Read Online His Challenging Lover by Elizabeth Lennox - Free Book Online

and restaurant. The owner immediately recognized them and seated them at one of the windows. “I have five new…”
    “We can talk about those later. Let’s just relax and have lunch,” he suggested. And with that, they talked about everything but work and resumes. During the entire lunch while they downed greasy burgers and cheese topped fries, they talked like they had so long ago, as friends and people instead of combatants.
    It was probably the nicest lunch she’d had in years, Autumn thought as she walked back to the office that afternoon.

Chapter 4
     
    Autumn glared at the man’s back, so angry she couldn’t even speak. She’d had fights with Xander before, but this was above and beyond. She couldn’t believe he was being this stubborn! Every one of these resumes would be an ideal candidate for his assistant. How could he have rejected all of them? Impossible!
    Now she knew he was simply being unreasonable and that infuriated her even more than if he simply disagreed. He’d be wrong in this case. And in many cases, but that was different.
    Oh! That man just….infuriated her!
    How could he justify being so arbitrary?
    Autumn walked back to her office and practically threw her stack of resumes onto her desk, uncaring that several other reports fell off the other side because of the force of her throw.
    Mary came in behind her, eyes wide and her body language wary. “I guess your meeting didn’t go well?” she asked carefully.
    “That’s an understatement!” she exclaimed, then tried to calm down by taking several deep breaths.
    Mary tried to suppress a smile, but she was glad her boss had her back turned towards her because she didn’t think she was very successful. “So your meeting was with Xander, I take it?” she suggested, then took an involuntary step backwards when Autumn spun around, her eyes on fire.
    “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
    Autumn closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “No, I’m sorry, Mary. I’ve been acting horribly lately and none of this is your fault. What’s worse, I’m taking it out on you and that’s not fair.” Autumn tried to calm down, but every time she pictured Xander in that conference room demanding more resumes. He wouldn’t even talk to some of these candidates and they were the best of the best!
    “So what are you going to do next?”
    Autumn was stumped. She’d gone to all of her sources three different times. There weren’t any other candidates out there! “I have no idea,” she said and fell backwards into her chair. “The man really is impossible.”
    Mary put her hand over her mouth. “I think you said that already.”
    Autumn chuckled but then glared teasingly at her assistant. “If you’re going to point out the obvious, I’m going to assign you as his assistant.”
    Mary’s eyes widened and she backed up, her palms held outwards as if she were being held up at gunpoint. “Not that!” she begged. “Anything but that! Xander Thorpe is a hottie, but he’s also mean and irascible. I’d rather not have to deal with him on a daily basis.”
    Autumn knew exactly what she meant. And it was an odd thing too because Xander hadn’t ever been this exacting before. She remembered him at lunch yesterday and she couldn’t believe he was the same man. She simply didn’t understand what had happened with all of his assistants. Why had they left so quickly and why was it so hard to find someone to take over? She couldn’t even promote someone into that position because no one wanted it.
    Not that Xander would agree to have anyone already employed, she thought.
    “If you have any suggestions, please let me know.”
    Mary’s lips compressed for a long moment before she finally took a breath and suggested, “I think it’s time for a shopping trip. You haven’t gotten any new shoes in a long time. Why don’t you go out and treat yourself.”
    Autumn’s eyes dropped down to her feet and she examined her black shoes. They were