JENNIE

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"Oh good. It didn't start yet." A woman in a gray suit took the seat next to me at the conference table. She seemed flustered. "I heard she's a stickler for being on time."

"Lisa?" I asked.

Her brows drew together. "Ms. Manoban, yes."

Oh, right. Ms. Manoban. I guess she was Lisa when she was a girl I was going to go out with, but now she's back to Ms. Manoban. "Her secretary came in a few minutes ago," I said. "She's running a few minutes late."

The woman smiled. "Great. My daughters called, and I had to referee an argument over a hairbrush." She extended her hand. "I'm Ellen Passman, by the way. I'm the accounting manager over in Finance."

I shook. "Jennie Ruby Jane or Yanggun. I'm in the News division of Broadcast Media. Yanggun is my on-air name."

"Oh, I know who you are. I love your show."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"I'm really excited about this new committee. But I wish we had a little more notice. It's the end of the month and crunch time for my department."

I'd been curious about how this committee came about ever since Lisa had called. I couldn't shake the crazy thought that she'd made up the entire thing while on the phone with me. Of course that was ludicrous—not to mention egotistical and self-absorbed—yet the idea kept nagging at me.

"When did you get invited?" I asked.

"Just this morning. You?"

"A few days ago. Did you receive an agenda for the meeting or anything?"

"Nope. Nothing."

The air in the room changed, and I knew who'd walked in before I turned my head. Lisa Manoban stood just inside the door with the VP of the News division, Kim Jisoo, my boss's boss, who was also Lisa's sister. Lisa scanned the room, and her eyes stopped upon finding me—as if she'd found what she was looking for, which was crazy.

Her gaze was so intense that it made me want to fidget in my seat.

"Sorry I'm late," she said. "Thank you all for coming." She turned to her sister. "I'm sure you all know Jisoo. She's the Vice President of Broadcast Media."

People thanked her for inviting them, but I stayed quiet, observing.

There were a few open seats: the head of the table, one down at the far end of my side, one directly across from me, and one to my left. Without discussion, Lisa's sister moved to the open seat a few spots over—I got the feeling this woman took the power seat in every room she walked into.

But then she surprised me. She pulled the chair from the head of the table and held it out. "Jisoo."

Her sister seemed just as surprised, but she turned back and took the seat anyway. Lisa unbuttoned her jacket and pulled out the chair next to me. She leaned close as she settled in and whispered quietly, "Good to see you, Jennie."

I nodded. No one at the table seemed to notice anything strange—certainly not that she'd taken the seat next to me and moved it a little closer than it had been before, and luckily not that my mind was reeling from the way she smelled: clean, but with a masculine, woodsy edge.

For the next half hour, I tried to ignore the woman sitting next to me and tried not to fidget. But I had to look at Jisoo while she spoke, which meant Lisa's profile was directly in my line of sight. It also meant I noticed how tanned her skin looked, and that she had a slight white line on the sides of her head from sunglasses. I wouldn't have taken her for the outdoorsy type. But it looked like she spent a lot of time in the sun. Her skin was bronzed, her hair slicked back.

Possibly feeling eyes on her, Lisa turned and looked at me. Her eyes immediately dropped to my lips, and I lost the battle I'd waged not to fidget. I forced my attention back to Jisoo, but I didn't miss the slight lip twitch from the woman next to me before she refocused on her sister.

"Why don't we go around the room and open the floor for possible agenda items for our next meeting?" Jisoo said. "I'd love to hear what you all think are some of our most pressing women's issues here at Manoban Industries."

"That's a great idea," Lisa said.

Some of the women were more enthusiastic than others. One woman spoke about the need for a breastfeeding room. Another spoke about mixing family responsibilities with work and how flexible hours in the workplace would be a great asset to working moms and dads. An older woman advocated for equal pay for women, which had been the issue I'd planned to speak about since I had personal experience with it. Two women passed on speaking, saying they needed to give it some thought, and then it was my turn. I'd been about to second the other woman's comments on equal pay when I felt Lisa's eyes on me. At the last second, I decided to screw with her.

"I think sexual harassment needs to be addressed. Things like a boss or a boss's boss's boss asking a woman out to lunch."

Lisa kept her face stern, yet I caught the slight tick of the muscle in her jaw.

"Absolutely," Jisoo said. "Things like that should never happen."

Lisa cleared her throat. "I do a lot of business over meals. It's partially out of necessity because there are only so many hours in the day. Are you saying we should put an end to the practice of people sharing lunch altogether?"

I addressed her directly. "Not at all. But it's a slippery slope, and it's often difficult for a woman to know if someone is inviting her to lunch to discuss business or if there's more to it."

Lisa held my eyes for a few heartbeats and then gave a curt nod. "Very well. Add that to the agenda for our next meeting." She stood abruptly. "I think this has been a good start. I'll have my assistant type up notes and schedule the next meeting."

Jisoo looked just as confused as most of the people at the table. But I got the feeling she was used to her sister's abruptness. She smoothed things over. "Yes, we appreciate you all taking time to kick things off with us, and we look forward to addressing the many unique needs of women in the workplace. I think this committee is going to do very good things for Manoban Industries. Thank you for making the time, everyone."

I stayed in my seat as people got up, eavesdropping on a conversation between Lisa and Jisoo.

"You decide to create this committee, come up with a flimsy agenda three hours ago, and stick me at the head of the table to punt." Jisoo shook her head. "I finally get things going, and you grow bored. Do me a favor, don't take an interest in any committees anymore." She shuffled the papers in front of her and turned on her heel to walk out.

I rose and headed for the door. But I felt Lisa walk up behind me. She discreetly took my elbow and steered me to the right as we exited the conference room.

"Can we speak for a moment?" she whispered.

"Sure. Would you like to hear more about my thoughts on sexual harassment?" I offered a smug smile.

Her jaw flexed, and I continued to walk by her side down the hall to her office. Arriving, she extended a hand for me to walk in first. "This is me being a gentlewoman. I hope it's not a form of harassment."

Lisa spoke to her assistant from the doorway while I took a look around her office. It was large, the proverbial corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows covering two walls, a masculine-looking, carved, dark wood desk in the center, and a separate seating area to one side. A framed photo on a credenza caught my attention—Lisa and her two sisters with an older woman, who I assumed might be her mother. Though I didn't ask when she walked in and joined me.

She motioned to the seating area. "Please, have a seat."

She took the seat across from me, unbuttoned a cufflink, and started to roll up one of her shirtsleeves. "So…your boss's boss's boss asking you to lunch is sexual harassment?"

My eyes had been glued to her forearms. I blinked a few times and looked up. I'd been teasing her when I said that in the conference room, but the look in her eyes wasn't playful. "I was just screwing around with you."

"So you didn't find it harassing when I asked you to lunch to discuss your reinstatement?"

I'd actually been referring to when she'd asked me to lunch before I knew who she was. But Lisa looked genuinely concerned that she'd upset me. I felt like I should let her off the hook.

I shook my head. "I never felt harassed. Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual advance. You never propositioned me once I knew who you were, and, if I'm being honest, any advance you made in the coffee shop wasn't unwelcome."

Her shoulders visibly relaxed. "I apologize if I put you in a precarious position in the coffee shop."

I was honest. "It's okay. Like I said, it wasn't unwelcome."

Lisa seemed to avoid looking at me. She nodded and finished rolling up the other sleeve before standing. "Thank you for your candor."

I stood. "Of course."

A moment of awkwardness settled in between us. I was acutely aware of how much my body liked being this close to her. The air had a crackle to it whenever she was near, and I didn't think I was the only one who felt it—probably not the best thing to be thinking about right after the meeting we'd just had.

"Okay…well…I'll see you at the next meeting, I guess."

Lisa nodded. She looked like she wanted me to leave her office almost as much as I wanted to leave…which was not at all. Nevertheless, I took a few steps toward the door. Then I changed my mind. If I could be candid, so could she.

"Can I ask you something?" I said.

"What is it?"

"Did you make up the women's committee while you were on the phone with me? Or was it something you had in the works?"

Lisa raised one brow. "You're very full of yourself, aren't you? The president of a multinational company makes up an entire initiative just to have the chance to spend a little time with you?"

I felt my cheeks heat. I knew how egotistical it sounded... I laughed nervously. "I guess that is a little insane."

Lisa stepped closer to me. "It would also be highly inappropriate, wouldn't it now?"

I could've sworn there was a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. Damn, my imagination was really having a field day. I needed to get the hell out of here. "Yes. Yes, I suppose it would be." I shook my head. "I should get back to work."

I suddenly had the urge to flee and headed for the door.

As I reached the doorway, Lisa called after me. "Jennie?"

I turned back. Dear God, the woman was pretty. She was the kind of gorgeous your eyes snagged on while walking and made you trip over your own two feet—basically the dangerous kind women should keep away from, particularly with the cocky smile she wore on her face.

"I'm glad we've cleared up that any advance wasn't unwelcome. I'll see you around…soon."

My brain felt like it was misfiring as I walked out of her office. What the hell had just happened? I'd admitted that I welcomed any advance by her, and she'd admitted what…?

I played the conversation over in my mind as I headed for the elevator. While I had been forthcoming, Lisa hadn't actually admitted anything. In fact, when I asked her if she'd created the meeting just for my benefit, she'd turned the question around on me. She never did give me a straight answer, did she?

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