The Quarterback’s Secret Baby (Football's Bad Boys Book 3)

by Ava Walsh

  “You’ll get access to the records, Oscar, don’t you worry,” father said, nodding his head.

  “I’ll need full disclosure,” I insisted.

  “Of course. This is your company now, son. Both of yours,” he said, walking back around the table. I breathed out loudly and sat back in my chair. I could see the physical toll this had taken on father. He was a shell of the man he had been before. He had built the company from scratch, as a nineteen-year-old. Now in his sixties, he couldn’t bear to watch it crumbling down.

  “So have you hired a PA for yourself?” he asked, interrupting my concerned thoughts for him.

  “Jonathan said he picked somebody for me, someone from within the company who he thinks would be perfect for the job,” I said, just as there was a knock on the door.

  I called out to whoever it was to come in and the door opened. And in walked Kayla, the mysterious woman from the gym that morning. I was so shocked to see her that I knocked over a pen stand as I stood up hastily.

  “Kayla,” I blurted out and she looked just as surprised as I was. She hadn’t expected to see me there.

  Father stood between us and he smiled at her and then me.

  “Morning Kayla,” he said.

  “Morning Sir,” she replied, tucking in the file she was carrying under her arm and then taking a few steps into the office.

  I couldn’t help but just stand there and stare at her. I couldn’t decide if she looked even more sexy now compared to her post work-out glowing glory.

  She was in a formal skirt-suit, gray and form fitting. I could see the way her butt moved in it when she walked. Her blouse was an electric blue, and it matched the blue shoes she was wearing. Her thick dark straight hair fell in a shiny curtain around her shoulders.

  “Mr. Connell sent me here. Jonathan Connell. He’s assigned me to his brother as his Personal Assistant?” she said. Her tone had changed from surprised to confident. She was all business again. I couldn't believe this was happening. Kayla was the woman that Jonathan had picked as my PA? How was I supposed to get any work done?

  “Let me introduce you then.” It was father who stepped in. “This is my youngest son, Jonathan’s brother, Oscar Connell. And Oscar, this is our prized possession, Kayla Edwards. She has been our receptionist and our biggest personal asset for several years now.” Father was beaming at us both and it was clear to see that he was fond of her, like a daughter he never had.

  “I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting her. We bumped into each other at the gym this morning.” I walked around the desk and stretched my hand out to her. I was yearning to feel her soft hand in mine again.

  “Good to see you again, Sir,” she said, emphasizing the last word, as she shook my hand. There was a twinkle in her eye, and she smiled confidently. She looked like she meant business and this was business. Her gaze was steady, she held mine this time with a mission, unlike this morning when she looked like she could kill me.

  I wasn’t used to this kind of professionalism and it threw me a little.

  “Well, I’ll leave you two to it then,” father interrupted. “Good luck with the board meeting, Oscar. I’ll see you home for dinner,” he added before leaving the room.

  I remained standing in front of Kayla with my hands stuck into the pockets of my pants. I wasn’t sure what was supposed to be our next step.

  “You’re the new boss?” She was the first one to speak, and there was humor in her eyes now. She was mocking me.

  “In the flesh,” I said and held her gaze. I couldn’t help but drop my eyes to her lips, which were a pale brown, covered in lipstick. Her eyes had thick eyeliner on it, and she smelt great! Like freshly rained upon flowers.

  Kayla smiled, then walked away from me towards my desk.

  “Shall we get started then? I understand you have a meeting with the board at twelve?” she asked, opening up her file on the table. I turned to look at her, and now I could see her butt in full view as she leaned a little over the table. It stretched the fabric of her skirt and I could feel myself harden. No matter how many women I fucked, how many beautiful women I invited over to my place, a big beautiful butt like Kayla’s always pressed the right buttons. Over and over again.

  “Mr. Connell?” She turned to me when I hadn’t answered her question.

  “Call me Oscar,” I said, taking a few steps towards her, hoping against hope that she couldn’t see what was pressing against my pants.

  “I can’t, Sir,” she said, her voice getting softer. She craned her neck back to look up at me and her eyes narrowed. She was slender and yet curvaceous, would be small and full in my hands. I was drawn to those differences. I wanted to feel her hair between my fingers. Her smell filled my lungs as I drew closer to her.

  “Do I have to call you Ms. Edwards?” I asked, and I could see her eyelids droop. Did I make her shy? I knew this was wrong. My brother had assigned her to work for me. I couldn’t just fuck my PA. I could have any other girl. I had to leave this one alone.

  But she looked so damn hot. I could see her cleavage in the plunging neckline of her blouse. Her lips looked rich and inviting. She had let her guards down, the ones she had up in the morning. Or was she just being friendly because she knew I was her boss now? We had only just met. What if she was married or in a relationship? Unavailable? What if I was reading the signals wrong?

  I never read the signals wrong. Kayla Edwards wanted me too. As much as she denied it to herself.

  “You can call me that. Or Kayla. It’s up to you. I have to call you Sir, though,” she said. She tried to hold my gaze strongly but there was no denying it. She was struggling with her attraction to me just as much as I was battling mine.

  Our bodies were only a few inches apart now. This was madness.

  “Shall we get down to business then?” she asked, and I smiled at her, as casually as I possibly could. No, business was not what was going through her head. She could pretend all she wanted, but she was thinking of something else.

  “Depends on what kind of business you mean,” I said, and I watched as she looked away from me, her eyelids drooped. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

  Chapter Three

  Kayla

  Seeing him in his new office had completely taken me by surprise. That blue eyed blonde model of male perfection from the gym that morning was supposed to be my boss? He was standing too close to me again, obviously visualizing me naked. I had done that already, in the shower that morning.

  No, I had to keep my wits about me, I reminded myself. I couldn’t possibly let this get out of hand. I knew exactly what this could lead to, and most of all, I knew what the consequences would be.

  I squeezed past him and walked around the table to where his chair was. He had a mischievous look on his face like he thought I was playing hard to get and he was enjoying it.

  “I mean the kind of business we need to attend to before your very important board meeting,” I replied to his question, trying to make sure that he understood I intended to remain professional.

  Oscar stood staring at me, his hands stuck in the pockets of his three-piece tailored suit. He had that same smile on his face still.

  “I feel like Jonathan is pulling some kind of prank on me,” he finally said and I crossed my brows.

  “I don’t understand.” I met his gaze, trying to remain as confident as possible. I could feel my knees begin to buckle a little. As much as my mind tried to deny it, my body was being truthful. I was helplessly attracted to him, and the more he pushed me, the more he pursued, the hotter I got between my legs.

  “He knows me. He knows how I would react to a woman who looks like you. I wonder if he’s trying to jeopardize my career here.” Oscar’s voice was smooth, effortlessly stylish. His accent was elevated and regal, more than his brother’s or father’s. It turned me on even more. The way a few strands of his curling blonde hair fell over his eyes, didn’t help the matter either.

  “I’m very good at my job, Sir,
” I said, frankly at a loss for words. What was he trying to say? That I was being used as bait between two quarreling brothers?

  “I’m sure you are, Kayla. But you must understand one thing about me.” He spoke with confidence, and yet his voice had softened. I licked my lips and lifted my chin. “When a woman with a butt like yours walks into the room, I can’t help but notice it.” He walked towards me again.

  I knew my eyes widened. I hadn’t expected him to say something like that. I knew it was inappropriate, but what I couldn’t understand was why I wasn’t offended by what he had said. Why it gave me goosebumps instead of pissing me off. I knew he had been looking at my butt, I couldn’t stop myself from arching my back so he could see it more clearly.

  I held his gaze but decided not to say anything.

  “Now, I know what you’re thinking,” he said.

  “Do enlighten me,” I blurted out and crossed my arms in front of me. How could he possibly know what I was thinking? I had given none of it away.

  “That I’m rude and offensive and that you should probably work for someone else,” he continued and I raised my eyebrows. We were standing close to each other again. I refused to respond to that either.

  “But that would be a lie. Because I know you’ve been looking at me. I can see that you want me just as much as I want you.” Again he shocked me. I hadn’t expected him to be this blunt. This open about what he – and I – was thinking.

  “You are my boss,” I said, not sure what else to say.

  “I know that. And we just met,” he said, that smile returning to his face. “But there’s a certain pleasure in just getting that out in the open isn’t there?”

  I had no response. His blue eyes were warm, friendly and yet had that glint of self-confidence. He knew the effect he had on women. He was smooth, rich, exceptionally good looking and honest. Who could resist that?

  “Look, Kayla. You could either say no and then I go and fuck the brains out of some girl I pick up at the bar tonight. And I keep doing that till I grow tired of you. Or you say yes and we spend a few nights together till you grow tired of me.” He was speaking like he was proposing a business contract.

  I could feel myself shrinking in my shoes. Nobody had ever been this upfront with me before. I didn’t know whether to feel offended or empowered.

  “We just established that we work together. I’m your PA.” I was fumbling with my words now, too much in shock to form coherent sentences.

  “I’m aware of that. Which is why I’m proposing this arrangement. To get it out of our system and get it done with. Move on. Purely business. It’s a contract, Kayla, I can tell you like contracts.” He was smirking as he spoke. This was a game to him. I could feel my heart racing, it was like I was on the treadmill again, competing against him. Trying to keep up.

  “Why don’t you just reassign me?” I asked and Oscar shook his head.

  “If you are as good as my family says you are, then I need you. Frankly, I don’t know what I’m doing and I need somebody to help me get this company out of this mess,” he said, his voice had grown serious now. This was a contract to him.

  “What if I say no?” I asked him. I could feel my fingers quivering a little and I kept them pressed against my body with my arms over my chest. The worst mistake I could make in front of a man like Oscar Connell was display my weakness. He’d pounce on that weakness like he’d found a new prey.

  “Then I find someone else to fuck, and you spend your days working for me and wondering what it would be like to be pinned against a wall by me.” He spoke casually like he was ordering his favorite meal at a restaurant. I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

  This man who I had just met this morning was proposing a sexual relationship, one purely for our pleasure. And I was considering it!

  “What makes you think I want it as much as you do?” I asked, still on the defensive. I didn’t want to jump on the opportunity at the drop of a hat. He threw back his head and laughed.

  “C’mon Kayla. I can see it in your eyes. The way you look at my face. You wanted to beat me at running this morning because you wanted to prove your body wrong, that I’m not stronger than you. That I can’t just take you on this table right now. That’s how you deal with your body’s desires. You try and suffocate them. When all you should do is give in. You deserve a treat from time to time, Kayla Edwards.” He had walked closer to me, and his voice had grown softer, more husky and guttural.

  He might have been right about all those things but I wasn’t really listening to him. I was picturing his arms around me, pinning me to a wall, pounding into me with my legs around his hips. I had never felt this sexually attracted to a man before, not in this way at least. It was animalistic. Surprising. I had no control over it anymore.

  “If we do this, we need to have rules,” I said, trying to override my thoughts and think logically. I needed a plan for everything. For something like this too.

  “I only have two rules. Discretion; this has to be kept a secret. We can’t bring more negative attention to the company. And two; it lasts for as long as I want it to. If you don’t think you can do that, if you feel like you might be emotionally scarred by me terminating our contract when I want to; you can back out now.” He was serious now. There was no visible excitement in his eyes. He knew from the start what the result would be. He knew I would say yes. All he needed to do to seal the deal now was to make me promise that I wouldn’t create a scene when he ended this.

  That was one thing he could be certain of, I wasn’t one for drama. I wanted him. Purely physically. I was quite sure I didn’t even like him as a person. And the last thing I would ever allow myself to do was grow attached to a man. That was out of the question. So his rules suited me fine.

  “Fine. My two rules are that you treat me with respect when it comes to work, and after we end this, I keep my job,” I said and uncrossed my arms. He was painfully close to me now. He was right, if this arrangement hadn’t been agreed upon, I would have spent sleepless nights fantasizing about his body.

  “Shake on it?” He stuck out his hand and we shook. Our hands touched again and I could feel a jolt of electricity course down my spine. I couldn’t have explained the attraction. It was his smile, his eyes, his sheer confidence in himself. All of that combined had such a powerful effect on me that it turned me on instantly. I wanted him there and then.

  “Good. Can we get to work now? You need to prepare for your meeting,” I said instead, snapping myself and him out of the moment. The office was for work. And I was ambitious. Being Oscar Connell’s PA was only a stepping stone in my career.

  “You don’t waste a second, do you? But before we begin, shall we say ten tonight, my place?” he asked and I licked my lips. I hoped that I could control myself for that long. I’d have to spend the whole day in his presence, growing wetter between my legs, fantasizing about him.

  “Sure,” I said, nonchalantly, and went back to staring at the papers I picked out of my file.

  “I just moved into a brand new apartment,” he said and I jerked my head up to look at him.

  “Third rule. No private stories, no irrelevant information,” I said and Oscar raised his eyebrows.

  “Don’t worry Kayla. I wasn’t going to ask you if you’ve had an unhappy childhood or not,” he said with a certain nastiness in his voice before he turned away from me and walked back to his chair. I wasn’t quite sure how to react to that.

  “I don’t do relationships. So the last thing you need to worry about is having to open up about your life to me. I’m not interested in it. Just interested if I can fit your butt into my hands,” he said with a wink as he sat down. This time, he stared at my breasts openly and I felt those goosebumps appear again. I could already anticipate what this was going to be like. We were going to have sex a few times, while he fucked other women too. Then he was going to grow tired of me, of seeing my face in the office all day long too. Then he was going to tell me that we should stop s
o that it didn’t affect our professional relationship.

  And I was fine with that.

  Chapter Four

  Oscar

  Honestly, I didn’t expect her to show up. I made sure the apartment was ready, the bar was stocked, the candles were lit and I was dressed to impress. But, as the clock struck ten, I had a sinking feeling that Kayla was not going to turn up. Why would she? She could have any man she wanted, why would she spend the night with her boss? With a deal that I was convinced would scare her off?

  I had nothing more to offer her than I had already done. I was emotionally suffocated and I had to make sure that she knew it from the start. Anything else would be unfair. I laid it all out on the table for her and she accepted it.

  I stood staring out of my penthouse windows at the view of the city. The city I grew up in, where my family made its fortune and where I had learned to love and then hate. I was sure Kayla could see it in my eyes too, the emptiness. My inability to connect with another human being, after Sandra. She was the first girl I had fallen in love with, the only one, and then she left me. Or rather, she slept with my brother and I left her.

  The bell rang at five minutes past ten and I emptied the glass of whiskey I had been drinking before I walked over to open the door.

  She must have seen the look of surprise in my eyes. Not only could I not believe that she had turned up, but I also hadn’t thought that Kayla could look any more gorgeous, but she did.