“Second, please, call me Graham.”
“Okay.”
He takes a deep breath, running his fingers through his rich, chestnut-colored hair. “I know we knew each other once upon a time and you are friends with my sisters, but that won’t factor in to your performance here. If that will be an issue at all, we need to discuss it now.”
“Graham,” I say, throwing my shoulders back and ignoring how hot he looks with his furrowed brows, “as the CEO of Landry Holdings, I’m certain you did your due diligence before hiring me. If not, you got lucky because you have my word that I will blow your expectations out of the water.”
His brows pull tighter, his freshly-shaven jaw working back and forth like he doesn’t quite know what to do with me. As his tongue darts across his bottom lip, leaving a trail of wetness behind, I gulp.
I know exactly what you should do with me.
He cuts the distance between us in half. As he looms overhead, my brain scatters, once again feeling like he just read my thoughts. It’s unnerving. So much so, in fact, that I’m ready to apologize. Before I can, he speaks.
“Get situated at your desk, and I’ll alert Human Resources to your arrival.”
After a lingering look that keeps me in place, he vanishes through the solid wood door and I can finally breathe again.
Graham
A catastrophe. That’s what this fucking day is.
The clock flips to noon, reminding me how much time I’ve wasted today. I’m usually heading out for a quick bite to eat in between meetings and calls, having already put in a full day’s work for most people. Today? Nothing. I’ve got nothing except a serious case of blue balls and a migraine to boot.
Linda was in her mid-fifties. On Friday, she would get here an hour early, send me a weekly recap mid-day, and forward me a finalized schedule for the following week before she left. She crocheted me a blanket last winter.
That’s the assistant I want. Sharp. Efficient. Not hot.
I don’t know which way to go to stop the bleeding first. There’s so much to catch up on—weeks’ worth of business, the security company to iron out, a stack of files higher than I’ve ever allowed to accumulate. But here I sit, a file open, untouched. Twenty-six calls to return on my desk phone alone and today was the day it was all supposed to get done. That was the plan and all I can do is sit here with half my attention aimed towards the door.
I’m not sure if Linda ever laughed when my door was closed in the nearly ten years she worked for me. Mallory has five times today. I’m also not certain if Linda ever smelled like lavender or wore a dress that was soft to the touch.
“Stop it,” I groan to myself, trying to wipe the image of her full lips out of my mind. “You’re acting like Lincoln. Damn it.”
As if on cue, my phone rings and his name glows on the screen. “Hello?” I sigh.
“You sound pissier than normal,” Lincoln snickers.
“I was just thinking about you.”
“That’s what they all say,” he jokes. “Seriously, though—what’s up?”
“You, my little brother, were wrong.”
“Uh, about what?”
“Mallory Sims.”
“Sienna’s friend?”
“I like to think of her, for the next few hours, anyway, as my new executive assistant.”
“What was I wrong about? I don’t even know her.”
I whistle through my teeth. “I expected more from you, Linc. You have a reputation in this family and I counted on that. You failed me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, G?”
“She’s hot.” I let that sink in a second. “If you weren’t all in love with Danielle, I probably wouldn’t even let you in my office ever again.”