"Shit!"

Jessica swore as she stubbed her toe on the foot of the chair. She was rushing to leave her apartment because she was already half an hour late for work.

She did a half run half hop as she struggle to pull her shoes on while she made her way down the narrow hallway to the elevator.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She grumbled.

She punched the sign on the elevator that said 'out of order' once again. She headed for the stairs and raced down as fast as her feet would carry her.

As she stepped outside the cool air rippled through her too thin hand woven cotton sweater. Summer had passed and Autumn was making it's presence known. Still it was a little cooler than normal for this time of year.

What else could go wrong today?

She hurried along the sidewalk trying to get to the bus stop closest to her apartment. Just as she turned the corner she spit a few colorful swearwords as warm coffee was spilled all down the front of her already discolored white dress blouse. She winced when the liquid touched her skin.

"Look what you did!?" She yelled at the teenage girl.

"Sorry" the girl replied with a shrug and a tone that said she couldn't care less.

"Yeah I'm sure you are" Jessica replied while trying to keep her soiled blouse from sticking to her parched skin.

"Of course I am. Now I've lost my perfectly delicious cup of coffee because you don't watch where you're going"

With that the teenager walked away leaving Jessica glaring daggers at her back. She thought about storming after her and giving her a piece of her mind, but the exhausted sound of the bus stopping caught her attention. Without hesitating she started running down the block before the bus could drive away.

"Wait!...stop the bus!" She yelled waving her hand in the air.

However her cries were in vain as she stood feeling defeated watching the bus drive away. Before she could even think of what to do next a cab pulled up and the driver was asking her if she needed his service. Just like that she knew her landlord would be threatening to kick her out once again because now she had to take money from her rent to pay for a cab to go all the way across town. She slid into the back of the cab and gave him the address to her new job.

By the time the cab pulled up to the front of the art gallery she was already an hour late. She paid the driver and ran inside. She made a quick stop by the receptionist and the woman informed her that the boss wasn't happy that she was so late for her very first day.

She opened her mouth to explained the morning she was having but quickly swallowed her words when a gruff voice from behind her caught her attention.

"You're late"

"Well you'd be late too if you had the sort of morning I had"

The woman behind the desk shaking her head caught Jessica's attention and she realized the man she just sassed off to was in fact her boss.

She turned to look at him and was not prepared for the sight of the man behind her. Is it OK to say a man is beautiful? Because that's the first word that came to her mind.

She gaped openly as her eyes traveled the length of his face. She saw his eyes narrow as he stared into her eyes. For a minute he looked, startled? He looked to be taller than six foot by at least two inches over. Alpha male is something else that came to mind. His silky dark brown hair looked wind blown and intense dark eyes stared back at her with a boring expression. His nose, so perfectly straight she wondered if he had perhaps gotten a nose job but obviously now wasn't the time to ask. His eyes brows were a little too perfect and was currently furrowed in a frown as he stared back at her. This man was suffocatingly masculine.

"I mean..I'm sorry" she quickly corrected herself.

The look he sent her made her a little nervous. She needed this internship to graduate this year. Now it seem her mouth had once again put her in trouble.

"Miss?"

"Walters, Jessica Walters"

"You'll do good to note that tardiness is something I don't take kindly to"

She felt like a toddler covered in poop because of the look on his face as his eyes traveled from her messy up do and came to a stop at the huge coffee stain on the front of her shirt. When his expressionless eyes came back to her face she looked away and pulled her sweater closed trying to hide the stain.

"Mary please get her situated at her desk. I must go get ready for the first group coming in for a tour"

With that Jessica watched him walked away from them and disappear into a office down on the opposite side of the hall.

"He's..."

"Gorgeous?"

Jessica turned to look at the woman who had a slightly dreamy look on her face.

"Not exactly the word I had in mind" she lied through her teeth.

The woman who's name she now knew to be Mary smiled at her causing her already aging face to crinkle even more. She took the folder that the woman handed to her as she walked around her desk and lead her down the hall.

"Javier can be a tad intimidating but if you do your job perfectly, he will warm up to you in no time"

"Warm? I don't think there's anything warm about that man"

A grunt and the closing of a office door caused Jessica to turn and look at the door that had the name of her boss on the nameplate, Javier Sánchez.

She sighed and closed her eyes realizing he must have overheard her comment. She turned and followed Mary pass the office. They came to a stop at a cubicle.

"This will be your work space while you're here with us. You'll make notes during the tours, he might have you do mini tours but let's wait for his confirmation on that. The display rooms are through that door but back here is where all the other worker like us handles paperwork's. He might have you doing research and filing too"

"All except getting his coffee then?" Jessica asked sarcastically

"Black no creme no sugar" his voice came from behind her.

"Do you always sneak up on people like that?" Jessica asked as she turned to him while holding her chest to calm her startled heart.

"The first tour begins in seven minutes. I suggest you cover up that hideous stain and join me out there with your notepad"

She turned to Mary who was wearing a innocent expression that spiked her curiosity. Unfortunately she had no time to find out what that was about. She tossed her bag on her desk and buttoned her sweater all the way down the front then grabbed her notepad and walked to the display room where she found her boss and a group of highschool kids.

"How's that coffee burn?" One of the students suddenly asked

Right away she recognized the girl from earlier.

"You little..."

"Shall we begin?" Her boss quickly interrupted.

She turned to her boss after sending a heated glare at the girl.

"Lead the way boss"

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