by Tia Siren
“I know everything. You are my PA, and you will be handling very sensitive information. Did you think I'd employ you without doing some checks on you?”
“Jesus. I'd never given it any thought.”
“I also know you're alone in the world. I know you were left at a hospital as a baby and brought up in three foster families.” He looked at her and saw how amazed she was that he knew her most intimate secrets. “I know you did okay in high school and well at secretarial college. I also know you're way too intelligent to work as a PA, but you underachieved at school because you found boys more interesting than Pythagoras or Shakespeare.”
Avaline felt as if she were naked. Was there anything he didn't know about her? “Do you know my bra size as well?” she asked.
“No. That's still a secret I haven't gotten to the bottom of.”
“And you never will. I work for you.”
“That’s never stopped me before. You know you're very beautiful. I could give you all you want in life.”
“Do you think I'm stupid? You would soon get bored of me and discard me. Then what? Being fired without a reference wouldn't look good on my resume.”
A nurse came into the room and checked Avaline's blood pressure and temperature. “Your temperature's up a little. She's tired now; perhaps you can come back tomorrow?” the nurse said.
“Sure. Remember, Avaline, you're coming back with me. I always get what I want.”
The nurse looked at him as he left the room and shook her head. “Is he bothering you, Avaline? He seems awfully pushy.”
“But hot, wouldn't you say?”
“Yes. I would say hot but dangerous,” the nurse replied. They both laughed at the sisterly joke.
“Yes. The dangerous bit hadn't escaped me,” Avaline concluded.
*****
When Robert picked Avaline up, he was worried he was taking the fly to the spider’s web. But those were his instructions. He knew what his boss was like. He'd ferried lots of women to Palmer Court, Colten's massive mansion in the hills around LA. None of them had stayed very long. He'd also taken most of them away again, in tears. Colten was a hard bastard. It didn't matter whether it was business or women; he applied the same principles. Robert remembered when Colten had told him about his philosophy. Colten saw life in terms of deals. He'd said a good deal is when you get out more than you put in. When Robert had told his wife what Colten had said, she'd laughed. He recalled her exact words. “That may work great for business, but it's absolutely the wrong attitude for relationships.” But Robert was convinced Colten didn't give a damn.
“Here we are, miss, Palmer Court. What do you think?” Robert said, pulling the Rolls up outside the mansion.
“My God, it's huge,” she said. “I had no idea. Maybe it won't be such a bad place to recuperate after all.”
“Miss,” Robert began. He had to choose his words carefully. “I've brought a lot of young women here, to this house. None of them stayed very long, and most of them left with a broken heart.” Avaline listened intently to what he had to say. “I like you. You're bubbly and beautiful. I don't want to see the same thing happen to you.”
“Robert, as well as a lifesaver, you're a star for thinking of me in that way.” She reached from the backseat and patted him on the shoulder. “But I want to tell you there is no way I'm entering into any kind of relationship with Colten. I'm his PA, not his mistress, despite what he may think.”
“Good for you, miss.”
Avaline took her handbag from the seat and put her hand on the door handle. “No man has ever played around with me, and I don't intend to let him do so.”
But he's gotten you to come to his house already, Robert thought. He wasn't convinced Avaline could hold out against the firepower Colten could muster. Power and wealth were strong persuaders as far as women were concerned.
“So here you are,” Colten said as he walked down the stone steps that led from the front door.
“It's some house. I love the peacocks.” Avaline gestured to the two birds walking across the lawn.
“They are great, aren't they? Come on. Let me take your bags.” Colten and Robert carried her bags up the steps and into the house. Inside it was cool and roomy. Avaline had thought it would be tacky. She'd had images of gold and marble, but it wasn't like that at all. It was exactly as she would have furnished it. It was colonial, just like the restaurant, the Hopeless Sinner.
Robert left, and Colten showed Avaline to her room. It was the biggest bedroom she'd ever seen. The bed alone was large enough for four people.
“This is yours for as long as you want it. It's south facing, so you'll get lots of sunlight.”
“Colten,” she began. He looked at her. She was more beautiful than any woman he'd ever had at the house. So beautiful he felt the beginnings of an erection when he looked at her. She was dressed in a floral dress that showed off a good amount of cleavage. All he wanted to do was rip the dress off, throw her on the bed, and take her. “I'm grateful to you. This is a very relaxing place to rest. But I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not here to share your bed. I hope you understand.”
He smiled at her. He loved her resistance. So many of the others had just lay down and spread their legs in the belief that that was what would keep Colten interested. But it wasn't. He needed sport. He needed a chase, someone to say no to him. He knew he'd get what he wanted from her in the end. The only question was when.
“Sure. Of course. I understand,” he replied. “Anything else would be unprofessional. Freshen up and I'll show you around. Come downstairs when you're ready.”
Avaline took a shower in the en-suite bathroom and then dressed in a pair of shorts and a yellow blouse. She tied her hair in a ponytail and decided not to bother with makeup. Colten heard her coming down the stairs and shouted to her, “I'm here.”
Avaline followed the sound of his voice. It took her down a corridor and into a small room that was breathtakingly beautiful. It was a sort of conservatory but used as an office. There were pictures of buildings she assumed Colten owned on the walls and a superb view of the yard. The water in the pool, which was just outside the doors, reflected the evening sunshine onto the ceiling, making a wonderful shimmering effect.
“Oh, it's lovely here,” Avaline said.
“It's even better with a glass of wine.” He rang a bell and a tall man appeared. “A bottle of Rojo please, Edwin.”
“Jesus. Is he a butler?” she asked, open mouthed, once Edwin had gone.
“I suppose so. He's Dutch and as gay as they come. I've got a cook as well.”
Colten opened the doors and stepped outside. “It's been damn hot today, but it's great now,” he said. “Come and sit here by the pool.”
Avaline sat down on a rattan garden sofa and looked across the yard. It was simply the most beautiful place she'd ever been to. Not that she'd made a habit of visiting expensive houses before. Edwin arrived with the wine and poured them both a large glass.
“I think I'll cool off a bit,” Colten said. Without a care in the world, he began to undress in front of her. She took a sip of wine and sighed as she felt its relaxing effect. When Colten took off his shirt, she stared at him. Gorgeous muscles, dark skin, and a smooth chest with a hint of hair around his navel. She couldn't bear to watch as he slipped his pants off. When he stepped from the dark material, all that was left was a pair of tight-fitting shorts and the most impressive male behind she'd ever seen. He walked around the pool and stood on the diving board. No Olympian had a better body, she thought as he raised his arms and dived into the pool. When he reached her end of the pool, he stopped and grinned. “Coming in?”
“No. I'm fine here with my wine.” Until that moment, she'd been amused by his flirty behavior, but now it was more. He'd undressed in front of her, knowing full well that it was bound to turn her on. Add the wine and it was a very dangerous cocktail indeed. Be strong. Don't give him what he wants, she thought. Christ, you've only been working for
him for a day. Who does he think he is?
Colten swam a few lengths and then pulled himself out of the pool. As he did so, she saw the large muscles in his back flex. When he walked toward her, she saw a faint hint of a six pack. She didn't like the body builder type, but she did like men with well-defined muscles, just like Colton had. He was dripping when he stood next to her to take a gulp of wine. Water ran down his chest and dripped onto the floor via the considerable bulge in his shorts. She tried not to look at it, but he was standing so close that it was unavoidable. He lay down on a sun bed next to her sofa and closed his eyes.
“Perfect,” he said. “What a great evening. I've got all I want: the pool, wine, and you.”
She looked across at him disapprovingly. You haven't got me, she thought. I'm just a guest. But she couldn't help but look down his chest and stomach to his bulge once more. She was sure she saw his manhood twitch, and she turned her reddening face away.
“Tell me about yourself,” she said. “You know everything about me, but I know so little about you.”
He put his arms behind his head and looked at the sky. “Not many people have asked me to tell them my life story.”
“I'd like to know.”
“My mom and dad live in LA, in the same house they did when I was born. I've offered to buy them a new house, but they won't budge, so why waste my money. I've got a sister who has three kids and a man who hits her, and a brother who is bipolar. He lives in a mental hospital most of the time.”
“Wow. Can't you get your brother-in-law to stop hitting your sister?”
“I've tried. I set some of my heavies on him once, but my sister went mental. Totally mental. I can't understand it. She kept saying that it wasn't his fault.”
“I'm sorry to hear about your brother. That's hard.”
“Harder for him. It's made my parents’ lives so difficult. I think they feel guilty. As for me, I went to high school, graduated, and went to the Yale School of Management.”
Avaline finished her wine and put the empty glass down on the ground. He still had droplets of water on him, and she was sorely tempted to run her hand over his stomach and grasp his manhood. It was the wine, she told herself.
“But how did you get so rich? It's no mean feat.”
“I bought a piece of land when I was twenty for next to nothing. It was just a speculative deal. Then the military decided they wanted it for a shooting range. They paid me ten times what I'd paid for it. After that, I was up and running. I reinvested and bought four apartments in LA. They were pretty seedy when I bought them, but I renovated them and sold them at the right time. I just kept the circle going. Buy, sell, reinvest. You can see the result.” He gestured to the house.
“Yes. Well done. I would never have thought to do that.”
He turned his head to look at her. His eyes ran over her smooth legs and admired the shape of her thighs. “You are different. You are worth more than pure money. You don't have to get rich.” A cat appeared from somewhere and began to rub around the bottom of the sofa. “That's Duke. He's the boss around here.”
“So you like animals?”
“Love them. They are so much more trustworthy than people.” He put his hand out and Duke purred as Colten stroked him.
“Do you want a family one day?” she asked. “Settle down with one woman and have some kids?”
“One day. But I'm only thirty-three. Time is hardly pressing.”
“Well think about this. If you wait until you're forty, when your child leaves college, say at twenty-three, you'll be sixty-three—almost ready to retire. You shouldn't leave it too long.”
“A very gloomy outlook indeed,” he said.
Edwin came out and asked what time Colten wanted dinner. They settled on 8 p.m.
They ate in a dining room that was large enough to house a fourteen-seater table. It was bigger than a pool table. They sat next to each other at one end, and Avaline looked over the vast expanse of the unused table and imagined it filled with children, grandparents, and aunts and uncles.
After dinner, Avaline was tired. The wine has taken its toll. “Thank you for a lovely evening,” she said, and she was tempted to kiss him.
“My pleasure,” he said.
When she had gone to bed, he sighed. She was hotter than hot, but for the first time in his life, he didn't know quite how to approach a woman. She just sent out negative signals all the time. He wasn't used to it. But he still had his trump card to play, and that was that he was the boss and she had to do what he said or leave. But did he really want to play that card on someone so lovely? He might.
After two weeks, Avaline returned to work. She and Colten had spent most evenings chatting around the pool. As each evening passed, Colten became more and more frustrated. Every time he tried to lead the conversation toward the bedroom, she refused his advances by telling him it was unprofessional to sleep with one another.
*****
“Avaline,” Colten shouted. Avaline hurried into his office, carrying a notepad. “I want you to book a two rooms at the Hilton Hotel in London.”
“Sure. Who shall I say will be staying?”
“Me and you.”
“Er...okay,” She looked at him suspiciously.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I'm going to look at some deals in London, and I need my PA with me.”
“But you've never done any business outside the US.”
“And now is the perfect time to start. The market has reached rock bottom. There are some great deals around in London.”
“Right. When are we going?”
“Tomorrow. You'll need to book the flights as well. First class for me, economy for you.”
Avaline looked a little disappointed, but Colten was in no mood for it. It would do her good to realize who was the boss. She'd had enough of his hospitality. Now it was time for her to feel like she was way down in the pecking order again.
The next day Robert dropped them off at Los Angeles International Airport, and they boarded a nonstop flight to London. It took eleven hours. Colten arrived refreshed, having slept most of the way in a comfortable reclining chair. Avaline, on the other hand, was sleep deprived and sweaty after her ordeal in economy class.
When they arrived at the Hilton, Avaline wanted to go to bed, but Colten wasn't having any of it. He decided he wanted to see the sights. He paid a taxi driver a small fortune to drive them around a list of sights he'd downloaded from the internet before they’d left LA.
When they reached Buckingham Palace, he prodded Avaline, who was nodding off next to him. “Look. That's where the queen hangs out. It's great to see, isn't it?” Avaline nodded, her eyes half closed. To her, it was some large building with an ornate railing in front of it, nothing to get worked up about. Colten was equally enthusiastic at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Nelson's Column, and Piccadilly Circus. By the time they reached the Hilton, Avaline was fast asleep.
Colten decided he would give her a few hours to sleep and then buy her dinner. They had a lot of appointments the following day, so in the meantime he did some preparation in his room.
At 6 p.m. he rang Avaline.
“Hello?” she said in a gruff voice.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Very.”
“Dinner in an hour in the main restaurant.” He hung up.
Avaline had packed a black cocktail dress, and she decided if he were going to be an asshole to her, then she would return the favor. He'd made her fly economy all the way from LA, and it was perfectly obvious that her room was nowhere near as luxurious as his. She didn't expect the best room in the house, but she wasn't going to be treated like a servant either. She was going to make him suffer. She would look so hot that he'd have an erection all through dinner.
When she arrived in reception via the elevator, she did look hot. A few handsome men were checking into the hotel, and all of them watched every step she took until she disappeared into the restaurant. Colten
was sitting at a cozy table for two in the corner, next to the window. When he saw her, his jaw dropped. As she moved sensually toward him, he saw her hips swinging, fighting the black material, and her breasts standing proud for this attention. Her blond hair waved past her shoulders to the middle of her back.
“You look stunning,” he said. “I know you're my PA, and you don't like me talking like that, but you are so beautiful tonight.”
“Well, it's London. It's a classy place, so I decided to make a bit of an effort.”
While the waiter was busy pouring the wine, Colten made a decision. Tonight had to be the night. It was make or break time. He wanted her, and he was used to getting his way. No, he always got his way. If she refused him, then it would be the last time.
“That was great,” she said after coffee. “It's really a luxurious place, isn't it? More luxury than I have ever seen.”
“You could have all the luxury in the world; you know that.”
“I know. You keep telling me. Only I know what I have to do for that, and I'm not a gold digger, and as I've said so often, it's unprofessional.”
He looked at her as his erection grew larger. “I don't think you quite understand. I don't just want you for a quickie or a few months. My intentions are honorable.”
“Not according to your track record. What else do I have to go on? I need this job, and if you get bored of me and kick me out, where will I go? No, Colten, it's not right.”
Colten stood up and offered her his arm. “Very well. Let me escort you to your room and we'll call it a night.” She took his arm, and they proceeded to leave the restaurant. On the way past an elderly couple, Colten heard the lady say, “What a lovely couple.”
It seemed to Colten as if the elevator took an age to get to the third floor. Eventually, a bell rang and the door opened. “This is me,” Avaline said. “I can manage from here.”
“No way. Look what happened to you in LA when you were left on your own.”
“Colten, I'm in a luxury London hotel. I'm hardly going to get mugged between here and my room.”
Colten wasn't having it. He got out of the elevator and proceeded to escort her to her room. Outside room 315, she stopped and looked for the key in her bag.
