Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Hannah snatched the cup away aggressively and stomped out of the room, closing the door with a bit more force than was necessary. The insufferable man never even said thank you, let alone told her she was doing a good job. He never said anything but bark out an order and talk to more important people on his phone.
He was a complete jerk.
–
She was a pleasant surprise. She handled the myriad of responsibilities he threw at her with looked like relative ease. And her defiant attitude hadn't escaped his notice either. He didn't think she was aware of it, but she had a tendency to mumble under her breath. While he couldn't be absolutely certain, he was pretty sure she said something about gratitude and happy employees. And how money couldn't buy people good manners.
To him, it was a nice change from the meek and timid assistants he had scared away or fired for sheer incompetence in the past few years. She brewed his coffee too strong, no doubt due to her own caffeine addiction and her somewhat annoyed disposition.
He wasn't going to pretend he hadn't noticed her appearance, though he tried to keep his gaze on his work. She was a stunningly beautiful woman. He had realized that the moment he had laid eyes on her in the interview room the day before. There was something about her sharp cheekbones, gray eyes, and black hair that screamed of a strong personality and a sharp mind. Her frame was much more curvy than you generally found in fashion magazines, but the undeniably feminine figure was altogether too appealing to him.
But he had enough on his plate with work, and his incompetent brother, and the seemingly obsessed legal assistant he had taken out to dinner the night before. She had called eight times already. He was embarrassed for her. And even if it wasn't for all of that, he knew better than to ruin the one decent employee-employer relationship he had had for years.
And he was too old for her.
God, when did he get too old? Somewhere between college and the building of his headquarters or the merger with the East Trading Company that truly gave the company its financial security. Somewhere between knowing he had all the time in the world and, well... not.
Then there she was again with that harsh set to her eyebrows, his coffee cup in one hand and a manila folder in the other. She had a pen stabbed through the bun in her hair and a smudge of what looked like copy machine toner on her jawbone.
"Coffee," she said, placing it in front of him then dropping the obviously packed folder on the side of his desk, "and copies of all the mail responses." She picked up the pile of paperwork that needed to be faxed off his desk and cradled it against her hip. "Now about the housekeeper," she started, waiting for him to show some sign that he knew she even existed.
"What about it? I asked you to handle that."
Asked? He hadn't asked for anything. Hannah took a deep breath and refused to let herself get any more frustrated. "Yes, Mr. Michaels," she began in a voice that sounded much like her mother's when she was a child and kept asking things of her when she was obviously otherwise occupied- patient, yet irritated. "But you did not specify how often said housekeeper was to be employed, how much you will offer as a salary, and if you wanted me to do the interviews or line them up for you to do yourself."
"Indeed? Have I been so negligent?" he asked, taking his eyes off his paperwork and looking directly at her. She fought the urge to squirm under the discomfort of his striking blue eyes. "I need a housekeeper three days a week for as long as it takes her to clean the house. The salary will be two-hundred dollars a day, flat rate regardless of how long it takes to make the house immaculate," he paused, seeming to debate something in his head. "You will line them up and interview them and, ultimately, will have the job of terminating them if they do not live up to my standards. Am I clear?"
"Abundantly," she said, her voice dry as chalk.
He liked that quality of hers; how she could make one agreeable word sound like a battle cry of mutiny. Somehow he knew she would do the job and do it well just so she could shove it in his face that she knew what she was doing and did not need to be talked down to. He wouldn't be surprised if this new housekeeper was the most qualified, fastidious, and diligent housekeeper he, or anyone else, had ever had.
"Is there anything else?" she asked when he was silent for a moment.