Chapter Three

"So, what happened to the guy from the other night?" I asked Tana when I got home from work on Friday.

"Eh. We hooked up and I guess I lost his number." She winked, and it reminded me of Matt. We still hadn't talked about it. In fact, we only talked about work. There was no personal information passed between us.

"Not that great, huh?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I gave him a three. It wasn't enough of what I really needed."

I laughed at her. It was typical of Tana to act this way. She had never given a guy a “10” before. She was pretty hard to please. "What do you want to do tonight?" I asked her.

My phone buzzed in my hand and I looked down. It was Matt calling. I put a finger to my lips to tell her to hold on to her answer for a minute, slide my finger across the screen to answer it and put the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Amber. Look, I hate to do this to you, but I need you to bring me the Lindor Contract. It needs to be signed and faxed tonight. Do you have it with you by chance?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No, but I can go grab it and bring it to you."

"Thank you, Amber." He said.

"You're welcome," I said.

When I hung up, I realized I hadn't been to his house before. I had the address saved in my phone as he had made me do it in case there was a time I had to run to his house. I had to admit that I was rather excited to see what his house looked like. I’d never been inside a rich person’s place before.

"What?" Tana asked.

"I have to go run an errand for boss man," I said.

She shook her head. "This is why I'm glad I work for myself." She said, referring to her painting business, that still hadn't taken off despite starting it in college.

I left our studio apartment and headed to the office. It made more sense for me to bring it to him than him to run and do it. I really did live closer. Also, technically I was his errand girl. That was the whole point of having an assistant, wasn't it? I wondered if Erin was with him. There were no rumors of them living together, but since they were engaged, I figured that they did.

I got to the office and grabbed the paperwork and then hopped back in the taxi. The driver pulled up outside a very tall building on the Upper East Side. I was now in an area of New York City I could only hope to live one day.

I got out of the taxi and paid the driver. The lobby of his building was gorgeous. It was large and open and had a giant crystal chandelier in the middle. The floor was white and black marble with an intricate design in gold. I took the elevator to the tenth floor and wondered how an editor-in-chief could afford something like this. His apartment was the third one from the elevator and he answered only after a few seconds.

"Hey. Thanks for doing this. Come inside." He said, moving away from the door.

"No problem." I said and stepped inside. I was instantly in awe. It wasn't a penthouse like Steven owned. But it was large and gorgeous and had to have cost him at least 10 million and this made me so much more curious about him.

He took the papers from me and I followed him to his kitchen where he signed them.

"Would you like something to drink?" He asked. "I've got a good white."

"Sure. I'll take a glass." I said and sat down on a bar stool. I wasn't sure what the protocol for something like this was. But it seemed rich people always asked people to have a drink with them. It didn’t seem to polite to decline.

I watched as he expertly removed the cork and then poured some into two wine glasses that were sitting on the counter. He walked over and sat down next to me on the other bar stool.

"So does Erin live here?" I asked him. I always felt awkward when there was a silence between me and anyone else I was talking to.

He laughed. "No."

"Oh," I said, suddenly wondering if I should be drinking a glass of wine with him, alone in his apartment.

Maybe that's why his assistant before me quit. I thought.

As if reading my mind, he said: "The engagement's a fake."

I nearly spit out my sip of wine. "What?"

He laughed. "Yeah. Steve and the investors thought it would be a good idea to have the editor-in-chief of their two biggest producing magazine companies be together."

I gave him a look of confusion. On one hand, I felt better sitting there next to him because he wasn't actually an engaged person, but on the other, I wasn't sure why I was still there. Something was drawing me into him. Something inside me was curious about him. Something deep within me wanted to know about him.

"Why would you agree to it?" I asked, wondering what I would even do in that situation.

"Well, if you haven't noticed Steve is the CEO and when he asks you to do something, you can't really say no."

He was right. That's exactly how I ended up being his assistant. "So what am I doing here?" I asked.

He shifted next to me and I caught a whiff of his cologne. It was musky and so, so sexy.

"What do you want to be doing here?" He asked.

I couldn't take the way he sat there and stared at me. Hungry. The desire in his eyes far more intense than I'd ever seen. He wanted me. And I, I wanted him so much more. Even though everything inside me was screaming to run away.

I suddenly felt self-aware. I wasn't sure if I had fixed my hair and I know I didn't fix my makeup before leaving the apartment. It had been a long day at work and I hadn't had the time. Now there I was sitting next to Matt who was almost pressed up against me and I felt this desire awaken within me.

"Um, I don't know how to answer that." I said.

He scooted closer and I could feel the heat radiating off him. "I know what I want to do." He whispered and leaned in just a little closer. His mouth pressed to mine, and it was like a million little shocks running through my entire body.

And I couldn't stop myself.