Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Lilly
It’s still dark outside when my alarm goes off. It takes me a few moments to remember where I am. I’m not in my old apartment, nor am I in the new apartment I was supposed to share with Barrett. It’s not the cheap hotel.
And then it hits me.
The night before and the awkward confrontation with Luke Morgan. The way I pushed myself into his house, his office, and his life.
Not like I had another choice. But…
I still couldn’t believe I’d had the courage to do it.
Or that it had worked.
After I found the file he’d been looking for, which felt like a miracle by itself, and he’d suggested a one-month trial, I had to work hard to keep from embarrassing myself with the relief that hit me.
The last thing I needed was to lose the job only minutes after getting it because I was an emotional wreck.
Instead, I managed to hold it together while Luke showed me to a room and helped me bring in my things. He’d hardly said more than a handful of words to me before the last load of things was brought in, and he disappeared.
He clearly wasn’t going to be much of a conversationalist. Fine by me. I needed a job. Not a boyfriend.
Even if he was the sexiest man I’d ever seen.
When he wasn’t glowering at me, that is.
Again, I didn’t have any business thinking any kind of way about my boss. Not unless it involved how I planned to organize his life and make myself indispensable to him.
At least long enough for me to find a new job.
And a place to live.
I throw the quilt back and slip from the large timber-framed bed. It’s clearly handcrafted, and one of the finest pieces of furniture I’ve ever seen. The bed was comfortable and warm, and despite the circumstances surrounding the evening, I’d fallen asleep quickly and slept deeply.
In the attached bathroom, I shower quickly before getting dressed. I choose a blue blouse and my black skirt. My workplace might be in a log cabin in the middle of the woods, but it doesn’t mean I should dress any differently than I would for any other job.
Luke’s not awake yet, and the cabin is still dark as I pad my way down the hall to his office. I’m not sure if he’s an early riser or not, but I’d taken a chance on him sleeping in past five so I can get a head start on getting his office in order.
From the little I’d seen the night before, I definitely have my work cut out for me.
He isn’t just disorganized. He’s drowning.
Tessa said he’s at the top of his game. A highly sought-after and successful investor. He’s made himself and many others millions of dollars.
I have no idea how. Not when the man can’t even find a client profile.
I pause on the threshold of his office, not sure if entering without permission crosses a line. But the memory of his words the night before runs through my head.
You have one month to prove you’re worth the disruption to my life.
Hard to do that from the guest room.
I blow out a breath and step inside.
The room looks exactly the way it had the night before. I wasn’t imagining how bad it was. It’s actually worse.
I pull the chair back and get to work.
First, I sort through the piles he has haphazardly stacked on the desk top. It doesn’t take long to see there is a method to his madness. Even if it doesn’t make much sense, at least it’s a start.
I’m not here to reinvent the wheel, so I work with what I’ve got, streamlining things by alphabetizing the client profiles and organizing each one within the file so it’s orderly and tidy.
Once I’ve tackled the visible mess, I pull open the drawer to the filing cabinet and start pulling out the contents, organizing everything into sensible piles.
It’ll take some time, but once it’s done, he won’t be able to deny how valuable it is to be organized. It’ll save him hours every day. Never mind the stress load.
I leave the piles on the floor and turn my attention back to his desk and the paper planner he has laid out. There are meetings and times scribbled in every block, and across columns. Not even I can decipher what it all means.
I slide it to the side. I’m going to need more information before I can tackle his schedule.
I click onto his laptop, the screen waking to a password-protected page. Not that I expected anything else. That, too, will have to wait.
My phone buzzes on the desk with an incoming text.
Tessa:
Good morning. I hope everything went okay last night.
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it. I’d considered texting Tessa last night, but had succumbed to an early sleep instead.
Lilly:
Barely. Your dad is intense.
Three dots appear almost instantly.
Yeah. That’s one word for it
He was not happy to see me.
I shake my head with the understatement of the century.
You didn’t tell him I was coming?
I thought it was best to surprise him. He doesn’t know what he needs until he has it.
Another message pops up before I can reply.
He didn’t kick you out, did he?
If he had, she would already have heard about it. But I don’t bother mentioning it.
No. One-month trial.
There’s a pause before her reply comes through.
Wow. You must have made some first impression. He doesn’t give chances easily.
All of this would have been good information before I’d arrived. I swallow hard before I reply.
Yeah. Well, I’ll need that long to find a new position.
He’s never going to want to let you go.
Something about her choice of words hits me low in the gut.
I’m not going to tell my friend that her dad is the sexiest man I’ve ever met.
Even if he is also the biggest and scariest. And I’m definitely not going to tell her that I’d had some very inappropriate dreams about my new boss. Some things are better left unsaid.
Thankfully, Tessa sends another text before I have a chance to reply.
Thank you for helping him. I hope we can catch up soon.
I set the phone down and turn my attention back to the mess in front of me. It’s not like I can go back to Barrett and the life that was waiting for me. Even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. Whatever comes next, this is my chance to start building something for myself.
And I’m not wasting it.
A floorboard creaks down the hall.
I freeze.
He’s awake.
Luke
I wake already irritated.
Muscles tight, tension in my shoulders. My body is primed for a fight.
Only it wasn’t a fight I’d been dreaming about.
It was her.
Lilly.
I knew she’d be trouble. The day hasn’t even started, and already I’m pissed off.
And frustrated.
That’s the real problem.
My cock is hard as a rock. Throbbing with the unsatisfactory finish to the dream I’d just woken from.
Dark hair spilling over the pillow. Soft pink lips parting under mine. Bright, blue, innocent eyes wide with surprise when I grab her wrists and pin her arms over her head, thrusting her perky tits up for me to feast upon.
The low moan that slips from her creamy white throat when I whisper just how good her sweet cunt is going to feel when I sink my thick cock between her folds.
My jaw tightens with the memory of the dream as the last image flickers out and the reality of the morning intrudes.
“Fuck.” The word is little more than a growl as I scrub my hand over my face and try to pull myself into the present and further away from a dream that could only mean trouble.
But my dick isn’t getting the message, and my brain is not interested in logic or the fact that I should under no circumstances be thinking about the young woman living under my roof who I just hired—albeit begrudgingly—to be my assistant.
Not only is she far too young for me. It doesn’t take much to see that she’s way too innocent. Never mind the fact that I’m her boss.
No. Nothing is going to happen with Lilly.
I throw the covers back, the cold air sharp and startling against the heat of my body. Swinging my legs to the edge of the bed, I try to breathe through it and focus on my training.
Discipline.
I’m no stranger to focus. But every time I close my eyes and try to clear my mind, the image of her standing in my hallway, defiant, her cheeks flushed pink from the cold, her eyes bright with determination, slams into me.
Followed swiftly by the softer dream version of her. The one who moans my name with parted lips as I fuck her.
Dammit.
My control snaps, and I lie back against the pillows, one hand fisting the sheets, the other wrapped roughly around my hard cock.
There’s nothing slow or indulgent about it. Just a quick brutal release driven by frustration and the need to shut my body up before my dick starts making decisions I’m going to regret.
It’s over almost as soon as it begins.
A few rough strokes before my balls tighten and I’m spilling my seed all over my stomach with a long, low grunt.
I wipe up the mess with my discarded boxers from the night before, toss them in the laundry basket, and head for the shower, not feeling any better.
Instead, the irritation flares by the time I step out of the steam and grab my clothes.
I shove my arms into a shirt and go deal with the source of my irritation.
The house is quiet as I move down the hall, but it feels different. Her presence feels…big.
Then I hear it. The faint sounds of papers shuffling. The light in my office is on.
A surge of pure territorial anger fuels the irritation already running through my blood.
I’m pissed before I even reach my office door.
She’s behind my desk. In my chair. Papers and files spread out around her like she belongs there.
And dammit if she doesn’t look like she does.
I swallow down the thought.
“What are you doing in here?”
Her head snaps up, her eyes growing wide for a split second, before her body relaxes and her lips curl into a smile so slight I’m not even sure it’s there. “I’m working,” she says softly. “You hired me, remember?”
She’s dressed like she should be in an office downtown in a big city somewhere, not in a remote mountain cabin. I glance down at my own jeans and flannel shirt. “You’re in my office.”