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)
“I just…shit. I’m fired.” She drops her head and I feel like a dick. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t care and merely sent a warning that they were contacting the wrong person because it was clear she was only responding to a message she received. Elliot’s the one starting shit.
“As much as I should fire you, no. I need someone to do a job. Although if you do go out with Elliot, I will fire you. I need you to act like a professional, which means staying away from my employees. Can you do that?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll just tell him no,” she answers meekly.
“No. Don’t bother. I will do it for you.” I don’t want her talking to him at all.
“Please don’t fire him. He was just trying to be nice to me.”
“I’m sure that’s his only motivation. Now, enough wasting time talking about Elliot. I want you to get back to your desk and handle your assignments. I have too much on my plate to be reminding you to stay on task, Miss Novak. I’d hate to send you packing so soon, but I can’t have you setting me further behind than I already am.”
“Yes, Mr. Shaw.”
“Good, now go ahead and finish your to-do list. I’ll be having a business lunch.”
“What time is my lunch hour, sir?”
“You will be accompanying me to take notes,” I add, hating the idea of her having lunch with anyone else. My last assistant had an affair with one of the other employees and although I didn’t give a fuck about them together, I knew they met while having lunch in the breakroom.
“Oh. That explains why I can’t have lunch with Elliot.”
“Lunch, dinner, fucking breakfast. Any fucking meal with him, and I’ll make it his last one. Now, please, go finish up. I’m getting a headache.”
“Sorry.” She stands and then gives me a sheepish smile. I want to kick my own ass for slipping up like that and losing my temper. This time I only watch her upper body, shoulders slumped as she leaves my office, appearing broken by my harshness.
Still, I argue with myself that I have the right to be pissed. She’s fraternizing on company time like I’m not right here. I’m trying to work, and she’s giving her attention to the mail boy like he’s worth losing her job over and I’m chopped liver. Fuck, I hate that expression, and now I’m using it.
I call in my friend Landon and ask for a favor, and then I return to my work as best as I can until it’s lunchtime.
When I step out into the hall, there’s a stack of mail on the desk that she’s sorting through. It’s the past two days’ worth that I haven’t bothered to look at because most of it isn’t of interest. “Anything important in there?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t know anything about the company to know what’s important yet. I’ve sorted the junk mail from the letters and large envelopes.”
“Okay. Well, they can wait until we return from lunch. Get your coat. It’s cold out.” She slips on a decent peacoat. It’s pretty, but it’s not going to do much to keep her warm. “Where are your hat and gloves?”
“I accidentally left them on the train on my way in.”
“What am I going to do with you?” I grumble to myself.
“It was a little warm on the train, so I took them off and I didn’t remember until I was already on the platform and the train rolled away.”
“A hat? Scarf?”
“I forgot that one at home this morning.”
“Are you always this forgetful?”
“I was a bit nervous today.”
“I suppose you have a case for it. Come on. Let’s get going before the weather picks up.”
By the time we make it out of the lobby and onto Lake Shore Drive, I throw my scarf around her neck. I can see her shivering already, and I don’t like it one bit. I take a look at her outfit and immediately send a message to my sister, asking for a favor and then I shoot one to my driver. It’s a warning, a subtle, but unmistakable warning that Petra is not to be stared at in any damn way. It’s nuts how possessive I am of a woman who is just supposed to be my assistant. There is no helping it though.
God, instantly I know that bringing her is a mistake unless I plan on making her mine. Heaven help me, but there are so many ethical codes, violations, and such that I’ll be committing if I pull her into my arms and throw her legs over mine to straddle me as I claim her mouth. And yet…it’s all I want to do.
Chapter Three
Petra
I swear the car feels like it’s a thousand degrees. It doesn’t help that he gave me his scarf, which is the epitome of a gentleman, and I wanted to moan because it smells of him, like sandalwood and fresh linen. I want to climb onto his lap and ride him all the way to wherever we’re planning to go. It’s stupid because at my last job, I quit fast as hell for my boss trying something like that, but here I want my boss to do the same thing. Jack Shaw could maul me, and I would welcome it.