Billionaire Kept His Feelings Hidden, Never Thought His Assistant Would Feel the Same

Hidden Desires and Professional Boundaries

Lucas Ainsworth’s fingers trembled as he held the small velvet box hidden in his desk drawer. It was a secret he’d kept for six months now.

The custom crafted emerald ring, the exact shade of her eyes, was a tangible reminder of emotions he couldn’t express to the one person who mattered most.

He couldn’t express them to his executive assistant, Ruby Davies.

“Mr. Ainsworth, your 10:00 is here.”

Ruby’s crisp professional voice came through the intercom, breaking through his thoughts.

She’d been working for him for three years, running his shipping empire with an efficiency that bordered on miraculous.

He’d been hopelessly in love with her for at least two of those years.

“Send them in,” Lucas replied, quickly shutting the drawer.

He straightened his tie and stood to greet the potential investors. Once again, he was pushing down the feelings that threatened to complicate the best professional relationship he’d ever had.

Ruby ushered in the business partners. Her elegant navy dress highlighted her slender figure. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a neat bun, with a few tendrils framing her face.

Professional, always professional—that was their relationship. He was her boss, a shipping magnate with a fortune valued at $2.8 billion. She was his right hand, the woman who kept his entire world running smoothly.

“Mr. Ainsworth has reviewed your proposal thoroughly,” Ruby was saying to the investors.

Her voice was confident and warm. “As you’ll see from his notes, he’s particularly interested in your innovative approach to sustainable shipping containers.”

Lucas forced himself to focus on the meeting rather than the way Ruby’s eyes lit up when she spoke about something she was passionate about.

It was going to be another long day of pretending his heart didn’t race every time she entered the room.

The meeting went well, as they always did when Ruby had prepared him. She had an uncanny ability to anticipate what he needed before he knew he needed it.

As the investors left, she stayed behind to debrief him.

“I think they’ll sign,” Ruby said, consulting her tablet.

“Their concerns about the Asian routes were addressed by your logistics overview, and they seemed impressed by the profit projections.”

“You’re the one who put together those projections,” Lucas pointed out, allowing himself a small smile. “You deserve the credit.”

A hint of color touched Ruby’s cheeks. “I’m just doing my job, Mr. Ainsworth.”

“Lucas,” he corrected automatically.

He knew she rarely used his first name. It was part of the professional boundary she maintained. He respected it, even as he longed to break it down.

“Lucas,” she amended with a small smile.

“The charity gala is tomorrow evening. Your tuxedo has been pressed, and the car will pick you up at 7:00. I’ve also prepared notes on all the major donors who will be attending.”

“You’re coming too, right?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

Ruby nodded. “Of course. Someone has to make sure you remember all those donors’ names.”

“What would I do without you?”

The question came out more earnestly than he’d intended. For a moment, something flickered in Ruby’s eyes. It was something beyond the professional rapport they maintained, but it was gone so quickly Lucas thought he might have imagined it.

“You’d probably be late to every meeting and forget half your appointments,” she replied lightly.

“Now, if there’s nothing else, I need to finalize the itinerary for your Tokyo trip next month.”

As she left his office, Lucas exhaled slowly. He’d built Ainsworth Global Shipping from the ground up and negotiated billion-dollar deals without breaking a sweat.

But telling Ruby how he felt seemed impossibly daunting. The risk of losing her was too great.

Ruby closed the door to Lucas’s office and leaned against it. She allowed herself a moment of weakness before returning to her desk.

Working for Lucas Ainsworth had been the opportunity of a lifetime. She’d started three years ago, fresh out of her MBA program with student loans looming.

The exceptional salary and benefits had been a godsend. What she hadn’t counted on was falling in love with her boss.

It had happened gradually. She watched his unwavering dedication to his company. She saw how he treated even the lowest level employees with respect.

She observed his quiet philanthropy that he never publicized. Lucas Ainsworth might be one of the richest men in the country, but he carried his wealth with a humility that was disarming.

Ruby straightened and walked back to her desk, chiding herself for these thoughts. Lucas saw her as nothing more than an efficient assistant.

The occasional lingering glance she thought she caught from him was surely just her imagination. Her hopeless heart was seeing what it wanted to see.

“Miss Davies, these just arrived for you,” said the male clerk, setting a bouquet of lilies on her desk.

“Thank you, Tim.”

Ruby frowned at the flowers, searching for a card. Finding it, she opened the small envelope.

“Looking forward to seeing you at the gala tomorrow. Dinner after? Daniel.”

Ruby sighed. Daniel Ross was the CFO of a tech company that often partnered with Ainsworth Global.

He was handsome, successful, and had been asking her out for months. She’d finally agreed to attend a business dinner with him last week.

He had clearly interpreted the dinner as the beginning of something more. The truth was she’d only agreed to try to move on from her hopeless feelings for Lucas.

The dinner had been pleasant enough, but there had been no spark. No connection existed that made her want to see him again.

She set the card aside, making a mental note to let Daniel down gently at the gala. It wasn’t fair to lead him on when her heart was irrevocably elsewhere.

Ruby turned to her computer, determined to focus on work. The Tokyo trip needed to be perfect.

Lucas was negotiating a major expansion into the Japanese market, and every detail mattered. She lost herself in the logistics, checking hotel accommodations, scheduling meetings, and arranging translators.

“Working late again?”

Ruby jumped at Lucas’s voice. He stood by her desk, suit jacket draped over his arm, tie loosened.

His dark hair was slightly tousled, as if he’d been running his fingers through it while working on a challenging problem. It was a habit she found endearing.

“Just finishing up the Tokyo arrangements,” she replied, glancing at her watch. “It was after 7:00. The office floor was deserted except for them. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.”

Lucas nodded toward the flowers. “Secret admirer?”

“Hardly a secret,” Ruby said, feeling oddly uncomfortable. “They’re from Daniel Ross.”

Something shifted in Lucas’s expression. There was a tightening around his eyes and a slight tensing of his jaw.

“Ah. I didn’t realize you two were seeing each other.”

“We’re not,” Ruby said quickly. “We had one business dinner, that’s all.”

Was it her imagination, or did relief flash across his face?

“Well, don’t stay too late,” Lucas said, his voice returning to its normal timbre. “The company won’t fall apart if you take an evening off.”

“Says the man who’s still here at seven on a Friday,” Ruby countered with a small smile.

Lucas laughed, and the sound warmed her from the inside out. “Touché. Maybe we both need to work on our work-life balance.”

“Maybe we do,” Ruby agreed softly.

For a moment, they simply looked at each other. The usual professional distance between them seemed to shrink.

Then Lucas cleared his throat. “Good night, Ruby,” he said. His voice was a touch lower than usual.

“Good night, Lucas,” she replied, watching as he walked toward the elevator.

When he was gone, she sank back into her chair, her heart pounding inexplicably. Sometimes, in moments like these, she almost believed there could be something between them. Almost.