Page 6 of His Temptation
I look down at my watch and notice it’s five minutes after three. I’m never late to meetings. How the hell did this happen? My body instantly burns with anger. I swivel in my chair to find my assistant sitting in the corner of the room with red cheeks.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know where the conference room was. It took me a couple of minutes to find it and get the waters and coffee ready before I got you.”
“It’s no problem. This floor is like a maze,” Roy interrupts. “No one is perfect on their first day. Right, Lincoln?”
I hear the tone in his voice. He’s telling me to give the woman a break. I don’t give people breaks. No one ever gave me a break. The only thing that stops me from firing her on the spot is knowing how bad it will look that I fired two assistants in one day.
“Now you know where it is. Don’t let it happen again,” I warn.
Roy glares at me, but I’m not in the mood for his shit today. I know he’s going to say I need to loosen up and stop being such a dick. He tells me this every day. I never listen, so I don’t know when he’s going to give it a rest.
Before I turn back to the guys, I swear I see pure hatred reflected in her eyes. It throws me off-kilter a bit because I’m used to lust reflecting back in the eyes of my assistants. I’m sure I’m just imagining it because they are all the same. Maybe she was just momentarily embarrassed for fucking up on her first day.
Either way, I shake it from my head and focus on starting the meeting.
3
KYLIE
My boss is the biggest dick I have ever come across before in my life. I’m not even exaggerating when I say this. What kind of person treats other human beings with such little respect?
This entire day has been a complete whirlwind. The only thing keeping me from slapping him in the face and walking out is knowing the money and health insurance will change our lives. I owe it to Benny to make his life as easy as possible.
I managed to sneak in a text to my neighbor Angela and told her I’d be home later than usual and to let Benny know. Angela is in her eighties and the sweetest Italian immigrant widow. She’s as tough as nails, and she has been through hell and back in her life. The moment she learned of my situation, she took me under her wing, and she has been there to watch Benny whenever I need to work.
Now that Benny is twelve, he doesn’t really need a babysitter, but she still brings over food and tries to help where she can. Sheassured me he’d be well fed and have his homework done by the time I got home tonight.
Speaking of, it’s six, and Mr. Monroe is still working in his office. Most of the employees have filed out to go home to family or meet friends for happy hour, I’m sure. I don’t know if he works late every night, but I recall Scarlett telling me that I stay until he leaves. This is going to be an adjustment for me and Benny.
It’s seven by the time he shuts down his computer and walks out of his office.
I realize he isn’t even going to say goodbye to me, so I call behind him, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Monroe.”
The dick doesn’t even turn around. He just lifts his hand in the air.
I huff out a breath of frustration and pack my things up.
On the subway, I think about Scarlett telling me that all of his assistants couldn’t stop drooling over the man and eventually got fired for trying to find a way into his pants.
Is the man good-looking? Yes. He’s gorgeous. I think I even gasped when I first laid eyes on him this morning. His dark hair is short on the sides and longer on the top but styled into a perfect, natural messiness. He has stubble on his face that adds a bit of gruffness to him. And his eyes are a captivating mix of hazel and gold with flecks of brown.
But none of it matters once he opens his mouth. The man seems to live in his own world, where he thinks everyone should bow down to him and worship the ground he walks on. And yet he gets pissed off when his assistants fall head over heels for him and fires them.
I may need to come up with a mantra to remind myself why I’m here and why I need to put up with his shit.
I get off the subway when it reaches our neighborhood. We live in Harlem, which is a far cry from a picturesque upbringing for Benny, but it’s all we can afford. Our apartment building is old and has one too many roaches that like to make their appearance all over our apartment.
I’ll bet if Mr. Monroe ever caught wind of where I lived, he’d fire me on the spot. It’s probably beneath him to associate with someone of my kind, even if I’m working for him.
I put the key in our lock and jiggle it five times, which seems to be the trick these days to get it to catch, then turn the key to the right. The creaking of the door echoes throughout the small two-bedroom apartment. I consider it our own home security system. No one’s getting through our front door without waking me.
“Benny?” I shout as I toss my keys on the wobbly wooden kitchen table. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
Moments later, he stumbles out of his room with a tired look on his face. The moment he sees me, his eyes open wide. “What the heck are y-y-y-y-you w-w-wearing?”
I glance down at my outfit, completely having forgotten I was dressed like this.
I open my arms wide. “Surprise! I got a job.”
