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allowed me to notice the hem of her absurdly short dress moving up her strong, round thighs as she occupied the low leather chair. I got very uncomfortable when I glimpsed a pair of lacy black panties as she crossed her long legs. I forced my eyes up to look into her dark blue gaze but it was a mistake because mine moved slowly upwards as my brain registered every tiny detail of her splendid figure wrapped in that tight dress of hers. I had never checked out a woman before but that day my body seemed out of control. I just couldn’t help it. When our eyes met at last, she was smiling at me. However, I couldn’t quite read her expression because her smile looked smug and that had to be wrong, a mistake on my part. I was obviously imagining things because if she had noticed my inappropriate behavior she should have been upset or uncomfortable or both. Right? I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so dumb without being drunk or high on something. I told myself to get a grip and thanked God for having secured that suite at the hotel because judging by my reactions to this young girl I wouldn’t be able to get to the end of the day without sexually attacking somebody - apparently, anybody. I shook my head in order to clear my thoughts to start the interview.
    “Ms. O’Rourke, I know jobs are hard to find these days but this job is a low level entry position; especially for somebody with a résumé as good as yours. Why did you apply for it, in the first place?”
    “I’ve read every article that has ever been published about you and your company, Ms. Sullivan: how you’ve started the company, how you’ve turned it into a billionaire business and how you’ve changed the way stock brokers work today. In fact, I wrote a paper about your company when I was still in college,” she paused for a fraction of a second and I knew she was gauging the effect her words had had on me. I guessed she didn’t want to sound too eager to please. But, I’ve always been an excellent poker player so she had to go on without being sure of my real thoughts. “The chance of working for you, in any capacity, is the only reason I’ve applied. I figured if I got this chance I would be able to make my way inside the company.”
    I had never respected people who sucked up to me with empty flattery. Ms. O’Rourke looked and sounded absolutely sincere.
    “Thank you, Ms. O’Rourke. I’m sure a bright young girl like you will progress fast within the company. Now, do you think your other job’s schedule will conflict with this one?”
    “ Absolutely not. This position is a part-time morning job and I work nights at the bar. Today is an exception.”
    We talk ed for another half hour or so. The young Ms. O’Rourke was truly very intelligent and charming, although I kept picking up strange signs from her. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said she was flirting with me which would have been inappropriate even if she had been a man. And she was way too smart to make that kind of mistake at a job interview. I checked my watch and realized it was time to finish that conversation or I would be late for my much more rewarding appointment with Mark.
    “Ms. O’Rourke, the job is yours. I’ll tell Mr. Franklin , with our Personnel Department, to contact you about the paperwork and send you an email with the specifics. Now, is there anything else you’d like to know about the company or the job?”
    “Are you gay?”
    She looked me straight in the eyes when she asked that but she didn’t seem defiant at all. There was a glint of curiosity in the blue depths of her eyes mixed with something else I couldn’t quite figure out. I returned the stare and laughed out loud because I wasn’t offended by her question.
    “I get that kind of doubt a lot, Ms. O’Rourke, but I like the fact you asked me directly. I respect that.”
    In fact, I respect ed people who weren’t intimidated by my position and power. She had scored many points with