Under His Command (For His Pleasure, Book 17) by Kelly Favor Read Free Book Online

you, Miss Saunders?”
    She inhaled sharply. “I’m at my apartment.”
    “Not a great way to start your first day of work—showing up late. Unless you don’t intend to show up at all?”
    She sat bolt upright. “I don’t understand. Nobody told me—“
    “I thought you were very bright, Miss Saunders. Top of the class, mathematician, ivy league educated.”
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Rather. I’ll be right there.”
    “We’re honored you’ll be gracing us with your presence,” he replied with dripping sarcasm. “Don’t delay us any further. I have an incredibly busy schedule and I was counting on you to get off to a good start, which hasn’t happened.”
    “I apologize.”
    “Less talking and more doing,” he said. “Get here. Now.”
    She got off the phone and started dressing, bummed that she didn’t even have time for a very quick shower. Instead, she doused herself with perfume and hairspray, applied some quick makeup and dressed in the same outfit she’d worn to her interview—
    coincidently the only work appropriate combo she currently owned.
    Kennedy had assumed she’d have a chance to shop for more once they’d informed her she had the job, but it apparently wasn’t going to happen the way she’d imagined.
    In fact, nothing at all was as she’d imagined, and that very fact excited her and thrilled her to no end.
    She ran out of her apartment and hailed a cab that she could hardly afford. But still—she wasn’t about to test Easton Rather’s limited patience. She told the cab driver to hurry to the Red Agency, and even went as far as to offer him double the fare if he got her there in record time.
    This made for a hair-raising drive through the streets of Manhattan, but she braced herself in the back seat and prayed to survive.

    ***
    “You’ll be working in my office, side-by-side with me,” Easton said, as she sat down at her desk, which was right outside the door to his office. However, due to the nature of their location, it really was more like an office suite that the two of them shared.
    There was a private door that led to their suite, and she and Easton were the only ones who occupied this section of the floor.
    Nearby, there was a small kitchenette complete with coffee pot, microwave, refrigerator and table with two chairs. Kennedy wondered if the two of them were expected to eat lunch there together every day.
    The thought simultaneously thrilled and terrified her.
    Easton stood over her shoulder and instructed her how to log into her desktop computer. “You’ll also be provided with your own secure laptop and login for the VPN
    client in case I need you to work outside the office for any reason.”
    “Wonderful,” Kennedy said. Her hands shook a little as she stroked the keys.
    She could feel him next to her, his powerful masculine presence making her woozy.
    “I’m taking a chance on you,” Easton said, his voice lowering. “You understand that there were at least three dozen more qualified people who applied for this job, and I didn’t hire them.”
    Kennedy froze in her seat. She didn’t dare turn to look at him. “Why did you hire me, then?”
    “I think you know the answer.”
    “I really don’t.”
    He laughed condescendingly. “Playing dumb isn’t appropriate.”
    “I believe you hired me because I proved myself to you.”
    “No, I hired you because I was curious if you could prove yourself to me. Some people are too easy to peg. You’re not one of those, Kennedy Saunders.”
    She repressed a shiver down her spine. “I’ll do anything you need.”
    “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
    “I’ll keep my word.”
    “You have no idea what I might ask of you.”
    That was true. She took a deep breath and let it out. “I trust you, though.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous.” He moved away from her, as if disgusted by her willingness to trust him without good reason. “I need to make some phone calls,” he said. “Please familiarize yourself