One Month Later
Ally Caldwell never needed to actually see her boss, Travis Harrison, to know he was making his way to his office. He was like a force of nature that everyone shied away from, the whole upper floor of the luxurious high-rise Harrison building going from a buzz of activity to absolute silence whenever Travis the Tyrant entered the top floor from the elevator, every employee freezing like a deer in the headlights until he passed, each one breathing a sigh of relief as he moved by them without acknowledging their presence. Nobody wanted to be singled out by Travis Harrison, because it usually meant trouble.
Ally sighed, beleaguered. Most days, she thrived on doing verbal battle with one of the most obnoxious men on the planet. But today just wasn’t one of those days. Since her world had collapsed last month, she didn’t have the energy or the desire to do battle with Travis anymore, but she did it anyway, just because he could be such an asshole.
Pushing her glasses back onto her face and turning back to her computer, she murmured to herself:
“Five…
“Four…
“Three…
“Two…
“One…”
“Coffee, Alison,” Travis’s booming voice demanded right on time as he strode through the automatic doors to his spacious private office, walking purposefully into the reception area without even looking at her.
Ally rolled her eyes. In the four years that she’d worked for Travis, she hadn’t fetched him coffee for the last three years, but he never stopped trying. “I’d love some, Mr. Harrison,” she replied, not looking up from her computer screen. “Cream only, please,” she reminded him politely, like she did every single working day. Some days he cursed her; other days he would grudgingly get his own coffee but wouldn’t say a word. Ally wondered which way it would go today.
Travis hesitated at the door to his private office, turning around to glare at her. “Four damn years, and I still can’t get a cup of coffee in my own office?” he complained obstinately.
Ally swiveled in her chair and folded her hands on her desk. “Of course you can,” she answered reasonably. “I made a pot this morning.” She gestured to the small kitchen behind her. “And I only stopped fetching for you like an obedient dog three years ago.”
Maybe if you’d thanked me just once, I’d still be doing it. Jackass!
Travis straightened his already pristine tie as he moved across the room, entering the kitchen without another word. Ally cringed as she heard the slamming of glass on glass as Travis poured coffee. Really, maybe she shouldn’t have stopped getting his coffee for him years ago; his awkward skills in the kitchen had cost Harrison a lot of money in glassware replacements. But she’d made a stand, refusing to do his bidding like a personal servant because that was exactly how he’d treated her. She worked her butt off to do good work for Travis Harrison as a secretary and assistant, hoping that maybe she could use her work experience at Harrison to go back for her MBA, but she drew the line at doing everything he demanded now. Ally had learned a long time ago that if she gave in to Travis just a little, he’d push her to the limit, continue to treat her like a personal servant. And she had way too many other responsibilities now at Harrison, and more important duties than fetching his damn coffee. So she’d stopped fetching for him altogether unless it was related to business and not a personal need, rather than drive herself crazy trying to please him. There was no pleasing Travis Harrison, and the words “please” and “thank you” simply didn’t exist in his vocabulary, even when dealing with his peers. Just the fact that she still had her job was testament to her value here at Harrison Corporation, which she supposed was the only validation she was ever going to receive. She may not have applied to an MBA program, but she’d learned enough in her undergrad work to know exactly how to make herself nearly indispensable to Travis, and she’d done it in a year. And the moment she realized just how valuable she was as an employee, she’d stopped taking a lot of his crap.
Travis exited the kitchen, slamming a mug on her desk as he passed. “You can add your own damn cream,” he said abruptly, moving toward his personal office with his own coffee as he added, “I’ll need—”
“Your schedule for the day is on your computer, along with the information you requested yesterday,” she finished for him.
“And I have a meeting—”
“With Jason Sutherland? I know. It’s already on your schedule. He called me.” He’s a considerate billionaire. Ally smiled as she picked up her mug of coffee and the two packets of creamer Travis had left on her desk. He’d even added a stir stick. Obviously he was playing nice today…for now. Lately, he’d been doing that more and more often. Not to say that he was exactly pleasant. Today, he was obviously in a mellow mood, which meant he was merely hard to get along with. No doubt, he’d eventually show his “bastard” side. He always did.
“Sutherland called you?” Travis asked irritably.
“This morning before you got in.” Ally looked directly at Travis, something that was harder to do when both of them were standing. He was so tall, she was usually staring at his massive chest and shoulders, and she wore the highest heels she could tolerate to bring her up a little taller. Any advantage she could get when dealing with him was another weapon in her arsenal.
His appearance was impeccable and flawless as usual. Travis’s twin, Kade, liked to tease Travis about his dark, boring suits, but nobody could fill out a designer suit quite the way Travis Harrison did. Sure, the immaculate clothing he wore was always dark, just like him. But the dark gray suit he was wearing today fit to perfection, accentuating broad shoulders and covering what Ally already knew—from seeing him in more casual attire or without his suit jacket—was a majorly ripped physique. He didn’t have one single raven-colored hair out of place, and his dark, chocolate eyes were way too sharp for her comfort.
“Mr. Sutherland thought it would be nice if I knew about the meeting you two set up since I do your daily schedule. I thought it was very thoughtful of him to contact me,” Ally replied sweetly, her real purpose of the comment to point out how considerate Travis wasn’t.
Ally knew about Jason Sutherland, but had never met the investment icon billionaire in person. He’d been very kind on the phone, and had told her he’d contacted Travis directly because he was interested in donating and handling the investments for the new charity Travis was starting for women who were victims of domestic abuse. Travis’s friend, Simon Hudson, had spoken of the charity to his college buddy, Grady, a well-known philanthropist from the wealthy East Coast Sinclair family. Grady had come on board, and had mentioned the charity to his childhood friend—Jason—who for some reason, had taken an interest in the project and wanted to be part of the new foundation.
“Show him in as soon as he gets here.” Travis turned and entered his office, closing the door behind him.
“Yes, sir,” she muttered irritably at the closed door of Travis’s office, throwing the best military salute she could in his general direction mockingly, knowing very well that the gesture irritated the hell out of her boss. It felt good to do something that annoyed him, even if he wasn’t there to see it.
Ally shook the two packets of creamer, opened them, and dumped them into her coffee with a thoughtful look, lost in her own thoughts as she twirled the stir stick in the hot liquid.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Travis. Well…not exactly. Like was too tepid of a word for Travis Harrison; he inspired strong emotions in his employees, everything from terror to admiration. Never really a likable man, Travis maintained a deliberate distance from everyone, so Ally did everything she could to shake him out of his self-contained shell, which vexed the hell out of him. Sometimes, she preferred his anger to his icy indifference. Travis was too serious, too somber, and completely humorless. Maybe she shouldn’t perturb him so often, but it was difficult not to want to take a peek at the man who lived beneath his hardened exterior. So far, all she’d gotten was his outrage for the last three years. She’d spent the first year as his employee just grateful for a job, wanting to please him so she could keep the fantastic salary he was paying her, and possibly use the job experience some day to apply for an MBA program. Within a year, she knew he’d never fire her because he needed her too much, although he’d never admit it. After that, she’d made it her mission to get a rise out of Travis Harrison, anything that would take the haunted look from his eyes that she noticed occasionally, though he wasn’t even aware that it was there.
He’d hate that, knowing that if one looked hard enough, they could see he had vulnerabilities.
“Four years, and I still haven’t completely figured the man out,” she muttered to herself, blowing on her coffee before taking a sip of the hot beverage. He was grim and poker-faced, unless he was pissed off. Personally, she preferred his ire to the unhappy restlessness she sensed in him. Maybe most people thought Travis Harrison had it all, but Ally didn’t think so, and she never gave up trying to see who the man was beneath the asshole exterior.
Certainly, he did have admirable qualities. He paid as much attention to his charities as he did to his actual business, choosy about which organizations he dumped a fortune into. But Travis Harrison did nothing halfheartedly. Once he’d decided on his worthy causes, he worked as hard on making those charitable organizations successful as he did his business deals. Ally admired that about Travis. Unfortunately, all too often, he was also a complete jerk. Could any man really be as completely dark as her boss, yet give so much to help other people? She’d been asking that same question over and over for years, but hadn’t yet discovered the answer.
“Ms. Caldwell!” Travis bellowed from his office, not bothering to use the intercom. Not that he needed it.
Ally stood, resigned. She’d been waiting for his familiar summoning roar, already knowing what he wanted. Yanking her too-tight, navy pencil skirt down over her curvy hips so the hem would fall back to her knees, she cursed herself for her poor diet and lack of exercise. Her crazy schedule was definitely starting to show in her appearance, and she’d never exactly been a looker in the first place. The skirt had fit just fine a few years ago, and she hadn’t exactly been thin then either. Now, every single item she owned was too tight, and she definitely didn’t have the money to buy new clothes.
“Diet,” she uttered emphatically, tucking a few stray locks of hair behind her ears that had escaped from the thick, blonde French braid that hung down her back. She placed her reading glasses carefully on her desk, knowing she wouldn’t need them for this confrontation with Travis.
Swinging the door open, she entered, leaning against the door to close it. “You needed something, Mr. Harrison?” she asked with saccharine sweetness.
“What the hell is this?” He was waving around a sheet of paper, giving her an angry stare.
“It’s a reminder about my vacation. I put in the request nearly a year ago,” she told him calmly, approaching his desk.
“The answer is no,” Travis replied in an irritatingly voice of a dictator, tearing up the reminder and dropping it into the trash.
“It wasn’t a request. I requested a year ago. I was just reminding you that you’re going to have a temp to replace me for two weeks.”
“Not possible,” he dismissed. “I’ll be in Colorado one of those weekends, and I need you there.”
Ally gritted her teeth. “I put in for that time for my wedding. You’ve known that for a damn year.” She leaned over his desk, placing her palms on the edge, furious now. “I haven’t taken a single day off in the four years I’ve worked here. I cash in my vacation time and take the money. Just once, I actually need the time off. I’m taking it.”
Travis folded his arms stubbornly. “Making coffee might not be in your job description, Ms. Caldwell, but traveling with me when I need you definitely is a condition of your employment. And I haven’t needed that assistance in the four years you’ve been working for me.”
Travis was right. He had never asked her to travel with him, and it was part of her job should the need arise. He did everything alone. So why did he need her now? “This is important,” she muttered.
Ally knew she needed the time off for her sanity. She needed to rip the scab off her wounds and deal with the mess Rick had left behind. Her credit card statements had come yesterday, and she was reminded that she’d never bothered to cancel Rick’s user privileges. The bastard had charged up the cards immediately after she’d closed the sale on the house and caught the asshole cheating on her, probably to buy expensive gifts for his new girlfriend. In her wildest imagination, she never would have thought that Rick would do that to her. Of course, she hadn’t thought she’d find him banging another woman in their home either. And the house needed to go up for sale. Not only did she not need the reminder of her failed engagement and five wasted years, but there was no way she could carry the expensive mortgage without him contributing for any length of time. Not with the other debt he’d run up in her name. And she didn’t want to be house poor, killing herself working two jobs just for a home she no longer wanted. This wasn’t where her life was supposed to be. She was supposed to have a fiancé—soon-to-be husband—who was finally working in his profession, contributing to their life together. Instead, she had a mess to sort out, her dream of finally having a normal life completely shattered.
Don’t think about it right now. You’ll figure it all out when you get a minute to breathe. Focus on work.
Travis snorted unpleasantly. “You’re marrying a loser. Better if you don’t get married. You’ll be divorced within a year.”
Ally gritted her teeth, fuming. How many times had Travis said that? And God, it really annoyed the crap out of her that he was actually right. “I’m not getting married,” she answered, her voice clipped.
Travis’s head jerked away from his computer, giving her an intense stare. “Since when?”
“Since about a month ago, when I found my supposed future husband boinking some young, attractive, probably barely legal, big-breasted Barbie doll in our brand new bed,” she answered loudly, her words completely uncensored. Travis made her crazy, but for the first time in four years, she found herself genuinely losing control. “So excuse me if I need some goddamn vacation time that I’ve genuinely earned from your company to deal with that. I don’t have a second to breathe between working here and at Sully’s. I have personal things I have to take care of. I have a house I now need to sell, and I need to bail myself out of credit card and other debt that I had no part in creating.” Ally gulped and took a deep breath, panic beginning to swamp her for the very first time. “I need some time to figure everything out.” Where did she go from here? Her whole life had revolved around her plan and Rick’s education for years.
“You didn’t tell me,” Travis answered calmly.
Ally threw her hands up in the air, trying to keep herself from going for Travis’s throat. Like he really invited warm and fuzzy conversation? He spent most of his time barking orders at her. “I didn’t realize that I needed to share my personal life with my self-centered bastard of a boss. I keep my troubles to myself because I know that’s the way you like it. You pay me to work, and I do my job. Now I want to take my earned vacation time.” Had she really just called Travis a bastard? They fought constantly, and she’d certainly wanted to say those words to his face about a million times in the past, but she’d never been that blunt or unprofessional. She really was beginning to lose it. “Please. Just give me the time off. I’ll come back a better person for it.”
“He hurt you,” Travis stated neutrally.
Ally dropped into the chair in front of Travis’s desk, depleted. “My whole life revolved around his career for years. I stopped going to college after my bachelor’s degree instead of trying to go on for my MBA so he could finish first. It made sense at the time. Or I thought it did. I sacrificed everything I wanted, but I had a plan to make everything work out. I’d work hard, help him finish school, and then it would be my turn. Except, now that it’s supposed to be my turn, it isn’t,” she answered quietly, her anger spent.
“I didn’t realize you worked another job. What do you do?” Travis leaned back in his chair, but he didn’t look away from her, his dark eyes watching her intently.
“I’m a bartender. I work at Sully’s Oasis almost every night of the week. I started as a cocktail waitress, and the owner taught me to make drinks. Eventually, I got good at it. The bartending pays better.”
Travis lifted an eyebrow. “Better than I pay you?”
“No. Better than being a cocktail waitress. I had to work my way up to bartending.” It had taken her two years, but she’d gotten a raise at Sully’s. “The tips are good. You pay me a very good salary. I could never match it with bartending. But the extra job helps to pay the bills. I need to sell the house, get clear of the debt my cheating fiancé racked up, and get rid of the extra job so I can go back to school part-time.”
“You look tired, Alison,” Travis observed, his eyes traveling over her face.
“I’ve been exhausted for years. I’m used to it.” Ally laughed, trying to make light of the situation. This wasn’t the type of conversation she usually had with Travis, and she was feeling raw and awkward. She was much more comfortable fighting with him.
“She better be a good temp.” Travis finally spoke after a moment of silence. “I still need you in Colorado, but you can have the time off before we leave. Just bump it up a week so you’re back before I have to go. I assume since you’re not getting married, what time you take off doesn’t really matter.”
Ally looked at Travis in surprise. “He is a very good temp, and that would mean I’d have to go on vacation next week.”
“Then go.” Travis shrugged.
“What are we doing in Colorado?” she asked curiously.
Travis grimaced. “A fundraiser. I need an escort.”
Ally gaped at him. “I’m not going as your date to a fundraiser. That’s personal. I thought you had business there.”
“I do. And you aren’t technically my date. I have to attend this function, and I don’t want to go alone,” Travis rumbled. “It’s not that difficult. You go. You talk nicely to people and try not to call them self-centered bastards. And then you eat and drink whatever they have to offer. Tate Colter has been a business associate and a friend of mine for years. He agreed to do this charity ball only if I’d come to Colorado because I haven’t visited for a while. He wants me to be there. Going alone would be—” Travis coughed before finishing. “Awkward.”
“Why?” Ally crossed her arms in front of her. There was nothing strange about going to a fundraiser alone. There had to be something Travis wasn’t telling her. “You attend these types of things all the time. You don’t need me there.”
“This one is…different,” Travis said hesitantly. “I just need you to be there, Alison. It is technically business. Your presence is required. The temp can stay and hold down the fort with Kade while we’re gone.”
Ally eyed Travis curiously, wondering what he wasn’t saying. “I don’t have the necessary attire for that kind of function. I’ve never needed anything but office attire.”
“I’ll provide it. You’re dismissed back to your duties.” He waved a hand at her like she was a pesky fly.
God, Ally hated it when Travis did that. She felt like a naughty schoolgirl. “And how long will we be gone?”
“Leave Friday, return Monday. The actual ball is on Saturday night,” Travis answered absently, as though he had already put the whole thing out of his mind.
Ally stood, brushing imaginary wrinkles away on her tight skirt and tugging it down her hips. “Diet,” she reminded herself, turning to leave the office. She wanted to argue with Travis, but she couldn’t. He’d never asked her to travel with him, and it was part of her job as his assistant. The fact that Travis was a loner, and preferred it that way, was one of the reasons she was actually able to work a second job. He was usually alone, and didn’t feel the need for an entourage. And he never required anything from her outside of work hours. She’d do this for him just because he wasn’t demanding in that way, and he very well could have been. Somehow, although he was making light of it, it seemed important to him, and he’d never asked her to travel to events with him before.
“Totally unnecessary, Alison,” Travis said in a low, graveled voice so quietly that Ally almost didn’t hear him.
She turned back to him. “What’s unnecessary?”
“You don’t need to diet.” Travis scowled at her.
Ally rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Sure. My gorgeous body certainly didn’t keep my fiancé from banging another woman in our bed,” she answered facetiously, surprising herself again by the words that popped out of her mouth. She might do battle with Travis fairly often, but it had never gotten this personal.
Travis rose slowly, his liquid, fierce gaze never leaving her as he crossed the room unhurriedly, stopping right in front of her. Ally stepped back, trapping herself between Travis’s massive body and the door as he stepped forward again. His masculine scent filled the air around her and she almost sighed when she inhaled the intoxicating smell. She didn’t get this close to him very often, but whenever she did, her knees got weak just from the virile, musky male scent that emanated from his body like pheromones, beckoning her to get close enough to wallow in him. Travis might be a stubborn ass most of the time, but one thing Ally couldn’t deny was that he was a gorgeous, potent, testosterone-overloaded male ass.
Travis placed a palm on each side of her head, leaning down until Ally shivered as his warm breath caressed her ear.
“Your ex-fiancé was and is an idiotic fool. You, Alison, have the kind of soft, feminine body any man wants beneath him when he sinks his cock into a woman’s body. Every single thing about you is perfect.” His voice was husky, warm, and mesmerizing. “If he’d been smarter, he would have made you come, given you exactly what you wanted until you were so addicted to him that you’d never walk away, and he’d never want another woman when he had you in his bed.”
Ally nearly moaned against Travis’s shoulder, the seductive voice in her ear enthralling her. “He didn’t do that,” she admitted, leaning her head back against the door. Rick hadn’t given a shit whether she was satisfied or not.
Travis straightened, looking down at her from his towering height, his face changing to a mask of indifference. “Then he didn’t deserve you. Actually, he never did.” He stepped back, allowing space to open the door.
Ally fumbled with the door, flustered. What the hell had just happened to her? She scurried out, not looking behind her as she closed the door to Travis’s office, her hands shaking, her nipples hard and sensitive just from the sheer eroticism of Travis’s low, seductive voice whispering naughty words into her ear.
She sat down at her desk, dazed and confused, wondering if her overactive imagination had just conjured up that particular moment in time. Travis Harrison had never looked at her with anything other than irritation. And he’d certainly never said anything that made her hot and bothered in less than a few seconds.
Sipping her lukewarm coffee, she put her reading glasses back on and turned to her computer, giving herself a mental slap to stop thinking about Travis. After all, he hadn’t even touched her. It was nothing to make a big deal over. So, he’d thrown her a very strange compliment, but at the end of the day, it didn’t really change anything. Travis was just…different today, and in a very odd mood.
Shaking her head, she got back to work.