The Mogul and the Muscle - Claire Kingsley Page 0,107

beautiful jewelry, and fancy vacations. What they got was a man who ignored them almost as much as he ignored me, and who didn’t buy them presents—probably because it never occurred to him to bother.

Svetlana hadn’t lasted long, but that wasn’t a surprise. He’d been seeing her for a couple of months—not that I kept track, really—and it seemed she’d already chafed his nerves more times than he was willing to live with, regardless of what she looked like. And boy, was I glad.

I had no reason to care. Mr. Calloway and I weren’t friends. So it shouldn’t have mattered to me whether some woman was trying to latch onto him for his money. But it did. I did care about him, even though I knew better. I couldn’t help it. I figured I was just built that way and tried to ignore it.

Except for moments like this, when I could privately gloat.

“That’s it,” he said.

“Sounds good, Mr. Calloway. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything.”

I said that to him every day, too. And he never replied. But it had become part of our routine, so I said it anyway.

Back at my desk, Steve gave me a reassuring smile. “You sure are tougher than you look.”

I shrugged and grinned, feeling a little glow of satisfaction. I always felt that way when people commented on my job. I’d lasted longer than any other assistant Shepherd Calloway had ever had. And I wore that distinction with a great deal of pride.

Only two types of people lasted at this company: people who were close enough to being his peers that they weren’t intimidated by him, and people who didn’t have to interact with him.

Anyone else usually lasted six months—maybe a year if they were tougher than average.

I’d worked for him for three years—a company record. Before me, he’d gone through assistants like some women went through purses. In one season, out the next. But me? Miss Everly Dalton? I was the only assistant he’d ever had who could actually handle him.

Really, I kind of got off on it. I liked having access to the man everyone was afraid of. The man with the power in this place. I liked the respect my position earned me. Outside these walls, people took me for a sugary-sweet, plain as vanilla, boring blond girl with a big smile.

But my coworkers saw me as something else entirely. They looked at me in awe, wondering how I could possibly handle the big bad wolf. How I never got bit.

It wasn’t as hard as they all thought. Once I got to know him—as well as I could, considering he didn’t speak to me very much—it was easy to get along with him. Learn his routine. Make sure anything within my control was executed on time. Stay out of his way.

And it worked. I didn’t rock the boat. I didn’t expect anything I knew he wouldn’t give. He wasn’t going to be friendly. No asking about my day or thanking me for a job well done. Which was fine. I knew I did my job well, and my pay reflected that.

The situation worked for me, and whether or not he’d ever acknowledge it, I knew it worked for Mr. Calloway too.

I winked at Steve, and grabbed my phone. I had work to do.

KEEP READING FAKING MS. RIGHT

Afterword

Dear reader,

I hope you enjoyed this little romp through Miami with Cameron and Jude. This book was a ton of fun to write. I love writing banter and these two had some great back-and-forth exchanges.

The concept for the Bluewater Billionaires came from a conversation between myself, Lucy Score, Kathryn Nolan, and Pippa Grant. We wondered whether readers would be into a twist on the billionaire trope. What if it’s not the hero who has all the zeroes in his bank account, but the heroine? And what kind of badass man would it take to be the perfect hero for her?

That was something all four of us REALLY wanted to write. So the Bluewater Billionaires were born.

One of the things I loved about writing this book alongside three other authors was how we each took a broad concept (a lady billionaire romance) and made it our own. The four books touch on some similar themes, but they’re also distinct and different. We had plenty of space to make the books our own, with our own interpretations, characters, and voices.

When it came to The Mogul and the Muscle, I kicked around a few ideas before I landed on a bodyguard romance. It’s a theme I hadn’t written before and it fit perfectly with our Bluewater concept.

Cameron is accustomed to handling things for herself and doesn’t particularly like to rely on others. That would require letting them get close. She shies away from allowing anyone “in,” largely because she knows the pain of losing people close to her. She’s used to going it alone, so she doesn’t think a bodyguard is necessary.

Jude wants to live an ordinary life, whatever that means (he isn’t really sure, to be honest). He’s a former intelligence operative trying to retire in sunny Miami, but he keeps getting roped into security jobs. He doesn’t want to take on another client, but he’s a softie at heart, and can’t say no to a favor for his friend.

These two begin their relationship with some skepticism toward each other. They circle around the feelings that develop for quite a while in the name of “keeping it professional.” If you read between the lines, it’s clear they’re both doing it for deeper reasons. They both have a hard time trusting others, particularly when it comes to being intensely vulnerable.

As much as I loved writing their banter, it was watching them open up to each other that was especially gratifying. The rescue scene at the end, where they both word-vomit details of their lives despite the fact that it’s really not the time, had been in my head for a long time before I wrote it. I loved the idea that in the midst of this slightly wacky external conflict, they both decide to lay it all out there and make themselves vulnerable to each other.

I hope you loved Cameron and Jude’s story as much as I did. And if you haven’t, check out the other Bluewater Billionaires romantic comedies. Cameron’s BFFs Emily, Luna, and Daisy have fantastic stories and fabulous HEAs.

And if you enjoyed The Mogul and the Muscle, it would be awesome if you’d leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads.

xoxo,

CK