I’m not happy about it.
I’ve never enjoyed anything or anyone consuming my mind like this, making my thoughts fuzzy and my focus dull. Half of the point of having the kind of personal assistant that I do is that she will help me to relax a little, think less. And here I am, unable to think about anything because of her.
I march into my office the next day, and there she is, waiting with a steaming cup of coffee ready to hand it off tome. She’s wearing red. This woman has the audacity to show up to work wearing red after a night like that? A night where I asked, no, demanded she wear nothing but red lingerie! It’s a short, tailored dress that flares around her ass, showing off her perfectly smooth and toned thighs. It doesn’t have a plunging neckline, but it doesn’t have to. The cut is enough to set me off on its own.
“Good morning, Mr. Graves,” she purrs. I take my coffee from her and can’t help but notice the smirk on her perfectly plump lips, glossed to match the goddamned dress.
I don’t say anything, at least not in response to that. Instead, I glower down at her. “What are you wearing?” I inquire.
“A dress,” she answers sarcastically. “That you bought for me.”
Suddenly, I’m remembering the faults in my shopping choices. I picked the style of things, yes. When the girl at the shop asked about color, I told her anything but orange. I guess I didn’t have an aversion to red at the time. But that was before last night.
“I don’t like it,” I tell her flatly as I walk over to my desk. “Don’t wear it again.”
“But sir,” she says, and there is a playful lilt in her tone. “You picked it out. I’m only doing as I am told by wearing all these things.”
I scowl at her from across my office. “And I told you not to wear it again.”
We have a stare off for a couple of seconds before her lips curl further. Not enough to actually smile, just enough to be cheeky. “Well, I think it looks nice. It’s not breaking any rules.”
With that, I round the desk back over to her. “I think you are forgetting your place, Miss Bates.”
“You reminded me of my place last night, Mr. Graves. And if I remember correctly, I was a very good girl.”
Hearing those words come out of her mouth makes my blood boil and makes that same hot blood rush to my dick.
I take a step forward. “In your position, it is important you remember, Miss Bates, that you are to remain in your place at all times. Both shifts. Publicly and privately.” I drill the words into the air between us, assuming that Little Miss Mouthy will realize the weight of them. I am not playing games, and I am not an elusive person. She should know that well enough by now.
To my surprise, because again, this girl gets away with shit no one ever has before, Annelise actually laughs.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Graves, but nowhere in the contract that I signed did it say that I have to mind my P’s and Q’s in private. And right now we are in private.”
“No. We are not in private, Annelise. We are at work. In my office. And youwillbehave.”
“Or what?” she asks.
No fucking way she just said that to me.
My scowl deepens, and I actually growl at her in response. “Or there will be consequences.”
“I am literally doing everything you ask all the time. It’s not my fault you are fucking Jekyll and Hyde over here. No pants. Dresses only. Not that dress; it’s too tight. Lingerie at all times. But not red lingerie, even though you chose it. It’s not my fault that you picked out things that make your dick hard and your mood harder, Mr. Graves. Because, at the end of the day, I am doing everything I was told.”
“Not everything, Miss Bates. You’re not respecting me right now, and it is part of your role as my personal assistant,” I tell her, my voice dangerously low.
“And you’re not respecting me either, as your most important employee.”
“I could easily replace you,” I bark out.
“Really? Because I personally find that hard to believe considering your turnover rate.”
Before I can say anything else, she turns on her heel to stalk out. But before she reaches the door, I move in front of her, bracing the doorjamb and barring her path. She looks up at me, then her eyes shoot behind me.
“Did I come at a bad time?” Diego asks. My jaw clenches as my hands slide down the jam. Then I step to the side with a harsh sniff.
“No. Miss Bates was just getting back to her job,” I say. With that, Annelise tosses me the tiniest, spiciest smile, like one of those little chili peppers that looks innocent at first, but packs a gut-wrenching punch.
Diego lets out a low whistle after she walks off. “What the hell was that?”
