Chapter 4

AURORA. Nathaniel had been cranky all morning. It felt like I was walking on eggshells around him, taking care to make sure I didn’t crack a shell or he would implode. I gathered his meeting with his wife last night didn’t go so well. When I asked him if she’d liked the roses, he merely grunted and sent me on another assignment. On top of that, I’d been to Starbucks four times this morning because he didn’t like the taste of the coffee he’d asked me to get him. I was this close to pulling my hair out. Currently, we were at a golf course for a meeting with some prospective clients. I didn't know I'd be useful outside the office, but he'd asked me to come. Thankfully I’d worn my favorite pair of sneakers to work today so I didn’t have to be marching around in heels. Nathaniel ignored me for most of the game as I watched him and three other older men play golf. I didn’t mind; if he wasn’t speaking to me, then he wasn’t making my life more difficult. He seemed to be good at it, though I wouldn’t know. Golf was an old’s man game. I made myself useful by taking down notes as the men conversed, notes I would be handing over to Nathaniel’s secretary, Doris, when we got back to the office. It made both our jobs easier if she was up to date on information that happened during our business meetings outside the office and vice versa. God knew I needed a reprieve of some sort. It was just two days into my new job and it felt like my knees were about to break. We’d been standing for over an hour. Where was the fun in this? “—Aurora?” I snapped out of my reverie to see all four men staring back at me. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Nathaniel’s lips twisted down into a frown. “I don’t pay you to daydream, Aurora.” I wanted to tell him that any job that required me to stand for hours on end deserved all the money I could get out of it, but I held my tongue. I’d only just gotten this job and I wasn’t about to ruin it. “I apologize. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” “I don’t pay you to tell me about your personal problems either,” he said. “I pay you to solve mine.” What was wrong with him? Yesterday, he’d been sweet and kind and today he was being a dickhead. “I apologize. Sir.” The last word came out through gritted teeth as I held his gaze. “Ah. Don’t be too hard on her. Such a beauty as this doesn’t deserve to just be a personal assistant.” I recognized the speaker as Mr. Boswell. He was an older man in his early sixties, with a glint in his eyes that annoyed me. “That is, of course, if she’s also assisting you in the bedroom.” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. “Excuse me?” A bell rang at the back of my head. This was the president of another tech firm looking for a partnership with Trek Tech and it would do me much good to shut my mouth and let him talk all the crap he wanted. After all, I was only an employee. His words shouldn’t matter to me. Besides, did sexual harassment even apply on a golf course? The other two men laughed at his stupid joke but when I looked at Nathaniel, he was frowning, a muscle twitching in his cheek. “If we’re going to continue with our partnership, I suggest you refrain from harassing my employees.” His voice was calm, hard, firm. I was flattered that he felt the need to defend me because I wasn’t certain that he’d have wanted me to defend myself. Though that wasn’t going to stop me. “Is she?” Boswell continued like he hadn’t heard him. “I’ve had a few personal assistants but never one that looks like this.” “And it’s such a shame that I’ve never helped myself to the pleasures of enjoying a Latina. Maybe it’s time I rectify that,” one of the other two men, a CEO of another company, added and they burst out laughing. “You are both dirty old pigs,” I said to them, venom dripping from each word. “I won’t stand here and let you insult me because you think you’re better than me. I’d rather be poor and on the streets than work for either of you.” Boswell’s round eyes hardened as he stared back at me and then at Nathaniel, like he couldn’t imagine talking back to an employee. Dios. What a stuck-up bastard he was. “Are you going to let her talk to us like that?” he asked Nathaniel, his brows furrowing in confusion like he couldn’t believe it. “You insulted her first. The lady was only giving you a dose of your own medicine.” Boswell foamed at the mouth. I didn’t care. No one had ever accused me of sleeping with the boss and he wasn’t going to be the first. I watched him scramble for something to say in response. “You’re sabotaging our partnership over a lowly employee?” “This lowly employee is a human being. Nobody deserves to be spoken down to. If you still want to do business with me, then fine. If you don’t, I won’t fault you for walking away.” I noticed how extremely diplomatic Nathaniel was being. He refrained from outrightly telling them off but still managed to let them know they were in the wrong. Even though it had been his fault that this happened—if he hadn’t been an ass to me, they wouldn’t have felt the need to be asses too—I was thankful to him for standing up for me. His wife was a lucky woman indeed. They walked away, leaving Nathaniel and me standing on the golf course staring at their retreating backs. “You probably shouldn’t have done that,” I said to him. “Done what? The right thing?” “Well, the right thing just cost you millions of dollars.” “Eh.” He waved a dismissive hand, lifting his face to the sky. “It wasn’t meant to be. They were a bunch of dickheads.” I snorted. “And yet you were about to do business with them.” “Hey,” —he met my eyes with a grin that caused my breath to hitch— “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” I chuckled as silence ensued. He was still staring at me. If I asked him about his wife again now that he seemed calmer, would it backfire a second time? He seemed to deeply care about her and if my marriage was a total failure, his didn’t have to be. But maybe I should steer clear of the topic for now, wait for him to bring it up. “Still, thank you for standing up for me,” I told him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His gaze on me never faltered. “I appreciate it.” “Anytime,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips. Oh, God, he was staring at my lips. Was he going to kiss me? I was married, and so was he. Was I imagining his look? I’d never had anyone stand up for me before. It felt… rejuvenating. I wondered if he was this possessive toward all his employees, or if it was just me. And if it was just me, why? Nathaniel’s phone suddenly rang, causing us to break eye contact. As he walked off to answer the call, shame filled me along with the realization that I would have let him kiss me, and I was certain that I would have enjoyed it.