“That’s because you’re so smart!” Jamie laughed a little. “How’s the new boss? Is it weird being someone’s private secretary?”
“No, it’s not weird. I think it might even be easier than working for several different people or with the public because I only have to concentrate on one personality—his, and so far we fit together pretty well. He’s really something else.” She grinned and felt her cheeks warm slightly.
Jamie listened closely and then laughed a little. “Is that so? What’s he like?”
Eva looked upward and sighed with her wide smile. “
He’s amazing. He’s smart and funny and flirtatious and beautiful.”
There was a momentary silence on the other end of the line. “Oh girl… you like him?” She sounded surprised and wary.
“Yeah…” Eva admitted reluctantly. “I think I do. I guess I have a little crush on him. He’s so damn sexy! Jamie… the man is beautiful, and brilliant, and rich, and he’s really nice. He’s genuine… you know, the real thing. He doesn’t act with a lot of fake personality, he’s just… who he is, and that’s all. I am crushing on him a bit.”
“You better watch out for that! Do you think anything will happen between you two?” Jamie asked with cautious optimism.
Eva shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s a pretty good flirt with me too, but he doesn’t go over the line. Also, I don’t want to lose my job. I just got this job. I’m being really careful, but I’m enjoying the hell out of it in the meantime!”
“If he comes on to you, are you going to take him up on it?” Jamie wondered curiously.
She bit at her lower lip thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t know, to be honest. For me, the most important part of all of this is the job. I definitely don’t want to lose the job, but if Derrick came on to me, I might not say no because he’s just so damn delicious! I can’t risk anything, though. I have this great new apartment because of my great new job as his private secretary, and I’m not going to lose it. I’ve never had anything this nice. Not ever. I’m not going to let any of it go because of a fling. I can’t take a risk like that no matter how hot the man is, and my god is he hot.”
Jamie spoke thoughtfully then. “Have you been with anyone since Ryan?”
“No, he was my last, and since that whole break up, I haven’t had any interest in doing anything with anyone else. I’m being careful with that too. This is no time for me to get tangled up in romance or love or anything like the risk of a broken heart. Things are good in my life right now. I need to keep it that way. I don’t want to rock the boat. Ryan left because he wanted to take that job in San Francisco. If he was still here, then we’d probably be together. He wanted me to go with him, but I just couldn’t leave my city, you know? I’m a New York City girl, and I didn’t want to live in San Francisco. I didn’t want to lose Ryan, but I had just started my job with Derrick and it’s a great job. I had just gotten my new place, and things were just coming together for me. I wasn’t willing to make the move, and he wasn’t willing to stay, so we said goodbye and that was that. We’re still friends, I guess. We still care about each other a great deal. At least there’s that.” Eva’s smile faded a bit. She had been sad to see Ryan go. She had thought for a little while that they might wind up getting married, but when he had gotten the opportunity to work on the west coast and they had discovered that it was all or nothing, they had both agreed to let their relationship go.
“What about long distance? Couldn’t you have done anything long distance with him?” Jamie asked with a slight tone of disappointment.
“No, because long distance relationships almost never work, and really, where would we be going with it? I’m never going to move out there, and he’s never going to move back here, so there wouldn’t really be any point to trying to stretch it out, would there?” Eva asked with the hint of a sad note in her voice.
“I guess not,” Jamie agreed. “That makes some sense.”
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really good guy and I miss him, but my future is here. My life is here. My whole new life… the new job, the new home,” she laughed a little. “You, you’re here. Everything is here. This is where I want to be. It’s where I’m happiest. Other guys will come along, and I’ll have my life all set on my own. This is what’s best for me.”
Jamie sounded pleased then. “I’m glad to hear it. I wouldn’t want you on the other side of the country either. I’m glad that you stayed, as selfish as that might seem.”
“It’s not selfish. I totally get it. You’re one of the reasons that I stayed.” Eva smiled again and reached for her coffee cup. “Now, tell me what’s going on with you and school. I can’t wait to hear all this news!”
They talked for a long while, and Eva filled her coffee cup twice while they visited. She was glad to have stayed in New York City, she was glad to have her elegant new condo looking out over northern Manhattan and her excellent new job as Derrick Madison’s private secretary. He was a beautiful man, and he was all of the things that she had told Jamie he was: smart, successful, and sexy as hell, and he was a flirt, but not over the line. He had given her a good future, and having him as a sweet and spicy part of that future as her boss was just an extra perk. She was looking forward to the future. It held all the promise of a dream turned real.
Chapter3
Eva was sitting at her desk the next day, wearing a form-fitting red sweater dress that reached just below the middle of her thigh and had a V neck which only offered the slightest glimpse of her curves. The dress covered enough, but the way that it clung to her body offered every subtle hint to what was beneath the material.
She slipped her hand mirror from her purse and gave her hair and makeup and quick glance to make sure that she looked good after having come in from the streets of the city on her way to work. She was beautiful. She gave herself an encouraging smile and tucked her mirror away.
She had to admit to herself that she had become much more aware of her looks and how she was dressing for work since she had begun working for Derrick Madison. She knew it was because she liked him and she wanted to impress him, but she didn’t for a moment think that anything that she was doing would go much further than being noticed once in a while. It also wasn’t that she was trying to seduce him or interest him in her romantically; it was solely that she liked him. She admitted to herself that she had a crush on him, and she wanted to look her best, just to look her best.
The phone on her desk rang, and she picked it up. “Good morning,” she said with a genuine smile.
“Good morning to you, too!” Derrick’s smooth, deep voice came through the line. “I wondered if you had the Wainwright file.”
“No, I sent it off to their office already. It’s done,” she answered confidently.
He sounded a little surprised. “That’s great; thank you. Do you have the Dearborne file?”
She smiled to herself. “No, that one is already gone as well. I had it couriered over to the Dearborne’s this morning.”
He laughed lightly. “Well, that’s wonderful! Thank you! You know, it’s nice to have someone at my front desk who is so on top of things. That means a lot to me. Thank you!” he was chuckling as he hung up the phone, and she was beaming with some self-satisfaction as she hung up on her end.