Page 4 of My Forbidden Boss

“Employ Breeze sent you?” A valley forms between Andrea’s sleek brows. She has her death stare on the woman.

Then her - Adeline’s - words sink in. “You’re my new PA?” I mentally wince when I hear the incredulous tone of my voice.

Andrea sniffs. “I asked for someone with experience.” She looks at me. “I’ll sort it out this morning. Monica said she understood exactly what I was looking for.”

“I have experience,” Adeline says. “You don’t have to ring Monica. Don’t hold my age against me.”

My skin heats as though what she’s saying is on another level. I can’t stop thinking of her age and how I wish she wasn’t so damn young.

“It’s quite clear you don’t have the experience we’re after. I was quite detailed in our needs,” Andrea said.

I silently agree with Andrea. She handles everything for me, and my day runs like clockwork. I don’t fault her. The young woman is clearly not what I told Andrea I wanted.

For a secondary PA, that is.

She ticks off a lot of other boxes I’d long thought buried.

I’m a dirty old man that I have boxes to tick about her at all. Hell, she can’t be more than Steph’s age and I’ve felt nothing other than a vague interest in my daughter’s friends.

The only reason I asked for help at all is because I run Andrea off her feet and the woman deserves not to work a routine fifteen hour day like I do. It’s not her business and hundreds of people’s jobs on the line if she makes the wrong decision.

I sigh. I have to think of Andrea. I created the new position so Andrea could have a life outside Blue Sky.

Adeline isn’t what she needs.

“I’m sorry, Adeline, but it looks like there’s been some sort of mix up at the agency.” I speak, but my lips are numb, my tongue wooly.

It’s for the best. I can’t afford to have her here. Not when I’d have to work so closely with her.

I’m not young. And she’s at least twenty years my junoir. I’m too old to notice anything about her other than her age. But I notice much more than that.

The fullness of her bottom lip. The slender arch of her neck. The way she twists long, lean fingers in a death grip I want to smooth out.

“No please. I’m good at customer service. I can take orders. I can do leg work. I’m a very fast learner,” she says. Her face tightens. I take in the worn clothing she’s tried to make work for her; a broken thread hanging off her cuff, the over-washed fabric of her skirt scuffed pumps, the tight lines bracketing her mouth and the gaunt pull of her face.

She needs this job.

And I feel like shit turning her out on the street wearing nothing but a blouse in this weather, which is strange because I’m never a pushover for a hard luck story. In a matter of seconds, this young woman with the too-large eyes has undone decades of hardness.

Softness means weakness and that will never do in this business. The sharks will attack with the smell of that fresh meat in the water.

I’m about to send her away but what comes out is, “Where’s your coat?”

She crosses her arm and rubs her arms. “I work quick. You won’t have to explain anything twice. I promise. You won’t know I’m here.”

Impossible. I’d know where this young woman is at any time of the day. Already her aura filters through my skin and the strains of her natural scent fill my nose. She’s crushed rose petals and warm feminine musk.

The material at my crotch tightens. Well…fuck.

That’s exactly what I want to do to her. I can’t. I won’t. I’m old enough to be her father. Too old to attract someone decades younger than me.

She would only see my gray hair. The lines on my face. My hardened, sluggish heart. The years life’s beaten me with. She needs a young man. Someone with years ahead of him. Young enough that they can experience life and grow together. Someone with roundness to their cheeks and the naivety of youth in their heart.

And why the fuck am I thinking of spending years with this young woman anyway?

Andrea scoffs. “How will you do your job if I don’t know where you are?”

Adeline presses her lips together for a moment. “I’m here now and can start learning today. It’s going to take at least another week to get someone new and there’s no guarantee they’ll be any good either. If you ask another employment agency to find someone, they could take four weeks to find a suitable employee and more time before that person could start. And if that person isn’t right, you’ll need to start the whole process again. It might be another year before you find someone suitable. I’d be fully trained by then, and I promise you I’ll do whatever it takes. You can’t say that of every person who walks in off the street.”

---