Insatiable Read Online Free PDF Page B

moment to compose myself, tugging my jacket down, trying to smooth some of the frizz from my hair.
    I took a steadying breath in through my nose and let it out through my mouth. Then I knocked.
    “Come in.”
    I went inside, my pulse pounding so hard I could taste copper in my mouth.
    Ms. Spencer looked up the neat pile of papers on her desk. She wore glasses, and she peered up at me over the rims.
    I’d always thought the best word to describe her was striking . Kind of like Helen Mirren. The streaks of grey in her dark hair, currently tied in a bun similar to mine, lent her authority.
    She sighed when she saw me. “Miss Windsor, please have a seat.”
    Thank God , I thought, sinking into the chair in front of her desk. My knees had just started trembling and I didn’t think I could hide it much longer. I pressed my palms together and shoved them between my thighs.
    Ms. Spencer considered me, her expression neutral. “In the future, I expect you to be more punctual.”
    “Y... yes, of course.” I didn’t try to offer an excuse for my tardiness. I knew that Ms. Spencer didn’t like excuses much, for one. For two, I hated giving them.
    I was late. Did the reason for my lateness really matter? Besides, giving the real reason would just make me sound like a tattletale. I had the feeling that Ms. Spencer didn’t like Trish much, either. But badmouthing your coworkers to your boss didn’t feel right to me.
    And then she smiled at me. It took me by surprise. “Good, now we can get onto the real business for this meeting. I wanted to tell you myself.”
    “Tell me what?” I said, leaning forward. My mind kept racing for possibilities, but nothing it touched on made sense.
    “The Phoenix Software account is yours. Apparently you really managed to impress Ward.”
    My mouth opened and my eyebrows knit together. Realizing how ridiculous I looked, I forced my mouth shut until I actually had something to say.
    Ms. Spencer had been expecting some positive reaction, so my ambivalence puzzled her. She frowned, a thin line crinkling between her equally thin eyebrows.
    “Does that displease you?” she said.
    “No, not at all,” I said, too quickly, I continued, “It’s just unexpected. I thought Mr. Callaghan had decided to handle this account personally?”
    Ms. Spencer threaded her fingers together and then planted her elbows on her desk. “You know, I thought the same thing. But Callaghan sent down the order himself. I spoke with him about it. Ward requested you himself. By name. He supposedly followed this request up with the threat that he’d take his account elsewhere when Mr. Callaghan questioned the request.”
    Why did I have to give him my name? I thought, remembering our conversation in the elevator. I wished so much then that I could have just been another anonymous C&M employee at that meeting.
    Ms. Spencer saw the look of panic on my face and offered a warm smile. “Don’t worry, I’m certain you’re up to the task. From the moment I hired you I knew you’d go far if you applied yourself. And now look, you haven’t even made junior partner and you’ve landed the biggest account this firm has had in a decade at least.”
    I swallowed heavily, somewhat surprised that I didn’t make a cartoonish gulp noise as I did.
    “I don’t know what to say,” I said, trying with some success to pull the corners of my mouth into something I hoped resembled a smile of gratitude.
    Inside, a flurry of sensations tried tearing me apart.
    “Say yes, of course,” she replied.
    That made me blink in surprise. “You mean I have a choice on the matter?”
    That earned me another frown. “Yes, of course you can decline if you like. But I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. If you do this and it goes well I can almost guarantee a promotion to junior partner. If you decline... Well, you’ll be setting your career back years if I had to guess. And if Ward decides to take his business elsewhere as he has threatened, I