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CHAPTER ONE

ROCKY BALBOA PATROLLED the length of his rectangular glass-encased world with an increasingly agitated fervor, the blinding beahts a far froe parrot cichlid fish Used to the cozy confines of Coburn Grant’sand plentiful di the transition to Harrison Grant III’s cold black-and-chrome domain any more easily than Frankie herself was

Her ri a fish out of water in this startling new development of her as the replacement PA for the CEO of Grant Industries if her sto with Rocky’s distressed flips and circles Harrison Grant, the elder of the two Grant brothers fro Island, heirs to an autoh a PA a quarter until her predecessor Tessa Francis had taken over two years ago and taendary beast Known for her for into line, including even the snooty, tyrannical Harrison Grant, Tessa would have continued to keep the world a safer place for everybody had she not elected to do the very hu a six-month maternity leave A reasonable request in -with-forward-momentu fro orders in between pushes Not that that would ever be her When she eventually found the perfecther children first, unlike her parents who’d had the in the Masseria fah to bus a table

But that was then and this was now She sighed and looked down at theon her desk, unsure of what to tackle next This wouldn’t be her h had Tessa orchestrated the orderly exit she’d been intent on and found a new PA for her i to Tessa, Harrison had silaze over at the subject every ti out, Tessa had gone ahead and scheduled the interviews

That’s when the unthinkable had happened Tessa had gone into preht while Harrison was on a business trip to Hong Kong, the interviews had been canceled and Frankie had been installed in her place by her nanimous boss Coburn, who had decided his brother could not be without a PA Without so much as a “would you mind, Frankie?”

“It’s the perfect opportunity to shine,” he’d told her in that cajoling voice of his “Six months with Harrison and you’ll be back with a whole new visibility within the company”

Or she would be just another piece of Harrison Grant’s road kill, Frankie thoughtas she’d been old enough to apply eye shadow and visited her friend Olga’s father in his swanky Manhattan office, to be a glamorous PA To wear beautiful suits to the office every day, to live in the vibrant city she loved and to work in the upper echelons of pohere all the big deals were made

If that had gone against her parents’ wishes to have her remain in the fah adraduated top of her class and gone after her dream

Landing a job with the insanely handsoer Grant brother, Coburn, had seeendary Grant family, who commanded one of America’s oldest automotive dynasties fro her “what do I want to be in five years” plan and fast-forwarding it five years

She had seized the opportunity with both hands,herself into the epitome of efficiency and professionalis blue eyes and easy smile wore his vice presidency with a stark sex appeal feomen could resist, but resist Frankie had She knew he’d hired her for both her skills and the fact she hadn’t fallen all over him in the interview like the others had In return, he’d been a dreahtly coiled efficiency she brought to his office, reining in his tendency to run askeith his passion for his work

So why throw her to the wolves so easily? She sed past the distressed lump in her throat and took a sip of the herbal French lavender tea that was supposed to calm her Harrison Grant was reputed to be as serious and tunnel-visioned as his younger brother was hot-blooded and impulsive He had a filthy temper from all accounts She said “from all accounts” because Tessa had always shielded her fro downstairs to Coburn’s office if she needed so rather than expose Frankie to one of his ladly She could live without having to deal with the o of the man voted most likely to become president by his peers at Yale, his alma mater Rumor had it that time wasn’t far off for the thirty-three-year-old Harrison Her father had told her he had enough clout within the business community to run as an independent in the next election and, in these disaffected tiht win

If that happened, Coburn would take over as CEO and Frankie would be head honcho admin The perfect career scenario by all accounts If she survived the next six months