Page 38 of Wrecked By You
Fuck. I’d almost forgotten that it was the weekend. I worked every day regardless, but Ella had Saturdays and Sundays off.
I didn’t like it.
In fact, I despised it.
I’d come to not only rely on her but also relish spending time with her. She was the complete opposite of me. The ice to my fire and the calm to my disquiet.
I couldn’t go two days without seeing her, and while that thought scared the shit out of me, the desire to bask in her light won the day.
I jumped up from my chair and followed her into the hallway outside my office. “Hey, Ella, wait up.” I strode toward her. “I don’t suppose you’re free tonight?”
She frowned, and my fingertips itched to smooth the lines from her face.
“What do you need?”
For the first time in my life, I felt awkward, almost gawky. Jesus, I hadn’t felt like this even in high school when I’d plucked up the courage to ask Susie Dover out on a date. She’d turned me down, too. Last I heard, she’d gotten divorced for the third time.
Lucky escape for me.
“I thought it might be a good idea for you to accompany me this evening. As my assistant,” I added hastily in case she misunderstood and assumed I meant something more. “I’d appreciate your views on Ryker as a potential business partner.”
Her sweet to my salty might grease the wheels of business, too. I was known for my ability to rub people the wrong way. Plus, she was far better at this “peopling” shit than me. Take that asshole who’d grabbed her a few weeks ago. I’d been ready to break his nose and ban him for life, yet she’d dealt with him without bloodshed and had him eating out of her hand. One of many examples of her people management skills. I believed it came so naturally to her that she wasn’t even cognizant of it.
“Oh.” She twisted her lips to the side as if she was searching for a plausible excuse, or a polite way of saying “Hell no.”
I found myself holding my breath, readying a counterargument to the anticipated refusal.
“Um, I’m not sure I’m the right person. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes when it comes to reading other people.”
She blushed, ducking her head, almost as if she’d said more than she’d meant to. My curiosity spiked. I still knew so little about her. She kept her cards pressed close to her chest.
Takes one to know one.I had the same affliction.
Mine came from a traumatic experience. Did Ella’s come from something similar? And if so, what? Her relief when I’d offered to pay her cash at her initial interview had led me to think she didn’t want to leave a trace of her existence. But why? Who was she hiding from? Chloe’s father, maybe?
Not that it was any of my business. Her place in my life began and ended with her role as my assistant. Sure, she was an attractive woman. Who wouldn’t think so with her thick, ebony hair and luminous, mossy green eyes that shone with an intriguing combination of innocence and experience? Her courage turned me on, too, as did her humor, her personality, her curves for days. The way she was so comfortable in her own skin, refusing to adapt to the Los Angeles cookie cutter version of a woman. Staying true to herself.
All pointless attributes. She could be my ideal woman in every way, and I still wouldn’t touch her. And not only because I’d risk losing a perfectly good assistant. As ideal as she appeared on the surface, beneath the calm waters, sharks lurked.
I’d thought Sadie was the perfect woman, and look where that had gotten me.
Nope. Better to keep our relationship purely professional. That way, no one got hurt.
“I’ve seen you with people. They warm to you with ease. Whereas I…” I shrugged.
“Turn them to stone with a single glare.” She chuckled.
“I doubt my famous glare will have that effect on Ryker, even if his last name is Stone.”
“No?” She laughed. “You’re kidding?”
“I never joke about business.”
She angled her head. “Dearest Johannes. You never joke aboutanything.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve grown confident, Miss Reyes. Some would say cocky. Or brave. I’d be careful if I were you.”
“Is this your way of persuading me to spend my Friday night in your scintillating company? If so, your approach needs work.”