“You look amazing, Rory. The business look really suits you.” He smiled.
Thank you, ass**le, is what I wanted to say. “Thank you.”
“Follow me to my study. I have something to show you,” he said.
We walked to his study, and I went over to the new cherry wood desk that sat against the sidewall from Ian’s desk.
“This is your desk. I’ve supplied you with everything you’ll need and the computer is fully loaded with all the software you’ll be using.”
I looked at Ian and twisted my face. “There’s that adorable look again. Now, what?” He smiled.
“You never had an assistant work from home, have you?” I asked.
Ian put his hands in his pocket and casually walked over to his desk. “What makes you think that?”
“Because this desk wasn’t here the last time I was in your study and I don’t recall ever seeing another female in the house besides your maids and sex partners.”
Ian sighed and looked down at his desk. “Please don’t refer to those women as my sex partners, and you’re right, there was no assistant.”
“So you lied to me?” I asked.
Ian stepped away from his desk and walked over to me. He put his hands on my h*ps as he tried to explain to me what I’d asked him.
“Technically, no. I’d been planning on hiring someone all along. You came along and I thought you were perfect. End of discussion,” he said as he kissed my lips.
“Excuse me, Mr. Braxton, but I do believe we’re on company time. I would hate to think that you kiss all of your female employees on the lips.”
Ian chuckled. “Only the special ones.” He winked. “I do have to head to the office. I have some contracts here that need to be typed up. You’ll find the program on the computer. If you have any questions, just call me or Adalynn. She knows my software and she could probably help you.”
“You never told me that you’re partners with her at Prim.”
“Should I have? I didn’t really think about it,” he said.
“No, I guess not.” I sighed.
Ian smiled and left his study. I sat down in the plush black office chair and opened the first file for the contracts that needed to be typed up. I turned on the computer and a picture of the most amazing flowers filled the screen. I smiled because he remembered how much I loved flowers. As I became familiar with the program, and started typing the contracts, an hour had passed, and Mandy, one of Ian’s maids, knocked lightly on the study door.
“Come in, Mandy.”
“I brought you some coffee, Miss Sinclair, and a chocolate chip muffin. Charles made them per the request of Mr. Braxton.”
“Thank you, Mandy, and please call me Rory. Tell Charles I said thank you.”
“I will.” She smiled.
Mandy was a cute girl. She looked to be about mid-twenties with short black hair and green eyes that resembled cat eyes. She was very attractive. As I finished up the contracts, I ate my muffin and drank my coffee. The day went by pretty fast as I sat on the computer all day, studying the software that was loaded in the computer. Ian sent me a couple of text messages, asking me to make some phone calls for him. I got up from my desk just as Mandy walked in with a beautiful arrangement of flowers.
“These just arrived for you, Rory.”
“Oh my gosh. They’re beautiful.” I smiled as I took them from her and set them on the desk.
There was an envelope that was sticking out from the top, so I pulled out the card that was inside.
For a beautiful assistant.
Welcome to Braxton Development.
Best, Ian
My smile widened as I took note of the word “beautiful” he had called me again. I stuck my nose in the flowers and took in their amazing scent, then picked up my phone to send Ian a text message.
“Do you always call your assistants beautiful? Thank you very much for the flowers.”
“No, because I only have one assistant who’s beautiful and you’re welcome. 2 more days!”
After my work was finished, I left Ian’s study and walked to the kitchen. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Ian’s father, Richard, sitting at the table.
“Well, well, I thought you moved out,” he said.
I walked over to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water before replying to him.
“I did move out, Richard. I’m working as Ian’s assistant. Today’s my first day.”
He looked at me and knitted his eyebrows while giving me a sinister look. “Really? My son hired you?”
Remain calm. He’s nothing. You’ve handled far worse. “Yes, Ian did hire me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” I smiled as I began to walk out of the kitchen.
“You’re not excused, little lady. Get back here!” he exclaimed.
I slowly turned around and stared at the so-called man before me. He got up from his chair and walked over to me.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-three,” I replied.
“You’re just a baby. No wonder why my son is keeping you around. If it’s money you want, name your price.”
His words were unbelievable to me, and I felt like a ticking time bomb ready to explode any second.
“I don’t have a price, Richard. Ian was kind enough to take me in and help me out. He’s given me a chance to start my life over, and I will always be indebted to him for that.”
“You poor, naïve little girl. My son will break you. When he tires of you, which he will, he’ll break your spirit and then he’ll go on with his life as if you never existed.”
“Dad of the year, right? You taught him well. You should be so proud,” I said.
“Rory! That’s enough!” Ian yelled.
I quickly turned around to find Ian standing there with anger displayed all over his face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
I couldn’t answer him because it was apparent that he walked in on what I said, and he didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. I shook my head and stormed past him, bumping into his shoulder as I walked by. As I went down to the beach to try and calm down, I was burning mad at the way that man talked to me and also at how Ian walked in and yelled at me without hearing what his father had said.
“He’s an ass**le; what can I say?” Ian said as he walked up behind me.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t hear the things he said to me.”
“Then tell me, Rory,” he whispered as he put his hands on my shoulders.