True Faces (6 page)

Eric laughed softly. “Did I wake you?”

“
Uh, yeah. What’s up?” I
rolled my eyes. Great conversation starter.

“
I just wanted to
apologize for not contacting you yesterday. It was the full moon
and as you know this town gets a little crazy then. Well I had a
lot to deal with at the club.”

I interrupted him. “It’s alright. You don’t
have to explain yourself to me.”

He exhaled then asked, “Will you go to dinner
with me tomorrow?”

I stared at the phone in shock. “Eric…I…”

He interrupted me. “I know you are worried
about me being your boss, but I like you…”

I shook my head then realized he couldn’t see
me. “I’m sorry Eric, but I can’t. I just can’t risk ruining my
career.”

He sighed and spoke very softly, “Alright. I
understand. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“
Eric it’s nothing against
you…”

He interrupted me again. “It’s alright,
Ciara. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Great. I hadn’t thought about the possibility
of losing my job for turning down my boss. “Okay, remember that we
have a meet and confer at ten tomorrow.”

Eric scoffed. “I know. Have a good night
Ciara.”

“
You too.”

I hung up the phone and groaned. Dammit all
to heck. Now he was pissed. Lawyers always got quiet when they were
pissed. He was probably going to go to the Chief and tell him to
fire me. Shit. I shoved a pillow over my mouth and screamed into
it. Why couldn’t I have an easy, normal life? Why me? I screamed
again in to the pillow then closed my eyes to go back to sleep.

I got to work at seven o’clock, before Eric
arrived and pulled all of the files he needed for the day and
arranged them on his desk in appointment order. Then I hurried to
the kitchen and made him a cup of his favorite tea, adding one
scoop of sugar and then grabbed two donuts and put them on a plate.
I hurried back to his office and had them on his desk just as he
walked in his door.

He smiled. “You’re here early.”

I smiled. “Just being efficient.” I hurried
out of his office and to my desk. I stared at the single red rose
sitting on my keyboard. I could hear Eric sipping his tea and
flipping through one of the files. I set the rose down next to my
computer and started working trying not to think about what the
rose meant. My alarm went off to notify him of his conference so I
walked in to his office and cleared my throat. “Your conference is
in ten minutes.”

Eric nodded his head. “Thanks.” I turned to
walk away and Eric’s voice stopped me. “Ciara.” I turned around and
he smiled. “You look great today.”

I blushed and looked down at the dress.
“Thank you.” I hurried to my desk and put my headphones on to
listen to his dictation. He waved as he walked out of my office and
I sighed. Shit. This was going to be harder than I thought. I kept
my head buried in the computer the rest of the day and hurried home
right at six. My night was uneventful as usual and I got to work
early again so that his tea, donuts and files were on his desk when
he arrived. I used the restroom an hour later and when I came back
a red rose was waiting for me on my keyboard again. I smelled the
flower and put it on my desk next to the other one. This I could
get used to.

At lunch Eric asked me to join him to discuss
a case so I agreed. He took me to my favorite Italian restaurant
and except for the occasional look by me, it was completely
professional. As we walked into his office I realized just how
badly I wanted him. I stopped at his doorway as he continued to his
chair and took a deep reassuring breath. “I’m quitting.”

Eric stopped in mid-sit and looked at me.
“You’re what?”

“
Quitting. I’m sorry, but
you’ll find a new secretary.”

Eric shook his head and stood up. “I don’t
want a new secretary. Is it something I’ve done? Do you want more
money? What is it?”

I sighed. “It’s…I just can’t work…”

He walked forward and closed the door to his
office, pulling me inside and pulled down the blinds. “Whatever it
is just tell me.”

I blushed and the words tumbled out before I
could stop them. “It’s too difficult to work with you when all I
can think about is how much I want to touch you.”

I gasped and put a hand over my mouth. Eric
smiled and picked my hand up in his. “Then touch me.” He pulled my
hand up to his cheek and smiled wider. “We can make this work. I’ll
do whatever you want.”

I wanted to step back and stop touching him,
but I couldn’t. “I…secretaries and bosses can’t date.”

He shrugged. “Then we don’t have to date.” He
bent down and kissed my lips softly. “We can do whatever you want
as long as you stay with me.”

I swallowed the desire to jump on him and
whispered, “I’ll stay, but no dating.”

He smiled. “Good.” He kissed my lips and
stroked my cheek. “Don’t scare me like that again. You’re too
valuable to lose.”

I swallowed and stepped back from him.
“Okay.” I walked out of his room and sat down at my desk. Well that
had worked. Damn I had it so bad. How can one man have this much of
an effect on me?

I stared at the roses on my desk and the
sticky note on the corner of my monitor and sighed. There had to be
some way to work this out. A tall dark haired woman walked to my
door and smiled. “I’m here to speak to Eric.” I looked at her
naturally tan skin and black hair and long slim body and was
instantly jealous.

I smiled and asked, “I don’t believe you have
an appointment. May I ask what this is regarding?”

She laughed and I despised her more for her
bubbly girly laugh. “Oh, it’s personal sweetheart. Just tell him
that Sugar is here.”

I smiled at her and walked in to his office
partially shutting the door. “Eric, Sugar is here to see you. She
says it’s personal.”

Eric’s eyes widened a fraction and then he
smiled. “Let her in.”

I nodded my head and walked back to my office
where Sugar was smelling one of my roses. “Mr. Wolfe will see you
now.”

She set my rose down and winked. “Thanks
sweetheart.” I watched as she sashayed in to his office like a
Latino seductress Barbie and felt my anger building. She shut the
door and I snapped a pencil in half that I had picked up. How
stupid could I be? Of course an attractive man like Eric would have
girls like her. I tossed the pencil on my desk, put my headphones
on and started typing a pleading that I had started earlier in the
day. I was printing the pleading when Eric and Sugar walked out of
his office. Sugar kissed Eric on the cheek and smiled
flirtatiously. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

Eric nodded his head, “Always a pleasure
Sugar. Tell that alpha of yours I said hi.”

Alpha? She winked at me as she walked out.
“Wish I had your job sweetheart.”

I glared at her back as she laughed and
walked out of the office. I grabbed the pleading from the printer
and turned to hand it to Eric, but he was playing with the broken
pencil on my desk. “Bad day?”

I handed him the papers, “I need your
signature on this.” He searched my face, but I kept it carefully
blank. He took a pen out of his jacket pocket and signed his name
in that perfect elegant script he had.

He handed me the papers and frowned,
“Ciara…”

I interrupted him. “You should straighten
your tie. You have a meeting in five minutes and I’m sure you don’t
want rumors spread around the office.” Especially if they concern
me. The Latino seductress he would probably be proud to boast
about.

Eric frowned harder. “Ciara it’s not what you
think…”

I shrugged and sat down at my desk, putting
my headphones on. “I don’t get paid to think Mr. Wolfe.” I pressed
the foot pedal to start the tape and started typing. I could feel
Eric still standing behind me, but focused on my work. A full
minute passed before he walked into his office and grabbed his
briefcase before walking out of my office to go to the conference
room for his next meeting. I stopped typing and sighed. Way to act
like the jealous girlfriend. Dammit. I walked to the copy machine
and started making my copies, ignoring the stares of the other
secretaries. I gathered up my copies and walked to the mail area.
One of the secretaries stood up and smiled at me. “Bad day?”

I sighed. “Yes.”

She shrugged. “Every attorney has flaws. You
just have to learn to ignore them or else they eat you up inside
until you can’t work for that attorney. It’s like a marriage in a
way. If you and your attorney aren’t on the same level you won’t
make good partners, but if you are then you make the perfect team
and that’s really how attorneys win cases. It’s also why
secretaries and attorneys end up marrying a lot.”

I looked up at her. “What? I’ve never heard
of that.”

She laughed. “Oh it happens quite often. Most
of the time they just keep it a secret so you just think the boss
shouldn’t be messing with his secretary ‘til you find out one day
she’s also his wife. Then you decide that they must have one hell
of a sex life since you know they get it on in his office. Man, how
hot would that be?”

I stared at her in shock. “So, you’re saying
that a lot of the attorneys here that we think are just messing
with their secretaries are really married to them?”

The secretary nodded her head. “Every one of
the attorneys here on the first floor, excepting Mr. Wolfe, is
married to their secretaries.”

I finished closing the envelopes I had been
working on and set them in the outgoing basket. “Wow.”

The secretary smiled. “I’m Rose by the
way.”

I extended my hand to her. “Ciara.”

She shook my hand and winked. “Now try and
work it out with Mr. Wolfe. He seems like a nice guy. And single is
always good when they look like him.”

She giggled and sat back down at her desk and
started typing. I walked slowly back to my desk replaying what she
had said to me. This whole time I had thought that the secretaries
were breaking the cardinal rule of law offices when really they
were just having fun with their husbands. I sat down at my desk and
started a new pleading. I was so focused that I didn’t notice Eric
until he touched my shoulder. I jumped up and unplugged my
headphones. Eric smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook
my head. “’S alright.” I took off my headphones and set them on the
desk. “Did you need something?”

He frowned. “I wanted to explain…”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to explain
anything. What you do in your office is your business, not
mine.”

Eric sighed. “But nothing happened, Ciara.” I
walked into his office and grabbed a file from one of his shelves
that I needed for the pleading. I turned around and Eric grabbed my
arms with his hands. “Ciara, listen to me. Sugar is a friend and
that’s all. Nothing happened.”

I frowned. “I don’t know why you’re telling
me this. I’m just your secretary.”

He groaned and shut his
door and turned the blinds so no one could see inside. “You
are
not
just my
secretary.” He took the file from my hands and tossed it on a
nearby chair. “I care about you and I want you to know the
truth.”

I swallowed and backed up, but ran in to the
shelf. “Mr. Wolfe, you…”

He growled. “Stop calling me that! If I
wanted you to call me that I wouldn’t do this.” He reached forward
and pulled me against him kissing my lips bruising hard. My body
melted into his touch, but I forced my hands to stay by my sides.
He pulled back and searched my face. “Tell me that you don’t have
feelings for me? Tell me that you don’t want to kiss me as much as
I do you?”

I opened my mouth to say it, but it wasn’t
true and Rose’s words came back to me. I looked down. “I do have
feelings for you, but…”

He tilted my chin up and shook his head.
“There is no but. Let me take you out tonight, anywhere you
like.”

I frowned. “I thought we agreed on not
dating.”

He smiled. “Then it won’t be a date. Just two
friends going out together to have some fun.”

I smiled. “Bowling.”

He raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Bowling?
You want me to take you bowling? I offer to take you anywhere and
you choose bowling?”

I shrugged and tried to pull away from him.
“If you don’t want to go…”

He pulled me back into his arms and shook his
head. “Bowling is fine. Can we go to dinner first?”

I stared in to his golden brown eyes and gave
in. “Sure.”

He rubbed his cheek against mine and nipped
my earlobe. “Mexican?”

I shivered against him and whispered,
“Sure.”

He rubbed his cheek along the other side of
my face and I jumped backwards. “Why are you doing that?” It was a
classic wereanimal sign of possession. Rubbing his face against
mine like that would leave his scent on me for the rest of the
day.

He frowned. “I just like touching you. Why
are you so jumpy? You act like you think I’m going to attack you or
something.”

“
Sorry, it’s just…never
mind.” I said as I ran a hand through my hair. Was I crazy to keep
comparing him to preternaturals?

He kissed my lips softly. “I only talked with
Sugar. She was passing on a message from her boss to me. That’s
all.” He kissed my lips again. “I am not seeing anyone else and am
not being intimate with anyone. I don’t expect you to give me the
same offer, but I wanted to let you know.”

I frowned. “You mean you’re being exclusive
with me?”

He nodded his head and ran his hand up and
down my back slowly. “Yes.”

“
You hardly know me,” I
whispered.

“
I know enough and I know
I’ll learn more the more time we spend together,” he whispered
back.