Play Me to Infinity (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 3) (2 page)

“Not now, Joe!” If it was the man in question, I swear I would tear him a new one.  I had had more than enough of running interference for him in order to rectify his latest fuck-up.

As you can gather, my day had followed the same route it had started on: with a shit load of incompetence.

A softer knock came as a reply to my grumbling acknowledgement of the initial disturbance.

Didn’t anyone get what a closed office door meant?  With a huff, I got up, wrenched the knob inward and barked a, “What?”

“Oh hell, no!  Not you!” she said.

“Nicole?” I smirked as she started to back up, never taking her eyes off of me.

“I need a job, but not this bad.”

Her withdrawal from me was quite amusing, so I leaned against the doorway, my arms crossed at my chest.  My day could use a little divertissement, and Nicole’s presence was sure to make it entertaining.  “So you’re the PA that Dani’s been boasting about?”

She huffed.  “Yeah, and you’re the arrogant executive prick that’s in dire straits.  Funny how your sister left out the prick part.”

Feisty!
  I liked my women that way, but then again, I always knew Nicole had the knack to bite back, despite her shyness.

My feet moved me toward her and she kept backing away.  “Nicole.”  I stifled a bout of laughter when her butt hit the desk behind her and her eyes grew panicked with the realization that she was somewhat cornered.

“Jackass!” she spat, maneuvering away from her trap.

Feisty and skittish all at once made for an interesting combination.  Now I saw a glimpse of both of the Nicoles I’d enjoyed so much over the years, and that fact only egged me on.

“It would be Jackass Boss to you,” I paused for dramatics, “if I give you the position.  Why is it that my sister thinks that you’d be perfect for the job?”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t need it.”

“Yes you do.  You said so just now.”

She blushed. “Well I-  What I mean to say is…”  She pinched her lips and a frustrated sigh escaped seconds later.  “Yeah, I need a job, so what?”

“I’m currently hiring,” I said with nonchalance.

“So I’ve heard. And?”

“And, do you want the job or not?”  Annoyance laced my words.

I gauged her demeanor.  She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.  She needed money, but I could tell that the last place she wanted to be was anywhere near me.

Nothing new there.

The woman, even as a girl, had always found a way to give me a wide berth, even at family events, which she seemed to always be in attendance.

“I’ll think about it.”  She turned to walk away.

“You either do or you don’t, Nicole.  I’d like an answer now so I don’t feel as if I’ve wasted my time.”

She spun on her heels to face me.  “Oh?”  She crossed her arms and spoke with so much disdain.  “Did I just waste your precious time finding a slut to satisfy you tonight?”

My eyes narrowed on her.  “Keep your voice down.  And where the hell did that come from?”

“You know where it came from!”  She marched toward me and jabbed her index in my chest as she looked up at me.  “You’re a sleaze!  You’re all over a woman one minute and onto another the next.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you screwed your former PA.”  Her almond-shaped eyes widened when I didn’t hurry to defend myself.  “Oh my God, you did, didn’t you?”

“N-no I didn’t!”  Yeah, that wasn’t as convincing as I’d hoped.

“Did so!”  She cupped her forehead with a single hand.  “I can’t believe I was about to agree.”

“You were?” I thought there’d be no shot in hell that she’d agree to work for me unless I got down on my knees and begged.  And there’s no way that was happening.

“Forget it!”  She waved her hand, brushing off the idea of working with me, then made a mad dash for the elevators, grumbling.  “I’m going to kill Danica for this.”

She summoned the elevator before I could peal my eyes off of her ass and legs.

“Wait!”  I rushed to her, but the doors started closing with her inside.  My final glimpse of Nicole was one of her wiping at what looked like angry tears from her face.

Well now you’ve done it!

Later that night, I had a rather pissed-off, about-to-pop sister knocking at my door.

“Sis…” I kissed her on the cheek, then smiled, hoping that the combination of both would help ease the brunt of her wrath.

“Oh cut the sis bit, Mike!  What the fuck did you do to her?”

“To who?” I thought twice about playing dumb. “To Nikki?”

“Yes, to Nikki, you idiot!  She showed up at the house, pissed off that I hadn’t told her who she’d be working for at
WI
.  I know you two have never really gotten along, but
I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“Like what?”  I was losing my patience.  “Where she attacked me by accusing me of making a habit of seducing my PA’s?”  She arched her brow, crossed her arms, and tapped her foot.  “Okay… fine, I’ve done it, but-”

“But what?”

“But there’s no way in hell that…” I decided to go with the obvious.  “She’s your friend and she hates my guts and-”

“And what?”

“It’s Little Nikki.”  I shrugged my shoulders.  “She’s gorgeous and all, but like I’ve said, she hates me, thinks I’m a player. It wouldn’t-”

“Right you are!”

My head snapped toward Danica’s car.
I’d neglected to remember that my sister couldn’t drive and needed a chauffeur.

Nicole slammed the driver’s side door and stormed toward us still dressed in her business attire.

“Excuse me?” I said.

She came to a stop beside Danica.  “You’re right, you are a player.”

“You don’t know a thing about
me,” I said and she harrumphed.

“And I don’t care to either.”  She looked over at Danica who growled, and I did the same.  The woman looked as if she was about to implode.

“Cut it out, you two!  Nicole, you need the job, and bro, you need the help.  You don’t need to like each other, just help each other out.  If you dislike it that much, Nikki, leave when you find something else.  And as for you, playboy…”  She pointed an index in my direction.

“I’m not-” I protested.

“Maybe not, but you have to admit that you’ve been… um…  Anyway, it doesn’t matter.  You’re a good man and you know that you’re not cut out for that shit.”  My sister turned to her best friend.  “And you need to cut him some slack.  Now, get me home.  I’m tired, I’m cranky, and my feet feel like they’re about to burst.”

With that, Danica marched to the passenger side of her car and got in while the two of us watched on.

A moment later, Nicole’s gaze went from the car to me. “Fine, I’ll take it, but I’m out of there the minute I find something else.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.  Thank you.”

She nodded.  “Keep your dick in your pants, stay away from me, and we’ll be fine.”

When she turned heel and made to leave I said, “What makes you think that I can’t keep business separate from pleasure?”

She paused by the drivers’ side door.  “Because,” she smirked at me after a slow assessing gaze that had warmth pooling in my belly, “once a player, always a player.”

Nicole’s last words reverberated in my head long after her and Danica had left.  It wasn’t true, but she refused to see the proverbial light of day.  Something about that fact niggled at me.

I’ve never agreed with men who saw their bachelorhood as a means to debauch as many partners as they could.  So I went home with my fair share of women.  It didn’t mean I’d slept with all of them.  Sometimes it was nice to have an intellectual conversation, or simply hang out, cuddling while watching a movie.  Regardless of my activities with my suitors, I was always up front with them about what I was looking for.

Despite my trying to impart this knowledge on Nicole, whenever she’d give me two seconds to get a few words in edgewise, she still managed to make me feel like a complete jackass.

Why do you even care what she thinks, when you’ve never given a damn about what anyone else thought before?

As much as I’d probably like to deny the why, there was something about the tiny spitfire that set me off.  To put it simply, I liked her.  Always have.  The woman was an enigma, a complex puzzle that was wrapped in riddles that held no answer.  For the moment.

My head was pounding by the time I gave into exhaustion and went to bed.  Having taken inventory of my life, I found myself grossly disgusted with the man I had become.

For the second night running, I surmised that a change could be good.  That macho guy I’d allowed myself to become wasn’t me, but how the hell could I let down my guard again?

I drifted into sleep, confused and hating part of myself.

The next morning, I arrived at the office and wondered if Nicole would show up like she said she would.  Not having discussed a time, salary, benefits… anything, I’d made sure that my schedule for this morning had been cleared of meetings.

I was drafting up a PR pitch to win a large account when a knock came on my open door.

“Yes?”

“I’m here.”

Looking up, I hurried to push most of my paperwork to the side.

“Please shut the door behind you, Nicole.”  She nodded.  “I guess you stuck to your decision.  Thanks for coming.”  I took in her attire.  Black pin-striped pencil skirt, up to her mid-thigh…
Nice
; crème satin blouse, unbuttoned enough to see the tops of her peaks…
Gorgeous
; natural make-up, but accented with dark red lipstick…
Sexy as fuck
; and her chestnut brown hair was up in a loose chignon, showing off the length of her slender neck, the tresses begging for a man to let them loose and run his fingers through them…
Beautiful
.

The screeching of a record resounded in my head. 
Hold on… What?

“Where do you want me?”

Sexually explicit answers swam through my thoughts, but I shoved them to the side.  It wouldn’t do well to anger the she-devil on her first day.

I cleared my throat.  “We have a few things to discuss first.”  I gestured to the chair in front of my desk. “Have a seat.”

I went through the motions of explaining that Nicole would have full health and dental benefits from the get-go.  She was more than happy with the other perks that came with the job, but a little hesitant about the travelling that would be needed on occasion.

Her eyes bulged when I pointed out her salary, which was a bit short of six figures.  “Are you sure about this?”

“About what?”

“Don’t you think the salary’s a bit much?”

“Are you asking me to lower it?”  My brow arched.  “I would have thought it obvious, with the fact that you’re not my biggest fan, that some kind of compensation would be more than appropriate.”

She blushed.  “Well…”

The zing to my cock was potent, thanks to her reaction. Clearing my throat and trying to control my lustful reflex, I said, “So it’s settled then?” 
Please agree before I embarrass myself.

She gave me a small nod and her game face returned.

“Then I’ll need your signature on this stuff.”  I slapped a pen on top of the packet of papers and slid the entirety over to her before leaning back into my chair and crossing my arms over my chest.

She leaned forward, the white lace of her bra peeking through the gap in her blouse.

My throat constricted, my groin stirred further at the sight.

Nicole signed her life away, got up, and stuck her hand out.  I took it and held her eyes, which widened.  I held on to her delicate fingers, entranced by the feel of softness and warmth a moment longer than necessary, which caused her cheeks to flush, reminding me to release her.

“So… um… my desk is…?”  She pointed just outside my door into the open-concept office suite with a thumb over her shoulder.

“Yes.  Go ahead, make yourself at home and then we can talk about my agenda and your other duties.”

“I don’t have anything to settle, so why don’t I grab a notepad and pen and we can cut to the chase?” she
suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

The moment the woman turned around, I was quick to adjust myself.

Before we knew it, lunchtime had arrived and Nicole was at her desk with a rather extensive list of tasks to perform, eating some kind of leftover meal that didn’t seem all that appetizing.

She dropped her fork in the dish and pushed it away from her with a scowl and proceeded to be engrossed in her workstation.

“I thought that you’d be out with friends, celebrating your first day.  You know you’re allowed to leave the building, right?” I sassed.

Her fingers halted on the keyboard.  “Funny.”  She kept her eyes to her computer screen instead of looking at me. “I thought you said you had a lunch meeting?”
She typed a few more strokes and paused.

“They cancelled,” I announced.  She still didn’t turn to look at me, instead, typed a few more additional notes.  “Listen, it doesn’t seem like you’re enjoying the lunch you brought with
you. I’m heading out to the deli across the street if you’d like to join me – my treat.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”

This time, when her fingers hit the keyboard again, it felt like I’d been dismissed.

“Fine.”

During the hour I was out, my phone’s alert system was getting some serious mileage.  As I checked the source of the chime, appointment after appointment filled my calendar and I smiled.

Quick and efficient, the woman was turning out to be.  I made a mental note to thank Danica for her recommendation. Nicole sure knew how to handle an office she was unfamiliar with.  I wondered how smooth things would run once she felt comfortable.

When I got back, stacks of paper that had seen far too much of the light of day had been removed and I could only assume that Nicole had filed them away during my absence, seeing
as they were nowhere to be found.

I walked into my office and noticed that even my desk looked tidier.  The pile of files on the edge of it had disappeared, as well as those others that had been littering the small work table in the far corner.

I turned to say something to Nicole, but found her on the phone.

“I’ll be sure to let him know,” she said and giggled into the phone.  “Sure.  Will do, sir.”  She hung up, closed a file folder and got up in a rush, almost crashing into me.  “Uh… here.”  She pushed the file at me.  “Mr. Winthrow called and he’s on for Monday at noon.  I guess you’re flying out to Austin.  Did you need me to coordinate your travel arrangements?”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  She dropped to her seat, pulled up my agenda and started tapping away at the keyboard again.

Damn!
  The woman was like my last three assistants combined and on steroids!

The rest of the afternoon flew by, with Nicole walking in and out of my office with various files, removing those I was done with, and everything kind of flowed. Before I knew it, I heard a knock on my door.

“I’m heading out.  Is there anything you need before I go?” Nicole asked.

I glanced at the clock on the bottom right of my computer screen.  “No.”  I gave her a warm smile.  She gave me an awkward look.  Thanks for today.  You were great.”

“It’s what I do.”  She shrugged her shoulders.  “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

When she took her leave, I took inventory of my workload and realized that for the first time in months I was able to leave work at a decent time.  Before dinner.

I locked my office, pocketed my keys, and headed out, waving to the few of my employees that remained.  The look of surprise at my early departure on their faces was comical.

I drove toward my house and then decided to take a detour.  I wasn’t in the mood to eat alone.

Circling the block a few times before deciding to stop and park, I walked up the front steps and rang.

Jordan answered.  “Uncle Mike, what are you doing here?”

“Hello to you too.”  I fist-bumped my nephew and walked in.  “Any room for an extra person at the dinner table?”  I walked into the kitchen and watched Jake in action.

“You’re not at work!”

Danica’s shock had me laughing.  “Thanks for that.  Nicole might not be my biggest fan, but the woman looks good and knows how to work.”

“Sounds like someone’s got a crush,” Jordan singsonged.

“Pipe down kid!” I told him.

“I think he might be right,” Jake said with a smile.

“Guys!” Danica’s warning tone came out. “There’s
nothing going on with those two, they’re all kinds of wrong for each other.”

“Some people would have said the same thing about us.”  Jake wrapped himself around her back and rubbed her humongous belly.  “Look at us now.”  She turned her head sideways to meet her husband’s lips.

“Damn you guys make it look easy.” I took a seat at the table, pouring myself a glass of iced water and downing half of it in two gulps.

“Do I sense a change of heart?” Danica asked with a smirk, her arms folded over her husband’s.

My thoughts about needing a change from the last two nights came to mind.  “Maybe.”

“Told you, man, it gets old quick… and lonely.”

I nodded.  Oh, how right Jake was.