“So, what does this have to do with your interview?” Dallas asks and my sister gasps.
“Please, tell me he’s not your boss!” Chloe shrieks, “Oh, my God, he is, isn’t he?”
“Would this be my life if he wasn’t?”
She covers her mouth, stifling her laughter. “No, I guess it wouldn’t be. He hired you after sleeping with you?”
“Aunt Maddie, you slept at a man’s house?”
The three of us hold back our laughter and Dallas is quick to stand from his chair, gathering his daughter in his arms.
“Come on, princess. Let’s let Momma and Aunt Maddie talk.”
I tell my sister about my morning, my nerves getting the better of me the more I think about my new boss.
“What are you going to do?” Chloe asks.
“Easy. I’ll suck it up and work for the bastard until I have enough money to find something else. It should be pretty easy since I have experience, but I’m sure I can find another real estate agency to work for nearby.”
I sound a lot more confident than I feel. I’m sure that Ian Wright will make this job anything but easy for me.
Four
Maddison
I run a hand through my short, blonde hair as I watch the numbers light up in the elevator, taking me to Wright Enterprises. I’m proud of myself for not backing out of this job, just because of the asshole who is now my new boss. I’ll maintain my professionalism and let him continue to think that I want him. He forgets that he’s the one who treated me like shit, not the other way around. He was nice enough when we first met at the bar, and his voice nearly melted my panties right in front of a bunch of strangers.
“Maddie! I’m so glad you came back.” Nellie flashes me a genuine smile as I walk toward the front desk.
“Well, I need a job,” I say quietly. I don’t need Mr. Wright to know how desperate I am to be here. He also doesn’t need to know that I’m currently sleeping on my sister’s couch in her two-bedroom apartment. We’re from money, but unlike him, we don’t have mommy and daddy spoon feeding us.
In Detroit, I was employed by my stepfather, but I had to work for everything I had. They took good care of me, but only when I earned it.
“I do apologize for the way Mr. Wright treated you yesterday. I promise he’s not always like that.”
I’m sure she’s lying to me right now, but I keep that to myself.
I give her a small smile. “You don’t need to apologize for anything. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”
She spends the next hour showing me around the office and running me through the computer program that I’ll be expected to use. It’s the same one I used in Michigan, so that part of the job will be a breeze for me.
Not once does my boss come out to see me. It’s no wonder this woman has been stuck working for him. No one else in their right mind would want to deal with the man, although I don’t know why Nellie puts up with him. He’s possibly the least friendly person I have ever met, much less worked for. I’d rather work under Hank than deal with him every day, but that isn’t an option anymore.
“Ms. Monroe, a word?” Nellie and I both startle at the sound of his voice. He snuck into the room like a thief in the night.
A tingling erupts in my belly, a feeling I don’t appreciate having. Never mind the fact that he’s my boss, but I shouldn’t find the man the least bit attractive after the way he’s treated me… on more than one occasion.
“Sure.” I set the file I’m working on, down on my new desk and look over at Nellie, who gives me a reassuring smile. She’ll spend the next two weeks training me, but then I’ll be on my own. I’m not sure how I’ll survive without her.
I follow Mr. Wright down the long hallway, the silence nearly deafening.
Once we’re both in his office, I take the seat directly in front of his desk and he shuts the door before walking behind it.
I pick at a string on my suit jacket I hadn’t noticed before now. Today I’m wearing a teal button-up shirt under the jacket, along with a pinstriped skirt. Suddenly, I’m feeling way overdressed as it’s extremely hot in here.
“Ms. Monroe.” He clears his throat and I look up at him. “I need your assistance at a charity event I have to attend this evening.”
I was never told that I’d have to do anything outside of these four walls, so I’m a bit surprised at this.
“I’m sorry, what?” I look at him, unsure. I didn’t want to have to spend more time around him than I had expected to.
“It starts at eight o’clock sharp, so I will have my driver pick you up promptly at seven-thirty. It’s black tie, so dress accordingly.”
Of course, he has a driver. This shouldn’t surprise me after seeing his penthouse, but for some reason, it does.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wright, but this was not part of the job description.”
“Ms. Monroe, would you like to make it through an entire day at Wright Enterprises, or do I need to find someone else?”
Well, shit.
“I’ll be ready.”
The rest of my day thankfully goes off without a hitch. Someone from the IT floor brings my computer to the office and sets it up for me. Nellie is making this job bearable right now, but there seem to be a lot more responsibilities than I first thought. The goal is to get out of my sister’s apartment. If I can keep that thought at the forefront of my mind, maybe I can get through this.
Once I’m off, I quickly call Greta.
“Hey, Mads, what’s up?”
I sigh heavily, but the sound of her voice makes me relax some. I wish like hell she could go with me to this thing tonight.
“I need your help.”
“With what?” I hear noise in the background and can tell she’s walking outside.
“I have to go to a charity event tonight.”
“Are you serious? You never told me that was part of your job.”
I exit the building and turn left toward Chloe’s apartment.
“I didn’t know,” I mumble. “Mr. Asshole basically told me that if I don’t go… I don’t have a job.”
“What a dick.”
“Anyway, it’s black tie and I have no idea what to wear.”
I cross Adelaide with the sea of pedestrians, and I can hardly hear her over the noise.
“Come over and we’ll go through my closet. We’ll make you sexy as hell, Mr. Asshole won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”
The thought of his hands on me, sends a tingling straight to my lower half. I hate myself for even thinking of him like that, but the man is delicious.
“I don’t want to look sexy, G. This is for work,” I lie. After the way he’s treated me, he deserves for me to look nothing less than a walking orgasm.
“You’re the biggest freaking liar.”
I smile at how well my best friend knows me.
“Come over in an hour and I’ll have wine ready.”
We hang up and I immediately feel better about having to go to this event.
“How was your day?” Chloe asks as I walk through the door. She’s wearing an apron around her waist and looks every bit the housewife. As much as she complains about staying home with Taylor, I know she wouldn’t have it any other way. To say our parents were disappointed in the direction her life went would be the understatement of the century.