by Lily LaVae
“You follow me around with that stupid notebook and try to give me orders. It’s your job to keep track of my schedule and make sure that I don’t have to talk to anyone I don’t want to.” He lowered his chin and he practically growled at her.
“I see.” She bit back the retort she would’ve usually thrown at him. She didn’t want to lose this job on the very first day. Morning obviously wasn’t his time. They’d talked a bit the night before. Nothing earth shattering, but this was uncalled for.
If you stay for a year, you never have to work again…
“And where do I find this all-important notebook, along with your schedule, and anything that might be important?”
“It’s at your desk, in the back of the bus.” He threw the words at her as he rummaged through a drawer in the bar that looked like it held every receipt from the dawn of time.
She gulped. The back of the bus was where he slept. “In the back of the bus?” She hoped he meant somewhere else, but there wasn’t really any other place he could possibly be speaking of.
“Yes. Go on back and check it out if you’re so interested in starting.” He shooed her off like she was no more than a bug. She probably wasn’t to him. Just another fan who would take up space in his life.
As she strode to Morgan’s room, she took long deep breaths to calm herself down. Morgan was known to be grouchy. It was his persona. She was just going to have to put up with it until she was used to him, then she could give him a little right back. He was just as stuck with her as she was with him. They might as well enjoy the journey.
His room was much neater than she expected. It wasn’t like they had maid service on the bus, but there were no clothes laying around and the bed was made, mostly. Along the wall, built into the side, was a short desk with an attached chair. At the desk was a laptop, a thick leather-bound notebook and a day planner. As she flipped through to find today’s date, she found notes from her predecessors. Some were random notes about what had been done and others were more personal.
From four weeks before, a new PA had started. The writing was different from earlier notes.
Got hired right away. Morgan’s a pushover. A hottie too. It won’t take but a day or two.
By the next day, whoever had written the note began treating the book like her personal sex diary. Good thing the relationship only lasted a few days, but apparently they’d been on the road and had little else to do.
The bus had barely pulled back onto the road before Morgan took me back into his room again. If it wasn’t so damn good, and if he didn’t excite places on me I didn’t even know could be excited, I might turn him down. But I won’t… Eloise’s cheeks flamed. She now knew things about her boss she’d never wanted to, or maybe deep down she did, but would’ve rather found out on her own, via exploration.
“Did you find what you needed?” Morgan asked from behind her.
She jumped and slammed the book closed, sure her face was on fire. “Yes. I believe I did,” she squeaked. Crap, she sounded guilty. Had he read that book and told her to find it on purpose, and did he expect mind blowing sex from all his assistants? Was that why he’d gone through a bridal agency instead of a hiring firm? He wanted her for a liaison? But then, why agree to her non-consummation terms? That had to be why he was so angry with her. That and she wasn’t pretty. Her little stick figure without any curves to speak of wouldn’t fit his norm. She hugged herself and tried to quell the disappointment she had no business feeling.
“What the hell is the matter?” He growled.
She gulped back her mortification and unease, her eyes taking in his muscles from his shoulders down to his defined abs and lingered a little too long on his hips. Damn. She should’ve stopped reading…
“Nothing. I was just reading over the notes your last assistant left. She didn’t like you much.”
Morgan snorted. “She wasn’t the first and won’t be the last. This job requires that I keep as much of myself as I can. If I’m not an ass, people will just take and take until there’s nothing left.”
That was true of her, too. She’d shoved everyone away because she had nothing left to give anyone. If she had tried to be a friend to anyone, she would’ve been left with nothing. “I understand. Probably better than you think.” She didn’t want to feel compassion for her boss, but she did. He certainly wouldn’t return it. She could see him stiffen at her words.
“Of course you don’t. People don’t try to take a piece of you wherever you go. They don’t try to steal your stuff for souvenirs, grab you when you walk by, take your picture if you’re foolish enough to try to go out to eat. You know nothing about it. Be happy you don’t.”
She stood up and faced him, finally tired of his pity party. “You think you’re the only one who’s faced problems? You think you’re the only one who’s shoved people away so you can still have a little bit of yourself? You’re wrong. We can either work together to keep your schedule what you want it to be, or you can fight me. I’d like to stick around. Frankly, the offer of the payout at the end of this is enough to put up with whatever shit you can throw at me, but I’d rather work with you than against you.”
He faced her and took measured steps toward her, the muscled chest she’d admired earlier now seemed large and…intimidating. He expected her to cower, she could see it in his eyes. He was practically ordering her to back down, but she wouldn’t.
“I don’t work well with others.” He stopped his advance inches from her and the scent of his body wash and hair products mingled to form a heady aroma. She closed her eyes and focused on not taking a deep breath.
“I don’t either. But both of us need each other right now. You need someone who’ll stick around and I need a job. What do you say we call a truce?”
He took a step closer and the hard wall of his ribs brushed her chest. She held her breath, sure he would do something, but not sure what. She wouldn’t cower to his intimidation and she wouldn’t back away.
“Why don’t you tell me why you insisted on the non-consummation clause when you thought you were going to be married?”
His quick change of topic left her dizzy, especially after reading the log book and inhaling his intoxicating scent. “I…don’t want to be with another man. Ever.” She glanced away, but that was worse. Now his warm breath fanned over her skin and it was all too obvious there was no space between them. If she wanted room to breathe, she’d have to be the one to back down. She shivered as gooseflesh prickled over her arms.
“Ever is a long time.” He didn’t move, just continued his slow steady breathing over her, filling her with his scent and the impression of his strength with the barest touch between the two of them.
“It is, but one was more than enough.” She would not talk about this. She’d buried it for a year, hid behind her anger. She wouldn’t let this stranger catch her weak.
He reached up and traced her ear and without even thinking, she backed away and slapped him. He stood looking at her his eyes wider than normal, dilated, obviously unaccustomed to anyone who wouldn’t let him do as he pleased.
“Am I here to work or be a bride? Pick one. If I’m here to work, you keep your hands off. If I’m here to be a bride… keep your hands off.” Her heart was racing in her chest, but it wasn’t completely fear. Deep inside her, something lit and burst. She couldn’t allow that. Giving herself to someone hurt. The choices that had to be made afterward hurt even worse.
He narrowed his eyes at her then held up both hands as he took one step back. “Fine. You win. You were practically fainting yesterday when you found out who I was. I just figured…”
She took a deep breath. “You figured wrong.” At least she wouldn’t be leaving any raunchy notes for whoever worked for Morgan after her year was up.
6
When Morgan had found Eloise in his room, sitting at his desk and looking through the log book his last assistants had left behind, she acted like he’d caught her digging through his drawers. It had bo
th set him off and turned him on. Then she’d glanced him over slowly, like she was on the prowl. He hadn’t taken the time to find a romantic interlude in a while. It was hard to believe with her hungry stare she hadn’t been inviting him. He’d have to learn to read her better, or not. It wasn’t like she’d leave. She as much as said she wouldn’t. His money was keeping her there, just as he’d hoped it would. But that angered him. For once, his money had provided something his face couldn’t. Eloise wanted nothing to do with him, and in the moment, he’d wanted everything to do with her.
It was very cold, the way the arrangement had to be set up to work. Though he’d planned it that way, now that she was in place, it bothered him that she wouldn’t stay just to work with him. She was only staying because of the crazy sum he promised at the end. And, he couldn’t touch her. Not that there wouldn’t be a multitude of other women to choose from, but his PA had always been there. At the beginning, they were always willing. Of course, that could be why they all turned sour on him. Maybe it was less that he was a demanding asshole, and more that the sex had ruined what little business relationship they had. Maybe Eloise was smarter than all his other assistants combined.
She could just be a lot less star-struck. But he hated to think about that. Her reaction to finding out who he was at the agency didn’t match that theory.
After he’d left her to finish reading everything the other assistants had left behind, he picked up his guitar and got comfortable on the leather couch in the main meeting area at the front of the bus. He always used the acoustic guitar he’d written his first song on, not that he believed in luck. It just had this feel, this sound, he needed to create good music.
Kent came in and sat across from him. “I heard you strumming. Thought I could come in and talk you through it.”
Morgan nodded, but didn’t say anything. The cords were on the tips of his fingers, like a forgotten word stuck on the tip of the tongue. He tried a few variations and Kent nodded along with him, but it wasn’t quite right yet. He tried again, changing a few cords. Better.
Kent picked up the other acoustic and strummed the base note, catching the tune easily. It wasn’t the same as his base, but Kent was a talented musician, and could pick up about any stringed instrument and play it. Kent reacted as Morgan played. It hadn’t been like that in a long time.
He noticed the moment she walked down the hall and entered the room. His concentration evaporated, and his fingers refused to respond, all he could think about was her. The last cord hung in the air and Kent stared first at him, then at the intruder.
“Uh, hello?” Kent stood and put the guitar away.
Eloise hung by the door, the anger she’d shown earlier gone. She stepped forward and held out her hand. The moment Kent’s fingers touched Eloise, something primal burned inside Morgan and he stood, leaving the guitar on the sofa.
“Kent, this is my new assistant—”
“Eloise.” Recognition dawned on Kent’s face.
“Marcus?” She squinted at him.
Kent laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Not for a long time.”
Morgan cleared his throat and Eloise startled, staring at him as if she’d forgotten he was even there. That fact bothered him. No one ever forgot him. “Is someone going to clue me in to what just happened here?”
Kent laughed and focused back on Eloise. “Morgan, if you think back real hard, you’ll remember Eloise. She’s Jordan’s younger sister. From school.”
Eloise glanced at him and then at Kent, then back to him. Her eye raked him, but she wouldn’t find any resemblance to the boy he’d been in high school. That kid was long gone.
“No way,” she breathed. “Clyde?” Her jaw dropped and it was all he could do to keep from groaning. He’d worked hard to keep that bit of history private.
Kent laughed and thwacked her on the back so hard he thought she’d end up on her knees. “Now you know a secret Morgan’s been keeping since we signed our first record deal. You can’t leave now, he’ll never let you. How is Jordan, anyway?”
Morgan hadn’t thought about any of the people from home in a very long time, and how had he missed the fact that he’d hired Eloise, the little sister of one of his former close friends? She’d aged quite well and even now, knowing who she was, he couldn’t see it. Eloise had been a pre-teen when he’d left town. Her brother had often joked she was “the little accident that could”, but he just couldn’t see it.
Eloise’s pretty mouth turned down. “I haven’t talked to him in over a year. Not since I moved to Texas. He still lives in Nashville. I’m sure if you really want to know, you can look him up.” She crossed her arms and her lips tightened, holding back whatever else she wanted to say. He’d never been good at that and he didn’t want her to have to, either.
“Kent, I think I’m done for a few. I’ll catch up with you later.” Hopefully, his friend would take the hint.
The base player nodded. “Good to see you again, squirt. I’m sorry we tormented you so bad and I hope it doesn’t mean you’ll leave.”
She shook her head, but didn’t say more. She still appeared to be literally biting her tongue. When the door bounced shut behind Kent he turned back to look at her. “Did you recognize either of us before today? We’ve both tried hard to maintain who our label says we are.”
She shook her head and turned away from him. “I didn’t, not until…what did you call him?”
“Kent.”
“Right, Kent. I didn’t even think you were familiar until he said something.”
“I didn’t recognize you, either. Didn’t see any resemblance to the little blonde with pig tails who used to be in our business.” He laughed. She didn’t. What would it take to get her to tell him what he wanted to know, to open up and get angry if that’s what had to happen. Without the freedom to say what she wanted, she’d be just like the others who built pressure until the burst.
“You going to just sit there smoldering, or are you going to talk about it?” He could see the tension build in her shoulders as she faced him, ready to explode just as he suspected.
She turned on him, her face contorted in rage. “My brother is an ass from hell. I was doing just fine, moving on. Now, I’m not so sure I can stay. I don’t know if I can look at Kent and not see my brother.” Her whole body rose and fell with the force of her breath.
“Just Kent? Because I was just as close to Jordan as he was.”
She scowled and wrapped her arms around her, protecting herself from him. “As much as you like to think you’re the best at everything, no. Jordan and Kent were far closer. They were together without you all the time. It’s probably why you didn’t recognize me and he did. He practically lived at our house. He was my first crush for crying out loud.”
Morgan crossed his arms to match hers and took a step back. They were delving into feelings and he always avoided those, not to mention the thought of her having a crush—especially on Kent—was just as foreign and disturbing to his mind as her sleeping with someone.
He didn’t have a family, but hers had always been welcoming. His own mother had treated him like dirt and he’d never known his father. Ma had him singing in bars by the time he was nine. It was possible Eloise told the truth and didn’t recognize him. He’d had to work more often than not.
“What happened? Why haven’t you talked to Jordan in over a year?” So many secrets hidden in one woman. He stepped closer to her and she backed away, her eyes narrowing at him.
“I told you not to touch me.”
Touch was the one and only thing that kept him from being angry all the time. Maybe it would be the same for her. “Why? What’s your story? You keep throwing me little bits, but then bite when I ask for more.”
“You keep asking questions that make me want to kick you in the balls.” She was coiled in her corner, ready to strike. But he had the distinct feeling that if this cobra bit him, he’d only catch a fever from her venom.
He strode closer an
d she tensed even more. “I mean it. Don’t touch me.”
He rested his hands on her shoulders, intentionally keeping his touch heavy and not the least bit intimate. If she did have a kid and another man had custody, she wouldn’t want anything intimate from him. “I’m not your brother. I’m not your lover. I’m not the guy who was such an ass to you that he turned you from a sweet little pig-tailed girl into a viper.” Every other PA had turned into a bitch on wheels because of him—full on anger worse than Eloise. The difference was they’d treated him like shit and he’d dealt it right back. Eloise didn’t. She didn’t want to be angry at him. Maybe didn’t even want to be angry at all. And this was about as intrigued as he’d ever been by a woman.
The little viper’s eyes misted over. “He sided with Liam and walked out of my life. I’ve been on my own ever since.”
He wasn’t a tender man. Never had been. But he suddenly felt protective as hell and he pulled her into his chest, cradling her head to his heart. She didn’t fight like he’d thought she would, instead she clung to him.
“I don’t know why Jordan would’ve done such a thing. But I can promise you that I won’t go looking him up while you’re here.”
She backed away and wouldn’t look him in the eye, laughing nervously as she wiped her nose. “You just want to keep me for a year. Otherwise you’d be doing it to tick me off.”
Maybe he would. He had gone out of his way to rile up her predecessors.
“I’m sorry I fell apart. I’m usually strong, but realizing who you both were and my past…it all came flooding back.” She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her tee.
“It’s okay to be angry. Hell, I do it all the time. What’s not okay is living in it.” He chucked her under the chin so she looked up at him. “Are we good? We can go back to work?”
