I Love You, What's Your Name?

By Kamaryn Kelsey

Evan Holt has a reputation with the women at the office- and it's not good! He's not a "love 'em and leave 'em" kind of guy. He's a workaholic who views assistants as a piece of office equipment. If they fail to meet his standards, it's out with old and Miss Carlton in the HR department had better be ready with someone new!

Tired of losing good employees because of his impossible demands, Miss Carlton isn't going to let that happen again. Her solution- send Jenn Baxter who is capable, but not quite what Mr. Holt expects. She wears floral skirts and pink shoes, for heaven's sake! Jenn, a free spirit, refuses to be insulted, and won't quit when she's overworked. What's a boss, with no time for love, and his assistant, with no time for anything but work, to do? Sparks fly and an out-of-town business trip shows the impossible Mr. Holt there's more to his unconventional assistant than meets the eye! He also realizes there's more to life than work... now he has to convince Jenn.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kamaryn Kelsey
• Release date: Sep 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781386124047

Book preview

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and events are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER 1

MISS CARLTON'S MONDAY took a quick spin into the dumps when word came down that Evan Holt was in need of another assistant. Evan Holt went through assistants the way bargain hunters approach Black Friday sales... fast and ruthless.

With a sigh, she pulled out the files of the next batch to be interviewed. Her phone rang. It was Terri from the front desk with the scoop, confirming that the latest assistant had quit. So... tally one more for the quitters. They were now a few heads in front of the fired group.

Miss Carlton looked through the resumes and interview profiles. This is hopeless, she thought. Evan Holt had been with the company for less than a year, yet he had gone through more assistants than all the other executives put together for the last two years.

She sorted the files and mentally made notes: too timid, too bold, too vacant. Sweat gathered on her forehead because she knew he'd be breathing down her neck soon, wanting to know when the latest victim would attempt the job.

Then she sat back and wondered if she had been doing this all wrong. Giving him the good assistants was like cutting a rotten tomato. It never worked and in the end, they’d be discarded.

Now Evan Holt wasn't a wolf. In fact, some of the assistants were disappointed because they couldn't catch his eye. For him business was strictly business and never mixed with pleasure. Assistants were part of the office, like the desks and computers. And to Miss Carlton's knowledge—which could be taken as gospel when it came to company news—he never dated anyone from the office.

It still didn't make her job any easier though. She narrowed the possibilities down to two, then picked up her phone, and called the department heads where they were currently assigned.

At two on the dot Miss Shepherd arrived. She was professional-looking, intelligent, and according to her evaluations, a very hard-working young woman. Miss Carlton realized that she was too valuable to waste on Mr. Holt so she smiled and sent her back to her previous position.

At five minutes after three Miss Baxter arrived, late for her appointment. Her evaluations were mixed. She was obviously intelligent and hard-working, but supervisors reported issues with her being on time.

Miss Carlton studied Jenn Baxter, thinking she left something to be desired in the wardrobe department. She wasn't dressed inappropriately. Not exactly. It was more of a careless, or perhaps carefree, manner of dress. Most of the women who worked at the company stayed within a strict code of business dress. But Miss Baxter wore a pink blouse and a pretty floral skirt along with pink shoes. She looked like she was ready for a picnic.

Jenn had straight reddish-brown hair that fell past her shoulders, and she made no attempt to put it up or pull it back into any semblance of style. That carried over to her makeup. She used a little mascara to accent her green eyes, but she didn't even try to cover her freckles.

Miss Carlton looked over the folder again, then made her decision. She was going to send poor Miss Baxter to the slaughter at Evan Holt's office. Handing her a paper to give to her supervisor, Miss Carlton told her she was being reassigned but she didn't have the heart to tell her where she was going. She just told Jenn to gather her personal items from her current desk and report to the fourth floor for her new assignment.

Before Jenn left, she turned to Miss Carlton and asked, Mr. Holt's office, right?

Miss Carlton couldn't even look her in the eye. She just nodded and was surprised when Jenn said, Okay, thanks, like it was any other office in the building.

When the phone call came from the fourth floor Miss Carlton was ready. She was happy to report that the situation had been taken care of and Mr. Holt's new assistant should be there shortly. But forty-five minutes later she received another call from the fourth floor asking where in the blazes was the new assistant. Miss Carlton gripped the phone tightly and assured him she would look into it, wondering if Jenn had gathered her things and ran out the door instead.

She called the department head where Jenn had been assigned and learned that, yes, she was there at her desk and working on her computer. Miss Carlton told the supervisor that Miss Baxter needed to report immediately to the fourth floor. She held her breath but didn't get another call from Mr. Holt, so Miss Baxter must have finally made it. Miss Carlton wiped her brow and shifted her eyes quickly around the room before leaning down to take a sip from the emergency bottle she kept in her bottom drawer.

JENN GOT OFF THE ELEVATOR on the fourth floor and stopped at the main desk. 

Miss Carlton told me to report to Mr. Holt's office, she told the woman behind the desk.

The woman took one look and thought, this poor thing doesn't stand a chance. She escorted Jenn to Evan Holt's office and then scurried back to her station in the lobby by the elevator.

Jenn set her bag down at her new desk and knocked on Mr. Holt's door. It flew open with a crash and Evan Holt glared down at her.

What's so important that you're interrupting me? he demanded.

He was a handsome man, over six feet with dark brown hair and liquid