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“Just tell me you’re a friend and you don’t actually work here,” she said in a dry tone. When I gave no answer, a delicious flush spread from her pale cheeks down her neck. “Oh my god, that’s embarrassing,” she said finally. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
I laughed. There was something incredibly sexy about her self-deprecating sense of humility. “You were right,” I said. “No need to apologize. Tell us why you want to be a part of Brasher.”
“I’ve been in consulting since I graduated from college,” she replied. “I used to work for Barnes and Noble, and then I worked with a few smaller firms. It’s a powerful industry that’s not going anywhere, and your company record is very impressive.”
I reached forward and took the proffered resume. She did have an impressive career for someone so young, including an internship with Boeing. I narrowed my eyes. “Ms. Barrett, you’re aware this opening is for an assistant? You seem like you wouldn’t be happy in a position like this with your background.”
She blushed, and I felt something twinge inside my chest. “I know,” she said, taking a deep breath. “But I just moved here, and nothing else has been working out. I promise I won’t just stick around until I find something better. I’m committed to working my way up.”
Scott eyed me, as if to say I know just how hard she’ll work it, too and I shook my head to clear the thought from my mind. She was gorgeous, but I could already tell that her argumentative intelligence wouldn’t fly well with Scott.
“That may be,” I said, looking her deeply in the eyes. She flushed again and I was annoyed to find myself wondering what shade of green her eyes would be called. Setting my jaw, I continued: “But are you sure that you’re used to what this job demands? A lot of it is going to be very menial. You’ll be fetching coffee for Scott and picking up his dry cleaning.”
“I can do that,” she said. “I promise.”
I shrugged. “If you say so,” I replied. “We’ll be in touch.”
She frowned. “Okay,” she said, brushing her palms on her skirt and offering one for me to shake. Her skin was warm and dry to the touch, and up close, she smelled a little bit like sandalwood. I watched her go with an odd dryness in my mouth.
“She’s not a good fit,” I told Scott. He shrugged.
“There was something cute about her,” he mused. “She looked scrappy.”
“I’m sure you’d hate her and fire her immediately. Didn’t you notice how she corrected me?” Inside, I felt panic beginning to rise up my throat. I couldn’t let Scott know how attractive I’d found the girl. If he found out, he’d have the upper hand on me once again.
“She was right,” he said, tapping a tanned finger on his chin. “What was her name?”
“Lily. Lily Barrett.”
Scott grabbed the resume out of my hand and dialed a number on his office phone. I turned to leave just in time to hear him say “Hello, Lily? You’re hired.”
With a groan, I headed back to my office, rubbing my temples. This was going to be a very long day.
Chapter Two
Lily
With a sigh, I looked down at my watch to see that I was still running early. We were meetin
g at a building across town, and I’d stayed up half the night worrying that I’d be late. In the daylight, my black pumps and grey sheath dress didn’t look nearly as chic as they had the night before. I started worrying that Scott would send me home to change.
“It’s important to impress, Lily,” he’d say, eyeing me up and down with too much interest, as usual. “You need to take more pride in your appearance.”
If anyone had told me that I’d have to put up with this much sexism just to work at one of my top employer picks, I wouldn’t have believed them. Maybe it was naïveté, but I’d been shocked to discover the kind of shit that Scott expected me to put up with. Gritting my teeth in frustration, I recalled what Damien had said on the day he’d interviewed me: “Are you sure you’re used to what this job demands?”
No, Damien. I had no fucking idea.
“Hey, Lily!” I turned around to see Damien and Scott walking towards me, looking like twin Armani models. Damien smiled boyishly, showing perfect white teeth. I felt a flutter in my chest. Damnit, Lily. Do not go to pieces over him today.
“Hi,” I said in greeting, nodding at both of them. Scott unceremoniously dumped a giant box full of papers in my arms, then twisted out of his leather messenger bag and dumped that on top. My arms ached almost instantly, and I could feel bolts of pain shooting up my calves from my spike heels.
“Scott, Jesus!” Damien exclaimed, leaning forward and plucking the bag and the box out of my arms. He balanced both with one arm, glaring at his friend over the tops of his designer sunglasses. “Try to show a little courtesy.”
“She’s my assistant!” Scott exclaimed, striding into the building without holding the doors for Damien or myself. “You’re going to make her job too easy.”
Rolling my eyes behind my sunglasses, I mentally calculated how long I’d have to stay Scott’s “assistant” before I could get a promotion or a job offer from a rival firm. Unfortunately, I felt like even in a best-case scenario, I’d be stuck with this pig for years.
We signed in at the desk and the concierge pointed to an open elevator, nodding and smiling graciously. Scott yapped on his phone the whole time we rode to the 16th floor. I kept sneaking glances at Damien – his gorgeously defined jaw was set and he had some serious dark circles under his eyes.
