I chuckle before I look up at my assistant. "Eda, you're a sweetheart. I've told you that today, haven't I?"
"Not yet today, Mr. Black." She shakes her head. The motion causes her glasses to slip down her nose. With one nudge from her index finger, they're back where they belong. "The only compliment you gave me today was this morning when you said I have the legs of a woman half my age."
I straighten my back so I can peer over my desk at her legs. Despite the scorching temperature outside, she's wearing a pair of sheer black hose. "Some women might not take that as a compliment, but you know your legs put every one of the Rockettes to shame."
She giggles. "If a man tells you that your sixty-year-old legs look like they're thirty, you take it as a compliment. Plain and simple."
That's how I'd describe Eda. Plain and simple. The only caveat is that it's those qualities that make her a timeless beauty. She doesn't spend half her day rushing to the ladies' room to check her makeup. Her wardrobe is modest and comfortable, right down to the black loafers she wears.
The woman is more valuable to me than my right hand which is the main reason she's still working for me. She's tried to retire, twice, but I derailed that with a hefty pay raise each time along with a shorter workday. I'll take as much of Eda as I can get.
"Is my date for my four o'clock meeting me here or do I need to swing by her place and pick her up?"
She smiles, her brown eyes widening. "I knew you'd be pressed for time, sir, so I arranged for her to meet you here. I do so love any chance I get to see her. You know that."
"I'll be back here by three thirty." I glance down at my watch. It's the same one Ellie silently stole from my wrist. I've worn it every day since. Her masterful light touch combined with the way she looked at me was enough to put me under her spell. She'd effortlessly robbed me of one of my prized possessions and it only made me crave her more.
Since I left Las Vegas and returned to New York, I've tried to convince myself that my interest in Ellie is solely based on her resemblance to Kip, but my cock, that traitorous bastard knows the truth. I've jacked off twice in the shower to the images stored in my memory of Ellie.
I've come thinking about the fullness of her breasts and the feeling of her ass as she sat on my lap. The dress she was wearing that night fit her like a goddamn second skin. She's petite, yet strong. The nip of her waist leads down to curvy hips. All that softness and strength coiled into one body is the perfect combination for the kind of mind-blowing sex that makes a man forget his own name.
Eda clears her throat. "Mr. Black? Are you still with me?"
I shake my head to chase away thoughts of Ellie Madden and her sweet ass.
When the hell did I revert to a teenager with a perpetual hard-on?
"Yes," I say as I try to will my dick to calm the fuck down. "I have a two o'clock with Belinda and I'm meeting Ronald McDonald for dinner."
"Close enough," she says with a half-shrug. "Whatever you're thinking about, keep it up, sir. You have a sparkle in your eye I've never seen before."
Chapter 9
Ellie
"Hay," I say peering up at him.
"Hey, Ellie." A slow grin slides over his lips.
I resist the urge to reach up and touch him. I want to, for the one obvious reason and all the other reasons that are tied to the fact that he's so good-looking. Nolan Black is at least six foot two, and he has to be near two hundred pounds. He's muscular, solid and right now, with the hint of a late day shadow over his jaw and his hair a mess, he looks ready for bed in a way that has nothing to do with sleep.
"I meant hay as in hay," I correct him with a nod to his shoulder. He's dressed in a black suit with a blue shirt, open at the collar. I doubt there's anything he could wear that wouldn't look ridiculously good on him.
"Hey as in hey, how are you, Nolan?"
I tap my index finger over my bottom lip. "No. Hay as in you have a piece of hay on your shoulder."
He glances at his right shoulder where a single piece of golden hay is clinging to his suit jacket. Instead of reaching up to remove it, he turns back to me. "Tell me about your first day on the job."
I stare at the piece of hay, intent on finding out how it got there. This is Manhattan. The man works in an office in the tower above this store. There isn't a bale of hay for miles. "How did that hay get on your jacket?"
"I suspect it was the goat."
"The goat?" I make a frustrated sound. "What goat?"
"We didn't exchange names when we met. It might have been Billy. That's a fairly common name among goats, is it not?"
I furrow my brow. "I've never met a goat."