by Dani Collins
Down to the last few dollars in her bank account Cassidy had assured the immaculately groomed manager that love was so far off her radar it didn’t even register as a blip. On top of that she’d held down two jobs and still come out top of her class during her senior year at high school so she knew nothing else other than hard work.
Cassidy stared at the ten prospectuses she’d just wrapped in brown paper. Her boss’s apartment was only a fifteen-minute brisk walk away and she had delivered things there before. So why not now? She could use the time to contemplate what she would say to her sister when she got home. And she’d also be more relaxed knowing that she’d rectified her mistake and her boss had the right material for his meeting.
Maybe she would even be lucky enough to find his apartment empty so she could swap the incorrect prospectuses with the new ones without him even knowing. Now, that would be a coup she could smile about.
Feeling better than she had all day, she slipped into her suit jacket, grabbed her handbag, and jabbed the lift button to take her to the ground floor.
Being mid-July, Fifth Avenue was teeming with sunburned tourists wearing ill-fitting shorts and weighed down with I Heart New York shopping bags.
Weaving in and around them with accustomed dexterity, Cassidy didn’t notice that the sky had turned leaden until a large raindrop landed like a burst water balloon right in the centre of her precious parcel.
Groaning with acceptance that this just was not her day, she ducked under a striped shop awning with a couple of women dressed for a night out just as the heavens really opened.
Another drop of water dripped onto her forehead and she barely batted an eyelash as she swiped at it with the back of her hand, glancing up to see a hole in the awning. At this rate a lorry would speed past, hit a puddle, and finish the job. It would only be fitting.
‘Excuse me,’ one of the women ventured. ‘My app’s stopped working. Is Broadway left or right from here? We’re late for a show.’
‘Left,’ Cassidy directed, wishing that getting to Times Square for a musical was the biggest worry on her to-do list right now. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d done anything light-hearted or fun. Who had the time for such frivolities?
Shrugging out of her jacket, she wrapped it around her parcel and hunted around for a cab. Of course the Avenue was gridlocked in the sudden downpour with not a yellow cab in sight.
Resigned to her fate, she stepped out into the deluge, knowing that if she didn’t move soon she wouldn’t make it home before dark. She only hoped that her boss appreciated her dedication when it came to bonus time.
By the time she made it to his landmark building she was a sodden, out-of-breath mess.
The doorman did a double-take when he saw her and rushed to hold the door open as she dashed inside. ‘Evening, Miss Ryan.’
‘Evening, Michael.’ She paused to catch her breath, her heart racing a mile a minute. ‘Is the boss in?’
‘Yes, ma’am. He came in an hour ago.’
‘Great,’ she said glumly. No chance she could hide her mistake, then.
Since he hadn’t responded to her earlier text, she used her personal pass to access his penthouse apartment and waited for his private lift.
A sudden attack of nerves hit her as the lift ascended to the top floor. She’d been here on numerous occasions before to drop things off, but she’d never been here when he’d been at home. The thought of seeing him on his home turf made her feel a little jittery, but perhaps that was just a residual feeling from a day she couldn’t wait to see the back of.
Arriving in his state-of-the-art apartment with three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views over Manhattan and beyond, she stepped carefully from the elevator so she didn’t slip on the marble floor. It was a gorgeous space, the interior designer who had remodelled it having used light wood grain and endless yards of glass to create a home that was boundless and warmly inviting.
Conscious that she was soaking wet, she moved stiffly into the immaculate open-plan living area and called his name. When she didn’t get an answer she glanced outside the windows, momentarily captivated by the sunset over heaven-bound skyscrapers. She exhaled slowly, taking in the magnitude and peace of her surroundings. She could see the congested traffic in the distance, the mad dash of pedestrians trying to get to their next destination, and it almost felt surreal in the stillness of Logan’s apartment.
After a day that had not let up from morning till now it was like being cocooned in cotton wool, safe from the frantic beat of a city that never slept. A welcome reprieve.
And then suddenly that reprieve was shattered when she felt the air shift behind her. Knowing that it could only be her boss, she gripped her jacket-wrapped parcel tighter and turned, letting out a short gasp when she was confronted by the sight of him. Sweat-soaked in a singlet top that did little to disguise his wide shoulders and ripped torso and tiny gym shorts that hugged his strong thighs, he was a spectacular display of blatant male power and vitality. He had earbuds inserted and she could hear the pounding music from where she stood.
For a moment she couldn’t speak, her body frozen by the impact of over six feet of bronzed, honed muscle glistening with athletic prowess. Of course, she’d guessed that he was well built beneath his custom-made business suits but her imagination hadn’t even come close to the real thing.
Logan’s eyes did a slow perusal down her body and she was so out of sorts she felt her insides start to heat up, her heart pumping hard again as if she was still outside, rushing to get out of the rain.
She swallowed heavily, horrified to note that her body was reacting to the sight of him in a way that transcended the professional boss-employee relationship. It had been the same reaction she’d had on first meeting him behind his big desk in a tailored suit and a very bad mood. He hadn’t smiled at her then either, testing her mettle by reading her every reaction to his questions with thickly lashed deep blue eyes that were dangerously intelligent.
It was the same look he was giving her now, only this time she didn’t feel half as successful at hiding her emotions, something she generally considered one of her superpowers after a childhood fraught with upheaval.
A superpower she had employed within the confines of his office that very first day to hide how attractive she’d found him, concentrating instead on how fortunate she had been to even have the chance at such a prestigious job, and how desperately she had needed the money. It had also helped that there was the somewhat minor—but pivotal—point that a man who already had everything the world had to offer would not give a woman such as herself a second glance.
A bead of water rolled from her forehead down her nose and onto her top lip. Her tongue sneaked out to capture it and Logan’s blue eyes darkened, his nostrils flaring as his gaze lingered on her lips. Cassidy felt a surge of sexual awareness so deeply within her body it shook her to the core.
She was like a startled impala facing a hungry lion, with nowhere to run, and she suddenly felt less annoyed at the women who regularly called his office, trying to win a second chance with him, and more sorry for them. If he ever swept her up in those massive arms she wasn’t certain she’d want him to let her go either.
Fortunately the scowl that crossed his face was a timely reminder that the chance of him ever sweeping her up into anything was less than zero.
Squeezing her soggy jacket tighter against her chest, she knew that she had to do something to sever this strange connection between them before she embarrassed herself.
But before she had the chance, Logan reached into his pocket and killed the music on his phone before yanking the earbuds out of his ears. ‘What are you doing here, Cassidy? And why are you dripping all over my floor?’
They had started using their first names after about six months of working together when he had complained that he felt like she was always about to deliver bad news when
she addressed him as Mr de Silva, but now her name sounded strangely intimate on his tongue.
‘I...’ She crushed the moment of madness she’d just experienced and lifted her chin. ‘I need to give you the prospectuses for your meeting tomorrow morning.’ She unwrapped the jacket in her arms and held out the package but he didn’t move to take it.
‘I already have the prospectuses for tomorrow.’
Cassidy grimaced and with her free hand brushed at the rivulets of water rolling down her neck. ‘Actually, you don’t. You have the wrong ones.’
‘Wrong...’ His eyes scanned her from head to toe again, a scowl darkening his blue eyes. ‘You’re drenched.’
‘Sorry.’ She glanced down to find that her blouse was so wet she might as well have not been wearing one. With a squeak of alarm she crossed her free arm over her breasts, only then realising how terrible she must look in general.
His scowl deepened as he plucked her sodden jacket and the package from her hand and disappeared down the hallway, returning a moment later with a towel.
‘You know where the bathroom is,’ he bit out, keeping his eyes above her neckline. ‘Use it.’
‘Actually, I don’t,’ she said, rubbing her arms from the chill that was either coming from him or the air-conditioning. ‘I’ve only ever dropped things off before and left.’
Clearly annoyed to have his peaceful night invaded, he strode down the hall, impatience evident in every taut line of his hard body. ‘Here.’
He pushed open the door to a bathroom and Cassidy gratefully disappeared inside.
She nearly let out another squeak at seeing blotches of mascara pooled beneath her eyes and straggly bits of her hair sticking to her ears and neck.
The ruined woman in the mirror was not the impeccably presented one she had turned herself into since leaving Ohio and it was yet more confirmation that she should not have got out of bed that morning.
Taking a deep breath, she skimmed the towel beneath her eyes and wiped her face and neck. Then she unpinned her hair and searched in her bag for her hairbrush. Not finding it, she had a vague memory of Amber asking if she could borrow it the night before. Cursing her beloved niece, she finger-combed the mass of tangled waves and tried to re-pin her hair. Unfortunately the rain had made it curl in every direction so she gave up, letting it hang past her shoulders. She shivered in the air-conditioned bathroom and groaned anew when she realised that her bra was visible beneath the downlights.
Terrific.
She pulled her blouse away from her skin and wondered if it would look odd if she walked out holding it like that.
Deciding that she’d have to brazen it out, she tilted her chin and exited the bathroom. She’d get her coat, wish her boss goodnight, and head off to face the next disaster. It couldn’t possibly be any worse than this one.
Peeking into the living room, she caught sight of her boss outlined against the New York skyline, his hands on his hips. The clouds had parted and late sunbeams shone down on the newly washed buildings, gilding them in gold and silver.
But it was the gorgeous view inside the room that held her attention more. Tall, broad-shouldered and lean-hipped, with long, muscular legs and dark blond hair that gently curled against his strong neck, he was the epitome of sleek male power in the prime of life. He might be a cold-hearted workaholic but he was pure perfection to look at.
Against her wishes her heart rate quickened once again and, unwilling to get caught staring at him a second time, she turned away to hunt for her jacket.
* * *
Logan turned to find Cassidy scanning the room and looking more like something the cat would drag in than his usual efficient EA. All day she’d been off and now she even looked it. Her usually perfect up-do a cloud of chestnut waves, her wet blouse the texture of tissue paper, and just as revealing, and her face clean of make-up. The only thing familiar about her was her glasses, ones she’d adjusted further up her nose with her little finger when she’d caught him staring at her. A nervous gesture he’d only ever seen now and then.
His office ran like clockwork thanks to her. But the woman standing in front of him looked like she should be about to do a strip tease before ending up in his bed.
Wondering when his libido had regressed to the point that a woman in a wet shirt could turn him on, he strode out of the room and returned with one of his sweatshirts. ‘Unless you’re planning to enter a wet T-shirt competition after you leave here, you’d better put this on.’
Her eyes didn’t quite meet his as she took it from him and slid it over her head, her thanks muffled by the fabric.
The sweatshirt was miles too big, falling midway down her thighs and draping over her hands, but it did the job of turning her from shapely to shapeless as required.
He didn’t know what had happened today but it had all started when he had arrived at his office to find that Cassidy wasn’t there. Always on time, and with his morning coffee ready for when he walked in, she had been noticeably absent. Not only had he been required to make his own coffee but he’d had to field two visits from junior staff asking for information he didn’t have. Then his COO’s assistant had stopped by to make an appointment for him to meet with her boss and had tried to linger.
When Cassidy had finally arrived, blaming the subway, she’d been harried. At first he hadn’t noticed because she’d appeared as well groomed as always in a black suit and white blouse, her auburn hair pinned back into a French twist. She’d worn it like that on her first day and had never deviated from the style. It had annoyed him at first because it was always the same, but then he’d come to appreciate her consistency. Not to mention her efficiency.
But she hadn’t been efficient today. Following up one unexpected mistake with another and another until he’d almost asked her what was wrong.
He hadn’t because the last thing he wanted to do was to encourage personal interactions in the office. He did not want to give her any ideas that might change the nature of their working relationship. Something that had happened with more than one EA in the past.
In his experience people were rarely as they seemed on the outside and yet he was sure that his EA was exactly as she seemed: an intelligent, quiet, sensible woman who had incredibly sultry lips. And vivid, velvet-green eyes. He’d noticed both right away, and nearly hadn’t hired her because of his reaction to them, but his HR manager had convinced him that she was perfect.
And she had been.
Perfect.
Until now.
She glanced at him and adjusted her glasses again. ‘I know you’re busy so if you tell me where my jacket is, I’ll get out of your hair.’
‘Not before you explain why I left the office with the wrong information, you won’t.’
She sighed heavily, her chest rising and falling with the effort. ‘I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.’
Logan raised a brow at her evasive response, another clue that his EA had left the building and had been replaced by a woman he didn’t know.
‘Relying on hope is a waste of time and since we don’t always get what we want I’ll ask again.’
She glanced at her hands before raising her little chin as she looked at him. ‘I gave you the draft of the prospectus that was the one before the final copy.’ She opened her hands in front of her in a conciliatory gesture. ‘I’m not sure how it happened. I did text you to let you know I would be stopping by but clearly you didn’t get it.’
‘Clearly.’ He tried not to be annoyed at her incompetence but he was. ‘But I could have collected them from the office in the morning.’
‘You have an early flight to Boston and I didn’t want to put you out.’ She gripped her fingers together. ‘It’s been a horrible day and I’m really sorry for mucking up.’ Her hands lifted in a helpless gesture. ‘I’m not myself right now.’
She could join the club. If his unwanted ph
ysical reaction to her was any indication, he wasn’t himself either. Which was why he needed to retrieve her jacket and send her on her way. About to do exactly that, he frowned when his phone rang. Pulling it from his pocket, his frown deepened when he saw his brother’s name flash up on the screen.
Given that it was the middle of the night in Arrantino, it couldn’t be good news and he pressed the answer button.
‘What?’
His blunt greeting was met with a touch of humour. ‘Have I caught you at a bad time, brother? You’re not with a woman, are you?’
‘Yes.’ Before he could think better of it his eyes raked over Cassidy again. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and the innocent gesture sent a raw bolt of primal lust roaring through his blood. Closing it down with ironclad self-control, he turned away from her and corrected his answer. ‘No.’
‘Good. Have you got a minute? I have...something to tell you.’
Hearing the hesitation in his brother’s voice sent an icy shiver of dread down his spine, driving all thoughts of his EA’s legs from his mind. ‘What is it? Have you been to the doctor? Has—?’
Logan stopped, unable to voice the fear that his brother’s teenage leukaemia had returned. Leo had fought the illness bravely but Logan doubted he would ever fully recover from seeing his brother so weakened by the disease. Neither would he forget how powerless he had felt in the face of something he couldn’t control.
‘No. It’s nothing like that,’ his brother assured him. ‘Well, not entirely. It’s just that...’ The pause on the end of the phone took ten years off Logan’s life. ‘I’ve decided to abdicate. Which makes you the next King of Arrantino.’
Copyright © 2020 by Michelle Conder