“Look. The employment agency must not have represented the scope of what is required of you. Yes, the skills you mentioned are needed for this post. However, I write whenever the muse strikes. Sometimes an idea or the solution to whatever project I’m working on drops into my brain—maybe it’s a more effective way to shoot a scene or a dialogue change. The muse doesn’t care if it’s two a.m. Often I am most creative in the wee hours of the morn. Which means you would be required to drag yourself out of bed, come to the main house, and take notes. Without complaining or bellyaching about how late it is or how tired you are, because frankly, I won’t give a damn.”

Sarah almost laughed out loud. The man had no idea of the kind of shit she’d had to put up with for the last seven years of her life. Hell, forget about going back that far. One month ago she had been kidnapped and was trapped on a yacht with a psychopathic serial killer who was convinced she was his long-lost dead sister. Oh yeah, and he was an “artiste,” who incorporated his victims’ blood into his paintings, and I was to be a part of his next masterpiece. So don’t try to scare me off with your talk of “the muse.” Typing notes at two a.m. is a frikkin’ walk in the park. “Understood,” she said, as harmless as old dishwater. “I can do that.”

“I’m not finished.” Rather than looking pleased that she was willing to work at his beck and call, he seemed irritated. “I would want those notes typed up, printed, and put on a USB drive before you returned to bed. These would be placed on the entryway table by the front door so I could bring them into work.”

“Fine. Not a problem.”

The arrogant bastard held up a tanned well-shaped finger. He had nice hands—she’d give him that. “But that’s not all,” he continued. “Seeing as how I already have an extremely well-qualified executive secretary at my office who handles the bulk of my paperwork and scheduling, the position I am presently filling requires more than secretarial skills. Did the Windham Employment Agency mention that? I thought not. What I need is a ‘personal assistant.’ ”