very good point. I can’t have an intern running my account.”

  “I should say not!” Janet said.

  Cameron turned toward the executives. “Then we are in agreement. You are to give her a promotion and title worthy of someone running my campaign.”

  A few of them laughed uncomfortably.

  Greg sighed and looked vaguely sick. “That would be highly unusual. To promote an intern after her first day would look incredibly strange and might cause a revolt among our more senior employees.”

  “Do you disagree with my decision, then?” Cameron raised his brow. “Because if you do, I can always take my business elsewhere.”

  “No, no,” Greg assured him. “We will promote her, as requested, and give her a title fit for her new position.”

  “And a new salary,” Cameron continued. “The head of my campaign needs to be well compensated for her efforts. She will be working day and night to please me.”

  I felt my lower belly tense as he said those words. My breath caught in my chest.

  Finally, Cameron turned towards me with his cool stare and his tremendous confidence. “I expect great things from you,” he said.

  Stunned, I could only nod in reply.

  “I will have my secretary call yours to set up a time next week to show me your progress.”

  He left the room, taking all of the tension and heat with him. It wasn’t until he was gone that I remembered that I didn’t have a secretary. I didn’t even have an office.

  “The man has lost his fucking mind,” Janet said when Cameron was out of earshot. “It must be some kind of joke.”

  “Choosing an intern as a creative lead.” Greg shook his head. “The man is going to make us a laughingstock.”

  “Come along, everyone. Mr. Chase is going to want an update.”

  “What do we tell him?” Bill asked as we all filed out of the conference room.

  “Tell him you quit if you want to get out before we hit the proverbial iceberg,” Eric quipped.

  There was muted, ghastly laughter from the rest as the bitter jokes and complaints continued.

  None of them spoke a word to me.

  I followed them down the hall as their biting comments sliced through my gut. Just hours ago they were lauding Cameron’s business sense and fighting each other to work with him. Now that Cameron had chosen me, they all considered him and his campaign a black mark on the company.

  “He’s going to run his business into the ground,” Greg said as we stopped in front of Mr. Chase’s office. “It’s like he doesn’t even care about making money.”

  “He should care,” Janet said. “Or he will stop making it. If he isn’t careful, he’ll drag this company down with him.” She knocked on the large oak door in front of her. “Mr. Chase? We’re here to update you on the Cameron Wolff account.”

  “Come in.” The strong baritone voice rose up from inside.

  Janet opened the door and stepped inside. Bill and Eric followed. I started to walk in after them, but Greg stopped me before I reached the door.

  “You can’t go in there,” he said.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s for executives only.” He narrowed his gaze at me. “And for now at least, you are not an account executive.” He waved his hand in the air. “You’re dismissed.”

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “Go back and finish that paperwork I gave you this morning, then help Gloria with the filing.”

  “Shouldn’t I be working on Mr. Wolff’s account?”

  Greg rolled his eyes. “You can do that later—if we determine that it is in Mr. Wolff’s best interest to have you work on the account.”

  “But Mr. Wolff said—“

  “Run along now,” Greg said. “I’ll need all of that paperwork finished and on my desk by the end of the day.”

  “Okay.” I turned to go as he went into Mr. Chase’s office. As soon as the door closed behind him, angry and insistent voices rose up from inside.

  Stunned, I walked back to my cubicle and tried to digest everything that had happened in the past several hours.

  I had met the Cameron Wolff.

  Not only did I meet him, but he flashed me that sexy smile and undressed me with his eyes. God, he was so hot—and his voice made both my legs weak and my mind fog with lust. With one sexy look, the man had made me feel smart, sophisticated and desirable.

  If he could make me feel that good in just one hour, I could only imagine what he could do with an entire night. The man was sex personified.

  Already, it was like he’d invaded my mind completely.

  “Stop it,” I whispered as I approached my cubicle. I needed to stop thinking about Cameron this way. He had made me the creative lead on his campaign, and that meant I had a lot of work to do.

  It was a heady thing to think about. I was shocked, excited and terrified all at once.

  There was no way I’d be able to plan a campaign for this man, especially one that centered around him. As I approached my cubicle, it became more and more clear to me that I’d have to do something drastic to clear my head so I could focus.

  I strode past my cubicle and made my way to the women’s bathroom.

  Thankfully, the bathroom was empty. I hurried over to the sink and dumped my clipboard on the counter. After running the water cold, I splashed a good portion on my face and tried to focus on the moment.

  “Get your act together, Sadie,” I told myself. This was an opportunity of a lifetime. I needed to stop thinking like a lovesick schoolgirl and come up with some viable ideas for this campaign. If I didn’t please Cameron Wolff with my ideas, then my career was as good as dead.

  No more thinking about those dark, turbulent eyes, or how the muscles rippled underneath his suit as he walked. No more remembering the sexy timbre of his voice, or dwelling on the way he made me feel when he slid his heated gaze over my body. No more fantasizing about his mouth on my nipples, or how strong and powerful his hips would feel as he moved in between my thighs.

  Janet burst into the bathroom, almost colliding me.

  “I was looking all over for you,” she said, visibly annoyed.

  For some reason I felt guilty, as if I’d done something wrong. “I just ran to the restroom.”

  She frowned at me as she straightened her pantsuit. “Well Mr. Chase wants to speak with you in his office. Right now.”

  Panic gripped my chest. I had never met with the owner of the company, not even when I had interviewed for the position. Mr. Chase wasn’t the type of person who concerned himself with underlings. From what I’d gathered, most of the time he sat behind his closed odor in his office, making phone calls taking meetings, and chewing out the other high-level executives in the company.

  “Me? Why?”

  She slid her gaze over my clothes with obvious disapproval. “Don’t play all coy with me. You know why.” She turned her back and threw open the bathroom door. “Oh, and I wouldn’t keep him waiting,” she said over her shoulder. “He’s in one of his moods.”

  Chapter 5

  As I left the bathroom and walked towards Mr. Chase’s office, the panic inside me increased. He had spoken a long time to the other executives. Perhaps they had convinced him that I wasn’t qualified enough to take on Cameron’s account—which of course, I wasn’t.

  But still. Cameron Wolff had given it to me, it was his call.

  I felt physically ill as I knocked on Mr. Chase’s office door.

  “Come in.” His harsh voice rose up through the cracks, making my stomach churn. After taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and walked into his office to face my fate.

  As soon as I shut the door, Mr. Chase, an older man with salt and pepper hair and a permanent frown, looked up from his computer screen.

  “Who are you?”

  I cleared my throat. “I’m
Sadie, the new intern. Janet said that you wanted to speak with me?”

  “Ah, the new intern.” He leaned back in his chair and removed his wire-framed glasses. “A lot has happened in your first day, hasn’t it?”

  “It’s been overwhelming, sir,” I admitted.

  “Come, have a seat.” He waved to the large, wingback chairs in front of his desk. “I want to have a little chat about what happened this morning at the meeting with Wolff.”

  I hesitated. Was he mad? It was difficult to tell. As I moved to take my seat, I glanced up at his face and tried to determine his mood.

  “I had no idea it would be so difficult,” I said as I sat.

  “Cameron Wolff is a difficult man, to be sure. It took a lot of man hours and negotiating to get him to even consider a meeting with us.”

  “I understand.”

  He toyed with the end of his glasses, then gently tossed them onto his desk. “His CAM brand is worth billions of dollars. This new ad campaign is worth several million in and of itself. Making Mr. Wolff happy would boost revenue at Chase and Williams advertising higher than we have seen in years.”

  My heart began racing as the seriousness of the moment took hold. “Yes, sir.”

  “This account is very important to us. Hell, it’s important to me.”

  “I understand,” I said, straightening.

  “Do you?” He clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace around my chair. “You must make Cameron Wolff happy at all costs. He is a temperamental man, so even the slightest slip could prove devastating to this company—and, most importantly, your career.”

  I felt my breath stop in my chest.

  This was a direct threat, and Chase knew it. He turned his hooded eyes toward me. “So we’re clear, then.”

  I nodded, licking my lips and trying to keep the tears at bay. “Perfectly clear,” I rasped, swallowing hard. The tears pulled back. I let out a long, slow breath.

  He stopped pacing and shook his head in disapproval. “This isn’t a game. The opportunity he has given to you is like winning the lottery. People work their entire lives and never get a chance to do something like this. Best be careful, or you might find that this is the peak of your career.”