ONE

Justine

The couple lean in close. The woman lifts her chin, pretty pink lips parting gently, her gaze is locked on the man's mouth descending toward hers. Oh, my god! I love it when things get real!

You can always tell the couples with genuine chemistry. I like to imagine them actually making it in the real world.

"Justine!" Asha's voice makes me jump and close my tab guiltily. I'm supposed to be sorting through the network's cost analysis documents to make a summary for Mr. Kernos, the CEO. Only, every time I try to concentrate on the numbers, my mind keeps returning to the program I've been watching.

I love Married for a Day. It's such a cute premise. Almost as good as reading a steamy romance novel! The show is the reason I came to work at Bullseye Media. Only I kinda dreamed about working on the show rather than being a lowly junior assistant.

It's all a stepping stone, I guess.

"Nearly done."

Asha hovers behind me, so I turn. Her perfect PR smile masks the hatred I'm convinced she feels for me. "I've got an appointment this afternoon. When you've finished the summary, drop it to Mr. Kernos yourself, and then accompany him to the talk this afternoon and make sure he has everything he needs."

With a flick of her long dark hair she tucks her handbag over her shoulder and leaves the office.

Glancing at the corner of my computer screen, I check the time. Twelve forty-seven. I guess I'm having lunch at my desk again. There's no way I can get this summary done by one thirty if I take a lunch break.

I wish Asha had told me sooner she wanted me to accompany Mr. Kernos to the talk.

Ronan Kernos, CEO of Bullseye Media, is handsome, worldly and a minotaur. Also, the billionaire who was last year's Heartstone Times' most eligible bachelor.

I might have spent the last month obsessing over and stalking him on social media. Solely for research purposes, of course. I'm new at Bullseye Media, just trying to get the lowdown on how things work around here. I'm looking for the right time to make the move across to my dream job on Married for a Day.

So yeah, direct contact with him is worth skipping lunch. My pulse is already thrumming a little faster as I think about following him around all afternoon. Attending to his needs.

I'm not really looking when I reach for my mouse and knock into my glass of water. I only just catch it before it falls to the floor. With water dripping through my fingers, I look up. Asha is standing in the doorway to the office. She sighs. "I won't be in tomorrow either. You'll have to get him ready for the shareholder briefing."

I blink at her. "That's at seven in the morning."

"That's right. Is that a problem?"

"No." I'm so not a morning person.

"Good. See you on Thursday."

I sigh and fumble to right the cup, wiping my fingers on a tissue I find in my drawer. Just got to push through for another day. After all, it"s a chance to make a good impression. At least, I won't have to do the early shift every day. Mr. Kernos is an infamously early riser, often starting work before seven and scheduling brutally early breakfast meetings, which Asha always takes care of. I've been bracing for this for a while.

I finish the summary at one thirteen, and hastily print it. Mr. Kernos is old school. Anything he has to read, he likes printed. I've seen the way he pores over things, highlighting, and making little scrawled notes in the margins. I think it might be one of the reasons I'm crushing so hard.

When I knock on the door to his office, there's no answer. I open it and peep inside.

He's not here.

I look over at the clock on the wall behind me, but it's definitely one twenty. We'll have to walk down to the multi-purpose room in a minute or he'll be late for his talk, and I haven't even checked if he wants me to get him a drink or print anything else for him.

I decide to wait.

Walking across to his desk, I place my summary notes where he'll spot them easily and collect a few pens and highlighters he's left out on the desk, tucking them back into the container near his mouse.

I must have bumped the mouse. The screen lights up and I'm about to look away when a new email pops up.

[email protected]

Dear Mr. Kernos,

Please find attached the document we spoke about. I think you'll really like my idea.

Regards,

Asha Gupte

Her idea? What could it be? I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't.

I still do.

Clicking the attachment I stare in horror at the proposal. It's a cost analysis of the network's current programs. With a recommendation about which ones to cut.

At the top of Asha's list of programs to cut is Married for a Day!

That cow!

I'm so outraged I don't even notice anyone enter the office. It's only when I hear the deep masculine sound of a throat clearing behind me I realize I've been busted. I step back from the computer so fast I'm off balance. The heel of my shoe catches on the carpet and I stumble back into a firm body. He grunts, trips, and somehow we both end up in the huge leather office chair, my ass nestled in his lap against a pair of thick thighs.

Really thick, really firm thighs.

"Where's Asha?"

Oh, God. I know that voice. I cover my eyes with my hands, cheeks flaming hot under my fingertips. "She had an appointment," I mumble.

There's a pause. During the pause I'm hyper aware of every place our bodies touch. How warm and muscular the abs are where my back rests. How there's a distinct bulge beneath my ass...

"Would you like to get off me now, Ms. Delany? And explain to me what just happened here?"

I leap up, brushing at my skirt. "I just—I." God, is it possible I've actually self-combusted? I'm sure my cheeks are bright red. Curse of a redhead blushing at the drop of a hat. I smooth a hand over my unruly hair, which sticks out from the ponytail even more than usual after that little episode. "Asha had to go, and she sent me up to see if you need anything for the talk this afternoon."

Up to this point, I've only dared to fix my eyes on his crisp white business shirt beneath the tailored blue suit he wears. Now I lift my gaze to the stern expression on his long face. His wide set brown eyes glare at me from beneath outrageously long dark lashes. The pale gray-white of his skin deepens to a darker shade over his brows and his wide black horns stretch out over his long bovine ears.

Monsters have been out for nearly five years now. There was even a monster who ran for mayor of Heartstone! A minotaur, just like Mr. Kernos.

That doesn't stop me wanting to stare every time I meet one. Mr. Kernos might be my boss, and I might see him almost every day, but that does nothing to lessen the intense curiosity I feel about his species. OK about him.

I wonder if the rumors are true about what a minotaur is packing inside his specially tailored pants. Certainly felt like it from his lap.

"And so you thought you'd come up and check my emails for me?" He lifts one brow in a sardonic expression that shouldn't have my panties in danger of flooding.

It definitely has me squirming.

"I'm so sorry, I just bumped the mouse and—"

"And accidentally clicked on that attachment..."

I lower my head. Oh, shit. I'm going to get fired.

Mr. Kernos sighs. "We'll talk about this later. For now, go and fetch me a water, and have IT set up the projector. I'll need you to keep time for me. Sit at the front and give me this signal after every ten minutes, and again at two twenty-five. I have a three o'clock meeting I can't miss."

"Yes, sir." I hurry to the door. Maybe I got away with it?

"And Ms. Delany?"

I turn back, cringing. "Yes."

"I want you back here in my office at four thirty. So we can talk about what happened here. Have you got that?"

"Yes sir."

I hurry out, dash down to IT to have them set up the projector, then go to the kitchen and snatch a water. I make it to the multipurpose room just as the last employee is filing in, ready for Mr. Kernos' address. Today's talk is for the production teams of all Bullseye Media's reality TV programs. I recognize a few people from the research I did before applying. I hurry to the podium at the front and set down Mr. Kernos' water, cringing when he gives me a look which, by rights, should crush me into the floor. I take my seat at the front, getting out my phone and setting the timer.

People in the audience talk quietly. They stop instantly when Mr. Kernos begins. "Aren't you sick of the same thing day in day out?"

I blink. Yes, stern minotaur daddy, I am. How did you know?

"So are our viewers."

A murmur rises within the crowd.

"Of course they are. We've been feeding them the same tired muck for the last ten years. Same as all the other networks. We're working in the age of streaming services and short-form video. We need to hook their attention quickly and keep it. But how do we do that?"

I lean forward, timer forgotten as I listen. "...needs to be fresh. Relevant. Sexy. Most of all, it needs to make them feel like they"re right there in the moment."

I frown. What does that even mean? They're all just buzzwords. I still don't see what he wants us to do differently.

Well, what he wants them to do differently, since I'm just his junior assistant.

I glance down just as the timer ticks over to five minutes five seconds and give him the signal. He nods to acknowledge me.

He goes through some slides with the falling ratings we've all had beaten over our heads for the last month. This is nothing new, either.

Then he brings up a slide with our network next to our three top competitors. I gasp out loud. The ogress beside me turns to give me a sneer, but I ignore her.

"Everything shows a downward trend in television viewing in general. Analysts have been saying that traditional media is on the way out. Only our top competitor, Catchcall Media isn't following that trend. Their ratings are on a steep spike up, ever since mid last year. So what the heck are they doing that we're not doing?"

I stare at him. What are they doing?

I hope whatever it is doesn't spell the end of my favorite shows!

I almost miss another ten minute marker, I'm so distracted thinking about what he's saying.