The Billionaire's Heart: The Complete Series (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Billionaire Romance, The Billionaire's Heart Book 7) Read online

  I wanted to get home and tell my folks, but I grabbed my cell phone and called Corie, who had been the only friend I'd hung out with in the week I'd been home, and would always be my adopted sis.

  “Corie!” I screamed into the phone. “Oh, my gosh, I am so blown away!”

  “What? What? Tell me!”

  “Oh, my gosh, I just went to apply for a job at that new store that's opening, you know, Nate's? I thought I'd get like a cashier job, or maybe stock clerk or something, right, but you will never guess what happened!”

  I heard her blow air out in exasperation. “KK,” she said, using the nickname I'd had since I was a baby. “I am not even gonna try to guess, so just freakin' tell me,”

  I laughed; Corie could get so dramatic at times!

  “Okay, okay, well, when I filled out my application, they told me to wait and get an interview, and this guy talked to me and said I gave him just the right answers, and they ended up hiring me as the manager! I have to go through a training program, and I start tomorrow morning, isn't that just awesome?”

  I could hear dead silence on the other end for a whole ten seconds, and then, “You got hired as the manager? Is the pay any good? Does that mean you can get me on there? What about benefits and a retirement plan?”

  “The pay is great, I don't know about benefits yet, and as for getting you on, let's see if I make it through training, first! That'll take three months, and I doubt they'll let me do any hiring until I get past that point. But if I can, that'd be fantastic; then we could work together, too.”

  We squawked at each other about how exciting it was that I’d gotten such a good job the very first time I'd even gone out looking, and I finally got off the phone as I pulled into the driveway at home. I ran inside, excitement still oozing out of every pore on my body.

  “Mom! Dad! You won't believe it! I got a job!”

  Mom came rushing down from upstairs. “Honey, that's wonderful! Your dad had to go to his office, but tell me all about it and then we can tell him when he gets home this evening.”

  I went through the whole story again, and Mom was so floored that she called Dad and made him listen as I told it a third time. He congratulated me, and even though I knew he was a bit upset that I'd “wasted my education,” I got the feeling that he was at least a little mollified that I wasn't going to be pushing empty carts at Wal-Mart.

  I spent the rest of the day making sure all my best clothes were clean and ready, and even ran out to buy a couple new pairs of shoes, the kind that were designed for people who are likely to be on their feet all day. When I was sure my wardrobe was up to the chore of making me look intelligent and professional, I allowed myself some time off, and Corie and I went to get some take-out and then back to her apartment to watch a movie in celebration.

  Chapter 2

  The Adventure Begins!

  * * * * *

  I was up at four the next morning, which made me regret the decision to stay at Corie's until almost midnight, and was in and out of the shower before four-thirty. I took longer, in fact, choosing the outfit I wanted to wear to work. I'd laid one out the night before, but by then I was second-guessing myself and tried on probably seven or eight different combinations of slacks and tops before I ended up going back to the one that I'd already chosen.

  What, me, nervous? Naahhh, not a bit!

  Okay, maybe a bit. After all, I’d be meeting my trainer that morning, and I had no idea who it would be. I was fairly certain it wouldn't be anyone I knew, though, and so I wanted to make the best first impression I could.

  I made myself a quick breakfast of blueberry muffins and coffee, cleaned up after myself so Dad wouldn't give me “that look” for leaving extra work for Mom, grabbed the brown bag lunch I'd made when I’d come in the night before (a cold roast beef sandwich and a bag of chips) and I was out the door and gone. I pulled into the back parking lot of Nate's at a quarter to six, just in time to see another new employee entering through the back door. She saw me park and smiled, holding the door open for me until I got there.

  “Thanks,” I told her, and she stuck out a hand. I shook it, saying, “I'm Katelynn, the manager trainee.”

  “Oh, cool, I'm already suckin' up to the boss,” she laughed. “I'm Donna, cashier trainee.”

  I gave her a once over, thinking, Wow, this woman sort of works for me! She was in her mid-thirties, at a guess, and while she wasn't an ugly woman, she wasn't what most people would think of as pretty, either; her face was one of those most people would refer to as the face of a “handsome” woman. She wasn't a very big person, probably about five-foot-two and maybe a hundred and thirty pounds. I liked her instantly, even though I could see her assessing me just as nonchalantly as I’d done to her.

  We entered, and some other employees—there were fourteen women and only two men—showed us where to stow our stuff. Each of us had a locker with a digital combination lock, and inside were instructions on how to set the code to what we wanted it to be. I set mine to my mom's birthday and stuffed my purse and lunch inside.

  A woman clapped her hands for attention. “Okay, everyone, we're all here and I'm glad to see all of you. Today's going to be a big day, as we get everyone started on what their jobs entail. We'll be spending the morning in a classroom setting, I've got some videos to show you that apply to everyone, and then this afternoon we'll actually start training all of you in your specific duties. Which one of you is Katelynn?”

  I raised my hand. “That's me,” I said.

  She nodded and smiled. “Okay, you'll come with me to the office. First there are some different videos for you, and Mr. Simmons will be here in about two hours to start working with you. His flight was supposed to land early this morning, but it got delayed in Chicago for a few hours, so he’s driving in from Denver now.”

  Denver was almost four hours away, so this told me that my trainer had probably been up all night. Great, I hoped he wasn't the kind who got grumpy from lack of sleep. I could get canned my first day!

  The woman, whose name was Carolyn, led me to the store's office and sat me down in front of a computer. She took the mouse and clicked an icon on the desktop, told me to enjoy myself, and pulled the door shut behind her as she left the room.

  The video began, and a voice I'd swear was someone famous said, “Welcome to the Nate's Stores Family!”

  The video went over a lot of things that a store manager would need to know, things like how to deal with an angry customer, what to do if a tornado siren went off, whom to call to report an accident with injuries in the store, reasons for different store policies and a few hundred other things. Some of it seemed important, so I grabbed a notepad off the desk, found an unopened box of pens in a drawer and took one, and began making notes I could go over at home until I had it all memorized. I had to stop the video a number of times while I jotted down information I thought might be critical, and even rewound it now and then to make sure I was getting something right. Being so diligent made me feel as if I were already doing my job and meeting my responsibilities, and I liked that feeling.

  Carolyn came in a couple of times to see how I was doing, and when she saw my notes, she smiled. “Good move,” she said as she patted me on the shoulder. I grinned as she left again, and continued watching and taking notes.

  The video segued into another, this one on management paperwork. I learned about inventory reports, employee hours worksheets, schedule layout, disciplinary action reports, how to inspect the store for cleanliness, security, and things that might endanger customers or employees. All of these things would be my responsibility, once I was actually the manager.

  When that one ended, a couple of hours had passed and I figured that Mr. Simmons, should be appearing any time. I felt a need to go to the bathroom, so I got up and opened the door and ran smack into a man who, when I had bounced off of him and gotten a look, seemed like he should be in a Marine Corps uniform, rather than the Dockers and polo shirt he was wearing.

 
; “Oh, I'm sorry,” I said, but he waved it off.

  “My fault,” he said, “I should have knocked to let you know I was standing there. Headed someplace?”

  “Oh, I just—” I caught myself before I blurted out that I needed to go so bad I was afraid I'd pee my pants. “I was just going to freshen up a bit...”

  He stepped aside, smiling. “No problem, then, I’ll be here when you get back.”

  I hurriedly slipped past him and went to where I'd seen the employee restrooms as I’d come in, rushed inside and did what I needed to do. I was washing my hands when Donna came in.

  “Did you get to meet him yet?” she asked, and my brain failed me.

  “Meet who?” I asked like an idiot, and then realized that she must mean the man I'd bumped into.

  “Nate Simmons,” she answered, “the owner of the company. He's here!”

  “The owner? I mean, they said a Mr. Simmons was coming to train me, but I had no idea...”

  “Oh, hun, he's a dream! Imagine being trained by the owner of the whole company? Don't let him intimidate you, though, no matter how rich he is. Remember, he's still just a man…boy, is he ever!” She went into a stall, and I went back to the office.

  Mr, Simmons was sitting in the chair I'd been keeping warm all morning, and motioned for me to take the one opposite him. I sat, and he smiled up at me, and that's when I realized he was going through my notes.

  “Looks like you’re already on the job,” he said to me, and I nodded nervously. “I'm Nathanael Simmons; I'll be training you to manage the store.” He rose and offered me his hand across the desk.

  I leaned forward to shake his hand. “I'm Katelynn Burke,” I said. “So, I gather you're the owner of the company?”

  He laughed. “No, or at least not yet. That would be my father, Norman Simmons. He just named the store after me; I was just a baby when he started the company, and he told me many times as I was growing up how he chose to use my name because he felt that the business would be the third best thing in his life, the first being me, and second being my mother.”

  From the research I’d done on the company the day before, that would mean that this young man was probably worth several million dollars, and when he eventually inherited the company, you could change that to billions! Amazing that he seemed so normal and down-to-earth!

  I couldn't help smiling. “That's sweet,” I said. “He sounds like a fine man.”

  “Oh, he is. Of course, I might be a bit biased, but I like him.” He leaned back into his chair. “Well, then, let's talk a bit. I'm here, as I said, to train you as manager. What that means is that you'll serve as Assistant Manager while I'm doing so, and when I leave we'll choose someone to be your assistant, probably from our current crop of employees. During this time, I'll show you every aspect of running one of our stores, and how to handle the many things that come up on the job. We'll be putting in some long hours, most days, so I hope you're up for it.”

  “Oh, I am,” I said with a smile. “In college, I sometimes went three and four days without sleep, so I'm sure this won't be as bad as that. I can handle long hours.”

  I got that smile again. “Good!” he said, and then we started talking about business.

  I would never have guessed that there were so many little details that a store manager had to attend to. Sure, things like taking stock of inventory and dealing with employees were logical, but when we talked about stuff like employee meetings, which would take place either early in the morning before opening, or after we closed at ten PM, and the employee reward system where I'd have to choose an employee of the week and employee of the month based on a combination of my opinion and a series of criteria the company provided, I could see some headaches in my future.

  Still, it was the best job I could hope to land with my unused education and skill set, so I was more than willing to keep a supply of aspirin on hand. Heck, I could buy it right there at the store where I worked, and employees got a twenty percent discount after being on the job for three months. I had it made!

  Mr. Sim... (“Just Nate, please!”) Nate went over a lot of things I'd need to know, and by the time lunch time rolled around, I was starting to get comfortable talking to him. He asked if I had plans for lunch and I admitted that I'd brought it with me; he hadn't brought one, so he left to go and grab a sandwich, inviting me to eat my own there in the office. I went to get it, and had just sat down in my chair again when he came back. I'd forgotten there was a burger place next door, and Nate had just gone and “grabbed a sandwich” just as he'd said. He took the chair behind the desk and said, “I hope you don't mind if I join you?”

  I smiled. “Not a bit! It's nice to have some company.”

  We chatted a bit as we ate, not about business but just getting to know each other a little. I learned that he was single, which sort of surprised me; he was a rich, good looking man, and at only twenty-eight he was probably on some “most eligible bachelor” list somewhere. He told me that he loved hiking and fishing, two things I also enjoyed, and that he also enjoyed reading and theater. Since those were two more of my absolute favorite things in the world, I decided that he was a good man to know. After all, they say the real measure of another person's worth is how closely they resemble you, right? Nate was certainly looking like a potential friend, and if I'm going to be completely honest, I might have had a thought or two about what I'd do if he was the guy who didn't look away after getting to know me.

  Okay, girl, back it down...I told myself. Fantasizing about your boss is bound to be against the rules, somehow. Don't start making goo-goo eyes, or you might wash out and get fired!

  I shared a bit about myself, too, telling him how I had grown up under the shadow of greatness that was my own father. Dad's political career hadn't been long, but he'd left a legacy that had the Republicans trying every two years to get him to return to public office. He declined each time, saying that he was doing more good as an attorney who fought for the rights of the people than he ever could as a lone voice of reason in Washington. His attitude had been one of the reasons I'd always been so flamingly independent, and it certainly shaped a lot of my personality.

  “Seems we have a lot in common,” Nate said, and I agreed. Of course, while my Dad had been making good money all my life, we'd never been what could be termed “wealthy,” as he was, but in general we were indeed a lot alike.

  When we finished eating, we went out into the store and I got to meet all the other employees. Carolyn was from the company's headquarters, and would be working with all of them while Nate was showing me the ropes I'd need to able to tie, and I could tell that she was certainly capable. She had Donna and two other women learning the cash registers, while most of the others were stocking items onto shelves, looking at long lists on computer printout paper that told them where each item was to go. The few remaining people were posting price signs and hanging sale notices.

  Nate told me that I would have to learn each and every job in the store, which I'd been told the day before. He started me out by showing me how the stocking was done, and a moment later I had one of those lists in my own hands.

  He didn't just dump it on me and disappear, though, the way I expected. He let me hold and check off items on the list, while he showed me where each one was found in the warehouse that was part of the rear half of the building, and carried boxes himself to the appropriate place. We put the items on the shelves together; within an hour he decided I had it down pat, and we moved on to pricing.

  In this job, I got to scan items into a hand held computer and enter the price for each SKU number from yet another printout. Once I did so, he explained, the cash register scanners would automatically pull up the price when an item was passed over it, and simultaneously adjust the inventory to reflect the number of those items left on the shelves and in the warehouse. Once a day, the computer would automatically generate a report telling me what needed to be ordered from the distribution center in Omaha; I would only have to
approve it and the order would go in instantly, most of the items being delivered the following day.

  Then we moved to the loading docks, where I learned to use a hydraulic pallet jack. There were three trucks there, and I spent an hour helping to unload one of them and putting the pallets of boxes in their respective spots in the warehouse.

  Some items didn't come on pallets, but were just boxes stacked by hand into the trailer. For those, I had to actually “fingerprint” the load, which meant taking them by hand from the stacks in the trailer and restacking them onto a pallet we kept there for that purpose, then pull the pallet into the warehouse and put it away. Some of the boxes were pretty heavy, but I'm no weakling; Nate seemed pleased with my performance, and so was I.

  Next was maintenance, and we started doing some cleaning in areas where the stockers were already done. Aisles one and two were fully stocked, so we swept the floors there and then mopped them, following it up with a buffer that left the floor shining like a mirror. I had a fleeting thought that a buffer would be nice on Mom's hardwood dining room floor, but five minutes of having to wrestle that monster was enough to smack that thought out of my mind!

  We wiped down shelves and counter displays, made sure all the price signs were straight, and did a hundred other little things that were certain to become ingrained habits, but at the time seemed like silly make-work projects. I knew they weren't, of course, that each task had a purpose and had been added to the duties of the staff through years of store experiences, but that didn’t keep me from wondering why I had to take a sticker back off a shelf someone else had put it on, adjust it three or four degrees so it would look a tiny bit straighter, and then put it back.

  Oh, well; I did as I was told and didn't complain.

  After that little delight, we went on to the cash registers, and I replaced one of the other women as I learned how to scan an item, key in a coupon and use a dozen other special functions that it was capable of. After only a few minutes, I understood why some of the girls were worried about being able to learn it all in a week, but I couldn't feel any sympathy for them. I had to learn everyone's job in the same amount of time, for crying out loud; if anyone deserved sympathy, that would be me!