More Pleasures by MS Parker Read Free Book Online Page B

with gossip as juicy as this. But first, I needed a couple minutes. Not only because my hand was starting to hurt and I was still pissed off, but because I needed to figure out how much to tell them and what I planned to do next.
    I had two part-time security techs, but they mostly worked weekends to keep an eye on anyone working overtime. I needed to replace Truman and fast. The thing was, he hadn't been that easy to find in the first place. It would take time to advertise, accept applications, review resumés, conduct interviews, narrow down a pool of candidates, do background checks, hire someone and then see if they were as good in real life as they were on paper.
    I picked up the phone. I hadn't needed to hire anyone new since Curt had left and he'd been the one to handle all those things before. Maybe he'd have a name for me. If he didn't, I supposed I'd just have to deal with it.

Chapter 7
    Curt did indeed have a name. Jenna Lang. And she wasn't just a name, he informed me. Apparently, she had her own company and glowing recommendations from a professor Curt and I had taken classes from in college.
    “Why would someone with their own company want to leave it to come work as a security tech here?” I asked.
    “I'm thinking you might want her to be more than a security tech,” Curt said. “You've been doing this by yourself for a year and a half. You need someone who can take on more of the responsibility. Someone you can trust and who'll do a good job.”
    “You want me to hire some stranger to be my partner instead of replacing Truman?”
    I could almost hear him rolling his eyes at me. “No, dumbass. I want you to hire her for the security position, but give her some extra responsibilities until you can see that she's as good as I'm saying. See where things go from there.”
    “I can't afford to take the time to train someone,” I said. “I'd be taking a serious risk hiring her without knowing what she can do.”
    “It doesn't matter who you hire,” Curt said. “You're going to have to wait to see how they handle things either way. It's not like you can just bring someone in when something goes wrong and hope they know what they're doing.”
    An idea popped into my head. It was a little crazy and would mean lying to people, but it might actually work. I didn't tell Curt though. I wasn't sure he'd approve.
    I chatted with Curt a few minutes more, then turned my attention to the job ahead. I figured I might as well start with Curt's recommendation, so I pulled up her site on my computer.
    Well-designed. No frills. Also no picture of her, which I thought was interesting, if not a bit strange. When Archer Enterprises had gone public, Curt had insisted my picture be on the website. When I'd asked why, he'd bluntly stated that I was better looking. Did the lack of a picture mean that Jenna didn't have anyone working for her attractive enough to be featured on the site? Not that it was important, but it did say something about her personality if she worried about things like that.
    I began to read through the site. There was practically nothing personal about Ms. Lang other than the fact that she was a CSU graduate like me. I didn't remember a Jenna Lang in any of my computer classes, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. I checked the company address first and that's when things started to fall into place. It was an apartment building known for housing non-traditional and recently graduated students. She worked out of her home, which meant she probably had only one or two people working with her, if any. And she was probably young, hence the lack of picture. I'd had to fight to prove myself and I knew it'd be even harder for a woman, as unfair as I thought it was.
    Was that why Curt had mentioned her, I wondered. Since I'd technically started Archer Enterprises out of my dorm room freshman year, did he think I'd be more likely to hire someone who reminded me of myself?
    While I doubted I'd be inclined to