by Lexy Timms
“And I owe it all to you,” he said with a smile that made her face heat.
She lowered her eyes, hoping he wouldn’t see the blush in her cheeks under the floodlights. “I’m sure you would have come up with something, Mr. Prescott.”
“I doubt it. All the best ideas come from you.”
Her idea to have the visiting Brits come down to the world-renowned Prescott Park was probably a good one, though she had a hard time admitting it. Most of the time if they had deals to make with VIP guests, Prescott Global sent them to play golf, eat at some fancy restaurant, or go to one of their factories out of state. But British executives could play golf anywhere. When else could they get the chance to see the majesty of New York’s iconic baseball stadium, Prescott Park, which had been owned by the Prescott family for generations? So, after a tour of the city, they were now at their final stop of the day. Prescott Park.
“Maybe we could take a photo,” she suggested innocently.
“Great idea; we’ll get some group shots with the executives.”
She groaned inwardly. A group photo was the last thing she needed. After convincing her meddling family that Dane was not just her boss, but her boyfriend, her family had naturally demanded she bring him to the wedding. Fat chance of that happening. It’s not like she could waltz into her boss’s office and ask him to be her pretend boyfriend for the weekend. She’d be fired, and utterly humiliated.
So, her best bet was to send a photo of them looking blissfully happy together. And that idea was now going up in flames as she and Dane walked across the grass towards their British guests. Everyone started posing for photos and every time Allyson opened her mouth to suggest she and Dane take a photo together, another executive would talk over her.
Fifteen hellish minutes passed, with her posing in her dangerously high stilettos, a fake smile plastered on her face.
“Would you two like to take a picture together? Just the two of you?” Handel pointed from Allyson to Dane. If Allyson could have reached out and kissed the old man, she would have. Instead, she pulled her cell phone out of her skirt pocket and handed it to Handel.
“I’d love to,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound too eager.
Dane appeared beside her. Her heart started racing. The crazy plan she’d concocted might actually happen, but she had no idea how to pull it off. Anxiety gripped her. They rarely got this close to each other. If she started canoodling with Dane like an idiot, he’d know something was up. But if she just stood there like a wet fish, there was no way of convincing her family.
With shaking hands, she stood as close to him as she dared. He slipped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her close. The weight of his powerful arm made her stomach do somersaults. She forced herself to smile through the anxiety coursing through her.
Handel snapped a few shots and handed back her cell phone. She thanked him and started furiously typing a text message to go along with the photo, making sure to send it to her brother and her parents. She even sent the photo to her older sister for extra measure. There! Now they’d get off her case and she could fly solo at the wedding in peace.
“You look awfully pleased with yourself,” Dane murmured.
His voice made her practically jump out of her skin. “Oh shit, Dane; you startled me.”
He tilted his head, an amused expression on his face.
Allyson gasped. “I’m so sorry! I meant ‘Mr. Prescott.’” Crap, what had she said?
He chuckled. “No problem. I know we’re still working but you can let loose a little, Allyson.”
“Of course. It’s just—”
“Got a lot on your mind?” he finished smoothly. His bright blue eyes locked onto hers. There was a mischievous glint in them, as if he’d caught her out. Discovered her secret. She felt like a naughty child under his gaze. “Why are you so jumpy today, anyway? That’s very unlike you.”
Dane missed nothing. His attention to detail had been the undoing of a lot of people in the corporate world who thought they could cross him. Hard work and transparency were what won him over. Not backstabbing and cutting corners. And tonight, she had double-crossed him. Used him to tell a lie. Guilt gnawed at her.
She bit her lip, trying to think of a lie. “It’s nothing.”
“There’s a chill in the air.” He started to shrug out of his jacket to hand it to her. “You’re probably freezing. How did I not see that before?”
He was right. There was a nip in the late spring air. But she’d been so desperate to pull off her little scheme that she’d hardly noticed.
“Thank you.” She slipped his jacket on. It was so big it practically swallowed her up. She dropped her cell phone into one of its pockets. There was something so dangerously intimate about wearing his clothes. Something so familiar between employer and employee.
Allyson looked up into his blue eyes. Found herself lost in them. Again. In the beginning, she had tried to tell herself the butterflies he gave her were just a single girl’s reaction to her handsome new boss. That wavy blond hair contrasting with his tan skin and sea-blue eyes would make anyone notice. Everything about him reminded her of a day at the beach. He was warm, golden, and so very tempting. His presence overwhelmed. “Aren’t you cold, Mr. Prescott?”
Dane held his hands up. “Allyson, that’s enough. You don’t have to think of me every minute of the day.” He shoved his hands into his pockets again. “Any weekend plans?”
She swallowed hard. Making small talk with her boss was so nerve-wracking. It was much easier to just talk about work. “I’m a bridesmaid at my brother’s wedding.”
“That’s terrific. Congratulate him for me. He’s the lawyer, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. Mom and Dad are so proud.” She cringed at the bitterness in her voice. Her parents never let her forget how accomplished her brother and her sister were. James was a lawyer, and about to get married to a neurosurgeon.
Meanwhile, she was nothing more than a lowly assistant. Granted, she’d managed to snag a swanky New York apartment, but she was still hopelessly single. Something her family never let her forget.
“But you’re not?” Dane’s words dragged her from her thoughts.
“No, it’s not that. I meant—”
“Sometimes parents can be impossible on us,” he said. “My bloomin’ parents are. I totally understand if you’re kind of reluctant to go to this wedding.”
Before she could answer, one of the executives called to Dane.
“I think it’s time to go,” he said. “We can stop by the office to get our stuff, and then I can drop you off at home.”
“Thank you so much.” He was always so good to her. The job was demanding, but Dane respected his employees. After saying goodbye to the executives, she and Dane walked towards the company car. Her stomach was in knots. The thought of betraying him made her insides churn.
He helped her into the passenger seat and drove away from Prescott Park, back to company headquarters. The office was closed for the day but, as always, there were still employees who had stayed behind to work overtime.
When Allyson arrived at her desk outside Dane’s office, she slipped out of his jacket and handed it back to him. She turned her focus to her desk where she made sure to set aside important documents, grabbed her handbag, found her apartment keys, and started searching around anxiously for her cell phone.
“Looking for this?”
She turned around to find Dane leaning against his office door, holding up her cell phone. His eyebrows were pressed together, the rest of his face unreadable.
Her heart sank. Oh, shit.
The next words he said made her want to disappear into the floor. “What’s this about me being your boyfriend?”
Chapter 2
Allyson was never at a loss for words.
He couldn’t remember her ever not having a classy, or smart, response. But as Dane gazed at her darkly, her mouth fell open and no sound came out. He had no idea if she was trying to come
up with a lie, but she must have had enough good sense to know he wasn’t going to buy whatever story she told him.
“Well?” he demanded. What right did she have? He ignored the inner voice inside him asking what right he had to look at her phone.
She swallowed hard. “L-Let me explain.”
“I’m waiting,” he said sharply.
“I lied to my family about you.”
He stared at her in amazement. So, she wasn’t going to cook up some story. That, at least, he could admire. “What did you lie about?”
She smoothed the fabric of her tight skirt, her hands shaking. It was probably taking a lot out of her to face what she’d done, but he wasn’t going to make this easy for her. She’d broken his trust, and he deserved to hear why.
Allyson cleared her throat. “I told my family you and I are dating. I’m sorry. Really, I am. I’m very ashamed of my behavior.” Her gorgeous green eyes were glistening. The last thing he wanted was for her to start crying and make a scene out here in the open.
“In my office,” he said coldly. “Now.” He held the door for her as she stepped into his luxurious office and walked across the plush carpet to his glass-topped desk.
She stood in front of his desk, waiting.
He sank into the chair behind his desk and motioned for her to sit down across from him. She sat down, crossing her shapely legs. It was distracting. But then, everything about delectable Allyson Smith was distracting. From her razor-sharp black bob haircut down to the sinful six-inch stilettos she wore every day.
As his assistant, she was not someone to be trifled with. Countless men had underestimated her, thinking they could pull a fast one on his sexy assistant. But Allyson was ultra-professional, took no nonsense, and wasn’t easily rattled. In fact she was downright uptight, which is why he’d rarely gotten details of her personal life.
With a sigh, Dane set her cell phone down on his desk. He hadn’t been snooping or prying. After she’d returned his jacket he pulled the phone out to check his messages, thinking the cell phone was his. To his utter shock and horror, he’d discovered Allyson had sent the photo of them together at the stadium with the message: Here we are together at Prescott Park! Dane’s so upset he won’t make it to the wedding, but he’s sending flowers and a gift. Isn’t he the best boyfriend?
Aside from the fact that the thought of being sexy Allyson’s boyfriend had made his brain momentarily short-circuit, it wasn’t like her to betray his trust. There were two people in the world he trusted. Himself and Allyson. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I was selfish. I’m so sorry.” Her voice was shaky, but she hadn’t started crying yet.
“Why lie?”
“It’s like you said. Parents can be hard on us.” She lowered her eyes.
“Hard enough for you to have to come up with something like this?”
She nodded. “My parents don’t like what I do for a living.”
He scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. You work for me.”
“That’s not good enough for them.”
“But dating me is?”
“Apparently, yes. I can date you, but just being your assistant isn’t good enough.” She rolled her eyes. “I guess they feel it’s too lowly. It’s beneath me—”
“You’re not lowly,” he said in annoyance.
“I’m an assistant. Even your own mother called me glorified help,” she pointed out.
He cringed. She had. Not to mention his mother was also dead-set against renewing Allyson’s contract. Some drama about John Handel’s daughter not taking a liking to Allyson. While Allyson had charmed Handel earlier tonight, his daughter was the ultimate key to getting Handel and Company to sign off on a merger with Prescott Global.
Dane had been on a few dates with Handel’s daughter, and things had fizzled pretty quickly. He wasn’t interested. However, Katherine Handel had the sort of pedigree his mother adored. The Handels were British aristocrats, Katherine had been a champion equestrian, and now she was the key to a merger that could open a whole new market.
“I have no excuse for my mother,” he said. “Some of her beliefs haven’t exactly kept up with the times.”
“She isn’t that different from my parents,” she said softly.
If Allyson’s parents were anything like his, he could understand the pressure she was under. Still, he’d never had to lie like this to keep his parents satisfied. Probably because he just let his mother set him up with whatever heiress she managed to sink her talons into. With each passing year they got blonder and thinner. Not that he could knock anyone for looking after their appearance. He spent enough time in the gym. But with each new bottle-blonde, he found himself comparing them to Allyson.
His assistant wasn’t the delicate, wispy, aristocratic type. Allyson was dark-haired, with an hourglass figure. She dressed well, but in her own style. He didn’t know much about fashion, but sometimes he caught himself looking at something he knew she’d wear. The heiresses all dressed like carbon copies of each other.
He crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you were having problems with your family?”
She stared, her green eyes flashing with confusion. “We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
He held up her phone. “Your text messages say otherwise.”
Her cheeks flushed a becoming shade of pink. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, making her entire body wiggle in all the right places. Dane forced himself to focus on her green eyes, and not let his gaze go further down. “I took liberties that I shouldn’t have,” she said, “and I’m sorry.”
He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her. This was stressful for her. If she was willing to jeopardize her job to keep her family happy, he could only imagine how difficult things must be for her. Still, she’d violated his trust and he wasn’t going to abide that. Not even for Allyson.
“There are going to have to be consequences for this,” he said.
Her lower lip trembled but she sat up straighter, throwing her shoulders back, her head held high. “I understand if you have to terminate me.”
“This behavior is unacceptable.” He steepled his hands under his chin, deep in thought. His mother had been breathing down his neck about her displeasure over Allyson. Came up with every excuse in the book to let her go. She spent too much time with him. Didn’t understand the nature of the job. Wasn’t fast enough.
All of it nonsense, because he knew the problem was that Allyson was the woman he saw the most, and neither his mother nor Katherine Handel could stand it. His mother planned on talking to him about Allyson’s contract this weekend. Something he dreaded.
“What if I were to accompany you this weekend?” he asked, a sudden burst of inspiration hitting him.
She gasped. “You can’t be serious—”
“Why not?”
“It’s absurd.” Her eyes had grown big, the green inside them darkening.
Damn, she was sexy. He leaned back in his chair. “What’s absurd is having to lie to your family. How long have you been keeping up this charade anyway?”
She swallowed. “About three months.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Not very long.”
“I think it’s the pressure of the wedding,” she said softly. “James is the youngest, and he’s getting married before me.”
“So why not bring your rich, dashing boyfriend to the wedding?” He winked and smiled, liking the idea more and more by the second.
“There’s no way I could put you through that kind of trouble.” Her cheeks went pink again, and from the way her bosom was heaving she was breathing hard.
Very.
It was distracting. I wonder what she’d be like in bed—
He cut off the thought right away. Not appropriate. Then again, this entire situation wasn’t appropriate. It didn’t matter. He’d never seen his steely, uptight assistant so flustered. She was downright frazzled. He didn’t know why, but her response was a turn-on.
<
br /> Probably because he was the one inciting the reaction.
A weekend watching her in her natural element with her family was very tempting. He’d get to see her outside of work. Watch her let her hair down.
“It wouldn’t be any trouble,” he reassured. “And whatever you decide, I won’t be terminating you for this.”
“You won’t?” She stared at him, taken aback. “But, I’ve betrayed your trust—”
“Are you asking me to punish you?” Damnit! He hadn’t meant for that to sound suggestive. But from the way her face reddened, he could swear her mind was going there. An affair with his assistant was completely out of the question. He’d never dated a colleague, and certainly never a direct subordinate. Besides, that kind of scandal could torpedo the entire merger with Handel and Company. Prescott couldn’t weather a botched merger like this.
Fantasizing about Allyson was just that. Fantasizing. He simply wanted to help her out of a difficult situation. And maybe get them both the hell out of town before his mother showed up.
He might be the company CEO, but he didn’t have absolute power. His parents were on the board, and if his mother needled his father enough the two of them could put a wrench in Allyson’s contract renewal.
With this hanging over her, letting his parents know about Allyson’s scheme would mean her contract would be as good as dead. But he needed to be sure about his mother’s plans. Needed to come up with a plan of his own now that her job was in greater jeopardy.
He’d let Allyson in on it if he could, but such discussions were confidential until they came to a decision. It drove him crazy to keep it from her, but maybe getting out of Dodge for the weekend was a happy accident. A way to get time back on his side.
“No, it’s just…I feel terrible about what I did,” she said. “And I couldn’t possibly ask you to cover for me by coming as my date.”
“You’re not asking,” he pointed out. “I’m offering. I understand if you’re turning me down—”
“Well,” she interrupted, “if you’re genuinely offering, what would this entail?”
He smiled. “We show up together, looking blissfully in love.”
