Chapter 7: The New Assistant

They’d sent him a goddess.

Blonde hair pulled up and away from her softly rounded face, big blue eyes, generous curves. She’d gone a little heavy on the makeup, in his opinion, but the cut of her navy blue dress was flattering and professional, and the slim gray blazer complimented it well.

Both the dress and blazer hinted at her curves without being crass about it. The navy heels had gray toes and set off the outfit perfectly—not that he was any keen judge of fashion, but he knew a tasteful outfit when he saw one.

She was looking at him now with an expectant smile, and Nico forced himself to pay attention.

“Nicholas Vann, meet Rebecca Owens,” Lena was saying, her smile bright. “Rebecca has eight years of experience as an administrative assistant.”

Rebecca offered her hand, and he shook it. Strangely, he didn’t want to let go. Her hand was soft and warm and... oddly comforting. But he forced himself to make the handshake brief. “It’s nice to meet you,” he offered. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for the job,” she responded, meeting his eyes without a qualm. “I appreciate the opportunity.”

“You’re welcome.” He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes from hers.

Lena broke the spell. “Well, I’ll leave you two to get to know one another. I’ll send up her ID badge as soon as it's ready.”

“Thanks, Lena,” Nico said with a nod of dismissal.

He moved around the desk as Lena left the office, and, looking at Rebecca, gestured toward the seating area in the middle of his office. “Please, have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? Water or juice maybe?”

“Some water would be lovely,” she said, sitting down on one of the leather scoop chairs.

Normally he’d have a new employee sit in the visitor’s chair across from his desk, but he wanted to put her at ease, and maybe sit a little closer to her too.

He snagged two bottles of water from his mini-fridge—the last two in there, he noted with chagrin—and handed one to her as he sat down on the sofa.

Rebecca murmured her thanks and uncapped the bottle while neatly crossing her legs. Nico swallowed. She had *great* legs.

What was wrong with him? He’d never reacted to a woman like this before in his life.

*Be professional,* he told himself sternly.

Aloud, he said, “So, tell me about your experience.”

He forced himself to listen attentively as she briefly outlined her work history. She’d never worked for a software company, and the previous outfits she’d worked for hadn’t been very large, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. He needed help immediately, and she’d fit the bill as a temporary admin.

He named a few of the programs they most commonly used, and was relieved to hear her say she was familiar with them.

“Regarding your work hours, how late are you able to stay tonight?” he asked anxiously, glancing at his smartwatch. It was already five o’clock. “I was hoping we could go over a few things this evening, but if you need to go, we could start in the morning.”

“I’m at your disposal,” she replied cheerfully. “I can stay as late as you need me to tonight.”

He forced the more lascivious thoughts her words conjured from his head. If this was going to work out, he needed to get himself under control. “Great,” he said with a smile. “I’ll order some dinner in an hour or two. Did you drive here?”

She shook her head. “I don’t own a car.”

“All right, I’ll pay your cab fare home once we’re done.”

She blinked in surprise. “That’s very generous, but I can easily take the bus.”

“I insist. It’s the least I can do considering you’re willing to stay late.”

Briefly, he outlined her daily schedule and specific duties. “I may ask you to stay late occasionally. You’ll be paid overtime as needed, of course. Will that pose any problems?”

She hesitated slightly. “I won’t be able to stay late on Friday nights. I have a prior commitment. I apologize if that’s inconvenient.”

“Not at all,” Nico said smoothly, but couldn’t help wondering. He’d noticed no wedding band on her hand so he was fairly sure she wasn’t married. Did she have a boyfriend with whom she spent Friday nights? The thought caused a flare of jealousy in his gut, and he firmly tamped it down.

As the evening continued, Nico grew more and more impressed. No one could replace Gloria, but Rebecca was intelligent, intuitive, and a quick study.

She quickly mastered both the basics of the calendar software and the instant messaging software, and proved herself already adept with their document processing and email software.

To his delight, she also proved adventurous when it came to dinner choices, and she enjoyed Thai cuisine as much as he did.

He followed through with his promise of calling a cab for her, and even escorted her to its door. He was just being polite, he told himself. It was nearly ten PM. The least he could do was make sure she made it to the cab safely.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told her as she settled in the backseat of the taxi cab.

“Eight AM sharp,” she said with a smile. “See you then.”

He was looking forward to it.