In Love With My Personal Assistant(9)

While Jennifer couldn't vouch for Andrew's younger days as a wealthy  man, she had the feeling that he was probably always the more  conservative type. Still, that led her to wonder, if he were the type to  prefer only one woman, why was he single after so many years?

He seemed like a great catch. Gorgeous, strong, incredibly  handsome-wait; that was same thing as gorgeous. Jennifer blinked and  realized she had been staring at the same piece of paper for over five  minutes.

Food.

That's what she needed. It would cure her roaming mind and help her stay  focused. She reached for the phone and pressed James's call number. He  didn't answer right away, but when he did, Jennifer's stomach tightened.  She didn't recall him having such a smooth, inviting voice in the past.  Was he capable of it? Of course, but he had never used the voice on  her. She stammered over her thoughts. Why was she calling again?

"Thinking about taking lunch?" James asked curiously. His voice brought  butterflies back to her stomach, a feeling she hadn't felt with him in  two weeks. What was happening?

"Um, yes," was all Jennifer could manage.

"Good. I just got off the phone with Timothy."

Jennifer frowned. The name sounded familiar. Her mind struggled with  switching into work gear. She remembered that Timothy was the name of  the last call she had transferred to James's office.

"That's good," she managed in a bright voice. The flutters in her abdomen were starting to subside.

"Looks like we might have another client. He would like to meet me for a late meeting. We'll get lunch on the way."

Jennifer frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I want you to come with me. It'll be good for you to see how I do business."

"Um, what?" Jennifer blinked and shook her head. "Go with you where? Where is Timothy?"

"He's in Summit, Jennifer. I'll head to your office."

"Wait-where's Summit?" She heard James chuckle over the phone. The beautiful sound made her heart jump.

"It's in New Jersey. Near New York City."

"Wait a minute," Jennifer shook her head violently, trying to understand  what James was saying. "You mean New Jersey, on the east coast?" There  was silence on the other end of the line. "Where Melony Richards is?"

James laughed. "Exactly," he paused, "you know, you should meet her. She's a good old friend of mine. Knew me from elementary."

"You're talking about going to Jersey?"

She heard another laugh this time, but it was a bit more strained. "Yes. This client was among one of my first."

Jennifer looked around the room wildly. "Do we even have time for that, James? You said there was a freaking fire in Colorado-"         

     



 

"Jennifer, Angel," she heard a smooth coming sound through the phone to  caress her restless soul, "Andrew's there now. I've changed Jerry's  focused so we're bound to get back on track. I've need to meet this man  and with your new position within the firm, I really believe you need to  be with me."

"My new position?" Jennifer put a hand to her forehead. Never mind the  fact that she didn't understand how they were going to get there and  back in one day. She was just struggling with the idea of a whole new  contract added to her load. "I'm not even a partner, James. What about  hiring the assistant?"

"I need someone to answer the phones, keep my calendar in check and  follow up for me. It shouldn't be too hard," he stopped speaking  abruptly. When he began again, his voice was calmer. "We need to be at  the strip in forty minutes. A pilot's already waiting."

Jennifer sat the pen she had been gripping in her hand down. There were too many thoughts for her to focus on just one.

"Can you be at my office in five?"

Jennifer cleared her throat and looked at the list of ten applicants she  had singled out. Maybe she would have time in New Jersey to make  another round of calls to see who would be available to work the  soonest.

"Sure."

The link clicked after that. Slowly, Jennifer lowered the phone back to  the receiver. Somewhere in her conscious was the faint reminder of her  hunger, but she thought nothing of it now.

She wanted to do a quick online search to see how far away Summit was by  plane, but she knew she didn't have time. On her desk sat a nearly  empty bottle of water. She reached for it and finished the contents  quickly, but her mouth remained parched.

Straightening her suit jacket, Jennifer reached for her purse and pulled  out a compact mirror. Her lipstick, a soft shade of red was still  flawless, as was her hair. She didn't feel the same though. Inside,  everything shook. A month ago she would have been bursting with  excitement at the opportunity to get some alone time with James. She  always looked forward to the moments where they would have only each  other for company. Now she wasn't so sure.

Somewhere she was excited and frightened at the same time. She thought  she had buried those feelings; she thought she had realized that maybe  she was just in love with the thought of being in love with someone who  never seemed to notice her. But she had been wrong about that. James had  always seen her. Isn't that what he had told her earlier that day, and  then last Friday on her lunch break?

Did that mean he cherished the time they had spent working side by side  as she had? Or was that something he had to forced himself to ignore as  well? More importantly, did it even matter? She was involved now, right?

It seemed too trivial a title to say that Andrew was her boyfriend. They  were too old for that, but they were together, right? And what they had  was more than a mere fledging office attraction, wasn't it?

Jennifer sucked in a deep gulp of air and reached for the clipboard and  her purse. She knew nothing about this client and didn't know what to  bring with her. Her small briefcase for work held the work tablet and  laptop. She slipped the clipboard into it and gripped it's leather  handle tightly. Everything was saved in their cloud so if they needed  anything, all she'd need was internet access and she could get it within  a few clicks of the mouse.

After shutting down the desktop and straightening her desk, she gathered  her briefcase and purse and left her room, locking it behind her. James  was already outside his office, waiting for her. He greeted her with a  sexy smile that warmed her chest and stole her breath.

"Ready?" He asked devilishly. Jennifer could only manage a nod. James  grinned. "Good. They'll be food in the plane on the way over because I'm  starved."





Chapter Six

Heavy Whipping Cream





"We're not taking 90/94 to O'Hare?" Jennifer asked, breaking the silence  in the back of the BMW 7 Series business class vehicle. Melone managed a  running expense with a local luxury transport service. It entitled them  to two vehicles at any time during the day. She was even authorized to  use one for personal use if she ever needed, but Jennifer never took  advantage of the offer. She actually loved driving in the city.

Her face was pressed against the glass and she watched the road signs  carefully. She knew the way to the airport like the way to her own home.

"We're taking a private jet," James explained calmly. He watched  Jennifer carefully and smiled when her eyes widened. "We depart from the  Chicago executive airport. That's 20 miles north of the city in  Wheeling."         

     



 

Jennifer eyed James. "Is it … " she paused, "is it yours?"

James chuckled, and then shook his head. "I don't own my own plane but I do use a jet chartering service for personal flights."

Relief spread throughout Jennifer. She wasn't sure why the thought of James not owning his own plane made her happy, but it did.

"I've always flown business commercial with you," she commented.

With a tired nod, James turned and looked out the window. "Yes. I'm  probably a rariety in this sense that I like to travel commerical at  times."

"What does that mean?"

Turning back to her, James ran his eyes over her quietly before he chose  to answer. "Well, most affluent individuals normally own their own jet  or something. I don't. I prefer to just charter one when I need to.  Maybe in a couple of years I'll see the benefit to paying for my own  pilot and crew but," he shrugged, "until then, I just fly private as I  wish and then use business class because," he paused, "well, I like to  remember."

"Remember?" Jennifer chuckled. "Remember what?"

James grinned. "I didn't come from a wealthy family, Jennifer. You've never asked why I always go back to New Jersey."

Frowning slightly, Jennifer narrowed her eyes in thought. "I always assumed it was for Melony."

James's face contorted. "Melony has always been just a friend."

"You mean you two have never … " Jennifer let her voice trail off as she fished for information. James laughed and shook his head.

"Never."