Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

M ay 22 nd

What’s the saying? Out of the frying pan and into the fire? Flames shooting from my head are all that I feel when I have to call Timothy West, Mimi’s agent. Unfortunately, today I have to do that. But then I get to see how well I am at being a matchmaker. I can’t wait to see what Gina thinks of her blind date.

“Miss Turner!”

Paige’s eyes rolled as she walked by Jack’s door and Amanda smothered a laugh.

“Yes, Mr. Griffin,” Paige said with a smile on her face she didn’t feel as she used her crutches to enter his office and shut the door.

“What happened? ”

“Twisted my ankle.”

Jack grunted as if that much was obvious. “You got flowers. Again. Have you been bad, little one?”

Oh, the dom voice was back the second Jack shut the door. All thoughts of Fraser fled because it was really true—that gravelly voice that seemed to growl at her? Hottest thing in the world. Books didn’t do it justice.

“I don’t know, sir. Will you spank me if I am?”

Jack’s eyes flashed and Paige gulped. Maybe she’d teased him a little too much because right now, it looked as if Jack would shove her across the desk and spank her.

“You do owe me, Miss Turner.”

“Yes, but you like me too much to ruin the money I’m going to bring in by taking your romance line mainstream.” Time to get back to being a professional, no matter how much her body was screaming, take me now ! Paige took a seat, her ankle throbbing, but enjoying the banter with Jack.

“I have a lot of money, Miss Turner. It might be worth giving some up for it.”

Damn, it was getting hot in here and she needed to cool it down. “Why do you have my flowers?”

“I intercepted them on the way to your office. I was wondering if you had gone to The Red Door again.”

“Nope,” Paige said with a smile as she plucked the flowers from the desk. The card was just right there in the open with no envelope. It only took a second to see they were from Fraser.

“They’re from some guy who wants to prove himself to you.” Jack chuckled as he took a seat and leaned back in his leather chair.

“What’s funny about that? It’s sweet.” Paige said, standing there looking at her flowers and wondering why Jack wasn’t impressed.

“First, there’s carnations in there. Any man worth his salt doesn’t send a generic bouquet with carnations. You send seductive flowers: calla lilies, roses, orchids, something as rare and beautiful as the woman receiving them. Second, and most important, you don’t talk about proving yourself. You just do it.”

Okay, so maybe Jack had a point.

“Who is he?” Jack demanded.

“An ER doctor I’ve known for a while. He was at the gala.”

“And why does he need to prove himself?” Jack asked, sounding curious.

Surprisingly, it was easy to talk to Jack. He didn’t give her any bull. He told it to her straight. “I want to lose my virginity and I think he might be the one to do it. But when I needed him to show up for . . . something, he didn’t answer his phone and didn’t get back to me. I ran into him when I hurt my ankle and we cleared up some misunderstandings we had.”

Jack choked and leaned forward. “You’re a fucking virgin?” Well, Jack Griffin could be surprised because Paige almost laughed at the shocked look on his face.

“I’m a virgin who isn’t fucking. Hence the problem. I have tried and tried and nothing. I’m trying different romance tropes. That’s how I met the doctor. I had an allergic reaction at The Red Door while living out the BDSM trope.”

Jack’s jaw dropped open before it snapped shut. “Screw tropes. Bend over the desk. I know there’s a billionaire’s trope, and as your boss and a billionaire, I think it’s only right I show you how it’s done.”

Paige laughed and shook her head. “We tried that and it didn’t work out well. Actually, I just tried the fireman trope and ended up hurting my ankle. I’m a failure at it, and right now I don’t want to plan anything. I just want to see if anything happens organically.”

“Miss Turner. Orgasms are about as organic as they come.” Oh gosh. Jack used his dom voice again .

Paige looked up as Jack came to stand in front of her. He moved slowly but purposefully as he took the flowers from her and dropped them in the trash. “He’s not good enough for you anyway.”

Paige’s heart was beating so hard she could hear it. Her body fluttered as Jack leaned down and effortlessly lifted her from the chair and onto his desk. “Jack, this isn’t a good idea,” Paige managed to say. Managed because her chest was heaving. Literally.

“I won’t take you here, Paige,” he whispered, his nose against her neck as he began to kiss down her neck. “Your first time deserves more than that. Something Dr. Carnation doesn’t understand. Tell me, Paige, have you had an orgasm?”

“From a guy or by myself?” Paige’s head was starting to get fuzzy as Jack began to run his hands up her thighs.

“If you have to ask that, then the answer is no. A guy has never given you an orgasm. Battery-gasms are cheating and I don’t cheat.”

Holy Bookworm. Paige’s body was on fire. Her head, her heart, her hoo-ha, and her ankle were all throbbing. Jack dropped to his knees and Paige was transfixed on the image of his head between her legs as he began to kiss her thigh, starting just inside the knee.

“Mr. Griffin, your mother—” Amanda’s voice said over the phone.

In one swift motion, Jack yanked down her skirt but didn’t have enough time to get off his knees as the door opened and Mrs. Griffin stormed the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.

“Miss Turner hurt her ankle and I was looking at the bruising to see if I should send her home or not. She’s stubborn and doesn’t want to take the day off,” Jack said smoothly, and it was then Paige noticed he was holding her ankle in his hands and frowning. “It does look very bad, Miss Turner. If you insist on staying, make sure your assistant gets you ice packs and you keep your foot up all day.”

“A hurt ankle? Do you think I’m—Oh! That does look bad,” Mrs. Griffin said, getting a good look at Paige’s ankle.

Jack leaned forward, brushing against the side of her breast to press the intercom. “Amanda, please get Kendrick to bring Miss Turner’s office chair to wheel her to her office. I don’t want her hobbling around here hurt.”

“Yes, sir,” Amanda replied.

“Why are there flowers in the trash?” Mrs. Griffin asked.

“A man sent them to me, but Mr. Griffin said they weren’t good enough,” Paige said with a sweet smile.

Mrs. Griffin’s perfectly plucked and tucked lips moved into what was probably a sneer. “My son is right. No man worth your time sends carnations with that much greenery.”

Jack shrugged and Paige tried not to laugh. Poor Fraser.

Kendrick hurried in with the chair and frowned when he saw Paige. “Oh my gosh, Paige! What happened?”

“You let your assistant call you by your first name?” Mrs. Griffin practically spat.

“I do. Maybe I’m just a battery-operated, carnation kind of gal after all.”

Mrs. Griffin and Kendrick looked confused. Jack frowned but helped her into the chair.

“If you need to see me, I’ll come to your office, Miss Turner.”

“No need, Mr. Griffin. As much as I love our chats, I think we’re good for now. Lovely seeing you again, Mrs. Griffin.”

Kendrick pushed her down the hall to her office before maneuvering her behind her desk. “I don’t want to speak ill of my bosses, but the Griffin family scares me to death.”

“Don’t let them intimidate you. They’re just people, Kendrick.” Paige almost cursed when she saw the message in her email from Timothy West. “I hate to ask you, but is there any way to get a box or something for me to put my ankle up on?”

“No problem, Paige.” Kendrick hurried out and it was time to get down to work.

By three in the afternoon Paige was thinking that staying home today might have been the right call. Her ankle was killing her. And now she was on a call with Timothy West, agent extraordinaire.

“I want to go over the media campaign with Jack,” Timothy demanded as if it were nothing to meet with the CEO of the company anytime he wanted.

“Mr. Griffin isn’t running the campaign. I am. Timmy, are you hard of hearing? Should I conduct our meetings via email?” Paige had had enough.

“I can hear fine, Miss Turner. It’s you who is not listening. I don’t want to meet with a lacky. I want to meet with the boss.”

“Timmy.”

“Timothy,” he snapped.

“Ah, so you can listen. I’m telling you I am the boss for Mimi’s book. What I say goes.”

“We’ll see about that.” Timothy hung up.

The knock on her door had Paige snapping, “What?”

The door opened and Kendrick stuck his head in. “Sorry, you have a flower delivery.”

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just that Timothy West drives me crazy.”

Kendrick reached back to his desk and then came in carrying the most beautiful array of flowers Paige had ever seen. They were so large she couldn’t see Kendrick’s head from behind them.

“These are for you,” Kendrick said, setting them down on her desk. This arrangement had an envelope with the card, but she already knew who they were from.

“Thank you. And warn Amanda that Timothy wants an appointment with Jack.” Kendrick nodded and headed out the door. Paige pulled the envelope free and took a deep breath.

Get well soon. J.

She had to admit, she stared at it for way too long, considering it was just a standard note. Paige finally set the note down and saw Jack leaning against her door frame with his arms crossed across his chest.

“Thank you for the flowers. They are stunning.” Paige couldn’t deny it. The difference was drastic. Once again, poor Fraser.

Jack pushed off the door frame and closed the door before taking a seat across from her. “You’re welcome. How is your ankle feeling?”

“It hurts, but I don’t know if that’s more my actual ankle or putting up with Timothy West.”

Jack chuckled. “It’s time to go home. Let me drive you. I believe you normally walk, correct?”

“I do normally walk. I had to take a cab today with my ankle. But I’m not going home. I’m going to book club.” Paige hesitated. It was so easy to dismiss his offer of a ride, but he was trying here. Was there really something between them? They did have good banter and he was listening to her now when it came to work, but there were so many cons too. “Yes, I’d like a ride if you don’t mind dropping me off.”

“I’ll send a car for you to use morning and night until your ankle is healed. Do you want me to carry you downstairs?”

Paige laughed. “No. I can’t imagine the gossip that would create.”

“I’m the boss. Gossip doesn’t bother me. ”

Paige took a deep breath, and her smile faded. “That’s the thing, Jack. Gossip would never bother you, but it could ruin me. I’ve worked really hard to make it to where I am. One rumor of me sleeping with the boss and suddenly everything I’ve worked for is undermined. It’s bad enough your mom wants me fired. Everyone would want me fired if we slept together.”

Jack tightened his jaw and gave her a curt nod before standing up and opening the door. “Kendrick. Grab Miss Turner’s things and help her to the parking garage. She has a car waiting to take her home. Thank you.”

Jack walked out the door, leaving Paige very confused. But that was Jack. Everything about him was confusion. Hot, cold. Personal, professional. Alpha billionaire, mother’s boy. Friend, boss. Paige glanced at the flowers and frowned. Did he genuinely like her or was she just a conquest in a long line of women?