“Well, it says here that his family life wasn’t stable and that he actually was in foster homes. But that he made his first million—oh, millions, by the time he was thirty. Oh, and he has a younger brother that’s his best friend.”
“Ooh, I wonder if the younger brother is cute,” Emma said eagerly.
“I’m sure he is cute. And I’m sure he is just as much of a jackass,” I sighed. “Listen to this bullshit. So my boss goes on dates, I guess weekly. I don’t know how often, but he has a certain type of flower that he wants me to send to his date when he goes on Friday nights.”
“What?” Chloe said. “Are you joking? So you were meant to send flowers to his dates for him?”
“Yeah. I mean, if you want to give the women flowers, fine, but be a gentleman and buy them yourself.”
“Yeah. I wonder if his girlfriend knows?” Isabella says, “I would not be happy if Jack’s secretary was buying my flowers and gifts.”
“Oh, girl. He doesn’t do girlfriends. He pretty much said today that he’s just a man whore who dates around.”
“Well, that we already knew,” Emma said. “He’s always in the society pages with a different model or actress. He’s like the it-man, everyone is trying to bag him.”
“Well, I feel sorry for the woman that does.” I made a face. “He would make an absolutely awful husband.” I pulled off my glasses and rubbed my eyes. “And oh my gosh, these glasses, I need to put in some contacts.”
“You do look a little bit dowdy,” Isabella said and giggled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be mean.”
“It’s fine. Trust me, girl. When I saw my own reflection this morning, I was like, who the hell is that?” I laughed at the memory. “Oh, well at least I don’t have to worry about him trying to sleep with me because I’m sure he’s the sort of guy that would get his rocks off and then fire you.”
“Why don’t you just quit, though?” Chloe said, “It doesn’t sound like you even really like the job plus you hate your boss.”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you guys? One good thing happened today.”
“Ooh, what, Isabella? Did he kiss you? Oh my gosh, is he an amazing kisser?”
“No, he didn’t kiss me. Of course not. He did, in fact, tell me that my salary is $25,000 a month and I’m getting a chauffeur-driven car to take me around because he has so many different things he needs me to do in the city. So, that’s cool. And my driver starts next week, Monday.”
“Wow!” Emma’s jaw dropped. “Maybe he’s not so bad after all.”
“Trust me. He’s worse than bad. I haven’t told you the half of it. Anyway,” I yawned, “I should probably have a shower and head to bed because I have to call ‘Mr. McAllister’ first thing in the morning to wake him up and tell him what appointments he has for the day.”
“Oh, that sucks.” Isabella made a face. “I’m sorry, girl.”
“It’s fine,” I sighed. “For this amount of money, I can suck it up, I suppose. At least I’ll put a significant dent in my bills.”
“True enough.” Isabella nodded. “Want to go dancing this weekend? That might be fun. And it might be a way to refresh after your horrible week.”
“That does sound fun,” I nodded. “I would love to go dancing. I need to let my hair down. I need to flirt. I need to get drunk. Yep, let’s do it. I can’t wait.”
“Yay!” Emma said, “I’m excited. We haven’t been dancing just us four girls for a while.” She looked over at Isabella and paused. “Or is Jack coming?”
“No, don’t worry. I’m not going to bring Jack.”
“Good.” Emma said, “I mean, I love him. I think he’s really fun. But when you’re with him, your focus is on him and you’re kissing and la-di-da-di-da. And we can’t have a girl’s night if he’s there.”
“I know. I’ll tell him we’re going out.”
“I hope he doesn’t get jealous,” I said.
“What’s that mean?” Isabella said.
“Come on now. You know he thinks you’re like the it-woman of New York City and that every single man wants you. He always feels like you’re going to—” I paused. “Well, I guess he doesn’t feel like you’re going to cheat, but he always acts like every man in the world wants you to cheat.”
“It’s just because he loves me,” she smiled. “And it’s because when we were in London, a member of the Royal family hit on me and told me he would like to marry me and live with me in … I think it was either Bristol or Birmingham? I can’t remember.” She waved off the memory. “But let’s just say that Jack didn’t take it very well.”
“You’re lucky, though,” I reminded her.
“I know.” She nodded in agreement. “I hope you guys find a man like Jack as well, someone who will love and adore you as much as he loves and adores me. And of course that you feel the same way,” she smiled dreamily. “He’s just perfect.”
I looked at Emma and Chloe. The expressions on their faces matched what I was thinking. We were so happy for Isabella, but we all wanted love as well. We all wanted to find that man who made our hearts race. The way things were going for me, it wasn’t looking likely, but at least I had something to look forward to this weekend.
I was going to go dancing with my best friends and forget about everything. And by everything I meant everything that Dylan McAllister put on my desk. Today had felt like ten years all in one day. He’d been demanding. I typed up so many letters, proofread so many files. Made so many international phone calls. I’d even booked tickets for him and his brother to go to some show in Vegas the following weekend. It was ridiculous. He didn’t need a secretary. He needed a secretary, a housekeeper, a personal assistant, an executive assistant all rolled into one.
And yet at the end of the day, when he told me we were done, I’d felt a little disappointed. Not disappointed that the work was done, but that I’d be leaving the office and not seeing him. There was an odd chemistry between us. He was hot. And every so often he would say things with such a wicked twist of humor that I actually liked him for a few seconds.
He definitely was not the average guy in any way. He reminded me of the villains in Shakespeare plays, the ones you hated but loved so much, or Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. He was an anti-hero, but I wanted to get to know that brooding handsome persona better—which was crazy.
I was literally going crazy. It was probably because it had been so long since I’d been with someone.
I hated the job. I hated him.
But for some reason, I was still looking forward to going back to work in the morning.
Chapter 8
Dylan
* * *
“Come on, Dylan.” My younger brother, Kent, was a few steps ahead of me. “We’re going to be late.”
“I think we’ll be right on time,” I said.
My expression was sour because I didn’t really want to be here. I hated going to nightclubs. The music was always too loud. The people were always too close to you. It just … Well, it just made me feel claustrophobic, which was something I didn’t like to admit, even to myself. I was a strong, alpha male and nothing bothered me, but sometimes when people were too close, it reminded me of my childhood. And those were times I didn’t like to think about at all.