“And since I need my new secretary alive,” he interrupted, “I’ll give you the first half of your paycheck upfront.” Brock smiled at the combined relief and astonishment in her beautifuleyes.
“Really?” Erica said in amazement. “I mean, thank you! I accept! I just … I don’t even know what to say. I really need the job, but I’ve never heard of anyone paying upfront. You trust me that much already? Doesn’t Mr. Gordon need to approve me orsomething?”
Brock grinned. “I know Mr. Gordon extremely well. He’ll approve, believeme.”
Stepping around the desk, he nodded at the door and walked slightly behind her, restraining the desire to rest his hand on her lower back in a gentlemanly fashion, mostly because then he’d want to slide it lowerstill.
“Don’t worry about a thing. I wouldn’t offer it to you if it wasn’t what he would want. The position needs to be filled by someone who is going to do a good job, and I can tell that someone is going to be you.” He gave her a warm smile as they reached the door and he opened it forher.
“Angie! Will you please give our newest recruit the paperwork she needs?” he asked before turning back to Erica. “You’ll start first thing in themorning.”
“Yes, of course.” Erica beamed so brightly she could’ve lit up a neonsign.
“Excellent! We will see youthen!”
Only the phone call he had pending drew him away from his new secretary. Otherwise, he might well have stood there in the hallway, under Angie’s curious, knowing gaze, trading smiles for the rest of the afternoon withErica.
Chapter3
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Erica sighed as she ran through the door. “Late on the first day! And after I put him in his place about my being so early for the interview and all that! Oh God … don’t fireme…”
She ran as quickly as she could through the lobby of the skyscraper and dashed straight for the stairs. No way was she waiting for the elevator! She ran all eleven flights and almost exploded into the lobby, meeting Angie’s irate gaze as she stumbled, panting and red-faced, over to thedesk.
“It’s about time you decided to show up,” Angie said without a smile. “Mr. Gordon doesn’t toleratelateness.”
Erica puffed and wheezed. “I’m sorry. I left an hour ago, but I got stuck behind anaccident—”
“You should have left earlier,” Angie cut in coolly. “Don’t let it happen again. He will not be happy. And he had me cut you that initial first half of your paycheck, too, trusting you. That’s not how we do things here,Erica.”
Erica flushed, if that was possible, given how red she alreadywas.
Angie was definitely not finished raking her over the coals. “Mr. Gordon needs his personal assistant here before him. Every day.Clear?”
That got Erica’s attention. “I’m sorry. Personal what? I thought I was asecretary—”
“Secretary? Is that what he told you? You’re going to be a personal assistant.” Angie nodded toward the other side of the room. “Go drop your stuff off. I’ll give you five minutes and then I expect you to be back here ready towork.”
Erica wanted to argue, but she knew there was no point. She had been told that she was going to be the secretary, and it didn’t matter now what she said. If he had told this woman that she was going to be the personal assistant, she knew there was little she could do about it. Her mind was spinning. She wanted to find that guy who had done the interview and ask him what had happened, but then, she also didn’t want to see him again if she could helpit.
Throughout the interview, she had done her best to keep everything as professional as possible, but she had found it incredibly difficult with how attractive the man was. He was tall, with dark hair and dark, piercing eyes. She had tried not to notice his body under his suit, but it was difficult notto.
She put her things away in the desk assigned to her, catching her breath as she did. If Erica was perfectly honest with herself, this entire place confused her. She had received a phone call the night before by someone else who worked in the company, and they had briefed her more on how the digital bankworked.
During the phone call, she had acted as though she understood everything that the man was saying to her, but the fact of the matter was that she’d had no clue. At least she’d been honest during the interview about her ignorance. They couldn’t expect her to know anything Bitcoin related; she’d made it clear she wasclueless.
She returned to the front desk, ready to begin her day but not sure how her day was going togo.
As she feared, Angie was just as much of a bitch to her all throughout the morning as she had been to her from the beginning, and it wasn’t long before Erica was tired of it. It quickly became clear that she couldn’t do anything right—from the way she was handling the phone calls that were coming in, to the way she was handling thepaperwork.
“If you can’t take the pressure, get out!” Angie barked at her more thanonce.
Erica was so irate by the time early afternoon rolled around that she was toying with thoughts of quitting, even though that wasn’t her usual style in the slightest. That, and money, stalled theimpulse.
“Hey! How’s it going?” a man’s voice broke into her thoughts, and both she and Angie looked up. Erica noticed that she quickly looked down again, but her mind was quickly caught up in the fact that the incredibly handsome man who had interviewed her was leaning on thedesk.
“Fine.” Was Angie’s one-wordreply.
“I didn’t know I was going to be a personal assistant,” Erica informed him. “The job post saidsecretary.”
