Chapter 4
“How much would soundproofing for the office cost?” ~ Rhett
Rhett
“H ey.” Eli stands to greet me.
“Good to have you back.”
He grins before sitting behind his desk. “It’s good to be back.”
“And you’re back for good this time?”
“I am.”
I don’t know if I believe him but he’s my big brother who worked three jobs in high school to make sure I had the money for a pair of cleats to run track. I’ll give him a chance.
I settle in a chair in front of his desk.
“What’s wrong?”
I frown. “Why do you assume there’s anything wrong?”
He flicks a hand toward the door. “You locked it.”
Because I don’t want Dakota walking in on us. I’m not worried about my brothers. Zane and Miles aren’t in yet. As usual. And Kai and Jaxon stick to the distillery and avoid the offices.
“Dakota.”
He sits up. “What’s wrong? Did one of our idiot brothers upset her? I told you to talk to them before she arrived.”
“I did talk to them.” But it didn’t stop each and every one of them from spending time perched on her desk, flirting with her. Even Jaxon left the distillery to speak to her.
Eli sighs. “I’ll have another word with them. I don’t want them chasing her away.”
I scratch my neck as I contemplate how to say the next part.
“Out with it.”
I grunt. “Are you certain Dakota is the best assistant for you?”
“Why? What did she do?”
She’s entirely too sexy and too much of a temptation. I want to fist her blonde, curly hair while I feast on those bowtie lips before I lay her down and explore every curve she has. And she has a lot of them. I want to watch her green eyes flare as I touch her.
My cock twitches and I clear my throat before I follow those thoughts to their logical conclusion. I’m not spending another day fighting a hard-on because of Dakota. The woman is annoying I remind my cock. It doesn’t care. She’s sexy. It doesn’t need to know anything more.
“She was sleeping in her car.”
Eli’s nose wrinkles. “In her car? Is she homeless? Do we need to look into accommodations for her?”
“Accommodations for her?”
“Yea.” He nods. “Somewhere for her to live.”
“Wouldn’t you rather fire her?”
He rears back. “Fire her for being homeless? I’m not a heartless billionaire, no matter what the press says about me.”
I know he’s not. As one of the founding members of Apparoo – a game software company – Eli has more money than he knows what to do with. Thus, him founding this distillery so all of the Raider brothers can work together and stay on the island.
I hold up a hand. “I didn’t mean to insinuate you’re heartless. I was trying to point out how annoying Dakota is.”
“Annoying?”
“She doesn’t listen when I reprimand her. She snarks back at me.”
“Why have you reprimanded her? She works for me, not the distillery. If you have a problem with her work, you need to speak to me about it.”
“You give her tasks related to the distillery.”
“Because I’m the CEO and she’s my assistant.”
“I don’t think she’s the right person to be your assistant.”
Eli scoffs. “Do you know how hard it was to find someone willing to move to Smuggler’s Hideaway?”
“She has no experience as an assistant.”
“She managed a plumbing business. My needs aren’t much different.”
“Really?” I lift a brow. “Managing a bunch of plumbers unclogging toilets is the same as managing your billionaire lifestyle?”
The door flies open, and Dakota stomps into the room. “I can’t believe you.”
I jump to my feet. “How did you get in here?”
“You can thank me.” Zane steps into the room and bows. “A little lock can’t stop me.”
Dakota jiggles the keys in her hands. “And I have keys to Eli’s office since I’m his assistant.”
Zane frowns at her. “We agreed you’d let me accept credit for opening the door.”
She snorts. “You spent five minutes fiddling with it and you still couldn’t get it open.”
Miles glides into the room. “Are we having a meeting? What about?”
Dakota crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me. “About how Rhett went behind my back to speak to my boss about firing me.”
Miles whistles. “Dick move, dude. Dick. Move.”
“Why does he want to fire you?” Zane asks.
“You heard him.” Dakota motions toward me. “He thinks I’m homeless and unqualified.”
“You’re homeless?” Zane turns on Eli. “What the hell, bro? Are you not paying her enough?”
“I’m not homeless,” Dakota says.
“Except I caught you sleeping in your car the other morning,” I remind her.
Her nostrils flare. “I was exhausted. So sue me for having a lot going on in my life and falling asleep. Mr. High and Mighty strikes again.”
I want to ask what she has going on. What could possibly cause her to be exhausted enough to fall asleep at 8:30 in the morning in the parking lot while waiting for me to arrive?
But I don’t. I don’t need to know about Dakota’s life. She’s a work colleague. Nothing more. Nothing less.
No matter how much I want to taste those lips. I never will. I don’t do relationships. And I’m not making an exception for a colleague who drives me batty.
“Stop calling me Mr. High and Mighty,” I grumble.
“Stop being all high and mighty, and I might,” she fires back.
Zane grins. “This is awesome. Finally, someone is putting Rhett in his place.”
I scowl at him. “In my place? What the hell are you talking about?”
He flips his hand. “You’re always trying to tell us what to do. It’s exhausting.”
Miles elbows him. “Remember the time he tried to ground us.”
“I didn’t try to ground you. I did ground you.”
Miles rolls his eyes. “Total overreaction.”
“Overreaction? You put hundreds of fake spiders in the principal’s office.”
“Hundreds? Try thousands.” Zane and Miles high-five.
I frown. “You never learn your lesson.”
“I wasn’t the one who needed to learn a lesson,” Miles says.
“Exactly,” Zane agrees. “The principal deserved it. She should have never given us detention.”
“She gave you detention for getting into a fight,” I remind them.
Miles scowls. “Those assholes were bullying a girl.”
“At least I’m not the only one who Rhett tries to control,” Dakota mutters.
“I’m not trying to control you.”
“You’re not? Oh, right.” She snaps her fingers. “You’re trying to make me look bad in front of my boss and have me fired.”
Eli clears his throat. “No one is getting fired.”
“Thank you, Mr. Raider.”
“I told you to call me Eli.”
“Thank you, Eli.” Dakota smiles at him, and I bite back a growl. She shouldn’t be smiling and flirting with her boss. It’s unprofessional. This is why she shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
Eli claps his hands. “Now, everyone, get back to work.”
“Eli,” I begin but he holds up a hand.
“No. I’m not discussing firing my PA with you any further.”
“But—”
“This is none of your business. My PA works for me and me alone. If you have a problem with her in the future – a real problem related to her work and not some bullshit you made up because she doesn’t put up with your crap – come to me and we’ll discuss it.”
“Whatever,” I grumble before escaping the room.
I slam my office door shut behind me before stomping to my chair and collapsing in it. Eli is going to regret his decision to keep Dakota as his PA. I don’t know what’s going on with her yet, but there’s definitely something going on.
She drives a junkie car despite the generous salary I know Eli pays her and she’s tired all the time. She’s up to something, and I’m going to figure it out.
Once I reveal her secret, Eli won’t hesitate to fire her.
Satisfaction fills me. Perfect plan.