But just the day before, she had been thousands of dollars in debt. Confused, Erica looked at her watch. She was going to have to hurry, but she would have time to stop by the bank before she went down to the rental agency.
She would have to get this straightened out.
15 minutes later, her jaw was on its way to the pavement.
“My balance is what?!”
“I told you there were going to be plenty of perks for working for a billionaire!” Meagan said with a laugh, taking a pair of shoes from the store clerk and starting to try them. Erica had just told her what had happened earlier that day, and how she had had all her debt paid off.
There was no question that it had been Brock. Nobody else she knew had that kind of money. Part of Erica was thrilled, but most of her was freaked out. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Angie had said, and she worried that the woman was right.
Perhaps there was more going on than what she thought—and perhaps it wasn’t as innocent as she thought it was.
“Come on, you aren’t sleeping with the guy, are you? I mean, it’s not like you’re getting perks for sex, right? Maybe he just wants to help you out, and don’t tell me you don’t deserve it!” Meagan said.
Erica laughed. “I don’t know about that. Look at these.” She held up another pair of shoes, and Meagan immediately took them from her.
Shoe shopping had seemed like at least a small way to celebrate being suddenly debt free.
“Come on, you’ve been through a lot, what with your dad and everything,” Meagan replied.
Erica winced. It was true. She had lost her mother when she was very young, and her father had a heart condition and often required surgery. Though she didn’t like to think about it, she often worried that he was going to have some kind of heart failure and would need a transplant.
“I wouldn’t worry about it if I was you. That’s my point.” Meagan’s voice broke through her thoughts, and Erica looked back over at her.
“I know how you think, Erica. It’s weird. I agree. Who does that, especially for a brand-new employee?” Meagan went on. “But then again, who looks a gift horse like that in the mouth? God. I’d love a boss like …”
She knew that her friend was right. She shouldn’t worry about it. But then, she didn’t want Brock to think that he owned her. She worked for him. She was his secretary. Nothing more. It was strange that he would do so much for someone who was nothing more than his assistant, and she didn’t feel comfortable with what he had done.
“I don’t know. I just don’t want this to turn into a scandal, you know?” she asked.
“Look, if you’re that worried about it, why don’t you tell him so?” Meagan asked. Erica sighed. She knew her friend was right, and no matter how much she didn’t want there to be tension or trouble between her and her employer, she was going to have to talk to him about this. There was just no other way.
But in the meantime …
“Meagan …”
Her best friend gave her a smirk. “Yeah, yeah. You’re debt free. Rub it in.”
“SCHOOL DEBT FREE!” Erica threw her arms around Meagan and hugged her hard. “Now I can finally pay for a new couch for you!”
Meagan laughed and hugged her back. “I wouldn’t mind that. Your body pretty much permanently imprinted the cushions. But for now, I’ll settle for lunch and a spa day …”
Chapter 6
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I mean, I’d fuck the shit out of her if I could.” Jack laughed as he downed the rest of his whiskey.
Brock looked down into his own glass.
“You better know, I’d have to fire you. And I’d probably kill you,” he replied.
Jack gave him a curious look. “That’s different …”
“There is something different with this one,” Brock agreed. “I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed to just fucking her—God, maybe I’d finally get some sleep, then!—but I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t get the impression that she is very, um, experienced.” Brock drained the rest of her glass and Jack gave him a look.
“Since when do you, of all people, care about that?” he asked, and Brock shrugged. The fact of the matter was that he himself didn’t know when he’d started feeling that way. He had liked Erica from the moment she walked through the doors of his company, but he didn’t want to hurt her. And that had honestly never much mattered to him before.
“There’s just something different about this one. She’s so young. I don’t want her to hate me after,” he said with a light laugh.
Jack gave him another strange look, showing that he didn’t know what had come over his friend. This was strange behavior for Brock, and he knew it. But, he still felt how he felt, and he wasn’t going to change his mind just because he was obsessing over this girl.
“If you want to fuck her, fuck her, and don’t worry about it,” Jack said, and laughed as he drained his second shot.
If there was something about Jack, he could really hold his liquor, and he wasn’t afraid to do it. Brock used to try to keep up with him, but not anymore; he just let his friend drink as much as he cared to and picked up the tab when they were done. At the very least, Jack was good company to talk to about things like this.
“I’ll figure it out,” Brock said, wondering exactly how he planned on doing that, given that he’d been trying for weeks, utterly unsuccessfully. He finished the rest of his drink then held up his hand. “Check, please!”
“I just don’t feel comfortable with you paying that much money for me. I mean, you’re already paying more than I would be making at any other place in town, and I can pay my own bills.” Erica shifted back and forth in her seat, clearly nervous,
Brock, on the other hand, was sitting in his chair and smiling. He hadn’t been sure how she was going to react when she learned that he had paid off her debt, and he wasn’t surprised that she had reacted in the way that she did. There were some women who liked to have everything paid for them, then there were those who were upset when it happened. With the way she behaved in the office, he wasn’t at all surprised that she would rather take care of things on her own.
“I understand that, and I hope you aren’t offended. I didn’t mean any offense by it, really. I just wanted to do something nice for you, and that was the best thing I could think of.” He smiled at her as he spoke, hoping that he could calm her down with his nonchalant attitude.
She smiled, wiping her hands nervously on her skirt as she did. “I don’t want you to think that I’m not grateful, because I really am. I just want you to know that I can take care of my own life. I don’t need special favors.”
“It wasn’t special treatment, let me assure you. This was something that I do for all of my employees. Whenever anyone new starts here I make sure that they are taken care of, and what better way to do that than to take care of their debt?” he lied. He watched her keenly as he did, hoping that she would believe him, and to his relief, she appeared to.
“Really? I mean, I know that you have a lot of money, but I didn’t know that you were so generous with everyone.”
“I help those that I care about, and if you are in my circle, then I care about you. Simple.” Brock smiled as he spoke, and she looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“All right, I’ll let you do this for me once, but I want you to know that it’s not something that’s going to happen again.” She crossed her arms and looked at him, and he gave her a strange look in return. At last, he smiled.
“Deal,” Brock agreed. “I’m sorry I went behind your back. I thought it’d be a nice surprise, but I should have spoken with you first. Let me make it up to you—why don’t you come out with us tonight?” He listed a few of her colleagues who were all going out with him that night.
He knew if he didn’t keep talking, she might lose her nerve and decline, so he did what he could to sweeten the deal.
“It’s going to be a rather quiet night for us. We’re just going to grab a quick bite an
d some drinks after. Nothing too crazy.” He winked at her, and he could see that she was clearly torn.
“What do you have to lose?” Brock urged. “When’s the last time you went out and just cut loose with your friends? I mean, if you want to be friends with these people, you’re going to have to get out and hang out with them from time to time.” He winked at her once more, causing her to blush. He wished he could get a glimpse into what she was really thinking, but her face was as hard to read as anything he could imagine.
He was just about to give up and tell her that there was no pressure for her to go with him when he saw something change in her face. It was as though she had suddenly won a battle she had been fighting with herself, and she had made up her mind to do something that was against her better judgement.
“Well, what the hell? All right,” she said after a moment of deliberation.
“Excellent. Then I want you to take this and get yourself something nice to wear.” Brock reached into his wallet and pulled out his credit card, handing it to her as her eyes widened.
Erica looked at the card, then she gave him a look and shook her head. “What did we just talk about? I’m not going to be taking anymore money from you! I get my paycheck, and that is the end of that!”
“You said that gifts were fine, and that’s what this is! We are going out tonight, and it’s my treat.”
Erica took the card before shaking her head and placing it back on the table in front of Brock. “No. I can’t.”
Brock opened his mouth to protest, but she was already out of her seat. “I can’t, Brock. It’s not professional. Besides. You pay me plenty. I’ll buy a nice dress.”
With a shy smile in his direction, she walked out of the room and left Brock reeling, wondering who this woman was who couldn’t be bought. Who wouldn’t be bought.
Damn. He really, really liked her.
Chapter 7
“Don’t you think that it’s a little strange he just gave me the card and told me to go get a dress?” Erica asked. She had stopped by her father’s coffee shop on her way downtown to ask his opinion on what had been happening, but he merely shook his head.
“It’s strange,” her father agreed, wiping down the counter. “It’s good that you didn’t take it. He could get ideas. That whole debt thing … I mean, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but in my experience, employers just don’t do that.” He tossed the dish rag aside and reached for a broom to scour the empty coffee shop, the way he did whenever it was empty. She’d inherited her work ethic from him, in a big way.
She flushed, having been thinking the same thing, and took the broom from him. “Right. I really shouldn’t have accepted that, but I didn’t know what to do. How do you tell someone that you don’t want to be debt free?”
“What’s done is done,” her dad went on. “Just watch yourself. He’s not getting handsy or anything, is he?”
Erica turned beet red, mostly because she’d been fantasizing for weeks about him doing exactly that. “No!” she exclaimed, doing a brisk back and forth with the broom across the café’s seating area, before starting on the space behind the counter. “He’s always been completely professional.”
“Good. As long as that continues, you’re okay,” her dad replied, stepping around the broom and walking over to buff the tables to a nice shine.
“He invited me out tonight,” Erica mumbled, not looking at her father. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him stop. “But we’re going out with a group of people. It’s not like it’s a date or anything,” she added quickly.
Her father gave her another look. “Just remember, if you ever feel uncomfortable with the situation or like you don’t want to do something, then don’t do it.” He leaned over the first table and then froze, groaning quietly.
“Dad!” Erica dropped the broom and rushed over, grabbing his shoulders. He’d turned stark white.
“I’m fine.” He straightened and pulled away. “I pulled a back muscle lifting something the other day. Just a spasm.”
She wasn’t even remotely convinced, but nagging her father never had any kind of positive effect.
“Really, I’m fine,” he went on. “I want you to get out of here; you need to go find a dress.” He smiled at her, but she shook her head.
“I can’t leave you when you’re not feeling well! I can help you close up today. You really do need at least a second person in here, Dad.”
“Don’t you worry about me,” he said firmly. “I told you, everything is just fine here with me. Now go on, if you are going to find a dress in time for tonight, you’re going to have to get started now. I know how you are, if you don’t go now, you’re going to be there until midnight before you even know what you’re going to want,” he teased.
Erica frowned. “All right,” she said slowly. “But if you need anything at all—anything, Dad—you let me know.”
“I always do,” he reminded her, and it was true that he was good at reaching out if he needed an extra hand with something.
Still reluctant, Erica helped him finish the tables and washed a few dishes before giving him a big hug and heading out.
“I love you,” she called over her shoulder and smiled at his usual response.
“I love you more, sugar sweet.”
She didn’t really know what to expect for their outing. As Erica moved from store to store until she found the perfect emerald green dress, one that hugged her in all the right places but was modest enough that she’d be comfortable in it in any setting—it wouldn’t hike up too high if she was perched on a bar stool, for instance—she built up expectations and then batted them aside. In between, she talked things over with Meagan on the phone. Down with a bad flu, her friend couldn’t join her, but she offered plenty of advice anyway, ranging from earrings and shoes, hair and makeup, to the ‘non-date’ itself.
“You know as well as I do that this is a date-date,” Meagan said yet again later on, as Erica was at home finishing up the last curls in her hair, then reaching for a necklace that matched the soft green fabric nicely.
“Yeah, yeah,” Erica muttered distractedly, slipping into her new pair of heels and eyeing herself in the mirror. By now, Meagan had argued her around to accepting that this was actually more than Brock had made it appear.
“The man is into you,” Meagan reminded her unnecessarily, just before hanging up. “You have to make the decision whether to pursue that or not.”
It might have taken weeks for Erica to stop deluding herself, but the fact was that she and Brock did have a consistent sizzling undercurrent between them. What was the point in continuing to deny it? And if she accepted that, the question then became … what happened next?
As the doorbell to her apartment rang, her mouth went dry and her anticipation rocketed. At the back of her mind, she made the decision right there and then. If he came onto her, she was going to go with it. If he didn’t, maybe that was better career-wise. But if he did … she was going to take the opportunity, for better or worse.
“Coming,” she called, and hurried to open the door to the most handsome man she’d ever known.
Chapter 8
She looked like a goddess. Plain and simple. Brock almost swallowed his tongue as he escorted Erica downstairs, barely able to peel his eyes away from the dress. She might not have used his money to buy it, and it wasn’t anywhere near the skimpy affair he usually liked on a woman, but it was exactly right. It left plenty to the imagination, but offered more than enough visuals—those breasts, molded to perfection within the fabric, even if the hint of cleavage was minimal; that modest stretch of leg that made him want to reach high up to explore more; that ass, for God’s sake, cupped so lovingly by the dress that it made him jealous—to whet his every appetite.
“I can feel your eyes,” Erica said, turning to look at him from down the hallway, and the heat in her gaze nearly froze Brock to the spot.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he sai
d bluntly, not about to sugarcoat it. And when she blushed, she was even prettier. “I don’t want to go out with everyone else, Erica. Point blank, I want to spend tonight with you.” He let her do her own reading into that innuendo.
“I want that too.”
He wasn’t finished reeling from the shock of those words when she walked over and smiled up into his eyes. “This game we’re playing? I don’t know how it ends, but I’m enjoying it.”
Brock swallowed hard, his usual total control over every facet of his life vanishing in the blink of a long, sultry eyelash. He loved how candid she was. He loved that small, slightly shy smile, the flash of her beautiful eyes, the slight huskiness to her voice. He loved her whole personality and way of being, frankly. And it scared the crap out of him how much he felt himself falling damn hard toward loving her.
Trying hard to recover his billionaire sang froid, Brock looped an arm around her waist, pulled Erica tight into his muscled chest, and gave her the full measure of his hungry gaze. “Do I kiss you now, or at the end of the date? Because it’s happening today, sweetheart. That’s a promise.”
She bit her lip and he instantly wanting to take over biting it, running his own teeth over the soft, supple skin. “If we start now, there won’t be any date. And I want a date, Brock. I want to see you outside of the office before … before,” she concluded after an endearing pause that reminded him that she wasn’t as confident as she always seemed to project.
Somehow, he managed to draw back without ravaging those sweet lips. “Okay,” Brock said, swallowing a groan. “Then you’ll get your date, honey. And possibly a whole lot more, if we both agree we’d like it.”
Tentatively, she slipped her fingers into his, and though he’d never been a hand-holding guy—that seemed to imply some kind of commitment, and he was absolutely phobic in that sense—he liked how her small hand settled in his. He liked walking her out to his Lexus, holding the door for her, and waiting for her to slide into the seat. He liked leaning down to brush his lips over her cheek, because that might just hold him the rest of the night. He liked joining her in the car, climbing into the driver’s seat, and finding her waiting there with her soft, by now familiar, smile.
The Alpha's Assistant & The Dom Next Door Page 3
