Page 3 of Theirs to Take

There was no turning back now. “Have dinner with me,” he said again, this time sounding surer of himself, almost as if he was issuing her a demand. That was usually who he was—a demanding prick and the sooner Nova got to see that in him, the faster she’d acclimate to his world.

“Do you usually ask all of your employees out to dinner?” she challenged.

“Sometimes,” he said, shrugging. “I mean, you and I will be working closely, and it might be good for us both to get to know the other a bit better. What do you say?” Nova looked torn, and he almost felt bad about putting her in that position—almost.

“Okay,” she agreed. “Just to clarify—this is a business dinner, correct?”

“Yes,” he agreed, a little too quickly. He wondered how good she was at weeding out a lie. “Of course,” he added for good measure. “I’ll send my car for you at seven if that works for you?” he asked.

“You don’t have to go to all that trouble,” she insisted. “I don’t mind driving myself.”

“If you are going to be working for me, Nova, you have to get used to the job coming with some perks. I’m an ass and I won’t be easy to work for. Take the perks as you can,” he teased.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll be ready at seven.”

“I’ll get your address from HR,” he offered. He had already memorized her address and cell number when she was filling out the paperwork and he was pretending not to pay attention to what she was doing.

She nodded and stepped onto the elevator, “See you then,” she said as the doors closed. Now, all he had to do was get to seven o’clock before he’d see her again, and why did that seem like a lifetime to wait?

Alex was sure that he was playing with fire, but he didn’t give a shit. He wanted his new assistant, and if he got burned, so be it. He just hoped like hell that she didn’t come to her senses and decide not to attend their little business dinner, as she liked to call it. He was sitting at the back corner table—one that the restaurant kept reserved for the VIP’s and as a silent partner in the place, he definitely qualified.

As soon as she walked into the place, he could almost feel her presence. He looked up to find her looking around the restaurant, trying to see if he was already there, and as soon as she found him, he could tell. She shot him her sexy smile as shesauntered across the room, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Yeah—she was going to cause him some trouble, but that was going to be HR’s problem, not his.

Alex stood and pulled out her chair for her. “You look beautiful,” he said.

“I only own this one cocktail dress, and well, I didn’t know what the dress code was,” she admitted. “I think that this place might be way above my level of fancy,” she teased. The little black dress she had put on was perfect, but he wouldn’t tell her that she made his mouth water.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he assured. “I’ve already ordered for us. I hope that you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I’m betting that the menu is in French, and I wouldn’t have a clue as to what to order anyway,” she said.

“It is,” he said. “I know just enough French to muddle through.” That was a complete lie—he was fluent in not only French but Spanish and Italian. His mother was a linguistics teacher in Scotland before they all moved to the United States when he was a teenager, and he just had a knack for picking up languages.

She fidgeted with her place setting, and he reached across the table to take her hand into his own. Alex could feel her tremble and he smiled across the table at her. “Nervous?” he asked.

“Honestly, I am,” she admitted. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here. While I appreciate the job, this feels separate from that. Am I correct?” she asked. He wouldn’t lie to her, but how could he tell her the truth without scaring her completely off?

“Yes,” he whispered, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “You are correct. I like you, Nova.”

“But I’m going to be your assistant and HR said—”

“I don’t give a fuck what my HR department said,” he growled, causing her to jump a bit. He regretted causing her any distress and huffed out his breath, trying to calm the fuck down.He was going to screw this all up before he even got his chance with her.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I know the script that HR had to read you, but we’re two consenting adults, Nova. You agreed to be here, right?” he asked.

“I did,” she agreed. “I wanted to come to dinner with you.” Hearing her say that gave him more hope than he should have felt.

“Then, let’s just enjoy dinner and see where it takes us,” he offered. “No pressure, and no strings.”

“My job will be safe no matter what?” she asked. “Because I really need this job.”

“One hundred percent safe,” he agreed. “If you tell me no, at any point of our evening, you and I will simply part ways and see each other bright and early in the morning, at my office. Deal?” he asked.

“Deal,” she agreed, pulling his hand into hers and giving it a curt shake. He wasn’t sure what they had just shaken on, but he was hoping that it might involve Nova agreeing to come back to his place after dinner because it was all that he could think about since she walked into that restaurant wearing her little black dress and sexy smile—fuck HR and their rules if she agreed to give him what he wanted. There was no way that he’d give up his chance with the first woman who peaked in interest and his cock in a damn long time.

Nova

He ordered drinks and appetizers for the table as Nova sat across from him wondering what she had gotten herself into. There was no way that she’d be able to choke down appetizers, even if she hadn’t eaten anything all day and was starving. When she agreed to go to dinner with him, she was still riding the high of being hired to be his assistant. She’d finally be making enough to get into a better neighborhood and apartment. That would be good in her case she was building against her ex-husband but bringing down Simon wouldn’t be easy. Having a good lawyer like Alex in her corner was going to help and then, she had her secret weapon, her best friend, Evie Jones.

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