Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
I averted my eyes to the balcony so he wouldn’t see the edge of annoyance in my face.
Who was he to say what and how I looked?
My salary popped back into my head.
For $185,000, he could use me as a dress-up doll, determining my hair and clothes to his delight.
“I’m a man who demands more from his assistants than he should. Are you okay with that?”
“For now I am.” The words blurted out of my mouth before I could edit them.
A chuckle came from him.
I relaxed my worry just a little.
At least he has a sense of humor.
“Hmmm,” he murmured.
I directed my attention back to him.
Hmmm?
He sported an amused expression. “I’ll only take it as far as you’ll let me.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Meaning?”
“If you let me, I’d ruin you for any other man.” He adjusted his jacket with a swagger, reminiscent of the bad boys I steered clear from in South End.
I don’t think we’re talking about hair and clothes anymore.
He targeted me with those green eyes that shimmered in the dim club lighting. He licked his lips. The movement caught me off guard. Heat swirled in places it shouldn’t have, being that it was in reaction to my boss and not an eligible man.
He can’t mean this in a sexual way. Calm down.
“Sorry. I believe I heard you wrong.” I leaned in closer to him. “I think the music messed up what you’re trying to tell me.”
“It didn’t. You heard me.”
“I don’t think I did.”
“You did.”
I exhaled. “Can you please repeat yourself?”
“The next time I say that, your legs will be open in front of me.”
Alarmed, my jaw lost its control. My mouth opened.
He just came on to me, and with no restraint at all.
Lust glittered over his eyes as he planted his view on my cleavage and then allowed his concentration to linger to my thighs.
“Do you have anything to say, Ms. Montgomery?”
“I-I’m not interested. You’re my boss,” I pointed out. “You have a fiancée and—”
“I didn’t ask you to state my biography.” His aroused expression shifted to a scowl. “And my engagement with my fiancée is not what it seems.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be your assistant. Nothing else.”
“Sex with me is not the job,” he corrected. “But it’s definitely something I would like to explore with you.”
I breathed in and out.
Stand your ground. Make this clear from the beginning. And whatever you do, don’t piss yourself.
I swallowed a gulp of nervousness. “I’m so sorry, but it’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?” He motioned for a waiter.
“I’m not interested.”
“Yes you are.”
“I don’t have sex with my boss or even co-workers.”
The waiter appeared in front of us and offered me a glass of pink champagne.
“Thank you.” I took the glass with shaking fingers, waited for the guy to leave, and cleared my throat. “If you expect me to have sex with you, then I quit right now.”
“You can’t quit. You need this job as much as I need you to fill it.” He finished his glass. “More to the point, sex with you is not a necessity. It’s a personal desire.”
I turned away, scared to glance at him. It reminded me of those paranormal romances where if the heroine stared too long in the vampire’s eyes she would be captured against her will.
“I won’t require you to have sex with me,” he said.
I cringed at his crude response and swallowed my drink to have something to do besides grimace. The champagne slid down my throat and warmed my stomach. The thunderous booming from the music substituted further conversation.
I’ll have to deal with this mess for a month while I apply to other jobs. Six figures. Of course it’s too good to be true. He wants an executive assistant in the office and his bed.
Everything had a cost in the end. He’d seen my background, knew I was a nobody, and figured he could treat me any way he wanted.
Were my other classmates going through this?
I doubted it. They came from rich families and had their careers planned out well before they started high school. Most of their families owned successful businesses. The ones that didn’t possessed major contacts in politics or big industries.
Would Chase have tried this mess with a girl from a powerful family? No way.
I gripped my glass hard and hoped it wouldn’t shatter into pieces.
How dare he get my hopes up high and then shove them back down.
I’d dealt with his kind before. Ever since I was a kid, a weird man crept around, spied my defenseless situation, and tried to take advantage of me. But I always escaped them.
Survival of the fittest.
I had to be clear, maintain distance, and whatever happens, don’t tell Troy. My fingers shook. My eyes watered. Soon I would have to be excused so I could go in a stall to mope and cry like a spineless creature.