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“Don’t call me Mr. Williams,” he said quietly. “Then stop looking at me like I’m about to be fired,” I shot back. That was my first week as the personal assistant to Jace Williams, the most untouchable CEO in the building. Cold voice. Perfect suits. A man who controlled rooms with silence. I was supposed to bring him coffee. Schedules. Contracts. Not cookies. “Why are there sweets on my desk?” “You didn’t say you hated them.” “I hate distractions.” His eyes stayed on me when he said it. Every order came sharp. Every correction closer than necessary. “Eight thirty. Not a minute earlier.” “Yes, Mr. Williams.” His jaw tightened. “You’ll call me Jace.” I learned quickly that rules bent when emotions slipped. When hot coffee spilled on my wrists, he moved before I could breathe. “Don’t move.” His hands were steady. His voice wasn’t. In the office, he was all control. In the silence between us, he was something else. “You shouldn’t let men flirt with you at work,” he said. “Are you worried about productivity,” I asked, “or about me?” He didn’t answer. He just stepped closer. That was the problem with Jace Williams. Every look felt like a warning. Every pause felt like a promise. And I was starting to wonder which one he’d break first. ***** Jace Crazy snow everywhere. Why the heck did I have to open my tech business in Denver, Colorado? Oh, that’s right, because it was cheaper than California. I dodged a graying mass of melted snow on the ground, trying not to slip on my bottom, as I walked past a mother laden down with what looked like a hundred shopping bags. The Christmas season was the worst. Everyone out on the icy roads, not paying attention and causing accidents, because they don’t know how to drive in winter. People walking the sidewalks, shopping for presents, for ungrateful children to open on Christmas morning. Christmas decorations were all over the place, and every shop I passed I could hear cheery Christmas music. Bah, I hated it all. I was happy I didn’t have any family that I had to act all cheerful for during the holidays. I grew up in the system. My mother got pregnant at fourteen, her parents made her give me up. My father was her fifteen-year-old boyfriend and didn’t want me either. So into the system I went. They say people want to adopt newborns, but I didn’t experience that. In fact, I went from foster home to foster home, until I was put in a group home when I was ten, and that’s where I stayed until I aged out at eighteen. I went from there, to a Marine recruiter, and into the military until I got out after twenty years. My last tour was brutal. Enemy combatants had a family on their knees. A father, mother and their three young children. They were going to execute them for helping the Americans hide from them, except they targeted the wrong family. As one of the men lifted his gun to shoot the ten-year-old little girl, I ran out of the hut we were hiding in. I started shooting, first him, and then the others. My men laid down cover fire as I scooped two of the children up and yelled at the family to follow me. We were almost to safety when a bullet entered my left side, missing my protection and missing my heart, by millimeters. But I didn’t stop from getting the family to safety. Then I kept engaging with the enemy until I got the family and my men out of danger. I didn’t know how I stayed on my feet as I bled from my wound. I was awarded a Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor. After I healed, I decided to retire. The nightmares were too much for me. I needed counseling and I made sure I never missed appointments in the two years that I’ve been out. Without the military as my career, I did what I knew best. I put the money that I had saved over the years into opening my own tech company. It is the fastest growing tech company in the country at the moment. We invented a paper thin translucent translation device that you put behind your ear. It can translate fifty different languages that you can understand. I had contracts with the military and foreign countries that we provided the devices to. We recently invented a listening device that couldn’t be detected and that was so small you could put it anywhere, and it would pick up any conversation you wanted to hear, in whatever room you had it in, or the person you had it on. Right now, I wasn’t in a good mood. My current personal assistant was leaving me for retirement. I didn’t know how I was going to get on without Miles. He did everything for me so I could concentrate on my business. I was very upset with him. I finally got to my therapist's office and waited at the elevator impatiently. I only had an hour before I had to be back at the office. When the doors opened, a stunning long-haired brunette, with honey-colored eyes, and luscious curves, almost bowled me over in her haste to leave the elevator. “Oh, I’m so sorry, sir. I’m almost late for my interview.” “It’s no problem, but maybe next time don’t be in such a rush,” I said to her, as I stepped into the elevator, and hit the second floor. I swear I heard her mutter the word rude as the doors closed. I just shrugged. After my session, I felt a little drained. I took out a tin from my inner pocket and popped two tylenol for the small headache that was forming behind my eyes. My driver was waiting for me right outside the building's doors. Thank God. He had to drop me off a block over before, because of traffic. “Back to the office, Jace?” Sly asked. “Yes, Sly, and please hurry. I have a meeting in thirty minutes.” “Yes sir.” I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. A pair of honey colored eyes popped into my head. She was beautiful. She was in a red sweater that didn’t hide her ample clevage and a black pencil skirt. She had worn black and white high heels. Her legs were amazing. With her heels on, the top of her head was at the bridge of my nose. I was 6ft exactly, so my guess was she was 5 ‘5 without shoes. She smelled delicious. Like warm sugar. I noticed she had a nice figure as I watched her walk away before the elevator doors closed. Her skirt fit snugly at her hips. My thoughts wandered at the memory. Wow, it's been a while since I had a proper break. Maybe I should distract myself differently. I had a number of things I could do to relax. No, I'm too busy right now. We had to get ready to launch the listening device. I had a month to test them in various places and on various people. I wanted to launch the devices right after the New Year. Sly drove into the underground parking lot. I thanked him as he dropped me off at my private elevator. When I stepped off of the elevator at the top floor of my building, a flurry of activity assaulted me. Phones rang, people talked, papers were shuffled. As I walked by desks that contained twenty of the most brilliant minds, people avoided eye contact with me. I was fine with that. I wasn’t their friend, I was their boss. I rounded the corner that would take me to my office and, again for the second time that day, I was almost bowled over. To my surprise, it was by the same brunette. “What are you doing here?” We both said at the same time. “This is my business, I am Jace Williams and you?” I asked. “Oh, I’m Ashlynn Walker. I just interviewed to be your temporary assistant." “Absolutely not,” I hissed. I would not get any work done with this woman being around me. “Excuse me? I’ll let you know I am highly qualified. I’m multilingual. I can also read and write in the languages I know. I know how to get whatever you need with the connections I have around this city. And I have no responsibilities, so I would be at your beck and call.” Again, my thoughts reacted strongly to that. My mind was very distracted today, especially when it came to this woman My eyes narrowed. She was highly qualified. I looked over her shoulder and I saw Miles staring at us. He was nodding his head, letting me know that she was hired. I rolled my eyes and looked back at her. “Fine, get to HR and give them your information and get your badge. I expect you to be here tomorrow morning at six a.m.” She smiled a brilliant smile at me. I stopped breathing. Holy wow, her smile was dazzling, and she had a dimple on her right cheek. “Thank you, Mr. Williams, I won’t disappoint you. Miles has already given me all the information I need on you. I promise, I will be the best personal assistant. See you tomorrow morning.” She didn’t wait for me to acknowledge her statement. She walked away in those impossibly high heels and I couldn’t take my eyes off her figure. A throat cleared and I turned my head. Miles was now standing right next to me. “You hired a woman.” “I did. She’s brilliant, sweet, organized, tech-savvy and multilingual. Some of the languages she mentioned speaking were Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean to name a few. But she said she could speak more. She’s also got an impressive list of connections. She’s perfect,” Miles said. “She’s too beautiful,” I snapped, as I made my way into my office and he followed. “Are you telling me you won’t be able to concentrate because of a pretty girl?” He smirked at me, and I scowled at him. He may be a father figure in my life, but he didn’t have to be so insolent. “Of course, I’ll be able to concentrate. But she might be a distraction for others in the office.” “Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle that. Now, on to business. I will be training her over the next week. I honestly don’t foresee any problems with her. You have an eleven am call with Germany in ten minutes. Then at two you have a meeting with the shareholders, and at six you have a meeting with Mr. Gray Knight. He is the gentleman who is interested in two hundred thousand listening devices for his personal security firm.” “Okay, thank you. What scent do you think she wears?” “Her scent?” “Yes, it smelled sweet and delicious. She made me hungry. Tell her not to wear it again.” “Mmhmm, I’ll do that. Anything else?” “Have Maggie type up the contracts I’ve outlined for Mr. Knight and then I need some coffee and something to eat, please.” “Right away, Jace. You know I’ll miss you. You’ve been the son I never had. If you weren’t such a grump I’d let you pursue Vivian, but my sweet girl would eat you alive, so maybe not.” I chuckled, he was not wrong. His daughter was a ball-buster. Any man that gets together with her will have to have a strong will. I waved him off to do his duties. I was going to miss the old man. Warning mention of abuse, physical, s*xual, mental and emotional. Ashlynn What a grump. I can’t believe that’s what I am going to have to deal with for the next few months until the company can find a permanent solution. I can’t let his negativity get me down. No, I was the new and improved Ashlynn Walker. I was no longer a doormat, I was no longer someone that would be beat down physically, mentally or emotionally. Nope not anymore. Keep telling yourself that girl and maybe it will stick one day. Daily affirmations, remember what your therapist said. Speak it into truth. Sighing, I kicked off my shoes as I entered my one-bedroom apartment, which wasn’t too shabby. It was on the top floor of the Bently apartment complex. It had its own balcony that I had decorated with Christmas lights, and it had the most important thing during a Colorado winter. Heating. I walked to the kitchen and started on making some homemade hot chocolate. I also got ingredients out to make some Italian Wedding cookies and Chocolate Chip cookies. For the next hour, I baked and filled four thermoses with hot chocolate. As I baked the cookies I thought about how long it had taken me to get to where I am at today. Three years ago I was newly married to who I thought was the love of my life. Ben, who I had met at the hotel I was working at. I was working at the front desk at Hotel Lemonde. An upscale hotel that catered to the very rich. Ben was the assistant to Harry Kilmore, one of the richest men in Colorado. He owned almost all the commercial real estate in Aurora and Englewood. He was trying to conquer Denver at the moment, which was why he was at Hotel Lemonde. While Ben worked during the day, he would stop by the front desk and flirt with me. I was twenty-two and he was a sophisticated thirty-five. He was truly smooth with his flattery. I fell hard and fast. He wined and dined me while he was at the Lemonde. We both caught feelings, and we married down at city hall. It was dumb on his part because he made massive amounts more money than I did, and he never made me sign a prenup. It was dumb on my part, because I didn’t know the real Ben Newsome. Right away he wanted me to quit my job and stay home. His reasoning was he wanted to get me pregnant right away, and he wanted a housewife. I refused at first, which started our first fight, but then I relented, because I loved him. Home for him was in Boulder, Colorado, so I packed up my stuff and moved to my father's consternation. He didn’t like Ben, especially because of the way we married. He felt it was sneaky. We didn’t tell anyone. Our witnesses were two people we pulled off of the street before we walked into City Hall. It didn’t last six months before I found the phone numbers on napkins. Lipstick marks on his work shirt collars, and open used wrappers in his car, and jacket pockets. I confronted him and he said I was delusional. That those wrappers could have been there from before we got married, or from us. That the lipstick marks were just from friends that he had hugged. The phone numbers he said he ignored. Then why keep them? I secretly stayed on birth control because I couldn’t bring myself to have a child with him, if he was going to cheat on me. I needed a way out, so I started gathering evidence. I took video of me cleaning out his jacket pockets and, low and behold, more used wrappersand numbers. I took pictures of his stained shirt collars. I followed him for two days and took pictures of him making out with different women in dance clubs and restaurants. I rigged the house with tiny cameras in case he brought his bimbos home while I was out. And he did. It hurt at first, but as time went on I became numb to the pain. The first time he hit me was when I first tried to leave. I stupidly waited for him to come home one night because I just had to give him my piece of mind. He walked through the door, saw my packed bags and looked at me with an angry expression. “What’s all this?” “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be the wife that gets cheated on. I want someone faithful, someone that only wants me,” I had yelled with tears streaming down my face. I wanted him to see how hurt I was. He laughed. He really laughed. “You really think someone is going to want your appearance? You’re lucky I even noticed you. But you were just so eager to please. I’ll admit you followed my instructions well, especially since I showed you what I preferred, but anything else, you’re like someone who just does nothing.” That confused me, because I always rode him, he liked to watch my t*ts bounce. I was the one that suggested different positions, but he refused. “No, you aren’t going anywhere. Now go make me some dinner. And make sure it’s edible, because the meals you’ve been cooking lately have no flavor.” Total complete lie on his part. Every meal I cooked he praised how delicious it was. And I know my food is good. I was raised by my father who was a chef that worked at a five-star restaurant. He taught me everything I knew. “No, Ben. I am leaving. You don’t love me like you said you did, and I deserve to be loved.” He backhanded me for that comment. “I have given you everything. This house, your car, the clothes on your back.” “I’ll give you the clothes. You’re right. You bought most of those, but the house is yours, and so is the car. It’s in your name. I left every piece of jewelry you ever gave me, including my wedding and engagement rings in our room. I am only taking the clothes I came with, the jewelry I came with and all my important papers,” I gritted out. My lip was swollen from his hit. I refused to cry anymore. “You aren’t going anywhere.” He charged me, grabbed me, and threw me over his shoulder. He stomped to our bedroom where he forced himself on me. He smacked me a couple of times while fighting him until I was dazed and laid there like he accused me of before. He tied me to the bed for three days. He took my phone and every other electronic that was in the house, so I couldn’t reach out to anyone. I was defeated. For the next year, I was his slave. He changed all the locks on the doors so they only opened from the outside. He put bars on the windows. He truly made our home into a prison. He didn’t hide his affairs anymore. No, he brought them home and made me watch them. I never forgot about the tiny cameras. I knew they backed up to my cloud every twelve hours, because that was how I had scheduled it. And I made sure the batteries still worked every three months. So while he did everything to me for a year, I had the evidence I needed for divorce and to put him behind bars. One day he had forgotten to take his phone to work. I called the police immediately. And finally, after a year of torture, I was saved. I turned over all the evidence, the videos, the recordings. It took another year of trial, and now he is in jail. I was granted a divorce and I got half of everything. I didn’t live off that money though. No, I had it in a trust for my future children. Later, when I have them, I will add them to the trust. Because of the exposure I had gotten from the trial, I made a lot of friends, most of them women, and a lot of them had very influential husbands. I was even a personal assistant for one of those wives for six months before they left for the winter to go to Florida. So, when I heard about the CEO of Jtech needing a personal assistant, I jumped on that chance. I first moved back to Denver, got my little luxury apartment and put in my resume. I had only been back for two weeks before I got the call for an interview. I had asked if I could come in after my therapist appointment since I would already be close. It worked out great. I wish I would have known what a difficult person the boss was, though. But it was okay. But it was okay. I have obviously dealt with worse, and I was going to kill him with kindness, hot chocolate, cookies, and holiday cheer. Ashlynn I got to work at five forty-five a.m. I had four tins of cookies to lay out in the break room along with my hot chocolate. I had two thermoses of peppermint hot chocolate and two regular. I made sure to label them and put out the mugs. I had festive Christmas paper platters to put all the cookies on. I put four cookies on a small festive plate and made coffee just the way Mr. Williams liked it per Miles' instructions. I took the cookies and coffee and walked into Mr. Williams office and set the items on his desk right where he would sit. By the time he gets there, the coffee should be at perfect temperature. I checked his schedule and then printed it out and laid it next to the cookies. I then grabbed the dirty clothes he had in the office bathroom and brought them to my desk where I had a bag waiting to put them in. I would take them to the cleaners once Miles got in and talked to me about today's agenda. I looked around the office as I sat in my chair. My desk was next to the secretary’s desk. I remembered her name was Maggie. She was fifty-two with three grandchildren. She had a daughter, Suzy. Who was married to Billy, her high school sweetheart. Maggie was a widow. Her husband was mugged and shot three years ago. I had felt bad for her when Miles told me. He said the only reason he told me was, so I wouldn’t ask if she was married or had children. He said it was best to let her bring it up. Which she would, because Maggie liked to gossip, even about her own life. That had me giggling. I was the complete opposite. I only talked about growing up with a military dad who became a sought-after top chef. Miles tried to pry, but all I gave him was that I was single and had no children. I had a father who used to be in the military and now was a top chef. I had no responsibilities, no pets. I could be at Mr. Williams' beck and call. Miles told me to call Mr. Williams Jace. I couldn’t bring myself to do that, unless I heard it from the man himself. I looked at the time on my phone. I was still the only person here. My brows furrowed. It was six fifteen. I was sure Mr. Williams told me to be here at six a.m. I went to his office and checked his coffee. It was still hot, so I went back to my desk. I booted up my computer, maybe he emailed me. Miles surely gave him my email. Nope nothing. I decided to read and wait until someone showed up. By six-forty, I was a little bit mad. I checked the coffee, it was lukewarm, so I picked it up and went to the break room and dumped it. I made him another cup, it was going to be scalding hot if he showed up now. I took the coffee back to his desk and really looked at it. There was nothing personal about it. No pictures of his parents, or girlfriend or friends or even a boyfriend if he swung that way. It was just his computer monitor, computer mouse and keyboard, the coffee and cookies and the print out of his schedule. I looked around his office. It was so bare, it was just charcoal and beige. I scrunch my nose at how boring it all was. I heard the elevator ding and I quickly left the office. I looked at my phone and saw it was seven. Maggie came around the corner and beamed at me. “Hi, Ashlynn right? I’m Maggie, Jace’s secretary. Why are you here so early?” “Oh, um, Mr. Williams told me to be here at six sharp.” “That’s odd. He doesn’t come in until nine.” What? Nine? Seriously? “Oh, maybe I misheard him.” I knew I didn’t. jger'erk. “Well, Miles should be here any minute. Would you like some coffee, or tea?” “Oh, no, thank you. I brought homemade cookies and hot chocolate. They are in the break room.” “You brought homemade cookies and hot chocolate?” Maggie asked. I nodded and smiled at her. At least someone was going to enjoy my culinary work early in the morning. Miles showed up ten minutes later shocked to see me. “Why are you here? You don’t need to be here until eight thirty.” “I know you told me that, but Mr. Williams told me he wanted me here at six a.m.” “He did?” I nodded, and he looked confused. Maggie came back with a plate full of Italian wedding cookies and a mug of hot chocolate. It was peppermint, I could smell it and I smiled. “Where did you get all that?” Miles asked. “In the break room, Ashlynn made all this and brought it.” I was nodding as Miles went to the break room. I followed him. He looked shocked. “This is wonderful, thank you so much, Ashlynn.” “You’re welcome. I thought some holiday cheer would help all of us work better. I have my canvas bag with me and have little decorations. Do you think I could put some up?” Miles stared at me and I watched as a little twinkle in his eye sparkled. “How about just the break room for now?” “Okay.” I went to my canvas bag and got out a couple of three-inch Christmas trees and put them around the break room along with some colorful tinsel. I had a tree on top of the microwave and the employee fridge and one next to the cookies and hot chocolate. I had four little snowmen and two snowmen magnets. I stuck a snowman on the fridge and one on the side of the microwave. I put a snowman by each tree. It looked a little less boring in the break room. I went back to Mr. Williams' office and grabbed the coffee. I took it to the break room and dumped it again. I didn’t make him another yet. Miles asked if I had grabbed the dirty clothes and I said yes. We then decided to walk together down to the dry cleaners. There was a light dusting of snow. I had on black fleece leggings, under my white sweater dress. I had put on my puffy coat and a red scarf with my red gloves, and I was nice and toasty. “I don’t know how you can walk in this weather in those boots,” Miles said. I had on black high-heeled lace-up boots that went to the knee. “I’ve been in heels my whole teen and adult life. I have worked in hospitality since I was fifteen. I’ve worked with high society women, and had to look the part, and I even worked in a high-end department store for a year when I was twenty, when I worked two jobs. I’ve always worn heels. The only time I don’t is when I go to the gym or at home.” “Don’t your feet hurt after a while?” “They used to, now I think my nerves are just numb,” I said, chuckling as he opened the door to the cleaners. The dry cleaner looked at us and smiled. Miles talked to her, but he was going slow so she would understand everything Mr. Williams wanted done to his clothes. “Miles, do you need help?” He looked at me confused. “What exactly does Mr. Williams want done?” “He’s allergic to starch so they need to find an alternative. Last time they put some in his collars and he broke out in a rash. I tell them this every time I come in. This place just opened up three months ago. So I am still trying them out before I have to go across town to our regular place. Also, he doesn’t like it when they pin the cuffs of his pants and shirts.” In fluent Korean, I told the lady behind the counter. At first, she was shocked, but then we started a conversation and by the end, she was nodding and smiling. She even offered to introduce me to her grandson. I politely declined. “You are amazing. I'm so glad you decided to interview for me,” Miles said. “Where did you learn to speak Korean?” “Well, my dad was in the military. We traveled a lot wherever he was assigned every two to four years. It was easy for me to pick up the languages wherever we went. I started working young in some of the foreign places at their hotels and department stores. When we came back to the states, I sent out resumes and got hired right away at Hotel Lemonde and worked there until I didn’t. We had a lot of foreigners come through Hotel Lemonde. So I was a huge help to them.” “I bet you were. I am more and more impressed with you and I just know you are the right fit for Jace. Maybe he’ll even keep you on after the holidays.” “I don’t know, he doesn’t seem to like me. Both times I’ve encountered him, he’s been rude, and he told me to be here at six, when he doesn't even come in until nine.” “Both encounters?” “Oh, I bumped into him coming out of an appointment I had before the interview.” “Okay, well, he doesn't know you, so he can’t have an opinion on whether he likes you or not yet. As for him telling you to be here at six, I will find out what that’s all about.” “Okay.” We walked into JTECH and I noticed a lot more people were in the lobby. When we got back to the offices, everyone seemed to be at their desks and I was happy to see everyone had cookies and hot chocolate. I was introduced as Jace’s new PA for now, and I got a lot of smiles and welcomes. Also, a thank you for the treats. Miles went over Mr. Williams schedule with me. What he would need during the meetings. He told me he ate lunch in his office unless he had a lunch meeting. “Sometimes you will have to go with him. Make sure you take meticulous notes. He will have you dictate the meeting back to him when you guys get back. You will go on business trips with him, so make sure your passport is up-to-date. Always have a bag ready to go at home and I recommend you have one ready to go here also. You are literally at his beck and call, you do whatever he asks. Your job is to make sure his personal life goes smoothly so he can concentrate on his work life. It would help if you could memorize clients' dossiers. I have a folder on your computer with everyone we have contracts with and everyone that we could potentially have a contract with. If someone new comes along, find out all the information you can on them. I am going to give you my little black book that has all the names and numbers you might need to help make Jace’s life more comfortable. Some of the numbers I have you may already have with your connections. Any questions so far?” Miles asked. “Um, does he date? Is there a special store he likes to use for his girlfriend’s presents? Will I be breaking things off for him with women? I have had to do that before for my father,” I said. Miles chuckled, “No, Jace doesn’t date. In fact, you will most likely become his plus one at events. It’s the whole reason I hired a woman. It'd be easier for him so he doesn't find some clingy woman that won’t leave him alone or reads too much into him taking them to an event.” “Got it, not a problem.” I looked at my phone and saw it was a quarter to nine. “I need to go make his coffee. I’ll be right back.” I went to the break room and made his coffee. I brought it to his office and put it on his desk. The elevator pinged and I took a shaky deep breath. Here we go.