6. Wade

Holly had coped beautifully through the remaining days needed before Ray was ready to start. She'd helped me set up Ray's new office, taking down the old decorations from my previous assistant who had failed to clean it out before she left. I'd been out of commission for two entire days because of my leg, and she kept the ship running at full speed, ensuring everything that needed to be done was taken care of while I stayed in my bed in the dark, trying not to scream as the pain kept me awake for thirty-six hours straight.

Luckily, the flare-up passed in time for Ray's arrival.

Holly also agreed to work in the Boulder office part-time while we got Ray up to speed on everything that needed doing. She could run HR from there or the resort, and although she preferred to spend her time out there where she could get a massage at a moment"s notice for free, the monetary incentive I'd given her was too good to pass up.

She chatted away about one of the guys in HR who apparently had the hots for her as she sipped her morning coffee, droning on and on, filling the silence while she leaned back on the reception area's couch. As much as I wanted to entertain her conversation, I couldn't stop staring at the door to the office, watching and waiting with bated breath for Blunder Bunny to show her face.

Was she even coming?Sure, it was twenty minutes before she was due to arrive, but my desperation to not have to search for another executive assistant was gnawing at me to call her, to check in, to make sure she was still coming in today.

Holly continued on about the guy from HR. Matt? Michael? Definitely an M name. "…So I told him I wasn't interested even though I was. I didn't want to come off too excited, you know? But then he?—"

The door swung open, a disheveled and exhausted-looking Raylene taking up the room within a second. Her deep brown hair was swept back into a ponytail, the curls falling around her face. She was wearing the same outfit she'd worn for her interview, a tight black pencil skirt with a white blouse tucked in, stockings, and heels. In her arms, she carried three different bags—a purse, a larger bag that I could only guess contained items she was going to place in her office, and a third that looked suspiciously like a makeup bag. Made sense considering she wasn't wearing a single bit of it on her lightly-freckled face.

"Please tell me I'm not late," she breathed, pushing against the door and fighting with the bags to get her entire being inside the room. She clutched a tumbler in her hand, black with a purple ribbon crossed over itself, and I quickly searched my mind for what it was a reference to. I'd definitely seen it before.

"You're not," I grinned. "Twenty minutes early, in fact."

Ray let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I got lost in the maze of hallways downstairs. You could've warned me it's like a labyrinth down there."

Holly snorted and looked across the couch at me. "You didn't give her instructions on how to get up here?"

"Of course he didn't," Ray said before I could even open my mouth to respond. "That would've made things far too easy for me, wouldn't it?"

Holly laughed as she glanced between the two of us. She leaned forward, setting her mug of coffee down on the table, and hoisted herself to her feet. "I like her. Good choice, Wade."

I was already regretting it.

"Let me take your bag," Holly offered. She slid her hand through the strap of the largest one, taking it before Ray could protest. "Wade can show you your office. You're going to loveit."

Ray stared at her incredulously. "That's sarcasm, isn't it?"

Holly only nodded.

————

"What are you, some kind of pervert?"

I could hear Holly laugh as she passed by the open door of Ray's office. She obviously heard what Ray had said.

"No," I answered, meeting Ray's questioning gaze while she unpacked her bag: pens, highlighters, notebooks, laptop, calendars, post-it notes. She set a small, rectangular screen next to her laptop.

"It was here when I moved in. But it does help me keep track of what you're doing and who goes in and out of your office."

"Why the hell would you need a one-way mirror to see who's in my office? Haven't you heard of live-feed cameras?" She asked, tapping one painted nail against the mirror as if checking to see if it truly was one-way.

"Like this?" I asked, holding up the small screen.

"Exactly."

I couldn't stop the thought from slipping out. "Do you have a kid?"

She rolled her eyes at me as she snatched it from my hand, the screen fizzling to life. "No. You think I have time for that?" Flicking through different video feeds, she turned it to face me. A woman sat on a couch, the television playing in front of her, while another stood beside her taking the first woman's blood pressure. "It's so I can keep an eye on my mom. Just makes me feel better whenever we have a new caregiver."

I studied the feed a little closer. The woman in question, the one I assumed was Ray's mom, didn't look old enough to need a caregiver. Early fifties at best and considering Ray didn't look a day past thirty, she must've had her when she was young. I took a deep breath, not knowing how to respond. It was a situation I'd never had to deal with before and likely never would again.

"So what are you going to do if I need to change clothes?" Ray asked, her attention focused wholly on the one-way mirror once again. "Pretend you're not watching me when you really are?"

"There's a set of blinds directly above it, Ray. You can pull them down if you're changing clothes. Though I'd prefer you do that in the dedicated bathroom you have over there," I pointed toward the door in the corner, "since your office doesn't have a lock on it."

A deep blush covered her freckled cheeks. "I didn't notice that."

"Shall we go over what you'll actually be doing or would you like to question me further about my supposed voyeuristic tendencies?" I asked with a stern expression.

Pulling her sleeves down over her palms, she nodded.

"Right. Perfect." I logged her into her computer, pointing out the little sheet of paper I'd left on her desk with the login information, and pulled up two separate calendars, one on each monitor. "So this one here is my personal calendar. You'll need to keep track of my day-to-day, schedule things where I have time, and ensure an adequate amount of time for me to do the basics like eating, sleeping, and exercising. I'm sure you know how to do that."

"Of course."

"And this one is my professional calendar," I continued, pointing to the other screen. "Meetings, business trips, and competitions held at the resort need to go in here with as much detail as possible. Again ensuring there's enough time to complete everything in a workday."

"That can't be everything," she said, taking a seat in the plush leather desk chair I'd bought only yesterday. She pulled herself closer to the desk and looked at the personal calendar, her face dropping as she began to read some of the events already scheduled. "Surely you didn't hire someone with my amount of experience just to manage your sex schedule."

I snorted. "No, that's not all of it, but I'm trying to start you out slowly."

"You don't have to do that. I'm not a child."

"I never said you were. Besides, I'd certainly hope not. I really don't want to get arrested for child labor abuse," I shot back, grinning when she glanced up at me with a look that read please shut up. "Anything labeled ‘bunny'goes into the personal calendar. If someone calls wanting to schedule something with me and their name is on thislist," I pulled up a list of names, the file folder named ‘bunnies,' "then they get the label bunny and they go on my personal calendar. Anyone on this list," I pulled up another file folder, "goes into professional. Understood?"

She nodded, studying the list of names. "So, how long should I schedule you with your little ski bunnies? Two minutes? Three, tops?"

Another cackle from Holly outside the office door.

I flexed my hands to keep my cool. Hiring someone this sassy was going to be tougher to deal with than I originally thought. "At least an hour each."

Her eyes went wide as she turned back to the screen. "Well, someone"s a bit full of themselves, aren't they?" she mumbled.

Jesus. She was going to make me lose my cool on the first fucking day.

I leaned down closer to her, my head beside hers, and could hear the shift in her breath as I brought my lips to her ear. She smelled like the earth did just before it rained, in the way flowers and trees knew the dampness was coming. "Some men actually enjoy making the person they sleep with feel good," I whispered. I ensured every single syllable dripped with lust. "Some men don't just stick their cock inside and call it a day, Raylene."

"It's Ray," she breathed, shaky and unnerved. I watched as her hand tightened around the mouse.

"So sorry. Let me say that again," I purred. My smirk grew as I felt the shift in her beside me. "I don't just stick my cock inside and call it a day… Ray. I prefer that the women I sleep with actually enjoy themselves and mean it when they scream my name."

I stood up straight, losing that unique scent from her and the tight little breaths she made. She didn't say another goddamn word.

"I'll leave you to it."

————

I clicked my pen against my lower lip. "You realize you're giving me two months to somehow cancel reservations for paying guests and organize an entire wedding?"

Chloe pouted, her lower lip jutting out as her eyes widened. "Please, Wadey," she cooed, using that heartbreaking sing-song voice she'd used on me since we were kids. I hated that it always worked. "It'll be right around the time the season's ending. It shouldn't be too difficult."

I sucked on my teeth, flicking through the resort's calendar for the weekend she was requesting. I watched her from the corner of my eye, batting her lashes and leaning forward onto my desk, hoping to get a better view of my screen. Such a menace. "You're so lucky I don't have an event already booked," I sighed.

Her chair shifted as she sat up. "Does that mean…?"

I cracked a grin as I glanced at her. "I suppose we can make it work."

The shriek that ripped from Chloe made me jump, and from the way Ray turned in her chair and stared at the glass that separated us, I knew she'd heard it too. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Chloe beamed. She threw herself across my desk, bleached blonde, wavy hair flying, and wrapped her arms around my neck. "You are the best big brother in the entire world."

"Yeah, I know," I laughed. Over Chloe's shoulder, I watched Ray's eyes narrow as she kept her gaze trained on what she couldn't see. Heaven knows what was going through her head. "But you owe me big time."

"Anything. Anything at all." Her smile was damn near infectious as she pulled away from me, smoothing out her dress before plopping back into her seat with the kind of drama only she could wield. "Would you be able to block out a section of the resort a few days before the wedding, too? I know Zane wants to fly in early, and Mom's coming early too. I haven't heard back from Dad yet though."

I groaned and slid deeper into my chair. "You're inviting Zane?"

The happiness on her face slipped away, leaving only a blank, annoyed stare behind. "Of course I'm inviting Zane. He's our brother, dumbass."

"Step brother. I don't want him at the resort."

"Yeah, well, you're going to have to suck it up. Mom wants him there and I don't have a problem with him, so he's invited."

This was just getting better and better.

I pushed myself back up and leaned forward over my desk, pressing the little button next to my phone. "Ray, can you come in here please?"

I watched Ray as her spine straightened and the color drained from her face, her eyes turning once again toward the one-way mirror. Installing that PA system was the best choice I ever made.

"That's weird, you know," Chloe said, following my gaze and watching Ray fumble to her feet. "Are you some kind of voyeur now?"

"It was there when I bought the property. Normally the blinds are down."

A hesitant knock on the door to my office echoed through the small space. "Is it… uh… are you decent?" Ray called, her voice smaller than I expected.

Chloe snorted. "Fucking girls in your office lately?"

I leveled a glare at her.

She stood from her chair, crossing the hardwood floor to the door and opening it for Ray. "If he wasn't decent I'd already be running for the hills." She stepped to the side, letting her in, and gave her a small smile. "I'm Chloe. Wade's sister. You must be new."

"Oh my God." Ray looked between the two of us, her cheeks deepening once again. "I'm so sorry, I just assumed?—"

"It's fine. Chloe is going to be holding her wedding at the resort in about two months' time and there are a few things she needs sorted and scheduled. Can you help her with that?" I asked. I clicked the top of my pen with my thumb, the sound keeping me distracted enough to not fall into my thoughts about our stepbrother.

"Of course I can."

"Perfect," Chloe grinned. "It'll be nice to get to know you." Ray returned the smile.

"Well, I have work to be getting on with so if you two don't mind…" I started, motioning toward the door in the hopes that I could avoid asking them to please leave me alone.

"Of course. I do have one other thing to talk to you about though," Chloe said. She grabbed her bag from behind her chair, pulling out a massive binder with the words Wedding Planning in swooping, curling letters across the front. She placed it in Ray's waiting hands before saying, "I'll come speak to you in a minute, okay?"

Ray nodded, slinking out the door with the binder and shutting it behind her.

I didn't have the patience to deal with it anymore. Weddings were stressful enough on their own when people hired out our space, but getting my sister'swedding sorted was going to be an absolute ball-ache if I didn't get an immediate handle on the situation. "Can you make this quick, please? I have a meeting in twenty."

Chloe stood and walked behind her chair, placing her hands on the black leather. "You're looking for an investor, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, for the land next to the resort."

She leaned a little further over her chair, pursing her lips as if she were trying to figure out how to say what was on her mind. "Dom's parents might be interested. But you didn't hear that from me."

Well, that piqued my interest.

"They're looking for more projects to get in on. The wedding might be the best place to, ya know, have a conversation with them. But they're kinda, well… you know how they were with me and Dom,old-fashioned. They're not going to want to work with a playboy."

I blinked at her, the words taking a moment to settle in. "Then don't tell them that I'm a playboy."

"They kind of already know." Her grin was sheepish as it spread across her lips. "Maybe just bring a date? Someone you're a bit more serious with? Your reputation has been heard throughout the family. Show them that's not you."

I laughed and leaned back, lifting my legs up onto the desk. "I don't have any serious bunnies, Chloe. And you know I stay away from the media at all costs. It's not like there's going to be pictures and stories flooding the papers about me to back any of it up."

She shrugged, pushing herself up to her full height. "I don't know what to tell you. If you want an investor, they're your best bet. Think about it. I'm sure you could figure out a way to sell it to them."

I looked back to the glass that separated me and Ray, watching as she flipped through the binder with her head resting on one hand. With her nose and forehead scrunched, she looked every bit as stressed as I felt.

"I'll think about it."