by Amy Brent
My heels clicked against the marble floors in the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror, taking in my flushed cheeks with a sigh. If this plan was going to work, I had to concentrate. I couldn’t screw it all up by being flustered all the time whenever Cole looked in my direction, or if I got lost in my fantasies all over again. Complete concentration. That’s what I needed to have to be able to get through the days while I worked alongside Cole.
It was going to be so hard, though. His tone of voice during our meeting was stern and commanding—the same as it had been on the phone that one night. He was also dressed in a dark gray suit with a white undershirt and delicate gold clasps at the end of his sleeves. His dark hair that was peppered with a bit of gray now was sleeked back as usual. He looked like a model on the front cover of a magazine. Yet, no other females around the office seemed to pay attention to any of it. They were all focused on their jobs, or whatever Cole’s commands were for the day. If they found him attractive, they kept it to themselves.
“Violet?”
The bathroom door pushed open as Cheryl entered cautiously. She swept a gaze over me with a frown.
“Michael said he thought you were unwell,” she commented. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile on my face. “Just a bit hot, that’s all.”
I could feel Cheryl’s eyes on me as I ran my hands under ice cold water to cool myself back down. Drying my hands, I turned to look back at the older woman whose arms were crossed with a knowing glint in her eyes.
“What’s your story, honey?” she asked. “I’m not blind to the fact that you know Mr. Crayton on a personal level, but what is the story between the two of you?”
“The two of us?” I repeated slowly. The phrase brought a stab of pleasure, but I didn’t let that show. “There’s nothing going on between us. My dad is close friends with him. Mr. Crayton is helping me with some job experience.”
“I know your father,” she said. “Alan Summers. I just want you to know that Mr. Crayton tends to get a lot of attention from the females that walk through the door of this building. This is his business. We don’t tolerate inappropriate interactions here.”
“Like office romances?”
Cheryl nodded. “It’s highly discouraged by Mr. Crayton himself. He doesn’t want that sort of tension in the office.”
“There won’t be any of that,” I said. “I can promise you that. People tend to run the other way after they meet my father.”
Which was the partial truth. Every guy who I did manage to have a brief romance with usually fled in the other direction after he realized the extent of my father’s wealth and power. It was intimidating to face.
“I hope you’re right,” Cheryl said, slowly. “I don’t want to see you get caught up in something that you don’t know how to handle. I have your ID access cards at my desk. Find me when you are done in here. We will go over Mr. Crayton’s schedule and budget.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
I let out a pent-up breath the second that Cheryl stepped out of the bathroom. Concentrate, Vi. You’ve gotta keep it chill if you want this to work. I sure as hell didn’t want to bring attention to my plan. I didn’t want someone to tip off my father about what they might have heard or seen.
I spotted Michael sitting on the edge of my desk, waiting for either Cheryl or me to return. He looked up as I approached, and a smile spread across his face again. A thought crossed my mind as I let a smile fall into place too. It wouldn’t hurt to have a cover story as I worked alongside Cole. If everyone thought I was focused on Michael, who was admittedly good looking, they wouldn’t think of anything else going on. It was the perfect ruse.
“Is Cheryl back with our IDs yet?” I asked, leaning up against my desk next to him. “I’m ready to get to work here. What do you think so far?”
“She isn’t back yet,” Michael replied, tucking his phone into the pocket of his pants. “It’s impressive here. That’s for sure. I was stoked when they called to say I got the position.” He gave me a long and curious look. “I have to admit that I didn’t know there was going to be another intern here. I was told there was one internship available.”
“My father is good friends with Mr. Crayton. I asked for some job experience, and well, they figured it’d be better to get the experience here than in some other place.”
“That makes sense. I noticed that Mr. Crayton seems a bit familiar with you.”
The center of my cheeks burned. Not familiar in the way that I wanted him to be.
“Just old family friends,” I murmured as Cheryl approached us. “That’s all that is going on there.”
After Michael grabbed his ID access card, he went straight to the financial department to shadow. Cheryl handed me a variety of items—a brand new iPhone, an iPad, a leather wallet with the company credit cards and checks, and my ID access cards. She explained that one of the members of the IT department would be stopping by with a computer for me.
“Are you sure that you can handle this position?” Cheryl asked. “It’s been a long time since Mr. Crayton has hired a personal assistant. He likes everything a certain way.”
I set the items down on my desk with a smile. “I’ll be fine. I’ve worked with CEOs my whole life. I know how to handle it.”
Cheryl looked dubious as she opened her mouth to reply, but stopped short when the phone on her desk started to ring. She left to answer it while I took a seat at my desk to wait for my computer to arrive next.
Ding. Ding.
I picked up the iPhone in surprise. My stomach fluttered when I read Cole’s text.
Settled in just fine out there?
I texted back quickly. Just fine, thank you. Anything that you’d like me to do for you?
His response came back a minute later.
Nothing at the moment. Thank you.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling. I could get used to having a daily interaction with Cole. There was no doubt about that.
Chapter 5
Cole
I had no idea how the fuck I was going to survive with Violet as my personal assistant. My cock was sore from constant arousal no matter what I did. Nothing relieved the tension I felt. It didn’t help either that Violet seemed to be always bending down to pick up things or sending me these flame-eyed looks that sent my heart into damn near overdrive. I was hanging on by my fingernails at this point with my self-control nearly battered beyond repair.
I wanted to bend that sexy ass over the edge of my desk, lift those tight skirts up over her hips, and just slam myself into the sweetness I knew waited there. I wanted to pound myself hard into her. Hard.
Shifting in irritation from another hard erection, I watched the morning traffic in Manhattan blur. Central Park had been a bit chillier when I had gone for my usual morning run, with the summer air starting to fade. I had hoped getting out into the cold air would help with the day ahead, but my thoughts had already ruined that idea.
My driver waited patiently at the steering wheel, sipping his coffee, as the traffic light above remained red. Mine sat between my thighs while I dug through the inside of my blazer pocket for my vibrating phone. I glanced down at the caller ID. Apprehension filled me when I recognized Alan’s number.
“Hello,” I said cautiously.
“Don’t sound too happy to hear from me,” Alan said wryly. “How is Violet doing? I haven’t heard her from her besides an email.”
“She’s doing fine. I placed her as my personal assistant. So far, she seems to be thriving in the position. I have a job meeting today with some Japanese investors that she’ll be helping me prepare for this morning.”
“I’m glad she is getting some job experience. I still don’t agree with her doing this, but whatever makes my free-spirited daughter happy, I suppose. She insisted on renting this apartment outside of Manhattan that I didn’t approve of either.”
I frowned as the building of Crayton,
Inc. came into view. “She didn’t want to stay in Manhattan?”
“No. She wanted to be away from Manhattan.” Alan chuckled into the phone. “She knew that I would have people watching her that I knew if she stayed.”
“It doesn’t surprise me. Violet’s a smart woman.”
“My little girl is smart,” Alan agreed with a sigh. “Too damn smart for her own good. At least I know that you’re keeping an eye on her.”
Hot shame filled me. Yeah, I was watching her. I was also fantasizing about bending her over my desk to fuck her wildly.
“Of course,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “You’re my best friend. I want to make sure that she’s protected. Romances are forbidden in my office anyway.”
“That’s a good office rule. People do their jobs that way.”
“Exactly.”
My driver pulled up to the curb of Crayton, Inc. I grabbed my briefcase from the floorboards, nodding to my driver as I slid out the door to walk up to the lobby.
“I have to get going, Alan. I’ll call you later. We need to do our Poker night.”
“Next week,” he said. “I’ll be in the city visiting Violet then. I’ll call you.”
Violet’s desk was empty when I arrived at the top floor, but her purse and work phone were on her chair.
“Where’s Ms. Summers?” I asked Cheryl, who was typing away on her computer.
Cheryl barely spared me a glance. “I believe she’s getting some coffee from the break room. Her presentation and notes are in your office.”
“Thank you.”
I found Violet’s notes placed in the center of my desk, ready for my approval. A flash drive sat next to the notes. I could smell the faint scent of vanilla and cinnamon lingering in the air. Not willing to get distracted before this meeting, I slid out of my blazer to hang it in the closet. I sat down at my desk to go over Violet’s notes but stopped short when I caught a glimpse of Violet through the open door bending over to adjust the strap of her heel.
Her perky ass strained against the tight fabric of her black pencil skirt. I could only imagine how taut the flesh would feel if my hands ever found their way there. She turned to address someone out of sight, still fiddling with a small strap around the back of her heel. This time, it gave me a perfect view of luscious breasts wanting to spill out from the top of her bra and blouse.
Fuck. I went hard again. So much for not getting distracted.
I watched as Violet fiddled around with the heel strap before straightening up to smooth out any wrinkles in her skirt. She walked out of sight again, but I could hear her voice chatting away with another employee.
Having Violet as my personal assistant had also caused quite a stir with other employees. I caught many lingering stares in Violet’s direction numerous times, but they all looked away when I glared at them. My employees knew how I felt about sexual and romantic relationships with co-workers. I made it a rule because that shit complicated the work environment. I learned that the hard way going through a divorce with Stephanie who used to be a permanent fixture in Crayton, Inc. Now, she was a malicious ghost in the background that took a portion of my income every single month.
I shook those thoughts away as I glanced over the notes and slide presentation that Violet had prepared. I noted that Alan would be pleased to know that his daughter had absorbed his business practices over the years. She was smart. Too smart for her own good.
“What do you think?” Violet asked as she entered my office. She carried two cups of steaming coffee and set one down in front of me. “The investors, from what I researched, are disciplined in their practices…”
One of Violet’s fingers toyed absently with the buttons of her blouse. My mouth went dry as lust barreled through me. I wanted to rip those buttons free of the fabric and suck at the tender skin hidden behind them.
“Cole?”
I cleared my throat when I realized that Violet was staring at me in confusion, a frown tugging at her lips.
“Mr. Crayton,” I corrected, a bit harsher than I intended. “Your presentation is good. Thank you for getting this all prepared for me.”
“Of course. That’s my job, right? To help you with whatever you need.”
I groaned inwardly at that undertone. I had to be imagining it. There was no way that Violet, innocent Violet, who went to private schools and barely interacted with other people, knew how to be subtle when it came to seduction. It just wasn’t possible. This was all in my head.
“Right. Let’s get to the conference room to get ready for this.”
Violet followed behind me while Cheryl prepared the conference room with snacks, water, and coffee. The investors showed up dressed in nice suits, fake smiles plastered all over their faces. They were like me. They were interested only in making money, even if we didn’t personally like each other.
I talked for thirty minutes with the translator whispering in the background to them. I answered the occasional question when asked, but I found my eyes lingering on Violet as she took notes in the corner.
“Ms. Summers.” She looked up at me in surprise. “Would you please explain your slides to these gentlemen?”
The investors glanced at their translator in confusion. I took a seat at the front of the table while Violet stared at me from across it with a horrified expression. I nodded at her in encouragement as she slowly got to her feet. She knew this was a test. I could see that determined glint enter her eyes as she took a position at the front of the conference room.
For the next twenty-minutes, I studied Violet’s curves while she talked about the various slides. I knew the investors weren’t buying it from their distant looks, but I didn’t care. They would be back next year wanting to make a deal. I wanted to see what Violet could do under pressure. And I was pleased with the confident results.
The translator informed us both politely that they weren’t interested in listening to an intern give a spiel. They rose from the table a second later to walk out of the conference room like I’d expected them to do.
“They didn’t like my presentation?” Violet asked, crestfallen. “I spent the past two days going over this with you. How could they not buy it?”
“They have different standards,” I replied, rising from my chair. “They don’t like listening to an assistant. It’s not how their culture works.”
“Then, why did you put me up here? I just lost you money.”
“They’ll be back,” I said. “I’ve dealt with this investor group numerous times. They are playing hard to get. I wanted to see how you commanded a room.”
Violet trailed her fingers over the conference table as the projector above her turned off. I turned the lights back on a second later. I couldn’t afford the temptation of being alone with Violet in the dark.
“How did I do?” she asked curiously.
“Very good,” I said. “You had complete control.”
She made a face. “Not really if I didn’t convince them.”
I didn’t know how to tell her that not all deals were simple. They never happened overnight, and if they didn’t happen, you had to keep going for the sake of your business. I never dwelled on the deals that never went through.
“Hey,” I said and reached forward to place a hand on her warm shoulder. “Don’t let things like this get you down. It happens. You can’t let every little thing get to you.”
I could feel delicate skin beneath the fabric of her blouse. Sparks of electricity went up my arm when Violet glanced at my hand resting on her shoulder. I jerked my hand back before she could say anything else.
“We need to get back to work,” I managed to say before leaving a startled Violet in the conference room.
My mood didn’t ease up either when Cheryl stepped into my path with an apologetic grimace.
“What is it now?”
“It’s Stephanie,” she said, quietly. “I’ve been trying to get her to call back later, but she says she needs to speak with you.”
“Great,” I snapped, running a hand through my hair. “What does she want?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t explain to me what she needed done. I figured it was better to have me deal with her than Violet.”
I offered a tight-lipped smile in appreciation at Cheryl’s gesture. The last thing I needed to hear about was the young personal assistant at my side. Not that it fucking mattered in my eyes. Stephanie found pleasure in whoever dared to dip between her legs.
“What is it?” I asked after I closed my office door to pick up the phone. “I told you that the company phone is not how to get ahold of me.”
“It’s nice to talk to you too, Cole,” Stephanie said. “I just figured this would be the fastest way to get ahold of you. I’m tired of dealing with lawyers. Aren’t you?”
The jovial tone of her voice caught my attention instantly. I reached up to adjust the knot of my tie in aggravation, loosening it.
“What do you want?” I asked, not bothering to hide my annoyance. “I’m busy here. Just say what you want and get it over with.”
“Fine,” Stephanie said flatly. Her cheerful attitude disappeared instantly. “There is art here at the house that you left behind. I’m having it appraised because I want to get rid of it.”