Page 36 of The Billionaire's Masquerade Ball

Chapter 10

I’ve made a huge mistake.

Xander didn’t know what he had been thinking when he said he would hire Cynder, but it definitely wasn’t this. Bent over his computer, he clenched his jaw at the sound of her giggling. He wouldn’t look over again at the conference table where she and Wyatt sat. He wouldn’t.

He …

His quick glance revealed that her eyes were on him as well. She smiled. Xander furrowed his brow and went back to the report he had been staring at for the last hour without really seeing it. Just that tiny glance sent his heart careening off some cliff in his chest. Another giggle and the sound of Wyatt’s low voice. Xander had no idea his assistant was so charming. In fact, he’d never heard him speak as much as he had in the past few hours.

It wasn’t just Wyatt who was taken with Cynder. The doctor at the urgent care had been far too hands-on as he fit her with a splint for her thumb, which thankfully was only sprained. The doctor only backed down when Xander pulled him in the hallway, handed him his credit card, and told him that he needed to keep it professional. He must have seen something in Xander’s face, because the doctor silently agreed and took the card to reception, even though Xander knew that probably wasn’t the protocol in those kinds of places.

Once at Obsidian, his staff’s reactions were just as bad. Xander caught several of the men staring or straightening their ties when Cynder walked in. Even Judy seemed enamored, acting like Xander had brought in a new girlfriend rather than a likely unqualified employee for a position that didn’t exist.

Judy brought Cynder coffee and had found a basket of muffins from somewhere when she brought up the paperwork. Now Wyatt was filling out the forms for her since she couldn’t write with the splint on her thumb. At least, that’s what Wyatt was supposed to be doing. With the way he kept running hands through his blond hair and shooting smiles to Cynder, he looked more like he was on a date. Or hoping for one.

He didn’t expect to have to watch Wyatt flirt with her right in front of him. It made sense that the two of them would become close. Xander didn’t know how old Cynder was, but she was much closer in age to Wyatt. And Wyatt could actually ask her on a date if he wanted, since Cynder wasn’t his employee, just a coworker.

The policy of not dating his employees hadn’t hit Xander until after they were in the office. He had only been thinking about seeing Cynder again, seeing her more, seeing her every day. But seeing her every day when he couldn’t have her was a completely different story.

And with her sprained thumb, she could hardly do any administrative work. The doctor said it might be a week before she would have full function or be able to use it without pain. Xander didn’t need another administrative assistant or even another personal assistant, definitely not one who couldn’t complete basic tasks like typing. He didn’t know Cynder’s skill level, other than her ability to punch people impulsively, make men fall all over themselves, bandage up injuries with quiet care, and make Xander feel like a fool. Hiring her had been a terrible decision.

Xander traced the cut over his suit jacket. It was hard to think about that moment with Cynder in the kitchen while she was making Wyatt laugh across the room. Why had he thought that Cynder felt something for him? All she did was bandage up his arm. And make him laugh.

She didn’t throw herself at him. She barely flirted. Today she’d practically assaulted him with her box of personal items after Gail fired her, though it was nothing like the punch she threw at Patrick.

Despite himself, Xander’s mouth lifted in a small smile at the memory of Patrick’s face just after Cynder had launched herself at him. Xander admired the strange mix of tenderness and fierceness he saw in Cynder. She was unlike other women he’d met, though she wasn’t so different from the other woman he had met earlier on Saturday night. Both were refreshingly honest and didn’t seem swayed by wealth or drawn to the society snobbery.

Maybe Xander was simply too used to the kinds of women who were attracted to his money and position. The woman in the mask had actually looked disappointed when she realized who he was. This was part of the problem too: Xander had kept women at arm’s length for so long, now that he opened up a little, he didn’t know what to do next.

Almost kissing a woman whose name he didn’t know? Holding hands with another woman an hour later? That would line up with the rumors about him, but was completely out of his actual character. The more time he spent with Cynder, the more he felt like he needed to lock those emotions back up. But ever since Saturday, he seemed unable to do so.

“Need anything?” Judy’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

He glared up at her, then back down at his computer. “No.”

“Interesting. You certainly look like you could use something.”

“What do you think I need right now, Judy? Go ahead and tell me, since you obviously have something on your mind.”

She put a hand to her chest and feigned surprise. “Oh! You want to hear my opinion?”

Xander rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “Probably not, but go ahead.”

“I think she’s very nice.” Judy gave Xander a pointed look.

“Nice?”

“Like Shelby. Nice.”

Xander remembered the conversation he had with Judy the previous week about how he needed to find himself a nice girl. He gave Judy an icy stare. “I hired her. I didn’t bring her in to date her. It’s against Obsidian policy anyway. I can’t date an employee.”

For a long moment, Judy said nothing. He felt like she could see every thought in his head. She had probably already honed in on how he felt every time he so much as glanced at Cynder. Xander kept his eyes locked on hers. To look away would be to admit defeat, or to admit those feelings.

Judy sighed. “Stubborn man,” she muttered. And then in a more normal tone, she said, “Well, then, if she’s here to work, does that mean she’s taking my job? Then I can finally retire.”

“No.”

“She seems to be handling things just fine so far,” Judy said.

---