Weekend with the Tycoon Read Online Free Page A

cheeks before helping her from the barstool as Judy, Marlene, Raymond and the driver all helped carry Samantha’s new luggage to the car.
    Samantha followed behind, still dazed, a little drunk, but all in all, happy. She’d go on this business trip, help her boss, enjoy her new clothes and maybe not hate the makeup and pitch her ancestry ideas to Mr. Putnam. It would all work out, perfectly she thought, waving at Raymond.
    She slipped inside the already cool town car. Instantly they were speeding back to Blake Genetics. Samantha still didn’t know where the business meeting was being held, but she was quite confident she’d be the best-dressed woman in the room.

Three
    C rossing through the lobby behind Marlene, Samantha wondered what would happen next. She knew she had to be in Mr. Putnam’s office at 3 p.m. sharp. It was 2:45 p.m., so she’d have time to grab her purse and her phone.
    At the elevator bank, Marlene pushed the express button up to the suite.
    “I need to go to my desk, grab my purse and my phone,” Samantha said. “I’ll meet you up there.”
    “I’ve taken the liberty of replacing your purse with a black Gucci tote, just to fit in with the rest of the weekend’s attire. All of your belongings as well as your telephone are inside of the bag, up in the suite,” Marlene said as the executive suite elevator doors opened.
    The silence in the elevator made Samantha’s skin crawl. What kind of cold, control freaks were these people? Samantha thought again, but since her first designer bag awaited her as the elevator doors opened, she would let it go. Just think of the day as being full of surprises, she sternly told herself. Each moment required a smile and leap of faith. And, she wished, more champagne.
    The women stepped into the stark white executive floor, both of them wearing black, a perfect, and probably planned, contrast to the environment, Samantha realized. She stifled a grin remembering how her colleagues all joked that the only colors Blake Genetics acknowledged were white, black and khaki. All new employees picked up on the uniform the day they finally made it as far as their first face-to-face interview.
    “Do you need to use the ladies’ room?” Marlene asked, crossing the lobby briskly and then stationing herself behind her pristine white command center. She handed Samantha her new designer bag.
    “Thank you. This is lovely. And I will use the restroom.”
    Samantha cringed at how she was starting to sound as formal and cool as they were. Marlene pushed a button at her desk and a white door opened to the right of the elevators. “Through there,” Marlene said and Samantha hurried inside.
    This is business Pretty Woman , Samantha told herself, smiling at her own reflection. Sure, she had more makeup on than usual, but she had to admit, she looked good. She didn’t look like a hooker and she never had been a hooker like Julia Roberts’ character, and she wasn’t going to let Mr. Putnam get any ideas like that. She was just a right-out-of-college over-achiever who happened to catch the eye of the boss with her presentation skills. She should be proud of herself, she thought. So why did she feel so on edge, so uncomfortable?
    She opened her new purse and found brand new Valentino sunglasses, black, with tiny V’s made of diamonds. Now accustomed to all of this outlandish gifting, she just shrugged, put the sunglasses back inside the purse and told herself she was ready to face Mr. Putnam. Maybe this was when she could ask the important questions, questions such as where were they headed and who were they meeting with, for starters.
    As she crossed back to Marlene’s desk, Samantha realized she’d left her laptop at her desk. She’d need it for the weekend.
    “I….”
    “Here, dear,” Marlene said, pointing to what appeared to be a laptop, in a new black leather Coach satchel.
    “Thank you,” Samantha said.
    “He will see you now,” Marlene said, pushing the button