Page 14 of Scandalous Secrets

“Good. She seems very capable,” I said.

And she was. From what I knew outside of the office.

“She hasn’t been a personal assistant in a few years,” said Kathy, with a hint of warning in her tone.

“It can’t be that hard,” I said.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at me unconvinced.

“Oh, come on, Kathy. Give her a chance,” I said with a shrug.

She rolled her eyes as she stepped out and closed the door behind her. I knew she was going to have an extra watchful eye on Monica, which meant there really could be no funny business between us. This was my last chance to prove to my father that I could do this. That I deserved this.

The disappointment of seeing Kathy at my door had not only deflated my hopes, but also my erection. I was safe to leave now. I grabbed my briefcase and headed for the door. As I stepped into the hallway, I spotted Monica at her desk just across the way from my office. She was getting her things organized, unaware of my presence.

I watched her for a moment as she stacked papers and organized the drawer of her desk. Her face was one of concentration as she leaned down and looked at her computer, reading something on the screen. She pulled her hair to one side as she read, revealing her long neck where I had left an invisible trail of kisses. She really was a knockout.

I quietly turned and continued down the hallway toward the elevators. The whole cab ride home, I thought about Monica and how eager I was to see her again the next morning. It would be torture, but at least she wouldn’t be a stranger.

When I got home, I fell face-first onto my bed with a groan. Today had been an unexpected one and my brain was stirring. The smell of jasmine and sweet sweat filled my lungs as I breathed in deep. The slideshow of the night before flashed through my head instinctively. I closed my eyes and tried to shut them out, but it was no use. I sighed frustratedly as I walked to the bathroom. I needed a freezing cold shower.

This was going to be a hard situation, in more ways than one.

Chapter 7

Monica

Iwaited awhile to leave the office after watching Troy slip out the door without so much as a goodbye. Could I blame him, though? This whole thing was so awkward. I wondered if his afternoon meeting had been canceled, or if it had been made up to avoid me. I probably would have done the same thing. But we couldn’t avoid each other forever.

“How was your first day?” asked Kathy, striding up to my desk with her purse.

“It was good. Just settling in,” I replied, as I shuffled some paperwork on my desk mindlessly.

“What did you think of Troy?”

I felt a guard go up, like she had just asked me something extremely personal. I wondered if there were two sides to that question. Had she picked up on the tension between us? It wouldn’t be hard. It filled the room like a thick smoke.

“He was very professional,” I answered. “I can see why he has earned so much success.”

She snorted through her nose. The second time she had done that. She must really not like him. I gave her a curious look.

“Well, good luck,” she said, drumming her fingers on my desk.

“Thank you.”

I watched her turn and walk down the hallway toward the elevators. I breathed a little sigh of relief, knowing I was finally alone with my thoughts. Alone now, I opened my emails and scrolled through to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. It was all just onboarding that I had already completed. I leaned back in my chair and glanced toward Troy’s empty office across the hall.

It was like I could still feel his presence long after he had gone home. How could one night with him have such a hold on me? This morning, I had done everything to convince myself that it was just a one-night stand and it didn’t mean anything, even if it was a triumphant feat to leave him in that cloud of a bed this morning when all I wanted to do was stay. Clearly, I was not cut out for intimacy without the strings attached.

But I had sensed a tinge of disappointment in his voice when he brought up me leaving unannounced this morning. Or did I imagine that? He didn’t seem like the sort of man to care, especially with his reputation with his personal assistants. I wondered how many he had gone through. I was sure I could find out easily from Kathy, but I kind of didn’t want to know. I’d already had one too many unwarranted jealous thoughts this afternoon of people I had never met.

I put my head in my hands and ran my fingers through my hair frustratedly. I needed to talk to someone about this. I reached for my phone and scrolled to Heart’s contact to type out a quick text and hit send.

Me:SOS. Can we grab dinner?

Heart:Of course.

I smiled at my phone. No questions asked, she was there for me. That was why she was my best friend.

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