In Love With Lucy (NSFW) (4 page)

He’d thrown his head back and laughed uproariously. When he finally stopped, I stood gaping at him like an idiot. “What could have happened this early in the morning to annoy you so much?”

I scowled. “I skidded on some ice walking into the building and broke the heel off my favorite pair of boots.” They were also my most expensive and I was still paying off the freaking department store charge card for them.

He’d nodded. “I’m sorry your morning started off so poorly.” Then he turned around and left the kitchenette.

I blinked after him, wondering, not for the first time, if I was wrong in my assumption that he was an alien robot just biding his time before the start of the planetary invasion. He confused the heck out of me sometimes.

When I came into his office fifteen minutes later to bring him some coffee, I saw my boots on the floor next to his desk, heels intact. Setting the cup on his desk, I picked up the boot I’d broken.

“You fixed it!” I smiled at him. “Thank you!”

“No problem at all. It’s super glue, so it’s only temporary, but you could probably find a cobbler or a shoe repair store somewhere in town and they could fix it properly. Still, it should get you through the day.”

I immediately took my boots and sat in the chair opposite his desk. I slid my feet into the buttery leather and zipped them up. When I looked up, I noticed Chris staring at my legs for a moment before he returned to his work without a word, his jaw tight.

Assuming I was dismissed, I headed back toward my desk. Before I walked out of his office, I looked over my shoulder.

“Thanks again, Chris. I appreciate it.”

That was the first time I’d ever seen him laugh and also the first time that he seemed like a normal human being.

I’d never mentioned that morning to my girlfriends, afraid it would add fuel to their Chris and Lucy fantasy.

Tanya snapped her fingers in front of my face, interrupting my reverie. “Earth to Lucy. Jesus, girl, we didn’t want to throw you into a coma, only tease you a little.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “I’m fine. Just annoyed.”

I met Grier’s gaze but looked away quickly. It was obvious that she could see right through my bravado. I was grateful that she didn’t say anything else. She was right. I was freaking out. It was easy enough to keep Christopher James Barden the Third in my
Never Gonna Happen
file while I was blissfully unaware that he might be interested in me. Now that the mask had slipped, it would be harder for me to ignore my attraction to him.

Desperate to stay in my cozy den of oblivion, I gave it a last ditch effort. “Girls, he hasn’t exactly said that he wants me. I think that you’re assuming too much.”

Something behind me caught Chelsea’s attention and she elbowed Tanya.

“Speak of the devil,” Tanya muttered.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Chris walking by, his phone to his ear but his eyes on me. I knew he had a meeting in Fort Worth that afternoon and he’d told me to go home once I finished the paperwork he had given me that morning. When my eyes met his, he lifted an eyebrow and gave me a piercing look that made my nipples harden. His eyes lowered to my chest, then he grinned, and disappeared around the corner. Shit.

I turned back to Tanya, who gave me a hard stare. “You were saying, Cleopatra, Queen of Denial?”

I folded my hands on the table and dropped my forehead against them with a thunk. The next month was not going to go the way I wanted it to, of that I was sure.

“Hey, Luce, would you be mad if I applied for your job?” Chelsea asked.

I banged my forehead against my hands. “Have at it. But beware. That fucking job has ruined me.”

“No, it’s just ruined you for all other
men
,” Yancy quipped.

I groaned, sat up, grabbed Yancy’s latte, and drained it.

“Hey!”

I glared at her. “Zip it! I’ll buy you another one.”

I got up and marched away from the table, the laughter of my four closest friends drifting after me.

It was after
five, I was still in the office and I was ready to kill Chris. The simple paperwork he had given me was a complete and utter disaster. I wondered who’d put the project together for him and why he even bothered with it. It was obvious that the business that hired him to consult was disorganized and would likely go under within the year if it was half as chaotic as the paperwork suggested.

I spent the entire afternoon just trying to put the notes, financial reports, and potential business plans in order. I cursed Chris the entire time. No wonder he didn’t hesitate to tell me to go home once the paperwork was done. He knew I’d be at work all day.

I had just finished going through the last file folder in the box when I heard the door to Chris’ office open. I was on my hands and knees in the middle of the floor, surrounded by stacks of paper, file folders, and paperclips. I glanced over my shoulder to see Chris standing in the doorway, eyes riveted on my upturned ass.

Feeling my face heat, I snapped, “Did you realize how disorganized this paperwork was? Is that why you told me I could go home after it was done?”

I sat back on my calves, still looking at him over my shoulder. Chris gave me and my piles a wide berth as he walked from the door to his desk.

“Honestly, I had no idea. I’m doing this as a favor to a friend.”

My eyebrows rose. “Really?”

He nodded, staring at the neatly organized stacks of paper on the floor. “Was it that bad?”

I gave him a level stare that said it all.

Chris rubbed the back of his neck, looking chagrined. “Sorry about that. He’s got such an organized mind, I sort of assumed the rest of his business would be the same.”

I didn’t respond, focusing on slipping folders back into the file box that had contained the mess before I got a hold of it. I kept my eyes down on the box, alphabetizing everything as I went. A few seconds later, a hand holding a folder appeared in front of my face.

I glanced up, taking the file. “Thanks.”

Chris studied me closely. “You look tired.”

I sighed. “I am.” My stomach chose that moment to growl.

“And you sound hungry,” he said, smiling slightly.

I ignored his smirk, put the last file in the box, and set the lid on top of it. Before I could grab the box, Chris lifted it and set it on his desk.

“I haven’t had dinner yet either. Let’s go grab something,” he said.

I eyed his arms surreptitiously, surprised at the easy way he hauled the box. It weighed a ton and I’d barely been able to pick it up earlier. I couldn’t help wondering what sort of body my boss was hiding under his designer suits. I’d always thought he was probably average build but soft from sitting behind a desk all day. Now, I found myself curious as to how strong he really was.

When I realized the turn my thoughts had taken, I shook my head. Jesus, I’d been listening to my girlfriends for too long.

“Thanks, Chris, but I’d rather get home.”

“I insist.”

I frowned at him. What the hell was his problem?

“No, I’ll eat at home.” In my pajamas.

“Stop arguing with me and get your coat. It’s the least I can do since you stayed so late to finish this.”

I was no longer frowning at him, but actually scowling as I stepped into my office and shrugged into my black military jacket. I figured once we reached the lobby downstairs I would politely tell him
no thanks
one last time. Though we had been out to dinner several times while conducting business, this felt different. I didn’t want to examine why. I could almost hear Tanya calling me Cleopatra again.

After I grabbed my bag, Chris locked up the office. We stood in silence as we waited for the elevator and I mentally plotted my escape route. With a hand on my lower back, he guided me into the car when the doors finally opened. I stiffened in surprise and his arm dropped away. I tried not to fidget as the elevator descended, but, with each floor we passed, the space seemed to grow smaller. I waited for him to say something, but he remained quiet, staring straight ahead until the doors slid open.

As we stepped out, he took my arm, holding it tight against his side. Damn. The man knew me too well. It appeared that I needed to put my foot down.

I tried to pull my arm away. “Look, Chris, I really appreciate the offer, but I really just want to go home.”

“I insist.” He practically frog marched me through the lobby and out the front door. His Mercedes SUV sat at the curb, mocking me. “Let’s take my car.”

I struggled a little harder and he satisfied my earlier fleeting curiosity about his strength. Chris stuck his free hand in his pocket, unlocked the doors, almost dragged me to the car, and had my ass in the passenger seat before I could argue further. Hell, he practically lifted me into the vehicle.

My mouth worked silently as he shut the passenger door and jogged around the hood to the driver’s side. Within seconds, he was in the car, his seatbelt buckled. I grabbed the handle, but the bastard had already locked the door and I couldn’t get it open before he pulled away from the curb.

Chris glanced at me. “Don’t forget your seatbelt,” he murmured.

I glared at him as I strapped in. “This constitutes kidnapping, you know. I told you I wanted to go home.”

He smiled in the dim interior of the SUV. “It’s not kidnapping. I’m merely taking you to dinner to show you how much I appreciate your hard work.”

“No, you’re taking me to dinner to be a pain in my ass,” I muttered under my breath.

He chuckled and kept driving. I crossed my arms over my chest, staring out the window.

“So, where are we going?”

“A great little Indian restaurant not far from here.”

I blinked at him. “Indian is my favorite.” I loved the flavors, textures, and the heat of some of the dishes.

“I know.”

It shocked me that he noticed that. I hadn’t been lying earlier when I told my friends that he treated me like office furniture. He did. He rarely made small talk unless I initiated it and he had been strictly business for so long that he was shocking the hell out of me every time he spoke the past couple of days. We drove in silence for another five minutes before pulling into a dark parking lot behind a small brick building.

There was only one light working in the entire lot, which cast most of the interior in shadow. I could see the vague shape of Chris’ face in the darkness.

“We’re here,” he said softly. His voice was low and I swore I could feel it against my skin like velvet.

Holy shit! First I was thinking his stubbornness was hot, then I caught myself daydreaming about his hard physique and wondering if he could toss me around as easily as a heavy filing box, and now I was thinking about how sexy his voice sounded. This had to stop.

“Great!” I said brightly, throwing open my door. “Ulk!”

Shit. I forgot to take off my seatbelt.

C
hris was still
chuckling while my face burned with embarrassment as we walked into the restaurant. Somehow this entire situation was rapidly spiraling out of my control and I hated it.

When it came to my boss, I may not have been in the driver seat, but he didn’t affect me like….
this
. I was cool, calm, and detached in all my dealings with Christopher Barden. I had to be. A man like him would chew up and spit out a lesser woman. Not only was he pretty to look at, he was also a shark in a suit, ruthless and merciless. If you showed weakness, he pounced.

Those qualities are what made him so successful at his job. He could spot the weaknesses in any company and either exploit them or explain how to fortify them. Though he could have easily used his abilities to tear businesses down, he didn’t. Instead, he helped those who needed his expertise, usually charging a satisfying chunk of change. I’d been surprised during my tenure, however, at how often he helped failing companies for little or no fee. At least once or twice a year, he would take a significant pay cut and help someone truly in need. I never asked him why. Probably because I knew it would affect my ability to remain aloof, and I needed the emotional distance.