Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Personal Assistant - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 2) Read online

  In Love With My

  Personal Assistant!

  In Love With My…

  Boss!

  by Audrey Tolhouse

  Published 2015 by Street Lights Press

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment and education only. Stories, characters, and entities are fictional. Any likeness to actual persons, either living or dead, is strictly coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

  Copyright © 2015 Street Lights Press

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  Contents

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  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

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  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Game On

  Declaring love for an employee is never a good idea. If that employee is the personal assistant that has been at your beck and call for the past five years while you completely took her for granted, well then, suddenly, the phrase “bad idea” seems like a pale understatement in retrospect.

  Oh, don’t forget to add in the fact that the declaration of love was made after she already began a fledging relationship. Now you really have a recipe for disaster. To make matters worse, that new love interest in said personal assistant’s life is actually the new investing partner to a firm, which is rapidly pushing towards billionaire worth.

  That, dear friends, was the situation of James Melone.

  It didn’t look good. At all. In fact, it was bad. But what could he say? When James Melone rose and looked in the mirror each morning, he didn’t see what other people saw when they looked at themselves.

  He was James Melone, and he got what he wanted—that’s who he was and it was what he did. People didn’t dare tell him he couldn’t have what he set his sights on—and he wasn’t even really that type of guy.

  Was he a millionaire? Yes. And unlike Andrew Wiles, the newest and first partner—ever—to Melone Group, he had to work for every cent and penny. He earned a quarter of his worth from making timely investments in fledging technological startups and day trading his subsequent profits once his investment capital came vested and he could cash in.

  His personal specialty, however, was in the technology aspect of the future of business. He consulted with businesses on going statewide and national with technology and innovation. He helped them break their own records and soar for marks they didn’t even realize were possible.

  He opened a ton of doors that would have previously remained barred shut—doors his clients couldn’t even dream of knowing had even existed until he was able to help them break through their own ceilings into the larger playing field of their industry.

  He was damned good at what he did—and Jennifer Rhodes only made him better. It’s funny. When you’re a hardworking businessman building an empire, you rarely stop to think about those helping you make it to the top. You just do. You rise every day and fall every night having covered miles of terrain with a single leap.

  That’s what he did. He wasn’t on autopilot, but on overdrive for the past three years. When he allowed himself to slack a bit, Jennifer had pulled through and covered the workload like it was her mission to help him succeed. And she did.

  Of course, he was sure he could have gotten there without her help, but they made a damned good team. She knew it too. The fact that she was gorgeous was another benefit. But James had never been too keen on office relationships.

  He’d seen other friends go down that same trail and he had never been convinced that it was a wise thing for him and Jennifer to explore; but, that doesn’t mean the thought never crossed his mind. It had, several times, in fact. That’s why he searched so readily for a steady girlfriend to fill that emptiness in his life.

  He had been close once or twice to acting on his feelings with Jennifer, if he were being completely honest. Fear kept him in check though. He had to refocus and keep his mind in the game.

  When Jennifer first came to him, she was involved in some sort of spotty relationship. It often left her depressed at work and a little depressing to be around. He didn’t understand why a raw beauty like her would stay with someone who kept her upset most of the time.

  Then again, when James thought of himself, he really couldn’t answer that question either. Isn’t that what Katie, the last love of his life had done? It wasn’t all bad. Katie was an incredible woman—it was just in all the opposite ways when compared to Jennifer.

  Jennifer was a woman whose needs aligned with his own. He’d be lying if he refused to believe that it didn’t play a significant role in his interest with Jennifer. It was an incredible feeling to have a member of the opposite sex rooting for you like Jennifer had always done.

  James didn’t understand it. He wasn’t some relationship psychologist. He was just an alpha male who wasn’t shy of going for what he wanted.

  When he first decided to try the corporate castle thing, he had dabbled with the idea of male assistants. To be frank, there was just too much sausage in the atmosphere. Too much testosterone and posturing for dominance. He didn’t like to be tried, so the men were cut and the female secretary’s and assistants applied to the open positions.

  He had told himself from the beginning that he wouldn’t get involved. Not just with Jennifer, but with anyone. The communications department head had her eyes set on Melone at one point. She wasn’t as calm as Jennifer, either, and made her intentions known.

  It took strength, conviction, and a whole lot of self-control to make that woman see a work affair just wasn’t going to happen. In the end, he referred her to a friend and had to let her go. James liked Jennifer too much for that.

  Maybe he took advantage
of her gentle quality—he couldn’t even be too sure of that anymore now. All he knew is that he and Jennifer had always had sparks and he had done his best to control his urges. Now he just wasn’t so sure that controlling them had been a good idea.

  Things weren’t working out at all like he had hoped. Granted, if he and Katie had stayed together, he would have gotten married. Then what? He wasn’t the cheating type. He admired loyalty and demanded it from his workers. It was only natural that he would hold himself to the same standard; but his connection with Jennifer was real.

  The sad truth was that if he had stayed with Katie, he had no way of knowing how he would respond if Jennifer were to come on to him. Would his commitment to loyalty remain steadfast? When he thought of Jennifer, he saw curves, bust, hips, and ass. He actually knew the answer to that question: hell no.

  The only way he knew how to keep his emotions at bay was to simply focus on work and ignore everything else. Now he knew he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. He wasn’t talking about never having told Jennifer how he felt. That was the second greatest mistake. Partnering with Andrew was the first.

  He had to find a way to get that man out the picture so that Jennifer could see the real him. That’s why he finally did it—the jerk move that had Jennifer really pissed at him: he told her how he had really felt.

  Honestly, James wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he told her the truth. The glossy eyed stares and flushed cheeks he caught Jennifer with at work were more than enough to tell him that she was more than satisfied with Andrew in her life. He should have left it alone.

  He had three years to make his move. And instead of telling Jennifer how he felt, he pursued Katie. He couldn’t have kicked himself harder in the ass even if he tried.

  So against his own professionalism, his vow to loyalty, and the good faith of his newest partner, he committed a sure fire dick move and told Jennifer the truth.

  Her response? Well, since the one thing she said at that little restaurant on N. Michigan St, was actually nothing. She had said absolutely nothing to him unless it pertained directly to work. In fact, that first day, she had completely avoided him and he had simply kept his distance.

  It was a new week now, and although he was normally used to hearing from her throughout the weekend, the past two days had been entirely silent. James Melone didn’t like that. Remember, he was alpha and he didn’t take no so easily.

  He stood in front of his bathroom mirror, running absurdly ahead of schedule for the first time in years. It was his turn to surprise Jennifer. He couldn’t let this go. The more silent he remained, the more of a risk he ran of losing Jennifer altogether. He didn’t want that.

  He could admit that he had been chicken shit before—he made a mistake. That didn’t mean he had to back down just because she was avoiding him. If that were the case, James never would have acquired the type of wealth he had. No. He was James—fucking—Malone for a reason damnit.

  Chapter Two

  Refuse to Dance

  Jennifer lived close enough to the office where she could walk if she wanted. Most days, she did. It worked out better to walk because then she could get Melone’s breakfast and her own on the way to work.

  She wasn’t going to be picking up something for Melone to eat this morning, but she needed the few extra minutes on her short walk to clear her mind. Late autumn breezes rushed through her hair, trying to help jolt her from her memories, but nothing was working.

  Thick, dark shades shielded her eyes from the peeping sun over various building tops, and also from accidentally meeting anyone’s stray eyes. She felt like she must have had an entire fifth of vodka last night and was paying for it heavily.

  In truth, she only had two glasses of her favorite Sauvignon Blanc. She had canceled her lake experience with Andrew and hadn’t contacted anyone from the office all week. The last message she received from Andrew was a gentle reminder to take time and focus on some things concerning her future bag business. Goodness. She didn’t even have a name for it—but Andrew was still serious about her taking time to figure it out.

  Maybe that’s why he stayed silent all weekend? She wasn’t sure. Two weeks wasn’t really a lot of time to get to know someone. They had been incredibly busy in the office during that time, but their short, intimate encounters if caught alone weren’t showing any signs of getting any cooler.

  She learned that Andrew and Melone often held private meetings with current clients after she was done for the day. They talked ideas, ran numbers, and crunched figures. Winning Seogen really opened the doors for some ideas that Melone had been sitting on. Not even Jennifer had known about those plans.

  Still, she didn’t know what any of it would mean if this thing with Melone didn’t go away. Her body shuddered suddenly at the thought. She had forbid herself from even thinking his name all weekend, but today, it was going to be unavoidable. He was her direct boss, after all. No one in the firm worked more closely than they did together and that thought only made Jennifer’s mind reel.

  Within seconds, she was breathless and trembling. Did she have to tell him something? Her mind had yet to comprehend the magnitude of what he had revealed to her. All those years—all those nights she spent wondering if it would be her turn to slip into his life weren’t for naught. Apparently, there had really been something between them!

  All of it made sense now, the ways she would catch James watching her, the little clues he had left—but then why hadn’t he ever made a move? Why was he going to propose to another woman? Did men do that kind of thing? Was it possible that a man would really sign his life away with someone else if he felt he could or shouldn’t have the girl he really wanted? That didn’t seem to fit with what Jennifer knew about men. Which, admittedly, she was starting to realize wasn’t that much at all.

  But, she didn’t have much time to plan a detailed dissertation on the physiology of man. In less than thirty minutes, she’d be expected to give Melone the morning run down and for the first time since she had started working for him, it wasn’t already done.

  “Jennifer?” A perky blonde called from behind a cabinet of a bistro sprinkled with other businessmen and women waiting at the pit stop on their morning commute to work. The people were nothing but blurs.

  Jennifer gave a quick nod and moved to claim her morning fuel. She uttered a thank you, or something that was supposed to be a sign of gratitude, and pushed out the front doors with lift in her step.

  About five minutes later, she stood in front of the building and took a deep breath. She wasn’t even close to being ready for this day. The only thing she could think that she had going for her at this moment was the fact that she was early. By the time she would get to her office, she would have at least 15 minutes to look over James’s calendar and refresh her memory on their weekly agenda. It seemed her mind had seen to do a data dump over the weekend with the bomb James dropped on her.

  Jennifer bounced up the steps and didn’t even try to be amiable. She kept her shades on until she was in the elevator. Once out, she nodded once at the secretary and headed for her office. She was so thankful for that office now. It would give her a moment to think, breath, and regroup and get the game face together. Yes! The game face. It would save her and this damned day.

  Reaching for the doorknob to the office, Jennifer turned and pushed. She didn’t think anything about the fact that the door was already unlocked. Her head was down. She saw the coat and bag rack to the left of the door and tossed her purse and over coat to it. Before she turned and shut the door, a chuckle stilled her heart.

  Jennifer snapped her eyes to her desk, where Andrew leaned, half on her desk, and half off lazily, as if she were late to an appointment she knew nothing about. He was sexy and tantalizing.

  “This isn’t awkward is it?” He said calmly with a gentle chuckle. He pointed towards the office door. “Can you get that?”

  Jennifer swallowed back tightness closing her throat and pushed the door sh
ut. She would have liked to believe that seeing Andrew would have made any doubts and second guesses about everything fade away. Instead, she just had apprehension in her gut.

  “I did not expect to see you this morning,” she said softly. When she thought Melone was out of the picture, Andrew was more than a breath of fresh air, but now she was starting to wonder. Had she only been so quick to accept his feelings for her because she was trying to get over Melone? She hadn’t even known she was trying to get over him, Melone that is.

  Andrew shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, I know,” he smirked and let his gaze lazily take in the full sight of Jennifer. “I just didn’t see you all weekend,” he chuckled and fell silent.

  Staring into his dark eyes, Jennifer felt her body begin to relax. That’s right. She hadn’t seen him all weekend, or texted him either. Melone’s curve ball really threw her for a loop. Andrew had fallen silent, assuming that she was going to really focus on a product line for her bags. He thought that because that’s what she told him she’d do. She didn’t though. She lied.

  Instead, most of the weekend was spent trying to stave off her thoughts and feelings that had come barging back full force. She never felt more confused and like a little girl stuck in high school than she had that past weekend. No amount of ice cream, wine, and cheesy chick flics helped her solve her dilemma. Monday was back, sooner than she expected, and she still had no clue how she was going to handle the situation.

  “So, how’d it go?” Andrew asked smoothly. He motioned for Jennifer to come to his side. She couldn’t resist his sexy draw and felt her body moving towards him. He always had a bit of a calming effect on her. He was so relaxed, she couldn’t help the way her mind fell at ease around him.

  By the time she stood in front of him, her racing heart had subsided some. Melone was still a thought somewhere in her mind, but as she stared into Andrew’s eyes, she remembered the way his lips felt on hers and she smiled.