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  “Sir…,” she began. At his growl, she looked up to find him glaring at her and she tried again, “Trent…I really think you might be in a better position to buy your girlfriend such an intimate gift.”

  “Well, I don’t have time for that, but you do.” Trent stared her down, daring her to argue with him further.

  Brianna tried to come up with a viable argument. Coming up with nothing, she simply nodded and hoped that George, whoever he was, was working tomorrow and could indeed help her out. Taking a breath, she answered, “Fine. I’ll stop by and see George in the morning. Your contracts are there and as it’s already past 5 o’clock, I’m going to head home.”

  Brianna didn’t wait for a reply but hurried out of the office, collected her purse and took the elevator down.

  *****

  Three hours later, Brianna dragged herself back to the motel room, thankful that Jack, the motel’s owner, hadn’t been on duty tonight. After dealing with her new boss and his rude behavior and unusual errand requests, she had taken the light rail straight to the nursing facility, only to find her mother asleep and back on oxygen.

  She had caught a cold the week before and Brianna had been under the impression that she was on the mend, but the infection had taken a turn for the worse, and her mother was back on antibiotics and oxygen as a result.

  She had sat by the bedside and related the events of the day to her mother. Several of the nursing staff had come by and chatted with her briefly, and around 8 o’clock, she had finally headed back across town and to the small room she currently called home.

  Yawning, Brianna brushed her hair before climbing into bed and closing her eyes. She was tired beyond belief and knew that the coming days were going to test her abilities, in more ways than one.

  As she drifted to sleep amidst the noise from the highway just beyond the parking lot of the motel, she thought of the increase in salary she was going to bring home and resolved to deal with her new boss in a professional and calm manner.

  Chapter 7

  Brianna cautioned herself for the hundredth time to hold her tongue. She had been working as Trent’s assistant for five days now, and if she had to run one more of his personal errands she was going to scream and possibly toss one of the potted plants sitting around the office at his head.

  He was the most insufferable man she had ever had the misfortune to meet. He was rude beyond belief, gave orders and commands without any thought as to whether they inconvenienced someone else, and she had yet to hear the words “Thank You” come from his mouth.

  To make matters worse, he was a pest. He had the ability to sneak up on her, and was constantly touching her in some way or another. When discussing changes to documents, instead of giving her a corrected copy, he would read off her computer screen while leaning over her shoulder. Brianna knew that she would forever have his unique smell ingrained in her senses.

  If he wasn’t crowding her workspace, then he was commenting on something about her person. He liked the perfume she wore, little did he know that she didn’t wear any and what he was smelling was the strawberry shampoo she had splurged on at the dollar store; he didn’t like her clothing and continued to urge her to leave her hair down. Brianna had made sure to use extra pins to ensure her hair stayed in place.

  She was currently fuming over his comments about her lunch choice – another peanut butter sandwich. As her small motel room did not offer the convenience of a fridge, she hadn’t any way to store other lunch items, and had found that peanut butter and bread was easy to make in the mornings, and provided her with enough calories during the day that she was able to keep working. A breakfast bar, eaten on the forty-five minute light-rail trip into the city each morning served as breakfast, and the administrator at the nursing facility had graciously instructed his kitchen staff to make sure Brianna was served dinner with her mother each evening.

  Brianna took another breath and tried to find a calm response as Trent stood towering over her, scowling at the half-eaten sandwich lying on her desk. “Listen, I don’t think it’s any of your concern what I choose to eat during my lunch break. If my choice of sandwich offends you, I’d be happy to resume eating my lunch under the trees in front of this building, as I was doing before being assigned to work up here, but that will not get these notes typed up and ready for your 1 o’clock meeting.”

  Trent hid his smile at the calmness his assistant was striving for, but failing miserably at attaining. He had been steadily pushing her buttons over the last several days, wondering what it would take for her to lose her temper. He was dying to see if it rivaled the red highlights in her hair.

  “Not having those notes ready in time for that meeting is unacceptable and you know it.” Turning away, he headed back for his office. He didn’t understand the young woman sitting out front.

  While her clothing was always neatly pressed and clean, it didn’t fit her, was decades out of style, and it appeared she only had a few shirts, sweaters, and skirts from which to choose. She brought that infernal peanut butter sandwich for lunch each day, and insisted she must leave the office by 5:15 pm each evening.

  She was a puzzle that he was finding himself drawn to solve. He loved seeing her hair down, but she insisted on wearing it secured tightly at the nape of her neck. The only makeup he had seen her wear was a pale pink lip-gloss, she smelled of strawberries, and refused to talk about her personal life.

  Voicing her opinions of his personal life was also taboo. After the first day, when he had sent her to buy a parting gift for Chelsea, she had returned the next morning with a neatly boxed tennis bracelet. And thrown it at him with the edict that he should plan on buying future gifts himself as she would not be doing so again.

  Her color had been high in her cheeks when she had issued this statement, and she hadn’t waited for a reply, just turned and started the work waiting for her at her desk. Not another word had been said about the issue, and when Chelsea had arrived for their lunch date, Brianna had shown her into the office and then vanished.

  Trent had found her seated at her desk upon his return, studiously working on the work he had left her. He had expected some acerbic comments from her after her earlier tirade, but she had ignored him as much as possible the remainder of the day.

  Reaching for his phone, he called Janet, anxious to find out more about Brianna Daughtry.

  “Trent? What’s up? How’s Brianna working out?”

  “She’s doing fine. What do you know about her?”

  Janet smiled, glad that Trent couldn’t see her and answered, “What do you want to know?”

  Trent thought for a moment before answering, “Everything. Where’d she come from? Where’s she live? Does she have family?”

  Janet’s smile grew, it sounded as if Brianna was getting to her cousin, “Well, let me pull up her file and see what we have. Let’s see – I don’t recognize the address, but it’s in Federal Heights…”

  “What?” Trent questioned. Federal Heights was known for its gangs, violence, and most people avoided it, especially after dark.

  Janet understood his concern, but continued, “Yes, Federal Heights. She has a mother listed here, but the emergency contact is a nursing home over in Aurora. Maybe her mother is a nurse? I don’t have anything else. She was a student at UNC, but never finished. Sorry, but I don’t have anything else. Why do you want to know?”

  Trent was asking himself that same question, “Not for any reason. She’s just a puzzle of sorts.”

  Janet laughed through the phone, “It sounds like she’s got under your skin.”

  Trent growled his reply, “No one gets under my skin. I was just curious.”

  Janet continued to laugh as she heard Trent hang up the phone. Well, Brianna hadn’t managed to curb his rudeness yet. Placing a call back to his office, she waited for the capable Brianna to answer.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Coldwell’s office. How may I help you?”

  “Brianna? Janet Marshall here. How are thing
s going up there?”

  “Oh, hi. Things are going well, I think,” Brianna answered. Trent had found plenty to complain about, but none of it had to do with her work. She didn’t think the head of HR wanted to hear about those things.

  “Good, good. Well, being that it’s Friday, I just wanted to make sure that you’re comfortable continuing on next week. I spoke with Pam earlier today, and she is going to be gone for at least three weeks, maybe longer. Do you foresee any problems in continuing to fill her position?”

  Brianna couldn’t believe it, she was going to be able to keep this position for almost a month. Maybe she would finally be able to afford to move out of that crummy motel. Jack, the motel’s owner, was becoming more of a pest, and twice this week alone the police had been called to the motel: first to break up a gang fight, and then to break up a fight between a prostitute and her pimp.

  Brianna was starting to fear for her safety, but at the moment had no other choices. Maybe this weekend she could look around for something closer to work, or her mother. Anything had to be better than where she was at currently.

  “I don’t see any problems, provided Mr. Coldwell is happy with my work?” Brianna hedged, wondering if Trent had complained about something.

  “Trent is very happy with your work as far as I know. I just wanted to make sure you were happy in this new position.”

  “Oh, well, I am. I can’t thank you enough for giving me this chance, you don’t know how much it means to me,” Brianna wanted to say more, but wasn’t sure how to convey her thankfulness without giving away her current situation.

  “I’m glad to reward somebody who works as hard as you do. Brianna, if you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to come see me. I know we haven’t gotten a chance to get to know each other, but I would love to correct that. How about I treat you to lunch on Monday?”

  Brianna was shocked at the invitation, should she accept? She didn’t want to offend the head of HR, but she also wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for her to be having lunch with someone in a management position. “Well, I don…”

  “Brianna, I won’t take ‘No’ for an answer. Let’s plan on going around noon, and if something comes up before then call me and we can go a little later.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure?” Brianna replied.

  Janet laughed through the phone, “I’m looking forward to it. Hey, have a nice weekend.”

  Brianna smiled, “I will. You too,” she stated as an after-thought before hanging up. She was still smiling when Trent came out of his office a few minutes later.

  Chapter 8

  Trent realized as he looked at his new assistant, that he was seeing her smile for the first time. It lit up her entire face and he found himself smiling as well. Something had put that look on her face and he wondered what it was, “Care to share what has you smiling?” he inquired as he drew near her desk.

  Brianna, startled, turned in her desk so quickly she banged her knee on the inside edge and winced at the same time she exclaimed, “Ouch!”

  Trent took the last step to her desk and pulled her chair out as he turned her around to face him. Kneeling down, he moved her hand, which was currently rubbing her injured knee, out of the way and replaced it with his own.

  At the first touch of his hand, Brianna froze, unsure of what was happening inside her. She felt hot and cold all at the same time, and as Trent rubbed his palm over her knee, she found herself wishing the material of her khaki skirt wasn’t keeping his skin from touching hers. She looked up to find his eyes on level with hers and realized that she hadn’t known his eyes were green with little gold flecks in them.

  His cologne assailed her brain and made forming any coherent thoughts impossible. She could see his mouth moving, but it took several seconds for the fog to clear enough to understand what she was being asked, “Brianna, are you okay? Brianna?”

  Trent stilled his hand on her knee at the confused look on her face. She had only bumped her knee, but she didn’t appear to be hearing him. Raising a hand to her chin, he tipped her head up and looked into her eyes. His gaze drifted over her face and landed on her lips. When she licked her lips, he watched her tongue peek out from between her lips and fought the urge to dip his head and taste her.

  Brianna watched Trent’s head draw closer and pushed herself away, putting her hands on his chest and using her feet to push the chair away from him. Dropping her eyes, she pretended to straighten her skirt as he rose to his feet.

  “Thank you. Did you need something?” Brianna inquired.

  Trent looked at her and wondered what she would do if he simply plucked her from her chair and carried her back to his office. Would she scream in outrage, or give in?

  When Trent didn’t answer her, Brianna chanced a look up at him and her eyes widened as she saw the fire burning in his gaze. This was not good. Deciding that things needed to be brought back to a professional mode, she cleared her throat, crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, “Sir?”

  Trent growled at her, had she intentionally used that term to upset him? He had told her numerous times to use his first name. “Are you intentionally trying to irritate me today?” he asked her.

  “As if I have to try,” she mumbled beneath her breath.

  Trent couldn’t believe the audacity of her, “What did you just say?”

  Brianna sat up straighter and looked him in the eye, “I asked if you needed something.”

  Trent watched her for another moment, and then growled at her, “I need you to work for a few hours tomorrow afternoon. The company representatives are flying in tomorrow morning from Germany and I’ll need you on hand to make any changes that I agree to. Is that going to be a problem?”

  Brianna quickly swallowed back her sigh of disappointment. She had really been looking forward to finding another place to reside, and tomorrow would be the only time she had to look. Deciding that she could handle another week at the crummy motel, she slowly nodded, “I guess. What time did you want me to come in?”

  Trent saw the look cross her face and wondered what other plans she had to cancel to accommodate his wishes. She didn’t look thrilled, but had agreed. Maybe he could give her an extra hour or so off next week? Hopefully, this negotiation would be over by then and he would only have to sign the final paperwork once he arrived in Frankfurt.

  “We should be ready to begin by 1 o’clock. Call the deli downstairs and tell them to have the usual spread delivered around noon. They know how to set things up in the conference room and will have everything ready by the time our guests arrive.”

  Brianna began taking notes as he continued to outline the other items that needed to be taken care of to accommodate the Saturday meeting.

  As Trent headed back into his office, he turned and reminded her, “Be sure to tell security that you will be coming in tomorrow around noon. I don’t know how long things will take, but I think we should be wrapped up by dinnertime.”

  Brianna nodded; it was going to take the entire day. She had no idea about the light-rail schedule on the weekends, and made a note to check that out on her way to visit her mother this evening. Looking at the clock, she quickly took care of making the necessary calls and finished talking with security as the clock came up on 5 o’clock.

  Dialing Trent through the intercom, she told him she was leaving and would see him in the morning. Trent tried to find a reason to delay her leaving, but finding nothing, bid her a goodnight.

  *****

  Brianna made the trip to the nursing home, and was pleased to see her mother feeling much better and noted that she had been taken off the oxygen. She spent several hours reading to her again, and then watched a video with her before hugging her and promising to see her tomorrow for dinner.

  Brianna stepped off the light-rail at 10:30 pm that evening and began the two-block walk to the motel she currently called home. She normally didn’t arrive so late in the evening, not wanting to chance inviting unwanted attention from
the neighborhood hoodlums.

  As she walked past the front office, she noticed that Jack was on duty and quickened her step, intent on getting into her room before he saw her. She had almost made it to her room, when she was brutally hit from behind and knocked to the ground. Her head hit the concrete and everything went black momentarily.

  When she came back around, she found herself lying on the concrete while two men circled each other, each having a knife trained on the other. Getting her knees underneath herself, she crawled towards the building, pulling her purse and other items with her.

  Looking up, she noted that she was only about eight feet from her room. If she could make it that far, maybe she could get inside and call the police before somebody was killed. As she began to move that direction, she held back a groan of pain and reached a hand up to wipe the liquid from her eyes, only to see her hand return covered in blood.

  Closing her eyes briefly, she continued her crawl until she reached her room and managed to get the door open and fall inside. Crawling to the phone, she dialed 911, gave them the motel’s address and then collapsed against the side of the bed to wait. She kept her eyes closed, and willed the nausea away.

  Several minutes later, she heard the welcome sound of police sirens and someone was knocking on her door. She pushed herself to her feet, stumbling as a wave of dizziness assailed her, and opened the door to a uniformed police officer who took one look at her and radioed for an ambulance.

  Brianna tried to tell the officer she didn’t need medical attention, but then the officer suggested she take a look in the mirror and Brianna had to fight back another wave of nausea. She had never been able to handle the sight of her own blood.