by Lucy Eden
My entire career has been spent assisting one person. Mr. Claffey had a very demanding schedule, lots of meetings and travel. But Charles Kerwin’s schedule on a slow day made Mr. Claffey’s look like a chore chart from a kindergarten classroom. I have never been one to shy away from a challenge, but the real struggle would be trying to keep my composure while working up close and personal with one of the world’s most eligible and gorgeous bachelors.
Mr. Claffey was in his late sixties, overweight and slightly balding. He'd been a father figure when I'd lost my own. He was also romantically obsessed with his wife, Janice. It was like other women didn't exist. They had met in elementary school and married right after high school. It was the kind of love I'd always dreamed of. I dreamed of Charles Kerwin too, but in a different way, with a different type of love.
The hardest part of my new job would have nothing to do with Tanya’s boot camp.
Charles
I can't believe how nervous I am. I don't get nervous. Nothing rattles me or at least it didn't until I saw her. In a sea of corporate cutthroats and kiss-asses, she was there looking like an angel, so out of place. I was immediately overtaken by a desire to scoop her into my arms and take her away. Fuck, I didn't want to be there, but my PR reps insisted I attend one of those stupid events every year.
I tried to stay focused on whatever nonsense whoever happened to be in front of me at the moment was saying, but my eyes always drifted to her. Whenever I saw a man talk to her, I could feel my fist involuntarily clench and release when she inevitably walked away from them. She didn't seem interested. Maybe she somehow knew she already belonged to me and no other man would touch her.
She must have felt my eyes on her and looked directly at me. I felt like I'd been hit in the chest. Her eyes were a vibrant blue, and her hair fell in golden waves past her shoulders. She had a heart-shaped face with the most adorable button of a nose and luscious pink lips that I wanted to spend the rest of my life kissing. She was an angel fallen from Heaven, and I had to have her then. But in an instant, she was gone. She had turned and disappeared into the crowd. I began knocking people aside in my haste to find her again, but she was gone; vanished into thin air. I swore loudly and called for my head of security who always travels with me.
The next morning we scoured the security tapes from the event until we found her. She was the executive assistant for the CEO of Claffey’s, an ice cream company, headquartered in Pennsylvania. She must travel with him often. Not anymore, I thought. I initiated the acquisition that day. After an agonizing month, the day was here.
I had her boss, Marvin Claffey III, transferred to our corporate office in Manhattan and it was mercy. He was the grandson of the founder of the company and inherited his role as CEO, but had no idea what the hell he was doing. The company was hemorrhaging money, which didn't stop him from treating the company like his own personal piggy bank. Another fiscal year like the last one would see Claffey's filing for Chapter 12 and Marvin in prison. No one in their right mind would touch that turd of a company with a twenty-foot pole, not without a good reason.
The sale must have been the quickest in corporate history. Claffey was eager to sell. In fact, he'd been trying to get my attention at the mixer. I ignored him, of course. If he'd only known he had the strongest weapon in his arsenal, negotiations would have gone much differently. It took my security team less than a day to uncover all of his embezzling. We presented them to him with one offer. He accepted it immediately. He would stay in the company to instill confidence in the brand, and also where we could keep an eye on him, then in five years he’d announce his retirement.
I gave his job to my executive assistant, Tanya. I had a feeling Tanya suspected why I was doing all of this but if she did she wasn't saying. Why would she? I had promoted her and nearly doubled her already generous salary, besides she was smart, capable and ready to flex her corporate muscles. She spent ten years running my life. If she could handle that, she could handle anything. She had her work cut out for her. Rehabbing this company would take years. Her first order of business was to cut the workforce by twenty-five percent. For Kerwin Industries that meant a choice of a generous early retirement packages or generous severance packages with career counseling, anyone who didn't find a new job in six months would be reabsorbed into the company. Taking care of the people that take care of me has always worked well. That's why our retention rate is high, and we attract the best and brightest. Tanya could definitely handle herself in the boardroom.
As for the rest of world, I was either an eccentric billionaire making bizarre business decisions or a calculating corporate genius who knew something that everyone else didn't know. I even saw a talking head on a cable news finance show devote an entire segment to ice cream and frozen treat companies, advising his viewers to get in on the upcoming trend and buy all the stock they could. I couldn't help but laugh if he only knew.
The instant I saw her in at that event, my life changed. When I lost her, I also felt lost. When I found her again, I knew what I had to do.
I paced back and forth in my penthouse. This was the craziest gamble I'd ever make when, not if, it pays out it will be worth it. Taking risks made me rich, and I had my eye on the biggest jackpot.
"Sir," It was Tanya. She agreed to accompany me to the office the first day, give me the tour and introduce me to the team, to her. "The car is here. Are you ready?" I was ready a month ago.
My angel was waiting at the door of my office holding a tablet and a mug. Her blonde waves were pulled into a meticulous bun with two golden wavy tendrils cascading in front of ears you wanted to nibble on. She wore a white long sleeved blouse buttoned up to her neck and tied with a big white bow, like a gift, over a tight, black pencil skirt that just covered her knees and black with a t-strap across the front, like a flapper from an old movie. Her look said all business, but there was no hiding those ample breasts and perfect round ass. I devoured her body with my eyes: her smooth, flawless skin with only a hint of makeup, her tiny waist, and the gorgeous curve of her calves. I wanted to run my hands over every inch of her. I wanted to taste her and drink in her sweetness. I wanted to possess her the way she'd already possessed me but didn't know it.
“Good Morning, Sir.” She sounded confident and self-assured, but the hand that held the coffee was trembling. It was adorable. I reached out and gripped the coffee mug, steadying her hand and letting my fingers gently brush hers.
"Is this for me?" I looked down at her angelic face. She was so short, and I was standing so close to her that her head was nearly tilted all the way back to return my gaze exposing her lovely neck. I saw her gulp before replying.
“The… coffee?” I had to stifle a laugh.
"Yes, the coffee," I answered trying to fight back a smirk. "Is this for me?"
"Yes, sir." She shook her head to regain her composure, but her cheeks had a slight flush. "The coffee, of course, I meant the coffee." I slipped the mug from her hand and took a gulp. Tanya had taught her well; it was perfect. I saw the brand new CEO smile and nod before backing away, confident that she had left me in good hands.
I walked into my new office, and Tessa followed me in calling out my schedule for the day. I removed my suit jacket, seated myself at the desk, fired up my desktop hoping to clear some emails before my first meeting when I saw someone had seated himself at the smaller of the two desks outside my office.
“Who the fuck is that?”
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About the Author
Lucy Eden is an emerging author of steamy romance novellas. She enjoys reading every book she can her hands on, cooking with dangerous amounts of sugar and butter & dreaming up ways for complete strangers to fall in love and have yummy sex.
This is Lucy’s first book.
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