2

Brandon

“Gina is here,”Shelby said as she entered my office. “What do you want me to get her to start doing first?”

I sighed and looked around the office. I didn’t think it through when I told Amalia I would help her friend. I would do anything for my daughter, but there isn’t much for an intern to do around her.

Especially not one I’ve seen dancing around my house drunk in skimpy shorts and a shirt.

“Bring Gina in here. I’d like to have a word with her, and then I’ll get her started on the filing that needs finishing.”

Shelby arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips. “You wouldn’t mean the filing you’ve ignored for the last year. The same filing that you insist you need to sort through, and that’s why you won’t let me do it.”

I shrugged and looked down at the papers on my desk. The top sheet listed things Gina could do to keep herself busy. It should keep her alive for the week. After that, I wouldn’t have to think about anything else for her to do until next week.

“Brandon, she’s brand-new, and she seems nice enough. Are you sure that trying to scare her off on her first day is how you want to go?”

“I’m not trying to scare her off. I have other things that I need to be doing.”

And those things do not involve having my daughter’s best friend follow me around from showing to showing while I think about undressing her.

“Alright,” Shelby said, rolling her eyes. “But when Amalia comes here pissed off because you’re not giving her friend a chance you said you would, I don’t want to hear about it. So you’re on your own with that one.”

“It’s going to be fine. Gina can work on what I need her to do if she wants to get paid.”

Gina appeared in the doorway at that moment, a stack of papers in her hands and a strained smile on her face. She looked at Shelby, who had the decency to look mortified for both of us.

“Gina, we’ll get you to file some paperwork, but Brandon wants to meet with you first.” She smiled and headed over to Gina, taking the paperwork from her. “I’ll sort through this and ensure we have everything we need.”

Gina watched Shelby leave, the door closing behind her. When she turned back to me, she smiled politely, but something was unreadable in her eyes.

“Take a seat.” I nodded to one of the chairs in front of me.

She crossed the room, her pinstripe slack showing off her long legs and the curve of her ass. Gina sat down in front of me, the low neckline of her black shirt dipping a little lower.

I tried not to think about how she looked at me with those warm brown eyes when we were in my kitchen last week.

Everything about her that night had screamed a bad idea, but there was no way I could have kicked her out and told her to go home.

Not after Amalia told me what had been happening in Gina’s life. She needed a safe place to land for a while, and I had one I could give.

“I thought that you and I should discuss this before you start working here,” I said, drawing myself away from the thoughts of her in my kitchen and dancing around my living room. “We need to set some rules.”

“Okay.” Her tone was hesitant, and her eyes narrowed like she wasn’t sure where this was going.

“How are you liking the apartment now that you’ve had time to settle in?”

“It’s more than I needed but thank you. I know you could have rented that property to someone else for more money.”

“That brings us to my point. While you are working here, Shelby is the only other employee who knows how much I am helping you. So please keep it that way. I don’t need the others thinking that favoritism is happening when I only do what I can to help my daughter.”