The first week at work was hectic for Ashton; he had to meet his client to explain why his company could not deliver the website as planned. On a short notice, he had to fly to New Jersey to meet up with the quite angry customer who had been expecting to launch the website by the end of the week.

Unsuccessful to convince him to reconsider the deadline, the client had backed out and he had lost one of his major clients. He had to admit that his software company was on the verge of turning into a fiasco and if not properly managed, he would have to close it down. It didn’t matter much to him as he was already a major shareholder in GEMS enterprise and had ample money.

He was worried about his employees. How the hell would he break the news that he was deciding to mitigate his losses and was therefore considering going for a turnover? It was going to be hell. And to top it all, he had just appointed an executive assistant who would be as lost as he was in managing the operations since she had no experience whatsoever.

Tired when he got back on the following Tuesday morning, he felt almost reluctant to get back to office. He was going to go have a rough time explaining things to his staff about the loss of such a prestigious client.

As soon as he got into the open space, he sensed something different. Everyone was at their work place and the atmosphere seemed relaxed more than the usual tense production environment. Greeting his administrative secretary Emma, he signaled her to enter his office to inquire about the current situation during his absence.

“So what happened to the meeting we had with Mr. Anderson from the Carlyle company?”

“Well, Ashton sir. Mr. Anderson was very against the cancellation as he was supposed to go out of country for the next two months. I had informed him that your trip was a last minute event and was unplanned but he insisted. So, Miss McKenzie attended the meeting and…”

“She did what?!!” Ashton exclaimed incredibly. What the hell did she know about conducting such meetings? He was sure that he had also lost the most important part of the deal with that client as well. The situation was going to be so much worse; he had been counting in that particular deal to recover from his current loss.

Emma winced at his tone and looked at him nervously almost ready to burst into tears any minute. He guessed it served no purpose being angry at her. The real culprit was that miss “high and mighty” always on her high horse trying to set the world right. He would give her a good lecture as soon as he convoked for her.

“Okay. I’ll deal with her later. So has Damien been able to manage things around while I was absent? I had specifically told him to make sure he conducted the interviews I had scheduled for last week. How has that been going on?”

“Oh, very well, sir. Miss McKenzie had decided to appoint two of the interviewers which she had personally questioned.”

Ashton sighed. He could feel an impending headache. “That will be all.  Can you please send for Damien and Miss McKenzie, please?”

By the time the two arrived, he had kept his anger in check and wanted the facts about what was already too late to save. As soon as Selena entered his office, he noticed her stylish and professional attire which made her look hot and sultry. The livid blue colour was a perfect match for her sky blue eyes and she was wearing a simple matching earring in the shape of a tear drop. While it gave her the professional look, the skirt she was wearing was showing off her long endless legs to perfection and he imagined them untangled around his naked body after a session of hardcore sex. Hell, he wanted to take her on his office desk right in front of Damien.

It made his mood fouler. He addressed Damien completely ignoring the neutral polite smile she was sending his way in guise of a greeting.

“Damien, what happened to the interviews?”

Selena opened her mouth and he stilled her with his hand knowing he was acting like an arrogant ,unbearable bossy bastard but he was too angry and worried to care. Surprise and hurt appeared in her eyes and he ignored her waiting for Damien to reply.

“Well, Ashton. Selena here had derived a standard and formal number of questions to be addressed during the interviews with regard to the technologies being used in our company. We had quite a few candidates but have selected only two for the time being. And there are more scheduled for this week,” Damien explained giving him a full report on the reasons why they had found it viable to reject or accept a candidate.

At a mere glance, he could see that the report was well-organized and something he could easily interpret and he had to admit he was quite impressed.

“What about the delivery of our solution to Global Training Enterprise? If I remember we had to release a newer version this week? Have you been able to pull it off?”

Damien nodded cheerfully and looked at Selena with a soppy look in his eyes. “All thanks to our new executive here. She made our work easier by eliminating some errors GTE had reported and we had the time to focus on the complicated ones.”

Ashton watched as Selena smiled sweetly back at Damien at his compliment and it ignited his wrath which had started to cool off. How dared she flirt with his employee? And how dared she offer the latter a sweet smile while he only got a neutral one? Clenching his wrist, he nodded to Damien and asked him to hand him over the report for the allocation of resources for the following month.

Before dismissing him, he felt he had to congratulate him for his effort during his absence. “And thank you for the report on the interview. I would never have thought about standardizing that process.”

His employee beamed at his words but looked pointedly in the direction of Selena. “Ashton, actually all the credit goes to our lady here; when she saw us having difficulty with the recruitment process, she derived a clear-cut and easy to manage strategy.”

Ashton looked at Selena who was now sending him pointed looks ready to explode and he assumed that the reason was because he had completely ignored her. In spite of his anger, he found himself regretting his attitude. He knew he was behaving like an asshole and the reason was not only because she had dared conduct an important meeting during his absence.

But the actual truth was that he was in a foul mood because he had missed her while he had been away. As he had laid in the hotel rooms for a whole week, he had found himself wishing fervently that she had been by his side. Especially during the nights, his mind had revived that moment they had spent together in the kitchen and he found himself wishing he had explored the chemistry further. He could have used the excuse of practicing for the pretend game and that mere excuse had  made him want to get back to Orlando as soon as possible to test his theory. And that mere fact itself was downright unthinkable.

Now that they were alone, his gaze scrutinized her face more closely and he could see dark circles around her eyes. That made him feel guilty; she had been working hard and the sight of her calmed him down but he was still going to give her an earful about conducting the meeting without consulting him first. After all, he was the boss around here.

“Give me a report of what you did during the last week,” he said in a offhanded manner satisfied when she flinched at his hard tone.

“Siiir,” she said pointedly. “I have only standardized the recruitment procedure seeing that your team was having difficulty with that particular process. So I gathered everyone and worked on a global solution and which is helping them focusing on the important points.”

“That’s okay,” he said dismissively. “What about the meeting with Carlyle company?”

Her eyes rounded in surprise as she understood the reason he was being hard on her. “I had no choice, sir. They wanted to meet on the planned date or would have cancelled any dealings with our company.”

Our company? He didn’t know whether he liked the sound of that or nor. “And?”

“And well they not only agreed to do business with us but also accepted to go ahead with the full service package; that is we have the ultimate upper hand in dealing with other service providers. They want a package at the end and are willing to pay the amount I have asked.”

When she quoted the amount, he sucked in a breath as shock rippled through him. It was going to be more than enough to cover his recent loss if they were able to pull off this project. He was starting to like the fact that he had asked her to work for him. She was a witch. He was still surprised over the fact that she had been able to charm that stingy Mr. Anderson to spend so much on a website.

“I have mailed you the presentation I had with Mr. Anderson and I can brief you over if you want,” she told him in a cold voice and Ashton regretted having used his bossy tone with her. From what he gathered now, she had been working hard as well trying to help his employees at her best and all he had done was give her the cold shoulder.

Remorse filled him but he was too proud to apologize. He was after all Ashton Cooper, her enemy. So he bit back the apology on his tongue and nodded to her briskly.

“I would like that. I’m sending you a meeting request for later in the afternoon and we’ll discuss in detail. Do we have any other issues to discuss?”

“No, sir,” she replied coldly in her high-and-mighty mode.

And damn if he didn’t want her back in her jovial mood. What the hell was wrong with him? He was not one to go softie on any woman whatsoever and the high and mighty princess was the last person he would sympathize with. And besides he would never apologize to her even if it killed him.

 “Okay then, that would be all,” he concluded arrogantly and watched as she blinked back at him in shock at his attitude. Finally, after a few seconds of holding his eyes looking for something he had no idea what, she sent him a cynical smile before leaving his office.

He was glad, he tried to convince himself. They were back to square one and it was better that way. If she was angry with him as before, he would not be missing her as he had last week. He wouldn’t be looking forward to their meeting or anticipating their next quarrel.

However, he couldn’t settle down after having hurt her and wanted to get back to her to improve her mood. It was of course only because she had worked so hard and done her best to keep the situation in check in his absence.

As he went to find her, she was nowhere in sight. When he queried her whereabouts among his staff, he was told that she had gone lunch with Damien.  Unexplained rage overtook him and he clenched his jaw to stop a primitive howl from coming out of his mouth. How dared she? Lunching with an employee was not prohibited of course but he was boiling with rage and he had no idea why!

When he heard the others mentioning teasingly that they were already inseparable and had been eating out together ever since the first working day of Selena, something snapped inside Ashton. Fuming with rage, he went in the direction of the restaurant and vowed to drag her out if possible. When he finally caught sight of them seated at a recluse table and laughing together, he got even more furious and approached them wearing a scowl on his face.

At his sudden appearance at their table, they both jumped guiltily and looked at him in utter surprise. “Boss?” Damien asked making Ash want to punch his face.

“Damien, will you excuse me and my fiancée please?” he growled, stressing on the word fiancée and felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw Damien gasp.

“Oh? I had no idea…” he said recovering quickly and getting up from the table.

Selena was frowning at Ashton and he could not give a damn! He wanted Damien out of the picture and the sooner the better.

“Haven’t you told him about us sweetheart?” he inquired sweetly trying to tamper down his wrath on discovering that she was not wearing her engagement ring.

She mumbled something unintelligible under her breath and Damien obviously feeling the tension between them fled from the restaurant. Ashton sat opposite her and noticed that she was fuming too.

“What the hell was that all about?” she shouted oblivious to the stares in her direction.

“Where’s your ring?” he barked accusingly not answering her question.

She faltered and looked at him with hooded eyes. “I forgot to wear it. Don’t change the subject. Why did you embarrass poor Damien like that?”

Ashton was on the verge of exploding and he took in a deep breath to calm down his senses. Why did he care if she was not wearing her ring? They had not started their drama yet and was due to start next Sunday at the dinner at the Crighton’s penthouse. It was Uncle Devin’s birthday and Jake had invited them over to celebrate and they had both agreed that they would start the pretense at the birthday party.

But if she had been wearing her ring, the likes of Damien wouldn’t have dared approach her, right? So it was all her fault.

“I want you to wear your ring as from tomorrow,” he said in a menacing voice. “Irrespective of whether we are going to act as a couple or not. By this time, I think everybody is going to be aware of our relationship thanks to your Damien and…”

Huffing, she stopped him by pointing a finger at him as a warning to stop. She was fuming, her face flushed with anger and she looked beautiful. “One, you don’t order me around. And two you have no right to…”

“Oh, I have every right. I am paying you remember? You don’t insult me by going out with another man and that too right under my nose.”

“How dare you? How dare you?! For your kind information you have not bought me over. I will see whoever I wish and to hell with your arrangement,” she shouted and by that time everybody was staring in their direction. Without giving him time to react, she whirled round and got out of the restaurant with angry large strides.

Feeling like a fool for being left stranded there, he followed but not before dumping a generous tip on the table and swearing under his breath.

“Selena!” he cried in a futile attempt to stop her.

“Stop bothering me. You are pathetic! I never thought you would insult me with the fact that I’m taking your money. What about the fact that you are paying yourself a bride?” she shouted at him without turning around.

Ashton shrugged. “As long as I can afford it.”

She was still walking quickly as if the demon himself was after her and he had to run to catch up with her. “Come, I’ll give you a lift.”

Without even bothering to reply, she continued her angry walk and Ashton finally lost patience and whirled her round pinning her against his body. Immediately, he felt the budge at his groin grow harder and all thoughts flew out of his mind.

Why the hell was they quarrelling when they could do many other things with their mouths? Without waiting for reason to take over, he bent down and touched her lips with his. It was a mere brush but the moment stilled as both froze on the spot at the electric effect. From the look on Selena’s face, she appeared as stunned as he felt clearly not expecting that kind of reaction. Thank God the attraction was mutual; Ashton nearly basked at the latest discovery.

For several seconds, they stayed there staring at each other hungrily not being able to gauge what the next reaction should be but then instinct took over as Ashton bent and took possession of her lips. She tasted like heaven and he felt his bulge growing bigger, something he had never thought possible. He had never felt so out of control on his life; not even during his teens.

Pressing against her, he felt her breast against his chest and devoured her mouth passionately testing the feeling of her mouth against his. Then she opened her mouth in response and Ashton let out a moan completely forgetting they were standing in the middle of the street. Passers were forgotten as his tongue lashed against hers and he munched on her lower lips not willing to end the kiss. Each sensation that sizzled through him was magnified and he drunk in every feeling like a thirsty beggar willing to bend to her will. Now a wait a minute!

He was kissing Selena McKenzie, his enemy!!! What was wrong with him? And they had not even started the damned drama yet. It had not been necessary for them to kiss like that before the pretend game when there was no one from the family to see them together. Hell, he was starting to get confused between what was real and what was only pretense.

As those thoughts crossed his mind, he wrenched himself away from her and promptly tried a casual stance not willing to give in how much she affected him. Hiding the fact that he was short of breath and his heart was pounding nearly bursting out of his chest was not an easy task however but by the look of it, she was too busy gasping for breath to see his reaction.

“Why the hell you did that for?” she asked him in a high-pitched tone and he got some consolation as it was indication that she too had been affected by the kiss.

All the years he had found himself attracted to her, he had believed that it had been one-sided but as she tried to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand, he knew she had felt every sensation he had. They had opened the Pandora’s box and Ashton had a feeling that the sexual chemistry that has always simmered between them was now only waiting to go ablaze.

Her lips were swollen and the area around her mouth was red. He guessed it was his one day beard which had bruised her sensitive skin and it gave him a sense of satisfaction that she was going to go back looking like she had been kissed like hell. He shrugged and grinned wolfishly trying not to account too much importance to the kiss. “Consider it a rehearsal for the coming weekend.”

“Rehearsal?” she repeated stupidly not comprehending what he was saying.

“Yeah for Uncle Devin’s birthday. I wanted to find out whether we were compatible enough to fool everyone else especially our own family. And from the look of it, we need ne rehearsal. We’re both managing far better than pros!”

Selena blushed at his insinuation and whirled back again this time running from him before he could catch her.