Boss: A Novel

by Lauren Love

  The one consolation is that I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time or opportunity to make a fool of myself again in front of our leading man, Luke Hart.

  But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had the chance to see him in action. There’s a reason why women line up to see him.

  Listed as number one in the Top 100 Most Eligible Bachelors, Luke Hart has fronted GQ, Men’s Health, and Playgirl in this last month alone.

  And rumor has it that he’d been approached my Time and People as well.

  I’ve been watching the female assistants, actresses, and extras flutter around him for weeks. It’s embarrassing how they’re always desperately trying to strike up conversation or somehow be useful to him.

  The man is so charismatic, he practically glows when he smiles.

  Add that to the fact that he radiates the kind of sexual energy that promises many very satisfying encounters between the sheets and you have a magnet for every woman who’s ever felt sexually frustrated. The man is a catch.

  I’m so glad that I’m immune to all that silliness.

  I have a yummy sexy man already, thank you very much.

  Not that I thought of Luke as yummy, I just…

  The butterflies in my stomach when I see him and the sudden spike in my pulse when he zeroes his gaze on me has nothing to do with wanting him.

  I’m merely excited because I, as the producer, can see the clear monetary potential of having him star in my movie.

  See?

  Nothing sexy about that.

  ‘Strangle Hold’ is an erotic thriller set just after the Second World War. It tells the story of a beautiful young wife trapped in a huge mansion by her cold, much older husband. He’s wheelchair-bound from a gunshot to the spine and is both unable to take care of himself or unable to perform any kind of marital duties.

  The film starts when an old war buddy, Grey Bentley, played by Luke, arrives to stay for a month while he himself recovers from his time as a soldier.

  What starts as a forbidden flirtation between the wife and the overpowering Grey becomes a full-blown affair.

  But it’s when the wife, riddled with guilt, tries to end the affair that things get dark.

  Right away, the idea caught my interest and I could see it’s potential.

  My thoughts are abruptly pulled back to the present by someone pushing by me.

  A pretty young assistant brings Luke a coffee and a meatball sub for lunch and he gifts her with his sexiest secret smile and a wink.

  “Thanks, Patty,” he says, his voice deep, quiet and smooth. “I can always count on you to know exactly what I want.”

  He lowers his voice on that last word and licks his lips.

  “I’m here to serve,” the girl jokes, her voice cracking slightly. “Anything you want or – need – you let me know.”

  His eyes glimmer and he leans closer. “I may hold you to that. You may come to regret offering.”

  She looks like she might pass out, her legs visibly shaking, her face flushing.

  Oh, for heaven’s sake!

  Shaking my head, I return to my office, the background noise of the director yelling instructions and yelling for silence following me as I go.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket and I close the door and take a seat before answering.

  “Hi, Olivia. Yes, Mr. Sexy Pants is here on the movie set, no you cannot sniff the shirt he’ll be ripping off in the scene we’re about to shoot.”

  Olivia’s answering laugh makes me smile. “You’re no fun. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

  “Just tell him how gorgeous he is and bring him food and he’ll let you sniff anything.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t even think about it. I’m not losing my job over ten seconds of your perverted behavior.”

  She laughs again. “I resent that remark.” After some more snickering she sobers. “So, do you want the bitchy news or the bitchy news?”

  I sigh.

  That could only mean one thing.

  Melinda.

  The woman had been a thorn in my side ever since Kaden and I got together. She was beautiful in a cool, perfect China doll kind of way.

  Glamorous, rich, stunning.

  And she is a social queen who is adored by many.

  I hated her from the moment we met and I soon learned that she hated me just as much because I had the one thing she could never seem to get her claws into: Kaden.

  They’d been good friends forever and I knew he loved her like a sister but that was all.

  He just didn’t feel that way about her.

  He wanted me.

  Okay, I know it’s nasty of me to smile at that, but I can’t help it.

  “What’s she doing now?” I ask.

  “Turning thirty-five. She’s doing the circuit to promote the book she wrote and is talking about life and love and her special friendship with a certain reclusive billionaire.”

  I swear and wish I had something to hit.

  I know it shouldn’t bother me—they are friends, but I already know how she’s going to be wording that.

  “How bad is it?”

  “Do you want me to send you the link from the interview with Oprah or 60 Minutes?”

  I suck in a breath and force myself to count to ten. “Neither. It’ll just piss me off.”

  I frown.

  If it’s Melinda’s birthday, it means she’ll be having another one of her outrageous parties.

  Kaden didn’t say anything about us going and he’s always invited to all her events.

  But he also knows how Melinda and I feel about each other.

  Did he just not want to upset me?

  That thought bothers me.

  True, Melinda and I would rip each other apart if given the chance, but we always remain coolly polite in public. Still, it’s always awkward when the three of us are together and I have a hard time not grinding my teeth when she takes Kaden’s arm, strokes his chest, kisses his cheek.

  I never asked him to stop seeing his old friend.

  I understand that he values his friendship with her in the same way I value my friendship with Jeremy and Olivia.

  And I trust him.

  If he wanted Melinda, he could have her, could have had her for years, but he chose me.

  At the same time, I can sort of understand him wanting to spend time with her, without the added tension.

  Was that why he hadn’t mentioned the party?

  Would he prefer to go alone?

  I’m still brooding about that when my door opens a crack and Luke’s handsome face pokes through.

  “Are you busy?” he asks.

  “Nope, just finishing up.”

  At that he pushes the door open and steps in, closing it behind him.

  “We’re just packing up out there too. A few of us were going to grab some dinner and you and me haven’t really had time to talk since the—” He mimes a dramatic collision, complete with the tidal wave of coffee and an strangled cry of, “It burns!”

  I can’t help laughing and at the mention of dinner my stomach gives and impatient grumble.

  I don’t think I’ve eaten since breakfast. “I guess I can eat.”

  He rolls his eyes but smiles like he doesn’t quite know what to make of me. “Well, don’t sound too excited or anything.”

  “Why, are we eating at the fireworks and puppy dog factory?” I smile at him, feeling cheeky but my pulse races a little when he returns my smile with a much too mischievous grin of his own.

  “Nope, just boring old me,” he replies, holding out his hand.

  I take it and let him pull me to my feet. “That’s okay, I need a quiet night anyway.”

  He spies my laptop screen and leans down to get a better look.

  I cringe, remembering that I’d been scrolling through news about Melinda.

  “I’ve met her,” he says. “She’s an heiress or something, isn’t she? Yeah, I met her at some charity do about a year ago.”

 
I grit my teeth.

  Of course they’ve met.

  “She’s apparently just good friends with my boyfriend.”

  He chuckles. “I get the feeling she’s good friends with lots of boyfriends. I thought she seemed a bit stuck up, personally. The whole time she was more interested in bragging about her new dress than the homeless kids we were supposed to be feeding.”

  That gets my attention and I blink at him. “So you… didn’t like her?”

  He shrugs. “She was an empty shell. I get that she’s so rich that she doesn’t have to work. But she doesn’t do anything except shop and preen. What’s the point in that?”

  I can feel a goofy smile spreading across my face and a crazy part of me wants to hug him. It’s about damn time someone else noticed!

  Instead, I grab his arm and pull him towards the door.

  “Come on, stud. I need feeding.”

  Chapter 4

  Dinner is amazing.

  We go to some insanely expensive place with a name I can’t pronounce and eat next to nothing because the portions are so small.

  But that doesn’t matter.

  I can’t help feeling flattered by the fact that Luke chose to sit next to me and seems to want to know everything. He asks loads of questions and really listens to the answers.

  Most people in this industry spend so much time talking about themselves they never spare a second to ask about me.

  I tell him about Olivia and Jeremy, and my long distance relationship with Kaden. He makes the connection that Kaden is the reclusive billionaire that Melinda was just good friends with.

  I didn’t realize how much I’d wanted to share all those stories until now and it felt good to get it all out.

  We were having such a good time that when Luke suggested sharing a cab, I agree without even thinking.

  I give the driver my address and sit back next to Luke, feeling a little tipsy.

  “So tell me about the series you made in England?” he says, turning in his seat so he’s facing me.

  “Sexy thriller slash suspense drama,” I reply. “It was set in London, a female serial killer was reenacting the murders of Jack the Ripper on Men. That was the twist. But the real story was the erotic cat and mouse interplay between the hardened Detective Jack Slater and the killer Miriam Ross. It’s what got me this job, in fact. Apparently I can make even the darkest themes sexy.”

  He’s smiling at me in a way that makes my pulse race again.

  “What?” I ask, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

  “Nothing,” he says. “You get this look in your eyes when you’re talking about your work. Not many people honestly love what they do.”

  “Don’t you love what you do?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t hate it. But it’s not like I can do anything else.”

  His answer intrigues me and I frown, tipping my head to the side.

  “I know, I know,” he says before I can comment. “I have everything. Fame, money… Why would I need anything else?” He sighs. “When I try to explain, it always seems to come out wrong. I like acting but…”

  “No, I understand,” I say, looking at him wide-eyed because I do understand.

  I tell him about the first business I started and how lost I felt after I sold it for a lot of money.

  How I had everything but still felt lost and unfulfilled and he nodded, his own eyes widening as he saw that I really did understand how he felt.

  “Do you know what you’d like to do? What are you passionate about?”

  He thinks about that. “I don’t know. I think I’d sort of like to work more behind the scenes. Scriptwriting maybe. I used to love writing stories when I was a kid.”

  “What’s stopping you?” I reach out and grab his hand. “You’re Luke Hart. After this project, take a year off and write. You know the industry and you know what works.”

  He leans closer. “You really think I could?”

  The cab pulls up outside my apartment building and I feel disappointed that the night is over.

  “This was really fun,” I say. “I’m glad I had a chance to get to know you a bit. Behind all the tabloids, there’s actually a pretty nice guy.”

  He gives me a wicked smile and crosses his heart. “I swear, I’m not.”

  Giggling, I turn away to hide my flush and clamber out of the back seat.

  I walk on shaky legs to the security door but turn when Luke calls my name.

  “You forgot your scarf,” he says, holding up my red scarf and waving it like a flag.

  That’s weird.

  I thought I’d left it in the office.

  “Thank you,” I walk back and take it from his hand. Our fingers brush and my stomach jumps.

  But before he can get back into the cab it suddenly screeches to life and speeds off.

  “What the hell!” Luke yells, waving his hands above his head, trying to get the driver’s attention again. “I asked him to wait. Told him I’d just be a second.”

  He pulls out his phone and sighs.

  “And my phone’s out. I was supposed to charge it this morning.”

  He looks at me and makes a face.

  “I’m sorry. Do you think I could just quickly call a cab? I know it’s been a long day. I’ll be in and out so fast you won’t even know I was there.”

  I can’t help laughing. “Of course you can.”

  I unlock the security door and we have to take the stairs since the elevator is still out.

  “I share this apartment with my friend, Olivia,” I say as we climb the steps ,“Neither of us are ever in town for more than a few months so it just makes sense to share. Plus it offers us more chances to catch up. We share this one here in LA and one in New York.”

  “I always wanted to live in New York,” he says.

  “Sometimes at night, I could swear I hear its heartbeat. There’s nowhere like it on Earth. Only London is a close second.”

  Once inside, I throw my bag and scarf in the closet. “Do you want a coffee before you call another cab?”

  He says yes and follows me into the kitchen. I turn to ask what kind he’d like and gasp at how close he’s standing.

  “H - how do you take it?” I stutter.

  He looks down at me, his eyes darker, his expression unreadable. “Hot. Sweet.”

  He steps closer.

  I step back.

  “You didn’t invite me in for coffee and we both know it.”

  His voice is low and soft, smooth like chocolate.

  I back up a step.

  “I didn’t invite you in at all,” I say but I can feel my face flushing and my heart pumping faster.

  The alcohol is making my brain fuzzy.

  There’s a very good reason why I shouldn’t be alone in my apartment with this man.

  But for the life of me I can’t remember what that reason is…

  Chapter 5

  I feel warm and tingly.

  I’m not the kind of girl who invites men she barely knows into her apartment but with Luke Hart standing over me, so tall and strong and oozing sex and charisma, all I can focus on is getting enough air into my aching lungs.

  He grabs my wrists but keeps backing me up with his larger body till I’m trapped in the corner of the kitchen benches.

  “I’m not going to mince words,” he says. “I think you are very beautiful and intelligent and exciting. I would very much like to make love to you tonight.”

  My breath catches in my throat and I watch, transfixed, as he lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me.

  Oh my god, what a kiss.

  After watching him kissing his leading lady for weeks, I couldn’t help but feel curious.

  But watching him kiss and being kissed by him are two very different things.

  He releases my wrists and I drag my fingers up his hard muscular arms, across his wide shoulders. He moans and cups my jaw, tipping my face to the angle he wants and deepening the kiss.

  His tongue slides into my mouth with
a sensual flick that sends heat rushing to my core and I welcome it, sucking and stroking his tongue with my own.

  Oh my! I’m kissing Luke Hart… then something in my brain clicks into place.

  I’m kissing Luke Hart…

  Not my Kaden.

  With a gasping breath, I shove against his chest, hard, and the shift in my demeanor is so sudden he falls back.

  “What the hell?” he snaps.

  He’s breathing hard and fast, his wide chest rising and falling, his fists clenching at his sides.

  “What the hell?” I throw the words back at him. “What the hell? I have a boyfriend, who I love.”

  “Really?” he throws back at me. “Were you thinking about him while you were practically fellating my tongue?”

  I let out an outraged cry and reach for the closest thing, a cup, and throw it at his head. He ducks just in time and it shatters against the wall.

  “What? Are you crazy?”

  “Yes.” I grab another cup and take aim. “Now get out!”

  He ducks again as a second cup smashes against the wall.

  “Fine, I’m leaving!” he yells, heading for the door. “Thanks for a lovely fucking evening.”

  “You’re welcome!” I shout after him, my voice lost in the slamming front door.

  I slap a hand over my mouth, feeling tears running down my face.

  “What have I done?” I whisper to myself.

  Without thinking, I call Kaden.

  I don’t tell him what happened, I can’t bear to say the words.

  I just tell him that I love him and I miss him and I love him again.

  Hearing his voice, even over the phone is so soothing.

  He asks if I’m drunk, his tone amused and warm.

  I tell him I might be a little drunk and he laughs.

  His laugh is husky and deep and so familiar.

  “Go to bed, Claire,” he orders. “I love you. And I’m going to have to do things to you for drunk-dialing me when I see you.”

  “Promise?” I purr and he groans, deep in his throat.

  “I plan to do very bad things to you, Miss Snow.”

  I hang up, feeling even more hot and flushed than I did before but do as I’m told, changing into an over-sized shirt and panties before climbing into bed.