Page 34 of Assistant to the Billionaire CEO

The first page contained photos of the guys. Miles, Oliver, Damon, and me on a biking trip. I kept flipping until I found what I was looking for: a group photo of all of us, one which we’d allowed Stella to join us for. She was wearing a cute purplish dress with little white flowers. I hadn’t looked at her twice back then, but now I found myself running my index finger over her pretty face and the curves of her flawless body, perfectly captured by a very low-resolution camera.

“Stella,” I muttered.

Time to go to bed. I struggled to get up, my arms and legs feeling like they were made from lead. It took all of my remaining energy to pull my shirt over my head and haul myself over to my bed. Bare-chested and still in my jeans, I flopped down onto it, face-first. I remained a minute or two in that position until I couldn’t breathe. After managing to roll over, I lay with spread arms on my soft cotton sheets and stared at the ceiling. The world was spinning again.

What was she doing now? I knew the answer immediately. She was sleeping in front of an open window, in the nude, tits out, her body only lit by the brightness of the moon. A hint of a spring breeze was wafting into her room, carrying the smell of blooming jasmine with it, caressing her form. I imagined myself tracing my fingers over her goosebumps and pebbled skin like a blind man reading Braille. Before I could stop myself, my hand had wandered into my briefs. Stella’s body was twitching at my touch. She liked my touch. The thought of her moaning my name nearly drove me mad. It was enough to bring my fantasy to an end.

Despite my drunken state, I came fast—and hard.

That night, I slept like a baby for the first time since returning to New York. My dreams were filled with images of Stella in a purplish dress with little white flowers.

13

DAMON

“Tsup, bro. Have you spoken to your sister yet?”Miles’s voice sounded via phone.

“Already you’ve pissed me off.”

“Well, have you?”

“I haven’t.”

“Well, I’ve heard that Ace hired her.”

“I know.”

“So, when are you going to give her the good news?”

“For fuck’s sake, Miles. Give her at least a week to get acclimated.”

“Man, I don’t know. You’re stalling.” I heard him close a door, likely making sure nobody was listening. “Dad is getting impatient. Oliver is on my ass. We need to get that information.”

I knew he was right. We were running out of time. Mr. Humphries, the CEO, was known to not toy around when in doubt or left waiting. Only a fool would get on his bad side.

“Bro, you still there?” he asked.

“I’m here,” I growled.

“You better talk to her soon. Don’t waste any more time. We’re all counting on you. Don’t fuck this up.”

“Don’t tell me how to do my job.”

“Chill, bro. Just saying it’s time to inform her.”

“You know I have several trips planned. My round trip is coming up in one week. São Paulo, Sacramento, Toronto, Boston.” I listed the cities to give him a better grasp of the situation.

“Well, you better tell her before the trip.”

14

STELLA

Monday

The storm hit on Monday morning, just like the weatherman had predicted it would. Under normal circumstances, I loved nothing more than rainy weather. More specifically, I loved nothing more than curling up with a good book on a rainy day. However, today was my first day at Windsor Architects. I’d bought a whole wardrobe full of formal dresses and hung it neatly in the closet inside my bedroom. Unfortunately, the storm meant that it was far too rainy to wear any of the new dresses without risking being asked, “Aren’t you cold?” by every person I encountered.

Consequently, I ended up fishing out an older pair of neat black slacks and a white button-up blouse. I looked a lot like a librarian. The boring cliché kind, not the cute real kind. To make matters worse, the button-up blouse didn’t fit quite as well as it had when I’d purchased it two years ago. But I had a good hair day going on, so that was something.

---