CHAPTER 2

Fifteen hours earlier…

I run the mascara brush over my eyelashes one last time before deciding my makeup is perfect enough. Stepping back from the vanity, I look at my profile in the mirror in front of me. Hair, check. Shoes, check. My dress, perfect.

My phone pings with a text notification causing me to jump with nervousness. Tonight, my boss, Marcus Wayne, also the CEO of Wayne Technologies, is giving me a ride to the award ceremony we are both attending. He, as a nominee, and me as his ever-present secretary.

I read the text message that just came into my phone and indeed, it is from Marcus instructing me to go downstairs in his usual commanding tone. Knowing how impatient he is and not wanting to be at the receiving end of his infamous scowl, I hurriedly grab my tiny clutch purse and leave my apartment to meet him outside.

The moment I step outside of my apartment building, I see the familiar black Bentley belonging to my boss and his driver is standing outside and holding a door open for me.

“Thank you, Donald” I offer him a grateful smile before entering inside the opened car as carefully as I can with my six inch pointy high heels.

The first thing I notice as I take a sit on the smooth expensive leather of the car is the delicious smell of Marcus’s cologne that permeates the air. A cologne I am all too familiar with.

“Good evening sir” I angle my head at my boss sitting quietly but commandingly beside me.

Discreetly, I study his handsome face consisting of a strong square jawline, high cheekbones, dark arched eyebrows, and long dark lashes framing his enchanting green eyes, and I must admit, there is no denying the fact that my boss truly deserves his title as New York’s most sexiest and eligible bachelor and billionaire by the Times Magazine.

I am still in the process of secretly admiring his strong broad shoulders and his chest that perfectly fills his tuxedo suit, when I catch Marcus quickly removing his gaze from where it had been fixed on my thighs which are revealed by the high slit of my gown.

My breath hitches. Did I just imagine Marcus checking me out?

It can’t be, he has never given an indication of having any feelings of attraction towards me in the past years that I have been his secretary. Always cool, calm, and professional. But the heated looks in his eyes as he whipped his gaze from my thighs… did I imagine that as well?

“Penelope,” Marcus says my name in his usual cool, monotone and uncaring voice, “You look different” He notes.

I hesitate. Different? What does he mean by different? And does he mean a good type of different or a bad type? Nervous, I run my palm over the skirt of my dress before responding, “But this isn’t the first time you’ve seen me in something other than my usual boring corporate office clothes, Sir” I reply with a joke to clear the little tension in the atmosphere of the car. Suddenly, I’m feeling hot and heated despite the cool air that emanates from the car’s air conditioning system. What is going on...

He raises his eyebrows at my words as if surprised. “Boring? There’s nothing boring about the clothes you wear to work. In fact, I’m surprised Human Resources has never called you up for it” He responds.

I hesitate a second time before speaking. What is he talking about? Marcus is acting so unlike his usual self tonight. “What do you mean by that sir?”

Marcus shrugs before turning to look outside his window. I guess I have been dismissed. I truly would’ve loved to know what he meant by my work clothes not being boring. I have never attempted to look any way other than professional to work, although my hourglass figure and full breasts sometimes make innocent outfits look seductive but that has never been my intention. What surprises me the most however is that Marcus noticed. Does that mean he has been staring at me in the office long enough to notice all these years?

Exhausted at my conflicting thoughts and Marcus's abrupt dismissal, I have no choice but to let go of the train of thought and focus on the party we are on their way to.

***

Marcus POV

My gaze roams over the sky high buildings lining the streets as we whip past on our drive to the venue where the award ceremony is to take place. My thoughts however are fixated on the woman beside me. Penelope Cruz. My secretary.

I had been hit with a sudden bout of hungry lust when I first saw Penelope in her evening gown for the gala. Then, when I had forced myself to move my gaze from eye-fucking my assistant, my eyes had landed on the shabby state of her apartment complex and disgust filled me immediately. Fortunately, my driver had driven us off so I didn’t have to continue staring at the death trap she lived in.

If she were my woman, I would never let her live in such a place. A woman as attractive as her should never live in a place like this, where I am sure horny pathetic men leer at her on a regular basis. Even now it takes a lot of strength for me to not gaze down at her smooth legs only inches from mine.

I have always tried to ignore the feelings Penelope stir in me. Feelings of lust, protectiveness and possessiveness so strong and foreign because I have never felt it for any other woman. But then Penelope is nothing like any other woman. I have managed to maintain control over the years with only a handful of slip-ups, like tonight. Telling her she looked different was a mistake. Usually, I never comment on her looks or outfits and chose to be rude and curt to her, avoiding all small talks that may lead to anything sexual but once in a while my control slips.

“Sir, do you mind if we go over your speech for the award ceremony one last time before we arrive?” Penelope asks me in her soft but slightly raspy voice. Even her voice is a temptation to me. She looks up at me innocently and my dirty thoughts shift to how better I can make use of her pink pouty lips by filling it up with my- I cut off the crazy thought before it fully forms. Annoyance churns in my chest at my weakness that I respond harshly.

“No. I don’t need your help with it.” While my words are normal, my tone clearly comes out hard and annoyed and I doesn’t miss the look of confusion on Penelope’s face.

“But sir-“ She starts again but I cut her off. “You are my secretary and I’m your boss. I give the instructions and you obey, Miss Cruz” I warn. And this time she replies only with an annoyed sigh and an eye roll before shifting slightly to face her window giving me her back.

I normally would have called her out and scolded her for rolling her eyes at me but I decide that I have done too much already. She didn’t deserve my harsh words but the fear of my control slipping sent me into a defensive mode and my only answer was to draw the line between us. It wasn’t because of her, rather I did it to remind myself. This uncontrollable feelings of longing and desire towards my assistant can never progress into anything more. Marcus Wayne does not mix business with pleasure.