Read Online Crazy for the Boss (Crazy in Love Book 1) by Ashlee Mallory - Free Book Online

every time someone asked her that…
    “Sure, Paul. Come on in.” Not that she’d needed to bother, as he was fast on her heels and taking a seat before she’d reached her own. “What can I do for you?”
    “Well, I have a little situation. Normally I’d handle it myself, but I’ve been told that anything having to do with this employee has to be channeled through you.” It wasn’t hard to hear from his tone exactly how irritated he was by this fact. “Lauralee Bishop. You probably remember her.”
    Was he referring to the fact she’d worked at the firm representing her? Or the fact that he knew she’d been here earlier today?
    No matter. This guy would not bully her. “What about Lauralee?”
    “Since she’s been back to work, there are a number of issues I have with her performance, and I’d like to demote her back to part of the crew.”
    Somehow Quinn managed to smile calmly at the man. “Issues? What kind of issues?”
    He shot off a list of things that, to be honest, Quinn had no idea what they really entailed, but they didn’t sound that…important. She wrote them down with the intention of discovering more as Paul continued. “This isn’t something new with her. She’s always had problems with these things before.”
    Seriously? Quinn’s patience was ebbing. If these had indeed been problems, why hadn’t they ever been included in her annual performance reviews? “Have you ever disciplined her before for this? Have you sat down and discussed or issued a written warning that identified these things as problems so she knew she needed to correct them?”
    “She knows.”
    He didn’t even try to explain, so confident he was in his decision, and Quinn worked to restrain her boiling temper. “Well, I want to be clear right now. Until I can check a few things, you shouldn’t demote her or make any changes in her job duties. In fact, I did want to discuss with you some concerns of my own.”
    The man just smiled, a calculating gleam in those light eyes. “I bet you do.”
    She wanted to stab him with her pen.
    She wouldn’t let him see just how much his condescension was bothering her. She had a job to do, plain and simple, and she was going to make sure she had her own answers.
    And if he didn’t like it, he could take it up with James Thornhill himself. She knew she would be.

Chapter 8
    “ T his woman has six years of stellar performance reviews and only now Paul wants to bring a microscope to her work and demote her?”
    Quinn’s eyes were blazing and her face was flushed a bright red as she spoke across the table in a restaurant, where they were eating lunch the next afternoon. And as frustrated as she was, James couldn’t help but enjoy watching the way she spoke, so determined and impassioned.
    “It’s ridiculous. And frankly, James, it could get the company in a lot of hot water if he tries to do anything. It’s called retaliation.”
    He nodded, trying to toe the line since he knew very well that Paul was something of a chauvinistic windbag, but he’d been with the company for more than thirty years, and he’d aligned himself with both Neil and Dennis. The old guard. Paul also had a few friends and supporters on the board who, to be honest, would side with Paul even if he were to drop his pants in the middle of the restaurant. It wouldn’t do well to draw a battle line with the man, not right now, when James was just starting to prove his mettle as CEO. “So what did you tell him?”
    “Well, I didn’t yell at him or stab him with my pen like I wanted.”
    That earned a smile. Especially the image of Quinn launching herself at the unsuspecting man who was nearly three times her size. “Good choice.”
    “But I did outline that he can’t very well take disciplinary action against someone now when, for six years, it wasn’t an issue to her performance. Not when the only thing different is her discrimination complaint. I suggested a few other measures first,” she said