The Billionaire's Masquerade Page 0,34
forgotten about that,” she replied, feeling defeated but trying to hide it. She’d just finished stuffing everything into her leather bag but she pulled it back off of her shoulder, digging through the documents people had given her until she found the blue file folder his assistant had handed her as they were walking out of the building for lunch. At the time, Rachel hadn’t had any clue what was contained in the folder and Jack…she shook her head…Emerson hadn’t given her time to even open it up as they’d moved out of the building to the waiting limousine. He’d been giving her instructions that she’d been frantically trying to write down. Come to think of it, she hadn’t had time to even follow through on any of those instructions.
“When was I supposed to get all of this stuff done?” she asked, holding out her notebook with all of her scribbled directives, her heart in her throat with the fear that she’d failed him on her first day.
Emerson looked down at the instructions but smothered his concern. He looked into her bag and pulled out the cell phone Jennifer had also handed her. “Call Jennifer. Tell her you need a bigger bag. Also tell her she should organize this one for you so that you can find things more easily. She should figure out some sort of method that works for you.”
She held the cell phone in her hand, not sure why she would ask someone else to organize her work for her. “But Jennifer works for you. I can’t…”
He quickly interrupted her. “Jennifer is your assistant. Mine is Emily and she keeps all of my files with her so I don’t have to keep up with them. She hands me only the information I need, when I need it. She’s worked for me long enough that she knows what I need ahead of when I need it so she’s prepared.”
Rachel stared at him, dumbfounded. “Jennifer has already left for the day,” she said stupidly.
He refrained from chuckling at her horrified expression. “Then get her on the phone so she gets in early enough tomorrow morning. She needs to have things ready for you by the time you walk in for your first meeting. You’re already confused and behind on too many issues. You can’t let that happen two days in a row.”
Rachel sighed and stuffed the phone back into her bag. “I’m not calling her at home.”
He waited for a moment, concerned that she was already being too soft. She had to be tough, had to use the people at her disposal. There was no work/life balance in this business and Jennifer already knew that. It was time Rachel learned that as well. “Then you will fail,” was all he said.
Rachel glared at him in the dim light of the limousine. Mentally, she was thinking of all the things she wanted to do to him but in the end, she grabbed the phone one more time and found Jennifer’s number already on one of the speed dials. She spoke quickly to Jennifer, telling her what she would need to do by the morning, apologizing for disturbing her evening.
When she hung up, she shoved the phone back into her bag, refusing to even look at him. “So that’s your precious secret?” she asked, her voice steeped in sarcasm and disdain. “Drive everyone crazy with your horrible demands?”
The deep, sexy chuckle was her only warning. A fraction of a second later, she was lifted out of her seat and plunked down on his lap. This time, there wasn’t any comfort in his touch. She gasped when she felt his strong hands slide up underneath her skirt, caressing her and causing lightning to shoot all over her body. “It isn’t so much a secret, but a mandatory rule. Always surround yourself with people who know what you want,” he said and bent to capture her lips with his.
She tried to resist. She honestly did. She didn’t like this side of Jack…or Emerson! She didn’t like who he was and how he treated others. But she couldn’t deny the way he made her feel. His hands were touching her, sliding upwards. He might not be the same man she knew in Maine, but he knew her body intimately and captured her gasps of pleasure in his mouth as his hands moved up, cupping her breasts, nibbling on her neck before sliding down her back and pressing her body against his. When his teeth