Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
“You didn’t come here to catch a man,” I mutter out loud, thanking my lucky stars it’s only the two of us on this floor. Slipping off my coat and matching hat and glove set, I get to work on the list of emails and notes he’s left for me on my desk. It’s not too complicated and thankfully, I don’t have any questions before he returns. I’ve only checked off two things on my list when he returns with something that smells fantastic. I try to ignore the hunger pangs and work, keeping my head down so he doesn’t think I’m focused on him.
His footsteps get closer and closer until they stop in front of my desk. I look up and see him staring at me for a moment. “I have two calls I’ll be on today. Also I have dinner with my sister tonight, so if you could remind me that I need to leave on time. I’d appreciate it.”
“Yes, Mr. Shaw.” He walks toward his office, face flat, hiding any kind of emotion, leaving me with nothing to judge.
For the rest of the morning, he stays in his office and then it’s lunch time. Since he doesn’t have a meeting on his calendar, I knock on his door. “Come in, Miss Novak.”
“I’m going to head to lunch. Do you need anything before I go?” I can’t read the expression that comes over his face as I wait for him to respond, but he looks fierce, dark, feral.
“No, Miss Novak.”
“Okay. Should I start filing when I come back?”
“That would be good,” he grunts, returning his attention back to his computer, effectively dismissing me. I quietly walk out and close the door behind me before grabbing my bag and head down to grab my lunch.
I hit up the restaurant in the lobby and get in line. Today’s special is a burger bar, so I place an order for a medium well one with cheese. “Wow, it’s good to see you’re allowed to eat without the boss breathing down your back.”
“I hardly see him, but it’s only been two days.”
“Well, it’s cool. You can eat with us at our table. A bunch of us sit together at this time. Although a lot of people bring their lunch.”
“I didn’t know what we were doing today, so I decided to wing it for now. Maybe next week when I get the hang of things, I’ll bring my lunch because I can’t afford to be eating out every day or I’ll have to actually exercise.”
“You don’t exercise? Damn, that’s unbelievable.”
“Well I don’t do it for weight loss so it’s just enough to stay active.”
We get our food and Elliot tries to pay, but I don’t want to give him the wrong idea. I’m not interested in dating him even if he’s probably a better fit than a man like Jack Shaw. The trip back to the lunchroom is quick, so I have plenty of time to eat my lunch.
“This is Petra, she’s Mr. Shaw’s new assistant.”
“Oh wow. You’re gorgeous. I’m Sally by the way. I work in communications and development.”
“I’m Will, and I work next to Sally, but I’m in IT, so if you have any tech issues you can give me a call.”
“I’ll handle all of the support requests for my office,” Mr. Shaw snarls behind me. Shit. Okay.
“Miss Novak, I need to see you.” I look down at my lunch like I didn’t pay all this money for it to get cold. “Take your lunch with you,” he grumbles when he reads my expression.
“Well, maybe another day.”
A low growl comes from Mr. Shaw. “Now, Miss Novak.” I stand with my bag of food and he walks behind me out of the lunchroom like a punished child and I don’t know what I did wrong. “I’m already late because you forgot to submit the documentation to Mr. Redding for my meeting.” I gasp because I was sure I hit send on the materials two hours ago.
“I’m sure I did it,” I insist.
“He says he didn’t receive it and now I have to calm that bastard down.” The doors to the elevator open and he helps me in. The second the doors close, he snarls, “What the fuck did I say about lunch with Elliot?”
“We met in line at the restaurant. Why does it matter anyway?”
“I already explained that I don’t want my assistant getting it on with the other staff members.”
“Does this have to do with your last assistant?” I naturally look down at his crotch without thinking.
“No, this has to do with getting the job done properly. If you weren’t so eager to get out of here to see Elliot you would have done your job right.”
“I sent it to him,” I hiss, stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors open enough for me to get my body through them. I’m at my desk without looking back at him and I pull up my sent files. Turning my screen around, I point. “Look right there. Ten twenty-two. Sent,” I punctuate for emphasis.