by Lara Hunter
“Thank you,” I managed to murmur. I hoped he took my blush as one of pleasure, instead of the agony I was going through.
“So, since we’re both here,” Lucas said, coming closer, “what do you think we should do about it?”
“What?” The file folder burned hot in my hands, and I fought the urge to step away from him. I couldn’t arouse suspicion.
“Should we make the most of being alone together like this?”
I clutched the folder close to me as he drew near, praying he wouldn’t ask what I was holding. I didn’t know quite what I’d say. It would be easier if he didn’t ask at all.
“Oh, I don’t know.” I giggled, trying to act coquettish. “What do you think we should do? I mean, you’re the boss.”
A light seemed to appear in his eyes when I said that. So he liked hearing he was in charge. A good move on my part.
“I think we should go back to my place for a celebratory nightcap. I mean, it’s the end of your third day with the company. That deserves a celebration.” His smirk just about undid me on the spot. He was truly the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. If he’d asked me to do it right there on his desk, I wouldn’t have said no—except for the folder in my arms.
“I don’t see why not.”
I had no choice. I couldn’t turn him down; it would look too obvious. At the same time, I couldn’t deny the little thrill that raced through me at the thought of him wanting me. What woman wouldn’t have felt flattered that a man like him wanted them? I was only human.
“Great.” Lucas smiled, his eyes full of promise. If he had a night like the one we’d already spent in mind, I was in for a lot of fun.
“Let me get my things together,” I murmured, hurrying from the office. Damn it, he would have to come in just in time to stop me. I could try again on Monday, of course, but what would I tell my client if they called over the weekend?
I slid the file into my shoulder bag, bending to keep myself between the bag and a patiently waiting Lucas. I didn’t think he saw me take it—if he did, his expression didn’t give him away. “I just need to shut my computer down,” I said, sitting in front of the monitor.
“Take your time.”
But he didn’t leave me alone. I’d half-hoped he would wait for me in the lobby or go to the men’s room, but no such luck. I had no choice but to close down the computer just as I’d said, then straighten out my desk. I would probably never see it again. That was why I never brought any personal items with me to a job, not even a plant.
As if he’d read my mind, Lucas commented, “You don’t have any personal things on your desk, I notice.”
My heart clenched. Did he know something? Was he only playing games with me? “I don’t feel comfortable bringing things in right after starting a job. I know some places would rather their employees not ruin the—what do they call it—company aesthetic.”
He chuckled. “Good point. Well, for future reference, you can bring in a few things if it would make you feel more at home. I mean, we already spend more time at work than we do at home, right?”
“Some more than others,” I winked.
“Fair enough. I don’t see you out and about, hitting the town on a Friday night.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I was waiting to see if you would come in.”
He raised one eyebrow. “It was worth the gamble. I’m glad you took it.”
As we left, walking side by side, I told Lucas about a man I used to work with. “Oh, this was years ago. I worked in an office not unlike this one. This man was an assistant to one of the top-level executives—he even had his own office beside his boss’. When I first started, I went in there to ask him a question and was stunned. His office was totally empty. I mean, desk, chair, laptop, phone. That was it. The rest of his desk was bare except for a few papers. No pictures, no radio—almost everybody had a radio, or something similar so they could listen to music. Nothing. At the end of the day he’d clean off the desk and take his laptop home, so if you passed by when he wasn’t there, you wouldn’t know anybody worked in there at all. I assumed he had just started, you know?” I shook my head. “Nope. He’d been there ten years.”
“Wow. I’ve heard of keeping things simple, but that seems a little extreme,” Lucas said, as we stood in front of the bank of elevators, waiting.
“Your office is pretty bare,” I pointed out.
“An executive’s office shouldn’t be full of tchotchkes,” he said. “I have to give off a certain image.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” I countered. “One of my old bosses was highly respected in the company and all over town, but his office felt like his home. Awards on the walls, pictures of his grandkids, books he loved. The works.”
“How many places have you worked in?” he asked, grinning. “You have all these experiences.”
I looked at the floor. “Oh, you know. Typical girl in her twenties. Bouncing from place to place, trying to find somewhere permanent. A place to settle down.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I hope you’ve found that place here. You should settle down and become part of the family.”
I wished my heart didn’t hurt so much when I nodded.
NINE
When he turned and saw my look of utter astonishment, Lucas laughed. “Impressed?” he asked.
“That’s one word for it.”
I couldn’t come up with anything to describe the sheer awe inspired by the sight of Lucas’ mansion. The sleek, low-slung sports car had been one thing, but his home was another. I’d never seen anything like it—it was nearly a palace, but a very modern looking one.
I stared out the window as we passed beautifully maintained landscaping, set off by tasteful lighting, then rounded a courtyard in front of the main entrance. At the center of the courtyard was a marble fountain like I’d expect to see in a city park, full of marble water nymphs and other sea creatures. The multicolored lights playing off the water gave the illusion that the water was dancing.
“Have you ever been in a home like this before?” he asked.
I could only turn toward him and stare, shocked that he would even ask such a question. He was only playing, of course. Stroking his own ego a bit. Like it needed stroking after he could afford to live in a palace.
The mansion was three stories high, constructed of a cream-colored stone. A mansard roof reminded me of the architecture of France, as did the tall windows along the home’s exterior.
“This is exquisite,” I murmured as I stepped out of the car, trying to take it all in. I couldn’t believe I actually knew a person who lived in a home like that.
“You haven’t seen the best part, yet,” he said enigmatically, taking me by the hand and leading me up the stone steps to the entry.
We stepped through doors at least fifteen feet tall into a two-story entryway complete with crystal chandelier and a wide, sweeping staircase. That wasn’t what Lucas wanted me to see, however, nor was it the hall covered in artwork, nor the chef’s kitchen that we passed as we walked through the cavernous building.
“You live here alone?” I asked, unable to imagine having so much space to myself. I felt like I had to keep my voice down, like I was in church or something.
He chuckled. “For the most part. I have live-in help, but they all have their own cottages along the grounds, so at this time of night it’s just me. The cook has Fridays off since I’m almost never here.”
“Oh, wow.”
We were alone. Just the two of us in a home so large it made the McMansions of Florida look like shacks in comparison.
“This is what I wanted you to see,” Lucas said, leading me through a set of glass doors in the library, out to a balcony.
“My God,” I whispered, awestruck at the sight of the ocean only a stone’s throw away. I could see for miles in every direction.
“Beautiful, no?”
“Hardly the word,” I whispered. I felt a sense of awe, deep in my soul. To think that people lived that wa
y. It was almost too much to believe. I wished things were different, that I could open myself up to him and tell him how I felt. But it was no use. He’d never want to think about me once I did what had to be done.
“I feel that way, too. Like there’s nothing I can say to express how I feel when I see it. It’s like something out of a dream.” He turned to me, watching me closely. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Please.” I needed a drink to steady myself. The entire experience had me dizzy, weak-kneed. And he lived there all alone. There was something sad about a home like that being virtually empty except for servants.
We went inside to the bar along one wood-paneled wall, where he poured me a glass of bourbon and a glass of Scotch for himself before we went back outside to admire the view again. I couldn’t get enough of it.
“How long have you lived here?” I asked, sipping the exquisite bourbon. It was the smoothest thing I’d ever tasted.
“I moved in three years ago,” he said, then he chuckled. “I’ve probably spent a third of the time actually in residence, though. Maybe less than that.”
“You’re a busy man.”
“It’s more than that, though that’s a big part of it.” He leaned on the railing, looking out over the water. I watched his face in the twilight. He was so startlingly handsome, like he’d been carved from marble. He made the breath catch in my throat.
“What’s the rest of it—if you don’t mind my asking, of course.”
He shook his head just slightly. “This is the sort of home I used to dream of when I was a kid. I grew up in a three-room shack with dirt floors and a cow that slept in an adjoining building. I mean, we were poorer than poor. I used to lie there, looking up at the stars through the holes in the thatch ceiling, and I would dream of owning a place so big, so expensive, so magnificent that the world would know I’d made it, that I was somebody worthwhile.”
“And you got it,” I murmured.
“Yeah, but that was my only reason for wanting it.” He turned toward me, a look of chagrin on his face. “I didn’t imagine having to live in it.”
I shook my head, feeling sorry for him. I could understand what he was talking about. “It’s one thing to wish for the moon, until you start asking yourself what you’ll actually do with it when you get it.”
“Exactly!” he chuckled. “That’s how I feel now. Like, okay, I have the money and the lifestyle. But now what? I mean, do I really need all this? It’s nice. It’s more than nice. But it’s not exactly homey.”
“A family makes a house a home,” I said gently.
“Now you sound like my mama,” he groaned.
“She wants you to settle down?”
“Nothing in the world would make her happier than to see her two boys married to beautiful, sweet women willing to pop out around a dozen babies each.”
I winced comically. “That’s a pretty tall order.”
“Tell me about it, especially since I have no desire to get married at this point.” He shrugged, looking out at the crashing waves again. “I’ll give her what she wants someday. It would be a lot more fun around here if I had a family to share it with, but for now, I’ll make do.”
“I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” I emptied my glass, and he noticed.
“You want another one?”
“Hmm…maybe just one more.”
We went inside again, and while he poured, Lucas began to ask questions about my family. I had to answer very carefully, grateful that he’d asked after the first drink, instead of after the second. I had control over myself, still.
“What do you really want to do with your life?” he asked, handing me my fresh glass. “I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with being my assistant…”
I smirked. “Who’s to say there’s anything else I want to do? I enjoy my work. I’m organized and conscientious, like you said. I don’t need to be sitting at the head of the boardroom table. I’m content to sit to the right of the person who sits at the head.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough. You’re just a very talented person, Selena. I’d hate to see you waste your potential. Now come on. I’ll show you around the rest of the place—if you think your feet can stand the walking.”
We laughed together as we started off. Lucas showed me an office, a living room, a formal dining room as well as an informal one. A ballroom. A kitchen that could easily service a bustling restaurant, and an entertainment room which looked distinctly like a miniature theater, right down to the sunken rows of seats and a screen that stretched across one entire wall. Every room was more impressive than the last, and I still hadn’t seen the gym, the wine cellar, the game room, or the seven bedrooms.
“There’s one bedroom I would like to show you,” he murmured, then.
I was pretty sure he meant the master bedroom suite, and I was right.
“You could fit my entire apartment in here,” I murmured, even more impressed than I’d been on the yacht. The most imposing part of the room was his giant four-poster bed, which sat across from the fireplace. It nearly begged to be slept in.
“Now that we’re here,” I whispered, “what did you plan on doing? I mean, this is the last stop on the tour, right?”
“Right.” His eyes raked over me, and I trembled in anticipation while remembering what we’d done on the yacht.
“Take off your dress,” he murmured, looking me up and down. “Just your dress.”
So I did, reaching behind me to take the zipper between two fingers and lower it. The form-fitting gown slid off my shoulders and onto the floor, the fabric pooling at my feet.
Lucas’ eyes widened at the sight of my curvy body, the lace bra pushing my breasts up and out. “Wow,” he whispered. “You’re so beautiful.”
I felt a blush creeping across my skin. When I saw the desire in his eyes, I wanted nothing more than for him to touch me, to take me, to make me his over and over. My skin was tingling.
Then, he said, “Go over to the bed. Lie on your back, right in the middle.”
I did as he asked, taking my time crawling up onto the bed, working my way to the center. He watched, his breath coming faster as I stretched out the way he’d requested. When he pulled out the lengths of cord, my heart skipped a beat.
“Oh. So that’s what you had in mind,” I murmured, not sure how I felt about being tied up.
He looked at me, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Is that a problem?”
“I don’t think so, as long as you untie me when I want to be untied.”
He grinned. “Trust me. You’ll see how much fun this can be.”
My entire body seemed to respond to his words, from head to toe. I could only nod, watching while he tied my feet, then my wrists. The cords were then tied to the four bedposts. I was totally under his control.
I writhed, giggling softly as I wondered what he had in store for me. Yes, he liked to be in charge, all right. What I hadn’t known about myself until just then was how much I liked handing over control.
“Well?” I asked, smiling. “What do you plan on doing with me now, boss?”
Only he didn’t smile. He only looked down at me with a blank expression on his handsome face. Something about the look in his eye—the cold, detached look—sent a shiver down my spine.
“Lucas?” I said hesitantly, still trying to play along. “What do you want to do with me?”
Instead of taking off his clothes, the way I’d expected him to, he sat down with his hands clasped. “Now that I have your full attention, Selena, I think we need to have a serious chat.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, my heart suddenly beating double time. I didn’t like his tone of voice. Suddenly, the luxurious room had become a prison. I felt sweat beading on my brow. I thought about how little I knew him. What a stupid thing to do, going to his house without anybody knowing we were going there. He could have been anybody, capable of anything. And I was alone with him, trapped.
I pulled on the restraints, to no
avail.
“Don’t bother,” he murmured. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Faces of women on posters flashed before my eyes. Missing women. Women who were never seen again. I imagined my own face on one of those posters. Would my parents ever find closure? Would they ever know that I was only trying to help them?
“Lucas,” I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. “Why are you doing this? What’s it all about?”