Priceless Treasure(6)

“Ah, I see.” He smiled at her, noting the intake of her breath and the way her shoulders seemed to tense.

“What do you see?”

“My father is a practiced meddler. He’s an expert in the field.”

“Mr. Storm, I really don’t understand,” she said.

But he held up his hand and stopped her.

“First of all, it’s my father who’s Mr. Storm. I’m Ashton, or Ash. Secondly, I own this company, Savvy.”

“Savvy?”

“Your name is too long. If we’re going to be working together, I think I’ll call you Savvy. You seem somewhat smart.”

“You don’t know me nearly well enough to give me a nickname, Mr. Storm. I don’t appreciate it,” she told him firmly.

“Too bad. I don’t like wasting my breath,” he replied, his eyes narrowing just a bit at her refusal to listen to something as simple as what she should call him. Didn’t bode well for an employee of his. “What exactly did my father hire you to do?”

“He didn’t tell me my position. He just said that if I wanted a job down here, it was mine. He knew my qualifications. I told him I was happy to do anything.”

“Anything?” Oh, the possibilities that were drifting through his mind.

“Within reason, Mr. Storm,” she said, that fire back in her eyes.

“I like you, Savvy. You entertain me.”

“That’s not my purpose. I’m a hard worker, and I want to do my job, not worry about sucking up to the boss.”

She blushed immediately, and his pants tightened again, just when he’d about gotten his libido under control. Yep, he was a hard worker, too. And how he’d love to work her over. He wasn’t going to even think about the sucking comment.

“Well, we aren’t all that formal down here. We’re friendly. We work hard, play harder, and give the customers whatever they want,” he said with a wink before adding “within reason.”

“Then when do I start?”

“How about now?”

“I’m hardly ready to begin now,” she replied. “It’s late. My clothes are in the dryer. I haven’t filled out the proper forms, and I don’t know my job description.”#p#分页标题#e#

“You said you were willing to do anything,” he reminded her.

“Within reason!” she fired back.

He laughed, not wanting this meeting to end. But he could see she was more than done with wordplay.

“I’ll get the paperwork and you can fill it out while the clothes dry. Then be here tomorrow at eight on the dot. I can’t stand tardiness.”

She looked away before meeting his eyes again, and he could see there was something else. He could also see that she was reluctant to say what it was.

“Tell me what you’re thinking, Savvy. I don’t like fishing information out of people.”

“Um, well, it’s that Mr. Storm — I mean your father,” she said, just in case he might have forgotten that Mr. Storm was indeed his father. That made him smile again. “He, um, said that there was a place for me to stay here on the docks while I worked this summer.”

Ashton’s gut turned over at her words. Yes, he had a home away from the San Juan islands, a nice house near Seattle, but during the summer months he spent most of his nights on these docks. Having her that close didn’t seem like the brightest idea to him. Not when he was so damn sexually attracted to her. It didn’t fit into his plans at all, into the way he’d laid out his life. Laid …

“He did, huh?”

“Yes, he did.”

“And where are you currently staying?” Ashton asked.

“I just arrived in Washington earlier today, from California. I don’t have a place here yet. I came straight to the docks.”

Dang it all! She’d be living right here, then. That was a lot of temptation — especially at night. He wasn’t going to share those thoughts, though.

“Well, then, I’d better get you set up.”

He moved forward at the same time that she took a step to the side, and he suddenly found himself tangled with her. The two of them fell, but at the last second, Ashton managed to take the brunt of the fall.

But Savvy landed against him, her robe partially opening, giving him a very enticing view of her nicely formed breasts. Dammit. It appeared as if she had taken everything off. But he was able to rip his gaze up to her face. Self-control!

Screw it. One kiss couldn’t hurt anyone, so he grabbed the back of her head … Just then a loud bang sounded on his wall as his office door was thrust against it.

“What in the name of tarnation is going on?”