Wolf Bait (Wolf Cove #1) (12 page)

I can’t ignore how my heart hasn’t stopped racing since he opened the door, or how the flutters of excitement have only increased with every word out of his mouth. Or how I keep inhaling deeply, to absorb the fresh, clean smell of him. Or how I keep replaying the feel of his arms around my body and his erection against my ass.

Is this a good idea? Am I setting myself up for constant frustration? I’ll probably become a champion masturbator by the end of the summer.

What’s worse, the way he asks it, it’s like he knows exactly what’s going through my head right now. I don’t want my boss to know that I’m attracted to him in a major way. A way I didn’t believe I could be. A way that has all but shoved Jed from my thoughts.

I have to clear my throat, afraid my words will come out shaky. “Exactly how much time?”

He levels me with a look. “I want you available to me day and night, unless I say otherwise. Some days will require more than others. Some early mornings, some late nights. You’ll be paid a flat salary that more than covers an hourly wage plus overtime.”

I frown. “But...”
Day and night?
“How will that work?” It dawns on me. There is no staff shift trade-off.

Henry frowns. “You look worried.”

“I’m just taking it all in. Will I have to stay in there?” I glance back toward the staff quarters, to the little hobbit room. I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it’s my own room. On the other, I won’t get any sleep knowing Henry is so close.

He smiles. “I’m not a tyrant. I will give you time off, Abbi.” He strolls over to the desk that sits in one corner, overlooking the water, and collects paper and pen. “Before we go any further, I need you to sign this confidentiality agreement.” He sets it on the table in front of me. “It’s pretty standard.”

“I’ve never signed one of these,” I admit, picking it up.

“No?” His fingers move absently over his shirt, fastening his buttons. “I’ve signed a thousand in my lifetime already. Take your time and read through it. I need to finish getting dressed now.” He disappears into his bedroom, leaving me to the paperwork.

It’s pretty easy to understand. Basically, I’m not to talk about Henry—anything he says or does—or he can sue my ass.

“I do require that you not drink while you’re working for me,” he calls out from his room. “Given what I saw the other night, it’s too risky.”

“I think we’ve already covered that I won’t ever be drinking again.” I scroll my name along the bottom, set the pen down gingerly and take a deep breath. This feels somehow monumental.

“Done?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I need you in here.”

My heart skips a beat. He needs me in his bedroom. “Coming,” I say, my voice shaky. All kinds of visions float through my head that I didn’t even know I could conjure up, but that make blood rush through my body. Henry stripped down. Henry, lying on his bed, waiting for me.

I find him standing in front of the dresser mirror, holding two ties in his hands. “Which one should I wear?”

I sigh with relief. “I like the charcoal-and-silver one with that suit.”

“This one?” He holds the navy one up and I frown, earning his laugh and swap. “I’m color-blind,” he admits, looping the one I chose around his neck, tossing the other onto the bed. “So don’t be surprised if I ask you to help me match my socks and ties on occasion.” He pauses. “Are you good with tying ties?”

“I think so.” I tied Jed’s ties all through high school and into college. I make my way over, slowing to take in the wall of glass and the water beyond, hyperaware that I’m about to help Henry get dressed. “What a view to wake up to every day,” I mumble, trying to diffuse my nerves.

“It’s something, all right.” I feel him staring at my face as my fingers begin flying, making quick work of the silk, all while my heart feels like it’s going to leap out of my chest at any moment.

My hands are trembling.

“You have freckles,” he murmurs. “I never noticed them before.”

I scrunch my nose with the reminder. The light smattering across the bridge has always bothered me. “My glasses usually cover them.”

“I’d offer to get my wetsuit on and dive for them, but I don’t think I want to. You should keep wearing contacts. They suit you better.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I say nothing, focusing instead on pulling the end of the tie through, only to find that I’ve made it way too short. “Hold on, I have to redo.”

He waits quietly, as I loosen and adjust, and then go through the steps again, my fingers grazing against his body occasionally. Each swipe makes my skin tingle and my breathing more uneven.

“There. I think that’s perfect,” I whisper, taking a step back to admire him. God, he is stunning. I honestly can’t tell which look I like more: the businessman or the lumberjack. Both are equally hot.

But I’ll bet neither can complete with Henry Wolf, naked.

I’ve never even seen a man naked and I’m thinking about that right now? Ten minutes in to being his assistant? How on earth am I going to work alongside him for the next four months and maintain my composure?

“Good?”

I duck my head, smiling shyly. “Yes. You’re definitely ready for... whatever you’re doing today.”

He laughs. “Exactly how I expect the person managing my calendar to answer. Come.” His fingertips brush the small of my back, the heat from them searing my skin, as he ushers me past his rumpled sheets. “You can make my bed for me later.” There’s amusement in his voice.

Now the comment he made in the truck yesterday after I admitted to not being able to properly make a bed makes sense.

Henry leads me to the desk. He digs out an iPhone from the drawer. “So I can reach you at all times. It works everywhere on the property. And here are my passwords to my e-mail accounts and my voice mail. Save them in your phone and then shred this note. You can access my e-mail with my computer. Feel free to open any e-mail that comes in unless it’s marked confidential in the subject line. Those are not to be opened. Belinda will be by with a laptop and I believe she has already given you an iPad.”

“Yes, last night.” So I could study hours of useless information to be a liaison, it would seem. Why wouldn’t she tell me that I was going to be Henry’s assistant?

“Good. You’re all set then. I have about forty conference call requests in my inbox. Please get them booked in for this week, between 5:00 and 8:00 a.m. Pacific time. Whatever length of time the requester has set, cut it in half.” He scans his watch. “A few key people are arriving this morning. I need to meet them at the helicopter pad shortly.” He collects the suit jacket that lies across his couch and slides his taut, muscular arms into it. “The suit hanging behind my door needs to go to the cleaners. Belinda has already made arrangements for the day, but make dinner reservations for three at Lux for 7:00 p.m. Ensure Cedric is available to us for wine selection, and that Phil is ready with the plane for our excursion tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m.”

My mind is spinning as he’s firing off instructions. Grabbing a pen and pad, I quickly jot down the important names and times, because those will be the first I forget.

He stops at the door. “Oh, one other thing. In here, when it’s just the two of us, it’s okay to call me Henry. But outside of these walls, it’s Mr. Wolf at all times. Is that understood?”

“Yes. Understood.” It’s a good reminder that this man is my boss. I need to douse whatever fire my body wants to stoke for him.

“So?”

“So...”

“I assume you’re accepting this job.”

This is my chance to get out of this predicament.

Oh, who am I kidding? “Yes. Of course I am.” I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, nervously. “I hope I’m what you’re looking for.”

“To be honest, you are not what I was expecting.” He pauses, and a flash of something dark flickers in his eyes. “But I think you’re
exactly
what I’m looking for while I’m here.”

What
exactly
is he looking for then? Because if it’s me, then it’s not a competent, experienced assistant. But I will try.

A knock on the door sounds. “That will be your employment contract.” He opens the door and Belinda steps through.

She smiles and then, seeing me standing there, sets the paperwork and a laptop down on the side table. “Abbi, please read over and sign this as soon as possible. The laptop is to stay here at all times.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

She looks to Henry. “Can I have a word with you?
In private
?”

That’s my cue. “I’ll take that suit to the cleaners,” I offer, rushing to his bedroom to grab it and head for the servants’ door. That was one of Paige’s strict directives: always use staff entrances and exits wherever possible.

I’ve stepped outside, suit slung over my shoulder, and the door is about to close when I realize that I left my key inside. My hand blocks the door just before it shuts and locks on me, relieved that I don’t have to start off on the wrong foot by ringing the doorbell to gain entry.

“I still don’t understand why you wanted
her
. She has no hotel or corporate experience,” I hear Belinda say through the servants’ entrance, still ajar to Henry’s cabin.

I freeze, knowing they’re talking about me, but unable to keep myself from listening.

“She has
some
experience. And she’s a college student with exceptional grades,” Henry offers.

I’m a straight-A student.
But how does he know that?

“She didn’t interview well. She shook through the entire interview, wringing her hands like a worried mother hen.”

“She was nervous.”

“She’s awkward. And frumpy.”

I don’t think there’s anything worse than eavesdropping while someone talks negatively about you. I should go, but now I’m afraid they’ll hear the door creak open again, and figure out that I was still here all this time.

“Not everyone looks like you, Belinda,” Henry says, and I can hear irritation in his voice beginning to mount. I don’t know if I should find comfort at his words.

“She doesn’t fit the Wolf employee mold. Did you see that cheap small-town special she wore to the interview?”

I didn’t think it was
that
bad.

“You’re making some bad choices lately, Henry.”

“What the hell is your problem?” he snaps.

Yes, exactly.
What does Belinda have against me working for Henry? I’ve never done anything to her!

“Is this about Kiera?” she asks.

Who’s Kiera? Henry’s ex?

Silence hangs in the room and I take a step closer to the door, afraid I’ll miss his answer.

“I heard things got ugly. And expensive.” Belinda’s voice has turned soft, more cautious, as if she knows she’s treading on thin ice. “I got a call from your father a few days ago.”

“For fuck’s sakes,” he grumbles, and then heaves a sigh of exasperation. “A
few days
ago? Why didn’t you tell me right away? What did he want?” This is a new Henry, and not a happy one at that.

“He asked me if there was anything going on up here that he should be worried about.”

“And you told him what?”

She clears her throat. “That everything was going smoothly.”

“Good. Let that be the answer every time he calls.”

“And will it be the truth?”

“I don’t like this version of you, Belinda. You work for
me
.”

“I work for Wolf, and right now that’s still William Wolf, until he officially hands the company over to you. And I’ve worked too hard for this company to have it all go down the drain because you’re fucking some farm girl. She’s twenty-one!”

My mouth drops open in shock with the suggestion. She thinks he... we’re...
why would she think that?

Henry starts to laugh. It’s not a happy sound, though. “Is that what this is all about? Are you jealous of Abbi? What’s wrong, Belinda? You’re starting to panic about the big forty coming up?”

“Fuck you.” The contrite woman is gone again.

“Don’t forget who gave you this job,” he warns through a growl. “I chose the farm girl to avoid any more headaches.”

“Well, she’s not exactly
ugly
.”

“No, she’s not,” he agrees. “But she is a
girl
, pining for some spineless dickhead who dumped her and is never coming back. Insecure, stupid little girls don’t attract me, Belinda. You know that.”

My cheeks burn with hurt and confusion. He just finished telling me that I was a smart woman, and I lapped it up. Now I’m an insecure, stupid little girl?

“Maybe I need to be reminded.”

I frown at the suggestive tone in Belinda’s words.

There’s a long, lingering pause, unsettling my nerves. “Wolf Hotels will be mine next month, and you won’t have a job here if you don’t inform me the second my father calls next time.” Henry delivers that threat in a curt, no-nonsense tone that I never want him to use with me. “And if you ever feel like giving him truths, how about you tell him how much you loved having my dick in your mouth while we were opening that hotel in Istanbul. Find out if he thinks that was professional.”