Kaiser’s office building was downtown, and between traffic and finding parking, it was 11:58 a.m. by the time she burst through the main doors of the skyscraper to ask where she could find his office at the front desk. It wasn’t until that moment, with the security guard staring at her bare legs, that she realized she was still dressed for the beach in shorts and a t-shirt.

“What floor?” the woman in the pinstriped suit with the short dark bob asked as Heidi slipped onto the elevator.

“Forty-eight,” she murmured, still out of breath.

The numbers seemed to take forever to tick by, people getting on, getting off, and every time she looked at her watch, another minute had passed. By the time the elevator opened at her floor, it was 12:05 p.m. No one got off with her, and as the doors closed behind her, she looked around for a receptionist, but there was no one at the desk.

She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder—to her left was a closed door, and to her right was a hallway. As she stood, shifting from foot to foot and considering, the door to her left opened, revealing Mr. Kaiser looking at his watch.

“Five minutes late, Heidi.” He waved her in. “Come in, please. Take a seat.” Her belly did a little flip as she brushed by him, putting her backpack on the floor at her feet as she sat in one of the leather, wing-backed chairs facing his desk.

“I’m sorry.” She was still a little breathless as he shut the door and sat across from her. “Lenny didn’t give me your note until this morning.” Digging into her pocket, she pulled out the folded paper and held it out to him—her invitation to be here. He just leaned back, tenting his fingers, looking at the note, and eventually she let it flutter to the desk, clasping her quivering hands in her lap.

“Do you know why I asked you here?”

She shook her head, feeling her ass clenched in the chair, her thighs damp and sticking to the leather.

He frowned. “When you answer me, Heidi, I would appreciate either a spoken ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ followed by ‘Mr. Kaiser’ or ’sir.’ Do you think you can comply?”

“Oh.” She flushed, nodding, and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Now, about the reason I asked you here…” His eyes moved over her face, down to her outfit, very similar to what she had worn the day before. “It is my general impression that you don’t enjoy your job.”

Heidi opened her mouth to deny it and saw him raise his eyebrows, as if he knew what she meant to say. “Yes… sir. That’s true.”

He gave a brief nod. “I thought perhaps we might find something better suited to you at Kaiser.” She stared at him, all the breath gone from her body. Was he going to offer her a job in design?

“Can you type?” he asked, immediately dashing her hopes.

“Yes, sir.” She frowned.

He leaned forward in his chair, folding his hands and resting his arms on the desk. “You may have noticed that I don’t have an office assistant out front? My last secretary was with me for eight years, and I have yet to find a replacement for her. It’s been several months, now, and I admit, I’m becoming frustrated and I really do need someone.”

Heidi took a deep breath, glancing around the office. “I’ve never been anyone’s secretary.”

He shook his head, smiling. “Irrelevant. You have what I need.”

“I… do?” She met his eyes, her breath coming a little faster as she squirmed in her seat. His eyes were dark, moving over her, and she couldn’t help remembering the incident in the bathroom.

“I need someone who can follow orders.” He leaned back in his chair again and she could see the memory of yesterday in his eyes. “Who would be willing to do whatever I asked. You showed me yesterday that you are… quite willing.”

Heidi swallowed, pressing her damp palms to her shorts. “I’m not sure I know what you mean?”

“Yes, you do.” His eyes were smiling. “I compensate very well. You would be my assistant, answering my calls, handing my correspondence and taking care of my professional and personal needs during the day. Would you be interested in such an arrangement?”

It wasn’t the promise if money or the poshness of his office, or even the fact that he was the head of one of the richest fashion companies in the world—it was the way he looked at her, with nothing concealed or disguised. His eyes saw directly through her, and there was no smugness in the way it appeared as if he had her figured out, because he had. They both knew it, and there was only one answer she could give him.

“Yes.” She squeezed her hands together, her legs, too. “Sir.”

He gave her a nod. “Good. I think we’ll both be satisfied with the arrangement.”

Opening the top drawer of his desk, he withdrew a large white envelope and slid it across the blotter. Heidi didn’t know if she should take it or not, so she kept her hands clasped, just looking from him to the envelope.

“This contains general information about Kaiser, which you have already, of course, since you are essentially already in my employ,” he explained. “There is also a contract and information about duties as well as your salary and benefits.”

She nodded, looking at his hand, the buffed, square nails, resting on the stark envelope. Her bottom tingled, remembering how red his palm had been after he spanked her. Shifting in her seat, she crossed one knee over the other, trying to make herself more comfortable with the yearning ache between her legs.

“If, for some reason, you read those over and change your mind…” He nodded toward the envelope. “You simply need to tell me, and you will consequently stay in your current position.”

“I can’t imagine why I would object.”

“No.” He smiled. “I don’t imagine you will. In spite of the apparent haste of my offer, I actually choose my assistants quite carefully.”

Standing, he leaned his palms on the desk blotter, his eyes moving down the front of her t-shirt, looking at her hands in her lap. “Now, there is just the matter of your tardiness.”

Her heart leapt and she met his eyes, feeling faint. “My… tardiness?”

Mr. Kaiser reached underneath the desk and Heidi heard the door behind her lock. The sound made her mouth go dry.

“One of the things that I cannot abide is lateness.” He reached down and unbuckled his belt. She felt faint as she watched it slipping through the loops of his pants. “And you will find that I am quite unorthodox in my methods of discipline.”

He snapped the belt in his hands and she jumped, gasping, her hand going to her throat as she stared at him. Doubling it over, he slapped it against his palm, the belt whistling and then smacking his flesh. Heidi sat and wondered how much it would sting and she wiggled her bottom against the chair.

“It’s a Vincente.” He gave her a small smile. “Italian. Calf-skin, medium weight. Makes a nice sound, doesn’t it?” She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t move, all she could seem to do was stare at the belt in his hands as her whole body flushed with a trembling heat.

“Heidi?” He cocked his head, reminding her. “I asked you a question.”

“Yes, sir.” She drew a shaky breath.

“Come here,” he instructed, and she recognized the tone immediately and obeyed, moving around to his side of the desk, amazed that her legs were holding her weight at all given how much they were shaking.

“You remember this?” He tilted her chin up and she met his eyes, nodding. “Everything pulled down and bend over, please.”