“It’s quite all right,” he said.
I could feel my cheeks heat up as I pulled my hand away from my mouth. I shook my head slightly, staring down at my desk and muttering, “There I go, making a total ass of myself on my first day.”
“After the morning you’ve had, this doesn’t seem all that bad to me.”
My eyes shot up to him just before he strolled out of my office with a sly smile on his face, and with dawning horror, I realized what he meant.
Chapter 4
Chester
As I closed the office door behind me, I fought back a smile desperate to play out on my lips. Just as desperate as the laugh that wanted to escape my throat as I left a dumbfounded Juliet alone at her desk. The look on her face had been priceless when I hinted at the fact her new boss had seen her completely naked this morning. And by new boss, I didn’t mean Mike, whom she irritatingly mistook me for. Did I look like the head of accounting? I could just picture his receding hairline and gold, wire-rimmed glasses. She knew now, though.
I thought she had been sexy on my phone with her legs splayed open for all the world’s eyes to see, but I was surprised to see she was just as sexy fully clothed. That cream skirt hugged her hips and ass like a glove, and the matching blazer was cut just so that it hung open enough for me to see the ample cleavage above her white blouse underneath. It was almost unfair that I alreadyknew how perfect her breasts were and to have them covered up by layers of clothing was a torturous tease.
And if memories of her wet, glistening body weren’t enough to make me rock-hard, her face just added to her appeal. Her icy blue eyes were only brought out further by her pale blonde hair that hung in loose curls down her back. The little beauty mark that hung just above her rosy pink lips was the icing on the cake, and it was a struggle to tear my eyes away from her mouth back there. Her attraction would pose a problem, especially since I already knew what she looked like naked. I wanted to see more of it, and that want was an unwelcome distraction to the start of my day.
I stepped inside the elevator and pressed the button for a few floors up where my office was, and just getting off the seventeenth floor and away from that blonde distraction made me breathe a little easier. My head a little clearer.
A little.
I strode into my office expecting to find my assistant there, as it was now just after seven, but I found it empty. Frustrated, I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair as I peered out at the rest of the floor for any sign of her. But she, along with the rest of the office, was taking her sweet time to get here. Granted, their start time wasn’t until eight, but my assistant had an earlier start time, so she could help me prepare for the day. Going over our shared calendars of meetings and appointments, tasks, and a to-do list that seemed to grow longer by the day, no matter how much I check off of it. And today, of all days, I needed her.
I sat down at my desk with a harumph and reached for the phone on my desk, punching in my assistant’s number with an irritated force that made the buttons click loudly. The phone rang and rang, and eventually went to her voicemail. I placed the phone back in the receiver hastily and rolled my eyes. You really couldn’t rely on anyone but yourself.
My phone blinked up at me with a red glare, indicating there were messages to be heard, which was something my assistant did for me. She screened the calls to get through the bullshit, and handed me what really mattered on a notepad. I would have to wade through the messages myself, but as I attempted various passcodes and was met with a harsh trill that I couldn’t be granted access, I could feel my impatience growing thin. Finally, I tried one last passcode and was met with fifteen messages. I groaned. The business day hadn’t even started.
I went through and deleted half that were either telemarketers or people pitching business ideas and wanting a backer, as if I had the time to help someone with their start-up for their moronic ideas. Finally, I heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line. It was my assistant, and she was informing me that she was quitting. I played it back in disbelief, and then checked the time of when she had left it. It had been at three that morning, the blaring sound of techno music playing behind her slurred words. What an unprofessional pain in my ass. I slammed down the phone and cursed out loud.
Taking a deep breath, I loosened my tie slightly because it felt like it was beginning to suffocate me. I knew it wasn’t the tie. It was the stress. I was taking over an entire company today without my right hand, and there was a woman who had floodedthis entire building with a sexual tension that had me in a chokehold no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door and I half expected my now former assistant to be standing in the doorway hungover with runny mascara, begging for her job back. But no. To my surprise it was Will. He stood leaning against the doorframe in a baseball tee and dark, faded jeans. His five o’clock shadow confirmed he had been out all night, and probably the night before.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, my mood immediately lightening.
“I figured I would come by before the rest of the office. Couldn’t sleep anyway. Still on a high from last night.” He smiled as he walked in, set his guitar case down, and made himself comfortable in the plush tweed armchair across from my desk.
“I just talked to you, you know,” I said, raising a brow, even though I was glad for the company.
“I know, I know. It was on the way home.” He waved me off with an easy smile, leaning back in the chair. How he was still awake after a night of music and debauchery was beyond me. He looked around the room, moving his dark hair from his eyes, a mild look of confusion on his face.
“Where is your assistant?” he asked, looking back to me expectantly.
“Isthatwhy you are here?” I chuckled, putting two and two together. Will had a hard time resisting a pretty face.
“Can’t a guy just visit his best friend at work?” he asked, feigning a hurt expression.
“Mhmm. Sure. Sorry to disappoint, but she quit,” I muttered.
“Tired of the early mornings and the demands of her asshole boss, I assume?” chided Will with a smirk.
I gave him a vulgar gesture and slumped back in my chair.
“That or she’s twenty-three and enjoying the New York party scene…” I said, bringing my fingers to the bridge of my nose.
“Shit. I thought she was at least twenty-seven,” said Will in awe, rubbing at the stubble on his cheeks.
“However old she is, she’s really screwed me.”
