Read Online Bearilicious - Collection by Ashley Hunter - Free Book Online

took whatever I could get as I started on my work. The boss made a list of my duties for the day with none being especially difficult.
    He expected his tea to be done in an hour, after his phone conference. Then, we would meet for the first time.
    With Vance’s stellar description of Mr. Mathan, I felt about as uneasy as I was riding in the Jaguar with my former cat loving, old man boss.
    At the very least, I hoped he smelled better.

 
     
    II.
     
    I checked over the recipe an inordinate amount of times, making sure it was perfect. When it came time for our meeting (which he reminded me of via the chat Vance had spoken of), I steadied myself, took a deep breath, and walked into his office.
    Mr. Mathan leaned back in back in his chair with his legs lounged on his desk  as he looked over some paperwork, seemingly making notes on it with the pen pursed between his lips.
    He looked like an Armani model, leaning in that fashionably handsome and careless way. His combed-back auburn hair looked effortlessly in place and his cool blue eyes read with a quiet, sexy intensity.
    “Is that my tea?” he asked with a very slight, slight Irish accent, but not bothering to look up at me.
    “Yes,” I responded. “I made it exactly to your specifications.”
    “Those are actually Vance’s specifications, but it’ll do,” he responded, putting down his paperwork and his legs to finally look at me. He gestured for me to sit and folded his hands before him. “What was your name again?”
    “Lorelai Tanner,” I responded.
    He nodded, reaching out for the tea. He tasted it, frowned slightly, and looked straight into my eyes. I felt frozen by his gaze - behind it was something foreign and animalistic that I’d never seen before. “So, you have a degree in business. What did you expect to do with that?”
    “The hope was,” I cleared my throat, “to have a business of my own one day.”
    “But you’re a secretary.”
    “Yes. I’m better behind the scenes.”
    “Hmm,” his frown hadn’t budged. “Well, if you can look over this paperwork and tell me what you think, that would be great. It wasn’t the next task on your list, but our meeting ended early.”
    “Okay,” I took the paperwork and headed out the door.
    “And Lorelai, if you could, please dress a bit more modestly. Vance tends to hire women he can ogle, and we both know you’re better than that.”
    I only nodded, unsure of what to say. I wore a normal button up and pencil skirt. I felt I looked professional. My other bosses never said anything about the outfit. Of course, I guess they wouldn’t have.
    “You may go.”
    I nodded again and skittered out of the office like a roach away from the light. Though I had worked with difficult bosses before, I never felt so nervous when meeting one. It was as though he were the predator. And I was the prey.
    When I got back to my desk, he’d sent a message: “Next time, let the tea steep longer and add more sugar.”
    The man was devastatingly handsome, but he also was disarmingly condescending.

 
     
    III.
     
    Mr. Mathan had a particular way of “constructive criticism” (as he liked to call it.) Each morning while delivering his tea, he’d gesture for me to sit down, give notes on my work (one day he said he simply didn’t like the way I typed and suggested I do some typing exercises at home “on your off time”), have me read whatever paperwork, and then ping me with what was wrong with the tea.
    It was interesting reading the actual paperwork for business deals, but painstakingly making tea every morning - while constantly being criticized for it - was starting to wear on me. And I’d only been his secretary for a week.
    At least he hadn’t asked me to dress more modestly again. After that note, I noticed Vance came by to check on me less and less. Though Mr. Mathan was a jerk, he did have Vance’s intentions right.
    Another thing about him - besides being arrogant, rude about tea, and employer of