Page 7 of A Mutually Beneficial Proposal

Owen

My boss isthe neediest bastard alive. I don’t know why I still work for him, but I’ve been one of his executive assistants for too long now, and my patience for dealing with him is running thinner by the day.

After literally running from my taxi to get through security, I emailed him the week’s itinerary for the third time. Now, I’m on the plane with no intention of connecting to the internet until we’ve landed. For the next five hours, I’m going to enjoy a little peace and quiet.

It’s something I thought might not be possible with the intriguing woman sitting next to me, traveling alone and without a ring on her finger. Unfortunately, she seems keen on the book she’s reading and not at all interested in conversation.

I peek over when she swipes the screen and grin when I read something about a hard cock and moaning. A dirty girl. Too bad she isn’t friendlier.

While she’s distracted with the words on the screen, I get a closer look at her. Her russet hair that falls past her shoulders and her lack of makeup is appealing. She glows with a natural beauty I’m normally not attracted to. In this case, it’s hard for me not to continue my perusal, noticing her soft green eyes, plump lips, and toned legs sticking out from the jean shorts she’s wearing.

I shift in my seat and lean my head back again. Maybe it would be better to work than sit here and get turned on by the knockout next to me.

The plane has already started to taxi, and once the all-clear from the flight attendants is announced, I’m the first one with my bag in hand. I unzip the leather case and catch her glance over.

She lets out a sigh. I can’t tell if she’s annoyed or something else, but I use that as my attempt to interact with her again.

“Not that you asked, but I’m headed to the island for business and have a few things to finish before I arrive. Hope you don’t mind,” I say, mostly sincerely.

Her response is more than I bargained for. Her eyes darken to emerald, a fire building in them from my mildly condescending tone. A fire I imagine any warm-blooded man would be up to the challenge of smothering, and I suddenly want that man to be me.

“It’s a free country. You can do whatever you want.” She tempers the smolder and shrugs.

Before I can respond again, a flight attendant comes along. “Drinks for the lovely couple?”

The siren next to me practically chokes. “We’re not a couple, but yes, I’d love something sweet with vodka in it, please.”

The attendant’s fair skin becomes ghost-like. “My apologies. I’ll get that drink for you, Miss. Anything for you, Sir?”

“Just a bottle of water, please and thank you.”

She nods, a strand of blonde curls coming loose from her tight bun. When she turns around, I see a perfectly round ass underneath her blue skirt. Unfortunately, there’s no attraction rising within me. No desire to slip her my number when she comes back.

No, my curiosity is stuck on the woman next to me.

Normally, I don’t have trouble with the ladies, even with ones I hardly know. The fact that this one seems so resistant increases my intrigue.

When I turn back to her, the look of annoyance on her face has returned. She makes a sound from the back of her throat and stares at her kindle again.

Spiteful much?I think.

Someone must have pissed in her Cheerios before she left for the airport.

The attendant comes back with our drink choices, but this time I barely look up. My email has loaded, and I want to murder my boss.

Jack Harrington. CEO to Harrington Enterprises. A company that owns one of everything. Food chains, hotels, clothing stores, car dealerships. You name any sort of Fortune 500 business and it’s almost guaranteed that Jack has dipped his toes into the venture.

He has no wife, no children, no commitments to anything other than his work, and he expects his employees to be the same way. I should have realized that earlier, considering he hired me on the spot when he saw me charming several women into giving me their numbers at the bar.

The red flags were all there, but when the job came with a six-figure salary, condo, and luxury car, it was easy to ignore everything else.

That was five years ago. At thirty-four, I’m a little wiser in my actions, but again, the job has a lot of potential benefits that I’d be walking away from if I quit now. One being the things I get when I’m not being Jack’s bitch.

My job title is technically Executive Assistant, but, when the opportunities arise, I do so much more than just whatever my boss requests. My favorite being when I get to assist with group projects that help the struggling branches of Harrington Enterprises thrive again instead of getting shut down.

Secondly, one day, Jack will retire and, if I can stick with the company long enough, I might be able to make a difference in the world under the right leadership and put more of my talents to use.

In the meantime, I do my best to tolerate the barking orders I’m constantly getting.

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