Tackled by Lisa Suzanne

CHAPTER 4

“Get in the truck,” Jack says the next morning. It’s a Monday, and he’s wearing dress pants and a collared shirt with a D wrapped around another D on the front left side. I don’t recognize the logo, but he looks handsome and a bit dressier than his usual mesh shorts and t-shirt uniform.

I stare at him blankly for a beat. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

I do as I’m told because that’s what you do when Jack Dalton tells you to do something. We get in the truck. He weaves in and out of traffic as he always does. I white-knuckle grip my purse, terrified for my life the entire way.

After he drives less than fifteen minutes, he pulls into the parking lot of some office complex a few blocks off the Strip. The top of a concrete building with lots of glass windows has a logo with a dark blue D wrapped into a lighter blue D—the same logo as his shirt. Beside it are the words Dalton Developments.

I follow Jack into the building, and an attractive woman around my age with long, dark hair and striking dark eyes sits behind the desk there. She immediately greets us. Well, not us. She greets him. “Good morning, Mr. Dalton.” Her eyes fall onto him the same way I probably look at him. The same way every woman looks at him.

“Good morning, Claire.” He nods with one of those gentlemanly flourishes, and I follow him toward a bank of elevators. He presses the button for the top floor once we’re on, and I’m thankful there are other people on this elevator with us because being alone with him in a small space seems dangerous. We ride up sixteen stories, and when we get out, I spot the same logo from his shirt and the top of the building along with the company name.

“So this is your company?” I ask.

He nods.

“How long have you had an office here in Vegas?” I ask.

He lifts a shoulder. “A few months. After my dad passed, JJ was born, and my mom moved out here, it seemed like a good place for my business base, so I moved it out of southern California. We’ve been focusing on acquiring land here in Nevada now, anyway.”

“Good morning, Mr. Dalton,” a woman with short blonde hair behind the reception desk says as soon as she spots us. “Can I get you anything?”

“Good morning, Sandy.” He nods politely. “I’m fine, thanks.”

He greets everyone as a businessman would—as a CEO would—and you’d almost never realize he’s some football megastar and not just the owner of this company. He’s in a completely different element here, yet he still fits.

I think he probably fits wherever he goes thanks to his natural charm and charisma.

We walk to a corner office, and when he opens the door, my eyes fall out the window and onto the view outside.

The Wynn Hotel and Casino.

My chest tightens as I stare out the window for a beat. His eyes follow mine to see what I’m looking at, and we both remember what happened when we were at the Wynn together last—the first time we met.

An ache presses down low as I’m transported back to that night. His fingers slipping under the hem of my dress as his mouth was hot on mine.

I feel his gaze on my profile. I can’t look over at him.

The memories are overwhelming.

“What are we doing here?” I ask as I turn from the window.

“Working.” He settles in behind his desk, suddenly professional again despite the heat that just passed between us.

Or maybe I’m the only one who felt that heat. That’s probably more likely.

He taps around on his computer and I sit in the chair opposite him as I watch him work. He has dual computer screens and he swipes his phone as he works, too.

“Is there anything you’d like me to do while we’re here?” I offer, trying to make myself useful since I literally have nothing to do. He didn’t tell me where we were going or how long we’d be, so I basically just got in the car and went for a ride.

He lifts a shoulder. “I’ve got a lot to catch up on, so if you could just keep yourself entertained, that’d be great.”

“I’m happy to help.” What the hell am I supposed to do? I didn’t bring my books or my laptop to try to get schoolwork done. I’m all caught up on that anyway. I’m ahead, actually.

I feel like I need something else—some other sort of hobby or part time work. But I don’t know what I’m allowed to do because I never know what my schedule is going to be since Jack won’t give me access to his freaking calendar.

It’s a frustrating loop, but as I’ve reminded myself many times since I started this position, a quarter of a million dollars.

I can do this. This is for my dreams. We all have to make sacrifices to get to where we want to be, and this is mine.

He continues tapping buttons on his computer and moving back and forth from his phone, catching up on whatever it is he’s doing since the last time he was here. There has to be some reason we’re here and why he didn’t just do this from home. I just haven’t figured out what that is yet until I hear a knock at the door.

“Good to see you, Jack,” the man says. He’s handsome in a suit and tie and he looks like he’s someone important here. Maybe someone in charge. “Are we going to see you more often around here now that you’re the newest addition to the Aces?”

“No more or less than usual, Colin.” Jack’s eyes don’t drift from any of the screens in front of him, clearly giving Colin the vibe that he’s not important enough to steal his attention.

“Well it’s good to have you here.” He glances at me.

“Hi.” I give an awkward little wave.

“Hey. Colin Pierce.”

Jack finally glances away from his screen, and I spot a bit of a threatening look in those stormy eyes as they fall onto Colin.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kate. Jack’s new assistant.” The lie rolls off my tongue easily, and I sort of wonder if I really could be an assistant to him. I doubt he’d let me into his inner circle, though.

“New assistant, huh?” Colin says, his eyes falling back to me. “For work?”

“Personal,” Jack says immediately. He glances up at Colin with another warning look.

“Sure. An assistant.” Colin nods knowingly with a raised brow.

Jack ignores his insinuation. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah. Got a minute?” He steps into the office and takes the chair beside me, his leg brushing mine in the process. “Sorry,” he murmurs, his eyes meeting mine, and up close he’s even more attractive.

“Not really,” Jack says. “But tell me what’s going on anyway.”

“I have the latest on the deal in the desert,” Colin begins.

“Hold on a minute.” Jack holds up a hand. He turns to me. “Kate, can you excuse us?”

“Excuse you?” I repeat. “Where should I go?”

Jack sighs then stands. “Follow me.”

I stand and follow him down the hallway. He deposits me into a conference room. “Just wait here.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “How am I supposed to know you’re not getting into trouble?” My tone is teasing even though I’m serious.

“I’m at work,” he says firmly. “I’m not going to get in any trouble.”

“Promise?” I ask.

“Pinkie swear.” He rolls his eyes before he smirks at me. “Besides, you can see me come and go from my office from this conference room. Sit right here.” He points to a chair facing the door. “Keep your eye on the hallway, and I promise to stay in my office and come get you the very second my private conversation with my colleague is over.” His tone is sugary sweet.

I purse my lips and glare. “Fine.”

“And to be clear, he’s my colleague,” he says.

“I’m sorry, but your meaning is about as clear as mud.”

“I saw the way you looked at him.” His tone is flat. “You will not accept a date from someone who works for me. Understand?”

I didn’t look at him any sort of way, so his insinuation is a little insulting. “There was nothing in my contract about my personal dating life, Jack,” I say quietly. He narrows his eyes at me for a long beat, and when I can’t take the silence between us any longer, I finally ask, “What exactly do you expect me to do in here?”

“Does it matter?” he asks. He turns and stalks out of the conference room, giving me plenty of material to analyze as I shoot daggers at his back with my glare...not that he turns to see them.

I’m in there for a full hour by myself with literally nothing to do. I’ve analyzed his little warning about not accepting a date from Colin, not that I’d have time to anyway since I’m on-call twenty-four-seven. I’ve scrolled my phone, I’ve finished reading a book, and now I’m just bored.

I wonder if I can get a part time job while I’m also working with Jack. Something I can do from home. Sitting around waiting for Jack to tell me what my next move is just isn’t working for me, and I haven’t even been doing this that long.

When he finally comes in to get me, he’s not in a very good mood.

“How was your meeting with Colin?” I ask sweetly.

“Not great,” he mutters.

“What happened?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. I just have a few more issues I need to handle, but you can come back in now.”

I follow him back to his office, and it sort of feels like I’m a kid in trouble heading to the principal’s office. I guess he is the big boss, but I’m not in trouble. I’m here to help.

That’s not how he sees it, though.

When we get back to his office, Colin is gone and I sit in the chair I was in before. I study Jack as he works, and when he glances up and catches me, I shift my gaze to the window.

God, he’s handsome.

A perfect jawline with sexy scruff outlining it.

Thick hair styled precisely.

Lips I remember tasting.

Eyes focused and determined as he concentrates on whatever it is real estate developers do.

I blow out a breath, and shortly after that, we hear another knock at the door.

“Mr. Dalton! So good to see you back again,” a woman in a pantsuit says.

“Holly, what can I do for you today?” He gives her that lady killer grin of his, and I note he’s much friendlier with Holly than he was with Colin.

I can’t help but wonder if it’s because she’s a woman, if it’s because she’s in a different department than Colin, or if she’s bearing different news than the last guy.

“I have a few new propositions for you I’d like to discuss.” She smiles sweetly and I wonder what the nature of these propositions are. Sexual? The way she’s looking at him makes me think so.

But he’s engaged.

I’m starting to think maybe that doesn’t matter.

“Talk to Sandy and get on my calendar for next week,” he says.

Wait a minute. Does Sandy have access to his calendar? Maybe I should talk to her...

“The sooner the better,” she says.

“Absolutely. End of this week would be fine, too.”

“Thank you, sir.” She gives him a little smile and a wave.

He nods once before returning to his work. Was she one of the bad decisions he made in that window from mid-October to when he proposed to Michelle...or even after that?

He returns to his tapping and scrolling for a few more minutes when someone else knocks on his door.

Suddenly I see why he spends more time working from his office at home rather than here at this one. How the hell does he get anything done with these constant interruptions?

That guy gets what he needs, but then another woman comes, and another man, and it’s a revolving door.

“Can you shut the door?” he asks when Roy leaves.

“Of course,” I say, and I get up from my chair and close it. “Look, Jack,” I begin as I turn around and move back to my chair. “I know you’ve had a lot of interruptions today, but can I just ask you a question?”

“What?” he grits out between a clenched jaw.

“Could you actually use an assistant? I’m with you all the time, and that’s what we’re telling people anyway. I know you don’t want to let me into your circle or whatever, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try to help you.”

“I’ve strategically hired people into positions they can handle.” His tone is finite, like that’s the last we’ll need to speak of this.

“Obviously they can’t since they keep coming in here to ask you a million questions,” I point out. “But it’s not about those other people. It’s about you.”

He blows out a frustrated breath. “I just have a few things to wrap up,” he says, completely ignoring my offer.

I nod and sit back in my chair. “All right. But the offer is on the table.”