Free BEAUTY and the BILLIONAIRE (Part One) by Glenna Sinclair Page A

information without so much as a noise of protest.
    “I understand, Mr. Shepard, and I’m sorry,” I said. “It won’t happen again.”
    “Don’t waste my time with apologizes,” he said, taking the paper from me first and then the coffee, his fingers brushing mine and making me shudder inexplicably. “Just get it right the next time.”
    “Yes, of course,” I babbled. I could still feel his fingers on mine but had no idea why they’d made such a strong impression. It had been an accident, our hands touching. Was it because of that terrible scar? Did it repulse me?
    “Anything else?” Roland asked pointedly. I realized that he was staring at me, staring at him, and I quickly lowered my gaze.
    “No, sir,” I said, “oh, except this.” I located my wallet and extracted his credit card. “Thank you, again, for everything. This may sound kind of stupid to someone…well, someone like you, but it’s really fun to be able to get a huge tub of ice cream and not have to eat all of it at one time. I’ve never had my own freezer before!”
    He gave me an odd look that I couldn’t quite define before taking the card from me.
    “You also got a cellphone, I see,” he said, not acknowledging my gratitude again, or somewhat thankfully, my awkward admission about the ice cream.
    “Yes,” I said. “It seems like there’s kind of a steep learning curve, but I’m pretty confident I’ll get the hang of it.”
    “Email me your number,” he said shortly, looking back down at his keyboard before launching into a storm of typing. “You need to be available at all times as my assistant. I need to be able to count on you if I reach out and need something done.”
    “Of course,” I said, bowing like an idiot before spinning around to hide my burning blush. Why was I so stupid and awkward around this man? “I’ll email you right now—as soon as I get back to the desk. No problem. Just let me know—or Myra, she’s still here, obviously—if you need anything. When you need anything, I mean. I know you’re really busy and you need lots of things.”
    “Beauty?”
    “Yes?” I turned around eagerly. “What can I do for you?”
    “Shut up and leave.” He’d never stopped typing.
    I all but ran to the door, more to escape my embarrassment than to escape the man still seated at that desk, running a company in the dark.
    “There you are!” Myra exclaimed, as I popped back into the main office. This place was so much friendlier than Roland’s cave. Maybe it was just the lighting, but it even felt easier to breath out here.
    “Sorry I ran off yesterday,” I said, sheepish, but Myra waved my apology away.
    “Well, you already know the worst of your new job, which is to say that your boss can be a little difficult.” She smiled. “But since that little bit of unpleasantness has passed, we can continue your training.”
    Myra said it like Roland’s temper was nothing, just something to endure now that I’d seen it myself.
    “Does it ever get better?” I asked, taking the day’s box of documents to be digitized from her and opening the lid.
    “Better?” She blinked at me.
    “I mean, does he ever stop yelling and stuff?”
    “You have to understand, Beauty,” she began, “just how much stress that poor man in there is under. He’s running this big company through a computer and a phone and his brother. If his temper’s short, it’s only because he doesn’t have very much time to waste on anything else.”
    “So he was easier to get along with before the company was really successful?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
    “Well, sure, he was really easy to get along with before…” Myra trailed off and frowned.
    “Before what?” I prompted. Whether she liked it or not, this training was going to include all the company gossip. I felt like I needed to know if I was going to be the man’s assistant.
    “Did I show you where the company cafeteria was yesterday?” she asked, completely