Hotshot Boss (Alphalicious Billionaires)

by Lindsey Hart

  He gave up on the emails after a few minutes. He couldn’t concentrate. Instead, he stalked to the on-suite bathroom and took a very long shower. It started off cold since that’s the way he normally preferred shit when he couldn’t get his mind to function in a straight fucking line or get the hell under control, but he couldn’t hack it and gave up on it too. He switched the water to hot and probably drained the entire tank, he stayed under the spray so long.

  When he stepped out, the house was quiet. Ominously so. He didn’t trust the silence. Silence usually meant, in the world of mini monsters, that something bad was going down.

  He changed his mind when he heard Lexi shuffling around in the room next to him. Unfortunately, his cock really liked the fact that there was only a thin wall separating them. He had to, very carefully, pull on a fresh pair of jeans. He was pissed off about the boner he was rocking. Why the hell couldn’t his dick just get it through its head that Lexi was off limits. Oh right. His dick’s head didn’t have a brain. It was good for only one thing and that one thing was never going to happen with Lexi this side of the century. He should write her off. Forget the whole damn thing. Problem was, he’d been telling himself to do that for a year and no matter how hard he’d tried, how many other women he’d taken out, how he’d buried himself in work, it hadn’t happened.

  He was at war with his cock. Or his brain was. Semantics. It didn’t help.

  Curtis let out a sigh of frustration that rippled off the walls as he grabbed his laptop again. He half successfully managed to bury himself in work shit and not come up for air until it was past midnight, which meant it was an appropriate time to go the fuck to bed.

  Lexi’s room was absolutely silent. It didn’t stop him from thinking about her, asleep in bed, her face unguarded, angelic, and devoid of any of the disgust or disdain that she normally displayed when she looked in his direction. He kept his thoughts pretty G rated on purpose, thinking about her lips and eyes, how soft and satiny her skin probably was, how ridiculously fine her hair would be under his fingertips. He did it on purpose, focusing on the small details, in hopes that his cock would give up the ghost and finally calm down.

  It didn’t. Apparently, his cock liked Lexi’s lips and hair and skin just as much as it liked her finer assets, the not so G-rated ones, but somewhere eventually his exhaustion won out over the frustration he felt- sexual and otherwise- and he drifted off into a welcome sea of black oblivion.

  Something sharp, a slight noise, woke him up. He wasn’t a deep sleeper at the best of times. Instead of cranking upright in bed, he stayed frozen, his eyes closed, refusing to give away that he was awake. He kept his breaths even, and sure as shit, he’d heard a noise. His door. It was his door creaking open. It creaked again and then the whisper of feet meeting hardwood flooded the room.

  He had good ears, too. His mom and dad always said that about him growing up. He used to eavesdrop on his mom all the time when she was on the phone and it drove her nuts.

  The footsteps were too soft and too padded to be a child’s. Not that his niece or nephew would ever seek sanctuary in his room after the little showdown from earlier. They probably viewed him as a grouchy bear that shouldn’t be woken up, and they were right. He kept feigning sleep, but other parts of his body were very, very alert. He’d gone to sleep in his jeans and t-shirt, so the hard on that was back in full force probably wasn’t visible under the thin sheet he’d thrown over himself. He was on his back, but still, he didn’t give away that he was awake.

  Lexi. Lexi was in his room.

  She was in his room, after dark, in the middle of the night. Creeping silently, not barging in and screaming that the house was on fire.

  If she was there, it must mean that she wasn’t immune to the kiss in the pool after all. That she’d felt it, felt what he did. Maybe he was right, and she’d shared the sentiment all along. Maybe she wanted him too. Her outright disdain and all her coolness really would make sense then. Hatred and love- or at least lust and desire- were so closely linked it was often confusing. Was she there to admit, that all along, she’d been fighting the same thing he was? That she was finally, finally going to admit defeat?

  Her footsteps grew closer and Curtis tensed. He still didn’t give away that he wasn’t asleep. He listened to the sound of Lexi’s soft breathing. Imagined what kind of pajamas she had on- probably something light and airy- imagined what was below. Would she get into bed with him? Wake him up and make some kind of glorious, insightful confession? Lean over and kiss him? Wake him up in some other, more inventive way?

  His balls felt pretty damn close to bursting. He himself was damn near close to bursting. The anticipation heightened. The air crackled and danced with electricity. He paused, waiting. Waiting. Waiting…

  Lexi leaned over him. He was sure of it. He felt her body heat envelop him like a wondrous cloud, her feminine scent went straight up his nose, intoxicating him far worse than anything he’d ever had the pleasure of drinking before. The soft as silk, light and airy curtain of her hair brushed over his face. God, he couldn’t wait to taste her lips again. The petal softness, those lush, sensual lips…

  Her hand brushed over his bottom lip, the pad of her thumb parting it sweetly, gently, expertly.

  Aaaaaannddd… something wet and slimy was unexpectedly thrust into his mouth.

  It tasted like licking the bottom of a public toilet seat that hadn’t seen a good scrubbing in years and had the consistency of liquid glue. He shot straight up in bed, gagging, clawing at his mouth, trying to get the foul substance out. He gagged hard, the force of his coughing spasms and his own saliva doing wonders to propel the disgusting substance out of his mouth. It was wretched, gooey like glue and overcooked mushrooms and somehow pasty like flour, all wrapped into one disgusting package.

  The object fell out of his mouth. Mostly. The last of it dribbled out in strings along with his saliva as he kept coughing. He was pretty damn close to puking.

  The lights flicked on, scalding his eyes and he stared straight into Lexi’s smirking, self-satisfied face. Oh yes. She was very, very proud of herself. Her evil grin oozed triumph and her normally soft eyes were hard and flinty. He went right on coughing and gagging. When he glanced down at the mess on the bed, he just about barfed for real. Rainbow. Whatever she’d stuffed into his mouth was rainbow colored. What. The. Actual. Ever. Living. Fucking. Fuckery. Was. Going. On?

  “What the fuck is this?” he yelled, staring at the rainbow goo.

  “That?” Lexi asked innocently, her tone all sugary and fucking roses. “That’s Noel’s rainbow slime. Don’t worry. I looked it up on the package and it says it’s non-toxic. If swallowed, you don’t need to worry about calling poison control or anything. It won’t kill you.”

  “Why would you put that in my mouth?” he spluttered.

  “Ever heard the expression payback’s a bitch?”

  “For- for the kids? For the record, there are enough people in the world already. No one needs to reproduce and make more…”

  “Nope.” Lexi rolled her eyes, probably at the latter part of that statement. “Although I have to say, that was really over-reacting and you seriously need to watch your mouth around children. TVs can be replaced. Little girl’s hearts not so much. Anyway, I fixed that for you. I promised we’d take them to the zoo tomorrow. They’re very, very excited. You’re back to being their favorite uncle again.”

  Curtis groaned. Great. Now he’d have to spend the entire next day toting around two whiny bawl bags, making sure they didn’t get eaten by lions or alligators or disappear when he had his back turned for point eight of a second. “What the heck are you talking about payback for then?”

  “Let’s just say there’s more rainbow slime where that came from.” Lexi’s eyes glowed with an evil glint. “If you ever kiss me again, next time I might not be so generous. Next time, it might not be rainbow slime you get in your mouth. You’re awfully trusting, Mr. James, with a stash of dirty diapers so near at hand. An
yway…” She batted her eyelashes, suddenly all innocence. “Sleep tight. Don’t let the asshole bugs bite. Oh, wait… I guess that’s too late. You’re already infected.” She smiled sweetly at him, spun on her heels, and marched out of the bedroom.

  CHAPTER 9

  Lexi

  Surprisingly enough, the zoo was fun. Curtis woke up the next morning, a good sport. He didn’t mention the TV or even the slime incident from the night before. He watched the kids eat their cereal, loaded everyone into her family sedan since the two-seater sports car sitting in his garage wasn’t going to do the job, and helped her unload. Traveling with two young kids wasn’t exactly easy. It took up a lot of time, but for once, Curtis didn’t complain.

  He paid their admission, rented two strollers, and got a zoo map.

  He led the way.

  He actually smiled.

  He interacted with the kids.

  He didn’t get angry or even raise his voice in front of them. He didn’t offer Austin to the monkeys or try and feed Noel to the tiger who kept prowling from one end of the cage to the other.

  All in all, it was a good day.

  The time pretty much vanished, and they got back to Curtis’ house right before four. Lexi knew that his sister was due to pick up the kids at five, so she made herself busy packing up their bags, taking down the playpen, gathering everything up. It was a mountain of stuff, and instead of helping her, Curtis actually watched the kids in the living room while she carted it all down. He was pretending to be helpful, but secretly, she thought it was payback of his own for her little stunt.

  She was sure she was red in the face when she was finished, and she walked into the living room, huffing and puffing. The kids were engrossed watching a cartoon on a tablet. Of course, Curtis probably had a hundred of them lying around. Of course, he was letting technology do all the work for him. She should have known he wouldn’t actually be interacting with them.

  Noel and Austin were on the couch and Curtis was on the loveseat. She didn’t want to sit next to him, but she couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to razz him one more time. At least, that’s what she told herself she was doing when she took the seat right next to him. She definitely was not doing that just to try and see if some of his delicious body heat or his exotic, crisp male scent would reach her. No. Not at all.

  It also wasn’t because she was feeling particularly tender after watching Curtis be half decent with the kids at the zoo or nostalgic about anything, irrational or otherwise. But something was malfunctioning, some chemicals in her brain. She needed to retreat, but instead, she waged war. Retreat wasn’t exactly her style.

  “Today was pretty fun,” she said in hushed tones. Neither of the kids glanced up from their tablet. “I had a good time. So did the kids.” Curtis didn’t say anything. She didn’t turn to look at him. It was part of her strategy and not because she was afraid what looking at him in this strange moment might do to her. Also, not because she was afraid to see an ounce of softness for those two kids written into his godlike features. “Are you going to be sad to see them go after all?”

  Curtis snorted. She refused to look though to see if he was just being an asshole or not. Probably not. He was just one of those guys that actually hated kids. One of those really crazy strange beings that were probably from another planet. “Not a chance.”

  “Yeah right. You’re cracking. Admit it. I can tell you had fun today. You’re probably secretly eager to look after the kids again.” She did turn that time, to try and gauge Curtis’ reaction.

  “Hell no,” he said with a perfectly straight face. His broad shoulders rose and fell like eye candy. Like he knew exactly what he did to her just by breathing. He’d also worn a pair of faded, old jeans that looked more suited for work around the house or in the yard or something. They were absolutely edible. He made edible denim a thing. In short, he was gorgeous. The zoo animals couldn’t hold her attention the way Curtis did throughout the day. “I’ll be glad when they’re gone.”

  Of course, he had to be an asshole and ruin all of it. All those good looks, that gorgeous body, that otherworldly allure, were wasted on him because Curtis James was an asshole. She’d slipped up and for a few hours, she’d forgotten. He was there to remind her, in hushed tones so the kids wouldn’t hear, that she was a moron of the worst variety.

  She wanted to say more, to try and convince him- and herself- that he was just playing her, just trying to piss her off, but the doorbell rang, sending its chiming peals through the house. It sounded different. Expensive. Of course, it was expensive. It was installed next to the gates and it had a camera on it, she’d noticed that much when she’d first arrived here.

  A couple of minutes later, a gorgeous goddess, obviously related to Curtis because she was tall, statuesque, and looked like a female version of him with long dark hair and piercing blue eyes, swept into the room.

  She went straight to the kids. Noel jumped off the couch, screaming the word, mom, over and over again. Austin raised his hands and screamed the word too. Apparently, he did talk. Of course, mom was in his vocabulary, even if nothing else was.

  Something tight pinched inside Lexi’s stomach. She told herself it was just a touching moment between mother and children, not her ovaries or her biological clock or anything. She wasn’t even close to thirty yet. Even if she was, people were waiting to have families all the time. She was so far away from that moment herself that it was laughable. It shouldn’t hurt. It shouldn’t send wicked, shivery pinches racing through her body. She shouldn’t feel perilously close to tears. She shouldn’t. She just shouldn’t. But she did.

  She wanted it. She wanted to be a mom. Not now, since she wasn’t even dating anyone, but one day. Hopefully not that far into the distant future. She loved kids. She’d never not seen herself as a parent. It was just biology sending little stinging reminders to her. All women had it. They had to. She tried to console herself with that thought.

  The woman turned, after hugging both the kids and sent her a questioning look right before her eyes landed on her brother. They weren’t so friendly. More accusatory and exasperated than anything.

  “I’m Lexi.” She stuck out her hand.

  Curtis’ sister waited a moment before she took it. She had a firm handshake. Lexi looked her full in the face, maintained eye contact even though it nearly killed her, and tried to return the confidence in her own shake. God, the James siblings were beautiful. Just… just gorgeous. Flawless. They were like an alien species, deities amongst mortals. She herself felt very, very mortal in that moment.

  “Alexa.” The other woman smiled. “We have almost the same name.”

  “She’s his girlfriend!” Noel piped up excitedly. She grabbed onto her mother’s leg while Austin took the other. Alexa looked like a living tree with two little spider monkeys about to climb her. They were absolutely adorable together.

  Lexi quickly shook her head no. Her eyes shot to Curtis’ face and her stomach bottomed out when she noticed him nodding yes. Unfortunately, she had no rainbow slime on hand at the moment. She’d never forget that glorious moment when he’d realized what it was in his mouth. What did he think she was sneaking into his room for late at night? The guy certainly had more nerve than any living being should, but then again, he was the TFB, born with a silver freaking spoon up his ass.

  “Well, thank you,” Alexa smiled. She actually looked relieved. “Believe me, I get the whole complicated thing. Thank you for keeping my kids happy and alive.” She glanced down. “Did you guys have a good time?”

  Austin cheered right along with Noel.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Curtis said dryly.

  Alexa rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I’m glad that you had someone come over. I didn’t think you’d actually manage to pull this off by yourself. It was good for you though. You needed this. Get you out of your high and mighty shell.”

  Why had she not met Alexa before? Lexi had a feeling they’d be good friends. Great friend
s. She probably had a never-ending source of embarrassing material to shoot at Curtis. Damn. She really needed to get this woman’s number.

  “Okay, daddy’s waiting in the car,” Alexa said. She looked like she was glowing when Lexi looked at her closely. It made her feel strange, thinking about her going off with her husband for a weekend vay-cay. She looked refreshed and recharged and Lexi didn’t want to think about why that was, even though she knew. Strangely enough, something close to jealousy wormed its way through her, compressing her chest like a wall had fallen on top of her. Why the heck should she be jealous?

  “I’ll help you with all the stuff. You know, because there’s only an army’s worth,” Curtis said dryly.

  “Thanks, bro. You’re the best,” Alexa giggled.

  Right. She could handle her own, especially when it came to Curtis. Lexi made a massive mental note, scrawled it right across her brain lobes, each and every single one, to creepily try and get on Alexa’s social media.

  Lexi loitered around near the front door while Curtis loaded up the sleek black SUV in the driveway. Alexa’s husband didn’t lift a finger to help, but Lexi figured that was part of their battle plan. Alexa probably wanted it that way. After, she made sure that each kid gave Curtis a big hug and a kiss. Curtis looked like he was going to turn into a steaming puddle of goo and melt on the spot and not in a good way. More in the witchy, untimely demise kind of way.

  By the time Curtis made it back into the house, Lexi was already tugging her bag down the steps. She’d only brought a small weekender duffel and her purse. She had thrown both over her shoulder. Curtis’ glacier blue eyes nearly bugged out when he saw her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Uhhh…” Lexi didn’t bother to set down her bags. She edged closer to the front door. “I’m leaving. The kids are gone now. Our arrangement is over.” Why did the words seem so heavy on her tongue and what was the dead weight at the bottom of her feet? It felt like they’d been encased in concrete blocks. Also, in the untimely demise kind of way.