Page 3 of Secret Desire
Then again, Sadie had softened my sister. Her partner was good at poking fun at that big ego Ariel had, and for her part, Ariel seemed devoted to Sadie. I was glad to see it. Our parents had a long marriage, but I wouldn’t say it was particularly happy. It was nice that at least someone in the family had found true love.
My eyes strayed to Maeve again before I could stop them, then I remembered my sister’s invitation.
“Sure, that would be nice. What time should I be there?”
“How about six?” Ariel suggested. “I have a conference call at five, but it should be over by then and we can head upstairs together.”
The AGM offices were located in AGM Tower, my sister’s pride and joy. She and Grace and Maeve had built this project togetherafter their company took off. Sleek and modern, it took up an entire city block on Chicago’s prestigious Gold Coast. It was a mixed use building housing a restaurant on the first floor, an exclusive nightclub on floors two and three, then two floors of offices for AGM, along with several floors of high end condos. The top four floors were private though. The three business partners had each taken a floor for themselves, building their private residences. The top floor was a shared recreational space with a pool, gym, game room, and a sauna.
Next to all this luxury, my perfectly nice apartment on the near north side looked like a dump.
“Six is fine, I’ll see you later.”
I followed Maeve down the hall, my designer’s eye appreciating the understated elegance of the space.
“This is your office,” she told me, leading me into a modern space with a desk, small conference table, and floor to ceiling windows looking out over Lake Michigan. It was twice as large as the office I had at my last job.
“Nice view,” I said.
“My office is right down the hall,” Maeve said. “I’ll ping Theo and let him know that you’re ready for him. You’ve met him before, right?”
“No, not yet.”
Maeve gave me a strange look.
“That’s weird, he’s one of your sister’s best friends.”
I shrugged. “Ariel and I have never been close. I was shocked when she called me and suggested that I come work here at AGM.”
I wasn’t even sure how she knew what happened with my former boss. I hadn’t mentioned it to her, and I certainly hadn’t said anything to our parents, who seemed to think I was an irresponsible fuck-up. Then again, the grapevine in Chicago operated fast, so Ariel probably heard it that way.
“Maybe this will be a good opportunity for you and your sister to get to know each other as adults,” Maeve suggested. “Working together could be good for you.”
“Maybe.” I had my doubts. My sister had never been particularly interested in me. Then again, she’d been busy building an empire.
Maeve patted my arm, and I felt a little zing of electricity where her palm touched my skin. She stared at her hand with a tiny little frown, telling me that she felt it too. Then she pulled back suddenly, like I’d burned her, and headed for the door, walking quickly.
“I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Maeve
Ileft Ashley’s new office and walked directly into my private restroom, closing the door behind me and leaning against it with a shaky sigh. What had just happened? Had I just had ‘a moment’ with my best friend’s little sister?
I sank to the floor, grateful that the housekeeping crew kept this space spotless. Other than a brief sighting at Ariel’s engagement party, I hadn’t seen Ashley in years, not since she was eighteen.
She’d changed a lot over the years. She held herself with a confidence she didn’t have back then. Her light brown hair was straight now, blown out to fall to her shoulders in a sleek curtain. Her curves had filled in, and while she was still lean, she had softly rounded hips and breasts that were more than just a handful.
Not that I noticed of course. She was my best friend’s little sister and my new employee. I definitely should not be thinking about her breasts, that was strictly forbidden. I should keep my focus on her face. Yes, that’s it. Those intelligent brown eyes, creamy smooth skin, the pert little nose that upturned just a little bit. And those thick lips, highlighted by a shiny pink gloss. I’d love to see those lips on my…
Wait, that was a bad direction. I should focus on her professional credentials, which were impressive. She’d made quite a name for herself in the city, designing both residential space and luxury spas. We didn’t have a lot of capacity on the team in that area, and when my partners and I discussed offering Ashley a job, we’d figured that her skills would transfer over to some of our other projects as well, including the boutique hotel projects we were pursuing.
I’d offered to be Ashley’s supervisor. I figured it would be too awkward for her to be working under her sister, especially given that they still had a little sibling… well, not rivalry exactly, but there was definitely something there. It was like they’d never taken the time to get to know each other as adults. And Grace had until recently been working two jobs, so Ashley working on my team made the most sense. We could have assigned her to one of the other managers on the team, but I nixed that, deciding that I’d take her under my wing.
Now I was regretting that decision, because I’d taken one look at Ashley and fallen completely in love with her. Ridiculous, I know. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, or maybe it was, because it was my first sight of her as an adult, other than a brief contact at the engagement party.
I had a feeling that I was in big, big trouble.
I just needed to keep things professional with Ashley. After all, she’d just left a job with a boss who hit on her. I was not going to be the next boss who sexually harassed her.
