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After leaving her behind, I went back to my floor and hid behind my desk. I was glad to have cleared through the mountain of letters that had been flowing over just a week ago. Opening my drawer, I pulled out the one I had decided to publish. As Phil had correctly deduced, it was certainly a whopper.
Now it was time for discovery…
ONE
~ Edward ~
To The Love Bard,
Once again, I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
You would think after four years of working together, I would have got used to the sight of her. And yet, I couldn’t peel my eyes away. She was wearing a teal knee-length dress, cinched in at the waist with a high neckline. Not revealing, right? Wrong. I could make out every curve of her body, just beckoning to be touched. It should be illegal for her to have a body like that.
That morning I had been crammed in my office finalizing plans for the Entertainers Direct project in Great York. It had been a long and strenuous project, but we were near completion, and all I had to do was review the finished building after a meeting with the client. Except I was missing the paperwork.
I slammed my finger into the intercom button, “Selena, come here, please.”
Within a few seconds, I heard the clicking of her heels on the floor before she opened the door and walked in. And there my eyes went again, exploring her body. The dress color complemented her naturally tanned skin, and she had styled her hair in loose brunette waves that hung down past her shoulders. She tucked one side back as she took a step forward, revealing those penetrating dark-brown eyes underneath her thick lashes. If that wasn’t enough, her lips were plump and elegantly defined using a nude lipstick, begging for someone to kiss them.
Not me, though. I couldn’t. I was her boss first and foremost. As long as I enforced that, then we would stay out of trouble.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I shook my head, “How can it be? I’m missing half the paperwork for the Entertainers Direct project. What’ve you done with it?”
Her cheeks reddened slightly, “I was scanning it in like you asked me to. I’ve just got to finish off a few more sheets and…”
“And I would have died of old age by then,” I interrupted, “How can you expect me to run a business when you can’t even perform simple administration duties? You’d think after all this time; you would have got to grips with it.”
“Well, I was late this morning because I had to pick up your dry-cleaning like you asked and then…”
“Did I ask for your life story?” I rolled my eyes, “I don’t need excuses, just solutions.”
For a moment, she looked like she was about to argue. I could see her biting down on her lower lip, keeping it shut lest she retaliate. For some reason, the thought of her fighting back excited me. Seeing her all hot and flustered would undoubtedly make things more difficult for me. Just seeing how hard she was clamping down on her lower lip brought certain images to mind. I had to try and rid my mind of such thoughts. I didn’t want to be that creepy boss who leered at his secretary. I knew that my harsh behavior towards her was a form of protection, but it was for our own good.
Wasn’t it?
“Is there something else you wanted to say?” I asked, “Or are you just going to continue standing there waiting for me to do your job?”
I knew I was pushing it at this point. It seemed the more attracted I was to her, the meaner I got. I needed to get a handle on it.
She looked down at her shoes, “Actually, I was hoping I could finish a little earlier today. I’ve got a dentist appointment in the afternoon. I promise I’ll make up for any time missed.”
I leaned back in my chair, “We’re about to close off a project, and you’ve decided this is the best time to trim hours? Have you completely lost your mind?”
She looked taken aback, “Well, no. It’s just that I’ve been waiting for this appointment for a long time, and I know I won’t be able to reschedule until next month. I’m really sorry about the timing.”
My mind wanted to say no. To tell her to deal with her personal problems in her own time, but the look on her face slipped through the armor of my caged heart. I couldn’t say no to that face despite my protective outlook.
“Fine. Just make it up tomorrow.”
Selena looked surprised at my answer, “Thank you, I really mean it. I promise to make it up tomorrow.”
I sniffed, “You had better. I run a tight ship around here, and I don’t expect anything less than perfection. Just remember to schedule appointments out of work hours going forward as I won’t be as lenient in the future.”
Admittedly, it was the first time she had asked to finish early in the last four years. She never even dared to ask me around the holidays. It was just as well. I wouldn’t ever tell her, but it was quite the struggle whenever she wasn’t around. I strictly forbade her from taking more than two weeks off at a time as the temps were never good enough. They didn’t know me as she did, even with the way I tended to treat her. It was a small miracle she hadn’t handed in her resignation a long time ago.
“I’ll make sure. Is there anything else you need me to do other than finish up with the Entertainers Direct paperwork?”
