Free That First Kiss by J. C. Valentine Page A

blonde hair, bright blue eyes, strong square jaw, and when he smiled, he had the cutest dimples she had ever seen. And he was charming…when he wanted to be. If she hadn’t already experienced him in action for herself, she would have to wonder how he ever got a woman. The only real problem she had with him was his sour attitude…that, and when he wasn’t making lewd or rude comments, he hardly knew she existed.
                  She’d served as his assistant for over eight weeks now, the longest surviving of all his employees, but that was probably due to the fact that she refused to be fired. She served him coffee daily, helped him stay on track with his deadlines, scheduled his appearances and made sure he was on time to every interview, photo shoot, and function regardless of how late he kept them both out the previous night. She worked hard to look the other way when he hooked up with random women and she even fielded his mother’s phone calls.
    Normally, that would be a hardship for someone in her position, but two weeks ago, when Tate insisted that she go with him to his mother’s house for Sunday brunch, she found that Ms. Larson, or Cindi as she insisted she be called, was a refreshing total opposite of her son. She was warm and caring and most importantly, she didn’t take any of Tate’s crap. She could really learn something from the woman. 
    After brunch, Tate had excused himself from the table and Cindi wasted no time jumping down her throat about her little boy. She didn’t like the way he lived his life. As the only woman Tate had ever brought home, Cindi felt that made Piper somehow special and with that came the expectation that she would somehow get Tate on to a better track.
    Despite the many times she demanded that Piper intervene in her son’s life, she didn’t. It was his life to ruin as he pleased. Although, there were times, like tonight, that she wished she had the nerve to pitch a fit because with each woman he took to his bed, pain etched lines into her stupid heart.
                  What was that saying, the heart wants what the heart wants? Well, since recently glimpsing his human side, hers had apparently decided it wanted Tate Larson.  At this rate her heart was going to look like a road map of battle scars when this was all over—evidence of every heartbreak ever endured since taking on her role as assistant to Tate Larson, Author and Heartbreaker of the Young and Naïve. She was such a dumbass.
                  You would think that after weeks of playing chauffeur to a drunken Tate after securing his flavor of the night it would be punishment enough, but apparently she was a glutton for it because she had yet to put her foot down.
                  She recalled clearly the first time he had requested that she join him. He had flashed her one of his rare and brilliant smiles, and despite her exhaustion following a week’s worth of jumping to meet all of his commands, she had folded.
    With thoughts of their first encounter in her mind, she had dressed in a provocative tight-fitting dress with a plunging neckline and fuck me heels that had made his eyes bulge out of their sockets. Whatever she had expected from that night, she didn’t know, because after a couple of beers he had left her sitting alone at the bar while he went scouting for a piece of ass.
    She ended up driving him and his hoochie back to his apartment that night before returning to her empty bed feeling completely and unexpectedly heartbroken. When the pattern repeated itself the following weekend, she vowed to never again allow herself to get hurt by Tate Larson.
    Easier said than done.
    She felt foolish for believing that the woman he used her to chase from his apartment that evening not so long ago was his sister, because obviously it was a lie, and she was just dumb enough to fall for it.
    Sipping at her frozen daiquiri, Piper let her eyes roam around the spacious but