The Boss(hole) by Penelope Bloom
Adrian
“What the hell is this?” I asked.
Jules was sitting across from my desk with her hands folded on her knees. She had on a gray skirt that hadn’t looked too short until she sat down. Now it was more than halfway up her thighs and my damn brain was doing a piss poor job at not noticing. Over and over.
She looked painfully adorable. Her blonde hair was tied up in a neat mess, highlighting her heart-shaped face and button nose. But those big eyes of hers had a way of looking taunting, even when she was hanging her head and wringing her hands.
“What is what?” Jules asked quietly.
I had my laptop turned to face her. It showed a copy of the email she’d sent to all my employees on Friday. “You warned them all.”
Jules licked her lips. I briefly imagined what that pink tongue of hers would feel like in my mouth, then jerked my thoughts back to an appropriate place. “What really matters is that they get the work done, right? I figured this way was a win win. You get to show them you’re keeping an eye on them, but you don’t have to fire anybody to send the message.”
“Oh,” I said. “Because I was considering firing one person. I wonder what message that would send.”
Jules sank a little lower in her chair. Somehow her eyes still held an impossible flicker of defiance, even when I had her backed into a corner. “It would send a ‘now hiring’ message, I guess. You’d need to find a new personal assistant ASAP.”
I stared. I almost laughed in disbelief. Nobody reacted like this when I had them in the chair. Nobody stared back into my eyes when I was pissed and made jokes. Sure, Jules looked like she was about to piss herself even as she was quipping with me, but her backbone was incredible.
“Let this be a lesson, Miss Adams. You are being watched. Your email is not private. Your communication with my employees is not private. Working as my assistant grants you privileged information, and I’m going to ensure you learn to keep that information to yourself.”
Her lips pressed together, and her cheeks started to go red. I could tell she wanted to say something but was holding back. “What?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I feel like I shouldn’t say it.”
“Good,” I said. “Then you’re learning. Now go to your desk and get back to work. I just emailed you a list of authors I need you to contact. When you finish that, I’ve got dry cleaning at Venna’s. And I want a BLT for lunch today. Make sure they don’t put mayo on it.”
“Venna’s is on the opposite end of the city,” she said. “It’ll take me an hour to get there with traffic.”
“Then I suggest you learn to multitask. Send emails at red lights.”
Jules got up, doing a sexy little shimmy as she pulled her skirt down back to a few inches above her knees. I tried and failed not to watch her full ass as it practically fought to break free from the skirt on her way out of my office.
Goddamn, I thought. I was glad my partners weren’t in town at the moment. I needed to find a way to get myself under control with this woman before they arrived. I knew they’d all see straight through me, and they’d have a right to be pissed. I was supposed to be the one in control of this whole operation. I wasn’t the one who was supposed to get distracted or make bad decisions on account of my cock.
But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy interacting with her. It was a breath of fresh air to meet someone who could almost go toe to toe with me. It made me crave the moment where I could squash that last little rebellious spark from her. I imagined how satisfying it would be to see her bend over for me, to watch the realization settle into her eyes as she understood she’d been fooling herself when she thought she could handle me.
And yet another part of me hoped she wouldn’t bend. Jules giving in and submitting would be good for the fuck of my life, but if she managed to keep that backbone of hers, she’d be far more dangerous to me. She’d be someone who would continue to command my attention. Someone I might not be able to get off my mind.
I ran both hands down my face and groaned. An email popped up. My chest clenched when I saw that it looked like she’d sent another email to the whole company. I half stood when I saw the subject line.
Subject: Mr. White’s secret plan.
Attention all employees,
Mr. White has a highly secret, highly interesting plan I’ve just been informed of. Please see me at my desk for more information. ASAP.
Yours truly,
Jules
I hadno idea what she was talking about, but I shoved the door to my office open and stormed toward reception. Everybody ducked their head when they saw me, and the room fell silent. I yanked open the double doors and found Jules at her desk with a shit-eating grin on her face.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
She held up both palms like I’d just drawn a gun on her. “Probably a bad joke?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you notice I added a ‘1’ after everybody’s email? You’re the only person here who saw that.”
I put my hands on her desk, leaning forward. I couldn’t believe the gall of this woman. I’d just finished warning her to be careful and she thought it was a good idea to play a joke on me? I very nearly laughed, but then I steeled my nerves and clenched my jaw. “If I wanted to hire a comedian, I would’ve done that.”
Jules gulped and looked down again. “I was hoping to lighten the tension a bit.”
“Get used to the tension, Miss Adams. Learn to thrive in it, or it’ll snap you in two.”
I left her at her desk, went back to my office, then sat down with an another annoyed groan. I should’ve fired her several times by now. The fact that I hadn’t was a very, very bad sign. Sure, I could keep myself from laughing. I could even force out the words to make her think I wasn’t amused. What I couldn’t do was hide the truth from myself.
I was enjoying this. Far too much.