Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
I never paid too much attention to that particular scuttlebutt. There was no way I was going to get the job anyway. I was one of the newest hires and I hadn’t proved myself well enough as yet I’m sure.
I did my job yes and sometimes went above and beyond to fulfill my duties. But I was sure the others had the same work ethic. Jonas Harp didn’t stand for anything less. He demanded excellence and everyone bent over backwards to give it to him.
The first time I saw him up close I understood. It was clear why all the unattached women and some not so unattached would give their eyeteeth to put themselves in his way if only for the chance that he might choose them for his bed, fleeting though the union maybe.
He was magnificent. His build, his air, and the way he looked at you as if he could see into your depths. Combined they were a combustible mix. He was pure sexual animal without even trying. Not even by so much as a look did he give anything away, and that air of mystery was most appealing of all.
My palms had broken out in a sweat as I got to my feet the same as all the others in the room. He hadn’t looked at any one of us any longer than the other, but when those eyes turned my way I felt as if he were seeing right into me.
That look had lasted less than a few seconds but it left a burning sensation on my skin. Like I’d been touched by a live wire. He’d left the same way he came, no muss, no fuss and the place was abuzz as soon as he cleared the floor.
“I told you he was looking for an assistant, what do you want to bet he’s checking out the merchandise?” Kelly, one of the senior secretaries gloated as if the job was already hers. She might be right too.
Not only did she have seniority, but from what I’d learned she was his type. Blonde, leggy and built like a runway model. Conversation buzzed around the room but I was too caught up in the feelings running riot in my body to pay much attention to what was being said.
No wonder he had such a reputation. There was no mystery as to why he was so prolific in his endeavors with the ladies. I was hard pressed to remember anyone else whose very presence had emitted such a strong reaction from me, and the man hadn’t even so much as said hello. I’d probably have ended up in a puddle at his feet if he had the voice to go with the physique.
Everyone was preoccupied for the rest of the day with what his visit could mean and who the lucky girl was going to be. Kelly preened and primped as she flitted around the room too excited to get settled. “Did you see the way he looked at me? That job is as good as mine.” She fixed her hair in the little handheld mirror before adding a layer of gloss to her already painted lips.
“Look at her; she already has dollar signs in her eyes. Everyone knows that even though these little dalliances don’t last for more than a week or so, that Mr. Harp is very good to the women he takes to his bed. At least that’s the rumor.” Amy sniffed as she made her way back to her desk.
I was a wreck the rest of the day. The words on the memo I was typing up blurred into one massive blob and my body felt as though it had been through the wringer. One look, it had taken one look to bring my new obsession full circle.
It was then I realized the truth of why I’d been sneaking peeks into his life all these months. It wasn’t his life or his past that had drawn me in. It was him, purely him. I’d become fascinated, enthralled. But who could blame me? The man exuded confidence and sexual magnetism from every pore. In short he was all man and what woman wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of all that?
With my new knowledge I started looking at things with new eyes. I saw my indifference to the office gossip for what it really was. My way of protecting myself from the hurt it caused to hear of him with his latest bed partner.
My obsessive perusal of his photos in the papers was feeding my hunger to have any part of him. Did that mean I was sick? Just another groupie waiting in the wings in the hopes that he would one day choose me?
Until today, I didn’t see how that would be even possible. He never came to this part of the building. He had his own private entrance on the other side of the building, had his own lift that no one else was allowed to use, and we certainly didn’t move in the same circles.