Page 27 of Naughty Heart

Then I moved to the door, opened it, and saw Evelyn’s legs again.

God, this was torture.

* * *

EVELYN

I was not a jealous woman by nature.

Were there moments in my life when I wished things were easier for me like they were for others? Of course. But I had never really considered myself to be someone who grew uncomfortable with seeing another woman around my boyfriend.

And in the case of my ex, maybe that had gotten me into trouble.

What surprised me now was that the moment I saw a beautiful woman walk right up and into Malcolm’s office, my body tensed. More than that, the second she entered the room, and he stood, rounded his desk, and asked me to hold his calls, I felt a pang of jealousy hit me.

It was the strangest feeling in the world, and I couldn’t understand why it bothered me.

Malcolm was my boss. I’d met him on Saturday and had started working for him on Monday. Today was Thursday. There was absolutely no reason for me to feel jealous about any woman walking into his office and spending time with him.

But I did.

And I didn’t have the slightest clue what to do about it.

I tried to ignore it. I attempted to focus my attention on the work I’d been doing to help Malcolm get something organized for the employee recognition program we’d discussed implementing yesterday. I even considered taking a trip to the bathroom, just to get away from our offices.

No matter what I did, though, I couldn’t stop thinking about him being in his office with that woman with the door closed and how much it bothered me.

The time dragged on, and it felt like hours had passed. But when I glanced up at the corner of my computer screen and noted the time, it had only been a matter of minutes. It was, by far, the strangest experience of my life.

And just when I thought I had come to terms with the way I was feeling, I heard Malcolm’s door open.

Not trusting myself to react the way I should if I saw that woman, I forced myself to keep my eyes focused on the work in front of me. If I could do that, I’d be able to pretend nothing happened.

But I wasn’t so lucky.

“Evelyn?” Malcolm called.

I had no choice but to look up at him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just him standing there. I plastered a smile on my face, hoping it didn’t look too fake, and said, “Hi, Malcolm.”

His hand went to the small of the woman’s back as he urged her forward into my office. “I’d like you to meet my sister. Mina, this is Evelyn, my new personal assistant. Evelyn, my sister, Mina.”

His sister.

My God, it was his sister.

I’d been out here tormenting myself with awful thoughts about what Malcolm had been doing in his office with this woman, and it was his sister.

As the relief swept through me, I practically jumped out of my seat and extended my hand to her. “It is so wonderful to meet you, Mina.”

She returned the smile and shook my hand. “Likewise. Are you managing okay working for my brother?”

My eyes slid to Malcolm and caught him rolling his. Looking at Mina again, I insisted, “I am. I’m really enjoying myself.”

“I’m glad to hear it. My brother has had some wonderful things to say about you, and he shared you’ve given him some great ideas for the company already. I’m excited to see how it all pans out.”

Wow.

It was one thing for Malcolm to have said those things to me yesterday, to my face, but to know he’d shared it with his family meant everything to me. I was relieved to know he thought I was doing a great job.