Page 4 of The Swap After Hours

Mr. Marshall folded his hands in front of him and leveled me with a droll look. “What I am is a very busy man and what I need from you is an answer. Do we have an agreement, Mr. Reed?”

My head spun at the quick turn of events. The money he was offering was mind-boggling. It was life-changing for someone like me. I could get a new car, I wouldn’t have to get a second job, and best of all, I would finally feel like I could breathe without the burden of financial strain constantly weighing me down.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “We have an agreement.”

His eyes flashed with something akin to surprise. Did he really think I’d turn down such a generous offer? Or maybe he thought I’d negotiate for even more money. How far would he have been willing to go, I wondered idly. Not that it mattered. I was more than happy with his offer.

“Great. See Kelly on your way out and she’ll give you all the necessary paperwork. I’ll give you the rest of the week to tie up any loose ends with your current employer and then I’ll see you Monday. Eight a.m.”

“I’ll be here. Um, thank you, Mr. Marshall, sir. I’ll do my best not to let you down,” I said as I stood and made my way to the door.

“Just Mr. Marshall will suffice. “Oh, and, Mr. Reed,” he said, stopping me before I could walk out. I looked at him over my shoulder, my eyebrows raised in question. “Do try to be on time.”

“Yes, Mr. Marshall”

I stepped out in the hallway and shut the door, leaning against it while I waited for my heart rate to slow. This day had gone from terrible to amazing in a matter of minutes and I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

My smile grew as I walked down the hallway, and even the small twinge of guilt I felt when I heard Kelly telling the other Trevor the position had been filled wasn’t enough to make it disappear.

I’d been honest with Mr. Marshall about having no idea how to be someone’s PA, but I was a hard worker and a fast learner. I left there, determined to be the best personal assistant he’d ever had.

CHAPTER 2

TREVOR

The rest of the day seemed to drag on forever despite being extremely busy. A storm the night before had caused technical issues for several of our clients and I’d spent most of the afternoon bouncing around from one building to another, making repairs and helping them get their systems back up and running.

Thankfully, the issues were fairly easy to fix because I was finding it nearly impossible to concentrate. My mind kept wandering back to what had happened that morning. The job seemed almost too good to be true and I had to keep pinching myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.

After I’d filled out all the usual tax forms and new-hire paperwork, Kelly handed me a contract to sign. Mr. Marshall hadn’t gone into much detail other than mentioning the very generous salary. So, I was shocked to read I’d also have full medical and dental benefits starting immediately along with paid sick time and three weeks’ vacation the first year. That was more than I’d had with any other job.

I’d left Marshall Industries feeling like I’d just won the lottery. My excitement momentarily took a back seat as I watched the tow truck I’d called pulling away with Trixie, but it came right back as I fired off a text to Doug.

ME: U home tonight? Got news to share.

DOUG: Yep. What kinda news?

ME: The good kind.

DOUG: How good?

ME: Extremely good.

DOUG: Tell me now.

ME: No time. Gotta run.

DOUG: You suck.

ME: No, that would be you.

DOUG: And I’m so good at it.

I laughed out loud at his response. Doug and I had been best friends since fifth grade and there wasn’t much we didn’t share with each other, including talking about our sex lives.

Not that I had much to contribute to the conversation. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had sex. Sure, I’d had a few girlfriends in college and a couple of random hook ups since then, but it always felt like something was missing. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly. I only knew I hadn’t found it with any of my previous partners.

Doug, on the other hand, kept a steady stream of men going in and out of his bedroom. I liked to joke that if he started charging admission, he’d probably make enough to start his own restaurant, a dream he’d had since we were kids.