Grounded

morning. After lying awake most of the night, obsessing over the situation and her lack of a job, she had decided that Dion was just being nice to her, feeling sorry for her. That he was taking pity upon a real loser and she just didn’t want to be humiliated any further. But after finally falling asleep sometime around three in the morning, she’d dreamed of him. And my, what a dream it had been!
    Patty had awakened looking around to see if he was actually ther e, and then she checked herself to make sure she wasn’t nude like she’d been in the dream! The only reason she actually did come to his office was so she could get one more look at him.
    Dion watched as she licked icing from her thumb then took another bite, her tongue snaking out to lick her lips. An innocent action on Patty’s part, he was sure, but what it did to him was anything but innocent. Sipping from his coffee cup, he wondered what it was about this particular woman that had him tangled up like this. He’d had hundreds of women over the past several thousand years, and yet, not a single one had lingered in his mind for more than a few days, at most. Women were handy to have around if a man needed someone to cook, or clean, or fuck, but in the modern era, he’d not even needed one around for the cooking or cleaning.
    Now here was this woman in front of him who was causing all kinds of weird thoughts to go through his brain, along with emotions he’d never had before. The thoughts weren’t really bothering him so much as the emotions were. Emotional over a woman? How was that possible? On top of that, he wasn’t even sure what those emotions were. On the other hand, he was very sure what the thoughts were. Very basic, very primal, and the desire to have her naked and beneath him was nearly overwhelming. Tipping the coffee cup back, he drained it. Then he clenched his jaw as half a cup of very hot liquid burned all the way down.
    "Are you all right?" Patty asked.
    Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, Dion forced a smile. "Yes, thank you."
    "If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly is the position you told me about at my apartment?"
    The position? His mind whirled around the possibilities of that idea, but he remained a gentleman, much to his chagrin. Smiling, he looked at her and answered, "I am in need of a personal assistant."
    "What about Ms. Reed? I thought—"
    "She is my secretary," he said. "What I need is someone who is able to travel, to take notes, transcribe tapes, keep me organized and schedule appointments. It’s a hectic pace when I’m traveling and I have enough to do without trying to keep up with everything else."
    "I’m sorry, but I don’t even know what you do here, and you don’t even know my qualifications."
    Dion sat in the chair opposite her, taking her in as he watched her pick up her coffee cup and take a sip. The sun was starting to slant through the window and rays of light danced off her hair, bringing out the red tones hidden in her deep brown tresses. No, she wasn’t what he’d call beautiful, not in the classical sense, but she was pretty, young, and soft. She was also more innocent than any woman he’d ever known. Not that he thought she was virginal—that had nothing to do with it. There was more to her than met the eye.
                  Unassuming. That was the word that came to mind. What you saw with Patty was exactly what you got. Folding his hands together, he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.
    "I’m a security consultant," he told her. "I test security systems for private individuals and corporations alike. I make sure the things they want protected are truly protected."
    "So you’re like a technician that makes sure their burglar alarms work?"
    With a smile he said, "No, I’m more like a thief. I make sure their security systems can’t be breached."
    "You break into houses?" she asked wide-eyed.
    "Not just houses, but museums, libraries, military bases, nuclear facilities, government installations, among others."
    Patty was truly impressed and felt a skitter of excitement run up her spine. What a great job it would be to work for him. Not to mention the perks! She could look at him all the time and get paid for it!
    "That sounds very interesting," she said calmly, though her pulse was jumping beneath her skin.
    "Just interesting?" he asked with a knowing smile.
    " Ver y interesting," she replied.
    "Do you want the job?"
    "I do, but you don’t even know if