My Bossy Protector: A Best Friend’s Brother Romance

by Charlize Starr

  Ella was radiant in my arms, looking so damn beautiful in her wedding dress that I kept losing my breath looking at her. The dress was an ivory shade of white, standing out against her glowing skin, which looked today as though she had somehow made it sparkle. I couldn’t wait to spend hours exploring it later, going slow, taking it inch by inch. The dress was cut for a princess, floor length with a full skirt and scooped at the neck to frame her collarbones and the top swell of her cleavage. She couldn’t seem to stop smiling, and I imagined I looked the same, unable to stop grinning down at the amazing woman who was now my wife.

  Around us, the whole kingdom had turned out for the party and celebration. Everywhere I looked, there were revelers, applauding and wishing us well. I spent my whole life so hidden, only seen by my officials, my staff. Being the center of attention now, with Ella in my arms, was a rush. I had always thought I didn’t care much about public opinion, but today I wanted everyone to see how happy Ella and I were. I wanted them all to know.

  The papers and all the local media had been thrilled at the news, proclaiming us the couple of the year and interviewing us both, taking hundreds of pictures in the past week. We’d been asked so many questions and told over and over what a beautiful couple we made. Neither of us had ever given media interviews, and I thought Ella handled them even better than I did, showing that same grace she had during the diplomat lunch. We told story after story, little anecdotes about each other that the press ate up and the people seemed to love. We kept most of the real story to ourselves, our secret, hidden between us and making our bond stronger.

  The people loved her already. All of Ladoria seemed as charmed by her as I was. The whole palace was brighter with her in it, the whole country more at peace. She was like a missing piece, the missing ingredient I’d always needed in my life. I couldn’t quite believe we’d made it here, to our wedding day. I couldn’t believe I was this happy, this in love. I couldn’t believe Ella was mine, and that I was hers, forever. I had broken the law to get here, but I was damn sure it was the best choice I had ever made.

  “I’m so glad you came to find me,” Ella said, spinning in my arms, pressed so close to me as we danced that I could feel her heart beating.

  “I’m glad you stopped running,” I said, smiling at my bride.

  “I love you,” she whispered, kissing me softly.

  “I love you too,” I told her, pulling her in even tighter. I couldn’t wait to spend my life with Ella, loving her, making sure she was happy and safe and secure, always. She was the one for me, the only one, I was certain. Maybe it all had been fate, leading us all the way from Facebook to this exact moment, to this first dance as husband and wife.

  If anyone could make me believe in fate and happy endings, it was Ella.

  *****

  THE END

  Hungry CEO

  Description

  I know that she hates my guts.

  We competed for the same job. I got it.

  Now I’m her boss.

  But what she doesn’t know is that she’s special to me, with her high-class manners and her career attitude.

  And that I’d like to do very… special things to her. On my desk.

  What can I say? I’m still the lower-class boy at heart.

  But I have to focus. I have a huge business deal coming up.

  So I ask her to help me out. That means many nights working late, alone at the office…

  Solid plan.

  Until I find out that my business partner is doing the only thing that could prevent the deal.

  He’s hitting on her.

  I can’t let that happen.

  Chapter 1 - Louise

  My heels clicked against the marble floor of the corridor as I walked towards Jack Gowler’s corner office. I had the Medusa files tucked under my arm and my hips swung with every step I took.

  It had been a week since the board of directors gave the CEO job to Jack, and I still couldn’t get over it. I had been working at the company for eight years and seven months longer than Jack. I worked hard, kept my nose clean and didn’t complain about working weekends. It was true that I ran a tight ship, but that was what was necessary to get the job done.

  Jack, on the other hand, enjoyed spending company money on ‘entertaining’ potential clients. He had inside jokes with his team and always seemed to be exceptionally preoccupied with keeping his hair in place.

  I had seethed with rage when I heard the news. Jack didn’t deserve that position. I did. I was sure that he had somehow sweet-talked his way into getting that job. He’d probably fucked his way into it. I couldn’t put anything past him.

  So, even though it had been a week since he had acquired his new corner office, I still couldn’t stand the thought that he’d got the job I had been working so hard for. When I reached his office door, I didn’t bother knocking.

  His secretary jumped up from her desk beside his door, but I barged into his room before she could protest.

  “I was expecting your thoughts on my report twelve hours ago!” I snapped, rushing into his office. He was sitting behind his ridiculously massive oak desk, but for some reason, he was turned to the side of his leather swivel chair.

  Jack snapped his head around to look at me, and I saw that his green eyes were dark. I narrowed my eyes at him. I could see the top of a redhead crouched on the floor beside him.

  “I know I’m late, but I’ve been occupied, as you can see.” Jack had a sly smile on his face and his eyes glittered as he stared at me.

  I gasped when I realized what was going on. The redhead started straightening herself up. I could now see her face and her buxom top half. She was grinning too. Neither was embarrassed by the fact that I had caught them in the act. Her lipstick was smudged and most of the buttons on her blouse were popped open. Her big breasts were spilling out from the gap, and I staggered back from shock towards the door again.

  Jack didn’t stop smiling. Instead, I heard the clinking of his belt buckle as he started fixing his pants. I had walked in on him in the middle of a blowjob! During office hours! In his new office! With his secretary outside, clearly aware of what was going on inside!

  My nostrils were flared. My throat closed up from the shock and anger of finding my biggest rival in this position. I would never do anything like this. I would never behave in such an unprofessional manner!

  “You are a disgrace to this company!” I hissed while the redhead started buttoning up her blouse.

  Jack had stood up from his chair. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his pants and walked around his desk to step closer to me. My breasts were heaving with anger. I didn’t want him coming any closer to me. He thought he was so charming, so irresistibly sexy . . . with his dark slicked-back hair, his square jaw and those wide shoulders. He wasn’t sexy. He was an audacious flirt and an over-confident prick!

  I stepped away from him as he came closer to me.

  “Calm down, Louise. I’m on my lunch break,” he said, his lips still stretched in a smile.

  “It’s four in the evening! Who do you think this is going to fool?” I snapped at him. He was standing dangerously close to me while I glared at him. The redhead was still in the room, toying with her curls and fluttering her fake eyelashes. Where had he even found her? I couldn’t recognize her from the office.

  “I was on a conference call, so missed my break earlier and decided to take it now. You can look through my call records if you want,” Jack said, confidently holding my gaze.

  I whipped around from him. I didn’t need to hear any more of this nonsense! I knew exactly the kind of man he was – the kind who could sweet-talk his way out of anything, pulling the rug out from under my feet — me, who did everything by the book!

  I was walking out of his office when I heard his voice again.

  “I have my notes ready for your report, by the way. My secretary is setting up a meeting for us with your secretary as we speak. Tomorrow, dinner. Your calendar is wide open
at eight. I’ll see you then,” I heard him say.

  I stood with my back to him while he spoke slowly in that deep velvety voice of his — the one he thought made women weak in their knees. I rolled my eyes and kept my chin lifted up in the air as I walked on.

  Just because he’d taken care of what he was supposed to didn’t excuse the fact that I had just found a woman in his office giving him a blowjob. It didn’t excuse his otherwise sleazy behavior and the way his eyes traveled down to my breasts every time we spoke. I couldn’t stand Jack Gowler. I couldn’t stand the fact that he was getting all the praise and attention in this office while I was the one who did all the hard work.

  Things were about to change. This Medusa deal was going to be my opportunity to show the board of directors who was the real brains at this office. Jack Gowler wouldn’t know what hit him.

  Chapter 2 - Jack

  I swirled the whiskey in my glass as I stood on my balcony. The Hudson was in front of me. I stared at the bright lights of Manhattan’s iconic skyline. What was a guy like me doing in a penthouse like this?

  This wasn’t supposed to be my destiny. I wasn’t supposed to be living in a place like this. I’d grown up in Brooklyn in a two-bedroom apartment that I shared with a single mother and three brothers. I had grown up eating beans out of cans and pop-tarts for breakfast. Now I had a housekeeper who served me freshly-squeezed orange juice in bed.

  I emptied the whiskey down my throat and clenched my jaws. If only mom was still alive to see the life I was leading now. I was the CEO of Prisma Corporations. I was responsible for million-dollar contracts and I drove a Porsche to work. Nothing about my life now matched the life I had led when I was growing up. I was a self-made man living the American dream and there was only one thing missing that would complete the picture-perfect life I had built for myself.

  Louise Downing.

  With her shining blond hair that was as sparkly as spun gold in the sun, large blue eyes, and petite build, Louise undoubtedly belonged to a different world than me. Her father was the owner of a golf course up in New Haven, for God’s sake! She had grown up in luxury, her mother threw galas for the rich and famous in the summer, and her sister had married an oil magnate. There was no way that Louise Downing even considered me her equal.

  I was aware of the way she looked at me down her sharp, well-bred nose with her blue eyes narrowed and her chin held up high. I was nothing more than an undeserving stable boy who dared to look at a princess. I knew it had hit her where it hurt when I got the CEO position – the job she had been eyeing for the past eight years. And for the past eight years, I had been eyeing her, hoping that she would look at me the way other women did and not as a lowly guy who had snuck his way up the corporate ladder.

  I was alone in my penthouse for the first time in a very long time. Usually, it felt like such a waste being by myself in a monstrously big place. I always brought someone home after work or drinks – either friends or girls I planned on sleeping with. The party was always on at Jack Gowler’s penthouse.

  Tonight, however, I wasn’t in the mood for company. I could still recall the look on Louise’s face when she’d walked into my office earlier. She hadn’t just been shocked when she found the redhead on her knees in front of me. There was a look of disgust in her eyes that I just couldn’t shake out of my mind. She had glared at me like I was scum. Like I didn’t deserve anything that I had. Like I hadn’t worked just as hard as she did at this job.

  What did I care what Louise thought of me? I had the job she wanted. I had the money and the prestige and the power. By all accounts, I had won. I could have any woman I wanted, but I still wanted her. I wanted her to respect me and I wanted her in my bed.

  I narrowed my eyes as I looked out across the sweeping view of Manhattan’s skyline. It was quiet in my apartment even though Manhattan was busy and noisy outside. I needed to think.

  This Medusa account was going to throw Louise and me together. The board of directors wanted us both to work on this potential deal because we were the best in the business. This would be our biggest account to date if we could secure it, and with Louise and I both on this together, we were definitely going to do it. I had no doubt about it.

  The only problem was that I knew it was going to be dangerous spending so much time with her. I wasn’t sure if I could control my desire for her. I didn’t know what I was going to do if I was alone with her. I had held myself back for eight years because we had kept out of each other’s way. We had never really worked together, but that was going to change now. I was just going to have to take it easy, see where things took us. I could feel my need to have Louise in my bed mounting. It had been running in my veins, pumping in my blood for eight years too long. It had never taken me this long to have a woman I wanted. And I wanted Louise Downing. The problem was that she thought very little of me, but I was going to change that. I was determined to make her see what other women saw in me. I was confident of my powers of seduction. Louise was not going to get away this easy.

  The Medusa account could be my only opportunity to have Louise, and I was going to make very good use of it.

  By the time I was pouring myself another finger of whiskey, the smile was back on my face. I had a plan for Louise. I had never lost a battle to date, and Louise wasn’t going to be the first to defeat me.

  I gulped down my second whiskey and wiped my lips with the back of my hand. I was imagining her delicious body in my mind. There were so many things I wanted to do to her. She wouldn’t know what hit her.

  Chapter 3 - Louise

  Charlie opened the car door for me and I handed him the keys and thanked him. I had just about made the hour-long drive back to my parents’ home in New Haven, but when I looked at my watch, I saw that I was five minutes late.

  In the house, Breda took my coat and I got a whiff of the potato gratin that was being served in the dining room. Beethoven was playing on the gramophone in father’s study, seeping into the rest of the house.

  They were both at the dining table already: Father at the head of the table as always and Mother on his right side. The table was set, the candles were lit, and somebody new from the kitchen staff was pouring them their wine.

  My seat, on Father’s left side, was set as well, but no wine had been served in my glass yet.

  “We didn’t think you were going to make an appearance,” Father said, and his thick eyebrows lifted over his spectacles.

  “I’m just five minutes late, Father. There was traffic,” I said with a sigh as I made my way to take my seat beside him.

  “Six-minutes,” he corrected me as I sat down, opening up a napkin on my lap. Mother’s eyes glowed; she was glad to see me. My work kept me more busy than usual these days and I had canceled on our usual weekly dinner the last few times.

  “You look well, Louise,” Mother beamed at me and I smiled.

  “The food looks amazing. I could smell it from the door,” I replied with a laugh as the guy returned to pour me my wine.

  “It’s potato gratin. Your favorite, darling,” Mother said and I nodded my head.

  Father cleared his throat after he took a sip of his wine in the way that he usually did before he had something important to say. I knew what was coming. He had been trying to get a hold of me to be able to give me the speech. I hadn’t been home since Jack Gowler received the CEO position.

  “Louise, what are you going to do about the situation you’ve found yourself in now?” Father asked in a dull but firm voice. I could sense his eyes on me while Breda served ladles of potato and leek soup into my bowl. I clenched my jaws and gulped before I looked up to meet his eyes.

  “What situation are you talking about?” I asked him.

  Father’s eyes turned irritable. I could see that he was annoyed. “About the CEO position; about Prisma. I’ve never heard of this man – this Jack Gowler – who has been given the job!” Father thundered, startling Mother beside him.

  “Ralph, the dinner table is
hardly the place to talk about this. We haven’t seen Louise in over two weeks. Can’t we talk about something else?” Mother tried to scold him, but he only grunted in response to her and kept his eyes firmly fixed on me.

  “Well?” He urged me on when I hadn’t replied for a few moments. I took in a deep breath and ate some soup, then dabbed the corners of my mouth before I spoke again.

  “I have nothing I can do here. He’s got the job. Technically he’s my boss now, and I just have to keep at it. Keep doing my work,” I replied. Father had an unpleasant habit of interfering in every aspect of our lives — both mine and that of my older sister, Rose. Rose, fortunately, had married an Italian businessman and moved out of the country, so she had some freedom from Father now. I was still stuck just an hour away from him, having my every action and every breath scrutinized.

  “Keep doing your work? Without a reward? This is not the path to success in life, Louise. You have to fight for what you want!” Father thundered. I stared back at him while Mother shook her head dejectedly beside him. How could he know what I was going through? He had no idea. He had no clue how hard I had fought for this job – how upset I was that Jack got it.

  “Maybe I never wanted to be CEO of Prisma. Have you thought of that?” I snapped. I saw Mother throw me a look. Talking back to Father was a big mistake in this household. The consequences of hurting his ego usually were disastrous. Father glared at me, his nostrils flaring.

  “You have forgotten your manners in New York, young lady!” he barked while I tried to calm myself. He whipped his head around to mother next. “I told you, Daphne, that allowing a young girl to live by herself in a place like Manhattan was a bad idea. I told you!”