His Temptation (Empire State of Love #1)

Chapter 1

1

KYLIE

I f one more person tells me they are in a hurry today, I’m going to take this can of whipped cream and give them a facial. This is New York City; everyone’s in a hurry. That’s implied. There’s no need to state it and telling me isn’t going to get their coffee made any faster.

I make this girl’s latte with all the ingredients that she asked for in an attempt to make it healthy in her mind.

News flash, lady: It’s filled with sugar and chemicals that make up its fake flavor. Delicious it may be; healthy it is not.

While I’m pouring in the syrup, I shift my weight to one foot to try and relieve the pain from the other foot. The soles on these shoes are almost nonexistent, but I don’t have the money to replace them. Bennett, my little brother, needed a new pair of sneakers for cross-country, which drained my account. When did tennis shoes become so expensive?

“Here you go,” I say with a smile as I slide the drink across the counter. “Have a great day.”

The woman grabs it without a word and spins around.

“Why, yes, I will have a great day too. Thank you,” I mutter to myself.

I wipe my hands on my apron and walk back to the counter. A woman approaches who looks like she’s in her fifties. She has frizzy red hair that’s pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. Her pantsuit is pressed neatly and clearly very expensive. I’m sure she works here in the building, but I don’t remember seeing her before.

“Ugh, he fired another assistant this morning,” she whines to the other woman next to her. “Can you believe it? That’s three in one month.”

“Good morning,” I interject. “What can I get for you?”

She looks down at the paper in her hand and gives it to me. “It’s probably just easier if I hand this to you. The espresso machine in our office broke this morning.”

I look down at her list of ten drink orders. Yikes. The line behind her is going to get pissed. That’ll take away from any tips I may get this morning. Perfect!

I get to work on the most-time-intensive drinks first.

“Anyway,” I hear the woman start back up with her friend, “I just don’t know what to do. These women all fawn over the guy. They are too busy trying to get his attention and score a date rather than actually do work for him.”

Figures. These are probably socialites who just want to find a billionaire to marry and don’t really need the money. While there are people like me, who would give up everything to have an opportunity for a foot in the door at a corporation.

“You need to hire someone different this time. The problem is that all these candidates don’t even need the money. They have no reason to work hard,” her friend next to her says.

Bingo! Who would’ve thought the answer was to hire somebody who actually wanted a job?

“And where am I going to find this person?” she asks. “I don’t have time to shuffle through their résumés to see what their financial background is, and I can’t exactly ask that in an interview.”

“You could hire me.”

My finger almost slips from the top of the can of whipped cream. Did I just say that out loud?

The lady looks from her friend over to me. “Excuse me?”

Well, the words are already out. I might as well go for it. “You can hire me. I’m a really hard worker, and I would make a great assistant.”

“You?” she says with a sound of distaste. “How are you qualified to be an assistant?”

“Well,” I start as I place the lid on the latte before moving to pour the remaining five drinks, which are just regular coffee, “I’m smart and motivated, I can handle anything life throws at me, and I have no interest in marrying some rich asshole who would likely cheat on me every chance he got.”

Yikes. That wasn’t very professional. I probably could have been more eloquent with my response.

The hint of a smirk plays across her lips. I’m prepared for her to put me in my place as a barista when she shocks me.

“I see you are a smart woman who knows not to trust these powerful men. I like that.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a card. “Here’s my number. Give me a call this morning, and we’ll set up an interview.”

“Really? Um, sure. I can do that.” I stumble over my words. “Thank you.”

I glance down at her card and see that her name is Scarlett. She hands over a shiny gold credit card, and I swipe it, wondering if my life is about to change.

Could this possibly be an opportunity for a real job?

If I got this job, I could get health insurance for Benny and myself. How much stress would that relieve for me if I knew I could afford for us to get sick?

“No problem, Kylie.” She reads my name tag and smiles as she takes the drinks. “One thing”—she stops before she walks away—“remember, dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”

With that, she walks away with her friend. I try to fly through the customers in my line and get past the morning rush so that I can properly freak out.

It’s nine thirty by the time I have a moment of peace. I pull the card from my pocket and study it.

Scarlett Johnson. Hiring Manager. Nova Sky Airlines.

I gulp down the bile rising in my throat. I’m so out of my element. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Answer: I wasn’t. I didn’t mean for those words to spill from my mouth.

She wants me to dress for the job I want. I look down at my ratty, old jeans and black button-down shirt. I don’t have anything nicer than this.

There’s no use. She’ll take one look at me and laugh if I walk in there with the clothes I own. I shouldn’t even bother calling her to set up an interview.

But when the line slows down and Miranda shows up to assist with the crowd, I find myself sneaking into the back and dialing Scarlett’s number.

When I walk back out to the counter, I’m in a daze. I have an interview in three hours. I assured her I could head back home to change and be ready in time. My mouth kept on agreeing to things, and I wanted to punch my own face to get myself to shut up.

I think I have a copy of my résumé somewhere in my backpack, but what good would that do? It’s filled with ridiculous jobs and a whopping GED. As stupid as all of this feels, there’s something in my gut telling me to go all out.

If life is trying to extend an olive branch, I need to take it. I need to do everything in my power to snatch it up and make some olive oil. My life has been pretty bland without it.

I think about the emergency credit card I opened a couple of months ago in case I ever needed to use it to feed or clothe my brother. What if I went out and bought an outfit and returned it right after my interview?

Sure, it’s not the most ethical thing to do, but I’m desperate. You’d do it, too, if you’d had the kind of bad luck that I’ve experienced over the years. If it meant a better future for your little brother.

Three hours later and two hundred fifty dollars in the hole, I’m walking back into the building in a fitted black skirt with a white blouse and black heels. I even asked the sales associate at the store how to do my hair. She suggested a low bun, which I then googled after I walked out.

I purchased a tube of lipstick and some mascara, which I guess I can’t return, but I thought they would be necessary to complete the look. But I only spent eight dollars for both of them at the drugstore so I can handle that.

The heels click all the way to the elevator, making me feel like a fraud. She told me to go to the fifty-seventh floor and ask for Scarlett when I reached the front desk. I hope to catch my breath on the elevator to cool my nerves, but the damn thing gets to the floor in seconds.

The doors open up to an office layout that I was not expecting. The lobby of this building is cold and modern while this place is nothing like that. The dark wooden floor and warm lighting instantly give it a more relaxing feel. It eases my nerves slightly.

I walk up to the blonde sitting at the front desk as she types away on her computer. She is young and beautiful. Must be the standard qualifications for these companies in the city.

She looks up and does a double take but never smiles. “Hi. Can I help you?”

Those nerves that disappeared are suddenly back with her stone face and rude demeanor.

“Hi. Um, I’m here to see Scarlett.”

I catch a small eye roll.

“Follow me.”

She stands up and starts walking down the hallway. I can barely keep up in my heels. She’s wearing even higher ones, but she seems to be a pro at walking in them. We weave through so many desks and hallways that I begin to fear I’ll never find my way out. Then we stop at a small office in a row of several private offices in a side hall.

The long-legged blonde front-desk woman who never introduced herself to me sticks her head into the door and announces my presence before she walks off without a glance my way.

I take timid steps into the room, where I find Scarlett sitting behind a desk with a warm smile.

“Hi, Kylie. Thanks so much for meeting with me on such short notice. Take a seat.” She gestures to the chair in front of her desk.

I sit down, holding a single piece of paper with my unimpressive résumé on it. “Of course. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”

“I take it, that’s your résumé?” she says as she eyes the paper.

What are the chances I could bolt out of here and find my way out? I do the calculation in my head, trying to remember the twists and turns before I give up and hand her my résumé.

She takes the time to study it in silence while I twist my fingers together in agony as sweat builds on my back.

“You’re only twenty-one,” she says as she continues to scan it. Before I can answer, she continues, “You received your GED. What led to you not being able to graduate high school?”

I take a deep breath. I’m going for honesty. “My parents disappeared when I was sixteen. My brother was only seven, and we had no other family members to take us in. I didn’t want us to go into the system, so I applied for standby guardianship. Since I was able to find full-time employment and get a cheap place in the city, they gave it to me.”

She looks at me thoughtfully. “That’s quite the responsibility you took on at such a young age. And you still got your GED with all of that going on?”

I nod my head. “Yes, I took night classes. I’ve been working two jobs ever since I turned eighteen. It pays the bills, but it’s still not the life I want for myself or my brother.”

“I see. And your work experience, it doesn’t look like you have worked in a business setting before.”

“I haven’t, but I’m a very fast learner. You have to be when you take on what I did at that age. I will work harder than anyone who’s had this position in the past, I assure you.”

She leans back in her chair. “Mr. Monroe is very specific about the qualifications to be his assistant. A GED simply won’t cut it.”

Panic rises in my throat as I think about the money I spent on these clothes and the opportunity that is slipping through my fingers.

“With all due respect, the list of qualifications has not helped you in the past. From what I overheard this morning, you can’t manage to keep an assistant around. I can change that. I have zero interest in dating a hotshot CEO, and I have everything to lose. If I don’t cut it, an opportunity like this won’t come around again. I will be the best assistant he has ever had. And my qualifications can remain between the two of us. I assume someone at Mr. Monroe’s level does not look over his assistant’s résumé.”

Holy shit. I can’t believe I just spoke like that to her. I’m waiting for her to dismiss me, but I see a hint of a smile form on her lips.

“I do like your tenacity,” she says, then sits up straight, “and I am at my wit’s end with trying to find an assistant who Mr. Monroe won’t fire almost immediately. I trust you won’t be like all the other women who’ve been too worried about getting a date with the man instead of his morning cup of coffee.”

“Of course. I absolutely will only worry about meeting his demands. No chance you’ll catch me sniffing around, looking for a date.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this”—she shakes her head—“but you’re hired.”

If I could scream right now and not scare the ever-loving life out of her, I would do it. I want to jump out of my seat and do a victory dance. My heart is pounding in my chest as a heavy dose of adrenaline courses through my body. This stuff doesn’t happen to me. I feel like I’m in the middle of a dream. I’m tempted to pinch myself to make sure this is real. But I need to be professional and pretend like I’m not completely aghast that she just offered me this job.

“Thank you so much for the opportunity. I promise I will not let you down.”

She nods her head, then starts going over details. “I assume you can start today. I will go ahead and notify HR that we need your paperwork and badge taken care of immediately.”

“Oh, I still have the rest of my shift at the café,” I stammer.

She cranes her head to the side. “I assume you want the job. I think the café can manage without you. Follow me.”

I sneak my phone out of my pocket as we weave through the halls and shoot off a text to Miranda, letting her know I can’t make it back in for the rest of my shift. Is it kind of a dick move? Yes. But if being a dick is going to land me this job and the opportunity to send Benny to college, then a dick is what I’ll be.

As I follow her, she talks quickly. “I assume a hundred thousand a year will be sufficient. The job typically pays more, but with your diploma and work experience, I think that’s fair.”

A hundred thousand dollars? I almost trip over myself. I’ll be a dick to everyone I meet for the rest of my life for that kind of money.

“That’s fair,” I manage to reply.

“You will get two weeks of vacation and a week of sick time. We match 401(k) contributions up to five percent and have a great health insurance plan.”

I get to start a 401(k)! And I get HEALTH INSURANCE! I want to cry with the amount of relief that consumes me, knowing that if my brother gets sick, I will be able to get him to a doctor.

Scarlett stops just outside of an office that says Trudy, HR Manager. “Okay, I’m going to have Trudy get you squared away. When you’re done, I will bring you to your desk. It’s just outside of Mr. Monroe’s office, so he can have access to you at all times.”

It sounds kind of daunting to be at this man’s beck and call. Nerves begin to bounce around in my stomach as I realize what I just got myself into. Am I cut out for this? I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to handle everything, and this man doesn’t sound like he will allow a learning curve.