Page 10 of Wrong Car, Wright Guy
That’swhen he rattles off his demands.
“I take my coffee black. I want it hot—not scalding—as soon as I walk in the door. I need a steady flow of room temperature water—bottled, not from the tap—while I’m on air. After that, you’ll need to make sure you have lozenges and lemon tea prepared. You will be responsible for my mail, researching show topics plus any and all errands I require of you. Always,always, be ready when I say jump. Is that understood?” He stops pacing and looks at me with his eyebrows raised.
“Ah…” My head is actually spinning. Like, if someone was filming me, there’d be little stars circling around me and my eyes would be rolling both left and right. How can a man be charming, aggressive, jovial, suggestive, boorish, authoritarian, understanding,anda diva all in one afternoon? And how can I go from humiliated to aroused to hatred to contrition towhatever the hell this isin the same amount of time? I’m not even sure which way is up anymore. I mean, I wasfeeling badand wondering if maybe I misjudged him. And then he hands methis.And saysthat!
And why are the cheerleaders happy again?Am I into asshole bigots now?
As I flip through the extensive list of duties and demands, I start to feel like I’ve entered the Twilight Zone. No! It’s worse, I’ve walked onto the set of The Devil Wears Prada and he’s Miranda Priestly.
I hand the list of demands back to him. “I’m not doing this,” I say as he catches the pages against his chest. “I quit.”
A smirk pulls up the corner of his mouth. “You can’t quit, princess.”
“Yes, I can. There are more radio stations than this in the city. I’ll have a new job in no time.”
“Not when you just signed a contract with a non-compete clause in it.”
Again, my mouth drops open. I’m good at this gaping thing today.
“What? Why…Why would you do that?”
“Because I’ve got a giant dick and balls etched into my hood telling me that Ruby Casey doesn’t sit back and take shit. She retaliates.” He hands me back the list, and it’s my turn to smirk.
“And you’re trusting me to make your coffee?”
That earns me a chuckle. “Call me crazy, but yeah, I am. I don’t think you’re that kind of nasty, Ruby. I think you’re a warrior. You fight for what you believe in and what’s right. That’s why I want you here. Instead of having you out there fighting against me, I want you fightingwithme, and hopefully in time, you’ll fightforme too.”
Great. Those cheerleading ovaries are definitely excited again. I can’t keep up with myself here. “I guess there’s just one thing to say,” I sigh, letting the tension in my shoulders drop as I place my hands on my hips.
He grins. “What’s that?”
“Where do you keep your lozenges?”
Five
Tanner
Tanner
Isend Ruby to the nearest pharmacy to buy me a packet of lozenges that don’t exist. Am I fucking with her? Abso-freaking-lutely. But seeing the look on her face when she gets back will be worth it. Hell, seeing her face when I walked into that meeting room today was worth it too. I had to pull a lot of strings to make her my PA—including taking a pay cut to cover her salary. But I don’t need the money and having her hide under the table to avoid me was seriously the icing on the cake. When she insisted she wanted to stay down there, it seriously took every bit of control I had not to laugh my ass off.
I’m not sure how long I’m going to keep this boss from hell act up for. But I’m certainly having fun playing it.
Sure, I could have just sent her the bill to fix my car, could have taken her to court to ensure it was paid if I wanted to. But finding out she’s a board operator at the exact radio station I just bought into was too good an opportunity to pass up. Hell, I don’t evenwanther money. She can work off her debt to me by being my beck and call girl—as she so aptly put it. And perhaps by the time I consider her debt cleared, she’ll think twice before taking a set of keys to a man’s car. I’m doing a community service here.
Although, I have to admit that I kind of like arguing with her. She’s got a lot of spunk. Sure, she’ll likely fight me more often than she agrees with me during our working relationship. But that’ll just be part of the fun. I like a challenge.
Not that I’m planning on sleeping with her.
Sure, she’s gorgeous. My dick decided that when I caught her vandalizing my Porsche. With her glossy hair, big doe eyes, and curves all over, she’s exactly my type. But, since I’m at the top of the corporate food chain, I don’t fraternize with employees. Abuse of power and all that jazz—it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. And while, yes, I’m very comfortable finances-wise, I’m not about to drag my family name through the wringer just because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants. My mother—well, mynanny—taught me better than that. Plus, I’d never hear the end of it.
As I stretch back in my chair, picturing the shine in Ruby’s eyes and the jut of her chin when she got pissed, I’m glad when there’s a knock at the door. Too long thinking about Ruby equates to a little more blood flow below the belt than is appropriate in an office setting.
“Come in,” I call out, adjusting myself and shaking the imaginings from my mind.
“Tanner.” The station boss walks in with a polite nod.
“What can I do for you, Gerry?” I motion for him to take a seat.
