Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (153 page)

Eating
her
toast and sipping her coffee, Kallie finally picked up the book where she’d
left off late last night.
 
She was
so entranced that she didn’t even notice the shadow falling across the patio
table.

“What’cha
reading?”

Kallie
jumped, knocking her coffee over.
 
She looked up and saw Brad Danvers
standing in front of her wearing his bathrobe, his hair mussed as if he’d only
just woken up.

“Oh
my
god, you totally scared me,” she breathed, putting a hand to her chest.

“Sorry about that,” he laughed.
 
“I guess I move around too quietly
sometimes.”

Flustered, Kallie grabbed her napkin and dabbed
at the spill.
 
“I didn’t realize

anyone
else was still here.”

“So
you decided to goof off instead of
working?”

Kallie
glanced
up at him, fearing he was angry with her.
 
But Brad was just grinning good-naturedly at her.

“I
was
going to eat and then get right to the laundry,” she explained, still dabbing at
the spill and wishing he’d just go away.

“Relax,
I’m
messing with you, Kallie,” Brad said, walking closer and putting a hand on her
shoulder.

Her
instinct was to flinch and move away from
his touch, but she didn’t want to insult him.
 
After all, Brad was just trying to be
nice, even if his being nice was making her feel awkward and a little skeeved
out.

“I
should
get to that laundry though,” she said, rising and grabbing her dishes as she
went.

Brad
picked
up the book and glanced at it.
 
“Shit, I remember this.
 
I
only saw the movie though.
 
It was
pretty awesome.
 
When’s the sequel
coming out?”

Kallie
glanced
back at him.
 
A part of her actually
felt violated—she loved that book so much, it was like her private escape
away from this existence that she was stuck in with the Danvers family.
 
And now Brad was intruding on her safe
haven, touching and fondling her book and asking all kinds of questions she
didn’t want to answer.

“I
don’t
know.
 
I never saw the movie.”
 
She forced a smile and walked into the
kitchen, praying he would take the hint and leave her alone.

Instead
he followed her into the kitchen, still
holding
her
book.
 
He was
riffling through the pages as he stood just inside the doorway, leaning
casually against the wall. “I really need to read more.
 
I used to love reading when I was in
college.”

Kallie
placed
her dishes in the sink and threw her napkin into the trash.
 
She turned and Brad was staring at her.

“Hey,”
he
said.
 
“Maybe I could read this when
you’re finished?” She shrugged, inwardly recoiling at the thought.
  
“Sure.”

“And
then
we could maybe discuss it after.
 
Kind of like our own little private book club.”
 
He flashed another grin.

Kallie
sighed.
 
“Anyway, I should probably get to that
laundry now…”

“Yeah,
of
course, of course.
 
Totally.”
 
He nodded repetitively and put the book
down on the kitchen table.

Kallie
wanted
to scream at him.
 
Leave me and
my book alone, asshole
.
 
But she
knew that wouldn’t go over too well, so she kept her lips sealed, tried to
smile enough that he wouldn’t sense her anger.

Kallie
walked
past him and down the hallway to the laundry room.
 
The laundry room wasn’t very big, given
how large most of the other rooms were in this house.
 
It smelled of detergent and damp
clothes.

Kallie
entered
the room, breathing a sigh of relief that she finally was able to get away from
Brad.
 
Up until recently, he’d been
mostly removed from her day-to-day existence here, and she liked it that way.
 
The times where he was around, he hadn’t
been particularly friendly, and she found she liked him even less now that he
was trying to be nicer.
 
Brad’s
version of nice was kind of creeping her out.

She’d
already
brought down a basket of dirty clothes and then there were clothes in the dryer
that she needed to take out and fold.

As
Kallie
began filling the washing machine with the dirty stuff, she heard footsteps
approaching just outside.
 
Her
stomach rolled and twisted.

Please
just
be passing by on your way to one of the other rooms.
 
Please don’t come in here.

And
then,
out of the corner of her eye, Kallie saw Brad’s shadow in the hall and then he
came into full view.
 
“I haven’t
been in this room in a long time—I think since we bought the place!” he
chuckled, making his way into the tiny room.

Kallie
glanced up at him and smiled.
 
“Yeah.”
 
Then she went back to her work, trying
to look even busier than she needed to, bending down to pull the clothes from
the basket and tossing them inside the washer.

“I
feel
bad, you always having to do everything,” he said.
 
“I know you’re well compensated, but
still.”
 
He stood there for a
moment.
 
“Let me help you with
that.”

“I
can do it,” she said.
 
“It’s my job.”

“I
know,
I know.
 
Just take a little help,
will you?”
 
Another chuckle as he
came closer and stood over her.

She
didn’t
like this at all.
 
She could feel
his eyes on her and now she was aware of her clothing choice, and how when she
bent over, there was a large gap of skin between her halter-top and her shorts.
 
He was probably staring at her lower
back right now—she didn’t want to look up and catch him doing it.

He
seemed
to notice the empty basket in front of the dryer.
 
Suddenly, he reached and opened the
dryer door.
 
“Are these clean?” he
asked.

“Yes.”
She offered no further information.

“Cool.
I’ll
put this stuff in the basket, then.”
 
He began pulling the clothes out. Kallie and Brad started to work beside
one another.
 
Brad’s body was
positioned closer
to hers than it
needed to be, and she noticed that he would sometimes twist in such a way that
his elbow or arm would make slight contact with hers.

She
moved
a slight step to her left in order to gain space.

“Huh.
 
Look at this.”
 
Brad
straightened.

Kallie
looked
and saw that he was holding a pair of her panties.
 
They were black and a little sexier than
she would have liked, given the circumstance.

She
felt her face flush, but said nothing.

Brad
was
staring at her panties, holding them up to the light.
 
“Victoria Secret?” “I don’t know,” she
said, her voice barely getting above a whisper.
 
She was mortified
and getting more and more uncomfortable by the second.

This
was like a bad dream and she just wanted
to wake up already.

Brad
tossed
the panties into the laundry basket.
 
“Let me tell you, Kallie.
 
Most women would kill to have a body like yours.
 
Trina’s been trying to get in that kind
of shape, but since she had children…” he shook his head sadly.
 
“She tries though, you know?”

“I
think she’s beautiful,” Kallie replied.

Brad
nodded.
 
“Oh, yeah.
 
She tries and she’s pretty hot for her
age and considering she’s pumped out a couple of tots recently.”

Pumped
out a couple of
tots?

What
was
wrong with him?
 
She wondered.
 
And then she happened to catch a whiff
of his breath and she thought she smelled the distinct scent of alcohol.

He
reached
into the dryer and pulled out the rest of the clothes.
 
He found yet another item that
interested him—one of Kallie’s bathing suit bottoms.
 
It was a yellow bikini bottom, and he
held it up for inspection.
 
“Man oh
man, but I bet you get plenty of looks when you wear this to the beach.
 
Am I right?”

“I
don’t
know.”
 
She almost told him to stop,
that he was making her uncomfortable—but she couldn’t bring herself to
say that.
 
Maybe he was just trying
to be nice and complimentary and didn’t know how badly it was coming off.

“Kallie,
you
must have had tons of boyfriends in college.
 
A girl like you, with a rocking body and
beautiful face—tell me, did you date some football stud?”

She
shook her head.
 
“No, I didn’t.
 
I didn’t date much at all,
actually.”
 
She tried to
smile—because she’d been trained to smile no matter what—and then
started to move past him.
 
“I should
go upstairs and do a little more clean up.”

“What
about
the wet stuff?
 
Aren’t you going to
put it in the dryer?
 
And those
clothes need folding, too,” he said, pointing at the things he’d placed in the
basket.
 
Her yellow bikini bottom
was lying at the top of the heap, accusingly, as if she’d done something wrong
in including it with the rest of the family’s clothes.
 
As if she’d invited his looks and
remarks with her choice of outfits.

“I
just
remembered, there’s some stuff upstairs I should get to first.”

“Kallie, why are you being like that?” he said,
hurt.
 
He was now officially blocking
the doorway, and it was just the two of
them in this small room.

Suddenly,
the
metallic taste of fear was in her mouth and her whole body was tingling.
 
“I’m not being anything, Brad.
 
I just need to—“

“I
like
when you say my name,” he smiled.
 
His eyes bored into her insistently.

“Please, I really should go.”

“Hey,”
he
said, reaching out and touching her upper arm.
 
“Relax, Kallie.
 
Jeez, you’re being so weird and uptight
right now.”

“Can
I just go?”

His
eyes hardened.
 
“No, you can’t just go.
 
I’m your boss, remember?”

She
swallowed,
averting his gaze and backing up.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I know you’re my
boss, but I’m getting behind schedule.”

“Come
on,
Kallie.
 
What do you expect from
me?”

“I don’t understand.
 
I feel uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable with what?
 
We’re just talking.”

“I
know.
 
But can I please go?”

“I
already
told you, no.
 
Stop asking.”
 
He folded his arms.
 
“Man, I don’t get what your problem is.
 
Did I do something to offend you?”

She
shook
her head, desperately thinking how she could get away from him without things
escalating.
  
“You didn’t do
anything wrong.
 
I just—I feel
kind of sick.”

“Well,
sure.
 
You’re freaking out because we’ve pushed
you too hard.
 
Let me help you,
Kallie.
 
Come over here for a sec.”

She
didn’t
move, but he did.
 
He walked over to
her and placed his hands on her shoulders and began rubbing them, massaging her
aggressively.

“Can
you
please not do that?” she whimpered.
 
She could smell the alcohol on him even more clearly now, and it
definitely wasn’t her imagination.

“Do
what?
 
I’m just trying to help you chill
out.
 
Release your shoulders a
little bit.
 
Breathe.
 
Come on, Kallie.”

She
was
at a crossroads now.
 
If she really
screamed or tried to run away, he might
stop
her and then she’d truly be in trouble.
 
Kallie didn’t want to believe something like that was really happening
to her.
 
“Okay, I’m better now,” she
said.

“Better?”
He
kept his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes.
 
And then he leaned in and tried to kiss
her.

Kallie
pulled
away from him.
 
Her back was against
the large storage cabinet now.
 
“Don’t do that,” she said.

“What
the heck is your problem?”

“I
don’t want to kiss you.
 
You’re married and you’re my boss.”

And
then
he laughed.
 
He laughed like she’d
just said the funniest thing he’d ever heard in his life.
 
“Kallie, you really are naïve.
 
It’s The Hamptons.
 
This is the way it is