The Billionaire’s Forbidden Desire(47)
Sophia got up and reached out for the other assistant’s hand. “You all right?”
Roxie blinked. “Uh. Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing. I’m going to help you transition until you get the hang of things around here.”
“Oh.” Sophia wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Well…thank you.”
“No problem.”
And true to her word, she spent the rest of the morning helping out. Sophia couldn’t believe how smart and efficient Roxie was. Everything she’d struggled with for hours the day before, Roxie got done in half an hour or less.
After they finished a memo on some biotech ideas, Roxie said, “Want to grab lunch with me and Amy? It’s almost noon.”
“Sure. Who’s Amy?”
“She’s the receptionist.”
Ah. Sophia remembered a super elegant-looking brunette. “Okay.”
The three of them went to a sandwich shop a couple of blocks away. It served food made with local, organic ingredients. Sophia breathed out a sigh. Thank god Dane had remembered the money part of the prize the night before. She hadn’t because she’d been too excited about winning in the first place. The two hundred bucks had been something extra she’d tossed in there. She really needed some spending money, and she hadn’t been able to bring herself to ask Salazar to advance her some until she got paid.
After they grabbed their food, they took a table in the corner. Roxie took a long sip of her iced latte, then said, “You have to tell me what you did to him.”
“Who?”
“The boss.”
Sophia blinked. “What do you mean?”
“He asked me to mentor you. He’s never asked anybody to do anything like that before.”
Amy leaned closer. “Does he like you?”
An alarm bell went off. Sophia didn’t want to be the center of any office gossip. She snorted. “I don’t think so.”
Roxie and Amy raised their eyebrows and exchanged a quick glance.
“What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?” Sophia asked. Did they not believe her?
Amy smoothed her napkin. “It’s just that you don’t seem affected by him.”
“Like how?”
“He’s so cold, you know? Every time he looks at me, I feel like my whole body’s gonna freeze solid.”
“Me, too.” Roxie shuddered. “I can feel my blood going sluggish.”
Sophia chuckled. “You’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not. Most people coming in to pitch act like the office’s twenty degrees too cold. Don’t you feel even a little chilled, Sophia?”
“Um…not really.” What she’d felt was complicated and conflicting, but there had always been warmth underneath—the kind of soft gooey warmth that spread all over her body in languid pleasure, making her pulse with longing. And that makes me dumb, because he doesn’t want me like that. Not really.
“It’s too bad, because he’s so good looking. When I see his picture somewhere, I think, ‘Hot, hot hot,’…and then I get to the office and see him for real and it’s like cold, cold cold.” Roxie shivered. “I still can’t decide if I should call him Dane or Mr. Pryce or sir. And the bastard knows I’m unsure, but he’s never said anything one way or the other.”
“You’re lucky that’s your reaction though,” Amy said to Roxie. “Otherwise you would’ve ended up like JJ.”
“Who’s JJ?” Sophia said.
“His previous assistant.”
“What happened to her?”
“The rumor is…” Amy lowered her voice. “She propositioned him.”
Sophia gasped. “Really? So what happened?”
“Got canned the next day. The boss does not mix business and pleasure. You can say a lot about the man, but he isn’t inappropriate.”
“The complete opposite of his horn-dog father,” Roxie said.
Sophia chewed on that. Dane had said Salazar had a certain reputation. So had Betsy. “Is his father as bad as I heard?”
“Probably worse,” Amy said. “I mean, you know, don’t always believe everything you see on the Internet and all that, but…” She shrugged.
Had Dane moved into the Pryce mansion because he was that upset about the situation with his father? Sophia considered. The mansion was grand, and it had staff, but his own place was probably just as grand and closer to work.
“He used to be nicer when his grandmother was alive,” Roxie said.
“Salazar?” Sophia asked, momentarily confused.
“No, the boss. Ever since she passed away three years ago, he hasn’t been the same.”