Page 15 of Like a Boss

Hannah bites her lip to contain her laugh. “Did he acknowledge you?”

“No.”

Hannah flinches. “Well, that’s a little awkward.”

“Try a lot,” I groan, massaging my temple.

“Baylee, stop.” She grips both my upper arms, shaking some sense into me. “You’re good at your job. You can do this withyour eyes closed. It’s probably better that you do,” she adds, pulling an amused face.

I ignore her joke. “How am I meant to do this? I mean, this is so wrong. If anyone ever found out…”

“They won’t.” She stops me from continuing by giving me a light shake. “There is no way he’d tell anyone. And I know you’d rather die. So I dare say your secret is safe.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t want to have a secret. Nor do I want to be a secret. I just want to come in, do my job, and go home. My life has been complicated enough. I don’t need this to add to the ever-growing shit pile.”

She pulls a sympathetic face. “You kind of don’t have a choice. If you want to keep working here, then you’ll have to suck it up and forget you ever met anyone you nicknamed Tiger because that man out there”—she points to the door—“is not him.”

I nod because she’s right. And that’s what blows.

Thankfully, I haven’t seen Tiger, I mean, Mr. Fox since this morning.He’s been in meetings all day and left me to learn the ropes from Alicia, the brunette receptionist.

“He likes his coffee served at precisely eight-oh-two a.m. Not a second later. And he prefers meetings with clients to take place after eight-thirty a.m.”

I nod, chewing the top of my pencil as I slouch in my seat, bored out of my brain.

She looks at my blank notepad. “You should write that down.”

“Oh right,” I say, sitting upright, but seriously, how hard can this be?

I worked for the soulless whore for three years, and not once did I need to take notes or be briefed on what brand pen she preferred. Working for Mr. Fox, our history aside, is definitely going to be a challenge.

“Ms. Pope. Ms. Young,” Mr. Fox addresses us as he briskly marches into reception.

Alicia shoots up while I slouch back down in my seat, ignoring how his deep voice triggers my heart to race. I doodle in my notepad, pretending to be lost in my ever so interesting lesson of, ‘how to please your anal retentive boss.’

“How’d she go?” he asks, shuffling through the documents Alicia presents to him.

“Great, sir. She’ll be ready in no time.”

She?

She is the cat’s mother, and not to mention, I’m sitting right here. His continued aloofness once again pisses me off so I raise my eyes, daring him to call mesheagain. He meets my challenge and the corner of his mouth curves into a bold smile. It’s gone a second later.

He returns his attention to the perfect Alicia. “Excellent. Have her look over the Fletcher notes. I need them typed up by the end of the day.”

“Of course, sir.”

He completely ignores me, and just as I’m about to stand and give this jerk a piece of my mind, he slams his office door shut, ending a conversation that never started.

My mouth hinges open. That was unexpected, not to mention rude. I can’t help but wonder if this is the reason why he’s gone through so many assistants. Or am I just the lucky one?

I decide to ask. “So,” I say as Alicia sits back down. “How long have you worked for Mr. Fox?”

She brushes her long hair to one shoulder. “Oh, I don’t work for him. I fill in when he’s in need of assistance.”

“I’m guessing that’s a common occurrence then by how well you know the job.”

She nervously shuffles her paperwork, avoiding my gaze and questions. But I won’t allow her code of silence to deter me. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

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