Free Oh Stupid Heart by Liza O'Connor Page B

apologized.”
    “First, you tell me you
don’t think you’ll learn anything in my class. Strike one. Next, you insulted a
fellow student about her height. Strike two. And when given the opportunity to
apologize, you insulted her again. Strike three, you’re out.”
    “But my company paid for
me to be here.”
    “You’re wasting my
time. Out.”
    Cursing beneath his
breath, the guy stormed from the room. After the door closed, the tension
remained high.
    The instructor turned
back to Carrie. “I apologize for the interruption. But life just threw us a
good lesson, which I will explain once we’ve gone through introductions, so
start again. Do you remember what I want to know?”
    Carrie nodded.
    His eyes sparkled as he
motioned for her to continue.
    “I’m Carrie Hanson.
I’ve just been promoted to change specialist.”
    “What were you
before?”
    “EA to the CEO.”
    His eyebrows rose,
and a speculative half-smile formed on his lips.
    She ignored his smirk
and continued. “Our company is going through a transition in which we will
replace over half of our current employees who have poor work ethics. We wish
to create an entirely new culture in which both our new and old workforce
embraces teamwork and cooperation. I hope to learn during these two weeks the
skills needed to bring our plan to fruition.”
    He thumped her nose
playfully. “You will,” he said before pointing to the next person.
    Why had he touched
her nose? Was he flirting? Carrie sat down and hoped she could get a flight out
tonight because she’d just lost confidence in her instructor‘s competence and
professionalism.
    The next person had
to be reminded of what the instructor wanted him to share. When the next one struggled
as well, the guy wrote the four things he wanted to know on the board and
pointed to the topics while each spoke.
    Carrie realized why
so many in the class didn’t expect to get anything out of the training; they
had no idea why their company had sent them.
    Only the three guys
who had raised their hands with Carrie on the instructor’s initial question
expected to learn something. They were on advanced tracks for promotions, and
their CEOs insisted the course would help them through their entire career.
    The instructor
motioned to the pretty girl who sat at the back of the class, and she hurried
to his side, staring up at him as if he were a god.
    Or a god in bed. Her
gaze seemed hot and sexual to Carrie. But maybe her mind hung in the gutters.
Her dreams last night had been more than R-rated. When she returned to New York,
she was jumping Trent’s bones even if she had to tie him to the bed and rape
his willing body.
    Their instructor
pointed to all but Carrie and the three advance-track guys. “Sherrie will be
your instructor for these two weeks. If she hasn’t convinced you the seminar
will help you in your job and life, note it on your exit questionnaire, and
she’ll lose her bonus.”
    He stroked Sherrie’s
hair with affection. “But I should warn you, she’s never lost a bonus yet.”
    A good-looking guy, not
chosen to be in Sherrie’s class, raised his hand. “Can I go with her?” Carrie
wasn’t surprised. He had Romeo-wants-laid written all over him.
    The instructor rolled
his eyes. “No.”
    Once Sherri led her
group of six out, their instructor wrote his name on the board: Ian Goodman .
“I’m the founder and CEO of Transformation. I only take those who are here for
the right reasons and have a firm understanding of what they wish to achieve.
These are going to be two of the most difficult and demanding weeks you’ll ever
experience, but when you leave here, you will possess a level of skill that
will assist you even when you become the CEO of your own company, because it’s
not just your hourly employees who require re-engagement and
motivation. Division and vice-presidents, managers, and supervisors need
constant reminders of the path you are taking the business.”
    He returned to