Cole Crayton’s personal assistant. I couldn’t fight the grin that spread across my face as I took in my large desk across from Cole’s office door. Every single day, I’d be sitting right across from him, and taking notes from the successful business man who’d built Crayton, Inc. from the ground up.

I smoothed a hand over the desktop while waiting for Cheryl to return with our ID access cards and computer codes. In a way, I was being trusted with Cole’s most valuable asset, himself. I got to set up his schedule, meetings, and everything else that he needed done throughout the day.

This was more than I had ever hoped for. Just a chance to work underneath him had been enough. Being near him was a dream come true as I’d wanted him ever since the day I had seen Cole riding one of his beloved stallions shirtless through the Hamptons. I could still picture those toned and cut abs flexing as his hips moved fluidly in time with the stallion’s trot. I had imagined then how it would have felt to have those hips grinding up against mine in the same rhythm before shame crashed over me. How could I lust after an older man? Except, there was nothing old about Cole.

Even at forty-four years old, Cole got up every single morning to run. I’d watched him over Labor Day weekend at 5:30 am, just like clockwork, jog past the fence that surrounded my parent’s Hampton house. He lived a bachelor type of life too. He hosted parties that celebrities attended. He had women flocking to him without even trying. There was nothing old about him. He had a lifetime of experience that I had craved since I was fifteen years old.

It wasn’t until my graduation party at eighteen that everything in me had leaped into overdrive. I had fooled around with the occasional boy who managed to win my parent’s stamp of approval, but that was it. Nothing besides fumbling in the backseat of a car. Sloppy kisses that left me grimacing for days on end. No romance or passion. Just inexperienced hands and lips.

My parents had invited Cole to my party, and to my surprise then, he had shown up with a check for $10,000. “For you, gorgeous,’ he had said, kissing me on the cheek. ‘Don’t spend it all in one place.”

I could still remember how soft his lips were against my cheek. I could still smell that fresh cologne on his skin. Every inch of him had pressed up against me briefly during that encounter, and it had done something indescribable to me. That’s when it hit me then—no one would be able to make me feel the way Cole did.

I had taken one glass of champagne for courage. I was eighteen years old. Surely, he wouldn’t look me as a child anymore. I had followed him out to the driveway with hopes that we could talk. Those hopes were dashed however when Cole suddenly reached into the pocket of his pants to grab his phone. I hid behind a parked car in my parent’s driveway while I listened to that silky deep voice entrance myself and the caller too.

“I’m coming your way, baby,” he had said, voice calm and deep. “Are you ready to be fucked?”

I’d nearly fainted at the question. It was tempting then to pop out to scream, “Yes! I’m ready.” The heat between my legs roared to life. I could feel the wetness coating my inner thighs as I crouched out of sight.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Cole had said, cradling the phone to his ear. “I can’t leave right at this moment, but you better be naked in my bed by the time I get to the house. Understand? Get yourself ready for what is about to happen to you.”

His deep chuckle had filled the hot summer air. My heart pounded furiously against my ribcage. This was the type of lover that Cole was—commanding in bed, confident in himself. No one else ever measured up to the stamina he had. The greatest orgasm I ever experienced was that night. I pretended to be the woman on the phone while naked in my bed, hiding beneath the sheets with my teeth biting into the pillow to keep my cries of pleasure muffled.

“Violet?”

I started in surprise at the sound of Michael Foster’s voice cutting through that memory. That same delicious heat curled in my stomach, wetting the inside of my upper thighs. I clenched my legs together as I turned to find Michael standing directly behind me with a frown plastered across his face.

“Yes?”

“I’ve been saying your name repeatedly,” he said and gestured to the large break room where a few employees were gathered. “Do you want some coffee or anything? They have some nice machines in there that can make different coffee drinks.” He paused to look me up and down with a frown. “Or maybe you need something to eat? Your cheeks are flushed and--”

“Just hot, I am just feeling hot,” I said, fanning myself with an embarrassed smile. “I better go to the bathroom before the day starts. Excuse me.”

My heels clicked against the marble floors in the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror, taking in my flushed cheeks with a sigh. If this plan was going to work, I had to concentrate. I couldn’t screw it all up by being flustered all the time whenever Cole looked in my direction, or if I got lost in my fantasies all over again. Complete concentration. That’s what I needed to have to be able to get through the days while I worked alongside Cole.

It was going to be so hard, though. His tone of voice during our meeting was stern and commanding—the same as it had been on the phone that one night. He was also dressed in a dark gray suit with a white undershirt and delicate gold clasps at the end of his sleeves. His dark hair that was peppered with a bit of gray now was sleeked back as usual. He looked like a model on the front cover of a magazine. Yet, no other females around the office seemed to pay attention to any of it. They were all focused on their jobs, or whatever Cole’s commands were for the day. If they found him attractive, they kept it to themselves.

“Violet?”

The bathroom door pushed open as Cheryl entered cautiously. She swept a gaze over me with a frown.

“Michael said he thought you were unwell,” she commented. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile on my face. “Just a bit hot, that’s all.”

I could feel Cheryl’s eyes on me as I ran my hands under ice cold water to cool myself back down. Drying my hands, I turned to look back at the older woman whose arms were crossed with a knowing glint in her eyes.

“What’s your story, honey?” she asked. “I’m not blind to the fact that you know Mr. Crayton on a personal level, but what is the story between the two of you?”

“The two of us?” I repeated slowly. The phrase brought a stab of pleasure, but I didn’t let that show. “There’s nothing going on between us. My dad is close friends with him. Mr. Crayton is helping me with some job experience.”

“I know your father,” she said. “Alan Summers. I just want you to know that Mr. Crayton tends to get a lot of attention from the females that walk through the door of this building. This is his business. We don’t tolerate inappropriate interactions here.”

“Like office romances?”

Cheryl nodded. “It’s highly discouraged by Mr. Crayton himself. He doesn’t want that sort of tension in the office.”

“There won’t be any of that,” I said. “I can promise you that. People tend to run the other way after they meet my father.”

Which was the partial truth. Every guy who I did manage to have a brief romance with usually fled in the other direction after he realized the extent of my father’s wealth and power. It was intimidating to face.

“I hope you’re right,” Cheryl said, slowly. “I don’t want to see you get caught up in something that you don’t know how to handle. I have your ID access cards at my desk. Find me when you are done in here. We will go over Mr. Crayton’s schedule and budget.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

I let out a pent-up breath the second that Cheryl stepped out of the bathroom. Concentrate, Vi. You’ve gotta keep it chill if you want this to work. I sure as hell didn’t want to bring attention to my plan. I didn’t want someone to tip off my father about what they might have heard or seen.

I spotted Michael sitting on the edge of my desk, waiting for either Cheryl or me to return. He looked up as I approached, and a smile spread across his face again. A thought crossed my mind as I let a smile fall into place too. It wouldn’t hurt to have a cover story as I worked alongside Cole. If everyone thought I was focused on Michael, who was admittedly good looking, they wouldn’t think of anything else going on. It was the perfect ruse.

“Is Cheryl back with our IDs yet?” I asked, leaning up against my desk next to him. “I’m ready to get to work here. What do you think so far?”

“She isn’t back yet,” Michael replied, tucking his phone into the pocket of his pants. “It’s impressive here. That’s for sure. I was stoked when they called to say I got the position.” He gave me a long and curious look. “I have to admit that I didn’t know there was going to be another intern here. I was told there was one internship available.”

“My father is good friends with Mr. Crayton. I asked for some job experience, and well, they figured it’d be better to get the experience here than in some other place.”

“That makes sense. I noticed that Mr. Crayton seems a bit familiar with you.”

The center of my cheeks burned. Not familiar in the way that I wanted him to be.

“Just old family friends,” I murmured as Cheryl approached us. “That’s all that is going on there.”

After Michael grabbed his ID access card, he went straight to the financial department to shadow. Cheryl handed me a variety of items—a brand new iPhone, an iPad, a leather wallet with the company credit cards and checks, and my ID access cards. She explained that one of the members of the IT department would be stopping by with a computer for me.

“Are you sure that you can handle this position?” Cheryl asked. “It’s been a long time since Mr. Crayton has hired a personal assistant. He likes everything a certain way.”

I set the items down on my desk with a smile. “I’ll be fine. I’ve worked with CEOs my whole life. I know how to handle it.”

Cheryl looked dubious as she opened her mouth to reply, but stopped short when the phone on her desk started to ring. She left to answer it while I took a seat at my desk to wait for my computer to arrive next.

Ding. Ding.

I picked up the iPhone in surprise. My stomach fluttered when I read Cole’s text.

Settled in just fine out there?

I texted back quickly. Just fine, thank you. Anything that you’d like me to do for you?

His response came back a minute later.

Nothing at the moment. Thank you.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling. I could get used to having a daily interaction with Cole. There was no doubt about that.