At Her Beck and Call

At Her Beck and Call
Dawn Atkins

Former stripper Autumn Beshkin is an urban girl eyeing a new profession.To climb this career ladder she's keeping her clothes on and taking an accounting job. Small-town living isn't as exciting as she's used to, but it's only temporary. Then she meets her sexy new boss, Mayor Mike Fields. The attraction between them steams up the office, and suddenly her visit here promises hedonistic pleasure.Luring the conservative mayor into some not-so-mayoral activities isn't difficult for a woman of Autumn's talents. And the results are sizzling! But just as she's eyeing the exit ramp out of town, Mike suggests turning this fling into a commitment. Is he–and his traditional town–really ready for the uncut version of Autumn?

At Her Beck and Call

Dawn Atkins

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To my sister, Wendy Harling,

for her courage…and for being such a fan

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Coming Next Month

1

IT WAS A MEASLY internship in a Podunk town, but Autumn Beshkin was dressed to kill for her interview. One thing you learned cold as a stripper: Appearance counts.

She wore a designer suit and pricey pumps, though the look at the Copper Corners town hall seemed to be casual. And not Friday casual, either. Saturday-washing-the-car casual, judging from Evelyn, the fiftyish secretary who’d ushered her to the folding chair outside the mayor’s office. Evelyn wore a tracksuit, ball cap and running shoes.

The phone rang. “H-e-double toothpicks!” Evelyn exclaimed, dropping her fluorescent green knitting to grab it. The fat tabby lolling in her in-box gave an irritated meow, whipping its tail through the loose paperclips on her desk.

“Mayor’s office.” Evelyn tucked the phone against her ear and clicked her needles into gear again. “Heidi. Oh, yes, your friend’s here.” Evelyn smiled Autumn’s way.

Autumn wiggled her fingers in greeting. Heidi had convinced Autumn to take this job to help Heidi’s brother, the mayor, who was “desperate, just desperate” for help, since his accountant was on an early maternity leave.

Autumn needed an internship anyway and she’d be able to room with her best friend and fellow stripper, Jasmine Ravelli, who already had a job here costuming the Founder’s Day pageant, so it seemed workable.

“Sure you can talk to him,” Evelyn said into the phone. “Hang on a blip.” She pushed buttons, then announced, “Mayor Mike, your sister’s on line one.”

Through the thin paneling behind her head, Autumn heard the mayor greet Heidi. She listened for him to express his gratitude to her for sending Autumn to his rescue.

Instead, he said, “How could you promise her, Heidi? I need a professional, not a college kid.”

Autumn sucked in a shocked breath.

“I don’t care how mature she is,” he continued. “I need someone who knows a P-and-L from the A & P. I don’t have time to explain basic procedures. Hell, I don’t know basic procedures….”

What the…? Not only was the mayor not grateful, he was bitching about her. Autumn’s cheeks heated, which made her feel weak. She hated feeling weak.

Already, going back to school at age thirty-four had stirred up the mud at the bottom of her self-esteem pond, mucking up the water with doubts and fears.

Autumn felt competing impulses. Screw this lame-ass job in this jerkwater town, followed swiftly by, If I don’t get this lame-ass job in this jerkwater town, I’ll just die. Not quite, but it would throw off her entire program, which she couldn’t stand.

“I know she’s desperate,” the mayor said. “Has to have an internship, yeah, right. Got it. Huh? I’ll talk to her, but I don’t see how it’ll work. What? Hello?”

His muttered “Damn” told Autumn that Heidi had hung up.

The man thought Autumn was desperate? So not fair. He was the desperate one.

With her grades, Autumn could easily have scored an internship with a prominent Phoenix accounting firm like the rest of her classmates, but she’d decided this job would offer a broader range of duties. At the big places, she’d be competing with tons of interns and was as likely to get clerical work as quality accounting experience. This had seemed the better choice.

“I’m sure he’ll be right with you,” Evelyn said to Autumn, smiling reassuringly. She’d evidently read Autumn’s alarm as impatience.

“No problem.” She managed a faint smile. She had to get this rinky-dink job. All the Phoenix slots had been filled in early June and it was already the nineteenth.

Her eye fell on the motivational quotes sticking out from Evelyn’s monitor on a knitted border: Winners Never Quit…Hang In There…Fake It Till You Make It….

They all seemed aimed at her. Autumn repeated them in her head, picturing a tiny cheerleading squad shouting out the phrases with a swish of pom-poms. If only she were as sure of herself in her new career as she was as a stripper.

She was doing well in school so far. Her straight A’s were the golden treasure she opened in her mind whenever she got scared.

She poked a loose strand of hair into the French braid she’d put her hair in and re-crossed her legs. Her stockings rasped and her garters dug into her thigh. One of the cats where she and Jasmine were house-sitting had snagged her pricey panty hose, so she’d worn the stockings from her Leather Girl dance costume.