“Yes, Mr. Sutton.”

Click.

I took the phone from my ear and looked at it. He couldn’t say thank you or goodbye? This job was going to be challenging. Correction, Jack Sutton was going to be challenging, but I had no choice. I needed this job, especially if I was thinking about moving.

I arrived back at the office and set the brown paper bag on his desk.

“Thank you, Lorelei.” He smiled.

Hmm. Why was he being so nice? Maybe he was feeling bad about earlier, but I doubted it.

“You’re welcome.”

“How was your lunch?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“What did you do?”

“Went to Central Park.”

Why was he concerned what I did on my own time?

“And did what?”

“Ate my lunch.” I frowned.

“So you brought your own lunch?”

“Yes. Is there a rule against that?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I was just curious.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Now go back to your desk and let me eat.”

I walked out in confusion. He was the one who started asking me questions.

It was finally five o’clock and I couldn’t have been happier. I raced over to my mom’s house. The three of them had just sat down to dinner.

“Mommy!” Hope shouted as she got up from the table and ran over to me.

“Hi, baby. How was your day?”

“It was good. Grandma took me for ice cream after school.”

“She spoils you.” I smiled.

“Sit down and have some dinner,” Nick spoke to me.

I walked over, kissed his cheek, and then went over to my mom.

“You look tired, honey.”

“I am. It was a long first day.”

After finishing dinner, I took Hope home and put her in the bathtub. Once I read her a bedtime story, I kissed her good night and went to my room. After changing into my pajamas, I climbed into bed and thumbed through the Sutton Magazine I had bought on the way home. Suddenly, my phone dinged. I reached over and grabbed it from the nightstand. Shit. It was my business phone that went off. I got out of bed and reached into my purse. Pulling it out and climbing back into bed, I noticed a text message from Jack.

“Before you come in to the office tomorrow, in fact, make it every morning, I want you to stop at Starbucks and get me a Venti Americano with a triple shot of espresso. But make sure you’re at the office at eight sharp.”

“Yes, Mr. Sutton.”

“Enjoy the rest of your evening, Lorelei.”

“You too.”

“Try not to spill coffee on me tomorrow.”

He was never going to let that one go.

“Don’t invade my personal space and I won’t.”

Good. That remark shut him up. I’d had my fill of Mr. Jack Sutton for the day and all I wanted to do was go to sleep and forget about him.

****

Jack

I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her reply. She was the first of any one of my PAs to talk back to me and it turned me on. She wasn’t like the others. The numerous times I walked past her desk, she would smile at me. But I wasn’t quite sure if it was a genuine smile or a fuck-you smile. Even after yelling at her the way I did, she still smiled at me. She had a beautiful smile that matched her cute little nose and her beautiful face.

“Who, may I ask, are you texting?” my mother asked as she walked into the living room.

“My PA. I need to make sure she gets my coffee in the morning.”

“You better be nice to her,” Coco spoke as she followed behind my mother.

“Why does everyone keep telling me that? I am nice.”

“Ha. Not after what I saw today.”

“That was just a misunderstanding, sis.”

“Some misunderstanding when the entire floor heard you yelling at the poor girl. Franny was practically hiding under her desk.”

“Jesus, stop exaggerating. Anyway, I’m going to go.” I kissed Coco and my mother on their cheeks and met Tony outside.

****

The next morning, at approximately seven fifty-eight, I was sitting at my desk waiting for my coffee to be delivered. She had exactly two minutes or else. I left my office door open so she could just bring it in without knocking. It was eight o’clock when she pranced through the door.

“Good morning. Here’s your coffee.” She smiled as she set the cup down on my desk.

“I was starting to get worried that you’d be late.”

“Really? I’ve been here for at least ten minutes.”

I cocked my head at her and narrowed my eyes. “Where? You weren’t at your desk.”

“No, I wasn’t. You said to be here at eight sharp.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s eight sharp.” She smirked.

“Then where were you?” I asked with irritation.

“Around.”

“So you’ve been walking around with my coffee for the last ten minutes?”

“Yep.” She slowly nodded her head.

I pursed my lips together tightly and inhaled a sharp breath.

“It better not be cold, Lorelei.”

“It’s not.” She smiled as she walked out and shut the door behind her.

I was trying my best not to yell. I picked up my coffee and took a sip. It was still hot. Good thing for her it was.

Chapter Eight

Lorelei

As I was sitting at my desk looking over invitations for the launch, Coco walked over.

“How are things going with my brother?” she asked as she sat on the corner of my desk.

I gave a small smile. “Okay. He’s demanding, crude, rude, and a little demeaning, but nothing I can’t handle.”

She let out a light laugh. “I like you, Lorelei. Has Jack shown you the rest of what makes up Sutton Magazine?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“Come on, then. I’ll give you the grand tour.”

“But he’ll wonder where I am. What if he needs something?”

She waved her hand in front of her face, got up from my desk, and opened his office door.

“I can’t believe how rude you are not to have given Lorelei the grand tour. If you need something, you’ll have to do it yourself because I’m stealing her away for a while.” She shut the door before he had a chance to respond and smiled at me.

Sutton Magazine started on the tenth floor and went up all the way to the fifteenth floor. There was everything from the art department to photography. A floor filled with clothes and designs, a beauty salon, the finance department, and the editorial floor, which was located at the top where Jack’s mother had her office. I was enthralled by everything fashion and I was in heaven.

We approached a large office with glass doors, and on those doors, it read “Kit Sutton.”

“This is my mother’s office. Have you been introduced yet?”

“No.”

We stepped inside and Kit looked up at us.

“Mother, this is Lorelei Flynn, Jack’s new personal assistant.”

She got up from her seat and extended her hand, but not before looking me up and down.

“It’s nice to meet you. I hope you stick around a lot longer than the last fourteen.”

I gulped. I had no idea Jack had had that many assistants.

“I plan on it and it’s nice to meet you.” I smiled as I lightly shook her hand.

“I hope you enjoy working for us here at Sutton Magazine.”

“Thank you.”

I could tell Kit Sutton was not a force to be reckoned with. She was poised with high self-esteem and had a business manner like no one I’d ever met; well, except for her son. She stood about five feet eight inches tall with a voluptuous figure. Her blonde hair was cut into a bob that sported wavy ends and she had serious-looking brown eyes. I would be lying if I didn’t say she completely intimidated me. But we did have one thing in common; we both shared a love for Coco Chanel.

After the tour, Coco and I headed back to the twelfth floor. As I was walking back to my desk, Jack was standing in the doorway of his office.

“Do you need something?” I asked.

“Yes. I need you to come into my office.”

Stepping inside his office, I took a seat in the chair across from his desk.