chapter 4

Asher’s face goes white, and his eyes widen. But only for a split second. Then, his expression is back to normal—neutral.

“Olivia,” he says, his voice even. The same voice that had called mebabyandsweetheart last night. “Nice to meet you.”

I pause, trying to gather my racing thoughts. “N-nice to meet you too,” I manage.

Asher glances to Ben. “You can go, Ben. I’ll catch Olivia up to speed.”

Ben shoots me a smile before ducking out, oblivious to the tension in the room.

The door shuts behind him, casting Asher and I into an uncomfortable silence.

Holy shit.Holy shit. I can’t believe this is happening. My new boss is the man I had a one-night stand with last night. How is this real?

For a moment, a horrible thought rushes through me. Could I lose my job over this? Could Asher find some way to terminate my employment before it even starts? Possibly on the grounds of a conflict of interest? After all, having slept with your employee is a huge no-no.

“I see from your resume that you have quite a bit of experience as a personal assistant,” Asher says, taking a seat at his desk.

I stand there, numb. He’s talking about … my resume? Shouldn’t we address the elephant in the room?

Asher glances up at me. “Sit, please.” He gestures to the chair in front of his desk.

I do as he says, padding across the large office to take a seat in front of him. God, he’s so attractive up close. Just as hot as he was last night. But I push those thoughts from my mind.

Permanently. This is no longer Mystery Man from last night. This is Asher King. My boss. The man who’s given me the job that will allow me to pay off my family home. That is all. Nothing more.

“Yes,” I reply. “I was a personal assistant for the COO of a small insurance company here in Seattle.”.He nods. “So you’re accustomed to long hours and a demanding boss.”

It’s a statement, not a question. And even though it’s not exactly true, I nod. My last boss wasn’t exactly demanding. Sure, the hours could be long at times, but I never felt worn out.

“Good,” Asher says. “Your main job will be managing my calendar and being my point of contact. I’ll also need you to develop presentations, reports, documents, and the like.”

I nod. I’m familiar with all these things.

“Today, I’d like you to familiarize yourself with my calendar, as well as our newest VR project. Ask Ben to email you the documents. I’ll be presenting concepts to the board next week, so we’ll need to start on a presentation as well as printable reports for everyone attending.”

I nod again, pulling out my phone to take notes.

“As someone familiar with and in charge of my calendar, you’ll know when I’m free or not and when is an appropriate time to meet with me regarding any concerns or questions. Most can be done over email, but you can also meet with me if you like. I admire efficiency, so keep that in mind.”

I’m starting to feel like a bobblehead, nodding along. Asher is nothing but business, not unusual if this were a normal situation, but I keep going back to the fact that this isnotnormal. There is an enormous elephant in the room growing bigger by the second, and yet he’s still not addressing it.

ShouldIaddress it? Based on his demeanor, I’m afraid to.

“That’s all for now,” Asher says in conclusion. “Most early questions you’ll have can be answered by Ben.”

I sit in silence for a moment.

Asher raises his eyebrows at me, and it suddenly dawns on me that this meeting is over. He wants me to leave.

And … he hasn’t said anything about what we did last night.

I open my mouth to protest, to say … anything, but nothing comes out. I stand. “Um … thank you,” I mumble, turning and walking to the door.

“Oh, Olivia?” Asher calls.

I turn around, wondering if this is finally the moment. Where we address the issue and clear the air.

“I hope you have thick skin. I can be a tough boss.”

I swallow. Fuck. Nodding numbly, I quickly open the door and duck out.

I make my way back to my desk on autopilot, utterly thrown. He didn’t acknowledge anything. He acted as if he has no idea who I am.

Only that last comment …

It seemed almost intentional. As if hedoesknow who I am and wants to make sure I don’t expect any special treatment. A horrible thought enters my head, and my eyes widen. What if he thinks I slept with him on purpose? That I somehow figured out who he was, sought him out, and slept with him the night before my first day in order to manipulate him?

Panic sets in at that thought. Shit.

Ben must notice my expression upon sitting down at my desk, because he says, “You okay?”

I shake my head. “Yeah, just … a little overwhelmed I guess.” I clench my fists under the desk, trying to rid myself of anxious energy. Now is not the time. It doesn’t matter what happened last night, I need to move on like nothing happened and keep this job.

“Yeah, the Kings can be intense,” Ben says knowingly. “Don’t worry, he’ll warm up to you. Took a while with Aiden and I too, and now we’re practically buddies.”

“Buddies?”

“Well, we’d be lovers if the man wasn’t straight, but alas.” Ben feigns a knife to the heart. “Besides, sleeping with the boss probably isn’t good for my mental health—no matter how hot the Kings are.”

A strangled laugh escapes me. Fuck, that joke hits too close to home.

“Don’t worry,” Ben says, pulling me back to reality. “You’ll find a groove here. You’ll see.” With that, he goes back to work, leaving me to my spiraling thoughts.