Just a Bit Dirty (Straight Guys #10)(6)

Ian Caldwell was thirty-one years old. He was recently divorced and had custody of his only son. People seemed of two minds about it: some thought it was cruel of Caldwell to take the child from his mother, and others thought it was admirable that he was willing to raise the child all by himself. Miles kind of doubted that the guy would be raising the kid alone: he probably had a legion of nannies looking after his son; not to mention there were probably hundreds of women more than eager to become the next Mrs. Caldwell and cheer up the man after his divorce.

To be honest, Miles had trouble connecting the cold-eyed, impeccably dressed man he’d seen at Rutledges’ party with the image of a single father of a toddler, but he decided not to judge the book by its cover. Who knew, maybe Caldwell was a big softie under his icy exterior?

Granted, everything pointed to Caldwell not being a big softie.

“He’s incredibly demanding,” Sofia, his secretary, told Miles over a cup of tea. She was a fifty-something woman of unremarkable appearance, breaking all the stereotypes Miles had previously had about secretaries of billionaires.

“But he’s also quite fair,” she added. “To be honest, Rutledge Senior was far worse.” She shrugged. “But then again, I don’t have to work closely with Mr. Caldwell, because he has a personal assistant, and the poor guy is the one who bears the brunt of the boss’s anger if things go wrong, not me.” Sofia peered at him with interest. “Enough about work. Tell me more about yourself. Surely such a handsome young man like you has a significant other?”

Miles could only smile crookedly and shake his head. He didn’t know what it was about him that made women want to mother hen him and play matchmaker for him.

“Really?” she said, her eyebrows flying up. “But you’re so handsome! What do you use to dye your hair, by the way?”

Smiling, Miles shook his head again. “No, it’s my natural color. My eldest brother has the same hair.” Granted, his hair was pretty unusual: brown with gold or red highlights depending on the lighting. At least it was thick and manageable enough and the color went well with his green eyes, so Miles was far from complaining. He didn’t suffer from false modesty. Everyone in his family was blessed with excellent genes, and Miles was no exception. He knew he was attractive, but he wasn’t anywhere near as attractive as his brother Ryan, whose looks put Hollywood stars to shame. People literally tripped and stared when they saw Ryan. It was beyond hilarious. Compared to Ryan, Miles was just okay-looking, but it was probably unfair to judge people by such high standards.

Sofia opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Jayne’s shout. “Sofia, the boss is back and is looking for you!”

“Hmm, he’s back early,” Sofia muttered, frowning and standing up. “I wonder if something went wrong… Let’s go, Miles.”

Miles stood and hurried after her, feeling curious and a little anxious. Over the past few days, he’d heard so many different things about Caldwell that it was difficult for him to piece together the various bits of information into one coherent picture. Not to mention that his promise to Derek and Shawn made him twitchy and flustered, as if Caldwell would take one look at him and guess that he had been sent to sort of spy on him.

Spy on him.

Fuck, what had he gotten himself into? He was no James Bond. In fact, his poker face was non-existent. Miles had always preferred being honest and straightforward and liked it when people acted the same way.

“Wait here,” Sofia said, leaving him at her desk before striding confidently into the CEO’s office and closing the door.

To kill time, Miles pulled out his phone and started texting his brothers.

Hmm, Ryan wanted to propose to his boyfriend… Wasn’t it a bit too soon?

Miles quickly did the math in his head and realized with some surprise that Ryan and James had been together for two and a half years already. And considering that Ryan and James had been attached at the hip since they were kids, it was probably about time, actually.

Raised voices made Miles flinch and look at the door. He could hear snatches of the conversation now.

“I don’t care, Sofia. Find me one now.”

Miles bit the inside of his cheek, recognizing that hard voice.

Sofia murmured something Miles couldn’t hear.

Caldwell said, “He’ll do.”

There was the sound of high heels on the polished floor before the door opened and Sofia emerged out of the office, a look of discomfort on her face.

“Something wrong?” Miles said, glancing at the closed door.

She winced. “Not sure yet. Basically, the boss’s assistant finally snapped and had a nervous breakdown. He’s in no state to return to work for a while, and Mr. Caldwell needs a PA as soon as possible.” She looked at Miles with a sheepish expression.

“Please tell me you didn’t volunteer me,” Miles said faintly. When Sofia didn’t deny it, Miles shook his head. “I have no experience at being a PA, Sofia. He’ll kick me out within a few hours.”

“Well, on the bright side, you’ll make more as his PA in a few hours than you’ll make as an intern in a month.”

Realizing that she wasn’t joking, Miles could only stare at her. Seriously?

She grinned. “That’s one heck of a silver lining, isn’t it? That’s why I suggested you.”