Arranged Marriage To The Rogue (Victorian Romance)

by Veronica Wilson

  “Mmm hmm. I can do anything you ask me to do.” She whispered. Damien leaned in and pressed his mouth against her ear.

  “We will just have to see about that, won’t we?”

  THE END

  Step Boss

  Chapter One

  Ashton Parker Jr. had spent his entire life trying to impress his father with his work ethic. Ashton Parker Sr. however, had been much more interested in his new wife’s daughter. Elise seemed to be the key to his new wife’s affections and in an attempt to keep his new wife happy, Ashton Sr. dedicated what free time he had to the twenty year old beauty rather than his own son. His affections for Elise did not go unrewarded. The more Ashton Sr. took care of her, the better her mother treated him.

  Ashton Parker Jr. was not as amenable to the new additions to his family as his father clearly was. He saw Sarah Anne, his father’s new wife, as little more than just another gold-digger after his father’s money. As for Elise, she simply presented another obstacle to his father’s attention and affections. Ashton Jr. felt he already had enough problems gaining those without having to deal with these recent additions on top of them.

  Sarah Anne Forde, hadn’t particularly been looking for a sixty year old husband. After all she was only forty two herself, but Ashton Parker Sr. had lured her in with promises of a better life. For Sarah Anne Forde anything was a better life than what she had now. She wasn’t about to pass up the chance to marry a man with an eight-figure bank account.

  So it was there that their relationship began - sixty year old with too much money who was desperate to make a beautiful woman happy and a forty two year old who was desperate to leave her dead end job at a greasy spoon diner. The two fought regularly, yet their desire for each other was obvious. Ashton Sr. had saved Sarah Anne from a life of servitude and she, in return, had saved him from a lifetime of being chased by gold-diggers. Unlike Ashton Jr.’s view of her, she considered herself different from those other gold-diggers in that she genuinely did care for her husband. Her affection toward him had certainly grown when she realized he had accepted her daughter as his own. Unfortunately for Ashton Jr., Elise was given far more attention than he.

  Even as an only child to Ashton Sr. and his now deceased mother, Penelope, Ashton Jr. was never the apple of his father’s eye. It never mattered what the curly haired, blue-eyed boy did. His father never batted an eye. This nonchalant attitude towards him from his father was what spurred Ashton Jr. on, eventually thrusting him to success with his self-founded company, AJ Brokerage International. Ashton Jr. had been positive that with the massive success of his own company his father would finally recognize his potential. Sadly, he had been wrong. Ashton Sr. had given his son just enough praise to avoid chastisement from his new wife.

  After his father’s failure to recognize his success, Ashton Jr. avoided contact with his ‘family’ as much as possible. Instead, he buried himself in his work and gained a reputation for being the man who got things done.

  A voice crackled over the intercom. “Mr. Parker?” She said.

  “Yes?” He replied.

  “I have a phone call for you on line two.”

  Lizzy, Ashton Jr.’s secretary, had been working for him for three years and had learned the importance of being brief and to the point. Today, however, she neglected to do so.

  “Well? Who is it?” Ashton snapped.

  “She says that she’s your sister, sir.” Lizzy said.

  Ashton sighed heavily. “Patch her through,” he said as he picked up the phone. He had no idea what his stepsister could possibly want from him but he was fairly sure it would involve him having to do something for her.

  “Hello?” came Elise’s voice from the other end of the phone.

  “Elise, what do you want?” he said brusquely.

  “Daddy told me to call you. I’ve been having a little bit of trouble, you see…” Her voice trailed off.

  Ashton’s jaw clenched. It irked him to hear her call Ashton Sr. ‘daddy’ with such endearment. She always said it so sugary sweet. He had the inkling Elise did genuinely care for his father but the way she demonstrated it was over the top. “What kind of trouble?” he asked. He couldn’t help wondering why his father had sent her to him rather than helping her himself.

  “Well, I lost my job,” she responded pointedly.

  “Why?” Ashton asked. He didn’t have time for her to beat around the bush. He was already beginning to get markedly frustrated.

  “Umm…it’s complicated,” Elise replied. She didn’t offer any explanation of what she meant by ‘complicated’.

  “What does my father expect me to do about it?” he asked, patience wearing thin.

  “Well, I was…we were hoping that you might be able to give me a job?” she posed the statement as a question. Ashton rolled his eyes in annoyance. Just because he owned a company did not mean that he could, or would, hire someone simply because they were family.

  “Elise, do you have any experience in investments?” he asked. He knew full well that she didn’t given her previous employment history consisted only of waitressing and boutique retail work.

  “Umm…no?” she said, her voice quivering slightly.

  “Then I’m not sure what I can do to help,” h told her. He could hear Elise’s breathing begin to pick up and soon he was regaled with her sobbing hiccups.

  “I…I…I just hoped that…you know…because we’re family…” Ashton was sick of her sobbing in to his ear so he gave in.

  “Come down to my office tomorrow lunch time.” He said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  As abruptly as her tears had started, they stopped. “Thank you, Ashton,” she said. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

  As he hung up the phone, Ashton’s nostrils flared with each exhale. He hated being used for favors. Even more than that, Ashton Parker Jr. hated being used by his own father. Though Ashton Sr. was close to Elise, Ashton Jr. knew his main objective was to gain approval from Sarah Anne. He had no idea what he was going to do with Elise. Hell, he didn’t even know that she had any usable skill other than the usual minimum wage work that she was used to. He sure as hell wasn’t looking for a waitress. He hated his father for making him feel so obligated. If his father adored Elise as much as he pretended to, why didn’t he help her? She was only working out of habit and commitment. There was more than enough money from his father to support her financially.

  He scoffed. He hated himself for giving in to this ridiculous favor. Every time there was the faintest hope he could please his father, he convinced himself to do it. There was always a little voice in his head saying this was the chance that he had been waiting for.

  Chapter Two

  When Ashton arrived at the office the following morning he found Elise already waiting for him in the lobby. He almost didn’t recognize her. She wasn’t dressed in her usual BOHO chic style, rather, she was dressed from head to toe in what he recognized to be an Armani business suit. He swallowed and pushed aside his annoyance knowing his father must have bought it for her.

  She squealed when she saw him and ran over to him with open arms. “Ashton!” He sidestepped her hug and gave her a disapproving look before nodding his head slightly.

  “Elise,” he said coldly.

  “Do you like my suit?” she asked, tugging on the form-fitting jacket. She was quite talented at ignoring the cold treatment from him. Every time they saw each other she acted overjoyed, though never quite as much as today.

  “It’s very nice,” he said as he began walking toward the elevators. Elise followed him, taking two steps for every one of his.

  “Daddy bought it for me for my first day on the job!” she exclaimed. She stood beside him as he waited for the elevator to come. He glared at her. There was the sugary sweet ‘daddy’ falling from her lips. There was her ability to rely on him even though his own son could not.

  “You don’t have a job yet, Elise.”

  “Oh. Right,” Elise said. There was an a
wkward silence. A few minutes later, however, the silence obviously became too much for her and she started talking again. “Do you think you might have something I can do?” she asked.

  Ashton turned to look at her. After taking a deep breath he said, “Elise, if I’m being honest I don’t know that you have any skills that I can utilize.”

  Elise pressed together her ruby lips. “I am pretty good in sales.”

  Ashton stared at her. “But again, Elise, do you know anything about investments?”

  Elise shook her head. “Does that mean that I don’t have a job?”

  The elevator doors opened and Ashton stepped inside. “Follow me and we will see.”

  She scurried after him. Elise managed to stay silent as the elevator took them up to the top floor. Ashton was relieved not to have to hear the word ‘daddy’ one more time. But that relief would only last until the end of the elevator ride.

  “Daddy says I’d be good at just about anything if you gave me the chance,” she said.

  Ashton clenched his square jaw as he led her down the long hallway to the double doors of his office. Of course his father would show faith in just about anybody but him. “We’ll see about that.” After he unlocked his office doors, Ashton walked in and sat down behind his desk. Elise followed and sat down across him without being invited. Ashton was certain that she was going to be the cause of his first heart attack at thirty six years old.

  Elise twisted a brilliant ginger strand of curled hair around her finger as she watched Ashton intently. “Soooo…what do we do now?”

  Ashton looked at her. What the hell was he going to do with an untalented twenty year old? Sure, sex sold, but you couldn’t sex your way into investment, could you? Ashton raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever had phone sex?” he asked bluntly.

  Elise frowned. “Why?”

  “Answer the question, please.”

  She nodded. “Why?” she asked again.

  Though he found it mildly curious she wasn’t more affronted by his question, he decided to sidestep that and go on. “I have an idea,” Ashton said as he pulled open one of the drawers in his desk. Pulling out a manila folder, he flipped it open and began looking through sheets of paper. “Sometimes,” he said, “selling investments means seducing your client. Really making love to them with your voice. You understand?”

  Elise nodded slowly. “I think so?”

  “I have a folder here of potential investors that none of my employees have been able to crack. If you can sell to just one, I will give you a job.” Ashton pulled out a single sheet of paper from the folder and offered it to Elise.

  “So all I have to do is ask this Mr. Oyoki to invest in your company or whatever?” she asked.

  Ashton nodded. He reached back down into the drawer and pulled out another sheet of paper. “Here, this is the script I give all of my cold callers. Just read what’s on the paper, but remember, do it like you are making love to him.”

  Elise took the sheet of paper and looked it over. She shrugged. “Seems easy enough,” she asserted.

  Ashton vaguely wondered just how much phone sex she’d had to be so nonchalant about this. He pushed the phone across the desk toward her. “Make the call here so I can listen and correct you where it’s needed,” he ordered.

  Elise nodded. She picked up the phone and began to dial the number on Mr. Oyoki’s paper.

  “You need to dial 9 first to get an outside line,” Ashton said.

  Elise hung up the phone and picked it up again to redial the number correctly. Ashton watched her mouthing the words as she waited for someone to answer the phone.

  “Hello, may I please speak with Mr. Oyoki?” Elise asked. She paused, presumably while whoever had answered the phone for Mr. Oyoki went to retrieve him. “Hello, Mr. Oyoki?” she said. “Yes, this is Elise with AJ Brokerage International.”

  Ashton watched her carefully. He was drawn in by her breathy voice and her attention to pronouncing every syllable of every word. He watched her smile. He watched the way she curled her hair around her finger repeatedly. She laughed and even took things completely off script.

  “Well, Oki, I’m not sure that my boss would like it if I saw you outside of the office. But I might be able to arrange it. You know, I do love a man who knows how to spend his money,” she said and followed up with a girlish laugh. Ashton fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course she loved a man who knew how to spend his money. His father was case in point.

  “Well how about you show me how you spend that money and then we’ll talk?” she offered. “Sure. This afternoon?” she asked. “I think that would be a great start.”

  By the time Elise had hung up the phone she had secured an investment from one of the most stubborn investors in the company’s portfolio of leads. Ashton was astounded. He had never expected Elise to get Mr. Oyoki on the phone, let alone secure an investment.

  “You’re hired,” he said, handing her the manila folder full of leads.

  Chapter Three

  Ashton gazed over at Elise sitting at the small table in the corner of his office. Telling her there was no open space available out on the floor, he set her up in the corner of his own office for the time being. The truth was that he wanted to watch Elise at work. It wasn’t because he didn’t trust her; he more than enjoyed listening to her talk on the phone with investors. He liked the way her voice ever so sweetly convinced the hard ass on the other end of the line to give up millions. He wondered if that was how Sarah Anne had convinced his father to marry her.

  “Sorry again about the desk. I’ll have something more professional set up for you by next week,” Ashton said. If he had gone through this trouble to help her in hopes of his father finally appreciating him, he had to do a good job of it. He couldn’t very well make it obvious he was keeping there for his own benefit.

  Elise turned around and said, “It’s okay! I don’t mind. I’m just grateful you gave me a chance,” she said. “Not many other people would even give me an interview after they found out about…well, you know.”

  Ashton shook his head. He didn’t know because she hadn’t yet told him why she had been fired from her previous job. “I actually don’t know. Why did you get fired?” he asked. He had been somewhat curious before but, not caring all that much about her, he hadn’t tried to find out. Now his curiosity had grown.

  He saw Elise’s cheeks beginning to glow red and her eyes shifted down to the carpet. “I probably shouldn’t tell you. You know, now that you’re my boss and all.”

  “As your boss,” Ashton said, “I’d really like to know.” That was not entirely truthful. He wanted to know more for his own personal knowledge than as an employer. Her behavior made it all so intriguing.

  Elise sighed heavily. “I got caught fucking my boss.”

  Ashton frowned but quickly tried to control his facial expression. He was surprised, especially at how bluntly she had put it. What he also noticed was she seemed pretty unhappy about it. “And HE fired you for that?” he asked.

  Elise shook her head. “No, his wife fired me for that.”

  Ashton couldn’t hold back the laughter. He had tried to control his reaction but this was just too much. Elise smiled weakly. Now he understood why practically being hired for phone sex here wasn’t such a big deal to her.

  “I can see why she would fire you for that,” Ashton said. “But don’t worry. I don’t think fucking the boss is going to be a problem here.”

  Elise looked at him with a genuine look of shock on her face. “What do you mean?” she asked. He could tell she had taken that statement in a completely different way than he had meant it. She probably thought he was propositioning her.

  “I mean, being that I’m your step-brother, I don’t think you will be interested in fucking the boss. Therefore, fucking the boss won’t be a problem for you in this job.”

  “Oh. Right,” Elise said. “I thought you meant something else.” She giggled. He looked at her curiously. From her initial shock
he thought she was offended but now he was not so sure. He was finding it difficult to gauge her attitude toward these types of things. What he really wondered was why she had slept with her old boss to begin with.

  By early afternoon of her first day Elise had already secured three hard to get clients in addition to Mr. Oyoki. Ashton, on the other hand, had checked absolutely nothing off his to do list. He had spent all day listening to Elise convincing every client that she spoke to that he was her ideal man. Aside from being effective, he had to admit she was really hard working. This shocked him, quite frankly. He had always thought of her as someone who worked to keep up appearances but really just wanted his father’s money. Now he was starting to think his inkling she really cared about his father was spot on and she was just a hard worker. Maybe she had never worked in anything better because nobody would give her the chance.

  “Done!” Elise said putting the receiver of the phone back in the cradle. “Mr. Allen will be calling first thing in the morning with a half million dollar investment.”

  Ashton stared at her open mouthed. While Mr. Oyoki had been their hardest to get client, Mr. Allen had been the one with the most money to invest.

  “He said it’s just a trial, but I think I can convince him to make a bigger first investment if I talk to him tomorrow,” Elise said confidently.

  Ashton continued to look at her in disbelief. “Then, by all means, make sure that you talk to him tomorrow.”

  Elise smiled. “I like working here,” she admitted. “I feel like I’m kind of good at something.” Though she never came off as self-conscious, Ashton had the feeling she had never been made to believe she was valuable in the work place. And having sex with her ex-boss certainly wouldn’t help that.

  Ashton nodded. “You are kind of good at something.” He slid his hand under his desk to try quieting the erection growing in his pants. “You have the perfect voice for sales and you are great at convincing men to part with their money.” He found her phone voice quite irresistible and it certainly helped she was very physically attractive. He just had never paid much attention to her out of pure resentment.