Marc (Bowen Boys, #4)(10)

Chapter 4


Jonny tried the number again and it went straight to voicemail. She was getting frustrated as she set her lunch on the counter at work and put her bottle of water in the refrigerator. She smiled at Sheri Pitts, one of the other people in the offices, as she came in looking like she’d spent the better part of the morning doing her makeup. The woman always looked like she was ready to go down a ramp like a fashion model. She was also extremely nice.

“You have anything for a headache?” Jonny shook her head. “I bet you never have headaches, do you? You look so healthy that a headache or any other form of sickness would shy away from you.”

Jonny didn’t answer, because Sheri was right. She never got sick and she rarely got a headache. She supposed it was because she was a freak. As Shari put her coffee in a mug, Jonny went back to her little desk. She saw that the door to the office was open again and shut it as she sat down and took the phones off service. She was answering the man at the other end when a gorgeous man walked in, stepped by her, and entered the office behind her. She supposed he didn’t see her with the phone that he was screaming into plastered to his head, but she went in right behind him and waited for him to stop so she could find out what he was doing there. When he put his phone down and buried his head in his hands, she cleared her throat.

“Unless you have a very horrible cold and are clearing your throat to tell me something, I would suggest you get out of here. I’ve had a shitty morning so far and I’m in no mood to screw with anyone right now.”

“Well that’s good for you, but I don’t have a cold and you don’t have an appointment. I would know because I would have made it for you. As for you being in this office, you know that you’re not supposed to be here either. You’re name isn’t on the desk placard and not on the door. Well, no one’s is on the door, but I know it wouldn’t be yours.”

He lifted his head, and she nearly took a step back. Christ, he was more than gorgeous. He was…eatable. She cleared her throat again and he cocked a brow at her. She didn’t squirm like she wanted to, but lifted her chin a little higher when he looked like he was going to laugh at her.

“Now see here. You need to get out of this office right now before Mr. Bowen comes in. He has…he has a nasty temper, and once he lets it go, you’ll…you’ll regret it.” He leaned back in the chair and she had a thought. She took a step back, then another before he finally spoke.

“Don’t move.” She stopped, not really sure why she’d obeyed him but she had and now she was stuck there. “I’m assuming that you’re my new secretary.”

She nodded and turned her head to see the distance between her and the door. She could make it, she figured, and turned her body to leave when he suddenly grabbed her arm. Without thought as to what she was doing, she slammed her free hand into his nose, then kicked him in the groin. Jonny took off to the door again and tripped when he grabbed her ankle.

“Stop right f*cking now before I hurt one of us.” She kicked out at his face and nearly connected when he yanked her hard toward him. Before she could move he was laying over her and holding her hands above her head. She tried to bite him but he was too quick. She froze when a voice from the doorway spoke.

“You two have met, I see. Marc, this is Joan Savior. Joan, this is our boss, Marc Bowen. Marc is usually a really nice guy once you get to know him, but occasionally he needs the shit knocked out of him like you did. Are you bleeding?”

She looked up at the man who still held her down and noticed the blood on his nose and lip. Jonny had the most incredible urge to lick him. Shuddering, she shoved him off her, and she was pretty sure he let her. They stood up together, and he told Dennis Gibbs, the other man in the offices, to watch the phones while he talked to her.

She stood when the door closed and continued to do so after he told her to sit. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if he wanted her to pee on a sheet of paper too, but bit her lip instead.

“I’m not mad. Hurt but not mad at you. So why don’t you have a seat?” He sat behind his desk again and wiped at his mouth with a tissue. “We can start over from here if you want.”

“Am I fired?” She liked working there and she loved the money she made. She’d managed to save over seven hundred dollars and had been putting it in plastic bags in her backpack she carried with her everywhere now.

“No. I made a mistake by not introducing myself to you. Then I grabbed you. You were reacting like a woman who didn’t know her attacker. Now that we know each other, I hope you won’t have cause to hit me again.” She mumbled that she wasn’t sure about that, and he laughed. She hadn’t thought she’d said it that loud.

“I’m Marc Bowen, owner of this establishment. I heard from my family that you’re replacing Mia while she’s out on medical leave.” She nodded and glanced at the door when the phone rang. “He’s done it before, so he knows what he’s doing.”

“Did you mess with the calendar?” He tried to think what she meant with her subject change so quickly, and nodded.

“You had the same appointment set up for different times of the day.” She started shaking her head. “Yes, you did. One for nine-thirty, the other for one this afternoon.”

“He needed both appointments. One before his court appearance this morning, then the second one to ask you about some work after the hearing. He said depending on how it went he wanted to ask you for help. The service filled the slot again and now he’s out in the cold. And when I tried to call you, you didn’t answer.”