Page 4 of Triplet Babies for My Billionaire Boss

Chapter Two

Danielle

I was nervous to start working. Nervous and excited. My father had pushed me to get a job after college. The devil finds work for idle hands, he always said. As if I would get in less trouble if I worked. It was ridiculous, of course. Trouble tended to find me no matter what I was doing.

After graduating, I had hoped to have the summer off. I’d wanted to spend time with Lisa, my best friend. I’d wanted a few weeks to myself to be carefree, to not have to worry about responsibility and deadlines and exams. I’d wanted to go out and sleep around, to find more friends and get drunk.

If I was going to have to sacrifice all that, doing it for Rodney was all right. I could handle not having my summer, after all, if it meant I would be working with him. Besides, I’d heard plenty of stories about people having affairs with their secretaries.

I shook off the thought. It wasn’t the way I should be thinking about him. I knew that. Still, I liked to entertain the idea that he and I would be locked together, alone, in an office for hours at a time. Who knew what could happen?

I had grown up knowing Rodney. He had been my dad’s friend since long before my parents had gotten married, and he had been a part of the family, especially after Rodney’s wife, Chrissy, died.

I knew the kind of person he was, kind, generous, and drop dead gorgeous. I was excited to work with him.

Yes, he was twice my age, but he was the hottest man I’d ever met. No matter how many guys I met in college, none of them had been able to compare to Rodney Jones. There was just something about older men that got me worked up. They were distinguished, confident, financially stable.

Rodney was all of those things and something to look at, too. He had jet-black hair that he slicked back when he wore suits, but it curled around his ears when he left it. His eyes were the color of ice, or of cornflowers, depending on his mood. He had the full package when it came to looks and build–a square jaw, a straight nose, a prominent brow, and a build like he took good care of himself.

Now that I would be working with him, I would be get to stare. All. Day.

I had chosen a pencil skirt that hit me above the knee and a button-up blouse that I tucked in. I put on black kitten heels and tied my hair back into a ponytail. I turned side to side, looking in the mirror. I looked professional enough to pass for a secretary and sexy in a business sort of way. Perfect.

I hoped Rodney would like what I had chosen to wear. For professional reasons, I told myself. Not because I wanted him to think I was as attractive as he was. Not at all.

I walked downstairs. My dad was in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast nook reading the paper. He lowered it and glanced at me when I walked in.

“You look very professional,” he said. “Is that skirt long enough?”

I looked down at the skirt. “Dad, it’s almost on my knee. I’m not going looking like a nun.”

My dad shrugged. “I’m just asking.”

I took a piece of toast from the plate on the counter. My mom had prepared breakfast before she left. She was a lawyer and left earlier than any of us woke up. How she juggled her career and still managed to make breakfast in the morning was beyond me. When I grew up, I wanted to be like her.

“What are you doing today?” I asked my dad.

He pulled up his shoulders without looking up from the paper. “I think I’ll play a few holes with Charlie. We have business to discuss.”

“And by business, you mean NFL statistics?”

My dad glanced at me over the paper with a smirk. “Don’t tell your mom.”

I laughed. My dad had made enough money in his day to do whatever he liked now. If he wanted to lie on the couch all day, he could. But my mom was more than efficient, and she didn’t like people who didn’t utilize their time. Which meant my dad had become proficient at pretending to be busy.

“Are you ready for your first day?” he asked.

I nodded, biting off a piece of toast. “I think so.”

“I’m glad you got this job,” he said.

I smiled. “You know what? I’m glad, too. I think it will be fun to get out there and learn something new.”

“And maybe Rodney will see your talent and push you up in the company, let you use that fancy degree of yours.”

“I’ll aim for that,” I said, smiling. My dad nodded, satisfied.

When I graduated, I had to give up my dorm room and move back home. Without money of my own, I couldn’t get my own place. My dad had wanted to pay for an apartment, but my mom had put her foot down and told him he couldn’t spoil me like that. I had to work for it.

---