“Thanks for letting me know,” she said. “It’ll probably be a lifesaver once summer starts.”
“It must be tough being a newly single parent,” he blurted out.
Startled, her incredible hazel eyes went wide. “What makes you say that?”
Mentally, he kicked himself. Heather’s personal life wasn’t his business. He had no idea why he’d even push the issue. Maybe his feelings for his high school sweetheart had transferred to his assistant. That had to be the reason he was overly concerned about her. Best to stop that in its tracks before it complicated things further. “Never mind. Forget it.”
“I’ve got my ex-husband to co-parent,” she said. “I’ve been very lucky. It won’t take away from my work.”
An awkward silence settled in the office. It brought him right back to his terrible pre-teen years. The years when he had a massive crush on the girl next door, and didn’t have the guts to do much about it. Not even when she had initiated that awkward, mind-melting kiss. Thank goodness for that growth spurt and the confidence that came with it in high school.
Finally, he cleared this throat. “We should talk about the speech in my office. Then go over the logistics for the conference.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
Together, they headed into this office and sat down at the conference table to go over speech details. Try as he might, Simon couldn’t ignore Heather’s captivating presence. His gaze kept landing on her lush, pink mouth. And then, whenever he caught himself, his eyes would wander upwards. To the graceful arch of her slender neck.
Things got worse when he accidentally glanced down at her breasts. Staring for just a moment didn’t stop the desire that shot straight to his groin. Heather was wearing an ordinary blouse, but he couldn’t get the swell of her breasts against the fabric out of his head.
“Where do you want me?” she asked.
“What?”
The air conditioning in his office was on, but it felt like the temperature in the room was boiling. This was insane. Clearly, his fond memories were messing with his mind. Bringing back old, lustful feelings that he was projecting onto his new assistant.
He hadn’t reacted to a woman like this in a long time. Only Heather from high school had evoked stronger feelings in him. Which meant that if he didn’t figure out how to switch this off, he was in deep trouble.
Getting distracted by anyone, especially a subordinate, was out of the question. He had a company to run. Not to mention he had spent years keeping people at a distance. Relationships for men like him were too messy.
“On the day of your speech,” she replied. “Do I sit in the audience or somewhere else?”
“There’s a place offstage,” he explained. “I’ll be using a tele-prompter, but I need someone backstage with a copy of the speech in case things go wrong.”
“Good idea,” she said. “The speech is great, by the way.”
“Really? It doesn’t make me sound like too much of a mystery?”
She laughed. “No. There’s a lot of passion in it.”
“Well, it was really because of you, Heather,” he said.
“It was?” she asked in surprise.
“After lunch the day that I hired you, I started tinkering with the speech,” he admitted. “I thought about what you said and decided I’d try out your idea. Turns out my speech needed improvement. So, I included a little about my childhood.”
Her entire face lit up, making his chest tighten at the sight. “That was my favorite part.”
The fact that she could be so open and honest with him made him feel closer to her somehow. After she had been critical of his approach earlier, it meant a hell of a lot to get good feedback now. Yes, she was a subordinate, but he valued honesty from people. Even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
Maybe it was best for him to indulge the lust after all. Stop fighting it and admit that it was there. Eventually, this scorching desire would have to burn out. He was a man in complete control of one of the most important companies on the planet. If he could handle Dover, he could master this attraction for his assistant and get over it quickly.