Temping Is Hell Read Free Page A

shook his hand, blushing. Then she moved in a whirlwind, popping folders back into place, scribbling on a pad of paper. Within seconds, it seemed, everything was neat as a pin.
    “Big project, huh?”
    She wrinkled her nose, grabbing the paper. “Just helping get the personnel files a bit more… user-friendly.”
    “Maggie ask you to do that?” He vaguely remembered Maggie taking on that task last year, but she’d complained at the sheer volume and complexity of the task, and the fact that she didn’t want to work with the “geeks,” as she called I.T., about automating it. He’d wondered what the big deal was, but a lot of Maggie’s “special projects” seemed to garner the same description.
    The girl smirked at him. She had a great smirk. “Sort of. She asked me to make a phone list, but this will be a little more comprehensive.”
    “Done for the night?”
    She shut down the computer. “I think so. I just need to leave a note for Maggie.”
    “Considering the lateness of the hour, I’d better escort you to her office.” He knew where the elevators were from Maggie’s office… at least, he thought he did. Hopefully this redhead knew the way to the office itself.
    “Good idea.” She shot him a self-deprecating grin. “I mean, there’s no telling what kind of weirdos you might run into at this time of night, right?”
    He chuckled. “So, you have a name?”
    “Kate. Kate O’Hara.” Her smile was warm, sweet. “I’m a temp.”
    “How are you liking it so far?” he asked, as they fell into step together, strolling casually down the hallway.
    “What, working here at Fiendish?” He watched as she kneaded the back of her neck with one hand. “It sucks like a Dyson. But hey, it’s a job, right?”
    He stopped, staring at her for a minute. “You do have a way with words, don’t you?”
    “Oh my God.” She shook her head, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses with her fingers. “I’m sorry. My internal censor clocks out at midnight. Actually, I think it took the day off.”
    “Don’t be sorry. I like it when people are honest with me.” And she probably didn’t realize he was the founder and CEO. That was sort of refreshing. “So what sucks about it?”
    “Other than being stuck here at one o’clock in the morning organizing?” she asked. “I guess I never thought I’d be working at a place like this, you know?”
    His feeling of amusement waned. “What do you mean, a place like this?”
    “Big corporate.” She wrinkled her nose again.
    He struggled not to feel offended… or at least, not to let it show. “Fiendish Enterprises is a multi-billion dollar corporation, true, but it’s really a dozen different smaller companies. Fiendish Fashion. Fiendish Fun. Fiendish Escapes. Fiendish Films…”
    She shrugged, obviously unimpressed.
    Okay. Now he was definitely offended. “So, you’re telling me you have no interest in fashion, or traveling, or entertainment?”
    Kate shot him a quicksilver grin, momentarily stunning him. “Look at me. Do I look like I’m all into haute couture?”
    He glanced at her ugly outfit again, although this time, he took a bit more notice of the woman underneath. There were some curves there, he noticed, buried under the business casual, but it was as if she’d deliberately chosen clothes to hide what she had.
    He was accustomed to women who flaunted their assets and used fashion as a weapon. If anything, Kate seemed to use fashion as a duck blind.
    She’s honest, though.
    “As for the rest, I’ve traveled some, sure, but I crash on people’s couches or stay in hostels. Fiendish Escapes has the whole five-star treatment, doesn’t it? Like, maids and lackeys and Egyptian cotton and Kobe beef and whatever?” When he nodded, she shrugged. “I’m not interested in shelling out the down payment for a house just so I can have a bunch of toadying and overindulgence for an entire week. Frankly, I don’t need all that.”
    “Yes, but Fiendish