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Brazen
Those legs.
Long and tone.
I’ve been fantasizing about them being wrapped around me since I left Noah on the porch.
I shouldn’t have made the comment about her dress, but I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been staring at the door, waiting to see if she’ll arrive for her first day of work, baring her legs as I asked. Light from the sun slices into my office, and the roar of early morning traffic fills my space as the glass door opens.
I like what I see. Even though I shouldn’t.
Fuck, I’m a lucky man. She listens better than I hoped. My eyes go straight to those athletic legs as she enters the room. I fight to keep from gawking too long, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.
“Noah.” Possessiveness shoots throughout me as I say her name.
“Brazen.” My name on her lips has me craving to hear her scream it when she’s driven by untamed lust.
“You look great.” I can’t help myself. “I like the dress.”
Her cheeks turn a rosy shade as she absentmindedly touches the hem of her outfit before she speaks, “Thank you.”
I can’t decide whether I’m brilliant for hiring a hot assistant or completely brain dead. Yesterday, I was pulled to her by the way she couldn’t take her eyes off me as she sat on the porch swing. A pull that had me crossing the damn street to introduce myself and then demanding I offer her this job. I might not be certain this decision is one of my better or worse, but one thing is definite: My business partner won’t be happy about this. Especially after I admit to calling and excusing the assistant that was already lined up to start today.
I shouldn’t be interested in Noah, but I can’t help that I am.
She holds all my attention. Every. Single. Bit.
Dark blonde hair the color of sand covers her shoulders. Green eyes that remind me of kiwis take me in. Her slender form is rigidly straight, but her smile is bright and full of innocence. A girl like her is liable to cause me trouble. She’s too young. Way too fucking angelic, and, damn, is she beautiful.
At another time, if things were different and I didn’t have so much going on, I would pursue her relentlessly. I would make her mine, but that isn’t in the cards right now. Facts are facts. She came into my life at a bad time. Noah is a distraction that I can’t afford.
My focus is on my career. I’m building a business, one that’s been my dream for as long as I can remember. After that, my priority is on one person and one person only. There is no room in my life for anything else because my best friend needs me more than anyone could. I need to keep things with Noah professional. I’m a flirt by nature, but I can’t take it past that.
That last thought has me mentally kicking myself for even suggesting she wear a dress. Now, if I tell her not to, I’ll look like an idiot.
I’ll just have to look but not touch.
Fantasize but not act.
Crave but not conquer.
“Ready to get started?” I stand and show Noah to her workspace within our relatively small office.
“No time like the present.” She follows me to her desk that sits across from mine.
I pull out her chair for her. This gesture is part of values that were instilled in me since I could walk. My mom raised me to treat women a certain type of way. Anything less, and she’d probably beat me with the end of a broom.
Noah smooths the back of her dress before she sits down. I lean into her space. A mixture of freshly baked cake and the crisp smell of fresh laundry hits my senses.
“You’ll be handling all the paperwork, so you’ll need to learn our filing system. You wouldn’t think a job where someone works with his hands would have so much pencil-pushing, but it does. There are a lot of contracts and permits that are essential to keeping us moving.” Earlier, I brought out some of the normal forms we see on a day-to-day basis, and I shuffle through them to give her an example of what she’ll be working with.
“What happens if something falls through on the clerical side?” She meticulously studies the papers laid out in front of her.
“Accidents happen, but let’s try to not let something like that fall through. When we don’t have the right permits, then everything shuts down, and in this business, that’s bad. The longer the house sits in my name, the less money there is to be made.”
When she doesn’t respond, I keep going. There is still a lot more that she’ll be handling in her role as an assistant.
“You’ll need to keep a detailed calendar that tracks our due dates for submitting permits and invoices, and I’ll need you to stay on top of deliveries—when we ordered them and when they are supposed to be delivered. I need you to be so on top of it that I won’t need to worry about anything on that side of the business.”
