I hired her before thinking it through. I seemed to do that a lot where she was concerned. Still. I could use the help. I hadn’t lied about that.

“How much are you paying me for this?” she asked from the passenger seat.

“Well, I’m doubling as your taxi driver right now, so that should shave off a few bucks.”

She sputtered out a laugh. “Nice try, hot shot.”

My heart did a little dip. I glanced over at her and couldn’t help but smile. I knew I needed to take things slowly with her. If I didn’t, she’d chop my head off and run away. At the first sign of discomfort, she would run. At least she used to. I reminded myself that I didn’t know this Tessa well enough yet.

When I reached the stoplight, I studied her profile. She was so goddamn beautiful and she didn’t even know it.

“Did you sketch any more dresses yesterday?”

“Just the one.”

“Are you still sketching furniture?”

Her smile was slow and wide. “Here and there.”

Here and there. That meant she had a drawer full of sketches no one but her had ever seen. I’d kill to see the room, the drawer, and have her show me the sketches. That ship sailed long ago, though.

Camryn, I reminded myself. Fucking Camryn and the stupid rumors she’d spread. Not that they’d all been completely false. Unfortunately.

“I’d love to see them.”

“Maybe.” She looked over at me as I pulled into the parking lot. “So, you’ll tell me what I need to do, right?”

“Yes, and I’ll walk you to HR so that they can discuss payment with you.”

She shrugged. “I mean, I’m only here for two weeks. Is it worth me filling out all the paperwork?”

I parked and turned toward her. “What happens in two weeks?”

“I check out both locations and pick what apprenticeship I’m taking.”

“Hm. New York or Paris. What companies are offering the apprenticeships?”

A small smile splayed on her lips. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

She got out of the car and sauntered toward the front of the building. I gave myself two, three seconds to look at her ass before I got out of the car and jogged over to her.

“I would like to know.” In truth, I was dying to know, but I wasn’t sure why. I chalked it up to curiosity.

We walked toward the building. It wasn’t a big high-rise by any means. It was only four stories, but every floor was filled to the max. After buying Monte from Tessa’s family, we were able to secure their office building and their factory. It was important to her father that the employees kept their jobs, and my dad agreed with that, but that meant we had to house more employees than we had room for. We walked to HR, where I quickly explained Tessa’s position and salary, and then told them to prepare the papers.

When we walked by the marketing area, Samson’s head snapped up from his computer. He frowned at the sight of Tessa beside me. I watched him closely, noting the way his eyes said something to her and hers said something back to him.

They had a wordless, two-second conversation, and even though I only caught one end of it, I decided they were both full of shit. Maybe I didn’t know my brother the way I once did. Maybe we weren’t on the best terms anymore, but I knew when a man was in love with a woman, and this wasn’t it. Annoyance ripped through me. Why would they lie to me about something so stupid? It made no sense. Still. It didn’t change the fact that if they were lying, my brother was an asshole. If they weren’t lying, he was a bigger asshole because he was trying to get under my skin. I placed my hand on her elbow to guide her in the direction of my office, made the introduction between her and the people who worked in that area, and then lead her into my office, shutting the door behind us.

“Why did you lie to me about Sam?”

Her eyes widened slightly as she took a step back. “What?”

I didn’t repeat myself. She knew I wouldn’t. I kept my hands balled at my sides in an effort to keep from reaching out to her. What I wanted to do was grab her arms, push her back against my door, and kiss that surprised look right off her face. The way she molded against me during our kiss the other day hit me in a flash, and I felt myself harden in my slacks. I wondered if she knew how she affected me. Probably not.

“Lie to you about what exactly?” she asked. “Being with him?”

“Yes.”

She shook her head, smiling. “What do you want us to do? Jump each other every chance we get? He respects my space, and I respect his. He is at work, you know?”

I watched her for a moment and decided that I didn’t believe her. Maybe I just didn’t want to. Something was going on there. Maybe they were just hooking up; I wanted to punch the thought away. The door opened behind her before I could question her further, and my father peeked his head in, his lips pulling into a welcoming smile when he saw Tessa.

“My girl, it’s been so long.”

“Al. Always a pleasure.”

He stepped in and gave her a warm, albeit quick hug. Dad wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of guy, but he’d always loved Tessa. “What brings you by?”

“I need a new assistant.”

Dad glanced up. “Again? This is what, assistant number three in one summer? What the hell are you doing, Rowan?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, fix it,” Dad said sternly. His features softened when he turned to Tessa. “Don’t let him scare you away, and if he tries, you come talk to me.”

“I will.” She smiled. It was a smile she hadn’t directed at me in four and a half years. The realization shook me.

“I spoke to your father the other day. He keeps inviting me up to go fishing. Have you been?”

“I visited last summer. It’s truly beautiful out there. So peaceful.”

“A lot of wineries, too, I heard.”

She nodded. “We visited one. It was breathtaking.”

“I’d love to hear about it. Maybe I can plan my visit around fishing and wine.”

“Hey, you don’t need much more than that,” Tessa said, smiling. Dad chuckled. I stared dumbfounded. In five minutes, she managed to turn him into a nineties-sitcom father. He was a no-good father, no-good person I reminded myself. He was a cheater, a liar, a user. He was a fake. Even Tessa had to see through his act.

I was still stuck firmly in disbelief when he turned to me, saying, “Rowan, I’ll be expecting you in my office in five minutes.” Then he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

Tessa turned to face me. “So, do I get a desk?”

“It’s right behind you.”

She pivoted slightly, looked, and then turned back to me wide-eyed. “We’re sharing an office?”

She looked so absolutely horrified that I stifled my urge to laugh.

“We are.”

“Did the last three assistants have to share an office with you?”

No, but she didn’t need to know that. “I already told you, we’re running out of space.”

She blinked, looking exasperated. “This is crazy.”

“It’s only two weeks.”

“Right. You’re right.” She dropped her hand. “Two weeks.”

“Look through the Rolodex on my desk. I should have some realtors in there.”

“Oh my god, you have a Rolodex?” She brought her hand up to try to stifle her laugh, which didn’t work. What escaped her lips was loud and full of mirth. The sound stirred something inside me, and I found myself laughing right along with her.

“It keeps things neat.”

“Neat,” she squeaked, laughing harder. “You can keep things neat on your smart phone or computer.”

“A Rolodex is a perfectly fine tool. It’s alphabetized and easy to use.” I felt myself scowl. “Besides, I don’t want my secretaries going through my smartphone or computer.”

“Oh my god. You’re such a dork.” She was still laughing lightly as she said it. “Do your admirers know how big of a nerd you are under all those hot muscles?”

“I don’t know. Are you one of my admirers?” I grinned as I watched the expression on her face morph from amusement to complete embarrassment. She looked away. When she looked at me again, she’d already schooled her expression into one that screamed haughty attitude.

“Isn’t your dad waiting for you?”

Shit. He was. He hated waiting. I looked at her a second longer, wishing she’d drop pretenses and let me read an unfiltered expression. She wouldn’t, and I knew it. I begrudgingly walked out of my office and headed toward my dad’s. I took a breath when I reached it, knocked once, and pushed the door open. I sat across from him, crossing my ankle over my knee as I waited for him to finish his phone call.

“Tessa Monte, huh?” he said, raising an eyebrow as he ended the call.

“She’s only here for two weeks and needed a job.”

“And you, being the selfless man that you are, decided to give her one.” He tilted his face, no sign of emotion in his eyes, and looked at me for a moment too long. I tried not to wither under his stare. My dad had a way of looking at you that made you think he was jumbling through your deepest, darkest secrets. Probably because he had so many of his own.

“Let’s not talk about selfless,” I responded, raising an eyebrow.

“I never claimed to be selfless.”

“Neither did I.”

He shut his mouth and stared at me for a moment, seemingly thinking about what his next words would be. I loved seeing my father tongue-tied. His extramarital affairs would forever give me the upper hand in arguments because he was the one with two families, not me. He was the one who had been hiding an illegitimate child with his longtime secretary, the one my mother had thrown a lavish baby shower for. The one we all went to visit at the hospital after her sob story of the man who impregnated her bouncing when he found out about it. Disgust settled into the pit of my stomach.

“I understand you’re still upset—”

“I will always be upset. I’ll never forgive you for what you did to Mom.”

“One day you will,” he said calmly. My eyes widened. Who was this man? Where was the man who stood up and lashed out when challenged?

“I won’t.”

“One day, you’ll see that not everything in life is black and white.”

“And that gray area extends to the vows you made?” I asked. “If it had been Mom cheating with some man, having his child, would you expect me to be okay with it?”

“Of course not.”

“But it’s okay because you’re the man.”

“No, son.” He exhaled, closing his eyes. “It’s never okay, but your mother and I have been over for ten years. We’ve been going through the motions, staying together for the sake of the company, for pretenses. Mari—”

“Don’t say her name.” My jaw clenched. I swallowed thickly. I hated Mariah. I’d put entirely too much time into helping that woman, only to find out it had all been a fucking lie. That was what happened when a parent was unfaithful the way my father had been. It wasn’t only the wife who blamed herself, the children did too. What did we do to deserve this? Could we have been better and prevented it?

“When you get married—”

“I didn’t come here for a lecture on marriage and love, and if I had, you’d be the last person I listened to,” I spat.

He shook his head, the expression in his eyes hardening. “Well, then, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not asking you to marry anyone for love.”

“I don’t believe in love or marriage,” I said. “So, we’re safe on both accounts.”

“In that case, don’t involve her more than she needs to be. Your mother always felt she was a bad choice for you, and now that we’re in this situation, if you do what you’re supposed to and marry someone who knows what’s expected and will abide by the contract, you should leave that girl out of it. If that person is Camryn or someone like that, she will make her life a living hell, and Tessa has been through enough these last few years.”

“And you would know,” I said, though, my brain was still stuck on his words. My heart stirred uneasily. “Your mother hates her for you.”

“I speak to both her parents regularly, so yes, I would know,” he said. “Those people are hurting.”

“And suddenly you’re Pope fucking Francis.”

He glared. “Don’t use that kind of language if you’re going to talk about the Pope.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that you’ve found your faith again.” I put my hands up. “Please continue, I shouldn’t be friends with Tessa, shouldn’t give her a job, because you think what? I’m going to fuck her and hurt her, is that it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It’s what you did with Mariah, isn’t it? You gave her a job as your assistant, fucked her, and got her pregnant? Oh, but wait, I’m not married yet, so I don’t need to sit through this bullshit.”

“This is a useless conversation to have with an immature child,” he muttered. “This is why I’d rather have your brother take over the company. At least he has his head on straight.”

“You want him to take over the company so you can control him.” I jolted out of my chair and gripped the edge of the desk. “You know as well as I do that he’d let this company drown, but be my guest, maybe you should call him in here to discuss your business instead of me.”

“Maybe I already have,” he said with a cool air that could freeze the poles.

I pushed off the desk and left his office, not caring that we hadn’t actually discussed the day’s agenda as I slammed the door behind me. As I walked back to my own office down the hall, I caught a few wary eyes on me and knew they had heard me yelling.

I didn’t care.