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He loosened the buttons on his shirt and sat back in his desk chair. In time, he was sure Regan Keller would be a loyal and perfect employee. God, how he wished that was how he’d first seen her. Instead, the thought of her seated on his lap, her long neck exposed with that beautiful brown hair pulled back and her eyelashes dripping raindrops, wouldn’t go away.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter three
     
    Regan, pleased that Carlos had gotten her car running, parked it in the garage of the Benson, Benson, and Hart building. The old lady on the bus would have been more than she could handle at seven in the morning.
    Zachary Benson hadn’t been exact on what time he considered early, but she figured showing up an hour before the official beginning of the workday was a good start.
    The lobby was almost deserted, but the coffee kiosk was open. She bought herself and Zach each a coffee and headed toward the bank of elevators.
    The ride up was quiet. There weren’t multiple conversations and office gossip going on. She went to her desk first, laying the tray of two gourmet coffees atop it while she shoved her bag in the bottom drawer.
    Feeling a little easier this morning, she’d worn a suit with a straight skirt and her favorite Italian pumps. Her white blouse was plain, but she’d dressed it up with a silver chain necklace. It had been a personal splurge in Hawaii. One of the items she had saved for herself and not gotten rid of in her attempt to eradicate the hurtful memories of her last relationship.
    She let out a breath and tapped lightly on the door to Zach’s office with the coffees in hand, but there was no answer. She stood for a moment longer and tapped again. When he didn’t answer, she let herself in. A simple laugh escaped her throat when she noticed the pristine office of the CEO of Benson, Benson, and Hart looked like a college dorm room. A flat-screen television protruded from a cabinet in the corner, which she’d never have noticed, just like the elevator. The Murphy bed was down, and the sheets were rumpled. There was a pizza box on the table and three cans of soda. His desk was a mass of paper, and an acrid smell made her look around for the coffee that was burning in the pot. With a shake of her head, she set the coffees on the table and found the burning coffeepot. The door to the bathroom was open, but Zach wasn’t there. He didn’t seem to have stuck around.
    Well, executive assistant didn’t mean glorified secretary. Sometimes it meant caretaker, handler, and maid. She started picking up the remnants of his dinner and throwing them away. She pulled the sheets off the bed up and tucked them in tightly to the mattress. His scent lingered on them. She tried not to let it wash over her, but it had been so long since the cologne of a man tantalized her. Quickly she shook off any crazy notion that her boss smelled good or that she cared if he did.
    Regan pushed the bed back up into the wall. The remote to the television was on the table, and she picked it up and aimed it at the TV, studying the mass of buttons.
    “Second button on the right lowers it.” Zachary’s voice boomed from behind her, and she jumped, placing her hand on her heart.
    “Oh, so you are here?” Her voice was cool and steady, but her heart rate wasn’t.
    He was in shorts and a T-shirt. His tall frame was muscular and toned, and his sandy hair was damp with sweat. He kept a straight face, but his eyes shimmered with laughter.
    Regan forced herself to look away from him. “Took a run?”
    “Had to ward off the pizza I ordered.”
    “You left your coffeepot on,” she said as she emptied the last of the soda cans into the bar sink, and then tossed them away.
    “Yeah, can’t remember to turn it off.”
    She was aware of his eyes on her as she tidied his office.
    “I brought you coffee. I didn’t know how you like it.” She walked to the table and took his cup from the tray, offering it to him.
    He accepted the cup and