“Good morning,” I said cheerfully to the woman at the reception desk in the lobby. I wasn’t usually this perky on a Monday morning, but two whole days at home with my sweet little Zoe had been just what I needed. It was hard, leaving her with Hazel, but I was getting used to it. Hazel loved Zoe like her own granddaughter, so it wasn’t like I was leaving her with a stranger.

My good mood lasted until I got to my workstation. I rounded the corner and stopped cold, staring at my empty desk. As in really empty—no computer, no phone, and no framed picture of my sweet baby girl.

A dull thud hit my stomach as I peered around the low dividers between workstations. Everyone else’s desk looked the same. People were still arriving, but no one else had stopped, frozen, staring at their desk the way I was.

Had I been fired? It seemed the only explanation. But shouldn’t they have let me know? I thumbed through several screens on my phone. No missed calls. No messages.

Feeling rather hopeless, I took a deep breath and headed toward Mr. Brown’s office. If he’d fired me, it had to be because of being late. And the only reason I was late was because of the pumping. Companies weren’t supposed to be able to fire women for that, yet it happened all the time. I bit the inside of my lip as I went. If I was fired, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. But I wanted to. It had taken over a month of searching to get this job. If I had to start all over, I was going to run out of money quickly.

Mr. Brown was at his desk, typing on his computer. He looked up when I knocked softly on his open door, but didn’t say anything. Bastard. He had to know why I was here.

“Umm… Mr. Brown, my things are gone from my desk. Am I... does that mean… have I maybe been moved to a different department?” It was the most optimistic thought I could muster even though it seemed like a long shot.

To my utter amazement, he nodded, almost reluctantly. “Yes. You’ve been reassigned.”

Seriously? I’d been so sure I was fired. My knees were suddenly wobbly, and I leaned against the doorframe for support. “I have? Where am I going?”

He gave me a look that clearly said he had some ideas for where I could go, but he answered civilly enough. “You’re to report to Mrs. Sinclair in the CEO’s office.”

“Thank you,” I said, hearing the relief in my voice. “Where can I find Mrs. Sinclair?”

“I just told you. She’s part of the CEO’s staff. There are numerous directories throughout the building. I assume you can read—I suggest you try it.”

The insult was minor compared to the relief I felt at not being fired. One more week, and I’d get my first paycheck. I vowed to get Zoe a walker I’d had my eye on. Knowing I still had a job was the best news ever. Knowing that job would not involve Mr. Brown was a close second.

Five minutes later, and I was standing in front of a tall, thin woman dressed in a crisp blouse and a long skirt. Her gray hair was piled up on top of her head in a bun, and she peered at me from over rimless glasses. I knew absolutely nothing about her, and already I liked her better than Mr. Brown.

“Welcome to the CEO department, Penny.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Sinclair.”

“Call me Vera. Let me show you to your desk.” She moved briskly and efficiently. People looked up and smiled as she passed by several desks. They were smiling at her and at me. Besides Mr. Brown, no one had been mean in my old department, but no one had been really friendly, either. Apparently, Mr. Brown’s dour mood rubbed off on his underlings. The people in this department seemed open and personable. I wasn’t sure if that was because of Vera or the CEO.

“Here you go.”

Now it was my turn to smile. My new space had a large desk minus the cubicle walls. My computer and phone were set up on one side, and my picture of Zoe and few other possessions were at the other end. Off to the right was a woman at a similar desk, speaking into a headset. She was far enough away and spoke quietly enough that it wouldn’t be bothersome. To my left was a window. An actual window.

This was going to be fun—whatever this was. “Umm… what exactly will I be doing here?”

“Whatever needs to be done. Which means a little bit of everything. Consider yourself one of several personal assistants to the CEO,” she said, nodding at three other women and a man with a desk by the door. “Sometimes that means attending meetings and taking notes, sometimes arranging lunches or organizing events. Sometimes doing routine things and sometimes putting out fires. You’ll get the hang of it. And it’s good training—I believe you took some MBA coursework?”

I told her I’d earned about half the credits needed for my graduate degree. Then, tentatively, I asked about taking breaks.

“Ah, yes. I saw the picture of your little girl. She’s adorable… reminds me of my youngest grandchild. Feel free to go to the lactation room whenever you need to.”

Thank god. I nearly slumped into my new office chair in relief.

“Get settled in, and then I’ll send Heather over to get you started on some tasks. And Mr. Hollister wants to see you after lunch.”

“Mr. Hollister?” I knew that the Hollister family owned this corporation, but I hadn’t done much research into company leadership. Taking care of a young baby didn’t leave a lot of time for extracurricular projects.

“The CEO,” she said. “You’re part of his staff now, you know.” With an amused look, she headed back to her office. I felt foolish, but optimistic overall. Things were looking up. If I had to leave Zoe for eight hours a day, at least it would be nice to spend that time apart in a pleasant environment.

The day passed quickly, and at two o’clock, my new coworker Heather walked me to the CEO’s office. She talked a mile a minute, telling me about her family, her boyfriend, how long she’d been at the company, and anything else she could think of. All that was required of me was to smile and nod, which was good because I was a little apprehensive about meeting the CEO of such a huge and successful company.

Heather wound down as we walked down yet another long hallway. This place had so many of them, and they all looked the same.

She stopped walking and talking all at once. We were standing several feet away from a closed door. “Don’t be nervous,” she said. “Mr. Hollister is really nice.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to pretend a confidence I didn’t feel.

“Of course, once you see him, you’re likely to get nervous anyway. Just remember under all… that… he’s just a nice, normal man.”

“All that?” I said, unsure what she meant. “All that?”

Ignoring my question, she took my arm, tugged me toward the door, knocked, and opened it. “Penny Jenkins is here to see you, sir.”

With that, she gently pushed me inside a large room. A very familiar room. One I’d very recently been in—without my clothes on.

I looked at the sofas, the coffee tables. The conference tables. Anywhere but the big desk in the corner. When a tall figure loomed in my peripheral vision, I knew I had to look up. Into his twinkling brown eyes.

“Nice to see you again, Penny.”

It was the gorgeous man who’d invaded my thoughts over the weekend. The man who’d seen me almost naked on Friday. Blake was Mr. Hollister, the CEO of the company. And my new boss.

Unbelievable.

And horrible.

Mortification settled into every cell in my body, but his expression was amused. “Didn’t you realize who I was on Friday?”

“No,” I said, trying to divert myself from death by humiliation by noticing the way his muscles bulged under his crisp, white shirt. His jacket was casually tossed on the conference table, but his tie was still on. It was dark red today. “I was, uh, a little distracted.”

“Me too,” he said, a hint of a grin on his face as his eyes swept down to my feet and then back up again. It seemed almost a reflective action on his part, but I knew he was remembering what happened, and likely remembering me. All of me that he had seen, which was pretty much everything.

“God, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a fair-skinned blonde blush.”

That made me blush more, of course.

“Sorry. Just thinking aloud. Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know that what happened on Friday will never happen again.”

“I know,” I said, suddenly back on more solid ground. “Mrs. Sinclair—I mean Vera—said that it was okay to take a break at any time. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, but that’s not what I meant. You were right before… the lactation room is quite a hike. I want you to take this.”

He held out his hand, and I automatically raised mine. His long fingers closed over my own, and the warmth of his skin was inviting. When he pulled his hand back, I stared at my palm. I was holding a small key.

“It’s for the hall entrance to the suite.” Blake strode over to the side door between the bookcases. Stunned, I trailed behind him as he opened the door and led me inside. “Feel free to use this room anytime you’d like to do your thing. To—pump.”

It was rather adorable the way he stumbled over anything to do with babies or breastfeeding, but my amusement quickly turned to awe as I looked around. Was I really to use this lovely, homey room instead of sitting on the metal folding chairs in the lactation room? It was too much. This was his private space. “I can’t,” I said.

“Actually, you can. Know how I know? Because you it did on Friday.” He winked at me.

“But it’s your room.”

“So? I didn’t get to be CEO by taking naps during the day. It’s not being used, and you need a place to do your thing, so it’s a win-win. Plus, you’ll be able to get in and out faster and get back to your tasks. So it’s a win-win-win.”

My eyes flashed from the kitchen, the bed, the window, and back again. Could I really do this? Brand new employees did not get keys to the CEO’s private quarters. It still didn’t seem possible.

“And it’s got a fridge.”

I glanced back up at him. That was a mistake, because it meant peering into his deep chocolate brown eyes. Eyes that had been glued to me ever since I set foot in his office.

“Not that I know anything about it, but I assume you need to keep the milk you pump in a refrigerator, right? I mean, it’s not like your body creates powdered milk.”

An unexpected laugh bubbled up inside me and escaped my mouth. Blake’s grin deepened as he joined in.

“No… I haven’t quite mastered that trick. Thank you. This is more than generous. I—I probably shouldn’t accept, but you’re right, it will make it easier to get back to work. Not that I know what that work will entail yet.”

“A little of this, a little of that. You’ll catch on quickly enough.”

“I guess I’d better get back to it, then.” But I was strangely reluctant to leave. Not the cozy suite, but him. Even as the thought passed through my mind, I realized how dumb it was. He was the CEO. A member of a rich and powerful family. And I was just… me. A single mom working her first real job in the business world. An assistant. And underling. Not an equal.

Still, somehow, from the way he looked at me, it didn’t feel like Blake viewed me in those terms.

Of course, the admiration I thought I saw in his eyes might be because he’d seen me with my clothes off.

But then again, maybe not.

Between meeting Zorro at the ball, getting unexpectedly pregnant, having a beautiful baby girl, and now this strange and fortunate turn of events at my new job, I was beginning to realize that pretty much anything was possible.

Which was good.

Unsettling at times, but overall—good.