by Parker, Ali
“Who am I?” she roared. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Stephanie, Mr. Williams’s secretary.” I hoped it would calm her down to just hear me talking.
It didn’t.
She let out a shriek that hurt my eardrums and flung herself around the desk, chasing me around it. What the hell was wrong with her?
Her dress billowed behind her as we rounded the desk time and time again. When she couldn’t catch me, she finally grabbed the photo of Jack on Jeremiah’s desk and hurled it at me.
I was too shocked to do anything but duck before the frame shattered against the far wall of the office. It flew right by my ear. I backed away, wondering how I was going to hail security. Clearly, she was unhinged.
Jeremiah told me about a panic button in each office, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember where he said it was. Focus, Steph. Think. Remember.
“You call yourself his secretary?” the woman yelled, so shrill it was a wonder the windows didn’t shatter. She was no laughing matter though. If I’d ever seen anyone look murderous, it was her. “You’re not his fucking secretary, I am. Jannie. Ask anyone. This office next door is mine, and so is the man who occupies this one!”
Ah, crap. The ex-secretary. What she was saying made no sense, since she was fired weeks before I started, but at least now I knew who I was dealing with. A shiver ran down my spine. There was something wrong with this woman, and somehow, I was in her crosshairs.
I held up my hands, showing her I meant no harm. “I think there’s been some kind of mistake, I—”
She cut me off, pointing a finger at me as she screamed. Her words made my skin crawl. Not because what she said was more terrifying than a variety of threats people used jokingly every day, but because of the way she looked when she said it.
This was no empty threat. She was dead. Fucking. Serious. “You better watch your back, bitch. There’s been no mistake. Jeremiah will chew you up and spit you out when he’s done with you. And if he doesn’t, I will.”
Chapter 24
STEPHANIE
Listen to your gut. If I ever have children, that was going to be one of the first lessons I would teach them. I punched my pillow and buried my head in its feathery comfort, tossing my phone on the bed next to me.
When I took my new job as secretary to Jeremiah Williams, New York City’s favorite infamous bad boy and son of billionaire Jance Williams, my gut screamed at me. It tried to warn me that I was making a mistake, but I didn’t listen.
Of course, the reason why I thought it was warning me was wrong. I thought it was because working for an arrogant, sexy-as-hell man to whom I was undeniably attracted was going to come back to bite me in the ass. And it had, but not because of him.
Not directly because of him, I corrected my depressing thoughts. It was because of the crazy woman who showed up and threatened me in Jer’s office yesterday. The drama left a bad taste in my mouth and had me seriously second-guessing my decision to leave my job at the bookstore, where quiet and boring was the run of the mill for each day.
Quiet and boring was, well… boring, but at least it was safe. Having a clearly deranged woman show up in your boss’s office and throw things at you while spewing hatred wasn’t safe. Not by a long shot. Especially when the hatred she was spewing came paired with a threat. You better watch your back, bitch. He’ll chew you up and spit you out when he’s done with you. And if he doesn’t, I will.
My stomach twisted at the memory of her words. Normal bitchiness I could handle as well as anyone else could. Hell, learning how to deal with the crazies was par for the course in any teenage girl’s life. By the time we hit our twenties, we’re pros at laughing them off and coming up with snappy comebacks. A couple of years into my twenties, I’d yet to actually feel a single hint of fear associated with empty threats and crazy girls.
Until now.
This girl, this threat, was different. I believed her when she screamed those words at me, her face contorted in rage and her eyes wild.
Sunlight pouring in through my open bedroom windows warmed my back and legs, but it did nothing to thaw the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. That woman, whoever she was, meant business. And I was in her crosshairs, unfortunately.
Great. Just great. I groaned and flopped onto my back, throwing my arm over my eyes to shield them from the bright rays of early morning sunshine.
To top it all off, I just got off the phone to call in sick. My second week on the job. It didn’t bode well for me.
Oh, and then there was another fact. Just before the embodiment of crazy walked into Jer’s office and practically assaulted me, I’d not only had my first fight with my boss but also my first kiss with him. How stupid am I?
A heavy sigh fell from my lips. Fucking stupid, top-level stupid. Idiotic. That was how stupid I was. Despite all the promises to myself to keep things professional with him and tamp down on this insane attraction I felt, I succumbed to the heat of the moment. In my defense, it was a seriously heated moment. But it still shouldn’t have happened.
I rolled over in bed and stared out the window. There wasn’t much of a view since all I could see was the building next door, but I stared at its brown bricks as wistfully as if I was looking out over the ocean.
If only I had listened to my damn gut. If only I went into my own office adjacent to Jer’s to compose myself after the most incredible kiss of my life. If only I never fucking kissed him… Damn it.
So many if onlys, so little chance of taking anything that happened back. Tomorrow, I was going to have to woman up and face my boss. Though I had no idea what I would even say to him. Today, however, today I was hiding out.
I didn’t really think the woman would come after me, but who knew? I also wouldn’t have thought that just anyone could walk through all that security down at Williams Tower and straight into the heir of the company’s office.
Apparently, it was possible for someone to do it though. Someone who happened to be as gorgeous as she was crazy. Legs as long as my entire body, glowing red hair and smooth, creamy skin, the girl was a knockout. Who wants to knock me out.
What made it even more difficult for me to go back there and face the man was that I didn’t know who the psycho was to him. From her ramblings, I managed to deduce she was his ex-secretary, but there had to be more to it than that.
Surely.
As far as I knew, people didn’t make a habit of marching into their former employer’s office, threatening the people who replaced them or laying claim to said former employer. Her words echoed clear as a bell in my head. The office next door is mine and so is the man who occupies this one.
Was she his ex-girlfriend as well as his ex-secretary? His current girlfriend? I had no clue. Given her threats and her reaction to finding me in his office, it seemed reasonable that she could’ve been either one.
He hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend to me, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have one. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, reaching up to push my hair out of my face. A horn blared in the street below, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I sat up, looping my arms around my knees. Enough moping around.
Moping wouldn’t get me anywhere. I made a huge mess of things yesterday by kissing Jeremiah. It would’ve been bad enough without having had the run-in I did with the crazy, hot girl. What I needed was a game plan. A way forward.
And I knew just who to go to for help figuring things out. Luckily, she lived in the same apartment I did. I only had to lure her out of her room.
Feeling more positive now that I had a plan for the immediate future, I hopped out of bed and padded to the kitchen. There were only two steps to my plan. Step one involved bacon and coffee. Step two was brainstorming with Tiana, who I was hoping would be coaxed from sleep by the smell of two of her favorite things.
Sure enough, I was pouring freshly brewed coffee into a mug and about halfway done with the bacon when my best friend walked into the kitchen. She yawned, stret
ched and peeked at me through one open eye. “Shouldn’t you be at work already?”
I shook my head, handing Tiana her coffee. “I called in sick.”
“Riiight. I can see how sick you are.” Her lips twitched into a lazy smile. “Just let me know when I need to drive you to the hospital.”
Scratching my forehead with a very particular finger, I smirked and plucked a piece of bacon from the pan. “Wiseass. That comment just cost you this.”
I held up the bacon, cooked extra crispy just the way she liked it and bit into it. “So good.”
“You’re mean this morning.” She pouted, waiting until I was distracted by grabbing a plate for the bacon before snagging a piece for herself. Munching on it, she gave me a long look. “What’s wrong? And seriously, why aren’t you at work?”
I picked up the plate in one hand and my coffee in the other, nodding at the couches in our living room. “We’re going to need sustenance for this.”
She led the way and sank into her usual spot in front of the window, curling her legs underneath her and wrapping her fingers around her coffee mug. “This doesn’t sound good. Did you get fired already? What did you do, jump Jeremiah’s bones when he walked into his office?”
“No,” I said immediately, plopping onto the couch kitty-corner to hers. “Well, sort of.”
Her olive green eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. “Spill the beans, Donavan. I know you’re a go-getter, but I’m willing to bet this wasn’t just you going for what you wanted.”
“What I wanted was his d—” I slapped my hand over my mouth, cutting myself off before I said the words I couldn’t believe had almost tumbled out of my mouth.
Tiana laughed, twisting strands of her long black hair between her fingers. “At least you’re admitting it now.”
“But I shouldn’t be. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “True, but you’re going to have to start at the beginning and tell me what got you thinking about it again.”
Tiana was with me the night I met Jeremiah. She took me out for my birthday, and I ended up dancing with the most gorgeous guy. Warm, chocolate brown eyes with so much depth in them it was hard to pinpoint all the different hues of color, midnight black hair that he wore just a little bit longer than the average suit-wearing man. Golden tanned skin. Bone structure handcrafted by the gods.
If you looked up tall, dark and handsome, you wouldn’t have been surprised if Jeremiah Williams popped up as the poster child for the description. At the time, I didn’t know that his picture literally popped up if looking up “richest men in the city,” “New York’s most eligible bachelors” and probably under “cockiest man alive.”
I had had an interview lined up for the Monday after my birthday. I had been determined to make this the year I stopped living paycheck to paycheck and started using my fancy business degree—even if it meant starting at the bottom at Williams Inc. and working my way up.
Jeremiah and I practically dry humped on the dance floor, but I took off before anything else could happen with the mysterious stranger. Turned out to be a huge blessing that I did. The following Monday I found myself interviewing for the position as his secretary.
I’d been busy with college for four years, and he’d been doing his best to stay out of the press since his brother’s death, so I hadn’t recognized Jeremiah for who he was. Finding out the man I nearly went at it with on a crowded dance floor was the same one I hoped would be my ticket into the company that could change my life had been a serious shock. And a mindfuck of note since my hormones refused to acknowledge the “boss” part of his identity and were obsessed with the “man” part.
Tiana watched me stroll down memory lane, searching for the best place to start telling her what was on my mind. Since she already knew all about those first few days, I skipped ahead to only the events of the day before. I explained what happened, watching surprise and annoyance change her features and harden her eyes.
“You should take me to work with you. If that bitch shows her face, I’ll really give her something to be mad about.” She was joking, or half-joking. Maybe not joking at all. I could never be sure with her when it came to protecting the people she loved.
“Hold your horses, warrior princess,” I said, smiling at her boldness. A trait, her mother assured me, she was blessed with because of her Greek heritage. Apparently, Greek women were not to be messed with. “Taking you to work as my bodyguard wouldn’t help the situation at all.”
She sighed as though I’d spoiled her fun. “Fine, but then you’re going to have to be honest with your boss. He’s the only person who can fix a problem like that. She should never have been allowed on the premises to even get that close to you in the first place.”
I knew she was right, but the thought of having to go to him to ask for help… “I’m too embarrassed. Having to ask your boss to protect you from another woman feels like the kind of thing that happens in romantic comedies.”
I didn’t know how I was even going to look him in the eye after what happened between us, never mind batting my eyelashes and letting him play the hero. One thing I was sure of, whatever was going to happen, my life was no romantic comedy. No sirree.
Chapter 25
JEREMIAH
“Well then, fix it.” I snapped into the phone, slamming it down in its cradle without another word. Why was everyone incompetent today?
And why the fuck was I dealing with all this shit instead of my secretary?
Again.
I thought after I hired a replacement for the train wreck my last secretary turned into that I was free from all the administrative crap. Boy was I ever wrong. It was only Stephanie’s second week on the job, and she called in sick, forcing me to handle all the day-to-day calls on my phone—which I sucked at.
I did it for nearly two weeks before I hired Stephanie. I couldn’t have been happier to pass all that stuff back to its rightful place: the office of my secretary.
Of all my talents, dealing with admin was not one of them. Especially since I had to balance it along with my normal schedule. I’d been late for two meetings already, suffered a scathingly angry phone call from my father and skipped lunch.
My stomach growled loudly, letting me know what it thought on the matter of skipping lunch. I paced the length of my office, half wondering if I had time before my next meeting to have a sandwich sent up while also thinking about the terrible fucking call from my father.
Nothing I did was good enough for the man. I didn’t want or need his approval, but it would be really fucking useful if he could keep his ranting opinions to himself. A dull headache started at the base of my skull. A consequence of having been subjected to him delivering a tirade for thirty-two excruciating minutes.
A piece of glass crunched under my foot, reminding me of the other reason the day started out catapulting me into the foulest of moods only to become worse from there. There was still glass embedded in my carpet from the broken picture I found of my brother when I came in this morning.
Anger, frustration, and annoyance mingled in my blood, heating it. I marched to my office door and stuck my head out.
“Would someone bring a damn vacuum into my office to clean up this mess?” I yelled, silently cursing the stabbing pain the volume of my own voice caused in my head. “And make it fast.”
Lifting my foot to my knee, I pulled the fragment of glass that got stuck in my shoe free. How the hell had this happened?
When I left my office yesterday, the picture was next to my computer screen as always. Yet when I arrived at the office this morning, the frame was shattered and lying against the opposite wall, and the picture of my brother lay face up on the carpet in the middle of the carnage.
I didn’t know how it was possible, but it looked like it had been done on purpose. Thrown or smashed against the wall. My thoughts drifted to my father. He was livid on the phone earlier, but he couldn’t be responsible for this.
Jack was his golden boy, his heir to the throne. Whatever his frustrations with me and my alleged failings, he wouldn’t have taken it out on a picture of Jack. Would he?
I shook my head. He wouldn’t. If it had been a picture of me, all bets were off. But it wasn’t. It was a picture of my late brother, the man my father groomed all our lives to take over from him when the final bell tolled for my father.
Until the bell tolled for Jack first and my father was left with me as Jack’s replacement. The disappointing spare to Jack’s heir. Running my hands through my hair, I gripped the base of my neck and sighed, flicking my eyes around my office.
It was sparsely decorated, luxurious. A large glass-top desk sat in front of a bank of windows that formed one corner of the office, a slim computer screen usually the only permanent fixture on it.
By this time of day, my secretary usually would’ve cleared out the files I’d worked on to make her notes or whatever and packed the rest away or stacked those that were standing over to the next day in the filing cabinet against the wall. If there was a paper file at all.
Mostly we tried to keep our files electronically, no thanks to dear old dad who still insisted everything he had to look through be printed. Without Stephanie being at the office today though, my desk was littered with paper, and a red light flickered on the printer situated on a low table next to my desk. Figured it would run dry today, and I just hadn’t gotten to ordering a refill from the office supply guys downstairs.
I crossed my office to my white couch, leaning back until my head rested against the wall as I ignored the chaos on my desk and focused on the city’s skyline in the fast-approaching dusk. Hiring Stephanie last week was like getting a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart.
She made my pulse race when she came to work wearing something that hugged her glorious curves. Her feisty, yet sweet nature and humor infused the atmosphere at the office. And hearing her laugh from her desk at jokes people made when they passed by took the edge off my endless, draining days.