A few weeks later, Molly was beginning to wonder if she had been under the influence of some exotic mind-altering drug.  She had to have been in order to have agreed to allow her mother to plan her wedding in such a short period of time.

Just like Sherman had once marched through Atlanta, Anne Ramsey was determined to flatten the city in her search for the perfect components for her only daughter’s one and only matrimonial ceremony.  From repeated trips to her favorite florist to multiple visits to at least four different bakeries for cake-tasting, Anne had frog-marched Molly to and fro in search of the impeccable accessories.

Molly was beginning to wonder whose wedding this really was...hers or her mother’s. 

Pushing those thoughts aside as she marched toward the elevator in the parking garage of Devil’s office building, she consoled herself with the fact that for the next three days, there were no appointments to keep.  The flowers had been chosen.  The church had been booked.  The cake finally had been selected.  The caterers had been arranged. And finally, the dress had been purchased and was being altered.  Her wedding responsibilities were now limited for the next seventy-two hours to not killing the groom. 

Trudging into the elevator, Molly jabbed the button and stepped back to lean tiredly against the wall as she waited to reach the twentieth floor of Delancy & Associates.  She recognized that she shouldn’t be angry at Devil.  For the past week, he had been the model of the ideal fiancé.  While he’d limited their intimacy to scorching goodnight kisses, he’d been with her every night while she’d accompanied him to various celebratory dinners and fundraising galas.  Honestly, she wasn’t quite sure how she was going to keep up with his grueling social schedule when she became his wife and be able to continue to function as his administrative assistant during office hours.  She was exhausted.  The fact that he lived this way every day of his life amazed her.  Hopefully, once she could eliminate the wedding mania from her own busy days, she’d be better rested.

In just another seven days, she’d be able to call herself his wife.

Then, she thought as the metal doors slid open, the real fun would begin.

Stepping off the lift, Molly frowned as she noticed a woman sitting in her chair behind her desk.  With her blonde hair pulled in an elegant French twist and dressed in a pale blue suit, she was the picture of a young professional woman.  Approaching quickly, her mouth turned down in a frown, Molly forced herself to be polite.  “Excuse me?  Who are you?”

“Deborah Valentine, ma’am.  I’m Mr. Delancy’s new executive assistant,” she greeted Molly with a cool smile on her perfectly painted lips.

Molly gripped the high counter surrounding her desk tightly as she stared at the other woman.  “Is that so?” she asked through barely-moving lips.  “I was under the impression that Mr. Delancy already had a very competent assistant.  The last time I was here….”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Deborah replied, lowering her voice to a whisper.  Obviously she assumed Molly worked on some other floor in the building since she was about to speak so freely. 

“Heard what, exactly?” Molly replied, striving to remain calm as the beautiful woman rose to lean across the counter toward her.

“Mr. Delancy had to let her go,” she explained.  “I guess when she was just fucking the boss, that could be kept under wraps, but now that she’s marrying him…. I guess the company decided her time would be better spent serving him in other ways.  The temp agency called me this morning to fill the slot.  At first, I was repulsed by what the ladies downstairs were saying about the girl that evidently slept her way to the top, but after seeing him?  Who could blame the lady?  I’d jump his bones in a second if he crooked his finger my way.  Devil Delancy is sex on a stick.”

Molly’s eyes widened and her breath came quickly.  “People are talking about his assistant?” she asked faintly.  Of course people are talking, Marilyn’s voice chided.  You’re marrying one of the richest men in Atlanta out of the clear blue sky.  Did you really think you could avoid the gossip?  Didn’t you read ANY of the stories about me and Jackie Baby?

“Of course, they are.  Evidently, she’s not the boss man’s type at all!  I mean, you work here, so you’d know,” she remarked, nodding at Molly’s employee lanyard around her neck.  “You’ve seen her, right?”

“I’ve seen her, alright,” Molly muttered, nodding.  If she managed to keep from using that lanyard to strangle someone before the day was out, it would be a freaking miracle, too.

“From what the gals in the typing pool are saying she’s a curvy little thing, but dresses sort of like a frump,” Deborah revealed, lowering her voice. 

Glancing down at her tailored silk skirt and matching shirt, Molly frowned.  She looked very well put together today, didn’t she?  Her mother had complimented her, hadn’t she? “A frump?  Really?”

“From what I’ve heard, the boss tended to go for poised and elegant ladies, but this woman is more like the girl next door type.  I’m not sure how she hooked the sex god sitting in that office,” Deborah mused, jerking her head toward the closed door behind her.  “Maybe she’s pregnant.”

“She’s NOT,” Molly denied sharply, her cheeks reddening as she absently tugged at the edge of her shirt.  Had she gained weight?  Was that why everybody assumed she was pregnant?   She still fit into her size eight dress, didn’t she?

“Oh, you’re friends with her?  I’m sorry.  I’m just repeating what I’ve heard,” Deborah stated quickly, straightening quickly.  “I hope you understand.  I didn’t mean to offend you.  I really hope this job becomes permanent for me.  I’d love a chance to seduce the boss man.”

Smiling stiffly, Molly took a step back.  “Don’t get too comfortable, Deborah.  I have a feeling that the woman that works here won’t give up without a fight,” she warned, walking toward Devil’s door.  Oh, she was going to kill him.  Murdering him with her bare hands was the only recompense for the indignity of listening to what was being said about her because she was kindhearted enough to do him a favor. 

“Wait!  Where are you going?” Deborah asked, watching as Molly walked purposefully toward Mr. Delancy’s door.  “You can’t go in there!” she denied, hurrying toward Molly.

“Watch. Me.”  Molly’s eyes dared the other woman to stop her as she shoved open the door to Devil’s office and crossed the threshold.  “You son of a bitch!  You fired me?” she yelled as Deborah gasped behind her. 

Looking up from his computer, Devil’s smile quickly dissolved as he noted the fury on Molly’s face.  “Sweetheart, what are you doing here?  We’re supposed to meet for lunch.”

“Apparently, I’m being fired,” she hissed back.  “Call off your dog of war, Devil, and face me like a man,” she demanded, turning to glare at his new office assistant.

“You’re her?” Deborah asked faintly, stunned.  “Oh my God, you can’t be her,” she moaned, paling as she stared into Molly’s furious eyes.

“She’s who?” Devil growled, turning his dark gaze toward the new assistant that had somehow rattled Molly.

“Your fiancée,” Molly informed him tersely.  “She’s realized that the woman she just spent the last ten minutes maligning is your fiancée.”  Clenching her jaw, Molly continued.  “You see, Deborah, here, was kind enough to let me know what folks have been saying about me since our engagement, Devil.  Oh, and she’d like to boink your brains out, too.  What was it you said, Deb?  You’d jump his bones in a second if he’d only crook his finger your way?” Molly repeated sweetly, repeating the woman’s earlier words back to her.  Glancing back at Devil, she smiled ever-so-brightly.  “Evidently, you’re a sex god, I’m not your type at all, and I dress like a frump.”  Patting Deborah’s arm, she offered the woman a feigned sympathetic smile.  “It’s okay, Debbie dear, I’m really not his type, and I do tend to dress for comfort over style, but as far as his sex god status, you can tell the typing pool that I said he’s really not that good at all.  He’s got a positively tiny…”

“Okay,” Devil interrupted quickly, wrapping an arm around Molly’s waist and tugging her backward until her back met his chest.  “I think that’s enough talk about my manly attributes, darling.  Which, by the way, haven’t even begun to satisfy you yet,” he added in a low voice against her ear.

“I…I…I…”

“Don’t bother with an explanation,” Devil ordered the stunned blonde harshly as he glared at her over Molly’s head.  “Simply gather your things and go home.  Your services will no longer be necessary here at Delancy Industries, Miss Valentine.  Please close the door behind you.”

“And don’t let it hit you in the ass on the way out,” Molly mumbled, jerking out of Devil’s arms as the other woman quickly nodded and disappeared.  Stomping toward the floor to ceiling windows lining one wall, Molly wrapped her arms around herself as the door closed.

Damn it all to hell, Devil thought as he watched Molly’s shoulders shake with anger.  “Molly,” Devil said softly, taking a step toward her.

Shaking her head, Molly held up a hand, never taking her eyes off the window.  “Do. Not. Speak.”

“But, sweetheart…”

“Devil, I’m warning you, if you open your mouth one more time before I tell you to speak to me, I’m going to find a way to push your body off the roof of this building.  It’ll be very hard for Nana to bemoan our missed wedding when she’s distracted by mourning your passing, won’t it?”