Page 5 of Mine To Keep (Southern Wedding)

I walk to the glass desk, putting the coffees down before I pull out the black chair. I take the phone out of my inside jacket pocket and toss it on the desk. “Oh, good, you’re here.” I look up to see Loren coming into the office, followed by a girl. My eyes go from Loren to the girl to my brother, who is waiting behind the girl.

“I am,” I confirm, suddenly taking in the girl standing beside Loren. My mouth almost hangs open as I see it’s the ass I was looking at not long ago. The girl standing there must be five foot three, at most. She’s a good five foot three but she’s wearing the highest heels I’ve ever seen. Her skirt is even tighter than it looked before, with a huge band around her tiny waist. She’s wearing a light-brown shirt that flows, so it must be silk, there is a bow at her neck and her sleeves stop at her elbows with thick cuffs. My eyes roam to her green eyes, or are they a dark blue? She looks straight at me with a smile on her face. “What’s going on?”

“I would like you to meet your new PA,” Loren replies with a smile on her face as she turns toward the woman. I stare at her and then back at the girl, then at Nash, laughing suddenly.

“This is a joke,” I say, putting my hands on my hips. “What day is it?” I ask, looking at the girl in front of me. She looks like she’s in high school. “Is today April Fools’?”

“Caine,” my brother chides, and I point at him.

“This is a joke. Okay, very funny, everyone.” I nod my head at the girl. “You got me.”

“Caine,” Loren says, her voice tight, “I would like you to meet Grace Barnes.” My eyes swing straight to her. “She is your new personal assistant.”

“Wait,” I reply, holding up my hand, “this isn’t a joke? She looks like she just got out of high school. Actually, it looks like she’s still in high school.”

“I don’t know if I should say thank you or not,” Grace finally says, her voice is soft. She looks over at Loren. “Also, I’m not sure if you should assume anything. You know what they say.” She holds her hands in front of her. “It would make an ass out of you and me. But considering what I just heard, I’m pretty sure there is only one ass in the room.” My mouth hangs open while Nash snorts.

“Grace,” he says, “why don’t I show you around?”

“I don’t think that is necessary.” She looks at Loren. “Perhaps this isn’t going to work.”

Wait a second, is she going to quit on me? I think as Nash steps forward. “If you two would give me a minute with my brother,” he suggests, and Loren just glares at me. “You can go fill out all that paperwork and get the parking stuff figured out.” Grace smiles at Nash before she nods and walks out of the office.

“Are you out of your mind?” Loren grumbles between clenched teeth. “She’s overly qualified.”

“To do what?” I ask, and she shakes her head, walking out of the office. “Share my snacks at recess?”

“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Nash prods.

“What is wrong with me?” I huff, looking out of the office and seeing Loren introduce Grace to another PA. She smiles and laughs at something the other person says. “What is wrong with Loren? How could she hire that girl? She looks like”—I don’t know what to say—“she looks like she’s fresh out of school.”

“Well, I’ve seen her résumé.” He looks down and puts his hands in his pockets. “And I can tell you, she’s a bit more qualified than you think. Actually, I know she is.”

“Then you take her,” I spit out, acting like my four-year-old about to have a tantrum. He just looks at me. “Where is her résumé?” I ask, sitting down in the chair. “Let me look it over, and then we will talk.”

three

Grace

The minute I walk out of the office, I am talking myself out of grabbing my bag and getting the fuck out of here. I shake my hands in front of me, trying to get them to stop shaking. Last night was beyond a clusterfuck. I arrived after eight, only to find out my apartment wasn’t ready for me to move in. They were just starting to paint it, so I had to check in to the nearest hotel. I was so scared I would sleep through my alarm, I made sure to request a wake-up call by the front desk. I also had four different alarms set. I changed my outfit five times, making sure I looked the part, as they say. If I was back home, it would be jeans and a T-shirt with my cowboy boots, but we weren’t in the country. Even coming in here, I arrived thirty minutes earlier than expected. It was going amazing, and I was already half in love with this place until I met my boss.

His blue suit molds his body; you can tell he works out. His light-brown hair is shaved on the sides and longer on top, and you can see how he brushed it to the side. His blue eyes pierced through me, and the minute he looked my way, I literally felt a rush up my body. I’ve been around hot guys my whole life. Hot country boys. I’ve never been around hot executives before. But all that hotness went away the minute he opened his big stupid mouth.

Loren comes walking out of the office and her face has a fake smile on it. She is no doubt trying not to freak out, wondering if either I’m going to get the fuck out of here or if Caine is going to tell me to get the fuck out of here. “Why don’t I introduce you to a couple of people?” Loren suggests, trying to sound cheerful. I want to look back into the office, or better yet, I want to glare at him but instead I decide I’m not even going to acknowledge him.

“That sounds great.” I nod at her as she takes me around and introduces me to the team. I thought coming to work for a family business would be a good idea. I’ll have to rethink if this whole thing was a good idea.

“This is Kayla,” Loren introduces me to another PA, “she started here last year and works with Vinny.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I nod at her, and she smiles.

“It’ll be fun to have someone new on the team, and I’m not the last one in,” Kayla states, making me laugh. I can literally feel eyes on me, but I ignore it. If he is watching me, I’m going to make sure he knows I’m not bothered by him, even if I am.

“Well, it’s good to be here,” I tell her, as I’m introduced to Taylor, another one of the PAs.

It doesn’t take Loren long to introduce me to everyone since there are about ten people who work here. Another reason I chose this place; I thought it would be like working back home. I was wrong. “Let’s go and get all the paperwork out of the way,” Loren urges me, and I nod at her, following her back into her office.

My heart speeds up and it even feels like it’s coming out of my chest. I’m pissed I let him get to me. “Perhaps we should maybe look at something else,” my mouth says before I can stop the words, not ever wanting to sound like I’m a quitter.

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