Chapter Two
She didn’t appear to be impressed by me. Not by my charm in the least. It was refreshing. She hadn’t done one damn thing to entice me, yet I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She definitely was different than the women who typically applied to work for me—and younger. Her hair was a shocking shade of black, and she was tiny and I’d hate to say it, but she was cute. There was something in her eyes that called to me. She might now have bowed down to me begging, but I could see that she needed this job pretty desperately. I wasn’t sure why—yet, but the fact that she was so strong and didn’t giggle, or lick those luscious lips was a bonus on her part.
It was when I expected some sort of girly reaction out of her and she didn’t fall for it that made it known. She was right. She was the one. I didn’t need to look further. I could see she would be an asset. Even more so if she was used to dealing with demanding men, because I was. The fact that she grew up as the only girl said something.
“If I said you were hired right now what would you do?”
She raised a brow and smirked. “Say thank you?” But it came out as a question.
I laughed and then froze. I couldn’t be sure how long it had been since I’d heard my own laughter. Things had been tense and I needed a vacation, but hiring my secretary would ease a lot of my tension. “That’s it?”
She leaned back. “Ah I get it. You are expected me to giggle and jump up and down thanking you by what falling to my knees in front of you—” she paled and froze the moment the words left her lips. Her hand covered her mouth and her eyes stayed wide as if she were waiting for me to flip out.
I was shocked really and adjusted my tie. Of course I could imagine that and would fuckin’ appreciate that. She was smoking hot, but that wasn’t what I had in mind—that was until she mentioned it. “Uh, not exactly I was just curious. Most of the women tear up at least.”
She cleared her throat. “Sorry, about that. I guess sometimes I speak before I think. Not one of my finer qualities. Of course I would be thrilled and grateful, but tears and I don’t go together. I hope you understand I take this very seriously, and I really want and need this job, more than you can imagine.”
I nodded. She didn’t seem like the type of woman to take things lightly. “I believe you and apology accepted. I do believe we’re done Miss James.”
She frowned and nibbled her lip nervously. I could tell her now, but I figured I’d let her stew a bit, make her wonder. I wanted to ruffle her feathers some. She wasn’t as confident as she appeared. I sat back and gave her a look that clearly said she was excused and she stood. When she walked away she kept her head high and didn’t look back. I saw her intake of breath as she opened the door and left the room. She didn’t argue, plead, bargain, or try to seduce me. She was damn impressive.
I waited until nearly five o’clock to call back Miss James. I itched to call her all day, but I wanted to make her wait. Plus I needed to gather myself. The image of her bent over my desk had made a constant appearance in my imagination, and I couldn’t go there. She didn’t seem like the type of woman to fuck her boss, and that’s all it could ever be. I didn’t have anything left to give. Been there done that, and if I ever did it again it would be too soon.
I dialed her number.
“Hello?” a man asked.
“I’m calling for Angel James.”
“Who the hell is this?”
“She applied for a job today,” I replied not liking the attitude. Then I heard a female voice muffled and then a scratchy sound.
“Hello?”
“Miss James, this is Grayson Lockwood.”
I heard a thump and a muffled ‘ouch’ and knew she had hit whoever answered the phone. I chuckled.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry about my brother he’s kind of a jerk.”
“That’s quite all right I assume you have it under control?”
“Oh yeah, he better hide.”
I was pretty surprised by the venom in her tone. I couldn’t hold back my laugh back. It was strange she made me laugh more than most people in months, yet I’d only met her in the afternoon. “I was calling to inform you that you’re hired.” I waited for a squeal, anything to show she’d heard me.
“Miss James?”
“A—are you for real?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you so much, you won’t regret it.”
I heard a sniff but that couldn’t be right, she already said tears weren’t her thing. “I should hope not. Be at the office tomorrow at eight a.m.”
“You got it.”
I didn’t know what else to say, I didn’t really want to hang up, but there wasn’t anything else to talk about. “See you in the morning Miss James.”
“Yep, good night, Mr. Lockwood.”
The line went dead and I felt strangeness. My heart skipped a beat and I realized I was excited. I don’t know how long it had been since I’d been excited about something. Every day I lived life and spent days and most nights working. When I wasn’t working I tended to be wrapped up with some nameless woman who I’d easily forget the next day. I had a feeling that wouldn’t be good enough to ease my discomfort tonight. Something told me only a small plus sized beauty would ease my newly found tension. I shook my head because that wouldn’t do, not at all.