by Roxie Wilde
“Kind of what I was going to ask you, dude. You ok?”
Embarrassment clawed its way through me as I scrambled to come up with a scenario where this entire encounter ended with me keeping both my dignity and my job. It wasn’t looking good.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m so sorry. Sir. Mr. Knight--”
His eyebrows flew up at that. The Sir got a distinct reaction out of him, but it wasn’t the kind of look Dell Wilson had ever given me while bagging groceries. In fact, I was damn near certain nobody had ever looked at me that way before in my life.
There was a subtle shift in his eyes when I called him by name. He leaned into the car window a bit, bringing the salty scent of the ocean with him. Instinctively, I crossed my arms over my chest.
The protective gesture earned me an entirely different look from Oliver. I wasn’t trying to be rude— my nipples had just decided to wake up a good ten minutes before the rest of me, and having one of the best looking billionaires in the country within whiffing distance was not helping matters.
“I’m Luci,” I tried again. As if that explained why there was a disheveled redhead asleep in her car in his driveway at all hours.
“I work for you. Well, at least I hope I still do. I really need this job. I’m on the housekeeping staff.”
None of this was going my way. A deflated sigh escaped me.
I waited for the angry explosion. At the very least I waited for him to politely explain that housekeeper or not, I wasn’t allowed to camp out on Knight property like a hobo. Instead, his golden smile simply widened as he straightened, easing open the car door. The blast of night air hit me as I stayed put, looking up at my boss from my perch on the reclined seats.
“Luci,” the corner of Oliver’s mouth quirked up as his green eyes took their time dragging across my flannel pjs. “I appreciate your dedication to the job. But camping out in the driveway five hours ahead of your shift seems a bit much. What gives? Are you afraid to go home or something?”
I don’t think anyone had ever looked at me quite like that, either. There was concern on Oliver’s face, as if he genuinely cared about why I was here. I felt slightly guilty for mentally labeling him an axe murderer. Prepared to face the music, I swung my socked feet out onto the concrete of the driveway. He was even taller face to face.
“This is home. At least for now.” I gestured at the open car door and the neat but battered boxes on the backseat.
“I’m a temp. One of your regular housekeepers is on maternity leave. I normally don’t park so close to the house, but honestly, Sir, I didn’t think you’d be back for another few days.”
He dragged the hand not hefting a surfboard through his blonde hair like a still out of BH90210. I had to admit, if I was going to get fired, this was one hell of a way to go.
“Come on, Luci.”
It was my turn to be confused as Oliver closed the car door and steered us both towards the front door. I tried not to wince as he casually leaned his bright blue longboard against a console table that was worth more than my monthly salary.
There was something decidedly strange about being inside the house while everyone was asleep.
Well, not everyone
I tried not to stare as Mr Knight moved with graceful ease around the kitchen. I know it shouldn’t have come as such a complete surprise that he knew where everything was. I’d simply assumed that someone like him would leave the mundane details of existing to those he paid handsomely while he was off actually living. But he had seemingly no problem procuring two mugs and setting about making tea.
“Sit.” he nodded at the big wooden table. “Talk to me, Luci. Why are you living in the car? You don’t look like the kind that usually camps out waiting for pictures. So what gives? You running from the law?”
Despite the lighthearted tone of his question, I felt indignation heat my face. I was too grateful for this job to ever consider selling pictures to the tabloids, though it was pretty easy to see why anyone could jump right to that conclusion. I sank into one of the high-back kitchen chairs.
“No. I’m running from Oklahoma.”
I didn’t see any way out of telling him the whole story. I hated having to do it; so far nobody in the house knew more than the bare minimum about me. But Oliver didn’t say a word as he lowered himself into the chair across from me and slid a warm mug in my direction. He just kept looking at me with those patient green eyes, waiting for me to go on.
“I grew up in a nowhere trailer park in the middle of a nowhere town. The only two people from anywhere near Pebble Creek to ever make a name for themselves were a banjo player that nearly opened for Jimmy Buffet twice in the 80s and a porn star that specializes in riding reversed cowboys.”
I kept my own gaze fixed on the fingers of steam rising up from the rim of my cup.
“Anyway, I’m obviously not cut out to be the next Tawny Sweet Tarts—even if I could play the banjo. But I always knew I wanted to leave. My mom and I, we never really got along. So she didn’t exactly ask a whole lot of questions. I packed up on my twenty-first birthday. I just wanted to move to California, maybe go to college? It’s just…”
My voice trailed off as I searched for the right words.
“LA’s a lot more expensive than anyone warns you about, right?”
I looked up again, surprised. I hadn’t expected him to understand.
“Yeah. Everything’s so spread out and gas is so expensive. Anyway, another couple of weeks and I should have enough for a security deposit. I won’t stay in the driveway anymore, Mr. Knight, but I really need this job--”
“Luci, are you under the impression that I’m going to fire you?”
My heart thumped loud enough in my chest that I was sure he could hear it. I nodded in reply and he let out a small breath. There was something unreadable on his face, and for half a second I wondered what it might be like to kiss a man like that one day. To be held tight against a chest that broad.
“Your job is safe. Relax. In fact…” Oliver’s eyes searched my face again. “I want to offer you a promotion.”
My pulse became a roar in my ears. Was he going to offer me a position as part of the live-in staff? I didn’t even dare let the thought fully form.
“Marry me.”
I was grateful that the tea had mostly cooled, because I was not expecting to choke on a mouthful of it. Mr. Knight was at my side in an instant, his hand patting my back and smoothing my hair with a laugh.
“No, no. Not really. I’m sorry. Let me explain.” His fingers were warm on my shoulder through the cotton of my shirt. “I have to go have dinner with my parents this weekend. I’ve been putting it off for a very long time. Mostly because they’re dying to hand off the family business to me. I’ve spent about as much of their money at USC as I possibly could avoiding that.” There was a glitter of something harder behind the mischief in his mossy eyes.
“But there’s a catch. Pop’s a traditionalist. I’m sick of getting nagged about settling down. So I’m looking to hire a… personal assistant. One that’s willing to pretend to be my fiancée over the course of the weekend, including one very long family meal. All expenses paid plus a salary of fifty thousand dollars.”
Fifty thousand dollars for forty eight hours of playing house with the most handsome man I’d ever seen outside of a television screen?
Maybe a tornado had whooshed me to Oz.
I opened my mouth to accept gleefully, and nearly bit my own tongue when logic and reasoning had the audacity to make their way out, instead.
“Mr. Knight, don’t you think your parents will notice if your new fiancée simply disappears off the face of the earth immediately after they meet her?”
He laughed again. It was such a full, rich sound that filled the empty kitchen around us.
“Don’t worry about that. I only actually have to see my parents once every six months or so. Come summer, I’ll tell them you were too busy with wedding plans to make the trip, and by this time next ye
ar I’ll simply let them know it didn’t work out and we went our separate ways. I’ll even be able to ask them for a little extra privacy after the breakup. Honestly, you’d be doing me a huge favor, getting them off my back for so long.”
My teeth worried at my bottom lip as Oliver gave me the most heartfelt puppy eyes I’d ever seen in my life. I didn’t think it was physically possible to say no to the man.
“What do you say, Luci? Do we have a deal?”
Fifty thousand dollars for one weekend of playing pretend.
That money meant more than just a security deposit. It meant being able to start school. Being able to stay in California.
Maybe I was getting a big break after all.
I met his smile with one of my own.
“I’m all yours for the weekend, Sir.”
Chapter 4
Oliver
I couldn’t believe my luck. Luci was exactly what I needed. Not just for my plan, but she was the perfect blend of innocence and charm that I had been looking for all of my life. Her killer curves, her sweet smile, her sense of humor— they were all stunning, and as far from the normal girls who chased me as could be.
Being a Knight came with certain responsibilities. Keeping your private life private was rule numero uno. That’s why no one knew about Mom’s favorite tennis instructor Johan or the very intimate lessons that he gave. She didn’t ask questions about Dad’s business trips to Amsterdam and the outrageous sums of money spent ‘entertaining’ potential clients. Everything was very hush-hush, because “appearance is our business, Oliver.”
It had always struck me as a very hollow and empty way to exist. It was reflected in the quality of their work, too. The family empire, once a proud, respectable pillar of the media world, had crumbled. It was a shell of its former glory. Nothing that I wanted a part of, and so I stayed as far away from it as possible for as long as feasible. There was no avoiding the family showdown, but with the right amount of work, maybe I could begin to fix things.
“Excellent. Do you need some time to settle things? The sooner we can start work, the better.”
Luci shook her head. “No, I travel pretty light. Just give me somewhere to park.”
I can think of somewhere I’d like to park you— on my face.
I had to be careful. Luci was distractingly attractive in a way that I wasn’t used to. Normally idle thoughts like that didn’t shake me, didn’t make my cock swell in my pants. I met her smile, enjoying the way her whole face lit up.
“Tomorrow we’ll go shopping. Don’t worry, that’s part of the job, separate from your pay. You have to look the part, after all.”
I knew it was a thinly-veiled charity, but I hoped the pretense was enough.
When I was seven, I had tried to give all my money to the local homeless population for Christmas. I’d quickly learned that the less people had, the more they valued their pride.
Luci merely gave me another winning smile. She was so cute it was hard to focus on anything but the dimples in her cheeks and her curtain of auburn hair. I knew girls who paid six figures for hair that didn’t look anywhere near as vibrant. Some things money really couldn’t buy.
I was hoping a curvy redhead fiance wasn’t one of those things.
“That sounds nice, Mr. Knight.”
“Get used to calling me Oliver. Olly to my friends, and I guess you more than count now, huh?”
I reached out to put a hand on her arm. It was relatively safe as far as physical contact went, and I needed to test those waters.
“My parents aren’t very nosy, but the servants gossip up a storm...which, I just realized, you probably already knew.”
Luci rolled her eyes, but her smile didn’t diminish. She gnawed on her bottom lip in the sweetest way ever.
I wonder what those lips taste like.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Knight.” She tacked on a giggle at the end that would have put any of the girls I went to boarding school with to shame. That was saying something, too. Some of those girls could titter with the best of them.
“Alright. Well. It’s probably best if you sleep in here tonight. For appearance's sake, you know. Obviously you can have the bed. The sofa will be fine for me,” I said.
Luci seemed to hesitate for a moment before shaking her head.
“I mean, it’s a big bed. We can, you know. Share.”
I smiled back at her. She was so darn cute. It was hard to imagine someone maintaining their innocence growing up like she did, but here she was in all her curvy glory. There was an intense, almost magnetic pull I felt towards her, and the way her cheeks were turning red enough to match her hair told me she was feeling the same.
It was so refreshing to meet someone honest and open. So many of my peers were caught up in their fake lifestyles that I had begun to give up hope of meeting someone else who was genuine.
“I think that’d be a very dangerous thing to do, Luci. I’ve never been very good at controlling myself next to a beautiful woman.”
“I’m— I’m not.” She stammered.
I held up a finger, smiling to soften my stern tone. “You’re not what? Beautiful? You really want to start off our engagement with a fight?”
I tilted her chin up so that her gorgeous eyes met mine. She was still smiling, and I knew right then I’d do anything to see that smile every day for the rest of my life.
Her smile turned into a yawn that was so strong it cracked her jaw audibly.
“That’s better. You look like you’ve had a hard day. Here, let me carry you.”
Again, she protested.
“No, that’s alright, I don’t want you to hurt yourseeee— eep!”
I cut her off by scooping her up into my arms. Hitting the gym had become part of my routine early in life. I was determined to be the best at everything, and that included being the best me that I could.
Her face was horrified, eyes wide in shock as I hefted her easily bridal style.
“If you want me to put you down, I will.” I murmured softly. “I don’t think you want that though, do you?”
She didn’t speak but shook her head against my chest. She curled against me, resistance fleeing her body as her exhaustion own out over her embarrassment. It was adorable.
“Alright. Why don’t we turn in, huh?”
This time I got a very sleepy nod in response. I breathed in the scent of her— even cheap shampoo smelled better on her than the best perfume. It was actually difficult to walk us over to my big bed— not because of her curves, but it’s difficult to walk while sporting a diamond-hard erection.
I had every intention of leaving Luci there alone in my bed like the gentleman I am, but her hand had an iron grip on my shirt. I studied her face. She was already out cold, and I didn’t want to disturb her. I slid into the bed beside her, feeling her curl herself around me. I wrapped an arm around her, amazed at how perfectly we fit together. Like she was cut from the same cloth as I was, two halves that had been made for each other.
It was a long time before I got any sleep, but I didn’t mind. It gave me more time to admire the beauty that had fallen into my lap.
Chapter 5
Luci
I woke up in stages, as if my brain was trying desperately to cling to the sweet relief of sleep for as long as possible. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept on an actual bed, and I knew for a fact I’d never once in my life ever spent the night on one that felt like this.
It would have been easy to dismiss my Cinderella-style lifestyle upgrade of the night before as nothing more than the product of an overactive imagination. But the plush pillow beneath my cheek was more real than any dream could ever be. Morning sun streamed in through the arched windows above the bed.
I heard the sound of the shower running as steam trickled out from beneath the door to the expansive master bath. Before I could stop them, visions of Mr. Knight— Oliver— filled my mind. I remembered the ease with which he’d swept m
e up into his arms and heat flooded my whole body. Images of those corded biceps, that strong chest… all slick and soapy just behind the bathroom door. It was so intimate.
Almost as intimate as spending the entire night curled up in his arms.
“You’re up. I hope I didn’t wake you, beautiful.”
I’d been so caught up daydreaming about the man that I’d missed the sound of the water shutting off and him emerging from the bathroom. My eyes moved to the floor, the blue patterned bedspread… anywhere but the broad plane of his bronzed body, wrapped in nothing but a fluffy grey towel around his waist. My tongue darted across my lower lip involuntarily, imagining what it would feel like to chase one of those water droplets with my mouth.
“No, you didn’t.” My voice sounded strained, even to my own ears.
“I’m not really used to sleeping in, though. Especially not on the job.”
That got another smile out of Oliver as he made his way into the closet. Just yesterday, I had been in that walk-in closet organizing his clean laundry, and now I was laying in Olly Knight’s bed, playing his fake fiancée.
He emerged a few minutes later in a pale lavender shirt that lit fireflies behind his eyes. I watched as he fastened the last couple of buttons before making his way over to the bed. Water still clung to his hair, and the icy clean scent of his after shave did more to wake me up than a dozen cups of coffee ever could. I’d never been more aware of another human being as I was of Oliver.
“What do you need me to do today?”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed, trying to get my bearings around me. Just because my pulse threatened to gallop out of my chest at the sight of my employer didn’t mean I wasn’t working. Technically, I was being paid to be Mr. Knight’s assistant until Monday morning.
He reached into the pocket of his Hugo Boss slacks and produced a slim black wallet.
“I need you to go shopping. In fact, I want you to have a full spa day. Massage, manicure, new wardrobe, the works. I’ll have my assistant set everything up.”
I raised an eyebrow at the all black card he extended at me between two fingers.