“Duly noted. Do you want to show me a little bit about what you want me to do?” she asked. It would allow her to think about things overnight. “If you’re too tired, we can do it tomorrow.”
“Me tired? I wasn’t trapped in an avalanche.”
She chuckled. “I’m fine. You found me within a few minutes of being snowed under.”
He puffed out his chest. “Yup. I’m that good.” He opened the door that had his name on it and turned on the light.
Ella hadn’t meant to suck in a breath, but she couldn’t help it. “How can you find anything in here?”
He glanced around, almost as if he was trying to view his space through her eyes. “I can’t, and that’s the problem.”
“Where would you like me to begin?” She had a few ideas but wanted to understand her limits. If Ella had her way, she’d make sure there was nothing on his desk when she was finished. Clutter drove her crazy.
“Let me show you my system.”
He had a system? For the next hour, he detailed where he wanted the electronic invoices to be filed on his computer. It seemed a bit clunky to her, but she kept her opinion to herself.
“I can see some ways to improve efficiency. Would you mind if I try something new? I won’t delete anything.”
“I don’t do well with new, but sure, give it a try. Just make sure I can go back to my old way.”
She smiled. “Deal.” This was going to be fun. Ella loved a challenge.
“Once you’ve scanned a document, shred it.” He pointed to the shredder. “Sound easy?”
“Some items look too big to scan.”
“If that’s the case, put it in the file cabinet.” He opened his desk drawer—make that a junk drawer—and pawed through the items to find a key. “Here it is.”
Tanner unlocked the file cabinet. Ella stepped next to him and gasped. “Seriously? You just dumped them in there?”
“It’s how it’s always been done.”
“That doesn’t make it efficient.” Ella had a plan. Once Tanner left the office to pick up her car, she’d do something about this mess. “Do you have an office supply store near here?”
“We do.” He gave her directions. “I’ll give you a note that instructs the store to put the purchases on our tab.”
“That’s awesome. Thank you.” She took a final look around. “I think I understand my role.”
“Great. Let me show you the phone system.” He walked her back out to the rather boring entryway. “When you answer the phone, if it is an emergency, buzz me, and I’ll call the person back. If the person just wants general information, it should go to Clint.”
“Seems easy enough.”
He smiled, and Ella melted but then immediately looked away. This was her chance at freedom, and she wasn’t going to mess it up by having an affair with the boss. Potential mate or not. That screamed disaster.
“Let me walk you back to the hotel,” Tanner said.
She was perfectly capable of walking the two blocks by herself, but she liked being in his company. It had been a long time since she’d been this comfortable around a man. Most men who dated her were only interested in being a part of the Clan. In a way, she and Tanner had something in common.
At the hotel entrance, Tanner stopped before escorting her inside. “Work begins at nine. Dress is casual.”
Ella didn’t own a lot of casual clothes since her job was to look like the Alpha’s daughter at all times. “I’ll have to see what I packed.”
Tanner pulled open the door and motioned her in. “Sleep well.”
“You, too.” She kind of doubted that would happen. Tanner probably would go back to his office and put in a few hours of work, especially since he had to make arrangements to retrieve her car. But that was not her problem. Yet.
Ella vowed to do the best job she could. When she decided it was time to quit, she’d ask for a recommendation and be on her way. In the meantime, as a thank you to him for saving her life, she would pretend to be his girlfriend. Personally, she thought it was silly. Why not just tell Sasha more sternly that he wasn’t interested? Or was he secretly interested and wanted to make her jealous? Nah, that type of person wouldn’t work to save someone buried under a ton of snow and then use her for his own gain. Now, Ella wished she had more experience handling men like Tanner McCarson.
Chapter Five
After dropping Ella off at the hotel, Tanner headed to the office to get some work done. He wouldn’t be able to sleep right now since his mind was buzzing with inappropriate thoughts.
She’s your mate, his dragon insisted.
You’re just saying that because she is so incredibly beautiful.
Nope. I know.
Like Tanner had told both Jace and Slade numerous times, their company couldn’t mess up this contract, and that might happen if he spent too much time with Ella. Even if the two of them were fated for each other, it didn’t mean they needed to rush into anything. Once the office work was under control, and the progress on the eco-tourism attraction was well underway, he’d ask her out and see where it led.
Now, though, if he was going to be out of town for most of the day tomorrow, he had to make a list of things for Clint to handle. He just hoped that Ella didn’t mess up his organizational system too much and cause more delays.
After a few hours of trying to figure out what fires to put out first, his brain ceased to function. It was time to go home. If Ella showed up on the doorstep tomorrow morning and found him on the sofa, she might lose some respect for him.
Because it was after midnight, the streets were empty, enabling Tanner to shift in the middle of the road. Once he was in his dragon form, he took off toward his house.
He
