So many of the women there were crushing on him and spoiling him, talking to him and flirting with him, even though he had the reputation for being arrogant and cold. They all seemed to think that he was distant and aloof and that somehow each one of them would be the one to change him.
It was the adoration of the women in the office that made it so easy for him to be indiscreet with them, taking them out on dates, or even sometimes just taking them into his office and closing the door behind them. He never went after any of them, he just let them come after him, and they did, in droves.
He would take a few of them up on their interests in him, and then he would move on to others, and there was a trail of aching, longing, broken hearts in the office that cut quite a swath through the staff pool.
He waved at a couple of the women that he had been flirting heavily with most recently, and then he stepped into his office to see Ms. Klein standing there waiting for him, and beside her was a woman he had never seen before.
He glanced over her once, letting his eyes move over the curves of her body-hugging pinstripe suit and skirt, down her long slender legs to her high heels, and back up to her stunning sky blue eyes again. How unusual it was, he thought, to see a dark skinned woman such as she was, with such light blue eyes. She was breathtaking.
Jonathon gave her his trademark crooked smile and a small dimple showed up in his right cheek as he walked toward them. He held out his hand to her, and the woman took it. "Hi, I'm Jonathon Cross." He spoke with a suave tone and a confident air.
Ms. Klein cleared her throat as she looked at him, almost scolding him silently with her strict gaze. "Mr. Cross, this is your new administrative assistant, Naomi Bradshaw." She spoke sharply and clearly, introducing them. Naomi held out her hand and lifted her chin, determined to make a good impression without giving him any modicum of an inclination that she was going to be anything but professional and polite to him; and even that was at best.
He took her hand and made to lift it to his lips to kiss the back of it, his dark green eyes locked on her light blue eyes. She saw what he was about to do and she pulled her hand from his before it ever got near to his mouth and the moment she pulled it from his grasp, he stopped short and he seemed frozen for a moment as shock registered through him.
Recovering a moment later, he lowered his hand and tipped his head at her. "It's very nice to meet you. Congratulations on getting the job." He smiled invitingly at her again and she nodded curtly and turned to face Ms. Klein, rather than her new boss.
He was dumbfounded. No one ever treated him that way. Ms. Klein looked at him disapprovingly, and his father's voice sounded through to him in the back of his mind. "You will not have anything more to do with the staff in this office. I will find out and you will be fired." He shuddered internally, thinking of it, and in that moment he pulled his hands away from her.
She felt like she would need to be on guard with him until he figured out just how things were going to be between them, and she wanted to be extra sure that there would be no confusion at any point.
He shook his head slightly and drew in a breath, his eyes studying her carefully as he focused on his career and his company, rather than on the beautiful woman who was staring coolly at him. "Let me show you your desk." He informed her a little more professionally. She nodded ever so slightly and then followed him as he turned and walked through the door to his office and over to a desk just outside of it. It looked as if it had been empty and cleaned for her, and she finally felt as if she was making even just the slightest bit of headway.
"This is where you'll be working from, unless you are helping me with a project, and then you'll be working with me directly in my office." He turned to look at her, struggling to read her mood and her personality, and getting nothing.
"That sounds fine, thank you, Mr. Cross." She spoke simply, looking as if she had quite a bit more to say to him while simultaneously looking as if she had nothing at all more to say to him.
He seemed unsure of himself for a moment to her, as if he wasn't quite certain of what his next move ought to be. "Well, good. Go ahead and begin getting set up out here; I think Helen will assist you, and then if you have any questions, you can come and see me." He told her in a tone he hoped sounded welcoming and firm, though it felt more like uncertainty to him.
She turned away from him and busied herself with getting set up at her desk. He stood there for a long moment and watched her, not entirely sure if he had gotten a good read on her at all. He frowned and turned to walk back into his office, pushing his hands down deep into his pockets as he went.
He had been polite. He had been welcoming. He couldn't understand why she seemed so standoffish, and then he figured to himself that it must just be because it was her first day and she was nervous. That had to be it, he reasoned with himself as he walked into his office and closed the door behind him.
He lifted his chin a little then, thinking that he would have her feeling good about him in no time, and as he sat down, he found himself thinking about her sky blue eyes and her dark full lips. He smiled to himself for a moment and then shook his head and looked down at the work he was going through on his desk.
He had no business thinking about any part of her, he remembered, as his father's voice echoed somewhere in the back of his mind, threatening to fire him from the company if he explored any further personal interactions with any one of the staff.
Naomi felt her heart pounding as he walked away. She had been determined that she wasn't going to let Jonathon Cross come on to her like she was any other woman in the office or on the street. She was bound and determined not to like him, and yet … when he had walked into the office as they were waiting for him, something utterly unexpected and strange had happened to her.
She'd done a double take. She hadn't meant to, and luckily he hadn't seen it, but she had done it, and the fact that she had done it was eating away at her. She had never actually seen him in person, and there was something commanding about him that drew her eyes to him and her breath right out of her chest the very moment she saw him for the first time. Her heart had skipped a beat and she was furious with herself over it.
Absolutely furious. She felt like she had let herself down in a way; that she had betrayed her own ideals and morality through her involuntary reaction to simply seeing him, but that only steeled her resolve even more, to remain indifferent and professional to him. No matter how soft and kind his voice was. No matter how sharp and green his eyes were. No matter how handsome he looked with his chiseled jaw and sculpted physique. No matter how she hadn't been able to look away from him at first, and how she had felt held to him … bound to him … by some unknown force that wasn't about to let her go.
She told herself that she would not give him any kind of attention other than what she had to in order to work with him, and even then it would be cool and collected. She was no easy feminine target to be had by a man with an ego bigger than Manhattan. The fact that he was wealthy and handsome had no bearing on her whatsoever, and she would keep it that way. No matter how difficult that might turn out to be.
She finished out the day by readying her desk and filling out paperwork for a variety of things. When it was time to go, she walked over to his office door and knocked on it.
"Come in." he called out.
She pushed the door open and stopped in her tracks again. He was sitting on the sofa in his office, his perfectly combed black hair tousled slightly, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his shirt collar open and unbuttoned a few buttons down.
Naomi caught her breath and glanced away from him, wishing she hadn't seen him like that. He did not look like the egotistical bastard that he was notorious for being. He looked warm and sexy as hell. She cleared her throat and lifted her chin slightly as she kept her eyes diverted from him.
"I just wanted to let you know that I was leaving and I'll be back tomorrow morning."
He watched her carefully and a smile curled up at the corner of his lips. She looked slightly flustered, he thought. Flustered was good; it meant that she liked him. Then he paused as he saw the thin line form on her lips and he faltered slightly. Maybe she wasn't flustered … he wondered. Maybe she just didn't like him very much.
The concept bowled him over at once and his mouth fell open slightly as he gazed at her. That couldn't be it, he thought. Everyone in the office liked him; or at least, all the women certainly did. He knew he must be misreading her and it bothered him enormously.