Personal Assistant, page 1
Rex Sterling
Personal Assistant
Copyright © 2022 by Rex Sterling
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Coming to Terms
Full House
Work Day
Mistake
Squeaky Clean
Swimming Instructor
Starry Night
Bathroom Break
New Normal
Taking a Ride
Up in Smoke
Also by Rex Sterling
Coming to Terms
“Why are you people even considering replacing her?” I sat back and glared at the stuffed suits surrounding the polished mahogany table inside the all-glass conference room.
Four women and two men held seats on the Sky Fitness Wear board of directors. To a person, they sat in their plush, leather chairs staring at their laptops, stone-faced, not daring to confront me. The longer they went without responding, the more pissed off I grew. I was about to say something when Roger Hartwell, the president of the board, finally came forward to answer me.
He leaned forward with both elbows on the table his expression conciliatory. “Dan, we understand how much you care for Brooke. Our decision has nothing to do with her level of competence. It’s simply a matter of experience. Or rather, the lack of life experience she requires to take Sky to the next level. She hasn’t been through the wars that define top executives.” As he spoke, his double-chin wobbled like a bowl of warm gelatin. Then there was the blinding light shining off his thinning scalp that distracted me.
Why had Reggie insisted on keeping the old dinosaur on the board of directors? He was an obese, sixty-two-year-old man representing the interests of an athletic apparel line targeting young professional women. He was the extreme opposite of my former company’s target demographic.
“She’s so inexperienced that your profits rose twenty percent, your costs came down ten percent, and you have record high employee retention. Brooke Raven should be the face of this company. She knows this place better than anyone and that includes her dad or even me back when I ran this place.”
“We’re not saying there isn’t a place for her,” Roger said. “The company is experiencing exponential growth. Thus, the board feels a veteran hand is necessary to captain the ship around rocky shores.”
His cliched answer sounded straight out of a corporate press release — say something and nothing at the same time. That response coming from Roger didn’t surprise me. But I wanted to hear from the other board members. Specifically, the women.
I turned my glare on the silent majority who sat on their hands. “Are there any dissenting opinions?” I leveled my gaze at Fatima Zahra, who was the youngest woman on the board. If there was anyone who might have Brooke’s back, it was her.
Fatima shifted nervously in her seat and averted her gaze. “Brooke’s great,” she said. “Someday she will run this company. Right now, I think she’s better off learning from someone who’s been a CEO before. That’s especially true when negotiating with suppliers. When our current contracts expire, I’m afraid her lack of experience might eventually add to our costs.”
“What makes you believe she wouldn’t be every bit as tenacious as Reggie? Her father was the CEO until the day he died.” I scanned the faces in the room. “She learned from Reggie Raven, who was the best of the best.”
“Dan, I understand your fondness for Brooke and for her wellbeing,” Roger said. “We all love Brooke and I miss Reggie as much as you, but this is business.”
“Which is why your decision is so puzzling,” I said. “Here you have a terrific, talented, eager executive who is passionate about the company who holds degrees from the best universities and comes in everyday with one purpose in mind — to make Sky Apparel the best it can be. Have you seen our brand Q-scores? They’ve gone up ten points in the last year.”
Roger leaned forward with some heat behind his eyes. “I’m not arguing —”
“The world is changing,” I said, cutting him off. “We live in a diverse, digitally connected, multi-cultural world. Brooke understands that. Have you asked her about her vision? I have. She’s thinking global with ideas to penetrate new markets Reggie and I never dreamed of.”
As much as I wanted to berate Roger, Fatima, and the rest of the stooges on the board of directors, I needed their vote. Putting them on the defensive would lead to Brooke’s downfall. I let out a held breath. “I appreciate your position.” Then I turned to the other stuffed suits. “Thanks to each of you for the kind words following Reggie’s death last year. His daughters and I appreciate your willingness to let Brooke lead for the past year. Our conversation back then was that if Brooke proved herself, the job was hers. She took that to heart, and I believe she’s accomplished that.”
The room fell silent while the whir of the air conditioner kicked on through an overhead vent. “My vote is for Brooke, and since I still have some skin in this company, that should count for something.” I slowly scanned the faces who stared back at me wearing unreadable expressions. “Please… give her the shot she has earned.” I sat back in my chair and stared at the glossy tabletop before me.
It was a long few seconds before Roger spoke. “Dan, if you wouldn’t mind leaving the room, we can discuss and call you back in after the vote.”
“Sure.” I stood and ran my fingers through my shaggy brown hair, before I came around the table and left the conference room.
I stepped out into the foyer, and Brooke’s head popped out of her office. Her big green eyes pooled with nervous energy. “What did they say?”
Even when she was a bundle of nerves, the twenty-five-year-old chief executive was even more stunningly beautiful than the last time I saw her at Reggie’s funeral. With rich, strawberry-blonde hair that flowed over her shoulders, it was easy to discount Brooke Raven as just another pretty face. But I knew Brooke. She was way more than that.
I crossed the lobby and stole a glance back over my shoulder. “It went well,” I said, lying through my teeth.
Brooke rolled her eyes. “You suck at lying. Come in here and tell me everything.”
I stepped into Brooke’s modest office as she shut the door behind us.
“They’re voting right now,” I said.
A potted plant sat on the corner of her tidy oak desk. A laptop sat in the center, surrounded by two monitors. Warm lamplight lit the room, and the one window in her office overlooked downtown Atlanta below. Even after her father’s death, Brooke kept her old office, saying that she had to earn the right to sit in Reggie Raven’s seat.
Brooke sat in one of the two chairs fronting her desk while I took the other.
She swiveled the chair around to face me with her bare feet showing. “I saw you getting very animated in there. What happened?”
Like her little sisters, Brooke had an endearing southern accent that made me swoon every time I heard her speak. I stole a glance at her shapely legs sprouting from beneath the hemline of her business skirt. My stomach dipped with butterflies as guilt washed over me. As her godfather, I shouldn’t find her sexually attractive, but my eyes, body, and brain had a different agenda. “I was selling you,” I said. “No one can do this job better than you.”
At some point, she had kicked off her high-heel shoes. I noticed them peeking out from under her desk. That explained the bare feet. She tucked one of her shapely legs beneath her and frowned slightly.
“You’re sweet,” she said. “And you’re also very biased. They think I’m too young, don’t they?”
She wore a white silk blouse that offset her hip-hugging navy blue skirt. She frowned at me with her arms folded over her chest, forcing her ample breasts together where they formed a deep, mouthwatering crease that hugged the curve of her ample chest.
What was I thinking, looking at Brooke that way? I needed to throw a lifeline to my mind and pull it out of the gutter. “They don’t know this business like you do,” I said.
Brooke shifted in her seat, causing the crease to come loose. She leaned forward and sighed, resting her elbows on her knees. When she looked up at me, my insides turned to mush. “You
I laughed. “The amount of bullshit I endured led me to selling most of my shares to your father and retreating to the Bahamas for an early retirement.”
“You know what I mean,” Brooke said, then she let out a sigh. “I’m a young woman living in a man’s world.”
“Let’s see what they say. Maybe my pep talk changed a few minds.”
“You’re coming over tonight, right?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll stop by the hotel to change, and —”
“Hotel?” Brooke’s eyes widened in surprise. “You are not staying in a hotel. We’ve made up the guest room for you.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I said.
“Lillie and Elle will kill me if you stay in a hotel. Besides, with daddy gone, it’s just the three of us all alone in that big house. It will feel good to have a man around, even if it’s only for a few days.”
“I don’t want to impose,” I said.
“Dan, you are family,” she said. “I would be crushed if you stayed in a hotel.”
“Fine,” I said. Staying at Reggie’s old house would be much better than a hotel, but it wouldn’t help diminish the urges I was feeling for Brooke. “By the way, how’s Peter doing?”
Peter was Brooke’s boyfriend, who I mentored during my time with the company. He was now the VP of marketing and had dated Brooke for a little over two years.
She sighed. “Fine, I guess. He keeps hinting around about an engagement.”
“You don’t sound excited,” I said. “I thought you liked Peter.”
“I like him just fine, but right now, my focus needs to be on Sky.”
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket. “They’re ready.”
She folded her arms over her chest and nodded nervously. “I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
When I entered the conference room, all eyes turned to me and this time I saw smiling faces.
Relief washed through me, and I hovered at the end of the table, grinning with them. “Judging by those faces, it looks you all had a change of heart.”
Roger grinned. “We did. You were very persuasive.”
“Great.” I clapped my hands. “I’ll bring Brooke in, and we can tell her.”
“Dan, wait a second on that,” Roger said, causing me to stop in my tracks.
I turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. “Why do I feel like I’m about to hear a yes, but?”
Roger’s smile faded. “We’re not asking much,” he said. “Brooke stays on as CEO as long as you agree to come back and ride shotgun with her for one year, advising her as needed. That’s especially true during vendor negotiations, including the upcoming trip to Italy.”
I knew something like this would happen. I sighed. “If I don’t come out of retirement, you’ll vote to replace her?”
Roger’s smile returned. “You’re only forty-two. That’s way too young to retire, anyway. But, yes. If you don’t agree, we’ll hire someone else, and Brooke will learn the ropes from him or her. So, what’s it going to be?”
Full House
By the time we reached the Raven’s estate on the outskirts of town, the sun was fading over the horizon, and I had ditched the suit for my favorite pair of jeans.
I stood in Reggie’s old kitchen, which was an airy indoor-outdoor space. An entire wall could open and close depending on the weather, making it feel like the outdoor patio, pool, hot tub, and bar extended into the house. Reggie had outdone himself when he built the place. It was too bad he didn’t live long enough to enjoy it.
With both parents deceased, the Raven sisters lived in the big house alone, which never sat well with me. Not that the trio of twenty- something females needed any help. They were each more than capable of looking out for themselves. My worry was for their safety, and for that reason, I had strongly considered moving back to Atlanta following Reggie’s untimely death. A big part of me was relieved that I was actually here and could watch over them the way Reggie would have wanted.
As Brooke brought her sisters up to speed on the board of director’s decision, I uncorked two bottles of wine, one white and one red, before pouring glasses for the lovely ladies huddled around me.
Lillie turned a wide grin on me. “That means you’re moving back to Atlanta?” Like Brooke and Elle, Lillie had a melodic southern drawl so sweet I could almost taste it.
At twenty, Lillie Raven was the youngest of the three sisters and the only one left in college. She had golden blonde hair, blue eyes, and a personality that continually drew others to her orbit. She had also left a trail of broken hearts in her path, quickly dispensing with boys whenever they bored her or turned possessive.
With a body to match her personality, it was easy to see why every boy wanted to be with her and every girl wanted to be her friend. Today she wore a pair of tight gray shorts that clung to her tight ass like a fresh coat of paint. Then there were her breasts, practically bursting from a Sky brand sports bra.
“I’ll probably rent a place close to the office downtown,” I said. “Then I can just walk to work.”
“Daniel Pierce, you are not renting an apartment,” Elle said, still wearing her nursing scrubs after her day shift at the hospital.
Elle was only a couple of years older than Lillie and a month out of college. Like Brooke and Lillie, she had inherited the fair-haired genes sporting, lush, shiny golden blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Where Lillie was petite and Brooke was of average height, Elle was statuesque. Her hour-glass figure looked straight out of the pages of a Maxim shoot, and whenever she pranced around the house in a bikini, I averted my gaze for fear she could read my lecherous thoughts.
Brooke leaned against the kitchen counter and sipped on the glass of white wine I handed her. “Agreed. You are living here with us. This is your home, too, and that’s the end of the discussion.”
“I don’t want to get in the way,” I said. “You’re all young and single. I don’t want to cramp your style.”
“This place gets creepy at night,” Lillie said. “I’ll sleep better with you here.”
“Same,” Elle said. “Besides, now I can cook for someone.”
“You cook for Mark,” Brooke said.
Elle was already engaged to a twenty-nine-year-old surgical resident she met while she was still in school. It irked me that a man turning thirty was preying on college girls, but I understood the appeal. Elle wouldn’t last long on the open market, especially since she had always dreamed of a fairy tale wedding.
“Mark is always working,” Elle said. “Plus, Danny loves my cooking.” Her blue eyes lit up as they settled on me.
My stomach fluttered and, without thinking, my gaze flashed to the subtle cleavage sprouting from Elle’s scrubs. I quickly averted my gaze as a wave of fresh guilt swelled inside me. “I’ll never turn down one of your home-cooked meals. It’s not every day a genuine southern belle offers to cook for me.”
“You’re such a kiss ass,” Lillie said, laughing. “But I won’t turn down a home cooked meal either. We haven’t had one of those in….” She frowned and gazed upward as if searching through her memories. “Since before daddy died.”
“We’ve all been disconnected for way too long,” Brooke said as she stared into the bottom of her wineglass. “Since daddy passed, we’ve all been adrift.”
The room fell silent as Elle and Lillie nodded, their eyes glassy, as if lost in thought.
“Then it’s time to reconnect,” I said. “Let’s make Sunday night, family night. We’ll have a home-cooked meal courtesy of Eloise, and I’ll dazzle you all with my homemade ice cream.”
A huge smile split Elle’s face. “I love that idea.”
“Me too,” Brooke said. “We can watch a movie together afterward.”
“Even better,” I said.
Then Lillie slipped off the kitchen stool, came around the big island and surprised me by wrapping her arms around my waist and drawing me into a tight hug. “I’m glad you’re here, Danny.” She squeezed me tight and lovingly rested her head against my chest.
The warm scent of honey and vanilla washed over me, leaving my mind foggy with lust. My cock reacted, stiffening in my shorts as I held out my arms, unsure of what to do. When she crept in closer, I wrapped my arms loosely around her shoulders and gave her a fatherly hug while my thoughts filled with visions of pumping Lillie’s tight little pussy doggy style as she grinned at me from over her shoulder.
