Read Online Scandalizing the CEO by Katherine Garbera - Free Book Online
Authors: Katherine Garbera
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her? What if…
She’d never been this wishy-washy. Any other man she would just walk away from. But this was Steven. The man she’d always wanted.
She wasn’t going to let her doubts feed her food obsession. She wasn’t going to let her doubts overwhelm her or let her miss the opportunity to be with him. She wasn’t going to let her doubts control her. If she’d done that, she’d still be sitting in her apartment in Chicago having never left school.
She opened her e-mail to find the very first one was from Steven. She read it and felt herself flush. She needed to be much more confident if she was going to be with him. But she had no idea how to do that. She couldn’t change the fears she’d always had of her body that easily.
She walked away from her computer and stood in front of the mirror. She stared at her features. Her face was so different now that she scarcely recognized herself sometimes: her cheekbones thin and prominent, her mouth still full and pouty. The biggest change had been her figure.
No it wasn’t, she reminded herself. The biggest change had come at work. She remembered when she’d been called to Maurice Sheffield’s office. The owner of the Sheffield Group had taken thirty minutes out of his day to congratulate her on running the British Fashion Quarterly and bringing up revenue at the magazine. No one got thirtyminutes with Maurice, her boss and the publisher and CEO of the consortium.
She looked at the slim woman in the reflection and wondered where she’d come from and prayed in the same breath that she’d never leave. In her heart she knew that her weight had nothing to do with her success. She’d changed on the inside and she just wished she’d stop seeing the old Ainsley when she looked in the mirror.
She shook her head. She needed to believe in herself as a person the way she believed in herself as a professional. She was capable of winning Steven’s affection…was that what she wanted?
Her assistant, Cathy, had sent a note to Tiffany Malone, Lynn Grandings and Princess Louisa to see if they’d consider being interviewed. Maurice loved the idea of a retrospective fashion piece on these women, and Ainsley wasn’t about to disappoint her boss.
Freddie had suggested letting Danielle do the interviews, but Ainsley wasn’t about to risk giving it to someone she had placed on probation. Instead, she had assigned the story to Bert Michaels. He’d interviewed Prince Harry last year for a Mother’s Day piece they’d run about how mothers influence fashion—his mother had set a standard many other women were still trying to live up to.
And she had an appointment with Malcolm’s attorney to talk about interviewing him. Malcolm Devonshire was one of the most famous personalities of their time. He was legendary not just for his affairs but also for his zest for life. As much as he lived big, he’d been very private about his personal life. Only the tabloids had ever run stories about him.
If she got an interview with him in her magazine she’dhave landed a real coup. Something that her bosses wouldn’t overlook. And it wasn’t lost on Ainsley that meeting Steven that day in the Everest Mega Store had been fortuitous.
She showered and dressed, keeping her mind firmly on her meetings for the day, but before she left her hotel she knew she wanted to return Steven’s e-mail. She just had no idea what to say to him. Somehow Me, too didn’t seem like the right response. Yet more than that might be making promises that she wasn’t sure she could keep. When she was with Steven, it was easy to forget herself. Forget her fears and the fact that she wasn’t who he thought she was.
But apart from him she could count the obstacles between them. She had too little experience and he had too much. She was a small-town girl and he was the son of a billionaire and a world-renowned scientist.
But none of that mattered when they were together. Nothing mattered except the way his hands
She’d never been this wishy-washy. Any other man she would just walk away from. But this was Steven. The man she’d always wanted.
She wasn’t going to let her doubts feed her food obsession. She wasn’t going to let her doubts overwhelm her or let her miss the opportunity to be with him. She wasn’t going to let her doubts control her. If she’d done that, she’d still be sitting in her apartment in Chicago having never left school.
She opened her e-mail to find the very first one was from Steven. She read it and felt herself flush. She needed to be much more confident if she was going to be with him. But she had no idea how to do that. She couldn’t change the fears she’d always had of her body that easily.
She walked away from her computer and stood in front of the mirror. She stared at her features. Her face was so different now that she scarcely recognized herself sometimes: her cheekbones thin and prominent, her mouth still full and pouty. The biggest change had been her figure.
No it wasn’t, she reminded herself. The biggest change had come at work. She remembered when she’d been called to Maurice Sheffield’s office. The owner of the Sheffield Group had taken thirty minutes out of his day to congratulate her on running the British Fashion Quarterly and bringing up revenue at the magazine. No one got thirtyminutes with Maurice, her boss and the publisher and CEO of the consortium.
She looked at the slim woman in the reflection and wondered where she’d come from and prayed in the same breath that she’d never leave. In her heart she knew that her weight had nothing to do with her success. She’d changed on the inside and she just wished she’d stop seeing the old Ainsley when she looked in the mirror.
She shook her head. She needed to believe in herself as a person the way she believed in herself as a professional. She was capable of winning Steven’s affection…was that what she wanted?
Her assistant, Cathy, had sent a note to Tiffany Malone, Lynn Grandings and Princess Louisa to see if they’d consider being interviewed. Maurice loved the idea of a retrospective fashion piece on these women, and Ainsley wasn’t about to disappoint her boss.
Freddie had suggested letting Danielle do the interviews, but Ainsley wasn’t about to risk giving it to someone she had placed on probation. Instead, she had assigned the story to Bert Michaels. He’d interviewed Prince Harry last year for a Mother’s Day piece they’d run about how mothers influence fashion—his mother had set a standard many other women were still trying to live up to.
And she had an appointment with Malcolm’s attorney to talk about interviewing him. Malcolm Devonshire was one of the most famous personalities of their time. He was legendary not just for his affairs but also for his zest for life. As much as he lived big, he’d been very private about his personal life. Only the tabloids had ever run stories about him.
If she got an interview with him in her magazine she’dhave landed a real coup. Something that her bosses wouldn’t overlook. And it wasn’t lost on Ainsley that meeting Steven that day in the Everest Mega Store had been fortuitous.
She showered and dressed, keeping her mind firmly on her meetings for the day, but before she left her hotel she knew she wanted to return Steven’s e-mail. She just had no idea what to say to him. Somehow Me, too didn’t seem like the right response. Yet more than that might be making promises that she wasn’t sure she could keep. When she was with Steven, it was easy to forget herself. Forget her fears and the fact that she wasn’t who he thought she was.
But apart from him she could count the obstacles between them. She had too little experience and he had too much. She was a small-town girl and he was the son of a billionaire and a world-renowned scientist.
But none of that mattered when they were together. Nothing mattered except the way his hands
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