Chapter One
Reed
Daniel Sawyer was a major hard-ass.
He came into work each day with a hard exterior and a takes-no-shit attitude. Standing at six foot two and dressed in a tailored gray suit with his black hair short and his eyes glacier blue, he exuded authority, control, and gave off massive top energy.
I wanted to ride him.
Might be a challenge since he was my boss, though. Better to just admire from afar and pretend my cock didn’t get hard when I saw his icy gaze, square jaw, and impressively broad shoulders that I wanted to squeeze as I—
Okay, stop.
I cleared my throat before rapping my knuckles on the open door of his office. He looked at me over his left shoulder as he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window beside his desk, talking to someone on his Bluetooth. After he motioned for me to come in, I stepped forward.
The material of his pants emphasized his muscled thighs, and my mouth fucking watered.
“We’ll be in touch,” Mr. Sawyer said to whoever was on the other end of the line, before he ended the call and faced me. “What is it?”
Short and to the point. He wasn’t known for small talk or even proper greetings for that matter. Conversation was business only. I had worked for him for a year and knew nothing about him other than how he liked his coffee and that he hated to be kept waiting.
Like he is now as I just stare at him like an idiot.
“I have the mock-up for the Henderson campaign,” I said, handing over the folder with the marketing team’s pitch. Jim Henderson was a new client who had hired our agency to help with the upcoming opening of his sports bar. “Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at one o’clock.”
Daniel grabbed the folder and scanned the contents, nodding in approval. “Good.” He tossed it on his desk. “I have a meeting tomorrow morning in Birmingham with a potential client. I need you to make travel arrangements for me.”
That must’ve been who he’d been talking to when I’d walked in.
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s all.” He sat down at his desk and faced his computer without another word to me.
I had been dismissed. But I was used to it.
For the rest of the day, I prepared expense reports from the previous week, looked over the next month’s budget, then did inventory on office supplies, ordered Daniel’s lunch and secured his travel plans, and organized his calendar. As the assistant to the vice president of marketing, my job covered a variety of administrative tasks as well as accounting duties, scheduling, and creating PowerPoint presentations for budget meetings and about a million other things.
I was always on the go. Better than being bored, though.
The heater was cranked on as high as it would go as I left work around six and drove home. I wasn’t a winter creature. I loved the sun, fruity cocktails while lying on the beach, and watching all the smoking hot men walk around with their shirts off. Not this shit: bone-chilling cold air with even colder gusts of wind. Which was funny since I lived in one of the rainiest places in the freaking country where winters were so cold it felt like my face was falling off in chunks of ice.
At least it’s not snowing.
Christmas lights blinked on top of houses, and lit-up trees glowed in people’s front windows. It was that weird week between Christmas and New Year’s where the days jumbled together and you tried to recover from eating too much. I had spent the holiday with Quinn, Monty, and Brian—Quinn’s dad, who was basically like my dad too—and it had been really nice. But I’m pretty sure I gained like five pounds because of all the desserts.
More insulation for the cold weather, I thought with a snort. I liked looking on the bright side.
When I got home, I flipped on the living room light and shrugged out of my heavy coat. I didn’t make a fortune as an administrative assistant, but I did well for myself. Enough to rent a nice two-bedroom home with a waterfront view and privacy. The light color scheme on the walls and the modern-styled furniture, along with the open floor plan, made everything feel bright and spacious. Not exactly homey, though.
Now, Quinn’s house was homey. It was filled with books, art, oversized chairs he’d gotten from secondhand furniture stores but still had a ton of charm, and historical artifact replicas to make his history nerd heart