Chapter One
“Owen and Oliver Jones,” Lori said aloud, as she looked over the list of details in her hand for the umpteenth time that morning. Apparently, her new employers were twin brothers who had a well-known and less than likable reputation.
Not to say the brothers weren’t likable, themselves. On the contrary, they were notorious for their professionalism, dedication and initiative in their business. They were also well known for their charisma, charm and matching good looks. Who wouldn’t want a double dose of that?
Their secretaries wouldn’t, as it turned out. Evidently, the flip side to the men’s positive traits was enough to drive away multiple assistants as well as a few other staff members.
Lori had already received the same look of distaste and even pity from multiple people when she’d inquired about her new position at the front desk, and it was much less than encouraging. Everyone seemed to have the same opinion that she was a goner from the get-go; not that she’d actually asked anyone for their opinion. And so far, that was irritating her worse than the looming reputation she was apparently meant to be so afraid of. Who were these people to assume she couldn’t handle it? Whether she could or not was up to her, not them.
Lori now looked up at the door leading to the twin’s secretary office. ‘Not much point in waiting around and debating about any of this,’ she thought to herself. ‘You have a job to do and you do it.’ So, with a quick roll of her shoulders, she opened the door.
The room was spacious and carpeted with pleasant blues to compliment the rich brown wood of the desk and wall paneling. There was a single, large L-shaped desk straight ahead and a small seating area in front of it, no doubt for waiting clients. On the left side of the room was a dark wooden door with the name “O. Jones” plated to it. Glancing to the right, she saw a matching door with a matching plaque that also read “O. Jones”.
Lori wondered if she should take a seat in the waiting area or knock on one of the doors. Glancing at the desk, she saw a note card propped up that had her name on the front. She picked it up and opened it.
“Your duties will be relayed to you. We expect professionalism and timely performance”
That was it. No signature, no welcome, and no further details. Lori quirked her brow and checked the back of the card. Nothing. The message wasn’t even handwritten. ‘Well,’ she thought. ‘Alright then.’
She took her seat at the desk, setting her bag underneath it and checked the clock: 6:48am. She was scheduled to start at seven, so she figured she would most likely hear form someone before long. She was a little surprised that she was the only one who had a desk in the room though. Was she really expected to do everything for both bosses, herself? Perhaps. If nothing else, she’d certainly be busy. But if this were the case, then why weren’t there any detailed instructions left for her? Why was no one here to meet her? Was she supposed to knock on the office doors and announce herself? Which door should she knock on? ‘Seriously guys, you couldn’t put your first names on your doors?’
She decided to wait it out a little and looked around her desk. She had two telephones on either side of her. Her eyes moved from one to the next with little expression. Were these for different purposes, or did her bosses really feel the need to do this with everything? She only had one computer on the adjacent side of the desk, and a bulletin board full of overlapping notes, numbers and business cards that she didn’t know what to do with. She began to search the desk drawers for some kind of contact book.
When she next glanced at the clock it was three minutes to seven and she still hadn’t found one. Nor had she heard or seen anyone come into the office. She sighed to herself, wishing there were something she could be working on instead of just sitting there. Her dad had always told her it was best to appear busy at your job, even if you really weren’t, and from there he’d always go into a speech about the importance of appearance and performance in any line of work. Easy for him to say, he was a lawyer and all about appearances. That was how she’d landed this job in the first place; her new bosses were her father’s clients. And as such, he had made it repeatedly clear that she was expected to perform to the best of her abilities so as not to make either herself, her family or her employers look bad in anyway. ‘No pressure,’ she had thought sarcastically.
After giving up looking for any kind of clue as to what she could be doing with her time, she decided to just enjoy sitting in her comfortable seat for the time being. No doubt it would be her only chance for some relaxed time if these guys were going to be keeping her very busy. She checked her reflection in the vacant screen of her computer monitor, making sure the higher parts of her hair were still neatly clipped back behind her head. Her hair had always been thick and it was more of a nuisance than she would’ve liked. It just felt heavy. But she’d spent many of her younger years with short hair and decided she’d leave it long for a while. Change was always good.
Five minutes after seven, she decided to make herself known. ‘Since no one seems interested in “relaying duties” to me,’ she thought. Heading over to the door that was now on her left, she knocked. No response. She leaned in to see if she could hear anyone speaking, but she couldn’t. The office was very quiet, she was sure she’d have been able to hear something if they were on a phone call or having a meeting. After waiting a moment, she walked over to the other door and did the same. Still nothing. Were they simply not here? Where would they be? She thought about going back to the main desk to ask, but decided she didn’t want any more looks. Maybe she could just call the front desk, but she didn’t know the extension number. Why were there no instructions left for her? They clearly knew she was coming, otherwise they wouldn’t have left the card.
Lori went back around to her desk and checked underneath it in case something might have gotten lost down there. But the floor was bare and clean. She heard a door open and hit her head under the desk in her attempt to get out from under it.
She cursed under her breath and held her head as she looked over the desktop toward the men who just walked in. The one who’d entered first stopped and looked at her with an unreadable expression, while the second appeared behind him and looked curiously past the first. Each held a to-go carton with two covered beverages and some kind of wrapped edible. She’d heard from numerous people and seen in magazines about their devilish good looks, but she hadn’t been expecting what was in front of her. Words and photographs did them no justice. The Twins were stunning.
“Good morning,” Lori said, getting to her feet and trying not to look as aggravated as she felt with her throbbing head. She felt the heat rush to her face under their hard stare.
“Were you just hiding under that desk?” the first man asked.
“No,” she said with a short, but nervous, laugh. “I was looking to see if anything might have fallen down there. I wasn’t sure what I should be working on, you see. I saw the note card but there wasn’t much to go on, and I knocked on both of the doors, but…” she trailed off as both men simply stared at her. God, they were beautiful. She smiled and walked around her desk with her hand out. “Sorry. Hi, I’m Lori Bennett.”
“Obviously,” the first twin said, bypassing her and heading toward the second door she had knocked on. Lori turned her attention to the second one who didn’t take her hand either but at least nodded at her with a half-assed smile.
‘Okay,’ Lori thought, letting her hand fall before putting it behind her back with the other one. She should have a least expected that after what everyone had pre-warned her about, but she’d dealt with arrogant pricks before and she wasn’t going to allow two spoilt twins to defeat her. Two incredibly handsome spoit twins. She kept her tone light and addressed the second one.
“I came in at about quarter to seven.”
“Mmn,” was all she got in response as he made his way toward the first door she had knocked on. Each went into their respective offices, and one door closed after another, leaving Lori to stand there in the middle of the room.
‘What the hell?’ she resisted saying out loud. Then she remembered the looks she had received at the front desk. Was this what they were referring to? Were the twins just rude to people or what? Sliding her jaw to the side with some thought, she decided she could only do what she could do, therefore she was not in the wrong. She took a seat in one of the waiting chairs and decided she would stay there until they came back out and told her what to do. Minutes went by, taking their sweet time as they did. Still, neither of the men came out of their offices.
Lori really didn’t like just sitting and doing nothing. Not when she was sure there was something productive she could be doing, or learning, or preparing for. She strummed her fingers on the arm chair and took turns looking at either door. They hadn’t even introduced themselves, how was she supposed to know who was who? They were wearing matching suits too; casual ones, she noticed. She looked down at herself and figured her own trousers and fitting beige sweater was acceptable attire for the place. She sighed to herself and wondered if they’d be out once they finished their food. Her father’s voice began to nag in her head about initiative, and appearances. She rolled her eyes and hoisted herself to her feet, heading for the door of the one who had smirked at her. At least he had kinder eyes. She knocked and waited. No reply. Again, she leaned in close to see if he might be on the phone, but she heard nothing.
“Mr. Jones?” she called, and knocked again. “Mr. Jones?”
The other door opened across the room. She turned and saw the man who had first ignored her handshake looking less than pleased.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Um,” she gestured to the door beside her before turning to face him directly. “I wasn’t sure if someone was going to give me instructions for the day.”
He looked at her as though she’d just said something ludicrous. She tried again.
“I saw the note card about someone relaying my duties to me but I wasn’t sure if it would come from you directly, or if someone else was going to come in, or…” she trailed off again, wondering why he was looking at her like that.
“What’s the problem?” a voice said directly behind her, and she jumped with a gasp. She spun around and saw the other twin standing very close to her. She hadn’t even heard the door open! He raised his eyebrows at her alarm but didn’t seem very enthused.
Her heartrate increased from the sudden fright, but more than anything she was getting annoyed at repeating herself.
“I’d just like to know what I should be doing today. That’s all.”
The man looked over her head, and when she turned back, she saw the first man looking like he was displeased with something. He put his hands to his hips and took a few steps closer. Damnit they were hard work, but they sure as hell smelt good.
“I was under the impression you’ve had experience as a secretary,” he said.
“Yes, I have.” She replied.
“So, what’s the problem?”
She blinked at him, and turned to the one closest to her. He seemed to be waiting for a response too.
“I’m… I’m experienced, but I’m still new to this company. I can’t do my job if I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Did she,” the first one spoke again, “Or did she not just say she had experience?”
“That’s what I heard,” said the second one.
Lori was getting tired of turning back and forth so she stepped closer to her desk to get both men in her perspective. But now she was cornered.
“So why would you need us to tell you your job?” the first asked.
‘Are you serious?’ she thought. She fought hard to keep the annoyance off her face, but it was becoming a real struggle. It would be bad taste to give up and quit on the first day, let alone embarrassing for her father, but she was starting to wonder what she gotten herself into. Could they really be this bad all the time?
“Specifics, I guess I should say,” she answered after taking a few breaths. “What specifically would you like me to do for you here?”
Now the man looked utterly dumbfounded, and made a sort of mute stammering gesture to his brother. The other raised his eyebrows even higher and quirked his mouth as though he were in some kind of less dramatic agreement.
“Wow,” the first said, letting his eyes wander aimlessly at the room behind him before turning back to face Lori. “What did you do during your last ‘experiences’?”
“I answered phones, entered data in to the computers, relayed messages and basically worked on anything I could to make the boss’s job easier,” she answered confidently, despite the growing heat in her face.
“And a fine job you did,” he said with a false smile. “I was just saying that to my brother when we had to go out to get our own coffee this morning.”
Lori frowned a little. “I wasn’t given any instruction to-”
“And now we have less time to get our own work done. And you’re holding us up even more by asking stupid questions?”
‘Who’s asking the stupid questions here?’ she thought. She kept her tone civil despite feeling her patience crumble and falter.
“I’d have gotten to work straight away if I’d had instructions left for me.”
The other twin in the doorway sighed and leaned back against the doorframe.
“How about answering the phones?” The first said with a shrug. “Is that not straight forward enough?”
“The phones haven’t rung,” Lori said.
“Really?” he asked with disbelief.
“Really.”
“Two phones and neither of them were ringing all morning?”
“No.”
“I highly doubt that,” he said. “They’re constantly ringing.”
“They haven’t rung since you’ve come back,” she pointed out. “The lights are on, so I know they’re plugged in.”
He looked at her for a moment, evidently not liking what he was hearing. He looked at the phone as though he expected it to prove his point any second. It didn’t. Lori was beginning to feel a little better, until the man bent down and picked up a loose cord. He held it up and looked at her expectantly. She stared at it for a moment before realizing it wasn’t the power cord. Both phones were plugged into an adapter that was meant to go into a single phone jack; and it was unplugged.
She pressed her lips together.
“So now we can add missed calls to the list of things going oh-so-right today,” he said.
She kept her head up but lowered her eyes. “I didn’t think to check that. I apologize.”
“You can save your apologies for our clients who couldn’t get through to us all morning,” he said, bending over to plug the cord back in.
Lori tried to be subtle as she took a deep breath to steady herself. She was sure her face was red now, and she hated to think that they might mistake it for embarrassment.
“If you tell me what sort of coffee you’d like, I’ll be sure to bring it in for you,” she said.
“Why don’t you worry less about coffee and more about playing catch up,” he retorted.
“Where would you like me to start, Sir?” she asked, gesturing to the empty space on her desk. “I really don’t have anything to tell me where to start.”
“Well we’ve already gone through the trouble of collecting the mishaps left by our last assistant. So, you can get to work on those. But don’t ignore incoming calls, they all have to be addressed.”
Lori nodded and spoke quietly. “I can do that.”
“Good.”
Both men turned to their respective offices and came back with stacks of files in their arms. They placed the piles on her desk before going back. Lori took a breath to calm herself and sat in her chair. At least now she’d have something to – she looked up as they each brought in another stack and placed those on her desk too. The files were thick, full of paperwork.
“I think you killed her pep, Owen,” the quieter of the two said.
Owen (at least now she got a name from one of them) leaned over her desk and looked down at her.
“Did I hurt your feelings?” he said in a quiet voice. “Is this more than you can stomach on your plate?”
Now she risked frowning at him just a little. “It’s a secretarial position, Mr. Jones. I think I can handle it.”
“Do you?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
She considered him for a moment before answering.
“You were looking for an assistant, I was looking for job. Easy math.”
“So, this is just a paycheck position to you,” he remarked, shrugging like it meant nothing.
She was about to ask if it wasn’t the same for everybody and remembered that this was their company. Of course they cared about it and so they expected her to care too.
“Only when I’m not working, Sir.”
He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at her.
“When I do my job, it’s for the greater good of the cause,” she explained.
“And what’s the cause?”
“The profiting and improvement of your company.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Improvement?”
“Every company looks to improve one way or another,” she answered. “No matter how well they may be doing.”
“Do you even know what we do here?”
“No one’s told me yet,” she admitted. She waited for him to explain it, but when he didn’t she just added, “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
He gave a small huff of laughter and straightened up. “Don’t knock on the doors anymore. If you need to reach Oliver or I, use the phones.” With that, he disappeared into his office to her right, closing the door behind him.
The other twin, who was apparently Oliver, lingered for a moment.
“Any more questions?”
‘Do you treat all your assistants this well or am I just that lucky?’ she thought bitterly. She answered aloud, “What extension calls your offices?”
“One for one, two for the other,” he said, giving her a faint smile before heading to his own door. “Have fun.”
His door closed and Lori cracked her knuckles in favor for not punching something. If only this pile had been on her desk to begin with, this probably wouldn’t have happened. No, she decided. This was bound to happen if this is really how they run things. No wonder the last secretary left and it was clear to her now that despite being utterly gorgeous and just as fuckable as girls who didn’t know them thought, they had nothing to offer a proper woman. It was plainly obvious that any female who draped themselves across the twins, were purely in it for the money. It was a shame, she noted. A shame and a complete waste. Had they had a much better personality, she would have fallen hook line and sinker. They were just her type. Tall and broad shouldered with hypnotic eyes. It was no secret that she often wore her heart on her sleeve. Her friends constantly warned her about the boys she’d been used to falling for, but she wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Not this time. The way the twins had treated her so far was an instant turn off. They might have been the city’s most attractive and desirable men, but she wasn’t that desperate.
Lori took a deep breath to steady herself and took one of the files. There was no label or anything to suggest the content of the paperwork, so she simply opened it and began looking through papers.
The phone rang.
She reached for the receiver and brought it to her ear. “Jones’ office, how may I help you?”
“Is that how you answer the phone?” a familiar voice said through the line. She clenched her teeth and fought once again to keep her tone under control.
“Is there a specific way you would like me to answer the phone, Mr. Jones?” she asked.
“Better than that.”
She heard a click. Did he really just hang up? She looked at the receiver and hung it up with a huff. Going back to the paperwork, she tried to look for any sort of pattern that might help her organize what she was seeing.
The other phone rang. She reached for it and inadvertently knocked over the stack of files, sending most of them to the floor, both behind and in front of her desk. She closed her eyes and tried not to growl out loud. Bringing the phone to her ear she said in a very forced light tone, “Thank you for calling Jones’ office. This is Lori, how may I help you?”
There was no answer.
“Hello?”
“What did my brother want?” a flat tone replied.
Lori gawked at the empty room. Were they fricking serious?
She licked her lips and answered, “He asked if that’s how I greet people on the phone.”
“Is it?”
She wanted to yell, but bit it back.
“Yes, sir.”
“Very well then.” He hung up. Lori kept the receiver by her head until it started beeping before she hung up.
She smirked to herself. They thought this was funny, did they? That or they were crazy. Or simply immature. Regardless, she got to her feet and started gathering the mess off the floor.
Part way through, the first phone rang again.
She picked it up. “This is Lori, how can I help you?”
“Who?” the voice asked.
“Lori, the Jones’ assistant,” she said kindly.
“So, this is the Jones’ office?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How is anyone supposed to know that if you just say your name?”
Her customer service mask melted away at once as the voice became very familiar.
“This isn’t a house phone, Bennett. This is a business.” He hung up.
She heaved a sigh and hung up, muttering to herself. She just got the last of the folders off the floor when the same phone rang again.
“Jones’ office,” she said with a little less enthusiasm.
“What did Oliver have to say?”
“He –” She stopped and thought for a moment. “I thought it was you I was talking to just now.”
“It was,” Owen said.
Lori rolled her eyes.
“Aren’t you paying any attention to the phones? They have caller I.D. you know.”
“Yes, Sir. I will look more carefully.”
He hung up.
‘Ass.’
She got a few spare moments to go through the papers before the same phone rang again.
“Yes?” she answered.
There was a pause.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice said.
Exasperated, Lori closed her eyes and fought to get a good tone back. “Yes, Jones’ office, how can I help you?”
“This is Kathryn at the front desk. Mr. Shaw is on his way up to see Mr. Jones.”
“Oh. Which one?”
“Which one what?”
“Which Mr. Jones?”
She heard a sigh on the other end followed by a knocking on the door.
“Never mind, he’s here. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and hurried across the office to open the door.
“Hi,” she smiled as she opened the door for the older man.
“Hello,” he answered, “I have an appointment with Mr. Jones.”
“Okay,” she said. “Is that with Oliver or Owen Jones?”
The man looked a little puzzled.
“Or did you want to see both of them?”
“I,” the man started, “I just spoke with a Mr. Jones on the telephone and he said to meet him here at eight-thirty.”
‘Christ,’ she thought. “Okay. Well please feel free to have a seat and I will let him know you’re here.”
Lori turned back to her desk, feeling very self-conscious about the mess, and tried to think of which Jones to phone. She picked up the receiver and hit extension one. Nothing. She tried again. Same result. She held down the call button and tried to get through extension number two. Still nothing. Giving up, she hung up the phone and offered the man a polite smile before going over to Oliver’s door and knocking.
“Mr. Jones?”
She heard nothing. Trying not to roll her eyes again, she opened the door. Oliver sat at his desk, phone in hand, and looked up at her blankly. She could feel his dazzling green eyes over her entire body.
“Mr. Shaw is here,” she said in a hushed tone. “Did you have an appointment with him?”
Oliver continued to stare at her and gave a slight shake of his head.
Clenching her teeth, she quietly closed the door and turned toward the other one. She only got half way before Owen came out and smiled kindly at the older man.
“Mr. Shaw, hello. Thank you for coming.”
Lori stopped on the spot, wishing more than anything she could transport to the ladies room to break all of the mirrors, before turning back to her desk. She let the men talk out their business, putting on a very forced smile when they made passive remarks about her messy desk and being behind schedule for small talk. Ultimately, they went into Owen’s office, and Lori gave herself a minute to put her head in both hands and sulk. But soon afterward, she sat up again and determinedly got out a pad of sticky notes. Going through each paper in the first file, she skimmed the contents and put a sticky note on each one, depicting what she thought it was. Finances, memos, contact sheets, receipts, etc.
After she got through one file, she set it aside and started another. Glancing up, she saw a water cooler across the office and got up for a drink. Oliver’s door opened as she did. She got her drink and turned to see if he needed anything. He said nothing but was eating what appeared to be some sort of scone.
“Anything I can do for you, Mr. Jones?” she asked.
“No,” he said simply, looking at her desk. “I think you’ve got plenty to do.”
With that, she returned to her seat and continued going through the papers. But Oliver didn’t leave. He continued to stand there, eating his pastry and watching her.
She grumbled internally but did her best to ignore his presence. She got through another file and was beginning to feel confident that she had a handle on this, until he spoke to her.
“You really shouldn’t knock on the doors like that,” he said. “It’s disruptive.”
She stilled her movements with the effort of appearing calm.
“I apologize. I tried to reach both of you through the phone but I couldn’t get the connection to work. I didn’t want to keep Mr. Shaw waiting.”
He said nothing, which made her more irritated. If they were going to scold her, they could at least provide a solution.
She did her best to focus on her papers. Until they gave her another order or until the phone rang (which she kept hoping against) it was all that she could do. As she worked, she got out a thin pad of notepaper and wrote out the steps she planned to take once she was done labeling everything.
Eventually, the other men emerged from Owen’s office, exchanging parting pleasantries. Oliver’s smile became much more believable as he nodded to their guest and offered his hand when his brother introduced him. Lori was transfixed. Both twins spoke with honest respect and good manners. Had this been her first impression of them, she’d have dismissed any of the rumors she had heard before. She’d have been standing and fighting in their corner and defended them against the people who thought they were assholes. If they could be that nice to their clients, then surely somewhere along the road she had them misunderstood?
They thanked Mr. Shaw and said they would keep in touch, leading Lori to realize she hadn’t really been paying attention to what they were actually saying to each other. Once the older man had left, the two brothers turned to each other.
“Good?” Oliver asked.
“Good,” Owen replied.
Then they both turned to Lori. She stiffened a little, wondering if she was going to be reprimanded some more. They said nothing. They both just watched her as though they were witnessing something new. Lori awkwardly shifted the notepad beneath her hand and forced herself to look them in the eyes. She was aware of her heart pounding loudly in her chest under their stare. “Please, God look at me like that,” she thought to herself. Yes, they were attractive, but the last thing she needed was to fall for two men hell-bent on making her life a misery.
“Is there something you needed, Sirs?” she asked as politely as she could, ignoring the hopeful churn in her stomach that they’d finally quit being jerks.
“No,” Oliver said casually, his brother shaking his head in agreement. Owen didn’t seem particularly peeved anymore but he wasn’t offering anything positive either. Simply observing. To that end, Lori just continued to go about her task, doing her best to stay focused with both sets of eyes on her. She got through two more files and was midway through the third when Oliver spoke up.
“Merlot, I think. More purple than red.”
“Sounds more Cabernet,” Owen replied. “Red is red.”
Lori paused and looked up at them. They went quiet and simply looked back at her. Awkward silence spread throughout the room and Lori simply went back to her work. After a few moments, Oliver spoke again.
“Pinot noir on bottom then?”
“Mm,” Owen hummed thoughtfully. “Plum compliments, I think. Or plum body.”
“Plum body sounds better.”
Lori frowned and looked up. “Excuse me?”
Again, she was met with their detached expressions. They certainly knew how to make people feel locked out.
“Wasn’t talking to you,” Owen said flatly.
“I gather you’re talking about me, though,” she replied.
“How do you figure that?”
“You’re both standing in front of my desk, watching me and talking amongst yourselves.”
“I haven’t heard anyone say your name,” Owen said.
“Mm hmm,” Lori left it at that, going back to her paperwork. “Interesting that you have two nice offices to use, yet you pick this spot right in front of me to have a conversation instead.”
“We have just as much right to be out here,” Owen said. “This is still the Jones’ office.”
“And it certainly lives up to its reputation,” Lori stated. She felt her patience waver.
“Which is?”
She simply smiled at him before going back to her work. There was no doubt that the brothers were familiar with the rumors and hearsay about them. She didn’t feel the need to bring it up and fall into their trap. She had to keep her head up and stay strong. She refused to let them break her, no matter how hard they tried.