“Pretty girl like you must have to beat them off with a stick.” The elderly saleslady picked up the abandoned dress and held it in front of Katie. “Wear this to your lunch date, honey, and you’ll have the young man drooling over you instead of the food. I guarantee it.”
An idea slowly formed in Katie’s brain, and a smile stretched her mouth. In her two years working for Chase Grayson, she hadn’t once made an inappropriate remark or done anything he would deem unprofessional. She left her wild streak at home. Playing the part of a robotic assistant hadn’t been easy. Sometimes she had nightmares about slipping up and revealing her true self. He fired her in those dreams. Healwaysfired her.
Her handsome boss was rigid to the extreme when it came to his routine. It didn’t make sense that he would want to eat lunch with her outside the office after two years unless he was planning to fire her. He didn’t want her to make a scene. People like Mr. Grayson would do anything to avoid a messy, emotional confrontation.
Many times, she’d gazed at his gorgeous dark brown mane and toyed with the idea of delving deep with all ten fingers. His hair always looked too perfect. What would he do if she undid his tie, messed up his hair, and kissed him with the passion she’d been hiding?
Before going to work for Grayson, she’d heard stories about his bachelor lifestyle, a girl for every night of the week, fast cars, and impulsive trips on his private jet to exotic places. She’d seen his sexy dimpled smile in glossy magazines, and she had thought he’d be fun to work for.Wrong!Maybe he was fun at a party—although she even doubted that now—but he certainly wasn’t fun at the office. The grouchy bear wouldn’t appreciate a girl like her, so she kept her personality under wraps at work.
But if she was about to get fired anyway...
She snatched the dress from the lady’s hand and hurried to the dressing room. It wasn’t easy to put on. The materialdidstretch, just not enough to slide on without a lot of tugging and wiggling. As anticipated, the dress fit like a second skin.
When she emerged, the saleslady clapped with what seemed like genuine glee. “Wonderful! You look like a movie star in that dress. You must have it.”
Katie stood in front of the mirror again. Although she knew the saleslady was simply manipulating her for a nice commission, she wasn’t wrong. A scrunched black bodice pushed her bosom up to the point it was bursting to escape. Katie fluffed her hair and allowed the silky waves to spill over her bare shoulders and rest on the top of the material. Shorter than what she usually wore, the hem barely covered her bum. If she raised her arms, she’d inadvertently give the whole street a free peep show. The daring dress was far too sexy, far too short, and far too dramatic for daytime.
And that’s what made it so perfect for her lunch with her stuffy boss. She couldn’t wait to see his face when he got an eyeful of her in the sexy dress. Perhaps her new appearance would knock him speechless.
“I’ll take it,” she said on impulse.
She removed her purse from her handbag and gave the woman her only credit card. The high-price would be worth it if Mr. Grayson lost the power of speech. Perhaps the sexy dress would even convince himnotto fire her.
♥♥♥
Chase finished his second cup of coffee and checked the Rolex on his wrist for what must have been the fiftieth time since sitting down at the cafe table. He’d asked to be seated outside for two reasons. First, his lungs coveted extra oxygen due to stress. Second, he hoped the fragrant flowers growing from nearby pots would somehow soften Katie’s heart so she would at least listen to his outrageous offer.
Calm. Cool. Efficient.
Those words described his assistant better than any others he could come up with. It was a shame he had to lose her. She was so good at her job that it unnerved him at times. Before she’d charged into his life, he had gone through numerous temps, all terrible. Loud, off-putting, nosy, incompetent, and those were the best of the lot. Katie had shown up with a woefully short list of job credits. One look at her pitiful resume and he’d shown her to the door. That was when fate struck with a blow that saved his both office and his sanity.
Temp-of-the-day jumped up screaming, “I can’t! I can’t do this. I’m a model, not a stupid secretary.”
Then she was off, disappearing through the doorway like a magician’s assistant during his final trick. The phone lines blinked relentlessly. Chase had important clients coming to meet him for the first time, and his father’s lawyers were breathing fire in the background.
Cool, calm, and efficient Katie Greer sat at the abandoned desk as if she belonged there, and she took care of the callers with minimal effort. Before the day was over, she had charmed his clients, upgraded his filing system, and made herself indispensable.
During the past two years, he’d marveled over his luck in employing such a rare jewel. He appreciated her professional demeanor, especially when most women he met in the workplace flirted with him until he either gave in or rudely cut them off. Since taking over as CEO, he’d found women would do crazy things just to get his attention.
Fortunately, his workaholic secretary didn’t seem to notice he was a man. That bruised his ego a bit, but her indifference was refreshing. Maybe that was why he wanted her help. Other women gave into his demands too easily and were too eager to comply with his every wish. Unlike the other employees at Grayson, Katie didn’t get flustered around him.
Now, he was about to kiss all that goodbye.
Am I making a mistake?
Chase checked his watch again. Where was she? In two years, she hadn’t been late for anything.
Then he looked up and saw her walking, no,floatingin his direction. He did a double-take. For a moment, he didn’t recognize his efficient assistant. The woman headed his way was like a femme fatale from some black and white noir film with a large cult following. She couldn’t possibly be his straight-laced, sexless employee.
The heel of one sleek black boot caught on something, and she tripped. She recovered her balance almost immediately. Her eyes darted around to see if anyone had noticed the klutzy moment. Before she could look his way, he turned his head. His lips twitched, itching to smile. That was definitely his Ms. Greer.
She drew closer.
He realized several things at once. Her full, plump lips were curved slightly at the ends as if she was constantly smirking even when she wasn’t happy. How had he not noticed that before? Instead of being secured to her head in a tight bun, her light brown hair flowed free, bouncing over her shoulders. It was a lot longer than he’d imagined, falling in gentle waves over the swell of her breasts, and there were streaks of gold mixed with the brown that shimmered in the sunlight. In a short time span, he noticed an array of things about her physical appearance that had eluded him before today. The most shocking thing was her youth.
Chase thought back to her resume and willed himself to remember her age. Her youth had been the biggest reason he’d shown her to the door after a quick glance. At the time, she had been... what? Twenty-two? Yes, twenty-two, and if he remembered right, her birthday was just a few weeks before he hired her. That meant she was twenty-four now, barely, still too young to handle the amount of responsibility he threw at her, but she did.
Ms. Greer wore matronly dresses to work every day and kept her hair pulled back in a severe style that made her facial features appear stern. Perhaps that was why he hadn’t noticed she possessed a rare sort of beauty.