Coming Next….
Hunter
Her scream pierced through the room like shattered glass. I was instantly startled, unsure of what was going on.
I had been in the midst of buttoning my dress shirt as I took in the view of Chao Phraya River from the presidential suite we were lodged in. It was gorgeous in the light of this early morning, the enchanting view of moving boats and shimmering waters reflecting the sun.
I glanced back towards the door connecting her rooms and noted that she had gone quiet. Did this mean that there was no reason to go over? Maybe she had just been startled? I briefly resumed buttoning my shirt, but barely a button into the hole, I was anxious, so I turned around and headed towards her room.
I knocked; however, there was no response. One of the reasons I had insisted on this suite with separate rooms and connecting door was so that, as my secretary, she could have easy and quick access to me, but I didn’t expect to be making any trips of any kind to her whatsoever, nor was I the least bit interested in doing so.
There was a line drawn between any interactions between us that weren’t related to work, and I didn”t want to cross it. However, when I knocked again and didn’t get a response, I had no choice but to push open the door and head in. I saw immediately that she wasn’t there.
This meant then that she was in the bathroom, and now I was officially worried. Bathroom accidents were the most dangerous, and it made sense now why there was a singular shout and then she had gone silent. She had probably become unconscious after her fall and couldn’t respond or call for help.
”Madison,” I called out as I stood before her door. ”Madison?”
My hand closed around the handle, but rather than hearing a clear sentence assuring me that all was well, I heard a bit of a shrill, panicked response which trailed off into a pained moan that she was obviously trying to hide but couldn’t.
”I’m fine. I’m fine,” she called out.
To be honest, she didn”t sound fine, but since she said she was, I no longer had any business being in her room.
I turned around and took in the messy room with clothes and documents strewn all over and couldn”t help but frown. I started to leave, but I stopped and considered. She wasn’t coming out and I had definitely heard her scream. It occurred to me then, as I found the dark lace bra lying on the floor, why she could have possibly driven me away despite the fact that she had obviously had some sort of accident. Sighing, I turned and returned to the bathroom. This time I didn’t ask her permission and only announced my entrance.
”I’m coming in,” I said.
She nearly screamed once again. ”No, don”t! I’m... I’m fine. I”m just… don’t come in, please. I’m fine.”
Rather than look at her fully, I utilized the mirror on the wall, and what I found was quite disconcerting, to say the least. She was flat down on the floor with her towel loosely around her body. She was twisted in the most awkward position, and immediately when she saw me, her eyes flew open.
”I”m not decent, Sir,” she said and immediately tried to get up as she pulled her towel around her. However, it was too tiny to hide the body that she wanted to hide from me. The body I realized as I stared at her, that she had been hiding from me for quite a long time. And just like that, I was more stunned by her figure than by the fact that she had probably broken a bone or two.
”I”m fine,” she said again; however, she couldn’t quite turn around to look at me.
I got in then and knelt to the floor, ”Can you stand?”
”I... I can, Sir,” she said, not quite able to look at me. ”It”s just that I”m going to need a minute.”
”If you need a minute to be able to stand, then you”re not fine,” I said, quite irritated. I held her then and tried to help her up.
”Now,” she squeezed her eyes shut, ”my towel is going to fall.”
”I”ll hold on to it then,” I said. ”Just make sure to hold on to me.”
”That’s the plan,” but as I tried to turn around, it was impossible not to glimpse the fullness of her breasts and just how shapely her ass was. It was gorgeous and plum, much bigger than I had ever realized. I hated to admit this, but I could feel arousal spiking through me and rushing down to my dick. I had never, in the six months that she had worked for me so far, even entertained such a thought about her, but here I was, ready to spread her open and fuck her so hard she lost her mind.
”I- um… it was a spider,” she said. ”I’m fine. Really. I thought- I mean, there was a spider behind me, and it shocked me, and I tried to run, but the ground was slippery so - ow.” She winced as I managed to turn her around with one hand gripping the towel while she held onto me. ”Ow.”
”I”m going to pull you up now,” I told her. ”Let me know if you can stand on your own.”
She grew quiet because indeed she hadn’t really been expecting to fall, so she had originally grabbed the first towel she could find after she heard me come into the room. Unfortunately for her, it was more like half a towel, barely able to cover her breasts and go around her body, not to talk of her gorgeous ass.
Soon she was on her feet with her arm around me, and I turned to see the wince on her face. Her eyes remained closed for a few moments as she tried to test how her body was, and she soon nodded. She still didn’t open her eyes as she spoke, and I understood. She was more or less naked in her boss”s arms, and there was little to nothing she could do about it.
” Can you stand on your own?” I asked, and she nodded.
”I think I”m just sore in my knee from the fall, and my neck is quite strained. It’s stiff, almost. I have to be careful with it. Other than that, I”m fine.”
”Alright, I”m going to let you go now, alright?” I asked, and she nodded in response.
”Yes, Sir, thank you.”
Gradually, I moved away, and her hand instantly shot up to take over the towel, held to within an inch of her life. It would have been amusing, the desperate way in which she grabbed it, if the entire situation wasn’t quite grim. The bathroom was dangerous. It was filled with so much glass and marble that if she had truly landed wrong, she could have cracked her skull in two.
I stared at her and couldn”t help but worry about her. We had a tight schedule to keep for the day, but we really couldn’t do any of that if she was in some crisis, could we? My gaze lowered down to her knees, and I could see the bruise already forming.
”Turn your neck,” I said, and her eyes finally met mine. For a moment, I was startled. It felt like I was looking at someone I had never seen before.
She was always in thick, huge glasses that seemed to be the only thing preventing her from being completely labeled as blind, so I had never actually seen her eyes before, nor had I cared. And her hair... was curly. Dark chocolate brown, wet... it surprised me because I never knew she had this much hair. It was always bone straight, tied and tucked into the back of her head, with not a single hair out of place.
It made her look more than anything like a fifty-year-old middle school math teacher, and then of course there were her baggy black and white suits. I knew she was young, but her usual appearance was so stoic that it made me wonder where she had grown up.
She looked like an unattractive country bumpkin who would do nothing but focus on her work and given the experience I had had so far with prior secretaries; this was exactly what I had preferred.
Therefore, everything had gone smoothly … until now. Her eyes were the most gorgeous hazel I had ever seen, golden with some hints of green in them, her lashes were long and wet and made her seem almost like a doll. I couldn’t look away.
”Sir?” she called, and I finally came to my senses.
”Can you shift the breakfast meeting we have with the clients this morning?” I asked. ”I think we need to quickly get you to a hospital so you can be checked properly for any signs of more severe injury.”
”No, Sir,” she immediately refused and tried to shake her head, but she was seemingly dazed.
”Ow,” she cried quietly, and my gaze narrowed at her.
”Sure you still want to refuse?” I asked, and this time around she didn’t move. Instead, she used only her words.
”I”m fine, Sir,” she said. ”Really fine.”
”Alright,” I replied, not wanting to drag this on unnecessarily. ”Get dressed then and let me know if there are any complications.”
”Yes, Sir,” she replied and turned around, exiting the bathroom.
Chapter 2
Madison
”Holy shit!” I heard the voice suddenly say. The sound echoed so much through the room that I jumped again and almost fell down and broke my head for the second time within the space of five minutes.
With my hand to my chest, I went still and tried to calm myself so I wouldn”t permanently dislocate my neck. Eventually, when I felt stable enough, I opened my eyes and glared at the phone positioned against the wall on the vanity. Emma”s face filled up the entire screen, and her attention was so rapt it was almost amusing.
”First of all, that was your boss, right? And secondly, oh my God, I think he saw you.”
Walking slowly toward the sink, I rolled my dry eyes at her drivel.
”No kidding.”
”Shit,” she was amused. ”This is kind of intriguing.”
”I almost died, you ass.”
”Well, I swear I saw the spider. It was crawling behind you. Didn”t you see it?”
”You really want me to turn around to check again?” I asked. ”With my broken neck?”
Her smile turned sheepish. ”I”m sorry, Maddy. You’re right, it could have been so dangerous. When you screamed, my heart was pounding so fast. If you hadn’t responded to him, I would have called the police or emergency services right away. That was scary.”
I ignored her as I grabbed the robe hanging on the wall and put it on.
”This is what I should have freaking worn in the beginning. I didn’t, and as a result, I”ve just given my boss a show. The show he specifically asked not to have from the first moment he hired me.”
”Yeah,” she replied. ”He didn’t see all of it though, did he?”
I gave her a nasty look but had to consider her question. Eventually, I couldn’t help but respond, scared for my life, literally.
”You were watching, right?” I asked. ”Did he? Did you?”
“All I could see was his back. He”s huge and broad. I couldn”t see anything else.”
My heart sank once again.
I couldn’t lower my neck, so of course I can”t tell what he saw and didn”t see.
“Did you feel a breeze?” she asked.
”Please stop talking about it. In fact, I think it”s time for you to leave. I”m already running late, and I can”t be late when it comes to him. I can”t believe I was looking at lingerie samples with you when I was supposed to be rushing for work.”
”I would have said something rude about that, but given that you can”t even move right, I”ll accept the blame. I”m so sorry.”
I went quiet then as I continued rapidly with my skincare while trying my best to slightly turn my neck to wrinkle out the ache. Perhaps it would be fine. It had to be. I was the only one that had come along with Mr. Swift on this trip, so I had to be on top of my game, especially now that I had crossed his one line.
My main problem from all that had just happened should have been just physical, but now when I considered the fact that I might literally get fired for this, my mood plummeted.
”Should I leave?” Emma asked as I quickly moved on to my makeup.
”No,” I replied. ”My thoughts are spiraling.”
”Oh, come on,” she said. ”Even if he did see some parts of you, that doesn”t affect anything, does it? You’ve called him a monk before. If he is so uninterested in the females that work for him, then why be bothered?”
I shrugged. ”Is it strange for me to be? I have literally been dressing like a nun the last few months, all to fit his specifications. How can I not be worried?”
”Yeah,” she replied. ”I understand. But it will be fine, and if it isn”t, be bold, state your case, and tell him that if he fires you for this, you will sue for wrongful termination.”
I gave her a look. ”Really, and who’s going to cover the cost of that?”
”I will,” she replied. ”I’ll handle your lawsuit. Trust me. I might have quit the law firm to start this business, but I’m still legally a lawyer and a damn good one at that.”
I couldn’t object to this, but it did make me smile at the thought of threatening him with this, not that I could ever. I had worked with him for quite a while now, and still, I got so nervous around him, as stiff as a stick. He was so damn impressive, and with my experience of him so far, I couldn’t stop my heart from turning soft when he was concerned, though for my own good, this was and will never be known.
”I have an idea,” she said, and I glanced at the phone lens.
”What?”
”Why don’t you use this opportunity to pursue something with him?”
”What?” My face scrunched up in incredulity. For someone so smart, she sometimes spoke like an airhead.
”You”ve had a crush on him forever. At this point, and given how much you know about him, you are more or less in love with him, yet you have never even been able to consider anything between you two.”
”He”s my boss,” I replied in disbelief.
“So? So, you”re just going to not try? I think you should. He”s seen you naked now, and if he”s a man and not gay like I have suspected, then he should have felt something. Now I think more than ever now is your only chance to act.”
”And what exactly would you have me do?” I asked, absolutely not taking her seriously at all.
”I don”t know,” she replied. ”You two are also taking this whole conference trip as something of a mini vacation as well, right?”
”Right.”
”Well, this will give you plenty of chances to dress a little more alluring. Plus, I”ll ship you one of our new lingerie pieces. You can test it out for me on him.”
”And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” I asked, absolutely not taking her seriously at all.
”Fall down again, but this time truly be unconscious so he can see my lingerie on your body. Trust me, your body is sick, and the moment he sees my lingerie on your body, he”s going to lose it. Plus, you could wear it to the beach as well. Are there beaches where you are in Thailand? Do you both have any plans for it?”
”We have a resort vacation planned in Phuket.”
”Perfect, I”ll send you something.”
”Please leave me alone,” I said and reached for the phone. ”I”m done; I”m leaving. Go work on your business some more and stop trying to ruin my life. I like my job and my boss. We flew here on his private jet, and my salary is insane. I”m not going to give any of that up just because I have a crush on him. It’ll die and I”ll come to my senses when he gets with someone, and that”s bound to happen sooner or later.”
”That someone could be you,” she said, and I ended the call. She was always putting these ridiculous ideas in my head, trying to save me from my unrequited love narrative. I wasn”t going to listen to her because I truly had spent too much time so far with Hunter not to understand him, and any distraction whatsoever from his work was like cancer that he wouldn’t hesitate for even a minute to get rid of.
I stretched my neck a bit more, testing the extent of the strain, and I felt a little better. My prayer was that it wouldn’t get worse during the day, so I found some aspirin to take in advance and hurried out of the bathroom.
I had to get dressed and present myself before my boss and pretend he”d never seen me almost naked.