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Affair" in the last 48hrs, anyone who shared my post or told their friends
about my hot new release.
I saw the red label on my book 24hrs after the release!
Halleluyah!!! I have not had an Amazon Bestselling New Release in over 7yrs of
writing romance novels.
I'm so thankful to God and to you all. I love you even
more now.
Have you got a copy yet? Don't
miss reading about my sassy CEO and my rascally janitor.
Read Chapter One for FREE!!!
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~ A Flirty & Feisty Romance Novel ~
She is the CEO and he is the janitor.
“Brilliant, beautiful and bold, Michelle’s the CEO of Hotshot Publishers. I’m the janitor assigned to clean her office. She has her eyes on me. The truth is, I don’t date powerful women. In fact, I don’t date at all, but it doesn’t stop my eyes from finding hers in a room. Suddenly, she asks for my help. I want to refuse, but I’m curious.
Besides why would I turn down my boss? Maybe just this once, every inch of her sexy body will know my touch even if it’s the last thing I do. If I get hooked, it’ll be a shocking affair. Suddenly, her old crush appears and then I realize I want something from her…”
~ Toye Williams
“Striking from head to toe, there’s something about Toye, the janitor that distracts me as I work. Maybe the tattoos designed along his muscled arms play havoc on my mind, or the rippling muscles beneath his fitted top is the reason, I’m not sure. When you’re at the top of your career, holding on to a relationship is tough. Yet, my stomach scrunches every time I see him. He sends me a mysterious glare and a stay-away-from-me frown when our eyes lock. I reject accomplished men who want me. With Toye, maybe it’s the chase I enjoy or the fact I know I shouldn’t date the janitor. Whatever it is, I’ve got a favour to ask of him. If he says yes, I’ll do what I’ve got in mind. If not, I might settle for my old crush.”
~ Michelle Taylor
From the Author of Guilty of Love ~ A Sweet & Steamy Romance
Michelle’s stomach muscles tightened.
Her fingers circling the silver pen on the desk
grew sweaty. She crossed her feet at the ankles under her high-back, black
leather swivel chair.
To be honest, she had felt this way for months
since she set eyes on Toye. The words on her lips searched for a way to get out,
but they were stuck in her throat.
Grow some
spine, her head roared. It’s
now or never. Say what’s on your mind.
“Don’t touch that!” Michelle spewed out, rearranging
the folders on her desk to buy time. She only spoke up to get Toye’s attention.
The janitor did not glance at her, not even a
quick look over his broad shoulders. Beneath his tight-fitting dark grey
t-shirt, his muscles rippled as he wiped the delicate vase on the glass shelf.
A neat pile of work sat on her table waiting for
her expert attention. Instead of earning her fat pay by the second, her eyes
followed the sweep of Toye’s long arms stretched even wider as he worked.
Thankfully a yawning gap separated her desk from the
tall, dark man now cleaning the flowered vase painting on the wall in her
office with arms tattooed as if he was a walking piece of exquisite art.
Two months ago, when she requested for Toye to be
stationed in her office to clean all day long, it had seemed like a great idea–a
selfish one, no doubt. She wanted him where she could keep an eye on his body.
In truth, it was not just his body she found fascinating, his dark aura also
mystified her.
Feeling unusually fuzzy on the fourteenth day in
May, Michelle sighed.
“Did you hear me?” Speaking in an even tone, Michelle
tried to get his attention again. If he did not respond to simple instruction,
how could she ask what was on the tip of her tongue?
The man who had a body toned to disrupt her mind
and a mysterious personality to boot, carried on brushing the delicate artwork
as if she had not spoken.
Her cell phone vibrated on top of her diary sitting
on the table to her right. The pealing sound almost cut off her Monday morning
drool, but not entirely. Michelle’s fingers hesitated to tap the green button
to receive the call. Instead her eyes shadowed every undulating muscle in Toye’s
upper back and arms. He was distracting. Oh, not just distracting, he captivated
her thoughts by doing what he did best.
For the most part, the janitor acted as if he was
invisible and unable to speak. Well, she was not quite sure, anyway, whether he
could talk. He never responded verbally to her commands. Worse still, he barely
looked at her when he worked. The few times their eyes had clashed, his dark
pair exuded silent shady messages she could not interpret. Yet, a slow tension
hung between them, strong at times, magnetic even. She had no clue what to do
about it, until today.
You’re
the CEO, her heart croaked, and
he’s the janitor.
As a professional herself, Toye’s distant attitude
did not matter to her, because he took great care when he cleaned every inch of
her office and the delicate pieces of decoration she treasured.
Her phone continued vibrating and the sound finally
shooed her out of her slobber.
“Hello, Mom!” She inserted fun into her tone.
Michelle
shook her head and breathed out. It was half eight on Monday morning.
“I can hear
you sigh,” her mom scolded mildly.
Michelle
heard Momma, her grand-aunt Evelyn sigh. It sounded more like a fire cracker.
“We were
at your place yesterday. You didn’t come home, again,” her mom stated, her tone
a tad shy of directly accusing her of abandoning her family.
Michelle
stood up and carried two folders in her arms. “Dad, Mom and Momma, good
morning. I really love you all, but I’m at work. Whatever needs to be discussed
will have to wait till I get home.”
Along
with her grand-aunt Evelyn, they all lived on the same street on Grosvenor
Street in London, and her family took it upon themselves to drop by her house several
times a week. Of course, they knew when she was home and always happened to be
passing by to say hello and to chat—a terrible idea. Sometimes, she felt smothered
and disappeared from home for days. While family meant a lot to her, oftentimes
she found their fussing overwhelming.
“You’ve
got the management meeting starting in six minutes,” Liam reminded her from the
doorway with a tiny grin touching his square jaw.
Grateful
for her personal assistant’s interruption, Michelle nodded at Liam. “Thanks.”
Swallowing
her irritation at her family’s unwanted intrusion, Michelle circled her desk.
“Dad, Mom,
Momma, I’ll see you later at home. I’ve got a very important meeting. Bye.”
“Are you really
coming home tonight?” Momma chirped in just as Michelle stood beside the
janitor who had his face averted.
A striking
masculine scent raced to Michelle’s nose. She inhaled slowly as the air surrounding
the man born to clean seemed to hold a sharp dose of scent she did not have
time to explore.
Covering
the phone with her palm, she murmured to Toye. “Whatever you do, try not to break
that delicate piece on the window sill.”
Without a
glance at her, the janitor nodded and moved along the wall as if she were
interrupting his smooth routine.
Grinding
her teeth together, Michelle returned her attention to the call. “Yes, I’ll
come home tonight. See you all later.”
“We’ve
arranged for dinner,” her dad stated just before she tapped the end button.
A sharp
groan leaped out of Michelle’s mouth. “Dinner at my place again?” Then she
grinned as the perfect excuse she needed to get what she wanted from Toye
stared her in the face.
“Yes,”
Jackson Taylor confirmed in his don’t-argue-with-me tone.
Before
they could delay her further, she agreed. “Fine, Dad. See you all at dinner
tonight.”
Michelle
gave her watch a fast glance. Two minutes more. What she had in mind to ask
Toye would have to wait.
Hurrying
out of her office, she forgot all about the impending dinner and Toye’s crafted
body.
Along the
corridor, her heels clacked against the marble flooring. The click-clack sound
grated on her nerves. For some obscure reason she was more unnerved this
morning. She had read everything relating to the buy-over decision the board
members needed to vote on within the next hour, so that was not what bothered
her. It could not be the spontaneous dinner arrangement her dad just dropped on
her a moment ago. It must be the growing connection she had with the man who
said very little.
“Michelle?”
a voice called out.
Cold
shivers swept through Michelle like a hurricane. She halted her stride as if
hit by a bullet train. The voice which boomed from behind her did not belong to
one of the fifty or so staff she encountered in the office building every day. Neither
did it belong to anybody she had interacted with recently.
Yet, the
deep, authoritative voice commanded her attention. Even though she had less
than two minutes to spare before her meeting, she turned around.
Toye
stood with his eyes honed on hers.
The
folders in her hands slipped down, hit her feet and she blinked.
Without
trying, the janitor made her jittery and her chest thudded a little.
“I’ll get
the folders,” Toye said, squatting at her feet.
Michelle ducked
her head lower to stare at him. His dark hair, plaited into cornrows, was
secured at his neck with a band. She had not really noticed he had more hair
than most men, not that it was any of her business.
Quickly willing
herself to take control, she straightened her spine. “I thought you had some
speech impediment or something,” she told him when he handed over the files.
A soft
chuckle bubbled out of his lips and floated upward. “Do I sound like I’ve got a
speech impediment? I only speak when necessary.”
Now her
eyes searched his lips. For the first time she observed he had full dark lips. Was
he a smoker? Only men who smoked several packets of cigarettes a day could have
such dark lips. His plump lips were very well shaped in fact, but why was she
admiring his lips anyway? This was weird, very weird.
“Did you
have something to say to me?” she asked with an impatient grin aimed at unnerving
him.
“Nothing
serious. I wanted to tell you that if I didn’t clean the decorative pieces on
the window sill, they would gather a pile of dust, and that would tarnish the
image of the company.”
His dark
eyebrows and trimmed moustache vied for her attention and his husky voice
warmed her skin. She drew her eyebrows together.
“Okay.
But they’re special. Can we talk about this later or some other time?”
He bent
down again and brushed his fingers over her left feet.
Michelle
jumped back and the folders crashed out of her hands a second time. Warm tides
jerked up her legs to the pit of her stomach, toughening the knots.
“What are
you doing?” Her words were forced through clamped lips.
The
janitor shrugged, his shaped beard an attractive feature on his angular jaw.
“The folders hit your legs earlier, so I wanted to take away the sting. I
didn’t intend to make your skin crawl or anything.”
“Oh,” she
exclaimed, suddenly feeling foolish at her over-the-top reaction.
“Maybe
some other time. Go on to your meeting.” Giving her a curt nod, he bowed and
left her standing there with her mouth slackened.
When she
recovered enough to get her thoughts back to the meeting at hand, Michelle
texted her assistant, “I want every info on Toye Williams.”
“I will
start right away,” Liam texted back.
Pulling
in a strong breath, she exhaled slowly, tucked in her stomach and walked to the
meeting room with her head held high.
Once the
meeting ended, Michelle chatted briefly with Jessica, the head of publishing
and Violet, the head of marketing about closing the book deal that came in
seventy-two hours ago from a promising newbie author.
“Close
the deal, Jessica, and you can get the commission straightaway.”
A
determined glint rested in Jessica’s hazel eyes and she smiled. “Consider the
deal on the way to being closed. I’ve got a lunch meeting with the author at two.”
Nodding
at the woman with a success rate many admired in the publishing industry,
Michelle faced Violet. “And I know you’ve got a new marketing angle to promote
the new book. Let me see the final artwork as soon as you finish.”
“Of
course, Michelle.”
“Have a
great day, ladies.” Michelle nodded at her team and strode out of the meeting
room.
Something
needled Michelle’s thoughts as she walked briskly back to her office.
Liam met
her by the door. “You’ve got a meeting in an hour with the company publicist.”
“Great. May
I have milkshake please? I feel funny.”
“Yes.
I’ll order one right away. Do you want to sit down?”
Michelle
did not provide an answer, instead she headed straight to her desk and sat
down. “Liam?”
Her
assistant who had one foot at the door, looked behind. Michelle gestured with
one hand for him to come inside. “Shut the door.”
“Any
problems?” Liam asked, his dark hair cut low to disguise his recently receding
hairline.
“Could
you send Toye to my office please?”
Liam’s
expression did not waver as he replied. “Of course.”
“Is he
Nigerian?”
“Yes, I
believe so. When do you want to see him? He’s probably in the canteen at this
time.”
“Now.”
One word was all she said.
Liam
nodded with a complete understanding of the one-word-reply. He had been asked
to make his way out of her office and find Toye Williams, and he did.
Michelle
rubbed her fingers along her temple and exhaled. If only work was all she had
to think about, her life would be far simpler. Family pressures took a giant
part of her brain. If they did not drive her insane, no one else would. Soon,
she must do something about the quiet agony.
Meanwhile,
she opened the file in front of her and studied the submitted artworks one
after the other. Then she lifted the ad for the upcoming book from the most
successful author in their portfolio, who happened to write thrillers. She
skewed her head to peer at the creative drawings. Then she scribbled notes
along the edges. The artwork team would make changes later. The ad would
hopefully launch Andy Boyd’s new book to a wider audience, at least that was
their target.
Just as
she shut the folder, her door opened. Michelle did not have to look up.
Slow
tension crept down her back. It turned into a solid unyielding sheet at the
base of her spine. Without checking, she knew Toye was in her office.
The rigid
tension appeared anytime Toye was nearby. It had been this way for over two
months. Every time he worked in her office, a small knot either rolled through
her spine or lodged at her neck. No matter who else was in her office, she felt
the same way, and it was frustrating not knowing what the heck was going on
inside her body.
Silence
stretched far and wide between them.
The man
said very little almost all the time. Why?
Didn't men
like to talk? In general, they liked the sound of their own voices. Not Toye, he
was quiet to a fault. When after several minutes, he finally said nothing, she
looked up. He stood by the door, but his eyes faced the painting of Montana at
sunrise on the wall to her right. Although his presence was overpowering, he
could be overlooked because he made himself unobtrusive at will.
“Earlier,
I’m sure you heard my family say they’ve organized dinner for tonight in my
house,” she said.
Toye
turned his head and stared at her. A dark force accompanied his gaze—a force
that seemed to push her back. So, she leaned back in her seat. Maybe it was safer when he averted his gaze,
she reckoned.
“I heard,
but it’s none of my business.” His tone was brusque and formal, and his voice
held a commanding sting as if he had not brushed his fingers against her feet
hours ago.
Lowering
her head, she carried the blue folder and dumped it in the out tray on her left side. “I need your
help tonight.”
She held
her breath, waiting for his response.
Nothing
happened.
Nervous
tension coiled in her belly, compressing its hold for long seconds.
Then she
heard his sharp intake of breath. Was he going to turn down her request without
finding out what she needed from him?
Instead
of looking up, she opened the next folder and pretended to study the content. Counting
to twenty in her head, she hoped he would ask the follow-up question, what can
I do for you?
At last,
no words came out of his lips.
Dragging
in a long breath enriched with his fragrance, she sat forward and weaved her
fingers on the desk. “If you could show up at my house tonight, I would really
appreciate it. I need help with cleaning up once the dinner is over and we
might talk afterward.”
“I’m
contracted to clean your office here at Hotshot Publishers on Great Portland
Street, not your private residence, Michelle.” His voice was as sharp as hot
steel blade, whipping her senses to a standstill.
At the
same time his words were like a sweet rebuke. She had crossed the line and she
knew it, but she would have it no other way. There was something going on
between them. It was silent, but present and she intended to dig deeper to find
out what exactly was meant by the cramps in her belly.
She
lifted both hands and shut her eyes.
“I know.
I’ll pay you whatever you bill me. I trust you with my office and I believe I can
trust you with taking care of my home. I don’t want to bring in strangers to
clean my house. I had a few nasty experiences in the past.”
“Or maybe
you could clean yourself.”
His words
came out with ease, and it lacked any bite. It sounded as if he was giving her
valuable tips for free, rather than a vicious attack on her character.
“That’s
an option I’m not in the mood to explore. This is high season in the publishing
industry. I’ve got too much work to do. My family doesn’t understand the
demands of my job. I just need you to be around to lighten things up a bit.”
“Not just
to clean up, then?”
Looking
at him from her seating position, she sighed. “It would give me peace of mind
if you could do me this favour.” It was a huge favour if she were totally honest.
“What if
I had prior plans?” His questions were short and punchy.
“I would
understand.”
Then she
paused and stood.
“I take
that back. I would beg you to cancel and bill me higher for the inconvenience.”
He nodded
as if he understood. “Money answers everything in your world?”
She
groaned, because she heard the same comment in different versions all the time.
People assumed if you were in a good place today, it was handed to you on a
platter of gold.
“Do you
expect me to feel awful because I’m willing to make up for cancelling your
plans?” She avoided his gaze, locking her eyes on the painting of the coastal
Mount Carmel in Israel, given to her by the Jewish author who wrote science
fiction.
“What
time do you want me at your home?”
Turning
slightly, she burrowed her eyes at his wide chest framed by the stretchy fabric
of his top. Then she dared lift her eyes to his for a few seconds.
His eyes
grew dimmer and his lips flattened into a thin strip.
“If you
really don’t want to do it, could you please recommend someone you trust? Anyone
of your colleagues, maybe?” Hopefully, he would not take her up on her
second-rate offer.
Instead
of taking the buy-out, Toye walked the few paces to her desk. Standing on the
other side, he towered above her. Lord, he was a tall man, finely sculpted and tattooed
heavily on both arms. He was extremely attractive, but not for her, or so she
imagined.
A hammer
went off in her chest, loud and scary.
Standing
so close, he had the markings of a shadowy bandit, dangerous and fierce. Maybe
it was best she did not let him into her home.
“I’ve not
declined your offer.”
His words
drove sweet relief into her chest.
“Then
accept and let me get on with my work.” She licked her lips and wished he would
stand back.
“I
accept. What time?”
Chest
thudding, she dropped into her seat and reached for her schedule.
“Be there
at seven, please. Here’s the address.”
She
pushed the black diary toward him, tore off a post-it-note and handed him a silver
pen engraved with the company logo.
He
brushed his eyes over her face briefly before he collected the pen. Their
fingers swept past each other.
Heat
steamed her face, fingers tingling where they touched his. He did not seem to
notice. She swallowed slowly, glad at his acceptance.
With bold
movements, he wrote down her address and stuffed the paper in his pants pocket.
“Anything
else?” One of his brows shifted upward and then down. It was not a funny
expression, more of a get-off-my-back countenance.
Breathing
heavily as if she was in dire straits, she nodded. “Yes. Wear anything you
want. It’s just family, I hope. Pretend you hear nothing at dinner. My family
can be, let’s say, a bit hmm…of a surprise.”
“Pretending
not to listen is what I do best.”
She bobbed
her head.
In fact,
it was the exact reason she chose him.
Toye had
passed the fly test many times.
Anyone who worked in her office went through the test, unknowingly. All she had
to do was reveal what sounded like a company secret while they were the only
other person present. Then she would wait to see if the ‘news’ appeared in the
magazine, newspaper or social media within a week. If it did, she fired the
employee or contractor. It meant they could not be trusted. She had repeated the
test for Toye five times already since he was deployed to clean her office.
Nothing appeared anywhere. The man had sealed lips.
“What type
of ‘surprise’ can I expect?”
Disconcerted
from her muse, she twisted her lips. “Well, I hope tonight will be alright,
considering I’ve not been home in days. See you later.” She lifted her gaze, and
instantly regretted doing so.
Toye pierced
her skin with black daggers shooting out of his eyes. It was as if he hated the
sight of her. Yet, something hot blew in their depths.
Seconds
ticked by.
He did
not move.
Feeling
flushed, Michelle gripped the arms of her seat. She wanted to tell him to go on
to his duties. Instead she swallowed.
“I got
your milkshake,” Liam announced from the doorway, interrupting their charged encounter.
Blinking
to clear the haze in her head, Michelle accepted the large plastic cup with a
blue straw inserted through the cap from Liam and hurriedly took a long sip.
“Thank
you.” She nodded at her assistant after she sucked at the straw and swallowed.
“I
understand the instruction, Ma’am,” Toye said, dismissing himself as he took
slow strides out of her office.
Liam
looked from the receding back of the janitor to her boss who sipped her
milkshake as if it was a life-giving drink.
“Did you call
him up for disciplinary action? I could follow it up with Human Resources if
you want.”
Waving
away her assistant’s helpful offer, she shook her head. “Not at all. When do I
get the details I requested about him?”
“By the
close of work today.”
“Good. I
want to remain undisturbed until my next meeting.”
“Okay.” Liam
made an about turn and shut the door on his way out.
Michelle
dumped the milkshake on her desk and rose to her feet. Then she clasped her
fingers around her neck. Strain locked itself in her spine. Maybe she should
stop to get a massage before dinner. She could use one right now.
For a
moment, Toye’s dark eyes confronted her vision. Who was he and why did he act
as if he was more than the man who cleaned her office? He unsettled her and she
did not like it at all. His black eyelashes and eyebrows formed a secret fan
for his penetrating eyes. From whichever side you looked at his face, it was
all sharp angles. In her opinion Toye belonged in a magazine for hot male
models. What was he doing cleaning when he could be out on the runway making
money with his gorgeous features?
How is this any of your business, her scruples screamed.
Shaking
away every non-work-related thought, Michelle returned to her chair. She read
the marketing reports submitted by Violet for the new genre she had been
pushing for months.
Meanwhile
her stomach walls curled at the novel thought of having Toye in her house. Inside
her head, she wondered what would happen at dinner tonight.
Would it
be intense or amusing?
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Stella
Please share & re-share.
Thank you for visiting. Please leave comments, so I know you dropped by.
Your visit deeply appreciated.
I wish you a romantic week.
Love
Stella
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