In the Eye of the Storm by Samantha Chase Read Free Book Online

this was the path his life was to take.  That was why Stephen avoided getting too deeply involved with anyone or even thinking about marriage.  He was married to his work.  He grew up witnessing that you could not put energy in to having both; his father and shown him that.  Stephen knew he was successful at what he did but it took all of his time and energy.  He glanced over at Holly and knew that she was a large part of why his company had achieved so much in the last three years. 
    An idea began to form in his mind.  Maybe it was time that he leaned back a little and lived.  Hell, if he could convince Holly to stay and really took his promises seriously and cut her hours he’d have to cut his own.  He simply couldn’t work without her.
    As much as he still wanted to tackle that discussion, Stephen knew how to negotiate a deal.  Holly was going to be here with him for the entire weekend.  He’d have to force himself to not bring up work or the Gideon project – even though he had a million things to do about it that he had planned to tackle this weekend – and focus on getting to know her.  Once he knew what made Holly tick and became that ‘friend’ they talked about last night, he was confident that he would be able to convince her to stay on as his personal assistant. 
    He smiled at his own genius. 
    Sensing that Stephen no longer wanted to talk about last night, and quite truthfully, neither did she, Holly switched topics as she walked over to the window.  “I cannot believe how hard it is raining!  I really couldn’t even see beyond the nose of the car.  I’m actually kind of relieved to not be out in this.  Who knows how many other trees have fallen between here and my house and how many detours I’d have had to take.”  She turned and smiled over her shoulder.  “You’re sure you don’t mind if I stay?”
    He returned her smile easily.  “If memory serves, and I believe it does, I was the one who told you not to leave in the first place.  You were the one running for the door.  I’m just glad that you didn’t have to be out in this for anything more than an eighth of a mile!”
    Sitting back down across from him at the table, they chatted about the weather, current events, nothing of any particular interest.  They were comfortable with one another and Holly told herself that it was nice to talk about something other than work with him.
    “Tell me about this house,” she prompted.  “I mean, from what I’ve seen of it, it is magnificent.  This kitchen is a fantasy!”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it described that way.” He chuckled.  “Actually, I’m still getting used to it.  It’s weird to have bought a place of this size already furnished but everything looked like it was made for this house that I couldn’t image bringing any of my things from the other house to here.”  Remembering that Holly had decorated the last house, he made sure to explain himself.  “The other stuff was beautiful, don’t get me wrong…”
    “Uh-huh…”
    “But you have to admit that the other place was a bit more contemporary than this one.”  She nodded in agreement and as much as she had hated to admit it, she didn’t like the fact that after all of her hard work on making the other house a home that he not only didn’t take anything with him, but he purchased this house completely furnished. 
    “You have excellent taste, Holly, and I loved what you did with the condo, but this house is just so…different.  This is the house that I always dreamed of.”  He actually sighed.  Holly never thought she’d live to see the day that Mr. Business-Ballinger would actually sigh when describing something as personal as his home.  This was a whole new side to him that was both attractive and a little unnerving.  “Care for a tour?”
    There wasn’t anything else to do and she was curious so she agreed.  “Sure.”
    For the next hour they toured the 10,000