Chapter 21
STEPHANIE
“Good morning, secretary,” Jeremiah said, popping his head into my office as he did every morning when he got to work.
I lifted my hand in a small wave, smiling. Ever since the slut/secretary comment, he seemed to enjoy putting a slight emphasis on the word secretary. “Good morning, boss.”
One corner of his lips kicked up, and he rested his shoulder against my doorframe. “Any fires I need to know about before I go in there this morning?”
“Not a one,” I assured him, enjoying the bit of playfulness between us. One week into my new job and Jeremiah and I were settling into a comfortable routing, our morning exchanges being part of it. I was getting adjusted to working for him, though I didn’t think I would ever get adjusted to how he gave me something to appreciate every morning.
This morning, it was his forearms. His navy blue shirt was rolled up to just below his elbows, the color setting off his lightly tanned skin perfectly. I still had to ask him how he managed to look tanned when he spent so many hours at the office.
Sinewy muscle roped from his large hands and disappeared under his sleeves, a few noticeable veins joining in on the ripple of the muscle when he moved. Having a morning hit of eye candy every weekday was a definite pro to having such a sexy boss.
Not that I spent a lot of time contemplating his sexiness. Who me? Never.
The judgmental part of my subconscious harrumphed and rolled her eyes at the part that was wiping drool from the corner of her mouth. Jeremiah cut my inner war short when he smiled, flashing his brilliant pearly whites. “If you go get coffee from the break room, snag me a hazelnut cappuccino from the machine, would you?”
I snapped my fingers to my forehead in a quick mock salute. “You got it.”
Who would’ve thought the cocky billionaire from the papers, the man who commanded boardrooms as soon as he walked into them—my subconscious might’ve drooled a little the first time I witnessed the control he exuded when he was in action—would have a weakness for flavored coffee? I certainly wouldn’t have guessed it.
It gave me a thrill to learn these tiny details about him, something to hang onto when the asshole in him came out to play. Which did happen from time to time.
“Thank you,” he said with much more enthusiasm than was necessary. “I’ll be in my office all morning.”
“I know, I keep your calendar.” I teased him lightly. I couldn’t help it. Our relationship was strictly professional on both ends, but we got along surprisingly well.
“Oh, yeah.” He snapped his fingers, shooting me a quick wink. “I knew I was forgetting something.”
“Ha ha,” I replied, standing up from my chair to go get our coffees when he went into his office. I loved that damn chair. It was like heaven to my back and butt. Like sitting on a cloud. No matter how many hours I spent sitting in it, I never tired of it.
Aisha, one of the other girls who worked on my floor, was in the break room when I got there. She smiled when she saw me, sliding over in front of the coffee machine to make space for me beside her.
The machine was a favorite among the people on my floor. It made everything from sweet tea to hot chocolate, to filter and flavored coffees. It was glorious.
“How’re you doing over there at the boss man’s office?” Aisha asked, waiting for the machine to fill her cup with her selection. The strong, bitter smell and the color of it told me it was espresso.
“Still going well,” I said, motioning to her cup. “Another late night?”
She nodded, a flush rising on her cheeks. “It was, but it was so worth it.”
I laughed, cocking my hip against the counter the machine stood on to get comfortable. Aisha started seeing a new guy recently, and it was adorable how in love she was. “Details, woman. I need details.”
She opened her mouth to start talking when the door banged open, and Josh, a flamboyant, fabulous guy who was one of the architects on Jeremiah’s mall project walked in. He swept his eyes from me to Aisha and back again. “I smell gossip. What did I miss?”
“Aisha had another late night with her lover last night. She was just going to tell me about it.”
Josh clapped his hands together and looked like he was about to start jumping up and down with excitement. “I knew now was the perfect time to come get some coffee. Don’t let me interrupt you, sweetheart. Tell us all about how he—”
Aisha giggled, clapping her hand over his mouth. “I definitely don’t want to hear the end of that sentence. I’m not telling you anything about how he did anything if you’re going to do your Josh thing and turn it all dirty.”
“Are we not getting the dirty details?” He feigned innocence but winked at me. “Maybe we should talk about Stephanie’s love life instead then. Steph would give me all the juicy details, wouldn’t you?”
I shrugged, shaking my head. “I don’t have any juicy details to tell, so you’re stuck with Aisha for now.”
He sighed, chuckling. “Fine then. I’m waiting for the clean details, Aisha. Time to spill the beans.”