She needed a job, he needed a personal assistant. What could go wrong?
Welcome back to Book Hooks, a regular Wednesday feature! In this blog loop, we hope to provide you with some tantalizing tidbits in our books.
My submission for this week's Book Hooks is from my 8th novel, Lessons in Love.
Pam Weston didn't have many choices as far as employment went. Her prison sentence saw to that. With limited secretarial skills, and an even more limited budget, she never considered herself executive material. So, when she was ordered to report to the CEO of her company as his new personal assistant, she fully expected to be checking out the "Help Wanted" section of the paper before the day was over.
Robert Peterson knew his management style was not HR approved, but he believed in using the stick as well as the carrot. Employing the tenets of domestic discipline, he helped mold his personal assistants into confident women who recognized their own self-worth. Even so, his unorthodox methods were only one of the reasons many considered the position of his assistant to be a revolving door. To Rob's mind, Pamela Weston was perfect for his purposes, though given her past he expected convincing her to agree to his program would be a challenge.
In this scene, which occurs in chapter eight, Robert Peterson is treating his new executive assistant, Pam Weston, to dinner at his exclusive club where he escorts her to a private dining room so she can ask her questions. However, when Pam refuses to sit down, Rob stands. The moment he does, Pam sits and picks up her menu saying she's not sure what she's going order. Rob steps over to her and extends his hand.
"I've decided I'll order for both of us. Take my hand,
Pam."
She gazed up at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"
"Trust, Pam. I want you to know everything I do is with
your best interests in mind. Take my hand, please."
"Please…. I won't say anything more."
He crouched down so their eyes were level. "The last
thing I want is for you to stop talking. I know you have questions, so I
brought you here to answer them."
"But you're angry with me."
"No. I'm being firm because I want you to obey me. I'm
not angry."
"Are you intending to punish me?"
"That is my decision to make, not yours."
"I'm scared."
"Yes, I'm aware of that, but I want you to trust me
enough to do as I ask, despite your fear. I realize we're still getting to know
each other, so I'll make some allowances, but no matter what I say or do, I
require your obedience. I suggest you not strike out twice tonight. You're
already on sufferance for not calling me. So, be a good girl and place your
fingers on my palm."
Lessons in Love (click to read first chapter)
M/F, DD on the executive floor.
If you're 18 or older, you can read the first three chapters at Lessons in Love
Buy the book directly from Blushing Books, Amazon, Barnes&Noble
Thanks for visiting. Now go visit the other authors participating in Book Hooks.
Great snippet Kathryn, trust is so important.
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Roz