Chapter Five

When we pulled up to the café I was shocked to see how little and normal the café was. I was thinking Logan would go somewhere exotic or fancy but maybe I was thinking of Logan the wrong way. The dry cleaner he goes to is also in a small neighborhood that isn’t fancy at all, I’m definitely starting to think I may have been wrong about Mr. McAlister. He helped me out of the black Mercedes he drove. We walked into the café and sat close to the big open window facing the busy street. I loved people watching so this table was perfect and maybe it could distract me from thinking about Logan McAlister too much.

The waitress arrived and offered us free samples while we were waiting. I already liked this café. I wasn’t really in the mood for a big lunch at the moment so I just ordered a blueberry muffin and a coffee. Logan gave me a sideways glance, “Are you sure you don’t want anything more than that? It is my treat, no need to worry about paying.”

“No, I'm fine, I’m not really that hungry. I had a big breakfast this morning,” I continued watching out the window until our food arrived. Logan tried to make small talk and I answered politely, I just didn’t push the conversation on more. “So I have to ask you something that has been bothering me.”

“Ask and you shall receive,” Logan stated.

“Well I was trying to figure out why a rich person such as yourself goes to little unknown dry cleaners on a bad side of town and why you go to little cafes that no one really knows about.”

Logan’s eyes lit up at my question and he said, “Well I guess I just don’t care what others think, I’m not the type of person to pretend I’m better than others. I grew up in a small community in San Francisco; my family was just your normal middle class family so I know what it’s like to have to work for what you want.”

I was in complete shock, all of the newspaper and magazine articles about Mr. McAlister said he grew up rich and always had everything handed to him; I guess that shows me I shouldn’t believe everything I read. “So how did you end up being the richest, most eligible bachelor?”

I was just joking around when I asked the question but Logan’s gaze got extremely serious and I could see the heat crawling up his neck. “I don’t really like talking about it too much, but I went to college to major in business, I graduated and met some business men that helped me start my own company which brings me to where I am,” he stated.

“I’m sorry if I brought up old wounds. I was just interested in how you became such a successful entrepreneur.” I tried apologizing but he didn’t seem too interested in the apology, he actually seemed more interested in trying to get closer to me.

I had finally calmed down enough to actually talk to Logan about the incident at the office, I wanted to make sure he understood I do not like being treated like a slave and that he cannot yell at me the way he did. I hope this doesn’t get me fired but if it does at least I know I stood up for myself.

“So Mr McAlister I need to explain something to you about myself and how you treat me; I do not let anyone treat me like a slave. I may work for you but that doesn’t mean you can treat me like I’m nothing. I will not stand for that kind of treatment and I will quit if it happens again, I may need the money but there are other jobs out there.” I couldn’t believe I actually just told him that!

Logan sat there thinking about what Lilly had just said, then realized he liked having an outspoken woman as his assistant; maybe he needed someone like Lilly to keep him in line. “I understand where you are coming from Miss Peters, I do apologize for how I yelled at you and the way I have been acting. I don’t normally treat my employees this terribly, I also like how you put me in my place earlier. Most women are too scared to do that.”

“Well I will not put up with people that talk to me like I’m nothing, so I speak my mind whether they like it or not,” I stated casually. “And please call me Lilly, I really hate the whole Miss Peters thing.” I think this conversation is going better than I planned, maybe I won’t get fired after all.

“Ok I’m sorry, I’m glad we are having this conversation Lilly, because I want you to be able to feel comfortable around me when we are at work. I don’t want the hostility between the two of us to mess our work up, if I give you my word that I will never talk bad to you or treat you bad again will you stay working for me?”

I didn’t know what to say, Logan seemed to completely change his attitude towards me and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. “Let’s put it to a test, we will see how your attitude is over the next month and if you end up treating me terribly again then I get to leave without warning and you can’t give me a bad report when I go to get another job.”

He thought about this for a long time, it almost made me regret the whole idea of trying to stay for another month. “Ok Lilly I think I can do that,” he replied. “But I want to make this interesting, how about a contest of sorts?”

Now I knew I was in for it, “Ok what did you have in mind?” I asked.

He smiled from ear to ear and replied, “If I can get through the whole month without yelling or getting angry then you have to go on an actual date with me wherever I choose.”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea Mr. McAlister, you are my boss not just a random stranger. Wouldn’t that be considered mixing business and pleasure?”

“You always have to have a little pleasure in the type of business we do, Miss Peters,” he said this with a mysterious grin on his face. Sometimes I just want to slap that grin off his face because he knows how to use it too well.

“Ok Logan you have a deal, I guess we’ll see how good you are at playing nice. I have to go now so I will see you bright and early in the morning.”

“Yes you will,” Logan said in that deep lust filled voice of his.