Frances had been his PA for years. Wayne always respected her input, and of course, she’d been there to help him when he still worked through illness. Nothing seemed to faze her. Not women throwing false pregnancy allegations or children appearing out of the blue. She was the best PA in the world.
“No one would think less of you if you decided to work from home a few days a week, or if you weren’t here on a Saturday.” Frances placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let me know when you’re finished with the contract. I can get an extension if you need it.”
She left him alone, and Wayne lifted the contract in his hands. Yet another acquisition to add to his long list of projects he’d already purchased and torn up.
He tore businesses apart and remolded them to make them better. Most of the times they were better. He went through each one, getting rid of the people that brought a company down, and only hired those that had the love and spirit to see it thrive.
Purchasing the toys, he closed down the site, even though he’d also been looking for something to buy Temperance. She never wore any jewelry, and the women he was used to loved something like that.
He had a feeling if he even tried to buy her some, she wouldn’t take it. She wasn’t a greedy woman.
Wayne had gone through all the references that she’d provided him, and the people he’d spoken to had nothing but good things to say.
The first job she’d been moved from, the parents had seen that their boy was developing feelings for her. Temperance hadn’t seen it, so they had felt it was time for her to move on, rather than their boy get his heart broken. It hadn’t been Temperance’s fault.
She was known for being nice, caring, considerate, and always bringing the best out of children.
He’d not spoken to Robert as he already knew why they had gotten rid of her.
Temperance was a beauty in ways that had completely stumped Wayne. When he’d opened the door and seen the raven-haired woman, he’d been speechless. She didn’t wear any makeup, ever. He’d seen her early in the morning and at night. She always tried to tame her hair, which had a natural curl to it as well.
His cock thickened as he recalled the jeans she wore that molded to every single curve, and made him want to peel them down to her knees, bend her over and fuck her.
Without even trying, Temperance had gotten under his skin. Their conversations were always very brief, but he found certain things that she said or did that always drew him in, her smile, her laugh, her wit.
They had next to nothing in common, yet neither of them argued.
There was a knock at the door, and he looked up to find Frances there. Lifting the contract, he smiled. “I’m looking through it now.”
“Robert Thompson would like to see you.”
This made him pause. “Send him in.”
He opened the drawer and placed the contract inside. His business was his own, and he didn’t like to look through contracts when someone who wasn’t part of his company was there.
Robert entered. They shook hands and Wayne waited for him to sit.
“I’m curious as to what I owe the pleasure.” From James, his friend, he’d expect random visits. Robert wasn’t much of a friend but more a friend of a friend.
“Look, I know I gave you Temperance’s details, but … she’s not answering any of my wife’s texts or calls.”
Wayne didn’t even know they’d been calling her. “You are aware that I’ve hired her.”
“We’re aware. We want to re-hire her.”
He sat back in his chair. “And Temperance hasn’t answered your calls.”
“No. We really need her back. Catherine took the wrong damn twin to get a filling done, and no matter how much Ryan told her, the damn woman wouldn’t listen. The file Temperance had made of all appointments had been burned. Catherine decided she could do everything on her own.”
Wayne couldn’t help but smile. He’d seen the organizer under a magnet on the fridge of plans for Timothy, what she expected of him, and also any appointments that had been made.
She’d asked if it was okay to have a doctor give him a check, just to make sure they had all of Timothy’s history, along with a dental and an eye check. The woman was thorough, and everything had come back perfectly.
“I’m not going to fire her,” Wayne said.
“Yeah, but that kid’s not yours. So it’ll be gone soon, and she’ll be out of a job. We want her before someone else does. Temperance is never out of work. Someone is always trying to take her from you. Believe me, we’ve tried.”
Wayne didn’t have anything to say to that. It was true what Robert had told him as it was the same thing that he’d said himself.