I blink and take a big gulp of my coffee. A lack of caffeine is the only thing that can explain the presence of Kim standing before my desk, looking like a hot, haughty model in a fitted red dress and stiletto heels. She’s wearing plum-colored lipstick and there’s a small smile on her luscious lips that does something crazy to my chest and dick.
I take another sip of my coffee to hide my reaction. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Fifteen
Kim
I tilt my head and look at Wyatt. He’s surprisingly well put together. Neatly brushed hair, a crisply pressed shirt, no tie and slacks with sharp creases. His blue eyes are alert, and he looks slightly surprised, wary and displeased, as is to be expected. I don’t have an appointment, and he shouldn’t be discovering me in here in the first place. But his worthless assistant didn’t even try to stop me. Actually, she not only smiled when I told her I wanted to talk to Wyatt, but let me wait for him inside his office without any kind of supervision. What if I were a corporate spy? Or someone here to sabotage his work? He has documents lying on his desk. What if they’re some secret project plans for the company?
But I doubt any of that crossed her mind. She was too busy fussing with her coffee and plants. No wonder he can’t get his assistant to solve the simple problem of finding him a date to Geneva’s wedding. She can’t even perform the position’s most fundamental duties.
I shouldn’t say anything. It isn’t any of my business if his assistant sucks. Wyatt probably pissed off somebody in HR with his insufferable personality and got stuck with her. And her carelessness has worked in my favor, because if I had shown up like this at the office any other billionaire I know, I would’ve been politely but firmly turned away.
“Your assistant needs to be retrained.” Words I wasn’t planning on saying slip out anyway, like somehow I’m concerned for him and how poorly his assistant is, well…assisting.
“What?” He stares like I’ve lost my mind.
“Your assistant. She let me in.”
“So?”
“Her first duty is to be your gatekeeper.” I can’t believe I have to point this out. Has he never had an assistant before?
His eyebrows pull together, three deep vertical lines forming between them. “Did you come here to criticize Melanie?” There’s a rebuke in his tone, like somehow I’m in the wrong pointing out the obvious.
It raises my hackles. “If she weren’t so bad at her job, I wouldn’t have been wagered like a sip of water between desert moles.” After having seen Wyatt’s assistant, I’m certain Dane got Salazar drunk and took advantage of him in order to help Wyatt. There’s no other reason for that cold-blooded lizard to go through the trouble.
But I’m not here to discuss his assistant’s inability to do her job. I’m here about the statue. Must. Not. Get. Sidetracked. “Anyway, forget about that. You’re her boss, not me. I’m here to discuss the uncomfortable position I’ve been put in because of your sweet, loving friend Dane.”
Wyatt sips his coffee, giving me a long, leisurely gaze over the rim of his mug. I feel it like a tangible touch, and can’t suppress the shivers that run through me. They’re probably from disgust. Because he’s Dane’s friend, and jerks of a feather flock together.
Then how do you explain the little spark inside your belly?
I’m lusting after his coffee. It smells really good… Like clean male and laundry detergent…and—
What the hell am I thinking?
No, no. We are not going there.
He finally lowers the mug and says, “Look, I—”
I raise a hand. “I’ll act as your assistant for four weeks.”
“—am not… What?”
“I can help you get the date you need. That’s what you want, right?”
He looks at me warily, then nods once, slowly, like he’s dealing with a snake.
And that annoys me, because I’m not the reptile in this room. “But I’d also like something in return, a small token of appreciation. I don’t think that’s asking for much.” And I definitely don’t feel that way after having seen his assistant.
“Okaaay,” he says. “What do you want?”
I have two options and prepared accordingly. I can lie and twist and manipulate or I can just tell him straight. I haven’t been able to decide, but I know now exactly how I need to approach it. Straight shooter. Why should I be a sly manipulator just because he’s like that? “I know Dane’s giving you a housewarming gift. Will you sell it to me? I’ll give you the fair market value after a third-party appraisal.” It’s Salazar’s money, and even though I’m not a huge fan of Wyatt’s, I’m not enough of a bitch to take a multimillion-dollar statue from him without proper compensation.
Wyatt frowns. “A housewarming gift? But I told him not to worry about it.”
“You should know by now that Dane does what he wants.” I maintain a cool façade because I don’t want to screw up and look overeager. That’s not how you win a negotiation.