Henry (The Beck Brothers) (2 page)

Claire turned. Henry
was standing just inside the doorway, his hands tucked into his pants pockets.
He was watching her, his expression guarded, as if he didn't want her to know
what he was really thinking. Claire nodded.

"I will email you
my schedule. Get settled in, and I'll come back for you at lunch.
 
We
’
ll
go to my favorite deli. Bring a copy of my schedule with you and we'll go over
it while we eat," Henry said.
 
He left, closing her office door behind him.

Claire sighed; she was
stressed already.

                                                 
~~~~~

Henry dropped down
into his office chair. He unbuttoned his jacket and resisted the urge to rake
his hand through his hair. It was something he did when he was irritated, but
he couldn't do it while he was at the office. Not unless he wanted his hair
sticking up in all directions.

Claire: such a
beautiful name. The woman blew him away. Not only was she stunningly gorgeous,
but she was sweet and innocent. Henry doubted that she had a mean bone in her
sexy little body. And her body was freaking sexy. That high-waisted pencil
skirt showed off the slight flare of her hips. It also highlighted her amazing
ass. He couldn't help but check it out while they were walking to her office.
He just hoped that no one saw him doing it.

When he walked into
his office and saw Claire for the first time, he was shocked that he had been
able to keep his cool like he did. He had been damn near drooling. But he threw
on his professional mask and acted like the CEO he was. He didn't want to treat
her any different just because she made his heart flutter and his cock swell.
So he had given her the same spiel he gave all new employees. He couldn't
afford to be soft.

Claire was so
beautiful. She had long strawberry blonde hair and bright expressive blue eyes.
He wasn't kidding when he said that everything she was feeling showed on her
face, especially her big blue eyes. They were a light blue color and framed by
long dark lashes. Claire's breasts filled out her purple silk blouse nicely.
From what he could tell, she had to be a D-cup.
 
Henry was absolutely a breast man. He was also an ass man.
He'd love to give Claire's ass a swat. She had a fine ass.

Henry shifted in his
chair, his pants becoming uncomfortably tight in the groin area. Jesus Christ.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. How was he going to work with this GODDESS
every day?! He had to stay professional. He needed to remember that. Women and
their sexual harassment accusations were through the roof these days. God
forbid you even look at some women the wrong way; right to HR they go to file a
complaint.

A loud knock sounded
on his door before it opened and his floor supervisor, Asher Hirsh walked in, with
a giant cocky smile on his handsome face. Henry stifled a groan. He knew why
Asher had that stupid smile on his face. He must have met Claire.

"Hey, boss,
”
Asher drawled, shutting the
door behind him before coming and sitting in the chair in front of Henry's
desk.

"What is it
Asher?"
 
Henry sighed, leaning
back in his chair.

Asher gave him the
"Give me a break" eye roll. "You know why I'm here," he
scoffed.

“
No, I don't,
”
Henry lied.

"Beck, seriously,
that woman is stunning,
”
Asher grunted.

"What woman would
that be?
”
Henry drawled, raising
his eyebrow in question.

"Oh, we're gonna
be like that, are we? Claire, asshole, I'm talking about Claire,
”
Asher huffed.

"What about her?
”
Henry muttered. He was so not
in the mood for this.

"Jesus, you're
thick. Did you not see her?
”
Asher asked incredulously.

Henry glared as the
good-looking blonde haired man sitting across from him. "Of course I saw
her. I'm not blind!"

Asher's eyes widened
at Henry's little outburst. "Ooookay,
”
Asher said, holding up his hands.

Henry took a deep
breath. "I know she's gorgeous Asher. You don't have to come here and go
on about it, I didn't hire her, HR did. So as long as she can do the job, it
doesn't matter what she looks like. And you, you better keep your hands off of
her,
”
Henry said, pointing
his finger at Asher.

An amused glint
flashed in Asher's pale blue eyes.
“
Wouldn't
dream of it,
”
Asher said as
he stood.

"I mean it Asher,
she is completely off limits,
”
Henry warned. "I don't want her filing harassment charges against you
because then I'd have to fire you."

Asher gave him a
dubious look. "You're gonna go with that reasoning, huh?"

Henry narrowed his
eyes as his friend. "There is no other reason,
”
he bit out.

Asher looked skyward
and shook his head. "If you say so,
”
he chuckled before walking out.

Henry banged his fist
on the desk in irritation. He hated Asher for being so perceptive. Yeah, he
didn't want Claire filing charges against Asher, but he also didn't want
another man's hands on her. Henry had no claim to her, but he felt suddenly
possessive. Claire wasn't his and never would be, but she was his assistant,
and he wanted her undivided attention. She wasn't going to have time to be
cuddling up to any man.

12:30 pm rolled
around, slower then Henry would have liked. He was starving, but at least he
had gotten caught up on the phone with a client. He headed down the hall to
Claire's office, and could see her through the windows as he walked up. She was
sitting at her desk, elbows propped up, head resting in her hands. Henry
sighed. She was overwhelmed. Usually he wouldn't give a shit, but something
about Claire tugged at his heart.

Henry knocked on her
door then opened it. Claire immediately straightened, blinking her big blue
eyes at him. Henry gave her a gentle smile. "Are you ready to go grab some
lunch?
”
he asked.

Claire relaxed a
little and gave him a hesitant smile. "Yes, I am,
”
she said.

She grabbed her purse and
came out from behind her desk. Henry moved out of her doorway and let her go
ahead of him. Henry shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her.
He wanted to put his hand on her back and guide her like he did earlier. But he
didn't think that was a good idea.

He also kept his eyes
firmly away from her behind. He could not be caught checking out her ass while
they walked through the office to the elevators. He did catch sight of Asher
sitting at his desk in his office. The damn fool winked and blew him a kiss.
Henry shot him the finger behind Claire's back. Asher's big booming laugh could
be heard even with his door shut. Claire turned her head and looked over in
Asher's direction. Asher waved to her. Claire smiled and waved back. Henry
sneered at the man and dragged his thumb across his throat, letting Asher know
he was a dead man. Asher only laughed harder.

Henry quickly dropped
his hand and pasted on a smile when Claire turned to look at him. Claire
narrowed her eyes at him. "What is Mr. Hirsh laughing about?"

Henry shrugged.
"No idea, he's insane."

Claire smirked.

They made it to the
elevator, and Henry hit the button to go down. They only had to wait a minute
for the car to make it to their floor. Once on the elevator, Henry hit the
button for the lobby. The doors closed, locking the two of them in the small
confined space.

Claire shifted beside
him, and he caught a whiff of her perfume. Henry closed his eyes and willed his
cock not to react. She smelled so good. It wasn't a fragrance that he'd ever
smelled before. But it was very enticing. He wanted to bury his face in her
neck, and inhale her wonderful scent.

Henry cleared his
throat. "So Claire, what is your son's name?
”
he asked, hoping the subject would take his mind off of how good she smelled.

Claire's face lit up,
stopping Henry's heart. "Ethan,
”
she said, the love for her son clear in her voice as she said his name.

"And you said
he's two?
”
Henry replied.

"Yes.
 
He's a crazy little boy, definitely a
handful. Do you have any kids, Mr. Beck?
”
Claire asked. Her voice was so sweet.

"Ah no, no kids,
”
Henry said, shaking his head.

"Are you married?
”
Claire asked, innocently
curious.

"No,
”
Henry said curtly. He wasn't
really comfortable talking about his personal life with employees, but he
couldn't seem to not answer Claire when she had asked.

Claire nodded, rolling
her lips in. She seemed to have noticed his discomfort. Which he guessed was
good, so she would stop asking questions like that. The air in the elevator had
suddenly become tense. They remained silent all the way to the deli, which was
a short block away.

Once at the deli, they
got in the short line. Henry turned to look at Claire. She was looking over the
menu that was hanging above the counter. Fuck, she was gorgeous. He had the
sudden urge to explain himself to her. But that was ridiculous. He didn't
explain himself to anyone. She didn't need to know his life story to be able to
work for him. And he didn't want her knowing more about him than was necessary,
because then emotions got involved. The more you knew about someone, the more
likely you were to care for them. Henry didn't need anyone to care for him. Or
so he kept telling himself.

Henry paid for lunch.
Claire protested but he would hear none of that. He always paid for lunch, and
everything else for that matter. Claire would learn. They found a booth in the
corner and sat down to eat in silence. Apparently, Henry had scared her out of
talking. Or maybe she just didn't know what to talk about.

"Did you bring my
schedule?
”
Henry asked
before biting into his corned-beef special.

Claire nodded as she
chewed, then reached into her little purse to pull out her iPhone. Smart girl.
He was afraid she was going to print it out. It was ungodly long, and she would
have had a book on her hands. She wiggled her phone in the air before placing
it on the table.

"Good. We'll go
over it after we're done eating,
”
Henry said as he took another bite of his delicious sandwich.

Henry had closed his
eyes, enjoying his sandwich when he felt like he was being watched. When he
opened his eyes, Claire was watching him, a small smirk curling her lips.
"What?
”
he asked after
he swallowed.

"Nothing, you
just seem to be really enjoying that sandwich,
”
she murmured, a small flush creeping up her pretty cheeks.

"I am enjoying
it, they make the best sandwiches here,
”
Henry stated.

"Okay,
”
Claire said, shrugging, as if
she didn't agree but she wasn't going to argue.

Henry narrowed his
eyes at her. "You think you know of a place that's better?
”
he challenged.

"Not necessarily.
You have your favorite place and I have mine,
”
Claire said with an amused twinkle in her blue eyes.

Henry raised an
eyebrow in question. "Is that so? Where is this place that you love so
much?"

Claire smiled and it
made his damn heart stutter. "It's a few blocks away from where I
live."

"And what makes
them so much better?
”
Henry
asked, liking their little banter. It was refreshing.

"I'm not sure. I
think I like their rolls better,
”
Claire said.

Henry snorted and took
another bite of his sandwich.

"I'll bring in
something for you tomorrow. Then you can decide,
”
Claire said, her blue eyes daring him.

Henry nodded.
"Okay, fine."

The tension between
them seemed to ease, which made Henry happy. They finished their food and went
on to talk about Henry
’
s
schedule, and what she was going to have to do now that she was his assistant.
Claire asked questions and took notes. Henry had a feeling she was going to be
an excellent assistant.

Chapter 2

"Shit, shit,
shit,
”
Claire muttered to
herself as she looked at the schedule in front of her.

Somehow, she booked
two meetings with different clients at the same time. Henry was going to be
pissed. Both clients were due in the office in two hours. How the hell was she
going to fix this? Neither would be happy to reschedule. Claire took a deep
breath and got up from her desk. She had to tell Henry as soon as possible.
Maybe he could give her an idea on how to fix it. It didn't help that she'd
only been working for two weeks and had made a couple other mistakes as well.
Nothing as big as this, thank god.