I walked out of the elevator and felt my stomach churn with nerves when I caught sight of all the other interviewees waiting in the reception. I made eye contact with a few of them as I went to sit in one of the empty chairs and was certain to make sure I looked more confident than I felt. I was Rose Hathaway, of course; nothing scared me.

Except job interviews.

I was only twenty-two, just graduated from university with a degree in fashion promotion, and was applying to be an assistant at Belikova; the new leading clothing design company. I loved their clothing, even though it was geared mainly towards men, so I thought it might be a good place to start out. Although I usually wore the same clothes every day - black jeans and comfortable shirts - I was actually really interested in clothing and wanted to learn more. I was also very comfortable around other people and with my good looks, I knew I could be very good at promoting clothes. Of course this job was only to be an assistant but I hoped that if the CEO liked me, he would keep me on and let me move up in the business.

I waited outside for about twenty minutes before I heard my name called to head in. I took a deep breath as I stood up, wiped my hands over my skirt to smooth it out and clear them of sweat, then lifted my head to show an air of confidence. I nodded at the woman who opened the door for me then turned and grinned at the two people sitting behind the desk.

"Hello, Miss Hathaway," the one on the left, a middle-aged woman, said.

"Hello," I replied. "Ms. Petrov?"

"Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you."

Ms. Petrov was the head of marketing at Belikova. I'd heard that she could be a very strict leader when she needed but if she liked you, she'd go easy on you most of the time. She definitely looked that way with her short black hair and stern facial expression. She didn't look unfriendly, not at all, but I could tell she definitely wouldn't take anyone's shit. I admired that.

"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am."

"Please, take a seat."

I quickly introduced myself to the man in the room, who introduced himself as Mr. Alto, the head of the hiring committee, then sat down across the desk from them.

"So, Miss Hathaway, I see you've just graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in fashion promotion," Ms. Petrov said.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why do you think you're a good fit for this job?"

"Well, the main reasons are that I find fashion very interesting and I'm a huge fan of the Belikova designs. I've purchased multiple items for male friends and family and they've been accepted very well. I understand that this position is to be the assistant to Mr. Belikov so I won't get to do much with actual fashion for now, but I'm really excited for all the opportunities to see how Mr. Belikov runs his company. I hope that I get chances to put my degree to use in the future."

Ms. Petrov seemed to be pleased with my answer but Mr. Alto had no visible reaction which made me a little anxious. He was looking at me as if he didn't like me, something that didn't happen often, but I tried not to let it bother me. Not everyone had to like me. Right?

Ms. Petrov asked me a few more questions about what experience I've had in fashion and what I know about the company, and before I knew it, we were done.

"Well, Miss Hathaway, you seem to be a good fit for the position from what you've told me," she said. That made me perk up and I desperately had to fight off the grin threatening to spread across my face.

"Thank you, ma'am," I said.

She smiled gently at me as she straightened out her papers. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Actually yes. Is Mr. Belikov around? I would like to meet him just in case I get the job."

"He should be around somewh-... Oh, he's coming over right now."

I turned around to see who Ms. Petrov was talking about and my mouth immediately dried out at the sight of the man. Oh. My. God. He was gorgeous. And tall!

Obviously I'd seen pictures of Mr. Belikov before but shit, pictures did not do him justice. He had soft looking shoulder-length brown hair, deep brown eyes and a face that could make anyone stop in their tracks and stare. He was wearing one of his leather dusters but even through that I could see that he was covered in hard muscle. I wanted to run my hands over him, feel the dips and peaks of his abs and biceps, then perhaps my tongue too. He obviously worked out and was I wrong for wanting to see him all hot and sweaty? Was I wrong for wanting to be the one to get him all hot and sweaty?

I was excited to notice that in all of my admiring of his body, he seemed to be doing the same thing to me. His eyes raked over me a couple of times and when they met mine, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I suddenly felt warm all over and as much as it embarrassed me, my face burnt a bright red.

I didn't usually get this flustered over guys, they were the ones who got flustered over me. I was a pretty woman; long, thick brown hair, sultry eyes, pink lips, muscle in all the right places, and most importantly, curves in all the right places. Sure I technically wasn't the beauty standard, not like my stick thin, pretty pale best friend Lissa, but I definitely got a lot of attention from men. They all seemed to want to try to get with me but mostly it was just for one night, which I was not into.

Anyway, that was beside the point. I, Rose Hathaway, had never been stunned silent by the handsomeness of a man before and I hated that it had to happen to be possible soon-to-be boss. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous?

"Miss Hathaway, this is Mr. Belikov, our CEO," Ms. Petrov said gesturing between me and him. She hadn't seemed to catch on that we were openly checking each other out and for that I was grateful.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," I said to Mr. Belikov, thanking the lords that my voice didn't crack. I couldn't let onto the fact that he affected me so much, it wasn't how I worked. I needed to turn the charm on and reel him in that way. The Rose Hathaway way.

I gave him a sultry smile and relished in the way his eyes widened just a little as I held a hand out for him to shake. "Hello, Miss Hathaway, it's nice to meet you, too."

"Miss Hathaway just finished her interview," Ms. Petrov said. Mr. Belikov looked down at me again and nodded with, hey wait, is that a smile?

"Well, I can't wait to hear how it went."

I smirked and reached down to pick up my bag from beside my chair.

"I assume I should head out," I said. "It was really nice to meet you Ms. Petrov, Mr. Alto. Mr. Belikov."

"We're hoping to make a decision today so if you'd like, you could just wait outside for a bit," Ms. Petrov said.

"Sure, that sounds great. Thank you again."

I shook all of their hands again, holding the longest for Mr. Belikov as I eyed him up and down again, then walked out of the room with my hips swaying exaggeratedly. I sat down on a chair just outside the office, grinning because even when the door was closed, I could hear the conversation going on inside.

"She looks young," Mr. Belikov said.

"She is, only twenty-two," Ms. Petrov said.

"I don't know about her," I heard Mr. Alto say, making me frown. I guess he didn't like me. "There are so many more qualified people out there, ones that have already had jobs in the fashion industry."

"Yes, but she was the only one with a fashion degree. You could tell that a lot of the applicants just want the job for the discount on our clothes."

There's a discount for the clothes?! Score!

"How did her interview go?" Mr. Belikov asked.

"Very well. She seemed very confident and mentioned that she was interested in growing within the company which I think is important. I think she would be useful when you travel as her degree is in promotion and... well, not to be offensive, but she's a very pretty woman and possible clients will like that."

I giggled lightly at her words, not offended at all. If I relied on my looks for sales then she was allowed to as well. Not that I didn't believe in my skills to sell things, of course, but a lot of Mr. Belikov's clients would probably be young men and I figured I could help a lot with them.

"I'm not just going to hire her because she's pretty," Mr. Belikov said.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. He didn't sound impressed by me, even though he called me pretty.

"With all due respect, Dimitri, I truly think she is a good choice for the position. You trust my opinion, right? I've never led you in the wrong direction before."

Dimitri, huh? It suited him, it was sexy.

It was so nice to hear that Ms. Petrov seemed to really believe in me and liked me. I felt like I could get along well with her.

"I do trust you, Alberta." Alberta... Also suited her. "If you believe that she's right for the job then I'm sure she is. Walk me through her resumé."

The three of them discussed me and the other applicants for about an hour longer and I was surprised when I heard them emerge from the office, having tuned them out a while ago. Dimitri commanded the attention of everyone in the waiting room and when I looked over, I found him already looking at me. I was brought back to when he called me pretty and had to force myself not to blush. I smirked at him and saw a flash of amusement in his eyes before he looked away. Hell yeah.

"Thank you all for coming in and interviewing today," he said to the group. "We've come to a decision on who we want to fill the position and I hope there are no hard feelings to those who didn't get it. We wish you luck in continuing your job searches."

He walked around to everyone in the waiting room and I watched as one by one, the other applicants got up to leave. My hope was rising with every new empty seat and when it was just me and one other girl left, I had a good feeling that I was the lucky one. When I heard Dimitri say "I'm sorry" to the other girl, a grin broke out on my face. He chose me!

Once the last girl was gone, Dimitri walked over to me so I stood up, probably a bit too excitedly.

"Congratulations, Miss Hathaway," he said, holding a hand out for me to shake. I did so, not missing the jolt of warmth that spread through my hand when we touched. He seemed to feel it too as he looked down at his hand in confusion.

"Thank you, sir, I look forward to working with you," I said. My confidence was now back at full force and I now couldn't tone down my natural flirty-ness. He didn't seem to mind.

"Yes, as do I."

His gaze smouldered a little as he looked me over again and I swore, if he didn't look away from me at that point, I don't think I could have stopped myself from jumping him right there.

"So, Miss Hathaway," Alberta said, bringing my attention from Dimitri to her, "we would like you to start on Monday if that's okay."

It was Saturday then and as I was expecting to start immediately, I was ready for that.

"Yes, ma'am, that's perfect," I said.

She walked through the things I would need to bring for my first day and once we'd figured everything out, I was told that I was free to go.

"Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to learn from you all," I said, giving them all my killer smile. Dimitri blinked once, looking a little taken aback, but Alberta didn't seem thrown off at all.

"We hope that you get along well here," she said.

"I hope so too."

After a few more goodbyes, I headed over to the elevator, unable to wipe the crazy grin off my face. I was excited about the job beforehand but now that I knew how crazy sexy Dimitri was, I was even more excited. I couldn't wait to spend every day with him, sitting with him, talking to him, etc. He didn't seem overly chatty but I was good at making conversation and I knew I could wear him down eventually.

Just as I stepped into the elevator, I heard my name called from behind me. I turned around and saw Dimitri heading over so I quickly hit the 'door open' button so I could talk to him. He stepped into the elevator and nodded for me to let it go down.

"I just wanted to give you this," he said, handing me a small piece of paper. I opened it and my eyes widened just a little when I saw a phone number.

When he saw my reaction, he laughed lightly. "If you're going to work for me you need a way to contact me, right?"

"Right," I agreed. "Shall I give you mine, too?"

I reached into my bag to grab something to write it down on but the elevator reached the ground floor before I could.

"No, just text me," he said. "See you Monday, Miss. Hathaway."

"Call me Rose," I said.

"Okay, Rose."

My voice sounded like pure gold coming from his deep, Russian-accent laced voice, and I ended up just staring at him dreamily as the elevator doors shut.

Wow. What a day. Monday could not come soon enough.

Author's Note

Hey guys! I hope you like the first chapter of this! I know it's kind of slow and boring right now but keep an eye out for the next :)