Going Down Easy (Billionaire Bad Boys) (2 page)

When he remained silent, she placed her hand on the stapler—on his now neat desk. Folders sat in precise stacks; his favorite pen was nowhere to be found, probably mixed in with the writing utensils in the holder he never used. His organized disorganization was gone. Not even his meds took the edge off her changes.

“I didn’t hire you,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I see you two have met,” Derek said, joining them in his office and slapping Kade on the back as he drew up beside him. “Think you can hold on to this one?”

Kade unclenched his jaw. “Did I miss the interview?” he asked.

“Lexie is Wade Parker’s daughter,” Derek said, naming their biggest backer and investor. “She needed a job, and you, my friend, need a personal assistant you can’t run off with your not-so-charming personality and demands.”

His eyes shot daggers at his partner, who knew full well he liked to choose his own PA, before glancing back at Lexie. She smiled and treated him to a small wave. His dick responded to her smile. The wave irritated the shit out of him.

He turned to face her. “Guess we’re stuck with each other.”

She smiled, and it brightened her entire face, lighting up incredibly blue eyes. Sky blue, his favorite color. “So what next?” she asked.

“Don’t touch my stuff without permission.”

She frowned, her eyes narrowing, drawing attention to her dark lashes. “How about you try my changes. If you don’t like them, I’ll put things back the way I found them.” She patted his chair, indicating he should sit.

Well, what do you know? She wasn’t intimidated by him.

He met her gaze and grinned, extending his hand. “Just ask before you touch my things next time.”

“Yes … sir.” They shook hands, and the feel of her soft flesh sent waves of desire rippling along his skin. He jerked his hand back quickly.

Derek chuckled. “I think you two will get along just fine.” He leaned in close and whispered in Kade’s ear. “And since she’s Wade’s daughter, you can trust her with your keys. You won’t have to pick up your own dry cleaning.” Another slap on the back, and he walked out the door.

“Would you like to make a list of what’s expected of me?” Lexie asked eagerly.

He groaned. A peppy, sexy personal assistant wasn’t what he’d had in mind. Of course, he’d run off the older woman before Lexie (too many personal errands for her taste), the young woman right out of college (she’d come on to him and looked like jailbait, and when he’d not-so-politely turned her down, she’d walked out on the spot), and another PA who hadn’t appreciated his request for coffee every morning. She’d said it went against her feminist sensibilities. He’d told her he didn’t give a shit and she’d quit.

Lucas claimed Kade had control and trust issues with women and drove them off on purpose. He was right about one thing. Kade didn’t trust most females. The first one in his life had abandoned him by choice, and the ones who’d come after had betrayed him. That didn’t just jade a man. It embedded an ugly truth deep in his psyche. Women either wanted something or would stab him in the back, one way or another.

His personal assistant, as much as he needed one, had the potential to get too close and intimately involved, at least in his private life. Add in the fact that the woman waiting for his instructions was beautiful, and things were destined to get complicated. But he needed the help, something Derek obviously knew. So Lexie Parker was his, at least for now.

“Let’s start with you giving my desk back.”

He cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to walk around the piece of furniture, providing a view of nice legs beneath her pencil skirt that ended just above the knee and an ass she knew how to sway as she walked. With the way his body tightened, her damned hem might as well hit mid-thigh.

Pissed at himself, he strode around her, catching a whiff of a warm, feminine scent he couldn’t name but would never forget.

“I’ll just go get a pen and paper,” she said.

“Here.” He handed her a yellow lined notepad and a pen, pulled from the holder she’d moved to the right side of his desk.

He gestured for her to sit before easing himself into his luxurious leather chair and tipping back, getting as comfortable as he could within the confines of his suit. He much preferred his well-worn jeans. He loosened his tie and undid the top button of his dress shirt, his gaze locking with hers. She’d been staring, watching his every move.

Caught, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and she ducked her head, busied herself, making a show of clicking the pen open and getting ready to take notes.

He steepled his fingers and began to rattle off his list of daily needs. “First things first. Coffee waiting for me at nine. I like it fresh, hot, black with three sugars. You’ll keep my schedule of meetings. I tend to forget without a reminder. You’ll accompany me to meetings, get a feel for this business and anything I’m currently working on. I need you fluent in tech.” He glanced over his fingers to find her writing quickly.

Finishing up, she met his gaze. “Ready.”

Here’s where the issues and deal breakers usually came in. “I’ll expect you to pick up my dry cleaning from my house on Tuesdays and Saturdays and drop it off at my apartment.” He handed her a card from his top desk drawer. “My preferred dry cleaner’s address.”

He spared her another look as she merely accepted the card. She didn’t balk at doing his personal chores. Surprising respect rose before he smothered it.

“Got it. What else?” she asked.

Undeterred, he continued. “I work from home often. On those days I’ll ask you to bring me lunch or work from there as well.”

She nodded once again.

“No complaints so far?”

An amused smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “Nope. You haven’t run me off yet. So what do you like to eat for lunch?”

“Grilled chicken on whole wheat bread, mayonnaise, and two slices of avocado. There’s a place downstairs that delivers.” He slid another business card across the desk.

She picked it up, drawing his attention to her pink fingernails. Delicate, long fingers, made for curling around his—

“Keys. I’ll need a key to your house,” she said, interrupting his inappropriate train of thought.

“Apartment,” he muttered, annoyed she was a step ahead of him. And also irked by the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about her in a sexual way. It was going to make working with her damned distracting. “I’ll get you a key soon.” He always had his locks changed after a PA didn’t work out.

“Is there anything else?” she asked, sliding the pen along her lip in a gesture surely not meant to be erotic, but his body registered it that way nevertheless.

“No. You can go home,” he snapped.

“Excuse me?” she asked, eyes wide. “You can’t just fire me for no good cause.”

“I didn’t. I’m giving you a break. You can’t be comfortable in that damp shirt,” he said, deliberately letting his gaze trail over the water stains on her chest.

Those luscious lips opened, then closed again in horrified shock.

Go ahead, sweetheart. Call me on sexual harassment
, he thought. At least that would end his pain. He couldn’t spend another minute wondering what color her nipples were beneath that lacy bra, and his jaw hurt from clenching his teeth so hard.

When she remained silent, he knew she was stronger than he’d given her credit for. “I’m going to work from home this afternoon,” he told her, making the spur-of-the-moment decision. “Leave me your email and cell number, and I’ll send you a grocery list. You can fill it and bring it by later today. My fridge is empty.”

Realizing he’d have to have a company credit card put in her name if she worked out, he rose and reached into his pocket for cash, handing her money to pay.

“I need your address,” she reminded him.

He picked up yet another business card,
his
, and handed it to her. “I’m uptown. Keep track of mileage, bus or subway fares, and you can submit expense reports.”

“Yes … Boss.” She rose and hugged the clipboard to her chest. “You’ll be happy with me,” she promised him. “You’ll see.”

Oh, he was plenty happy with her. He was more curious how long she’d be happy with
him
and his endless demands.

Chapter Two

L
exie didn’t know
how she’d held it together in front of Kaden Barnes. She’d been expecting a geeky nerd with a Napoleon complex who’d changed the face of social media. Instead she’d gotten a hot, arrogant, sexy-as-sin, pain-in-the-ass, panty-melting boss. And he’d seen through her, literally, in her damp, see-through blouse. No way had the man been impressed with her in any way. Great way to begin her new job, she thought, her mood sinking even further.

She let herself into her apartment to find her sister wasn’t home and she’d taken Waffles with her. She headed straight for the bedroom. She changed into a new blouse, freshened her makeup, and pulled her straggly hair up into a bun. The best she could do given the circumstances. It was still humid outside after the rain passed, and she didn’t want to leave her hairstyle up to the elements.

She knew Kendall wouldn’t expect her back midday, so she decided to do a spot check on her meds and make sure she’d been taking them. Or at least pretending to take them. The most she could hope for was that today’s pills were gone from the container. Whether her sister took them or flushed them, time would tell. She hoped for the best but expected the worst. The doctors said people with bipolar disorder often had multiple hospitalizations before coming to terms with the illness and beginning to take their meds on a regular basis.

She looked in the kitchen, where she’d left the pills along with a note, but the counter was empty. With guilt but also a sense of resignation, Lexie knocked once to be safe and opened the door to her sister’s bedroom, planning to do a quick visual sweep of the counters. Her gaze immediately went to department store shopping bags on the floor, and it felt like her stomach plummeted.

Compulsive shopping usually happened on one of her sister’s manic episodes. Lexie sighed, wondering where she’d gotten the money. She didn’t have credit cards of her own thanks to the last time she’d abused the privilege and their father had to bail her out. She hoped Kendall hadn’t talked either parent into giving her money or a credit card behind Lexie’s back. Both her mother and father found it hard to say no to Kendall when she asked nicely and made excuses that were too easy to believe for why she needed something.

Lexie didn’t have time to dwell on it now. She glanced at the nightstand and saw the medicine holder, with today’s pills gone from the container. Well, maybe something was going right. She’d just have to deal with the shopping issue another time. She stepped out and shut the door behind her.

She gathered her things, made sure she had the email on her phone, and headed to food shop for her boss. As she went up and down the aisles of her local grocery store, she discovered he was a heath nut with a sweet tooth, from his coffee to the four large packages of Twizzlers red licorice on the list.

She wondered what his dental bills were like. Which led her to think of his gorgeous smile, which he didn’t use often. In fact, she thought she might have seen it once in their first meeting, when he’d realized she wouldn’t let him push her around.

She grinned at the memory and finished up her list, then paid for the items with the money he’d given her. A bagger asked to help her outside while she hailed a cab, and she gratefully took him up on the offer.

A little while later, she arrived at his luxury building. A doorman met her. She gave her name; he greeted her with a friendly smile and a nod and pulled out a cart, proceeding to transfer the bags while she paid the driver.

Every so often, worry over the shopping bags she’d found in her sister’s room and the fact that Kendall hadn’t been home surfaced, but Lexie pushed the concerns aside. She’d have to compartmentalize if she wanted to succeed at this job, and she did. Badly.

Despite the part of her nature that needed to be a caretaker, she also wanted to earn her own way and succeed in whatever employment she chose. Not only wouldn’t she let Kaden Barnes drive her off with his demands, she wouldn’t allow her family issues to intrude on her professional life.

Her personal problems already prevented her from having a private life, and she’d lost so much by putting Kendall before everyone and everything else. She couldn’t allow her sacrifices to keep extending into all areas. She’d keep this job if it killed her, she thought, and worry about things like dating and sex when her sister turned a corner.

“Go on up. I’ll bring these up the service elevator,” the doorman said. “Penthouse.”

Of course
, she thought. No regular floor for Kaden Barnes. She took the elevator up and stepped out into a well-lit hallway with only one apartment door to be found.

She rang the bell. Nobody answered. She rang again. If he’d stayed at the office and forgotten to tell her, she’d… Before she could finish that thought, the door swung open wide, and he stood before her, wearing nothing but a towel tucked around his waist in all his bare-chested glory.