The silence in the crowded elevator was stifling and the tension thick, like a looming thundercloud. So deep was the silence that had a pin dropped, the sound of its fall would’ve echoed thunderously in the small space. Why was it so silent? Because the boss was in the elevator. The employees who were there with him kept sneaking glances over their shoulders as if to confirm that he hadn’t transformed into a monster back there.
Usually the silence and the sneaky glances would’ve annoyed Worth. Today? He didn’t even notice them. He was too busy wondering if Sin had actually dared to take them up on their offer to employ her.
According to Diana, Sin was supposed to start training to be his assistant today. Though he would’ve loved to pretend otherwise, he was both anxious and excited at the thought of seeing her again. Anxious because he still hadn’t completely figured out what she and Claire were up to. Excited because, despite his wariness, he was intrigued by the woman.
A con-artist with a heart of gold? He chuckled.
Though his chuckle was low, the sound reverberated in the silent elevator attracting the attention of his employees. Worth barely noticed the confused looks they traded amongst themselves. He was too busy wondering what had driven Sin into her line of her business. It was obviously wasn’t money. So what was it?
He didn’t get the time to figure it out because right at that moment a ping sounded and the elevator doors opened. The hurried shuffle as his employees got out of – or more accurately, escaped the elevator was enough to jolt Worth’s attention back to the present. He glowered fiercely making them rush out even faster.
Since he was going to the floor above, Worth stayed in the elevator. However, just before the doors closed, Joel darted in.
“Good morning,” the older man greeted.
“Morning,” Worth grunted.
“You’re in early today,” Joel said as the elevator doors closed.
Worth offered a non-committal mutter. “Mm.”
His eyes twinkling with restrained amusement, Joel asked, “Could it have something to do with our newest employee?”
“Yeah,” Worth readily admitted. “I want to see if she’s actually brave enough to show her face here.”
“She is.” Joel grinned. “Diana was showing her around the office when I got in.”
The information sent an odd thrill through Worth. So Sin had actually turned up? She’d really set her sights on him? Unbelievable.
“Are you that excited to see her?” Joel teased.
“What?”
“You’re smiling,” Joel informed him even as the elevator doors opened.
Worth promptly wiped the smile off his face. “No, I’m not.”
“Okay.” Joel chuckled as they both got off the elevator. Just as they started to go their separate ways, the older man called out, “Worth?”
“Yeah?” Worth turned to face him.
His expression grave, Joel said, “Be careful. Remember what Masterson said. Once she has her claws in you, she doesn’t let go.”
“Well she picked the wrong man to dig her claws into.” Worth gave his friend a brief salute. “Later.”
Diana and Sin didn’t notice when he walked in. Diana was showing Sin, who was standing by her seat, something on her computer and explaining it. Their preoccupation allowed Worth to study his newest employee.
Sin was just as pretty as he remembered but gone was the straight hairstyle she’d come for her interview in. Her brown hair was styled in a curly fro but held away from her face by a black band across the top of her head.
The royal blue, knee-length dress she was wearing would’ve looked decent on any other woman but looked delightfully sexy on her. Though the dress’s keyhole neckline was subtle, the brief glimpse of her breasts that it gave was enough to water his mouth. Add in the four-inch pink pumps she was wearing, and she was a sight for sore eyes.
No wonder the woman had made it as a gold-digger. She was the kind of woman who made a man want to spend money on her. Worth guffawed.
The sound was enough to draw the ladies’ attention to him. Both ladies immediately stood straight.
“Good morning, Mr. Ransom,” they both greeted.
“Morning, Diana.” Worth came to a stop in front of the desk. Acting like Sin was invisible, he turned his attention to Diana. “Has Christian Baird called yet?”
“Yes.” Diana nodded. “He asked to meet you today at one. I’ve already put it in your schedule.”
“Good.” Worth nodded approvingly. “What about the Macron guys.”
“Four p.m.” Diana said without even checking the diary.
“That won’t work.” Worth frowned. “Rebecca Fox called me last night to reschedule the interview with her magazine and I gave her a four p.m. appointment.”
“I can reschedule Macron. I didn’t give them a firm time anyway,” Diana said.
This was the reason why he liked his assistant so much. She was incredibly effective at her job. It was a shame that he was losing her to her kid. Hopefully, she’d be back.
“Please do.” Worth turned to Sin. He gave her a contemptuous onceover that left no doubt that he wasn’t satisfied with what he saw. His tone wintery cold, he asked, “Is that what you decided to wear on your first day?”
“Huh?” She looked herself up and down before coming back to meet his gaze. “Is there something wrong with how I’m dressed?”
“Obviously,” he retorted.
She looked at herself. “What?”
Actually, there was nothing wrong with how she was dressed. He just felt like giving her a dressing down, so he threw out, “That’s a question you should ask your personal stylist.” He turned to Diana. “Teach her how to dress like a professional.”
“Yes, sir.” Diana nodded curtly.
With that he strolled to his office leaving Sin still confused and looking herself up and down. A self-satisfied smirk on his face, he settled in for the day. About five minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
Expecting Diana to come in with his morning coffee, he called out, “Come in.”
A second later, Sin came in with a tray in hand. Smiling, she crossed the room. “I brought your coffee.”
He was tempted to send her back right then but he resisted the urge. Instead, he watched her as she set the tray on the coffee table a few feet from his desk then poured out the coffee into a mug. As he watched her, he couldn’t help wondering if she was seducing him now. Was the smile she’d given him as she walked in a precursor to the seduction? Was the way she was bending as she poured the coffee a way to show off her admittedly amazing ass? He suspected it was.
When would the real show begin? Would she bring the coffee right up beside him and brush her breast against his shoulder as she did so? Would she lean toward him to whisper something in his ear with her husky voice before lightly brushing her lips against his ear?
Just imagining it was enough to make his cock swell. He shifted slightly in his seat. Maybe she’d tell him that making coffee wasn’t the only thing she was good at. Maybe she’d offer to show him how good she was at other things then turn his chair around, get to her knees, reach for his belt and…
“Here you are,” Sin cut into his salacious thoughts. Unlike in his daydream, she wasn’t beside him. She was standing on the other side of his desk having set the coffee on the table top. She pushed the cup his way. “Coffee just the way you like it.”
For a moment he wondered why she was just standing there looking at him, then he realized that she was waiting for him to taste the coffee.
He obliged. A second later, he spat out the sip he’d just taken and pushed the mug back to her. “Are you trying to give me diabetes?”
“Is it too sweet?” Sin looked both confused and disappointed. When he didn’t give her an answer, she said, “But Diana told me that you like one teaspoon of sugar.”
Truthfully, he hadn’t even truly tasted the coffee before he’d spat it out. But he couldn’t let Sin know that, could he? So he curtly retorted, “Well, you must have put in more.”
“No, I didn’t,” Sin countered.
“Are you saying I’m lying?” Worth dared her.
He could’ve sworn that her eyes crackled as anger flashed through them. He expected her to call him out on his lie, but after a long pause, she smiled. Smiled? Then she said, “I’ll make you another one.”
“No, thanks.” Frankly, after the anger he’d seen shining in her eyes, he was a little scared that she might poison him. “Tell Diana to come and make it for me.”
Sin looked like she wanted to protest but when she spoke it was only to say, “Yes, Mr. Ransom.”
By the end of the day, Worth was exhausted. Not because his day had been particularly busy, but because he’d expended too much energy trying to predict when Sin would start seducing him. All his guesses had turned out to be wrong. Even when the openings were obvious, Sin didn’t take them.
For instance; she could’ve slipped her hand on his thigh and squeezed it when she was seated next to him during the mid-morning team-meeting but she hadn’t. Instead, she’d diligently taken minutes as instructed by Diana then typed them out and sent them to him via email by lunchtime.
When she was taking notes about a presentation he needed created, she could’ve dropped her pencil then crawled beneath his desk on the pretense of picking up the pencil. It was a good opportunity for her to touch him inappropriately. But she hadn’t – she’d taken the notes like a good assistant then, with Diana’s help, created the PowerPoint document Worth needed. Not once did she act inappropriately or in a way that could be misconstrued to be seductive.
And it was annoying as hell.
Worse, he couldn’t even vent properly because by newbie standards she was pretty good at her job and quick on her feet. The mistakes she made were so minute that Worth felt like a nitpicky asshole every time he pointed them out. However, that didn’t stop him from picking apart her every move whenever he got the chance.
Despite the show she was putting on, he knew what she was. A crook. Mata Hari in disguise. But she’d made a mistake in coming into his territory. If she thought that things would go her way, then she was wrong. She was in for a rough sail. He’d make sure of that.
A WEEK LATER, Sin still hadn’t made her move. What was taking her so long? Worth wondered as he glared at the wall that separated his office from the reception area. It was weird that he was waiting to be seduced, yet that’s just what was happening. He wanted to her to do it already just so he could have the pleasure of rejecting her then kicking her out on her ass. But she didn’t!
Much to his chagrin, she seemed determined to be friendly to everyone but him. From what Joel had told him, she was getting along swimmingly with many of his employees and had already made many friends. Given how busy he kept her, he had no idea when she even had the time to get to know his employees.
He would’ve loved to complain that her social life was affecting her work performance, but it wasn’t. Sin seamlessly maintained her façade of being the perfect assistant. She’d gotten so good at her job that Diana could now take an afternoon or two off for her maternity check-ups while Sin held down the fort. Today was one such day.
Worth was still glowering at the wall when there was a sharp rap on the door. Already knowing who was at the door, he quickly sat up and turned his attention to the computer.
His tone deliberately grumpy, he called, “Come in.”
Sin pushed the door open and walked in. Worth turned to see the face he hadn’t even realized that he’d been itching to see. It was there in the hitch of his breath as he took her in.
Her brown fro was held away from her face, her eyes sparkled and her mouth was curved in an enticing smile that left him feeling even more annoyed.
“What do you want?” he barked.
“I noticed you didn’t have lunch today,” she said, barely unnerved by his curt tone. “Would you like me to order something for you?”
“If I wanted something, I would’ve ordered it myself.”
“Oh, I see.” She shrugged. It was like she’d grown so used to his rudeness that she’d developed immunity to him. Smiling, she offered, “Then if you need something, please let me know.”
“I won’t need anything.” He sniffed. When she started towards the door, he stopped her. “Wait.”
“Yes?” She turned back to face him, her eyebrows lifted in question.
“Did you send the presentation I asked for?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s in your email.”
Immediate disappointment shot through him. There went his chance to give her a proper tongue-lashing. Or maybe not! Hiding a cruel grin, Worth raised a finger, his non-verbal signal that she needed to stay put while he checked the presentation. He found the PowerPoint document easily enough.
After barely skimming through the document, he screwed his face in disgust. “What the hell is this?”
Sin’s brow creased. “Is something wrong with the presentation?”
“Everything is wrong with it!” he barked. “My three-year-old nephew could do a better job than this.”
Sin watched him for a long moment then her eyes changed. Anger, pure and clear, flashed in them. When she spoke, her voice was as biting as it was cold. “What exactly is the problem?”
A childish glee soared within Worth. He liked to see her fired up. The professional, always-smiling Sin who seemed unfazed by his barbs wasn’t his cup of tea at all. He raised his eyebrows. “Do I have to tell you every little thing that is wrong with this thing?”
“It’s the only way I can correct it.” Sin forced a smile, but it was so obviously faked that Worth was surprised her face didn’t crack with the effort.
“Well, it’s not my job to teach you how to do your job.” He whirled in the swivel chair to face her. “Are you mentally challenged? How did you get this far with these kinds of skills? Is this what they teach at the University of Virginia?”
Knowing that she’d never attended UVA, he expected her to show some nervousness. But he was due for disappointment.
Sin’s expression didn’t even waver. “Actually, what they taught us is a little different from what you do here.”
“Is that your way of saying that this job is too much for you?” His smile was as cruel as his next words. “Because if it is, you know where the door is.”
Actually, her quitting on her own would be the perfect solution to this whole fiasco. But for some reason, Worth didn’t want her to take him up on his dare. Luckily, Sin was made of sterner stuff than that.
With a smile, she said, “No, I’m good.”
“No, you’re not good,” he retorted acerbically. “Not when you’re sending me bullshit like this. If you were going to do such a shoddy job, you should’ve just let Diana do it herself.”
“Actually-” She paused as if savoring her next words. Even her smile seemed more genuine as she informed him, “- I didn’t make that presentation. Diana did. I just proofed it then sent it to you.”
Her response knocked the wind right out of Worth’s sails and left him feeling like a deflated balloon. It was bad enough that the presentation wasn’t even half as horrible as he was making it out to be, but now she wasn’t even its creator. The hell?
Still, he couldn’t let her leave thinking she’d won this round, so he countered, “Am I supposed to say sorry?”
Her smile widened, making it clear that that’s what she expected to happen.
“You must be crazy.” He snorted. “You just revealed that you were too lazy to do your job so you made Diana do it and you expect me to apologize? That’s even worse than doing a bad job.”
Her smile dropped like an anchor in a deep sea.
If he wasn’t pretending to be angry, he would’ve grinned. He scolded, “So you’re just fine with killing time, making others do your job and getting paid?”
She bit out. “No.”
“Do it again,” he ordered. “And make sure it’s in my email by seven.”
“Seven?” Panic flooded her gaze. “But it’s past five.”
“I know. I have a watch too.” He pointed to his watch before waving his hand dismissively. “Go.”
Once she was gone, he burst into a wide grin. She was probably cursing herself for ever getting involved with him. Well, he hadn’t even turned the stove on. She was in for a lot more heat.
By around five-thirty, he’d finished up for the day. When he exited his office, he found Sin busily tapping on her keyboard, probably trying to beat the impossible deadline he’d just given her. If looks were bullets, the glare she shot him when their eyes met would’ve sent him straight to his grave. Whistling under his breath, he tucked his hands into his pockets and strolled towards the elevators.
It was a great day to be Sin’s boss.
Unfortunately, his elated feelings didn’t last long. When he walked out of the shower an hour or so later, his tablet was blinking. A glance at the screen revealed that he had a new email. And wouldn’t you know it; the email was from Sin and it held an attachment; the presentation he’d demanded.
She’d beat his deadline by a whole thirty minutes.
He downloaded the document expecting substandard work. After all, only Superwoman could create a good presentation within that short time. But, as it turned out, Sin was Superwoman. The presentation was good – really good. Hell, it was better than what Diana had made.
His eyes narrowed and his mouth straight with anger, Worth tossed the tablet back on his bed.
So this was how she was going to play it, huh? Trying to beat him on his own turf?
They’d see about that!