Chapter 9

CHAPTER9

“Well, I think that went well,” Andi said, sending the man that hadn’t said anything since they’d left the boardroom a hopeful smile only to find him glaring across the table at her.

Deciding that this was one of those rare moments that she should stop talking, Andi cleared her throat and took in the rest of the executive dining room, from the freshly polished floor to the mahogany tables covered with crisp, bright white linen tablecloths and everything in-between before she glanced back at Devyn and-

“Was that one of the things that you decided wasn’t relevant on your resumé?” Devyn asked, leaning back in his chair as he considered her.

“One of many,” she admitted with a solemn nod, debating asking him what was going to happen to him now that the deal fell through, but she didn’t want to say anything that was going to upset him. He had enough on his plate without her making it worse for him.

“And the reason that you didn’t tell me how good you were with numbers was…”

“Because I’d have to quit,” Andi said, really hoping that it didn’t come down to that because she actually loved her job. Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true, but she liked working for Devyn. Other than the whole multitasking issue, that is. She really didn’t want to have to start over again, but she knew that she might not have a choice after today.

“And why is that?” Devyn asked, watching her as though he was trying to figure something out.

“I don’t want to work in the accounting department,” she said as the waitress that had given her a weird look when she’d asked for a plate of bacon earlier set their orders on the table.

“Thank you,” Devyn said, never taking his eyes off her as Andi murmured, “You’re an angel,” as a large plate of bacon was placed on the table next to the steak that Devyn ordered for her before excusing herself.

“You never answered me,” Devyn said, making her frown as she helped herself to a delicious-looking strip of bacon.

“About what?”

“Why did you take care of me?” Devyn said, asking the question that she really wasn’t sure how to answer. As much as she would love to be able to say that she would have done that for anyone…she couldn’t.

“Because you needed me,” Andi said, finishing off her slice of bacon with another nod.

“Fair enough,” he murmured before asking, “Why don’t you want to work in the accounting department?”

“I hate everything about it,” she admitted, wondering if this was the part where he was going to give her no choice but to quit. She-

“You left this morning,” Devyn said, helping himself to a slice of bacon.

“I had to make sure that I got to work on time because my boss is a tyrant,” Andi said with a solemn nod as she selected another slice of bacon.

“Is that how you see me?” Devyn asked after a slight pause.

She opened her mouth to tease him, only to change her mind when she saw the look on his face. “No, you’re not a tyrant.”

“But that’s what everyone thinks, right?” he asked, making her heart break for him.

“Honestly, I have no idea what they think,” Andi said, shrugging it off because it didn’t matter.

“And you don’t care,” Devyn said, sounding thoughtful.

“No, I don’t. I have better things to do than to waste my time worrying about what other people think.”

“That sounds like there’s a story there,” he murmured absently, looking lost in thought.

“Not a very interesting one,” Andi said, reaching for another slice of bacon only to go still when he said, “You’re fired.”

Nodding slowly, she reached over and pulled the plate of bacon away from him as she said, “You don’t deserve bacon.”

Sighing heavily, Devyn reached over and helped himself to another slice of bacon as he said, “I have another job for you.”

“Explain,” Andi said, narrowing her eyes on him as she waited for him to say something that would leave her with no other choice but to grab the plate of bacon and walk away.

“I need your help cleaning up this mess,” Devyn said, sighing heavily as he popped the piece of bacon in his mouth while she sat there, thinking about what he just said only…

“Why can’t I be your assistant?” she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Because you suck at it.”

Nodding, she murmured, “Fair enough.”

* * *

“What are you doing?”Devyn found himself asking as he watched the woman that saved his ass take her time getting comfortable on the large leather couch on the other side of the room instead of the chair in front of his desk.

“Ensuring that this meeting is productive,” Andi murmured absently as she took her time getting organized, placing her bottle of water on the coffee table in front of her before reaching for her laptop only to think better of it and grabbed a fresh legal pad off the stack of notebooks that she’d helped herself to from the supply closet. That led her to taking her time selecting a pen as Devyn joined her in the large sitting area.

“You know, most people sit in the chair in front of the desk when they’re taking notes,” Devyn drawled, leaning back in his chair as he watched her.

With a sad shake of her head, Andi said, “Those poor misguided souls,” making his lips twitch.

“Is there a reason why we’re sitting over here?” Devyn asked even as he found himself thinking about what happened in the boardroom only a few hours ago.

If she hadn’t come when she had…

He would have lost everything.

“To make this easier on you,” Andi said with a solemn nod as she finished settling in.

“That’s very considerate of you,” Devyn drawled as he thought back to the notes that the H.R. department had made on her resumé and couldn’t help but wonder how they’d missed something this fucking huge. Then again, her ex-employers would have been stupid to share that kind of information with them, especially if they were hoping to lure her back one day, which made him curious about something.

“What happened when you quit your last job?” he asked, watching as she started to worry her bottom lip between her teeth only to stop when she realized what she was doing, shifted uneasily, cleared her throat, and asked, “Why do you want to know?”

“Curiosity,” Devyn murmured as he watched her, wondering what H.R. would have done if they’d found out about this unique skill of hers. Probably tried to stick her in the accounting department, he thought even as he had to admit that he was tempted to do the same. With her skills, he’d be stupid not to do everything that he could to convince her to take a job in the accounting department, knowing just how much Carta Hotels would benefit from having her there and if she’d been anyone else, he would have already done that, but…

He couldn’t do that to her.

“They tried to entice me into staying, but unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough to stop me from leaving and coming to work for you as the best assistant that you’ve ever had,” Andi said with a long-suffering sigh that had his lips twitching.

“I can honestly say that you were probably the worst assistant that I’ve ever had,” Devyn drawled.

“What are you talking about? I was the best and you know it,” she said with a sad shake of her head.

“Really?” he asked, surprised that he was able to sit there feeling this relaxed considering just how badly he’d been fucked over by this deal. He should be losing his fucking mind trying to figure out how he was going to fix this in time, but right now, all he felt was relief.

If he’d signed those papers, he would have lost everything. The board would have fired his ass for gross incompetence. He would have lost everything, his job, the bonus that he’d worked his ass off for, his reputation, and his chance to finally keep the promise that he’d made to his mother, and it was all because of the small woman that was clearly in denial about her assistant skills.

“Really,” Andi assured him with a firm nod.

“Assistants answer the phone,” Devyn pointed out.

“I would have done that, but I knew that you didn’t want to be disturbed,” Andi said, nodding solemnly.

“You also didn’t go through my emails,” he reminded her.

“Because I didn’t want to ruin the surprise?” she said with a hopeful smile.

“And what was the surprise?” Devyn drawled even as he couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to regret doing this. Probably, but he owed her.

“That I forgot to check your email?” Andi admitted, blinking innocently.

“Fair enough,” he murmured as he considered her. “Are you going to take the job?”

“That depends,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable.

“On what?”

“On whether or not my list of demands are met,” Andi said slowly with a sniff as she tried to stare him down as she folded her arms over her chest, trying to look intimidating, but honestly, she was just too fucking adorable to pull it off.

“And what exactly are these demands?” Devyn asked, biting back a smile.

Narrowing her eyes dangerously on him, she said, “No multitasking.”

“I really think that went without saying.”