Page 48 of Brassy Bigwig

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DIMITRIOS

Iwent the rest of the weekend without seeing or talking to Chloe. After I made my promise to her—and I meant every word—she told me she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do about the situation at work and would think more about it over the weekend. I have a good feeling she’s going to show up today, but if not, it won’t be the first time she’s shocked me.

I don’t know if the suggestion to work together while we get to know one another was stupid or genius. But I do know we’re walking on shaky ground. I can see the desire in Chloe’s eyes every time she looks at me, even though she’s hell-bent on fighting it.

I hear the ding of the elevator as it arrives on my floor. I want to know if it’s Chloe, but I don’t want to appear too needy, so I keep my seat. The echoing click of high heels hitting the marble floors is a good sign. The sound brings me back to Greece again, and suddenly, she’s there, walking toward me in that little black dress. I hear the clicking get closer to my office door, but it stops before I can see who it is. When I hear a desk drawer open and close, I know it’s her.

Thank God.

Once she’s through putting her things away, I see her angelic face appear in the doorway to my office.

“You’re here early.”

“Yeah, I wanted to get in and take care of a few things before the day started.”

“I’m going to have to get used to having another person up here all the time. It was nice being alone all day. But I think I’ll be able to deal with having you around,” she admits with a coy smile.

I can’t stop my smile as I take in her meaning. I meant what I said to her on Friday, I don’t want to fuck my assistant ever again. However, being near her as often as I will with her working for me is much better than finding time to see her in the middle of my jam-packed work week. And definitely better than only seeing her on weekends.

I may need to make an exception to my own rule.

“I brought you coffee.”

She walks the full distance to my desk and places the cup on its surface.

“Oh. Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” she smiles. “I wanted to. I was getting some for myself anyway.”

I smile at her.

“I’m going to go start up my computer. Let me know if you need anything.”

I nod as she turns and walks out of my office, and I’m both pained and enraptured with each step she takes. Turning my attention back to my email, I try to keep myself distracted by going through my ever-growing inbox and separating the junk emails from the important ones.

A little while later, my phone begins buzzing on my desk. Picking it up, my stomach churns when I see Unknown scroll across the screen.

Fuck.

Every time this happens or I get a call from a number I’m not familiar with, my stomach gets twisted up in knots. I’m waiting for the day when Kendra calls me to let me know she’s not happy with the five million she’s already received from me.

“Is everything okay?” Chloe breaks my concentration.

“Huh? Oh, yes, it’s fine,” I answer, declining the call.

“I went ahead and printed the discrepancy report from last week for you rather than emailing it. I figured you’d print it out anyway. But let me know if you’d rather I do it differently from now on.”

“This is perfect, thank you,” I confirm.

She smiles awkwardly before leaving once again. The last thing I thought we would deal with in the office together is awkwardness, but I guess I was naive to believe there wouldn’t be any. I need to think of something to get us past this part of our boss-employee-lover relationship.

I need to get her underneath me again. Soon.

After completing a few more hours of work, my body is stiff and in dire need of a walk. I make a few laps around the perimeter of my office before my stomach rumbles. I look down at my watch. 11:00 A.M. My feet point their way toward the lobby, and I walk to Chloe’s desk.

“Are you hungry? Do you have any lunch plans today?” I inquire.

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