Chapter Four

Sheila followed behind him as he climbed the stairs and when they got to his door, he unlocked the room. Being in his room again, brought back memories from her dream that night and Sheila found her cheeks turning red immediately. 

Derrick led her into the room he had gone into the day before while she had been here, and Sheila's mouth dropped in stunned surprise. The room which was twice the size of her apartment was filled with clothes neatly arranged in sections. Suits in bags from designer brands, different colors of shirts in a variety of designs in hangers, and pants neatly folded and arranged on shelves. It was clothing all around. She was still looking around in total marvel when Derrick's voice pierced through her thought.

"The tie section is this way." He said, shaking Sheila awake from her stunned state.

She walked passed Derrick to a huge wardrobe by the side of the shelf that had neatly folded pants, and his eyes followed behind her, trailing the start of her dress down to its zipper. He had been right, the dress did have a zipper. As his eyes lingered on it, his mind had already begun to undress her, assessing her waist. His pants suddenly felt too tight and constricting, the room felt too hot. He swallowed hard. 

Sheila pulled one of the drawers open to a row of ties arranged carefully according to their color. 

"Didn't you say you aren't a ties person?' she asked turning slightly to Derrick.

"Yes..." He nodded.

"Why these many ties when you barely even wear them?"

"They serve a purpose," Derrick answered all too calmly.

Sheila hesitated a few seconds before asking.

"You barely wear them..."

"They serve other purposes than that." He said while intently holding Sheila's gaze. Sheila stared back, she felt Derrick's words had a deeper meaning to them, but she didn't dare ask. He was her boss. Even though she was curious as to what other purposes a tie could serve, she didn't want to ask, especially not on her second day at her job. She broke from Derrick's gaze and turned back to the task at hand.

She traced her fingers on each one, column after column until she found the right one. A light blue tie with double stripes of white.

"Found the right one." She said and closed the drawer. Then she walked towards Derrick with the bright tie in hand.

"Blue." He stated glancing between the tie and Sheila.

She nodded in response. "And not just blue, light blue. This color of tie says you are stable and intelligent. It says that you have confidence in yourself and what you do and that you can be trusted as well, and that is the exact information we aim at relaying to the CEO of Chan Groups." 

"I was thinking you'd pick a shade of red." 

That is a powerful color in the business world. Red says you mean business. It says you won’t be manipulated or led astray. It can also convey that you have a dominant personality, which is true, but considering the fact that we aren't trying to relay to President Chan a message of your refusal at being intimidated, it's a no. I suggest we go with the tie that conveys the right information."

"The light blue?" He said and Sheila nodded. Then she approached him with it. 

"We should have these two buttons locked up," Sheila said then began to fasten the first two buttons Derrick had left open. While she was at it, her thumb grazed his bare chest and Derrick's breath hitched. He looked down at Sheila and saw her staring at him. 

"I-I'm sorry," Sheila apologized immediately. "I didn't mean to do that." 

"It's fine, just carry on." 

Sheila carried on with her work, but she was fully aware of how close they were, and it made her heart race and her cheeks blush. This was temptation, real danger. One she should be keeping away from for her own good. She should have known working under this man would mean death on her path, she had known, but she had still decided to trade the path of danger.

Derrick's eyes were in a haze and they never left Sheila as she did the tie around his neck. 

"How are you so good at this?" He asked in a hushed tone. The result of being in such compromising closeness with her. Sheila looked up at him, questioningly.

"At ties I mean. You seem to..." He dragged in a long breath... "Have quite a knowledge of them."

Sheila offered him a small smile and then looked away from him.

"I'm a fan of ties." She answered curtly.

Derrick raised a brow in surprise. "What would a lady do with a tie?"

"As you said Mr. Moore, ties serve other purposes other than as dress accessories." She said and gave him a rather seductive grin. A trace of lust flashed across Derrick's eyes as he thought of the other purposes a tie could serve. 

Sheila knotted the tie neatly and then smiled satisfactorily at her handy work. "It is done."

Then she took a step back to admire her work and Derrick of course. He looked handsome in it. Not that he hasn't always been handsome or that he didn't look stunning without it, but, the presence of a tie just made him look more like a capable CEO rather than a sexy boss. Although he still looked sexy.

"You look great Mr. Moore." 

Derrick smiled at her and said. "Thank You, Sheila." She smiled in return and then checked her wristwatch.

"We should get going Mr. Moore." 

"Sure! Ms. Reese." Derrick answered with a tone of sarcasm in his undertone. 

Sheila smiled in understanding of his sarcasm and then she led the way out of the room.

"My chauffeur would be driving us today," Derrick informed her and Sheila nodded.

 As they got downstairs, a man in a suit hurried toward the car on sighting them and opened the door to the back for Derrick. As they approached the car, Carter greeted Derrick and then Sheila.

"Morning Ms. Reese." He greeted her with a bright smile.

Sheila returned his smile with the same genuineness. "Good morning Carter." Then she pulled the front door open, but before she could climb in, Carter opened the back door for her. Sheila's heart fluttered and then it suddenly began to race as she climbed in.

Carter claimed the driver's seat and then shifted the rare view slightly.

 From her side eye, Sheila saw Derrick carefully adjust his tie. She chuckled. 

"Will we be going to the Chan branch directly or from the company?" She inquired as Carter ignited the car's engine.

"Let's stop at the office first to pick up a few files, then we'd leave from there." 

"Okay." She said and then turned to Carter.

"We'd be stopping at the office first." 

Carter nodded and then drove out of the mansion.

Derrick and Sheila arrived at Chan's Group, a twenty-seven-story building, which was a branch in Los Angeles. Chairman Chan had arrived in the City a day ago for important business so he decided to deal with some other businesses in the City.

As they walked into the building, Sheila walked ahead of Derrick, towards the desk of the director's secretary.

"Good morning Ms." Sheila greeted the woman. "I'm Sheila Reese, Mr. Derrick Moore's secretary. We are here on an appointment with Chairman Chan."

The woman looked behind Sheila in search of Derrick and when she found him, she offered Sheila a smile.

"Sure thing, Manager Lee awaits you in the conference room." She waited until Derrick was close then she stepped out of her table, offering Derrick a rather seductive smile.

"Morning Mr. Moore."

Sheila cleared her throat, bringing the woman back to behavior. She narrowed her eyes at Sheila but then turned to Derrick with a smile.

"This way Mr. Moore." 

Sheila followed side by side Derrick as they walked through a long Corridor and was led into a conference room where a man in a grey suit was occupying a seat at the long table.

The man- a prim and proper average-looking forty-something-year-old walked up to Derrick.

"Mr. Moore..." He called stretching a hand towards Derrick.

"Manager Lee..." The two men greeted with a brief handshake.

"It's nice to meet you." Mr. Lee said.

"Same," Derrick replied, then turning to Sheila, he introduced them.

"Sheila, meet director Lee, manager of Chang Groups, here in Los Angeles. Director Lee, meet Sheila, my secretary." 

The director offered his hand for a handshake and Sheila took it with a smile.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." He said.

"Same here." Sheila smiled warmly.

"How about the Chairman, has he arrived yet?" Derrick inquired as the director walked him to a seat at the table.

"He'll join us soon." Immediately he said that the door to the conference room opened and an aged Chinese man walked in.