“Twenty-two,” she confirms. “I will accept the position, and again I apologize for my clumsy arrival. You said you would arrange an apartment for me, and I can’t afford to refuse that at the moment, but it doesn’t have to be anything big,” she says with a smile.
I watch her for a while before continuing. “Don’t think you’re getting a dream job, Madeline. I work late and sometimes even on the weekends. We’ll travel a lot and, on some occasions, at the last minute, because certain commitments are urgent and unavoidable. I’m the worst person to have as a boss, especially in the morning. I need coffee before anyone tries to talk to me.”
She doesn’t look scared. “What do you expect from me?”
“I’ve been having some problems socializing at parties with owners of companies I’m looking to acquire. You should know that I buy bankrupt businesses, among others.”
She nods. “Yes, I read about it. You buy them, split them up, and resell them.”
“Exactly. A few months ago, I didn’t close a deal I was very interested in because apparently, I was unkind to the owner’s daughter.”
“I don’t know if I understand.”
“I was using their toilet, and the woman came in and got naked. I ordered her to leave. She was outraged. I don’t know what she said to her father, but the deal was off right away.”
Madeline flushes red like a tomato. “In this particular case, mySheikh. . .” she says, not realizing that I had meant it as a joke. However, hearing the expression coming from her lips brings up the image of Madeline moaning as I bury myself between her thighs.
I sigh heavily, trying to focus on the conversation, which should be professional. “What did you say?” I ask when she glares at me after she’s finished.
“Didn’t you hear?”
Not even a little bit.
“I think I may have mixed up a word or two of what you said, Madeline.”
“Did I say them wrong?” she sounds unsure, and I feel like a jerk. I forgot about her dyslexia.
“No, I got distracted for a moment. You haven’t made any mistakes since you arrived.”
She breathes a sigh of relief, and I wonder if someone ever made her feel bad about her condition. “I said that, in this particular case, even a Westerner might have responded in the same way. It’s not very polite to go into the bathroom when someone is using it and get naked in front of them.”
“The other option would have been to accept the invitation the woman offered me,” I say because I like to see her blush.
“Uh . . .yes,” she says, the blush returning as I expected. “Anyway, I think I understand what you want from me. If we can talk openly when we work together, I’ll make adjustments when I’m not pleasing you in some way.”
The problem is the opposite, Madeline. You please me too much.
For all her beauty, she doesn’t seem to use it as a weapon. She sounds very committed to doing her job well. I decide to takea step back. I can bed any woman I want, but good employees aren’t easy to find.
Unlike most women around her age that I’ve been around, Madeline hasn’t ingratiated herself, so I decide I’ll keep things between us professional.
Or at least, I will try to do so.
Chapter 6
“Can you repeat that?” my cousin Zoe asks on the other end of the line. She asked me to call as soon as I got back from the interview, and that is precisely what I did.
“I gave the Sheikha coffee bath. It was my first act as his new assistant.” I try to turn it into a joke, but remembering the embarrassment from earlier today makes my cheeks heat up.
“Hold on, let’s do a video call. I want to look at you as you tell me, because I’m having a hard time here, laughing.”
Less than a minute later, the image of my lovely cousin fills the screen on my phone.
“Maddie, I love you.”
“I’m so happy to be the reason for your laughter,” I complain, but I smile too in the end.
“Tell me everything.”
