Between her low moans and legs wrapped tightly around me, she was far different from the woman who sat across from myoffice all day. I wondered if there was more to her than I thought. I hoped there was, because what I witnessed this morning was anything but a turn-on. I hated weakness, and it oozed out of her. She had yet to prove herself to be worthy of being my personal assistant, already failing today’s impossible task. I needed someone with a strong work ethic. Someone who could take my shit, but push back, too. I just didn’t know if she had it in her.
I had spent part of my morning poring over her file. I read that she had indeed been an assistant for five years, but oddly never asked for anything more. She hadn’t even asked for a raise that she had earned in her tenure. Her lack of ambition was shocking, especially to someone like me who did anything they needed to come out on top. I needed someone who was as cutthroat as I was beside me, and that wasn’t her.
Maybe I could talk to some of the senior associates and find a position for her with one of them. There had to be a job that was easier for her, but where I could still keep her close by. While I might not like her work ethic, I liked fucking her. I wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. I was having too much fun, and we had barely started.
Firing her was out of the question now, not just because I wanted to have her again, but also because of the shitstorm it would cause if word got out about our relations. I could see the headlines now:
New CEO Has Affair with Assistant Who Sues for Wrongful Termination.
It would be a media shitstorm, and it was the last thing I needed in my new position. While I still didn’t believe she had the balls to do it, I couldn’t risk it. Plus, with the way she surprised me tonight. Who knew what else she might have up her sleeve?
I fell asleep, eager to find out.
Chapter 9
Sadie
The elevator doors opened to an empty office. My footsteps echoed as I walked through the space, clutching my purse in one hand and a large coffee in the other. I looked around and realized I was all alone. I had never been this early to work before, and clearly, none of the others had either. A whole two hours early.
I took a long sip of my iced coffee as I arrived at my desk, the swirl of cream and sugar sweet on my tongue. I honestly could have used three more jumbo-sized lattes after the sleepless night I had. After the kiss—or really, the make-out session—in the elevator with Jeremiah, I was so wound up that sleep didn’t come easily. My body wanted one thing, while my mind strong-armed me into staying in my apartment, instead of going up to find him and finish what we started.
It had taken everything in me to untangle my limbs from his body and my fingers from his hair. It was as if the ding of the elevator had broken some sort of spell and I found myself stumbling off, struggling to find air. To find space. Space I told him I needed, which in turn he had laughed at. It was an impossible ask when we lived in the same building and I was now his personal assistant.
I thought after how terribly yesterday had gone, he would want nothing to do with me, so him following me onto the elevator was not on my bingo card. The truth was, I had gone for a run to clear him from my mind, and instead it bit me in the ass. If I had just stayed in my apartment after the workday, I would have avoided running into him. Maybe part of me wanted to. I sighed as I realized just how complicated my life was before plopping into the white leather swivel chair at my desk.
I could still taste the bourbon on his tongue, even though I had brushed my teeth several times and took a long, hot shower to rid my body of his intoxicating scent. It was no use, though. All I could think about was him and the way he so easily lifted me in his arms as my legs instinctively wrapped around him. He had still been in that well-fitting suit from the workday, while I probably looked like a drowned rat in my sweaty workout clothes. It didn’t seem to faze him, though. He still had that hungry look in his eyes and his hands were eager to explore my flushed skin.
I shook my head and took another long sip of coffee before firing up my laptop. I was eager to find a distraction from the night before, even though Jeremiah would be here soon and be all the reminder I needed that he existed, and that we had crossed somany lines in the past few days. I told myself we wouldn’t cross any more. Keeping this job was too important.
At least, I had made it here before him today. Before everyone. I was eager to prove that I could do this job. But once I had logged on to my laptop, my calendar began pinging with notifications, filling the screen and making my eyes move in a frenzy to keep up. My stomach dropped. Yesterday’s to-do list had doubled in size and I started to doubt I was able to keep up. I couldn’t understand how someone could bethatbusy. His day was full of meetings. Meetings I would most likely accompany him to. The thought made my heart skip a little faster.
I leaned forward, looking toward the elevator for any sign of Jeremiah. There was a bundle of excited nerves in the pit of my stomach. I had spent a better part of my morning taking my time getting ready, giving myself an at-home blowout and putting on a cream skirt suit I had pressed before getting ready for bed. It was stupid, really. I told myself it was because I wanted to look the part, but I knew part of it was for him.
The elevator doors opened, sending me flying backward in my seat, but it wasn’t Jeremiah. It was Tanya, the front desk clerk. She must have also wanted to start making a good impression on the new boss, along with the other associates who trickled in not long after.
She gave me a wave and walked over. “You’re here early,” she said, looking around the almost empty office.
“Am I?” I shrugged.
“Oh, come off it. You’re scared shitless, like the rest of us,” she said with a raised brow.
I let out a breathy laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“I don’t blame you. The man is a tyrant. I swear, he’s the only one who would ever have me upthisearly.” She shook her head.
I nodded in agreeance as her eyes curiously looked at my laptop screen that was full of multi-colored tasks and appointments. It was an array of impossible to-dos disguised in colors of the rainbow. She clucked her tongue and shook her head.
“Damn. He’s got you running like a chicken with your head cut off, huh?” asked Tanya, looking at me sympathetically.
I groaned. “Send help.”
She gave me a reassuring smile. “You’ve got this.”
She drummed her knuckles on my desk before walking down the hall to her desk.
The rest of the office started to fill up with employees eager to prove themselves. Soon, I needed another coffee to help stave off the sleepless night I had. I walked to the breakroom, my senses on alert for any sign of Jeremiah, but there was no sign of him. I pulled a white mug from the glossy black shelving and poured myself a generous amount of black coffee from the carafe. I was only gone for a few minutes, but when I got back to my desk, Ifound Jeremiah’s office door now closed. He must have arrived while I was in the breakroom.
I took a deep breath and gathered the files on my desk that I had reviewed for him this morning, and were now ready for signatures. Outside his door, I clutched the files under one arm and discreetly fussed with my hair with the other. I was about to knock, but stopped with my hand raised when I heard muffled voices through the door. He wasn’t alone. I could recognize a few of the voices coming from inside. Jeremiah was talking to managers from the smaller departments. I would have gone back to my desk, but I heard my name float through the door, which made me stop in my tracks.
