Blurring the Lines (Men of the Zodiac) Read Online Free PDF

consumption.
    “I’ll make you one at the office.”
    She laughed. “Shouldn’t I be the one to offer you coffee? You know, since I’m a secretary.” She lowered the visor and stared at her reflection for the millionth time. Since when had she turned so vain? “Need to get into character,” she muttered.
    “No one will expect you to make coffee. You’re not that kind of secretary.”
    “Oh my gawd, there are different kinds of secretaries?” She’d never had a secretary, but she was pretty sure her dad’s made him coffee every morning. Perhaps she really didn’t know what she was doing.
    “I meant the kind in the 1950s.”
    Heat flushed up Kira’s neck, as she imagined herself as a 1950s secretary, complete with steno pad and pencil, awaiting Blake’s dictation. Was that why she was so nervous? Why her stomach wouldn’t calm down? Because in less than ten minutes she would embark on a new adventure that would place her directly in the man’s path for twelve months? “What kind of secretary will I be?” she wondered out loud.
    “A good one. You’re such a perfectionist, you won’t fail.”
    Kira stared out the window, too shocked to respond to Tish’s too close to home insinuation. She watched the people on the newly widened pathway approved by the City Council last spring, the freshly painted signs over the strip malls as they whizzed by, and the unprecedented number of out-of-town license plates from tourists.
    Anything to distract her from the real issues. Like how she’d woken in a slight panic over taking a job much more tedious than the one she’d left, and would her father lecture her when he found out, and she’d never had a secretary nor had she ever been one, so what if she didn’t know what she was doing? She sucked in her breath. This wasn’t the time for her to start second-guessing herself.
    Blake had put it perfectly when he’d offered her the job.
    Work for him for one year and save her mom’s vision. Preserve not only the landmark building but also the entire tract of that neighborhood. A weird bargain—especially because he didn’t seem to care what qualifications she had—but maybe he thought he could work her to the bone, drive her to quit in a week, then do what he wanted with the Bromwell.
    Well, he’d met his match, because no matter how demanding he was, she’d deal with whatever he threw at her, spend his company’s money on charitable projects, and save the community.
    Starting this job was not a defining moment in her life, anyway. It was like any other job she’d taken in the past year and a half, and not a step on the corporate career ladder. A volunteer effort to save the livelihoods of countless people and preserve the neighborhood. So what if she wanted to be competent at it?
    Finally she mumbled, “I’m not a perfectionist.”
    “Whatever you say.” Tish’s tone was laced with sarcasm.
    They rode into the building’s parking garage in silence. Coconut perked up the moment the car stopped , and Kira tucked the dog into the tote, following Tish to the elevator.
    As they waited, Kira reached into the tote and stroked Coconut’s head. “Good girl. We’re going to have a great day. Nothing we can’t handle, right?”
    “Are you petting your purse?” The deep baritone caught her off guard, and she whirled around to face her new boss.
    The elevator doors dinged open and she rushed inside, slipping the tote from her shoulder to hang between the wall and the side of her legs. Tish stepped in front, as if trying to form a barrier between them. “Good morning, Blake.”
    Despite the initial shock, Kira kept her voice calm. “Coconut is malnourished and you didn’t say dogs weren’t allowed.”
    His gaze dropped to her tote. Warmth spread up Kira’s neck as she noted that he stared a bit longer than a quick look , and that what probably caught his attention were her shoes.
    Stilettos, really. Black, high, and with a royal blue bow tied right at her