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She stopped. I watched her back heave as she lifted her chin to the ceiling, sighing dramatically. “Yes?”
I shot her a little grin from where I hung ten feet off the ground. “Try not to be so obvious when you stare at me.”
Her mouth opened and closed, searching for words to say before she decided it wasn’t worth it and slammed her way through the door. It was far too easy and enjoyable to mess with her. I didn’t allow myself to stop and think about the why.
————
Ray stood in front of my desk, her sleeves over her palms, her hands wringing together. Her arms were tucked close to her body, pushing her breasts together, and I wondered if that was a learned behavior for getting what she wanted or if she was doing it without realizing it. “I need to ask you for a favor.”
“If you need to leave, that’s fine,” I said, tearing my gaze from what she was practically giving me on a silver platter. Don’t ogle her. I focused instead on my computer, opening up the software I needed for my meeting at three.
“It’s not that.” She took a deep inhale, letting it simmer in her lungs before she blew it out. “I need to ask you for an advance.”
My brows rose as I turned my attention back to her and the way her arms folded in. “Well, that’s unexpected.”
“I know you have no reason to say yes,” she started, taking one step toward my desk before stopping herself. “And I know that’s a lot to ask since I’m new. I’m sorry to have to put you in this kind of position.”
I fiddled with my lip, using my thumb and forefinger to roll it as I thought about it. “Your contract states that you have no access to advance pay before the end of your probation period?—”
“I know what my contract states.” She gulped, her chin bobbing. “I just really need the money as soon as possible.”
Under any other circumstance, the answer would have been a hard no. She’d only been working for me for three weeks. She wasn’t due her first paycheck for another week, and someone so new was a flight risk. Who’s to say she wouldn’t take the money she hadn’t earned yet and run?
“Please,” she breathed.
“Can you tell me why I should bend the contract for you?” I asked. Every part of me wanted to say yes, and I didn’t know if that was because she presented as an inherently trustworthy person or just because my cock twitched when I saw her.
Another gulp, another sigh while she tried to find the words she needed. “The home health team needs me to make a payment by tomorrow for my mom’s care. If I don’t, then she won’t have anyone to watch her next week.”
Fuck. How on earth was I supposed to say no to that?
“If you don’t mind, Ray, can I ask why your mother needs such intensive care?”
The way she looked at me made something snap in my chest. Wide, glassy eyes, locked onto mine, hopeless and helpless. “She was diagnosed with early-onset dementia about five years ago.”
I didn’t know what to say, didn’t know if there was anything I could say to that. It wasn’t the time for jokes or snide remarks or making her squirm. She was showing me her vulnerable side, her desperate side, and it clocked then why she was the way she was. Why she was so uptight, so serious, so busy. I knew she had to look after her mother, but not to that extent.
“If you can’t?—”
“I can,” I interrupted, pulling up my emails and starting a new one. “I’ll let payroll know. It should hit your account by the time you finish work.”
I didn’t look at her. Couldn’t. I heard the little sniffle she made, heard the clicking of her heels as she turned to the door. “Thank you,” she said, her voice small, almost unbearable.
And then she was gone, back on the other side of the impenetrable glass, and the gears and cogs in my mind turned and turned. She had her own problems, her own issues that made her who she was. Serious, beautiful, controlling. Feisty in a way that made my blood boil. Strong, hardworking. A perfect candidate for not just her job, but for a date to Chloe’s wedding.
She was going to fucking hate me for it.
Chapter 9
Ray
The thick, heavy weight of embarrassment sat on my shoulders as I stared at Wade’s stupid compendium. I knew he could see me, and I could’ve shut the blinds if I wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to get out of my seat after what I’d just practically begged him for. The only thing I wanted to do was put my head down, scream into a pillow, and cry.
“Bunny” after bunny, I read their bios. The only positive I would give him was that he hadn’t explained their bodies in graphic detail for his own pleasure. It was purely who they were, what they did, and what they liked. It was still mind-numbing though. Managing his women was the worst part of my day, and now it was my entire day.
It seemed like every day was getting harder and harder. Wade was infuriating, and although he’d granted me a request I greatly appreciated, he was still an ass. A difficult man, obsessed with his own looks and how many women he could bed, making my role as his assistant nearly unbearable.
I knew I couldn’t do this long term. It was sucking the life out of me so much so that when I got home every day and relieved the nurse I didn’t have the energy or mental capacity to care for Mom properly. She shouldn’t have to suffer just because I was.
