“Come on, baby,” he said in a husky voice. “I’m going to take you to bed so you get a few hours of sleep.”

Chapter eleven

Mia opened her eyes to see Gabe leaning over her, his hand gently shaking her shoulder.

“Hey, time to get up and head to work,” he said.

She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to remove the fog. “What time is it?”

“It’s six. If you want to shower and get dressed, we’ll grab breakfast on the way into the office.”

As she became more aware, she saw that Gabe was already dressed for work. She hadn’t even noticed when he’d gotten out of bed. She could smell the crisp, clean essence of his soap and the tantalizing aroma of his cologne. He was wearing slacks and a button-up shirt with a tie, although the tie was still loose around his neck and the top button was unfastened.

He looked…untouchable. Cool and composed. A direct contrast to the man who’d taken her repeatedly the night before.

She pushed herself upward and then maneuvered to the edge of the bed. “I won’t take long.”

“Take your time. I’m not in a hurry this morning. I have a meeting at ten. Until then I’m free.”

She stumbled into the bathroom and took a look at herself in the mirror. Other than signs of fatigue, she didn’t look any different. Somehow she expected for the world to be able to see on her face all that she and Gabe had done the night before.

For a long moment she sat on the closed toilet seat while the shower ran, just needing a few minutes to collect herself. She was sore. She’d never had a marathon sex session before. Her encounters had always been a great deal slower and one orgasm for all.

Gabe had taken her four times over the course of the night. At the very end he’d apologized gruffly, like it pained him to do it. There was genuine regret in his eyes. He said he wanted to be more gentle with her, to keep his promise to go slow in the beginning, but that he couldn’t hold back, that he wanted her too much.

Was that supposed to upset her?

Having a man be so crazy for her that he couldn’t control himself wasn’t exactly a bad thing. He hadn’t hurt her. Yes, she was sore. She had marks and small bruises from his hands and his mouth. But she’d loved every minute of it even if she’d spent most of the time completely overwhelmed.

She got into the shower and stood, allowing the hot water to rush over her face. Mindful that Gabe was already dressed and ready to go, she quickly washed her hair and soaped her body before climbing out to wrap a towel around her.

It was then she realized she hadn’t brought her clothing in with her. She didn’t even know what Gabe had done with the bag the night before. After wrapping her hair in a towel, she opened the door to peek out.

Gabe was sitting on the bed, her clothing laid out next to him. As she moved toward him, he picked up a pair of panties and dangled them off the end of his finger.

“You won’t have need for these,” he said.

Her eyes widened.

“No panties at work. They’ll just get in the way,” he said, his eyes gleaming as he stared at her.

She glanced at the skirt and top on the bed, and then back at Gabe. “I can’t wear a skirt and no underwear!”

He lifted an eyebrow. “You’ll do as I want, Mia. That’s the agreement.”

“Oh dear God. What if someone sees?”

He laughed. “How will they see unless you show them? I want to look at you and know you’re wearing nothing underneath this skirt. And it makes it much easier to just hike it up and slide my dick into your pussy.”

She swallowed. She’d realized that her job was a front. A means for Gabe to have her at his beck and call during work hours. But she hadn’t quite counted on him wanting sex in his office. The idea of someone walking in on them made her want to crawl under the bed and hide.

“And Mia, that’s every day. No underwear. If you wear them anytime you’re with me, I’ll take them off and you’ll wear my handprint on your pretty behind.”

Her entire body tingled in reaction. She stared wordlessly back at him, shocked by the fact she was aroused by the idea of him spanking her. What kind of a freak did that make her?

He collected her skirt, top and bra and held them out to her.

“Better get moving. We leave in half an hour.”

Numbly, Mia took the clothing and hurried back to the bathroom, her mind alive with images of Gabe fucking her in his office. Of his hand on her ass. It troubled her that she wasn’t as horrified as she should be. While she certainly didn’t want anyone popping in unannounced when Gabe had her bent over his desk, the idea that they could be discovered at any moment excited her.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She dressed and nearly died when she pulled on the skirt over her bare bottom. It just felt weird not to have underwear on. Not that a thong offered much more protection than a pair of panties, but even having something covering her was better than nothing.

She dried her hair and brushed it out. There wasn’t much hope for it this morning, and she didn’t have time to mess with it, so she twisted it into a knot and put on a large clip to secure it. After applying enough makeup to cover the smudges under her eyes, she took a deep breath and inspected her reflection in the mirror.

She wouldn’t win any beauty pageants, but she’d do.

After brushing her teeth and applying her lip gloss, she left the bathroom to retrieve her shoes from the bed. She stuffed her clothing from the night before in her overnight bag and then left the bedroom in search of Gabe.

He was standing at the bar in the kitchen drinking a glass of juice. When he saw her, he emptied the rest of the contents of the glass and put it in the sink.

“All set?”

She took in a deep breath. “Yes.”

He motioned her toward the door and then reached for her bag. “We’ll leave this here. No need to take it into the office. That would be advertising that we spent the night together and I don’t think that’s what you want. I’ll send it over after work if you like.”

She nodded and handed it over and then waited as he summoned the elevator.

The ride down was quiet, though she noticed that he kept glancing her way, his weighted stare raking over her. She kept her gaze averted, her nerve deserting her. Why she would be nervous now after the night they’d spent together, she had no idea, but she was seized by awkwardness and somehow making small talk seemed way too forced. So she remained silent as they departed the building and got into the waiting car.

“We’ll eat at Rosario’s and then walk to the office,” he said, referring to an eatery just two blocks from his office building.

She was famished. And she was already dragging and the day hadn’t even begun. If Gabe planned more nights like the last, she was going to be a walking zombie at work.

To her surprise, he reached across the seat and curled his hand around hers, lacing their fingers together. He squeezed, almost as if he were reaching into her thoughts and reassuring her.

She turned and smiled at him, warmed by the gesture. He smiled back and said, “There, that’s better. You were so somber. I can’t have everyone thinking on your first day that you’d rather be anywhere else.”

Her smile broadened and she relaxed, allowing some of the tension to ebb from her body. It was going to be all right. She could do this. She was smart and capable. She could think on her feet, even if Gabe reduced her to a blithering idiot at times. This job would be a challenge, but one she would embrace. Yes, she had no illusions that Gabe had hired her for her brains, but there was no reason she couldn’t prove to be a valuable asset outside of the bedroom.

They ate a leisurely breakfast, and at eight thirty, they walked the two blocks to his office building and rode the elevator up to his floor. She experienced a bout of nerves as they stepped off and walked past Eleanor.

“Good morning, Eleanor,” Gabe said in a formal voice. “Mia and I will be behind closed doors until my ten o’clock meeting. I’ll be getting her up to speed on her job duties. See that we aren’t disturbed. When I attend my meeting, I want you to take her around and introduce her to the rest of the staff.”

“Yes, sir,” Eleanor said briskly.

Mia had to stifle her laughter as she was reminded of her conversation with Gabe about master and sir. He sent her a quelling look as he directed her down the hall to his office.

When they went in, she was surprised to see a desk on the opposite wall from where his was situated. Furniture and fixtures had been rearranged to make room for the new desk, and two bookcases had been completely removed.

“This is where you’ll work,” he said. “Since you’ll be working so closely with me, I saw no need to give you your own office.” His voice lowered to a velvety, seductive timbre. “You’ll remain close to me at all times.”

She shivered at the sensual promise in his voice. How the hell was she supposed to get any work done with him sitting across from her and her knowing that at any moment he would get the urge to have sex with her?

And then all trace of innuendo disappeared and he was brisk and businesslike. He went to his desk and pulled out a folder thick with documents. He handed it to her and said, “These are files on investors, business colleagues and other various people important to this business. I want you to read over their profiles and commit them to memory. There are details of their likes, dislikes, their spouses’ names, their children’s names, their hobbies and interests, et cetera. It’s important you retain all of this information and can bring it to mind when you meet them at functions or in a meeting. I’ll expect you to be personable and warm and be knowledgeable of them as individuals. It goes a long way in business to know everything you can and use every advantage. As my assistant, you’ll aid me in charming these people. We want their money and backing. There’s no room for mistakes.”

Her eyes widened and she took the folder, feeling its weight. There was a lot of information here and she swallowed back her panic. She could do this. She could totally do this.

“I’ll leave you to your reading,” he said. “I need to catch up on e-mails and messages before my meeting. When I’m done, we’ll go over some of your other job duties.”

Nodding, she turned away and headed for the desk assigned to her. She settled into the sumptuous leather executive chair and pulled herself forward to begin memorizing the huge amount of data before her.

Chapter twelve

“Mia?”

Mia looked up from the pile of papers she was reading over to see Eleanor standing in the doorway of Gabe’s office.

“If you’re ready, I’ll take you around and introduce you to the staff.”

Mia pushed back and rotated her stiff neck, all the information swirling around, jumbled in her brain. She smiled in Eleanor’s direction.

Eleanor was nice and she’d been HCM’s receptionist forever. Though Mia had only been into the offices a few times before, she’d spoken frequently on the phone with Eleanor. Usually when Mia was calling for Jace or when Jace had Eleanor phone her with a message. Usually that he was running late for one of his dates with Mia.

Mia had watched closely for speculation in Eleanor’s eyes. Or even surprise that it was Gabe and not Jace Mia had come to work for. But either Eleanor wasn’t surprised or she was very good at hiding her emotions. That wouldn’t likely be the case with the rest of the office staff.

Even if she didn’t know them, they’d know who she was as soon as she was introduced. The next while wasn’t going to be the most comfortable of moments.

Mia stood and straightened the documents before stuffing them back into the folder. Then she self-consciously slid her hand down the back of her skirt, praying that no one would be able to tell she had no panties on. She walked around the desk and met Eleanor in the hallway.

“I’ll take you down the other corridor where the offices are located and then we’ll hit the wing on the opposite side of the floor where all the cubicles are.”

Mia nodded and fell in behind Eleanor as she walked briskly through the reception area and to the opposite hallway. At the first door, she paused and stuck her head in.

“John? There’s someone I want you to meet.”

John lifted his head as Eleanor and Mia entered. He was a younger man—older than her, but younger than Gabe—with glasses and dressed in a polo shirt. When he stood, she saw the casual slacks. Gabe obviously didn’t hold the rest of his staff to his same dress code.

“This is Mia Crestwell, Mr. Hamilton’s new personal assistant,” Eleanor said.

John’s eyebrows lifted in quick surprise, but he didn’t offer a comment.

“Mia, this is John Morgan, our marketing director.”

He held out his hand to shake Mia’s. “It’s a pleasure, Mia. I think you’ll enjoy working here. Mr. Hamilton is a great boss and a super person to work for.”