Bring Me Fire

When Sky Sanders is unceremoniously fired from her dream job in an art gallery she is worried. It's hard enough for new graduates to get a paying job in the art world. So when the opportunity arises to work with a world-class private collection she jumps at the chance. Her new boss is the famously reclusive ex-teen movie heartthrob Joshua Davis. While Sky is open and enthusiastic, Josh is private and intense. In fact, Sky thinks that sometimes he seems to enjoy making her feel uncomfortable. But he does have an art collection the equal of any gallery she has ever been in, plus there is something else that stirs her curiosity. A secret room. A locked room that she absolutely must not enter no matter how crazy it makes her... SNEAK PEEK! "Do you realize that had I not cleared my throat to get your attention, I could still be standing here, watching you, and you would have no idea?" "Um," Sky shifted, unsure of what to say. What, exactly, was he trying to tell her? "I didn’t realize you’d been watching me." He rolled his eyes. "I wasn’t. But I could have been. And you would’ve been off in lala land, thinking about Miriam Deschamps. I guess I’m just trying to give you a little advice." "What, sleep with one eye open?" Sky asked jokingly. "I’m not talking about sleeping," he replied, not even a hint of a smile appearing on his face. You’re kind of a jerk, she thought, realizing, all of a sudden, that her boss most likely fell into the category of exceedingly good-looking but ultimately a gigantic asshole. "So let me get this straight," she said. "You’re telling me that even if there’s something I find very interesting, something that I get excited about, I should not let myself get too excited because some guy might come into the room without me realizing and start watching me?" "If you want to take what I’m saying to you in the absolute most literal sense, then, yes. But what I’m really trying to tell you is that you should try to be aware, regardless of how excited, as you put it, about something you might get. Self-control and self-awareness are two things you should never underestimate." "Okay, great," Sky said. "Thanks for the advice." She picked the camera back up. "I should probably get back to work. But not before I tell you that I’m very aware of you standing there. Better?" Now a slightly amused smile did touch the corners of his mouth. Stop being so damn good-looking! She wanted to scream at him. Instead, she turned away. "You’re sassy, you know. And you’re also young. I’m just trying to offer you a little advice, is all. Things I wish that people had shared with me when I’d been your age." "Well, thanks, but I’m actually okay with doing things how I do them." He nodded. "Fair enough. I’ll leave you to it, then." And then he turned and was gone. Sky stood there for a moment, camera in hand, wondering what had just happened. Was he trying to tell her he wasn’t happy with the way she was doing things? That would be impossible, wouldn’t it? He had barely been in the room long enough to see anything, except that she was totally engrossed in what she was doing, which, she thought, would be a good quality for an employee to have. She felt a funny swirling sensation in her stomach. That awkward interaction with him, plus his secret room, suddenly had her wondering if this really was such a dream job after all...