told him, balancing the files in her arms. “I do better when there’s a heavy workload, or a tight deadline.”
“Not a bad quality in someone working for me,” he said. “We’ve got quite a few balls in the air right now.”
“Well, I can’t wait to start,” she said, smiling over the reams and reams of paper that she held in her arms.
When it seemed as if he was done discussing the workload, he hesitated. He breathed deeply and sat on the corner of his desk, closest to her, and his voice got lower. “And, Maya, just so we’re clear, I hired you because of the recommendation that came from Dr. Carmichael and your desire to work in hotel management. It didn’t have anything to do with us kissing.” He averted his gaze, as if he were nervous. Did she make him nervous? “But, let me be firm. That’s not the type of organization I run here. I feel that relationships between coworkers can only lead to disaster. And nothing like that can ever happen between us again.”
Maya breathed a sigh of relief. After hearing him lay out his position on their kiss, she was certain that he hired her for her professional attributes. She could do this. She could do this if they promised to keep it professional. She nodded. “It absolutely will not happen again. I wish I could take that kiss back. I really do. Thank you for the opportunity, Jamie. You won’t regret it.”
“I know I won’t,” he said, smiling at her.
* * *
HE ALREADY REGRETTED IT.
After he had sent her off to the human resources department, Jamie sighed and rubbed his hands through his dark hair. What was I thinking hiring her? The short time she had been in his office, he found it impossible to think of anything but how her black hair shimmered, the smell of her perfume, her sharp eyes, her smile. How could he be expected to get any work done with her sitting in his office, day in and day out?
Since the night that she’d kissed him, she was all he had been able to think about. All he wanted to do was kiss her again. To feel her hair in his hands. To rip that amazing-looking suit from her body and to feel her soft skin against his own. He groaned in frustration. Well, she’s here now. You’ve got to make it work somehow, Sellers.
Steeling himself, he made a decision and pounded his fist on his desk. I’ll just do my work. Stay busy. Ignore her. That’s the only way this is going to work, and we’ve got to keep this professional. It wouldn’t be hard to do. He regarded the stacks of paper in front of him and the phone messages that Mary had just given him. He puffed his cheeks and quickly blew out the air that he had been holding in his lungs. All right now. Pull it together.
Jamie’s attention was drawn to the door when he heard a hesitant knock. He smiled, knowing he didn’t have any appointments lined up at the moment. So it must have been Maya, returning from the human resources department. He pictured her on the other side, biting her lip, not wanting to enter without permission, but needing to enter and not knowing what to do. He pushed himself away from his desk and walked to the door. He pulled it open and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Maya standing there, holding yet another folder that the human resources department had given her.
“Hi,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to disturb you. Mary is at lunch and I didn’t want to barge in.”
He chuckled and moved aside so she could enter. “Maya, this is your office, as well.” He ushered her in. “I hope it works for you. I like to keep my right-hand man, uh, w-woman,” he stammered, “close by. But don’t feel the need to knock, just come on in. If there’s something going on for which I need privacy, I’ll just use the conference room down the hall.”
Maya nodded. “Sounds good.” She walked to her own desk to address her own stack of files. Jamie noted how much brighter she made his office. It was nice having another person around in the large room again. She looked up at him and smiled brightly. “So, where should I start?”
Jamie found himself staring. He shook his head to clear the fogginess she made him feel. He dealt with the unwelcome distraction the only way he knew how, by focusing on business. “I need you to go over the contractors’ quotes for work on the premier Swerve Hotel opening here in the city.”
“Sounds good,” she said pleasantly, though her eyes narrowed at his newly curt tone. She shrugged and located the particular folder she needed and opened it, starting her own work.
* * *
MAYA SAT QUIETLY at her own desk all afternoon. She could feel the tension rolling from his side of the office. At first, she wondered if it had something to do with her. Had she done something to displease him? She racked her brain thinking of everything that she had done or said. He never looked up from his desk, unless to ask her a specific question about her work or to answer one of hers. He barely acknowledged her existence. At first, his dismissal of her played on her mind. She thought that they were building a friendly relationship, with the easy conversation that they had shared earlier. But his new treatment of her shook her confidence.
It was when she watched him drag his hands through his dark hair, for probably the hundredth time that afternoon, she frowned. Why are you so freaking sensitive? She scolded herself. This isn’t about you. This guy obviously has a lot going on right now, and he doesn’t have time to play nice with you, chatting all day. He hired you to do a job. So do it, Maya.
Her eyes still on him, she watched him tent his long fingers in front of his face, obviously deep in thought. He grabbed a pen and scribbled furiously on a pad of yellow legal paper in front of him, apparently caught by a moment of inspiration.
Watching him at work, she smiled. Jamie Sellers was an impossibly good-looking man. Once again she was brought back to the night when, at the nightclub below them, she had kissed him in one of the most impulsive moments of her life. Her lips tingled and desire flushed throughout her body. Every time she thought about that kiss she had a similar reaction. But if she hoped to concentrate on anything at all this afternoon she needed to stop. Shaking herself free of the thoughts, she sighed.
Her sigh was a little too loud, as it caught Jamie’s attention. He gazed over at her. His steel-blue eyes seemingly looking into her. “Everything okay?”
Caught off guard, she stammered a little. “Uh, yeah, sorry. I think I just need a cup of coffee.” She recovered quickly, gesturing to the espresso machine in the kitchenette.
“Help yourself,” he said, looking back down at his paperwork. “Do you know how to use one of those?”
“Yeah, my parents have one just like it.” She stood. “Do you want anything?”
“Just so we’re clear, your job isn’t to get me coffee. I can get my own coffee,” he told her, brow furrowed. “But, yeah sure, if you don’t mind.” He smiled. “A double espresso, no sugar or anything would be great. Thank you.”
* * *
BY THE EVENING, Jamie found himself seated at the bar of the club downstairs. He watched Trevor dry the glasses he had just pulled from the washer with a microfiber cloth. Jamie smiled at the attention to detail. Neither man could abide serving glasses that had dried water spots on them.
“You all right, man?” Trevor asked him while he worked.
Jamie shoved his hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just tired.”
“How’s the new assistant working out?” he asked with a smirk.
