The Shadows of His Heart

Chapter Two

"Good morning, Miss Williams. I've been waiting for you." Mr. Holloway's low, alluring voice tickled Aurora's ears as she entered the lobby. She looked up, finding the source of the velvety words.

Her new boss had his hands in the pockets of his crisp, black suit pants, leaning up against the wall casually. His grey tie dangled off-center of his white shirt and black jacket.

Aurora swallowed anxiously, masking her uneasiness with an heir of confidence as she strode up to the attractive man. He towered above her by at least a foot.

Meeting his caramel eyes with her own ashen ones, she dipped her head slightly and offered a polite smile. "Good morning, Mr. Holloway."

While her head was down, the man's ardent, golden eyes flitted over his new assistant. As soon as he had saw her at the interview, he had immediately been taken by her immaculate, natural beauty. He had had many personal assistants before, but none worked as hard or as dutifully as he wanted them to, so they never kept the job for long. Hoping for more from this obviously intelligent girl, he had hired her eagerly after reviewing her application. Although she had never worked in an office before, he felt... assured by this woman's determined personality and high level of professionalism. And her looks were a nice bonus, too.

His lips curved up slightly on one side at his assistant. Aurora focused hard on her breathing. Resisting the male's sultry voice and godly looks was proving to be harder than she had thought. Using all of her willpower, she cleared her throat and decided resolutely that she would not let her boss's alarmingly magnetic qualities distract her. She buried her feelings and made it her goal to show Mr. Holloway just how professional and dependable she could be, even in the face of unmatched beauty.

"What should I get started with first?" Aurora's voice was steady as she met the man's eyes again.

"Well, first... I'll show you to your new office." He smiled, revealing perfect, white teeth. Keeping his hands in his pockets, he non-chalantly led his assistant to the elevator and pressed the top floor.

Wanting Aurora to love her new job as his assistant from the get-go, he had made sure her office was in perfect order, with a great view of the city below. He had a feeling about this girl that he couldn't quite place... but he knew that her passionate and intellectual personality drew him to her, along with her attractiveness. And although Leo had realized she was beautiful, he had hired her because of the way she brightened up the room and showed promise as a responsible assistant.

While they were in the elevator together, Leo made small talk to fill the silence and try and make Aurora feel more comfortable.

"So... Miss Williams. I presume you have gotten settled into your new home? I remember you saying you had recently moved from North Carolina to our big, bustling city. Must be quite the difference, hm?" He took this moment to rake his eyes over her long, dark brown hair that fell loosely over her shoulders and down her back in gentle waves. 'She's gorgeous...' He thought to himself, quickly understanding that if he showed any attraction to his new assistant, it might scare her away. Besides, she seemed completely and utterly uninterested... but it was a professional job. 'She could just be putting on a facade...' He shook his head and frowned to himself. He couldn't allow his instant fascination of this woman to get in the way of his and her jobs.

He also had made it a point to never get involved with his coworkers -- it would make things too complicated for everyone.

Aurora nodded in answer to the man's question. "Yes sir. I've never lived in a big city like this before. It'll take a while to get used to everything..." She murmured quietly, thinking of the constant traffic on and off the streets and the vast array of cluttered buildings on every block.

The two soon reached the top floor and Leo led the way out into a long hallway with light, wooden flooring and expensive-looking art decorating the creme-colored walls. She glanced at the offices as she strode by them, listening to her boss explain who worked behind each closed door.

Once at the end of the hallway, Leo paused, gesturing at the very last door, with a golden name tag that read, 'Leo Holloway.'

"As you can see, this is my office. Yours is directly beside it..." He smiled and gently pushed open the door behind him in one fluid motion. "Right in here. Take a moment to look around and get situated and then I'll give you a tour around the rest of the building." With that, Leo gently shut Aurora's door and disappeared into his own office to retire to his thoughts for a few minutes.