“Hello?”

I’d never stepped out of an elevator and into nature before. There was a little stone path in front of me that appeared to go through the woods even though we were on a rooftop. Trees lined the path and provided shade for several benches and a picnic table. Small bushes and flowers covered the ground. To my left was a fountain, a classic structure a little taller than me. The water bounced down several tiers and then dropped down into a pebble-covered pool.

“Welcome to the oasis.” Seth stepped out of the shadows, somehow making it seem natural that an incredibly handsome man in dark slacks and a crisp white shirt should emerge from the woods.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed. And it was. For anything to look gorgeous in the vicinity of such a hot-as-hell man, it had to be special. The garden was amazing. It was one of the most peaceful places I’d ever been.

“Thank you. My grandmother created it right after I first bought the building. Apparently, she worried about me being inside all day, holed up in my workshop. She’s a firm believer in the healing power of nature.”

“Your grandmother did all this?” I held out my hands, indicating the trees, big enough to provide shade, the various types of tall grasses and wildflowers.

“She had help.”

I’d heard about Seth’s grandmother, but not much in recent years. She’d practically raised him when he was younger. His parents had been away a lot on trips, both for business and pleasure.

“Does she still work with the garden?”

A flash of pain crossed Seth’s features, and I recoiled inwardly, aware I’d said something wrong. Oh god, had she passed away?

“No. She can’t do this kind of thing anymore.” He looked over at me and must have seen the distress on my face. “But she’s okay. I see her at least once a week. Can’t go too long without visiting Nana.”

Thank god she was still in his life. The last thing I wanted to do was to make Seth think about sad things. A man who seemed to get such enjoyment out of his life shouldn’t ever be sad.

Seth held out an arm, indicating a concrete bench in the shade. He sat down, his arms hooking over the back of the bench seat, his legs spread. Somehow, he managed to take up most of the bench, so I took a few hesitant steps toward him, unsure if I should sit next to him or not.

“Welcome to your new job.” His smile was dazzling. If someone could figure out how to bottle up the charm from his grin and sell it to charmless people like me, they’d make a fortune. But his words gave me a much-needed opening. “I don’t really know what it means to be a personal assistant.”

Seth lowered one arm and patted the seat next to him. I sat down on the edge of the bench.

He rolled his eyes. “Has no one ever explained the concept of sitting to you, Newbie? It’s easy. All it takes is one ass and one chair. Or a bench, as the case may be. First rule of being a PA—sit, don’t perch.”

Feeling foolish, I scooted until my back was against the concrete wall.

“Much better.” Seth placed his arm on the back of the bench and it was almost like his arm was around me. My pulse quickened at the thought.

“Umm… maybe you could tell me some of the other rules of being your PA.”

“I’m more of a make-it-up-as-I-go type of guy.”

“Okay,” I said. “But you must have some idea of what you need or you wouldn’t have been looking for a PA.”

“Fair enough,” he said, looking amused. Or maybe he just always had that good-natured yet sexy grin on his face. I’d rarely seen him without it. “A big part of your job will be keeping me organized. Did you ever babysit when you were a teen?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then you have the right skillset.”

I laughed as he continued. “You’ll be keeping my schedule, setting up meetings and appointment, taking charge of my in-box, answering e-mails, jotting down my brilliant ideas, communicating on my behalf with other departments.”

Oh. I’d been nodding along, feeling reasonably confident until that last one.

Seth shifted, angling himself toward me. “Your whole body just went stiff. Was it that last part?”

“Yeah.” My voice was soft and almost got lost in the light breeze.

“I heard that you’re not big on public speaking.”

“Or any kind.” It was better for him to know that up front.

“Yet you’re speaking to me.”

Wow. He was right, I was. I mean, I usually did okay one-on-one in low-stress situations. But talking with the world famous Seth Spencer didn’t really qualify as low stress. Yet somehow, he was easy to talk to. “I’m usually okay like this,” I said, gesturing between us. “But not in front of audiences, or at meetings, or classes… or at interviews.”

“Justine told me.”

I figured she must have, but I flushed anyway.

“Interesting,” Seth said, looking at me curiously.

“What?”

“You’re a brunette, but you blush just like a redhead.”

That, of course, made me blush more. As did his direct gaze. “Justine’s a redhead—I bet she never blushes.”

“Rarely,” Seth said. “Guess you’re doing it enough for both of you. But go on, tell me what it is about that kind of speaking that’s so difficult for you.”

God, this was not what I wanted to be talking to him about. Ever. But I’d accepted the job when I hit the button on that timer the other day. Seth had called it a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I only lasted half a day. “I just… get tongue-tied. Trip over words. And then that makes me anxious and then I do even worse. My throat tightens and my brain freezes up and nothing comes out. Or sometimes, tons of words tumble out, but they don’t make a lot of sense and I don’t have much control over them.”

Seth was looking at me steadily, but I couldn’t do more than sneak quick peeks at him out of the corner of my eye. Still, it seemed like he was looking at me with sympathy, not pity. I’d seen both and there was a difference. “The worst thing is that I know it’s going to happen. So before I even start, I tense up and get extremely nervous. Not just if I have to give a presentation—it can happen pretty much anytime.”

Finally, Seth responded. “What about here in this garden? Are you feeling nervous now?”

“No.”

“Look at me, Erin.”

I turned and inhaled sharply. How could any man be that good looking? He took my breath away, literally. “Now I am.” The words escaped my lips without conscious thought.

Seth chuckled. “Well, technically, that’s a bad thing for your public speaking ability, but I have to say, it’s not an altogether bad thing for my ego. Sometimes it’s fun to make a pretty girl a little nervous.”

God, his grin alone was enough to do it. Such a wicked smirk on his face. He knew damn well how hot he was, and he knew how it affected me. Which was majorly embarrassing, but somehow also… arousing.

And holy crap, had he just called me pretty again? The man needed to get his eyes checked. Blushing, I looked away.

“You’re adorable,” Seth said, but then he straightened up next to me. “But adorable isn’t going to help grow the company or help your career. What we need is to make you into a more confident public speaker.”

All of the tingling and excitement inside me vanished at once. Alarm replaced it—alarm and resignation. He needed to understand this about me. “I’m sorry, but it won’t work. So if that’s what you hired me for, I need to bow out. The interview went horribly, and that was just in front of one person—”

“Stop.” Seth reached out and grabbed the hand I’d been waving around. I stilled at his touch, unable to process. Seth Spencer was touching me. He wasn’t exactly holding my hand, but he pushed it down against my knee and placed his on top of mine. “Do you think I emerged from the womb able to build high-tech toys?”

His eyes were demanding on mine—it wasn’t a rhetorical question. “I think you were born with some natural talent.”

“Yes,” he conceded, not letting up the intensity of his gaze. “But I had to learn how to put together electronics. How to code. How to use computers to bring to life the ideas in my head. I had to learn every step of the way. And that’s what you’re going to do. Public speaking is a skill like any other.”

“No,” I said, pulling away from him and standing up. “It’s not. Not for me.” Realizing that I was almost yelling at my new boss, I walked away from him, away from the garden to a little patio. I felt Seth behind me, but I continued on, moving to the edge of the roof.

Resting my palms against the concrete wall at the edge, I looked at the city in front of me, the mountains in the distance. This was the same view from his office—we must be right over it.

Heat graced my arm as Seth stood next to me. He looked off in the distance for a minute or two before he spoke again. “Tell me why.”

God, that was the last thing I wanted to do. To share my lifelong weakness with Seth Spencer. But he’d hired me. He deserved to know if I couldn’t do the job. He deserved the chance to fix his mistake and find someone else.

I kept my eyes on the horizon when I spoke. It was easier when I wasn’t looking directly at him. “When I was a child, I stuttered. A lot.”

Seth didn’t say anything, but he moved an inch closer, his arm pressing against mind, almost as if offering me something to lean on.

“It was awful. The other kids would make fun of me, the teachers would either not call on me at all or call on me and then pretend they didn’t notice. Some days I’d be so nervous to go to school that I’d literally make myself sick. It… it was terrible.”

“Did you go to a speech therapist?”

“Yes. For years.” An assortment of faces passed through my head, the various specialists I’d seen. All had tried different methods. Few had actually helped. Finally, in middle school, I started seeing a private speech therapist, Mrs. Stacey. It had cost my parents a fortune, but she’d helped me learn to speak without stuttering.

I explained all that to Seth. “Eventually, I stopped stuttering, but I never became comfortable with speaking in high-stress situations. I’m not one of those heartwarming former-stutterer-to-star stories like James Earl Jones.”

“Well, you’re a bit young to cast in a Star Wars movie.”

Seth’s flippant remark helped. He wasn’t recoiling in horror, he was listening. He gave me the confidence to go on though I still couldn’t look directly at him.

“By the time I stopped stuttering, the damage was done. To this day, I get this overwhelming panic when I’m called upon to speak in front of people. Or for something high-stakes like the interview. I just can’t do it. Either no words come out or I start babbling, unable to stop. So if this job involves public speaking, then I respectfully resign.”

Now Seth turned to me, and there was a smile on his face. “Yes, it does, and no, you don’t.”

“Seth…”

“There are many parts of the job that you’ll be perfect for. But, as with any job, there are new skills you have to learn.”

“This isn’t a new skill. This is something I’ve been trying to do for decades and can’t.”

“Decades,” he scoffed. “You’re what, twenty-two? Take it from an old man of twenty-seven. This is a skill, and skills can be learned.”

“Not this one.”

“You just need the right teacher,” Seth continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Luckily, I happen to know a guy. He’s smart. Talented. Easy on the eyes. And modest, of course.”

“Of course,” I echoed weakly. Seth wanted to teach me to speak better in public? The last person I’d ever want to fail in front of was him. Shakily, I tried to muster an argument. “I had plenty of teachers. Licensed speech therapists.” Which he definitely wasn’t.

Seth laughed. “Touché. I’m not a licensed anything, except perhaps egomaniac. But I’m creative. Persistent. And I’m going to meet with you every day at three to work on this.”

Oh god, he’d been serious. “But… you’re the CEO. You don’t have time to coach me every single day.”

“Do you know why I became my own boss?”

“No.”

“So that I can do whatever the hell I want. Three o’clock, starting today. Come on, Newbie, I’ll show you to your desk.”

His voice didn’t allow any argument, plus none seemed to form in my head. This was insane, and not a good use of his time. But he didn’t seem to be listening to my opinion on the matter. I took a few slow steps forward and Seth put his hand on the small of my back, steering me back toward the elevator.

The thought of public speaking filled me with fear. The thought of Seth spending his valuable time coaching me filled me with guilt. But the touch of Seth’s large hand on my back sent tingles along my skin, reaching deep down to my center. The personal contact was warm and wonderful, and for a brief moment as we walked together, I allowed myself to just enjoy being at his side.