Seducing My Assistant

SEDUCING MY ASSISTANT

J.S. Cooper & Helen Cooper

Seducing My Assistant is the novella sequel to Falling For My Boss.

Elizabeth Jeffries met and fell for Scott Taylor while she was working as his assistant. Even though they had their ups and downs, they realized that they had something special between them that they wanted to pursue. When Scott Taylor finally realized he was in love Elizabeth, someone else came along to claim her, bringing with him a surprise that would shock both of them. Now Scott has to fight for the woman he loves and try to convince her that he really is a good guy that is after her heart above everything else.

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This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright © 2016 by J. S. Cooper

Dedication

This is for all the readers that believe in true love.

Chapter One

Scott

I stood there with my hard-on and all I wanted to shout was “What the hell?” Hot damn! Why was it that when I always met a woman I liked she had issues? Major issues? Granted, I’d never cared before, but with Elizabeth it was different. Elizabeth was someone I wanted to get to know a lot more intimately and deeply. If I didn’t know better, I would think God was testing me and our relationship. Why was it that every time, Elizabeth and I were even close to a good space, something came up?

“Eliza, come out now.” Lacey, Elizabeth’s best friend banged on the door, her voice more insistent this time. I stared at Elizabeth and her face was a bright red as she avoided eye contact with me. “Shane is waiting.” I could feel my stomach clenching. Why was Shane here? From everything Elizabeth had told me, he was bad news. Granted she hadn’t told me much, but the mere fact that he’d cheated on her told me everything I needed to know. Real men did not cheat on their woman. I would never cheat on my girlfriend. It just wasn’t something I could ever do. Growing up with two sisters and being especially close to my younger sister Liv, I knew just how much emotional damage cheating could do to a person. But, I also knew how unreasonable some women could be. I knew how many chances some women gave men that were not worth their time. Way too many chances. I stifled a sigh and tried not to let my face show my annoyance. I wanted to grab Elizabeth by the shoulders and shake her. She couldn’t seriously be considering giving this dick another chance? Could she? “What’s going on?” I said gruffly, my voice harsher than I had intended. Elizabeth looked at me with guilty eyes and I ran my thumb across her puffy pink lips. “Why is Shane here and what’s the surprise?” I said again, my eyes never leaving her face. I wanted to study her every expression and emotion. Elizabeth frustrated me so much. I just never knew what she was thinking. Women said men were hard to read, but I’m guessing they had never met themselves. They were so bloody confusing.

“Scott,” She said softly, her eyes looking worried. I didn’t say anything as I continued staring at her, but my eyes dropped slowly to her heaving chest. Her breasts looked perky and I wanted to reach over and squeeze them gently with my fingers. I wanted to distract her from whatever was going on, on the other side of the door. I wanted her to take care of the hardness in my pants, but I didn’t act on those wants. I had a feeling she wouldn’t appreciate them.

“Yes.” I said and grabbed her hands. “I do.”

“You do what?” She frowned at me in confusion.

“I do want to go back to your bed so that you can take advantage of me and fuck my brains out.”

“Scott!” She said, her face reddening. “That wasn’t what I was about to say.”

“Pity.” I grinned and pulled her towards me. “There’s nothing else I want to hear right now.” I was postponing what I knew was inevitable. Elizabeth was going to walk out that door, see the ex that broke her heart and fall in love with him again. Heaven only knew what he’d brought with him. If it was an engagement ring, I’d hit him. I wasn’t a fighter, but I had a mean right hook from my days as a teenager wanting to be the second coming of Muhammad Ali. I wasn’t ever going to be heavyweight champion of the world, but I’d fight for my woman, if that was what I had to do.

“I’m going to see what’s going on.” Elizabeth said, her eyes looking worried as she put her hand on the door. “I won’t be long.”

“Yeah.” I said, my voice not hiding my disappointment. “Sure.”

She didn’t answer me and instead opened the door, poking her head out first as if she could see who was there and then come back in and close the door without them knowing.

“Shane,” she said softly as she walked out. I couldn’t tell if she sounded happy or not. I wished I could see her face to know what she was thinking. I’d be able to tell from the look in her eyes. I’d know if this Shane was still in her heart or not.

“Eliza.” He said, his voice deep. I walked to the door to catch a glimpse of the asshole who had ruined my evening. I stopped dead as I stared at him. It was Shane Devine, the pitcher for the local Baseball team. The team that I loved. The team that had gone to the MLB World Series Championships just two years ago. Why hadn’t Elizabeth told me that she’d dated Shane Devine? All of a sudden I didn’t feel so confident. I mean, up against a regular guy, I felt like I had a decent shot. Up against a top Baseball player, who was undoubtedly handsome, rich, and charismatic, well that made my chances a little harder.

“Eliza, you’re looking good.” He said, his blue eyes crinkling as he gazed at her. His hair was short, in a buzz cut, and his skin was a deep tan, from his days running around in the sun. I frowned as I stared at him. Shane Devine was a good looking man. A very good looking man. The sort of man that I knew girls went gaga after.

“Thanks.” She said and then she looked back at me, her eyes looking slightly worried.

“Eliza, you need to see who’s here.” Lacey’s eyes were wide and she grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled. I stood there feeling left out. I was the odd man out here. It was obvious to me, I didn’t even call her by the right name. I called her Elizabeth and it was obvious to me that everyone in the “in” crowd called her Eliza. To the people she loved she was Eliza. She’d never offered me to call her that.

“Who’s here?” She said weakly and then I heard a small squeak. “Oh my God.” She said and I walked out of the bedroom, determined to see who or what Shane had brought with him.

“I told you that I’d do this for you. That I’d move heaven or hell for you to get you answer.” Shane’s voice was emotional and I frowned. He was sure laying it on strong. What was he hoping for? Well, I knew what he was hoping for and I wanted to punch him for it.

“That’s the problem, Shane. I didn’t want you to visit hell for my answer.” Elizabeth’s voice was tight and I looked at her face first as I walked out to join them. Then I looked to the right to see who Shane had brought with him. My heart stopped as I looked at Elizabeth, Shane, and the new guest, trying to figure out if what I thought was true was correct.

“Eliza,” Shane said softly as he stepped forward to take her hand. “That was as much your fault as it was mine.”

“No,” She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “I didn’t want that to happen.”

“Eliza.” Shane’s voice broke. “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

“What about me?” Shane’s guest spoke up. “Did either of you think about me and my life when you made that choice?”

“What’s going on?” I asked Elizabeth, my heart thudding. I was confused. What choice had they made? What was I missing?

“Who are you?” Shane asked, his blue eyes glaring at me as he acknowledged me for the first time.

“I’m Elizabeth’s boss and boyfriend.” I said confidently.

“Scott.” Elizabeth looked at me, her eyes wide and confused. “Please not now.”

“Not now what?” I said, feeling angry. Didn’t she want to be my girlfriend?

“Don’t complicate things.” She shook her head. “This isn’t—”

“So what do you think of your present?” Lacey cut in, her brown eyes looking round and shocked and I could see her brain whirling, most probably trying to save the ideas for the book she was writing. Though, I wasn’t sure that this was something she’d want to include.

“Yes, Eliza.” Shane said. “What do you think of my surprise?”

“I, I,” Elizabeth shook her head and bit her lower lip as she turned toward the new guest. “I think I want to say I’m sorry.”

I frowned then, my brain sprinting a million miles a minute. What was she saying sorry for? What was going on and why did I feel like this was just the tip of the iceberg of confusion that was about to enter my life?

Chapter Two

Eliza

I stood there in shock, looking at Shane, Lacey and the man Shane had brought with him. Why had I just said I was sorry? I could feel heat rising in my stomach and I looked over at Scott, who was standing there looking as confused as I felt. His eyes burned into mine as I glanced at him and I could see all the questions and emotions pouring out of his soul and into mine. I wanted to scream and shout. I wanted to drop to my knees and cry. Why was it that life could never just go smoothly for once? Why was it that when things were finally going well with Scott, Shane had to show up and throw a spanner in the works? I turned back to look at Shane and I wanted to groan. Why did he look so good? And why was he here? He was not part of the plan that I had for my life; yet somehow he always managed to get into my head. And then I looked over at the man that was staring at me in guilt. The man I hated. The man I wanted to love. The man I wanted to love me. The man I wish I had a relationship with. The man that was my father.

There are many things in life that do not go as planned. Many things that make us question the decisions we make and the people we choose to love and make a life with. I’ve always thought that I was someone that would make good decisions. Always thought that if something happened to me once, I would never let it happen to me again. I always thought that I knew how to read people. Of course, there have been times when I have been wrong. There have been times where I’ve made mistakes, trusted people that I shouldn’t, been hurt, betrayed, devastated. I know that a lot of my issues have stemmed from my relationship with my father, from the feelings of abandonment and isolation growing up. I know that’s made me needier in relationships. Made me seek things I shouldn’t. Answers and solace in places that could never give me what I wanted. I tried hard to not let myself fall into those patterns. Tried hard not to make men my life, and yet, somehow I still failed. I still took and hoped for love to be the be all and end all of everything I was looking for in life. And so, when my relationships failed, as they all inevitably did, I was crushed.

Seeing Shane here and having Scott here was almost too much for me. Both of these men had caused me considerable pain. Such pain that I didn’t even know how to think, or how to feel. My heart felt sad just standing here in front of them. I felt like I wanted to cry. I stared at Shane and then at Scott and wondered if I was repeating the same mistakes that I’d made before. Wondered if by dating Scott, I was just putting myself in for the same heartache that I’d felt with Shane previously.

And now here was this surprise, this surprise that couldn’t have come at a worse time. This surprise that made my heart sink and my stomach rumble. This surprise that made me want to throw up. I just stood there, feeling frozen, feeling stiff, feeling like I was going to go out of my head and I didn’t know what to say or do. I mean, what could I say or do? This was one of the worst and most monumental moments of my life. And I didn’t even know what to say. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like I just wanted to go back to my bedroom, crawl into my bed, pull the covers up over my face, close my eyes, and pretend that none of this was happening. I wanted to ignore it all.

“Eliza, say something.” Shane said, staring at me with an expectant expression as if he expected me to rush into his arms in gratitude. As if this was enough to fix all of the problems that we’d ever had. As if I hadn’t hated him and his selfish ways for years. As if nothing had happened. I knew that he thought that this would be all it took. I knew that he thought that I was still that lost girl, with the broken heart and unanswered questions about my life, but I’d grown past that. At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself. I tried to tell myself that it didn’t matter anymore. I tried to block out the feelings that made me feel like shit about myself. Some days were better than others.

“What do you want me to say?” I snapped, looking down at the ground, emotion overwhelming me. I just didn’t know what to say. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt like I was in some sort of nightmare, and yet, it should have been good. It should have made me feel better. It should have made me feel like I was finally going to be getting answers to all the questions that were making my life weird and uncomfortable. However, it didn’t feel like that. It felt like everything was unraveling around me. It felt like I was out in the ocean on a rock and the waves were coming closer and closer and there was a shark and a whale approaching as well. I didn’t know how to think. I didn’t know how to feel. All I knew was that I felt extremely uncomfortable; and all I wanted to do was cry; and maybe punch the wall a few times; and maybe break some stuff. That would be nice. Help me to get some anger out. Some of my issues. I wished that one day I could just wake up and have no issues. I wished that I didn’t let these things affect me as I did. I wished that life didn’t have this way of making me feel less and less about myself. Didn’t make me question my self-worth. I wished I didn’t have low self-esteem. Wished that I didn’t let these things bring me down as often and as much as they did. I just found it all so hard. Found it so tiring.

“Maybe you want to say hi to me.” My father stepped forward, his arms outstretched and I took a step back. He didn’t seriously think that I was in the mood to just forgive and forget, did he?

“Maybe she doesn’t.” Lacey spoke up and her voice almost sounded like a growl, in her protective mama bear role. My heart softened as I gazed at her, standing there, her voice tight as she stared at my father and Shane. I knew that all she cared about was not seeing me get hurt. I felt tears welling in my eyes as I thought about how blessed I was to have a friend like her. She’d always been there for me, through thick and thin, always had my back. I needed to remember that. Especially in times like these, when I felt so down and so alone. I needed to remember that family didn’t always mean blood and love didn’t always mean being with the person you wanted. Sometimes we loved for reasons that weren’t right. Sometimes we loved and we weren’t meant to be with that person. Even if it hurt us. Even if it broke us down. Sometimes being rejected was actually saving us from a deeper pain.

“It’s okay, Lacey. I got this.” I smiled gratefully at my friend as she gave me an ‘are-you-sure-look’.

“What’s going on here?” Scott spoke up again, his hand touching my back lightly and I gazed at him.

“This is Shane, my ex-boyfriend. And this, this,” I pointed at the man who stood there looking so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. “This is my dad.”

“Oh.” Scott’s expression changed and I couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking or if he could tell just how monumental this situation was for me. It was almost too much. I looked away from him and back at my dad.

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s a nice welcome.” He said, trying to make a joke of it, but I didn’t laugh or even crack a smile. He looked over at Shane then and frowned. “I thought you said she would be happy to see me.”

“Give her time.” Shane muttered and then looked back at me. “Eliza, can we talk?”

“Talk about what?” I asked, annoyed. He gave me his puppy dog eyes and I could feel myself wanting to give in.

“Yeah, talk about what?” Lacey came and stood next to me, her solidarity once again making me feel warmth inside.

“Lacey, can you just butt out for one second?” Shane said in an exasperated tone as he glared at her.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” I said, annoyed. “Look, what do you want Shane? I don’t know why you’re here.”

“I messed up all those years ago. I want to make it right.”

“There’s nothing to make right.” I stared at him, without blinking. “As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing between us at all. It’s all been over and done for a while. I don’t know why you’re here. Or what you want?”

“I messed up, Eliza.” He stepped towards me, his eyes pleading. “I messed up big time and I want another chance.”

“What?” I said, my voice in shock. This was something I’d hoped to hear from him for months and months after he’d broken my heart, but now, now it all seemed surreal. Surreal and unwanted.

“You heard me.” He grabbed a hold of my hands and pulled them up to his lips. I quickly pulled them away before he could kiss them.

“What are you doing?” I snapped at him. I could feel Scott and Lacey staring at me and all of a sudden, I felt even more overwhelmed. What was really going on here? Was I in the Twilight Zone?

“I thought you’d be happy.” Shane said, his expression looking strangely sad and weirdly sincere. I stared at him with narrowed eyes. He couldn’t be serious could he? He couldn’t really have realized he’d messed up and really wanted me back? Stuff like this didn’t happen in real life. Not with guys like Shane. And not with girls like me. Shane was gorgeous and famous and rich. He could have any woman he wanted. He’d had plenty of them while we’d been dating. He hadn’t wanted to be serious with me. He’d wanted to play the field. I’d started dating him before he’d signed his baseball contract. Before he’d hit his real fame. And there had been girls lining up for him. I couldn’t imagine how many girls he must have lining up now.

“Elizabeth, I’d really love to talk to you.” My dad started up next and I wanted to scream.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” I said loudly and realized that my words were true. I looked around at everyone and said again slowly. “I don’t want to talk to any of you, asides from Lacey. I want you all to go, please.”

“What? Eliza, you can’t be serious.” Shane pursed his lips and I could tell from the way that his eyes crinkled that he was mad and that he wanted to say more.

“I’m dead serious. Leave.” I knew I sounded cold, and yet, I didn’t care. All I could think about was the look in his eyes the last time I’d seen him. When he’d told me he didn’t love me anymore, when he’d told me he wasn’t sure he’d ever loved me, when he’d told me that he didn’t think we should remain friends because it would be too hard for me. As I stood there, I could once again feel the tightening in my heart, the way I’d wanted to collapse on the floor and beg him to change his mind, the way in which I’d pinched myself to stop myself from crying and breaking down in front of him. I could still remember the way I’d avoided looking in the mirror for weeks after he’d broken up with me because I’d been disgusted by the image that was reflected. How I’d felt ugly, fat, not good enough, worthless. He’d made me feel that way and he hadn’t even cared. I needed to remember that now.

“Please Elizabeth,” My dad spoke up now and I looked at his face carefully. It was thinner than I remembered it being, but then I’d never really seen him before; not that I could remember. I’d never had a relationship with him. He’d never loved me. Never cared.

“I have nothing to say to you.” I lied. I wanted to ask him why he didn’t love me. I wanted to ask him why he’d never tried to have a relationship with me? Weren’t fathers meant to love their daughters? What was it about me that had made him never care? Did I have some fatal flaw that I didn’t know about? What was it? What could I change? How could he have not wanted to be in my life? I knew it wasn’t because of my mother stopping him. I knew she’d hoped we’d have a relationship and bond.

“Shane said you had a lot to say to me.” My dad said and I wondered what else Shane had told him? I wondered if Shane had told him how I’d broken down several times in front of him, after watching father-daughter dance videos on YouTube, how I’d googled him night after night to find photos of him, how I’d written countless letters, but had no address to send them too, how I’d pray that he would come and find me and beg my forgiveness and tell me how much he’d loved me and how he’d always been looking out for me. So many years, I’d hoped and prayed until one day I had just woken up and given up. There was no point in having hope for a miracle when I knew that for me, miracles didn’t exist. That had been a pivotal moment in my life. It was the moment, I’d finally grown up and let go, but it was also the moment, that all magic had left my dreams. I was no longer a dreamer or a believer. I’d become a realist, practical in most every part of my life. And I’d lost my innocence in the world and life.

“Do you want me to go as well then?” Scott asked me softly and I looked into his eyes, so blue and caring. He looked worried, nervous, unsure, emotional. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost pulled him into my arms and kissed him, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to let him think it was all okay. That we were all right. I didn’t want to give him that peace of mind, when I didn’t have peace of mind. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that he could treat me horribly and then come back and apologize and everything would be okay. Why was it all on his timing? Why? My heart panged as I gazed at him. I wanted to be with him. I felt like we had a connection, something special that I wanted to pursue further, but I was so confused now. Just half an hour ago, I’d been willing to forgive and forget. I’d been eagerly willing to move on. And now, now that Shane and my father had showed up, I was thrown into despair and confusion.

“I think that would be best.” I nodded. “If you don’t mind.” My voice was softer towards him. This wasn’t his fault. And it wasn’t really his fault that our relationship had been so messy already. It was me that had taken on the two jobs that had ‘fooled’ him.

“Okay, so I’ll just leave?” He didn’t move as he spoke and I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.

“Can everyone please just leave?” Lacey said with a sigh. “She already said she wants to be alone. Come on guys, let’s not make it harder on everyone.” She cleared her throat and then clapped her hands. “Did you guys hear me? It’s time to go.”