Page 33 of Forbidden You

“Don’t look at me like that.” She frowns, a little offended.

“Like what?”

“Like I messed it up.” She slogs off in the chair, an assured grin on her pretty lips. “I got him to give us a ten percent discount.”

“You’re kidding.” There is no way in hell the biggest and best caterer in Atlanta gave out a ten percent discount. He’s booked until next year.

“Not even a little bit.” Her expression is serious, but from the way her mouth purses to one side, it shows me she is feeling cocky about this.

Sexy brat.

“How did you pull that off?”

She shrugs. “I very kindly pointed out that this was a charity event and that him charging us the same as the mayor’s wedding was a bit much. I said it was a great advertisement for him, showing his goodwill toward the city that he was willing to contribute. Then I topped it off by lying and saying that their competitor was willing to give us twenty percent off if we went with them. After some tossing and turning, he agreed.”

That’s fucking clever. With one simple, yet bold, phone call, she saved us thousands of dollars that can be used in a better way.

My lips part, my chest burning as I look at the magnificent creature in front of me.

I know the costs for this event are high, but I want to lure the people in with the big bags of money under their arms, and I know they expect certain things. I just went with it, deciding it was worth it, and here is this perky brunette telling my caterer to do it for less. She really is something else. And so damn smart.

Too smart to be sitting in front of my desk right now instead of finishing her degree. Why did she get kicked out of Stanford? She doesn’t seem like a girl who has a hard time keeping her grades up. Parties or no parties.

“I’m speechless,” I confess, rubbing the back of my neck.

“That’s alright, because I got more,” she continues, summing up all her achievements from this morning. “The decorator agreed to do the next event for free if they will get a banner at the entrance with their name on it. I didn’t want it to become tacky, so I offered them a mobile balloon stand idea. That way, the guests can all bring their kids animal balloons with their logos on it when they get home and I allowed them to give out flyers at the end of the event. The venue didn’t really budge because they have their expenses, but they agreed to set up the stage and lighting without any additional fees. The band agreed to play for an hour for free to pitch in their part. We need to create a list of all the stuff for the silent auction, and I was wondering if you can give me a list of people I can contact to ask them for anything they’d like to donate. Oh, and finally, I convinced that cupcake shop downtown, you know the one that has their own TV show on Discovery, to give out single boxes of cupcakes as a goody bag.”

She’s beaming at me like a little girl who just walked into the candy shop with a hundred dollars, waiting in anticipation.

The truth is, I don’t know what to say. She caught me off guard when she showed up here yesterday, grabbing a plane before the crack of dawn, and part of me hoped she’d really suck at being a PA.

I know I told Rae I’d give her a shot, but I secretly thought Kayla would fail miserably like she allegedly did at Stanford. I’d tell her this wasn’t going to work out, maybe find her another job that was more suitable, and everything would go back to normal. To us beingjustfriends.

Joke’s on me, huh?

“Are you gonna say anything?” She arches a brow, as if my lack of words has her thinking I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have, who knows?

“You did great,” I finally admit, pushing out a breath.

“Thank you.” She sits up straighter with a content smile, then grabs the piece of paper from my hand as she gets up.

“Where are you going?” I ask, a little stunned by her sudden movement.

“Getting back to work,boss.” She gives me a wink that’s pulling all my blood to my dick, nearly suffocating me, and I can’t prevent the corner of my mouth from curling as I briefly close my eyes to get my shit together again.

“Hold up.” My voice has her freezing on the spot as I pull out a folder from my desk.

“Since you’re doing such a great job. Here are the other three.”

She takes the folder from my hands, her smile slipping to a frown. “The other three?”

“I gave you the event for March. That’s only the first of the year. This is the rest.”

Her light blue eyes glide to the thick folder in her hands before they move back up, greeting me like a ray of sunshine. “You organize fundraisers throughout the year?”

“One every three months.”

“Really?” She cocks her head, a look in her eyes that I haven’t seen before. It’s filled with awe and a hint of pride.

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