5
Jace
“Who’s the girl?” Matteo asks.
I’m standing across from him just outside of my office. I can see Olivia through the open blinds. The blinds were added at my insistence to give a modicum of privacy, but now I realize there’s hardly any privacy at all.
“Olivia Summers. She thought she was interviewing for an assistant position,” I say and rake my fingers through my hair.
How the hell did this get screwed up?
Matteo’s cheeks burn. “I fucked up, Boss. I should have told you directly that your interview was canceled.”
“Who the hell sent Ms. Summers upstairs to my office?” I’m about ready to have their head.
“I’ll find out for you, Sir,” Matteo says.
I exhale a heavy puff of air, staring at the girl seated at my desk.
No one ever sits in Don Barone’s chair.
Ever.
But the longer I stare at her through the blinds, the more I realize I want her.
Not for an assistant. And certainly not intimately.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s hot, with a rocking curvy body, but I don’t mix business with pleasure. The last thing I need is some girl learning my deep, dark secrets.
They’re secrets for a reason.
I hardly ever date as it is. There are too many women out there looking to chase after my money. It’s easier to play the field.
Safer.
Cheaper.
I don’t need a girlfriend hanging on my arm at functions. I’m the boss of Barone Industries. Who the hell do I have to impress? No one.
“I want her,” I say, staring at her through the window.
“Excuse me?” Matteo says and clears his throat. He’s expecting me to say something else and pretend he didn’t hear what I said.
No, he heard me correctly.
“I want her as my surrogate.”
“Sir, you can’t just go in there and—”
“The hell I can’t. I’m Jace Barone.” I do whatever the hell I damn well please. It helps that I have more money than I need, and I get the feeling the little tiger in there is desperate for a job.
Except it’s not the job that she came in here hoping to get hired for.
“Think about what you’re suggesting, Sir,” Matteo says.
He’s always levelheaded. Calm.
I’m impulsive.