by Rita Sawyer
8 Ways Onto The Naughty List
8WaysOntoTheNaughtyList
Pink Petal Books
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Additional Titles by the Author
A Damsel Without A Dress
Red Hot New Year
Falling Hard And Fast
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
8 WAYS ONTO THE NAUGHTY LIST
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright © RITA SAWYER, 2011
Cover Art ® 2011 by Valerie Tibbs
Edited by Mary K. Wilson
ISBN# 978-0-9834199-4-5
Electronic Publication Date: April 2011
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8 Ways Onto The Naughty List
Rita Sawyer
PPB
8 Ways Onto The Naughty List
Chapter One
The office had been quiet for the past few hours, a little too quiet for Patsy in her current state of mind. She would rather have had the phone ringing even if it was just to distract her. At least her boss wasn’t there to drive her crazy, but she figured he’d be back from his meetings before she left for the day
“I can’t believe it’s been over two years since I started working here.” Patsy whined to herself as she moved the tiny little dancing Christmas tree closer to the corner of her desk.
She removed her boss’ scribbled notes from one of the files and replaced them with her neatly typed ones. When she was first hired on with the firm she was assigned to a woman, who the second she’d found out she was pregnant, promptly quit. Instead of letting Patsy go, the firm, which now consisted of two Certified Public Accountants, had reassigned her to Dexter Chapman. He was the new CPA joining the firm and the brother in-law of one of the partners. She was thrilled at first, but in hindsight, she should have known better than to agree to work for someone she had never met.
He wasn’t the type of guy she’d been led to believe she would be working for. His brother-in-law had said he was a quiet man. Quiet, and brooding, and sexy as hell was what he’d turned out to be, which was just way too intriguing. Almost six feet tall and built like a brick wall, they’d forgotten to mention he had been a wrestler in college. She’d been expecting a suit and tie, not jeans and t-shirt. Okay, so most days he wore a suit jacket and a button down dress shirt over the t-shirt. His light brown hair always seemed to be windblown, and his deep brown eyes reminded her of hot cocoa. Still, his rough and ready style had her thinking all kinds of nasty thoughts. Not that she’d ever act on them. He was her boss, after all, but her desire hadn’t waned the way she’d hoped it would. Instead, it had gotten so bad that now she was ready to admit she needed to find another job.
She needed to do it soon too, before she slipped and he found out her secret. If being Dexter’s assistant didn’t pay so well, she would have left a long time ago. So far she’d been able to keep her attraction to him hidden behind a wall of formality that at times seemed to border on disdain. It wasn’t really that hard since he always set her on edge. Not to mention the bevy of sexy, buxom blondes that had constantly paraded in and out of his office during the past few months.
Though she tried not to, Patsy couldn’t help but compare herself to them. It was her opinion that as his assistant, she should look and act professional at all times. She wore her long wavy brown hair plied into a thick braid and dark business suits, which she tried to soften by wearing pastel blouses. No one knew she defied her professional image by wearing colorful lingerie under her staid suits.
Still, even if she stripped down to nothing, she was no competition to those women. The only thing she could do was start searching for another job. She got to her feet, gathered the files in her arm and walked into Dexter’s office. Patsy dropped the stack onto his desk, smiling as they landed in a messy pile. It was such a contrast to the rest of the immaculate workspace. Normally she took pride in the way she kept things organized for him, but those days had come to an end. Resisting the urge to straighten the files, she walked out of the office. She hadn’t meant to slam the door, but the loud resounding echo made her feel better, even though no one else was around to hear it.
Over the past few weeks she always seemed to be alone, which should have made working for him easier, but it didn’t. All the bright holiday decorations she’d hung around the office did nothing to brighten her mood. The clients who had come in seemed to like the cheeriness, but if Dexter noticed, he hadn’t let on. Maybe he just figured it was part of her job title to handle these things. He could at least say thank you. As she walked back to her desk, she mentally listed all of his egotistical qualities. Grudgingly, she had to admit that the fact he was smart and had a body hot enough to melt butter overrode most of them.
She let out a groan as she dropped into her chair. Feeling a little rebellious, she slid off her functional, plain, black low-heeled pumps. It gave her the opportunity to flex her feet and admire her bright pink toenails. Not caring if any clients came in, she leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on her desk. Then it struck her that if someone did see her like this, they might complain. Maybe he’d fire her, saving her from having to quit. She’d rather wait until after the New Year started to start sending out her resume. Job hunting around the holidays sucked, and Christmas time was the worst.
Maybe she could ask Santa for a new job? She hummed along with the music coming from the radio tucked under her desk. While she was asking Santa for unrealistic gifts, maybe she would ask for the one thing she really wanted this year. She wanted one night to see if Dexter would live up to her fantasies. One night to show him what he’d been missing for the past two years. That would surely make this a Christmas to remember.
~* * *~
Dexter stepped off the elevator and froze. Patsy sat at her desk, leaning back in her chair, eyes closed, smiling, oblivious to his presence. Her bare feet were on her desk, crossed at the ankles. The black skirt, one of the many he was used to seeing her wear, hiked up just high enough to give him a peek at the lacy top of her stockings. Apprehension had him inching back toward the elevator. Coming to his senses, he stopped and stood there, staring at her.
“Fuck Me!” He bit down hard, missing the gum he was chewing on. Damn it, he thought as the metallic tang hit his tongue letting him know he drew blood.
The day she’d walked into his office and had introduced herself as his assistant he’d instantly known he was in trouble. Did she really think she could hide behind those shapeless business suits she wore? All they did was make him wond
er about the hints of curves he saw every now and then. And she had to realize when a guy saw all that hair pulled into a thick braid it made him want to see it down. Dexter could recount plenty of dreams he’d had where he wrapped it around his fingers while he devoured those plump, pink lips. How could any woman be so clueless? At one time, he actually thought it was an act—that she thought if she played hard to get, he’d be all over her. It wouldn’t have been the first time a woman had used that ploy on him. He was too smart to fall for that and wanted her to know it, so he started having a few of his clients come into the office, instead of meeting them at the club where they worked. It hadn’t made a difference, and that’s when he realized her haughtiness wasn’t an act. She really wasn’t interested in him, other than professionally.
He wasn’t lucky enough to feel the same way. The more he was around her, the stronger his attraction grew. He’d taken to staying out of the office as much as possible in the past few weeks. Finding her like this, though, made him think he’d made a mistake trying to ignore the desire burning inside of him. Maybe it was time for him to face the fact that it wasn’t going to go away. He needed to deal with it.
Dexter walked through the open door right up to her desk. “Ms. Shadwell, in my office. Now!”
Not waiting for a response, he walked away. The second he stepped in his office, he noticed the files strewn about on his desk. Seemed to him like his efficient little assistant was being a bit careless in her duties. He dropped his briefcase to the floor and walked over to the window. After a succinct knock, Patsy let herself into his office. His back was to her, but he could see her reflection in the window. She was staring at his desk.
“Patsy, please sit down.” He watched as she lowered herself into a chair, then walked around her and took his seat behind the desk.
“I think you and I need to have a talk." She nodded, and he continued. “Things have been a little tense around here.”
“You’re right, sir. I was going to wait until after the holidays to do this, but I think it’s only fair to warn you that I’m going to start looking for alternative employment.”
“WHAT? Why would you do that?” She was thinking about leaving him! Was he really that horrendous of a boss that she’d quit?
“I just think it’s the best thing for me to do, but I’ll stay on until you find a replacement.” She wasn’t even looking at him, she was staring at her lap.
“NO!” He stabbed his finger on his desk, even though he really wanted to slam his hand down and bring the whole conversation to an end. “You signed a contract and you’ll adhere to the terms. Maybe in that time you’ll change ¾ ”
“Mr. Chapman,” she lurched to her feet cutting him off, “I understand this may have come as a shock, but I won’t be changing my mind. My contract is up on March first. If you insist, I’ll finish it out.”
“I insist.” It came out harsher than he meant, but his anger was too close to the surface to conceal.
“Fine.” With that one word she walked out on him.
Dexter sat there staring at the door, wondering what the hell had just happened. Instantly making the decision he wasn’t going to give up that easily, he went out to apologize and maybe offer to take her to dinner. He found the outer office empty and ran for the elevator just in time to see the doors close with her on the other side. It was the first time since they started working together that she’d left without saying goodbye. Upset or not, he didn’t like it one little bit.
8 Ways Onto The Naughty List
Chapter Two
Patsy was still furious and hell bent on following through with her plan when she awakened. Her plan finally came to her after two glasses of wine and a very unsatisfying soak in a bubble bath. Clouded by her anger, she hadn’t been able to see any flaws in her plan then, and she still couldn’t. She tossed her charcoal gray suit onto the bed, thinking it matched her mood. Of course, it went to say she wouldn’t do anything to hurt the firm or its clients. She would continue to do her job to the best of her ability. This was strictly personal, and in her opinion, he had brought it all on himself.
Usually as she began getting ready for work she’d go over the day’s schedule, but today all she could think of was what a jerk he’d been yesterday. After all she’d done to keep their relationship on a professional level, he’d managed in one conversation to push it over the edge into personal territory. If he was going to insist she fulfill her contract she would do it, but it wouldn’t be a pleasant three months for either of them. It was going to be a rough thirteen weeks; actually it was going to be eleven since the firm closed on December twenty-third and didn’t open again until January fifth. It was considered everyone’s yearly vacation. Maybe her plan would work so well he’d fire her before then.
She could count about a dozen of her girlfriends who’d been fired for less petty things than she was about to attempt. Besides, even if he didn’t fire her, it would at least make these last weeks with him entertaining.
She paused in front of the mirror and looked at herself. “You’ve wasted enough time thinking about him, so stop.”
~* * *~
Dexter left his office door open as he paced watching for her to come in. Pausing by his desk, he took another sip of the extra-extra large coffee he’d grabbed on his way into work. He refused to admit he was afraid she wouldn’t show up today. He hadn’t meant to sound harsh yesterday, but from her reaction to his not wanting to lose her, he must have gone further than he realized. This being Tuesday morning, he knew she wasn’t going to make it to the office until nine-thirty. The office assistants all met every Tuesday morning to go over anything they thought the others should know, and probably bitch about their bosses in general. He had no doubt he’d be at the top of Patsy’s list today.
Other than that weekly meeting, the three partners and their assistants pretty much kept to their own floors, which happened to be the top three in the five-story building. Kale Muthcay, his brother in-law, was on the top floor and Jared Nuchie was next wedged between them, with Dexter taking the lowest since he was the late comer to the firm. He hadn’t considered himself lucky when they told him he was coming into the position with an already acquired secretary, though the firm preferred to call them assistants. Now he was thinking maybe it could have been the best thing that ever happened to him, if he hadn’t been such an ass.
He groaned, knowing the apology he was about to offer her was a lame cliché. He’d been burned by love, or maybe it was just lust, and that made it hard for him to accept the intense attraction he felt for her. He wasn’t looking forward to her reaction to his confession, especially since he was pretty positive she wasn’t interested in him that way. Hopefully, with a little coaxing, she could become interested, because he wasn’t ready to give up on them yet. She was probably going to laugh in his face and he was prepared. It wouldn’t be the easiest let down he’d ever gotten, but it wouldn’t be the worst either.
He stopped and picked up the cup again, and frowned. He could dash into the little kitchen/break room and whip up a pot, but no matter what he did it always tasted too damn weak. It was possible her coffee making skills were one of the first things that warmed him up to her. Within the first week of them working together, she had done a thousand little ordinary everyday things that combined had knocked him flat. He put on a good show pretending it didn’t matter, maybe too good.
The only one who might have noticed his interest in Patsy was his brother in-law Kale, but with some fast talking he managed to dissuade him of the notion. He froze mid-step as he heard the outer office door creak. He resisted the urge to go see if it was her. The grinning Santa hanging on his door mocked him. It was as if he was saying ‘you fool, you really blew it.’ The swoosh of the kitchen door pulled a little of the stiffness out of his shoulders.
He decided to give her a few minutes to finish whatever she was doing before he barged in on her. Truthfully, he needed a few minutes to himself to think about exactly what he was
going to say. He heard clunking noises and wondered if she was a little louder than normal, or if just seemed like it because he was so on edge. He was about to go ask her if they could talk when she appeared in the doorway. She didn’t even spare him a glance as she walked over and put a mug on his desk, just like she had done a thousand times before.
He’d told her over and over again it wasn’t necessary to bring him anything, but she did it anyway. Once he tasted her coffee, he’d almost stopped objecting. It had a smooth robust flavor he’d come to crave. Dexter watched the steam float out of the cup and thought it was as elusive as the woman about to walk out of his office. He tried to think of something suave to say.
“Did anything come up I should know about?” He’d never asked before, because he figured if it did she would tell him.
Her green gaze briefly locked on his, and she shook her head. “No.”
“All right.” She was almost out the door when he said, “Do we have any clients coming in this morning?”
He didn’t need to ask, but he couldn’t think of anything else that would keep her there. “Mr. Chapman, the day’s appointments are on a list on your desk.”
That went well, he thought, walking over to his desk and dropping into the chair. He glanced down at the list he’d looked at less than an hour ago. Nothing until ten-fifteen, plenty of time to try and come up with an earnest apology. He lifted the cup she left to his lips and took a sip.
The bitter taste hit his tongue, and he quickly swallowed the mouthful of liquid. He cringed and shook his head. Lowering the cup, he put it back on his desk. It tasted awful. Was she still so mad that she ruined his coffee on purpose? He didn’t really think she would do something so trivial. No, if she wanted revenge, it would be something monumental. He stared at the offending drink and wondered what the hell to do. If he complained, would she think he was trying to get back at her for wanting to quit? Then again, there was always a chance she didn’t know the coffee sucked.