My Dad's Rival

“Do you usually work so closely with interns?” she asks, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

I smile. “No. But I think in this instance, I’ll make an exception to the rule. You interest me. I’m looking forward to having you around. Are you happy to start tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she says a little too quickly. Then she blushes at her eagerness. The confident woman who walked into the room seems to be losing control just a little, giving in to her softer side. I like the way I can disarm her, make her a little nervous around me. It only furthers my suspicion that she’s interested in me.

“Good. Then I’ll send you off with my receptionist to get you prepared. We start the workday at eight. You can come straight up to my office and I’ll spend the day with you.”

“Are you sure?” Lucy asks, blinking. “You don’t need to give me special treatment.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

She nods and stands up, offering her hand out for me to shake. When our hand's touch, I feel a bolt of electricity shoot up my arm and I feel the animal inside me stir again. God only knows how I’m going to make it until tomorrow without being around her.

“I look forward to seeing you tomorrow,” Lucy says. Then her eyes widen when she realizes how she’s phrased her words. “I mean, I look forward to working with you.”

I smile back at her. “And I with you.”

When she closes the door behind her, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and the tension in my shoulders relaxes.

It’s going to be torture waiting to see her again.

I know I will see her tomorrow but that doesn’t mean she won’t be on my mind until then. She’s everything I never knew I needed. And I want her with every fiber of my being. Literally, everything changed the moment she walked in here.

I will never be the same again.

I’m already forming plans on how to win her over, making sure we work closely together…very closely. I have no reservation about her, she is the one. But would she really go for an older man like me? I mean, I’m in better shape than I was twenty years ago but there are streaks of gray in my hair that weren't there before. But from the way she was subtly but not too subtly checking me out I’m convinced that she feels the same desire for me that I do for her.

But she’s still a mystery to me. I want to know what made her hesitate, what she seemed to be holding back from me during the interview. I feel like she came here with intentions. Maybe she saw me in one of the big business magazines and came here to win me over. If that’s her plan, it’s working.

But it could be something else entirely. I don’t know yet.

She hasn’t laid all of her cards on the table. But she’ll have to play her hand soon, and when she does, I’ll be ready for her.

It won’t be long before she’s mine.

CHAPTER THREE

Lucy

I’m glad that dad isn’t around when I get home from the interview, because I’ve never been so flustered in my life. My heart is racing, my thoughts too.

I can’t stop thinking about the man who I’ve spent my whole life preparing to hate. Because from the second I walked into that office and saw him, my life changed forever.

He was just so damn sexy.

I’ve never really found a man I’m attracted to before, but boy am I attracted to him. He has everything…charm, charisma, a smoking body…the full package. And even though my dad prepared me for this, told me that I shouldn’t be lured in by him, I went and did it anyway.

I head up to my bedroom and lie down. Closing my eyes, I imagine him beside me. His hands roaming all over my body, his lips exploring my lips, my neck, my breasts…

I shudder in pleasure just at the thought. Before I went to the interview, I was searching for the perfect man, but I never expected that I’d find him there.

And now I’m in a deep mess.

The thing is. I could fall for just about anyone and my dad would probably be happy for me. Except for Wyatt. Because this is dad’s biggest rival we’re talking about. The man who has allegedly been stealing from his company for years. The man who he has trained me to hate. So how the hell did I come out of that interview with a brand new job and a heart filled with hope and lust?

I shake my head to myself. I must be going insane.

I’m rational enough to know that this is wrong. I shouldn't be thinking this way. I have a job to do, and falling for my new boss has nothing to do with the job description. I need to get information for my dad and relay it back to him, and that’s it. Sure, that means getting close to Wyatt…but not in the way I want to.