Page 22 of Boss of Her

“Thanks,” Jade said. “But you don’t need to keep doing this.” It was the third time Simone had bought her dinner that week.

“Of course I do. You’re no use to me if you’re halfway to passing out. You need to make sure you’re eating regular meals.”

“That was only once,” Jade murmured. She’d been distracted that evening, even before the phone call.

“Was it? Because that wasn’t the first time I noticed you staying late without dinner.”

Jade’s cheeks burned. She had a bad habit of skipping meals when she was busy, but she didn’t think Simone had noticed. “It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t.” Simone picked up a file from her desk and began flipping through it. “You may go. And let me know when you’ve finished with the building report.”

Jade picked up the box of takeout and left Simone’s office, taking a seat at her desk. Somehow, she’d survived another week of working for Simone. And it had been just as exhilarating as it had been excruciating.

Why had it been so exhilarating? Because, after almost three weeks as Simone’s assistant, they worked together seamlessly. Jade anticipated every one of her boss’s needs, from making sure her coffee cup was never empty to having her schedule memorized down to the minute. Simone was entrusting her with important tasks more and more. And Jade completed every one of them flawlessly, sometimes before Simone even asked her to, basking in every sliver of praise she offered her.

But that was what made it excruciating. All those little bits of praise? They only fueled Jade’s desire to serve her boss’s every whim and need. She was irrevocably drawn to Simone’s dominant manner. And after that night at her mansion, Simone had become even more dominant, taking charge of Jade from the moment she stepped into the office to the moment she walked out the door.

If you won’t take care of yourself, I will.Those had been Simone’s words that night. And she was making good on her vow. Buying her assistant dinner every other night was just the tip of the iceberg. If Jade hadn’t left for lunch by 1 p.m., Simone would insist that she take a break immediately. She’d bring Jade coffee—milk, no sugar—when she went to the coffee shop downstairs to stretch her legs every afternoon. And if Jade triedto stay later than her at work, Simone would send her home, not taking no for an answer.

And thanks to Simone, Jade now had a home to go to, at least temporarily. Her studio was still unusable, so her landlord had offered her another apartment to stay in, but it was on the outskirts of the city, more than an hour from the office in traffic. And when Jade had told her boss this, Simone had insisted that she stay in one of her hotels downtown instead, ignoring all of Jade’s protests.

But she’d stopped protesting when she saw the hotel room. The five-star suite was far nicer than any apartment or hotel she’d ever stayed in. It even had a separate living room.

Jade opened the box of takeout and picked up her chopsticks, starting on her dinner. She hadn’t missed the fact that when she’d tried to thank her boss for it, Simone had brushed her off, and with the same line as always.

You’re no use to me if you’re too swamped to do your job.

You’re no use to me if you don’t have a place to stay.

You’re no use to me if you’re dead on your feet.

From the very beginning, Simone had made it clear that she had high expectations of her assistant. She needed Jade at the top of her game. That was why she was helping her.

But was it theonlyreason why?

As Jade raised her chopsticks to her mouth, a clump of rice fell onto her dress. She held back a curse, grabbing a tissue to wipe it up. She had only been able to retrieve a few essentials from her flooded apartment, so she was still relying on the outfits Simone had bought her. The dress she’d worn today, a dark gray A-line number with a matching belt, was one of her favorites. It looked just as enticing on her as the other dress had.

Had Simone noticed it, noticed Jade in it? She hadn’t said anything, but the moment Jade walked into the office in it,Simone’s gaze had flicked over her body hungrily, drinking her in, just like in Simone’s mansion that morning.

Jade let out a deep sigh. She liked it when Simone looked at her that way. She liked it when Simone took charge, commanding her with that firm but velvet-smooth voice.

And she desperately wished for Simone to command her to do far more than fetch her coffee…

Focus, Jade.She wiped up the last of the mess on her dress and tossed the tissue in the bin. Picking up her chopsticks, she began flipping through the document in front of her. It was a building report for The Ashton Star, the hotel Simone was set on buying.

And somehow, Jade had become invested in the project, too. The Ashton Star was a beautiful old building. Knocking it down and replacing it with a parking lot seemed like such a waste. The idea of saving it, restoring it, was almost romantic.

Not that Jade was a romantic. She had been, once upon a time. It was why she’d left her hometown for Los Angeles. She’d had her pick of half a dozen colleges in half a dozen cities around the country.

But in the end, she’d chosen Los Angeles. Because she’d always dreamed of something more than her small-town life. And if there was anywhere she could find what she was searching for, it was in the city of dreams, where anything was possible.

Of course, after she’d moved here, she’d quickly realized that Los Angeles wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The city was nowhere near as glamorous as it appeared from the outside. But that hadn’t been enough to kill the romantic in her. No, that had happened later.

But Jade didn’t want to think about that now. She took another bite of her dinner and flipped to the next page of the building report. Simone had tasked her with reading it andflagging anything important. It was by far the most boring task Simone had ever given her. It was page after page of building codes and zoning regulations, descriptions of cracks in the brickwork, crumbling plaster, drainage defects…

Huh? Drainage defects?

Jade paused, her chopsticks halfway to her mouth as she read the paragraph again.Does Simone know about this?It seemed important. But it was buried on the 32nd page of the report.

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