“I could cut back my hours there if the manager would be okay with it. If I worked there a couple nights a week then I would be able to save for college.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

It was that easy. He was giving me a way to make more money. He wasn’t demanding anything of me. I took a long, easy breath. The first full breath I’d taken in three days. Heidi was going to be fine. And now I’d have a chance to get my nursing degree.

“Thank you, Jasper. Thank you so much.”

He grinned. The kind of grin that I was sure made most women lightheaded. It made me feel a little swoony. That was a bad thing though. I couldn’t look at Jasper that way. He was my boss. He held the power to break me. His smile, the way he wore a pair of jeans, and his sculpted chest that I still could picture clearly after his never ending pool party were of no consequence to me.

“You can start tomorrow. However, after you’re done inside, we can ride over to the office and I can show you everything. Introduce you to the staff there.”

“Okay,” I said as I stood up. “I should be ready to go in two hours.”

“Very well. See you then.”

As I hurried out of the pool house, I couldn’t get the silly smile off my face. I was going to be okay. We both were. I’d make cupcakes this week. Heidi would never understand we had a reason to celebrate, but that was more than okay.

This Jasper was so different than the one I thought he was when he arrived. He was all business and mature in there. But the party he had held was a much different Jasper. At the party, he was the spoiled trust fund kid with nothing to worry about in life. I liked this Jasper much better. I just couldn’t figure out his choice in friends.

The next two hours flew by as I hurried to get everything done, then changed into the only nice dress I owned. My mother had made the pale blue sundress for me three months before she got sick. She’d made it for me to wear to a job interview at the bank. A job I didn’t get because I needed Saturdays off to take care of Heidi.

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Mom would have been so excited about my new job. She’d love that I wore her dress. The silver flats that were my correct size and that I reserved for special occasions had also been bought by her. I slipped them on and my toes thanked me.

I quickly made my way to the doors leading to the pool house to meet Jasper, passing Portia as she came down the staircase with her white tennis outfit on. Her hair was pulled up neatly in a ponytail. But she was scowling at me.

“Why are you dressed like that?” she snapped.

“I’m going to the office with Jasper. He needs me to organize and file paperwork.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure he does. He’s just like his father.” She stalked past me and the expensive perfume she wore filled the air.

I wanted to defend myself and tell her that Jasper did, in fact, need me to organize for him. But she was gone. Maybe I should have apologized earlier.

WHEN JASPER SAID THE OFFICE was new and small I imagined something much different from the twenty-story building made of glass we were walking into. Van Allan Industries was written on the front door and the sign out front. There was a doorman and a front desk where you check in upon entering.

A young attractive brunette, whose eyes locked on Jasper the moment we entered, smiled brightly. “Good afternoon, Mr. Van Allan.”

He paused at her desk. “Brandy Jo, I’d like you to meet Beulah Edwards. She will be coming in for a few hours every day to do some work for me.”

Brandy Jo gave me a tight smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I replied with a sincerer smile, hoping I could thaw her iciness.

Her gaze swung right back to Jasper. And her bright smile returned. “Can I get you coffee?”

“That’d be wonderful, Brandy Jo. Thank you. I’ll be in my office. Send someone up with it in about twenty minutes.”

Brandy Jo blushed. I couldn’t help but wonder what else Brandy Jo did for Jasper. He hadn’t seemed very upset about Jed having an affair with his secretary. Maybe all Van Allen employees hooked up in the work place.

Frowning at my thoughts, I figured that wasn’t fair to assume. Besides Jasper wasn’t married and could sleep with whomever he wanted.

When the elevator doors closed behind us, Jasper turned to me. “I slept with her last week. It was late, and we’d been working all day, we had some wine. She got naked and climbed up on my desk with her legs spread. It was a one-time thing.”

“Oh,” I said wondering if I had said my thoughts out loud.

He gave me a crooked grin. “You’re expressive Beulah. I could see where your head was. I thought I’d clear it up for you.”

Because my mouth had a mind of its own, I blurted out, “Do your employees often get naked and get on your desk?”

He laughed loudly. “No. But I’ve only had employees for two weeks. I’ll let you know in a couple months.”

I nodded as if that were a reasonable response. He laughed harder then. “God you’re fun.”

The doors opened at the twentieth floor. Jasper’s floor was fancy and impressive. There was a large area with sofas, tables, and magazines. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. There were two large wooden doors ahead of us that seemed to hold the rest of this floor of the building behind them. Jasper pulled a card out of his pocket and touched it to the metal box on the door. A light turned green and the door opened.

“I’ll get you a key before you leave,” he said, holding his up.

We entered a massive room. Shelves lined the walls to the right and left as we walked by. They were filled with books. Then we came to a bar—a well-stocked bar that was to the left, and to the right was a door that stood open and I could see an elaborate bathroom inside. He motioned for me straight ahead. “Go on in. I’ll show you my office then we can walk over to the filing area.”

We walked through the next door. His office was filled with large, masculine furnishings and smelled of oak and cigars. The entire back wall was windows overlooking Savannah’s business district. It didn’t seem like Jasper’s style at all.

My gaze fell to his desk and I couldn’t help but picture Brandy Jo and him going at it right there with the night view of the city behind them.

“As you can see it’s a large desk. Plenty of room for a wild fuck,” he said behind me, and I jumped, jerking my gaze from the table as my cheeks heated. Jasper was trying to get a reaction from me and it worked because I was caught thinking about his lewd words.

“I, uh . . .” I had nothing to say to that.

“Relax, Beulah. It was just sex. No need to get nervous. Now, this pile of shit you see on my desk is only yesterday’s mail and nonsense that needs to be opened and organized. The rest of it is through that door at the back of my office. I have fifteen filing cabinets, and about ten piles of a complete mess that needs attention. When I offered you such a hefty hourly pay it was because this is a headache. You’re not going to enjoy it.”

I liked organizing. I could do the filing alone and focus on nothing but the work. “I can start now if you want,” I told him.

He went over to his desk and picked up the pile of papers, and with a relieved look on his face he brought them to me. “Sounds good to me. Let’s get you to the filing room, and if you have any questions try and figure it out. If you can’t, then ask. But honestly, I just need it organized. You do what you think will work best.”

We walked through a narrow entrance into a square room lined with filing cabinets. There were no windows and it was like a massive walk in closet. In the center of the room was a bigger pile of papers than I had imagined. He wasn’t kidding about the mess.

“See, it’s not going to be easy,” he said, as I looked at the job in front of me.

“I’ll get to work on it now.”

“Okay then. When you’re done for the day I can call a car service to take you home.”

“Thanks.”

He started to walk out, but paused. “I can pay you in advance this month if you need it.”

The concern in his eyes was nice. He cared.

“I don’t owe anything for two more weeks,” I answered.




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