Chapter 2

Damian stopped just inside his office and closed his eyes. What was this woman trying to do to him? It was bad enough that he dreamt of her every night like a hormonal teenager and then still had to come to work to endure her judgy gaze, as if she knew he railed her in his dreams every night. But to see her looking like some sort of sex pot straight out of those same dreams...

He had a busy day scheduled, but he knew that was now entirely shot to shit. How was he supposed to concentrate now?

Nicole had been his assistant for over two years. Two years of torture. But in all that time, he was sure he had never seen her in a skirt. The skirt moulded her perfect behind and wide hips to perfection and gave him his first glimpse of her legs. His dreams had never done those legs any justice. He had only looked for seconds, but that image would be burned in his mind forever. They were smooth and shapely, and though Nicole was short, barely five-two or three, the very high heels she had worn made her legs look endless.

The heels... 

He often dreamed of taking her while she lay on her back with nothing but heels on. 

He groaned as he forced himself to walk back to his desk rather than risk a sexual harassment suit. He had no doubt Miss Avery would do that, and she would walk out of the door and never return.

Prim and proper, Miss Avery.

The only woman in the world who would most certainly say no to him, and she just had to be the only one he wanted.

He tried to occupy himself by logging into his computer, but his mind was already messing with him. He could see Nicole everywhere. 

Bent over his desk. 

Lying down on the sofa with a sensual, inviting look. 

Against the glass wall behind him. 

He could see her everywhere he had imagined taking her over the last two years, and that was absolutely everywhere in his office. On every surface. In every position. 

There was a knock on the connecting door, thankfully taking his mind out of the gutter. He composed himself and pushed his chair under the desk to hide his shame.

“Yes?”

Nicole walked in with several files under one arm and a cup of his morning coffee in her other hand. The heels were gone, replaced by the usual sensible flat shoes she always wore—the same pair every day, like he didn’t pay her enough to replace them. The heels had been a welcome sight, but he had to wonder what had spurred this transformation.

“You need to look over and sign these,” Miss Avery said.

She sounded breathless, almost like she did after a round or two in his dreams. He cleared his throat as he flipped through the paperwork Nicole had placed in front of him.

“I’m going to set up the conference room. Do you want me to order some breakfast before the meeting?”

“I’ve already eaten. Thank you, Miss Avery.”

He was willing to bet the conference was already set up, and she was just doing some last-minute checks. Nicole was annoyingly efficient like that. All the ‘i’s dotted and the ‘t’s crossed.

He watched her walk to his main door. She looked stunning today, but something was a little off, something he couldn’t put his finger on. She looked a little flushed, like she had been exerting herself. His mind raced to all sorts of things that she could have been doing before she came to work, but he pushed them aside. Thoughts like that always led him to wonder who she actually did those things with and always fucked up his day.

When the door closed behind her, he breathed and looked down at the paperwork in front of him. Some last-minute figures for the meeting. New points added to the agenda, and all the supporting information for it. Some official letters for him to sign so she could send them off. Though he was usually meticulous with every detail and never signed anything without reading it, he knew Miss Avery would never put anything that was less than perfect in front of him. He signed everything he needed to sign and then looked back at his computer.

He had at least another hour to kill before the meeting with all the department heads. A mountain of paperwork was waiting for him to review, but he would have to take the rest of the day off. There was no way he could be here with Nicole looking like that. Hopefully, this was only a one-day thing, and she would be back in her usual shapeless clothes tomorrow.

Nicole returned a little while later. She looked even more flustered. Her pale cheeks were red, and her freckles seemed more prominent. 

“Are you alright, Miss Avery?”

“Of course, sir,” she answered with a smile. 

If anything, she sounded even more breathless. Something was definitely wrong.

Nicole picked up the paperwork in front of him and gave him a weak smile before she went back through the connecting door. Very odd. 

An hour later, he had instructed Nicole to rearrange his day. She didn’t even ask why or lecture him about how cancelling a meeting was bad for business and his image, which was worrying. She was the only person in the whole world who could get away with busting his balls about shit like that, and sometimes it seemed as if she enjoyed it. But he had no resistance at all. Maybe a day off would do her good as well.  

He pulled his phone out to send a quick message. 

Meet me in two hours. 

He didn't need to give any more details. He'd had to do that a lot over the years. Random booty calls just to try to scratch this itch that he couldn't do anything about. Very inconvenient.

Nicole came in to tell him everyone had arrived. He was positive he saw her sway a little. 

"Miss Avery, do you need to sit down?"

"No, sir. I'm perfectly fine."

He frowned as he walked past her out of his office. This woman had once come to work with a forty-one-degree temperature because she didn't like to call in sick. He'd called a car for her and had her taken to his doctor, who had promptly hospitalised her for a few days. Was she doing the same thing now?

He didn't have more time to think about it as he walked into the conference room with Nicole behind him. Everyone's gaze seemed to land on her, and he couldn't blame them. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t blame them. He wanted to look as well.

Once he had settled at the head of the table, Nicole sat at the smaller table she had set up to the side of him so she could handle the minutes. She'd crossed her legs. His mind went straight to the gutter again. 

This was going to be a long day.