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Allyson was never at a loss for words.
He couldn’t remember her ever not having a classy, or smart, response. But as Dane gazed at her darkly, her mouth fell open and no sound came out. He had no idea if she was trying to come up with a lie, but she must have had enough good sense to know he wasn’t going to buy whatever story she told him.
“Well?” he demanded. What right did she have? He ignored the inner voice inside him asking what right he had to look at her phone.
She swallowed hard. “L-Let me explain.”
“I’m waiting,” he said sharply.
“I lied to my family about you.”
He stared at her in amazement. So, she wasn’t going to cook up some story. That, at least, he could admire. “What did you lie about?”
She smoothed the fabric of her tight skirt, her hands shaking. It was probably taking a lot out of her to face what she’d done, but he wasn’t going to make this easy for her. She’d broken his trust, and he deserved to hear why.
Allyson cleared her throat. “I told my family you and I are dating. I’m sorry. Really, I am. I’m very ashamed of my behavior.” Her gorgeous green eyes were glistening. The last thing he wanted was for her to start crying and make a scene out here in the open.
“In my office,” he said coldly. “Now.” He held the door for her as she stepped into his luxurious office and walked across the plush carpet to his glass-topped desk.
She stood in front of his desk, waiting.
He sank into the chair behind his desk and motioned for her to sit down across from him. She sat down, crossing her shapely legs. It was distracting. But then, everything about delectable Allyson Smith was distracting. From her razor-sharp black bob haircut down to the sinful six-inch stilettos she wore every day.
As his assistant, she was not someone to be trifled with. Countless men had underestimated her, thinking they could pull a fast one on his sexy assistant. But Allyson was ultra-professional, took no nonsense, and wasn’t easily rattled. In fact she was downright uptight, which is why he’d rarely gotten details of her personal life.
With a sigh, Dane set her cell phone down on his desk. He hadn’t been snooping or prying. After she’d returned his jacket he pulled the phone out to check his messages, thinking the cell phone was his. To his utter shock and horror, he’d discovered Allyson had sent the photo of them together at the stadium with the message: Here we are together at Prescott Park! Dane’s so upset he won’t make it to the wedding, but he’s sending flowers and a gift. Isn’t he the best boyfriend?
Aside from the fact that the thought of being sexy Allyson’s boyfriend had made his brain momentarily short-circuit, it wasn’t like her to betray his trust. There were two people in the world he trusted. Himself and Allyson. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I was selfish. I’m so sorry.” Her voice was shaky, but she hadn’t started crying yet.
“Why lie?”
“It’s like you said. Parents can be hard on us.” She lowered her eyes.
“Hard enough for you to have to come up with something like this?”
She nodded. “My parents don’t like what I do for a living.”
He scoffed. “That’s ridiculous. You work for me.”
“That’s not good enough for them.”
“But dating me is?”
“Apparently, yes. I can date you, but just being your assistant isn’t good enough.” She rolled her eyes. “I guess they feel it’s too lowly. It’s beneath me—”
“You’re not lowly,” he said in annoyance.
“I’m an assistant. Even your own mother called me glorified help,” she pointed out.
He cringed. She had. Not to mention his mother was also dead-set against renewing Allyson’s contract. Some drama about John Handel’s daughter not taking a liking to Allyson. While Allyson had charmed Handel earlier tonight, his daughter was the ultimate key to getting Handel and Company to sign off on a merger with Prescott Global.
Dane had been on a few dates with Handel’s daughter, and things had fizzled pretty quickly. He wasn’t interested. However, Katherine Handel had the sort of pedigree his mother adored. The Handels were British aristocrats, Katherine had been a champion equestrian, and now she was the key to a merger that could open a whole new market.
“I have no excuse for my mother,” he said. “Some of her beliefs haven’t exactly kept up with the times.”
“She isn’t that different from my parents,” she said softly.
If Allyson’s parents were anything like his, he could understand the pressure she was under. Still, he’d never had to lie like this to keep his parents satisfied. Probably because he just let his mother set him up with whatever heiress she managed to sink her talons into. With each passing year they got blonder and thinner. Not that he could knock anyone for looking after their appearance. He spent enough time in the gym. But with each new bottle-blonde, he found himself comparing them to Allyson.
His assistant wasn’t the delicate, wispy, aristocratic type. Allyson was dark-haired, with an hourglass figure. She dressed well, but in her own style. He didn’t know much about fashion, but sometimes he caught himself looking at something he knew she’d wear. The heiresses all dressed like carbon copies of each other.
He crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me you were having problems with your family?”
She stared, her green eyes flashing with confusion. “We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
He held up her phone. “Your text messages say otherwise.”
Her cheeks flushed a becoming shade of pink. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, making her entire body wiggle in all the right places. Dane forced himself to focus on her green eyes, and not let his gaze go further down. “I took liberties that I shouldn’t have,” she said, “and I’m sorry.”
He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her. This was stressful for her. If she was willing to jeopardize her job to keep her family happy, he could only imagine how difficult things must be for her. Still, she’d violated his trust and he wasn’t going to abide that. Not even for Allyson.
“There are going to have to be consequences for this,” he said.
Her lower lip trembled but she sat up straighter, throwing her shoulders back, her head held high. “I understand if you have to terminate me.”
“This behavior is unacceptable.” He steepled his hands under his chin, deep in thought. His mother had been breathing down his neck about her displeasure over Allyson. Came up with every excuse in the book to let her go. She spent too much time with him. Didn’t understand the nature of the job. Wasn’t fast enough.
All of it nonsense, because he knew the problem was that Allyson was the woman he saw the most, and neither his mother nor Katherine Handel could stand it. His mother planned on talking to him about Allyson’s contract this weekend. Something he dreaded.
“What if I were to accompany you this weekend?” he asked, a sudden burst of inspiration hitting him.
She gasped. “You can’t be serious—”
“Why not?”
“It’s absurd.” Her eyes had grown big, the green inside them darkening.
Damn, she was sexy. He leaned back in his chair. “What’s absurd is having to lie to your family. How long have you been keeping up this charade anyway?”
She swallowed. “About three months.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Not very long.”
“I think it’s the pressure of the wedding,” she said softly. “James is the youngest, and he’s getting married before me.”
“So why not bring your rich, dashing boyfriend to the wedding?” He winked and smiled, liking the idea more and more by the second.
“There’s no way I could put you through that kind of trouble.” Her cheeks went pink again, and from the way her bosom was heaving she was breathing hard.
Very.
It was distracting. I wonder what she’d be like in bed—
He cut off the thought right away. Not appropriate. Then again, this entire situation wasn’t appropriate. It didn’t matter. He’d never seen his steely, uptight assistant so flustered. She was downright frazzled. He didn’t know why, but her response was a turn-on.
Probably because he was the one inciting the reaction.
A weekend watching her in her natural element with her family was very tempting. He’d get to see her outside of work. Watch her let her hair down.
“It wouldn’t be any trouble,” he reassured. “And whatever you decide, I won’t be terminating you for this.”
“You won’t?” She stared at him, taken aback. “But, I’ve betrayed your trust—”
“Are you asking me to punish you?” Damnit! He hadn’t meant for that to sound suggestive. But from the way her face reddened, he could swear her mind was going there. An affair with his assistant was completely out of the question. He’d never dated a colleague, and certainly never a direct subordinate. Besides, that kind of scandal could torpedo the entire merger with Handel and Company. Prescott couldn’t weather a botched merger like this.
Fantasizing about Allyson was just that. Fantasizing. He simply wanted to help her out of a difficult situation. And maybe get them both the hell out of town before his mother showed up.
He might be the company CEO, but he didn’t have absolute power. His parents were on the board, and if his mother needled his father enough the two of them could put a wrench in Allyson’s contract renewal.
With this hanging over her, letting his parents know about Allyson’s scheme would mean her contract would be as good as dead. But he needed to be sure about his mother’s plans. Needed to come up with a plan of his own now that her job was in greater jeopardy.
He’d let Allyson in on it if he could, but such discussions were confidential until they came to a decision. It drove him crazy to keep it from her, but maybe getting out of Dodge for the weekend was a happy accident. A way to get time back on his side.
“No, it’s just...I feel terrible about what I did,” she said. “And I couldn’t possibly ask you to cover for me by coming as my date.”
“You’re not asking,” he pointed out. “I’m offering. I understand if you’re turning me down—”
“Well,” she interrupted, “if you’re genuinely offering, what would this entail?”
He smiled. “We show up together, looking blissfully in love.”
“Oh.” She stared at him, her incredible green eyes meeting his.
“Where is the wedding by the way?” he asked quickly, trying to steer the conversation away from anything romantic.
“Upstate. In Greenville. The wedding will be at the Rose Bloom Wedding Barn, and the reception and rehearsal dinner will be at the Greenville Lodge—”
“Barn?” he practically choked. “We’re going to a wedding in a barn?”
She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “It’s really very nice. I’m helping to plan everything, you know.”
“I see.” His mother would be aghast at the whole set up, but it was probably best to change the subject. “I’ve wintered at the Greenville Lodge many times. I assume we’re staying there?”
She let out a soft laugh. “Wintering...I’ll never get over how rich people just spend entire seasons in a new place.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “My family’s been going there since my grandfather’s time.”
“We won’t be staying at the Greenville Lodge,” she informed him. “We’ll be staying at the local inn. One of those motel chains.”
“Absolutely not.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“I refuse to spend a weekend at a motel chain.” He didn’t give a damn how pompous he sounded. He had to agree to the barn thing, but he drew the line at a motel.
“It’s what my family can afford,” she said in irritation.
“New plans.” He rubbed his hands together. “We’ll be staying at the Greenville Lodge.”
“That place costs fifteen hundred dollars a night.”
“Fine.”
“I can’t stay there while my family stays at the motel,” she insisted.
“Your family won’t be staying at the motel. They can stay at the Lodge with us.”
“They can’t afford that,” she repeated.
“It’s on me. Everyone can get a room at the Lodge.” He shrugged. Why did she look ticked? What was the big deal?
“There’ll be twenty guests.”
“So?”
“That’s thirty thousand dollars for one night,” she said shrilly. “Most of us planned on staying the whole weekend so the family could have some quality time.”
“So that’s closer to ninety thousand dollars, then.” He grinned, trying to tease her.
“Are you out of your mind?” she demanded.
Okay, not funny to her. “You said it yourself. You can’t stay at the Lodge without your family. I have now solved the problem. Unfortunately for you, you’re my assistant. Which means you’ll be the one calling the Lodge on my behalf to make the reservations.”
“But...but the Lodge is probably already booked,” she sputtered.
“That’s their problem. When a Prescott calls, they’ll do what we ask.”
“But what about all the reservations at the motel? We can’t just leave them in the lurch.”
“We won’t. I’ll just pay for the rooms for the weekend and they can do whatever they like with them.”
There was a horrified expression on her face. “You can’t do that.”
“Says who?”
“You can’t just change the rules like that to get what you want,” she said. “Mr. Prescott, that’s throwing your money around.”
“Dane,” he said firmly.
She blinked. “What?”
“I’m your fake boyfriend. Naturally you’d call me by my first name.”
“Not in the office.” She rolled her eyes. “Not if we were trying to keep our relationship secret.”
“Ah. About that,” he began, trying to figure everything out. “I’m going to need you to keep this weekend under wraps. If the press got wind of it the publicity might not be good for the merger.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure my family is discreet.”
“Excellent. So, it’s all settled then.”
She frowned. “Is it?”
“You can call the Lodge tomorrow morning to make the reservations,” he said. “I guess we need to bring a wedding gift. You mentioned me sending a gift in your text. What was I supposed to be bringing?”
She blushed again. Reminding her about the text seemed to do that. He stored that in his mind for later. Getting a reaction out of her was almost impossible to resist. “I had bought a sandwich toaster—”
“A sandwich toaster?” He stared at her in absolute horror. “You were going to pass off a sandwich toaster as my gift to your brother?”
“It’s what I could afford,” she said, irritation in her voice. “Some of us can’t rent whole lodges on a whim, you know.”
He reminded himself to fight for a raise for her when he got down to meeting his mother. He’d made certain that Prescott paid its employees top salaries, but it was now obvious that they could do better. “I don’t expect you to get them a house, but seriously? Who would believe that I’d get them a sandwich toaster?”
“Maybe I didn’t plan this ruse all that well,” she admitted. “But the gift was supposed to be from you and me. I figured if we were together we’d split the cost.”
“So, if I was your boyfriend you wouldn’t want me to buy things for you?” He stared at her, now curious.
“It’s not that I wouldn’t want it. Gifts are always nice. It’s just that I wouldn’t expect you to buy things,” she replied. “It’s not right to take advantage of your—or anyone’s—kindness.”
He rolled his eyes. “Kindness is when someone with very little gives all they have. But getting pretty things for the woman you adore is what a man is supposed to do.”
“You’re kidding, right?” She tilted her head, like he’d said the most outrageous thing.
“No.” He frowned. “You’re my girlfriend. I buy you nice things. I take you to nice places.”
“Um...I don’t know how to tell you this, but most men in this town hate having to pay for dates.” She laughed. “You’re definitely one of a kind.”
Now he was curious. “How much does the average date cost?”
“The last date I was on cost, like, thirty dollars,” she admitted.
“You’re joking. No wonder you’re single.” He hadn’t meant to be so direct, but he couldn’t imagine a woman putting up with that. Thirty dollars. What kind of cheapskate couldn’t even fork over thirty dollars to impress a woman as gorgeous and headstrong and smart as Allyson? Who on earth would rather spend their night at home alone rather than romance her?
“I don’t expect guys to be ATMs,” she insisted.
“Thirty dollars?” He could barely contain the anger in his voice. “Look, I’m probably out of touch but that’s just unacceptable.”
“It’s not a big deal,” she said. “It just sucks when they expect stuff in return.”
“Stuff?” He put his hands up. “Please don’t tell me these bums expect sexual favors for the pittance they pay to spend time with you. Not that it would be any better if they spent a fortune.”
“Some of them expect it.”
“No wonder you lied,” he said. “If that’s what I had to put up with, I’d probably make up a fake boyfriend, too.”
She laughed. “You’re the most old-fashioned guy I know.”
“And proud of it,” he said, loving the sound of her husky laugh. “I get that you don’t want me to spend a ton of money—”
“I don’t want the gift to be so obviously one-sided,” she said firmly. “I want it to be from both of us. An expensive gift would be from you. Not me. Not us.”
His pulse quickened at the way she said us. “So, a car is out then—”
“What?” Her voice went all shrill again. “Are you serious?”
He laughed. “I wish I could say I was joking, but I did entertain the idea.”
“Well, please un-entertain it, Mr. Prescott—”
“Dane.”
“We’re still at work.”
“Nobody’s around to hear. Please call me Dane.”
“All right.” She paused. “Dane.”
His name on her lips turned him on more than he had ever been in his life. One word from her and he was already fantasizing all the ways she might say it. All the ways she might whisper it in his ear. Moan it, if he ever got the chance to pleasure her.
She’d said his name earlier tonight, and it had made him crazy with desire. But she’d corrected herself. This time she was following his command. He reached for the knot in his tie to loosen it. The temperature in the room was suddenly boiling.
She glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late. I think we can discuss the gift tomorrow before we leave. Don’t buy anything without consulting me.”
He grinned. “All right, I won’t. We can make arrangements tomorrow morning, bright and early.” He rose to his feet. “And I’m taking you home, remember?”
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.
He picked up her cell phone and crossed the room to hand it to her. She blushed again, but said nothing as she turned to walk out of his office. He stepped out after her and they headed downstairs to the Prescott Global parking lot. As he got behind the wheel, he reminded himself that this was all just pretend. This was one weekend. Allyson was a professional and so was he. Under no circumstances would this get serious, and there was no way they would ever be anything more than what they were pretending to be.
