Making It Personal, Wells, C. [best books under 200 pages .TXT] 📗

speed with current projects and issues that will require your attention. I can give you a little more detail about the day-to-day running of this place.” Will nodded. Blake struck him as extremely well organized and efficient, which suited him fine.

Blake sat at his desk, Will facing him. “So my typical day is spent managing submissions, and that is something I don’t delegate.” Will nodded in acknowledgment. “I also manage the contracts and the various departments that keep everything else moving. You’ll meet the team shortly.” He met Will’s gaze. “When I came into the company, it was a traditional publishing house, producing fiction hardback and paperback books. My father had resisted introducing e-books: he claimed it would never be that popular. Yeah, right.” Both men smirked and then Blake’s expression grew more serious. “We’re not a huge company, Will.”

“Maybe not,” Will interjected, “but you’re growing. You have close to one thousand employees, authors and contractors, and the list grows daily.” Blake’s eyes glittered with approval. Will had done his homework. He knew that Trinity was the rising star in the publishing world. That was one of the main reasons he’d applied for the position.

“Exactly. My job is spent making sure all those people keep moving at a pace that produces books as they are scheduled. Your job is to keep me on track. You’ll need to work closely with the team. If issues arise, you will be the first port of call.”

“You mentioned book fairs yesterday.”

Blake grinned. “Yeah, I hope you like traveling.” Will’s eyes lit up. It was one aspect of the job that really appealed to him. “Have you ever attended a major trade show?”

“Been to a car show once or twice.”

Blake nodded. “Then you’ll understand the concept of the book fairs. 100,000 plus people under one roof. You’ve actually just missed the Frankfurt book fair—that was last week—and there were three times that number attending. Twenty-five thousand vendors. Every aspect of the book business was represented there, from printing to warehousing to management software.”

Will nodded. He couldn’t wait to attend such an event.

“It’s a big deal,” Blake continued. “Libraries, bookstores, distributors—they do eighty percent of their yearly purchasing and business contracts during or based on the meetings at the fair. We’re talking setting up foreign rights contracts, checking out production contracts based on who has the best rates for printing… It’s a truly mind-boggling event.”

Will grinned. “But you love it.”

Blake returned his grin. “Yeah, but it’s exhausting. I basically show up on day one with a smile and close my eyes for the first time five days later. The vendor floor runs from nine to five, but then there are dinners. Actually, sometimes it’s dinner with one person, dessert with another and drinks with a third. Not to mention that I start the day with a breakfast meeting.” His face wore a rueful expression. “I probably eat and drink more during book fairs than I normally would in a month.”

Will couldn’t resist. “Yeah, but it doesn’t show.” He waggled his eyebrows and Blake’s mouth dropped open. He waved a warning finger at Will, who held up both hands. “Sorry.” Blake said nothing, but Will liked that gleam in his boss’s eyes.

They spent the next fifty minutes going through Blake’s present list of submissions, and Will noted the contracts to be issued, ready for passing on to the team.

The purposeful working atmosphere in the office was pleasant and Will felt at ease almost instantly. He got a good feeling about this job. Of course, the fact that he had the hots for his boss didn’t enter into it. It was a struggle to look at Blake and not be reminded of their night together. Will had no clue how the man had gotten under his skin so fast, but there was no denying it: that night had been the best sex of his life to date. Sex that hot was difficult to walk away from, and Will found himself hoping, more than once, that Blake would be happy to use his services again. The more logical part of his brain held no such illusions. Blake wouldn’t want to mix business with pleasure. Damn….

It was time for the team meeting and Will followed Blake into the conference room.

“Grab yourself a coffee before they all get here,” Blake advised, but it seemed Ed was ahead of them. He entered the office bearing two mugs which he handed to Blake and Will.

“Thought you might want these before that bunch of hyenas drink the lot,” he said with a wink. Will gave him a grateful look and took a long drink of his coffee. He was surprised to find his mouth was suddenly dry, coupled with a fluttery sensation in his stomach. As the team began to file into the room, chatting animatedly, Will took several long breaths in an effort to quell the rising tide of nerves.

“Morning, all.” Blake took a seat and gestured for Will to take the empty one to his right. “Before we get started, I’d like to introduce my new PA, Will Parkinson, who is starting with us today. I’m sure you’ll make him feel welcome. And just so you know? I dished all the gossip on you guys yesterday so he knows what to expect.” He gave an evil grin and everyone laughed. “It might be an idea to go round the table and introduce yourselves, so he can put faces to the names.”

“Well, ’e’s already met the cream of the crop,” said Ed with a wink, buffing his fingernails on his shirt. He was greeted with loud guffaws. “Apart from office manager, I’m head of admin.”

Next to him was an auburn haired woman in her mid-twenties. “Hi, Will, welcome aboard. I’m Lizzie.” Her accent was delightful. “As you can no doubt hear, I’m not from around here. I’m Belgian. I’m in charge of foreign rights and translations.” Will gave her a polite nod. Each member of the team gave their name and their job