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.
“I’ll make sure you have your first month pay by then.”
“That would be great. Thank you.”
He didn’t say anything else before he turned and left.
I stood looking down at the most insane scattered mess on the floor and smiled. This would take time. I had plenty to do and this was really going to help Jasper. It wasn’t a hand out because he felt sorry for me. It was a job. One he needed organized desperately. That fact made me feel much better about this situation.
The next couple of hours, I got lost in my task. When I glanced down at my watch, I realized I needed to get back to the house to do a few things before I went to my evening job at the club. I enjoyed being tucked away in this room alone with the files. I was dreading working at the club tonight. But if I ever wanted to go to nursing school, I needed to start putting money away.
Standing in front of the desk, I surveyed the pile of papers with a smile of satisfaction. I slipped my shoes back on and walked out into Jasper’s office. He was standing with his hands tucked in his pockets, talking on the speaker phone. I paused, hoping he saw me. The call sounded like business with someone in his Chicago office from the brief snippet of conversation I heard.
He turned before I heard too much and gave me a slight nod.
“I have an appointment, John. We’ll talk later. Just go ahead and use Samantha for that area,” he said, then walked over and ended the call.
“You ready to leave?”
“Yes, please. I need to finish at the house before I leave for work tonight.”
Jasper frowned. “This is going to be a long day for you.”
“Or productive,” I replied.
He grinned then. “That’s putting a positive spin on things.”
The door to his office opened, grabbing our attention. Stone wasn’t dressed like he belonged here. His clothes weren’t surprising though because the jeans and T-shirt combo was all I ever saw him in.
Stone’s eyes went from Jasper to me, then back to Jasper. “You ready for lunch?”
It was almost three o’clock.
“I forgot. I need to get Beulah home first. Let’s take her on our way.”
“Why is she here?” Stone asked, sounding more annoyed than anything.
“She’s organizing that shit back there for me,” Jasper said. “Stop acting like an ass.”
Stone didn’t look my way again. “Then let’s go. I’m starving.”
“As always, a charmer.” Jasper was clearly amused by his friend’s scowl.