Page 10 of Beck and Call

"Coming to work for me."

"What position?" My voice was low and husky.

He smirked up at me, revealing two dimples. "I can come up with many. You seem … versatile. Are you flexible, Evie? Can you take direction?"

"I still can't decide if that is innuendo or your actual requirements."

"Truth?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No, please lie to me."

He pulled suddenly on the back of my thigh, causing me to fall into his lap. His hand slid around to my waist and held me perched on his leg. "Smart ass," he whispered into my hair.

When I didn't try and get up he continued speaking. "One of my rules has always been not to mix business and pleasure. The problem is, and has been for every relationship I've attempted, I'm a workaholic. You make me want to blur the boundaries I've set in my life. The job is real. I need an assistant. You'd run my schedule, attend meetings with me, travel with me, and dozens of other tasks that come up over the course of the day."

I nodded. "Okay, I can do that."

"But working close to you," his hand stroked down to my leg again, and slipped just under the hemline of my dress. "I'm going to want things that shouldn't be on a job description. Things I'm not going to pay you for, because I'm not looking for a whore, but a partner."

"We just met this morning. There's no way you could know you want this with me. I'm still not sure what exactly you're proposing. It doesn't sound like you want me to be your girlfriend. I know I'm young, and I'm sure far less experienced than you. So, you're going to have to spell this out for me."

"I didn't get where I am in business by not taking advantage of opportunities. Yes, I am inheriting an established company, but it was a company on the way down before I took over. Now we are one of the largest technology companies in the world. I'm not an overly emotional man. Despite my status in business, and the size of my bank account, my needs are pretty basic. You are the one who might find you have to sacrifice for this arrangement."

"I still don't understand," I admitted.

"Don't expect romance and declarations of love from me. It's not who I am. If you agree to this, there won't be anyone else, for either of us. I was never good at sharing when I was young, and I'm worse now. I can't let you agree to this unless you understand that you'll have my body, but I don't have a heart to give you."

"Keep it. Giving away something you can't live without leaves you to wither and die. I know, I watched it happen to my mother, and I will never be like her."

"So, are you willing to give this a try?"

I looked at him, really looked at him. Could I keep my heart safe? Already he'd shown me glimpses of someone possibly as broken as I was under his polished veneer. He was dangerous to me, because he might tempt me to do the one thing I'd always avoided, fall head over heels.

God help me. I thought I'd evaded temptation in the past. I'd run from every boyfriend who threatened to make me feel anything more than lust. Maybe knowing he wasn't going to fall in love with me would be the difference. We could fight off the loneliness together and guard our hearts at the same time. It had to work, because I didn't think I had the strength to say no to him. No, that wasn't exactly true. I didn't want to walk away from him, and that scared me more.

"Yes. I want to give this, whatever this is, a try."

Chapter Four

My eyes cracked open, allowing pinpricks of light to stab my irises. "Ugh," I grunted. My head pounded, and I was sure a desert had developed inside my mouth.

The pounding got louder, and I realized it wasn't only my head banging, but also the other side of my door.

"Coming," I croaked.

I opened the door, and instantly closed it again. Beckett was standing on the other side, looking like he just stepped out ofGQ, while I looked like I was trying to house birds on top of my head. The chasm between us was never more clear than this moment.

The door knob started to twist, and I hurried to the bathroom. It wasn't hard since the entire apartment was only about three hundred square feet. I heard him enter, and I quickly tried to pull a brush through my hair.

It wasn't smooth, but it didn't look like it was housing woodland creatures anymore. Still, it was definitely a day for a ponytail if there ever was one. Hiding in the bathroom seemed like an excellent idea, but it wasn't like there was an abundance of places to hide. I quickly brushed my teeth and used my deodorant before I decided to face him.

"Better now?" he teased.

"Jana is evil," I muttered.

After our talk last night, we danced a bit, and Jana continued to pass me glasses of beer after our trip to the bar. I had five drinks over the course of the entire evening, but the first few were on a mostly empty stomach.

"Well, I brought you a chai latte and a bagel." He handed me a bag with a bagel inside and an insulated paper cup.

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