by Lila Fox
Aleena stood still and watched him as he looked at the pictures on the mantel. He was a large man, but for some reason, he looked even bigger, standing in front of the fireplace.
Even as wet as he was, he stilled looked ruggedly attractive. The shirt he had on was transparent because it was damp, and she was able to see his tan back through it. When she’d glanced at him on the ride there, she’d notice the small patch of hair he had on his chest and the muscle definition he had, showing his strength and vitality.
“Would you like something to drink?”
Kaleb swung around to face her. “Do you have a beer?” he asked.
She shook her head and stared at his chest, unable to look him in the face. “No, I don’t drink alcohol. I have water, juice, pop, or chocolate milk.”
“I’ll take chocolate milk.”
For some reason, that surprised her. She thought back to the last adult she’d seen drink chocolate milk, and she couldn’t remember one. She poured two glass, walked back to him, handed him his glass, and then walked away from him.
She sat in the corner of the sofa closest to the fireplace and pulled a blanket over her lap. She wanted to stare at him, but instead, she looked at him through her lashes so he wouldn’t be able to tell.
“Do you like being a paralegal?”
A shiver took Aleena off guard because of the deep timbre of his tone of voice before her gaze went to him. She didn’t want to look at him because every time she did, her stomach would start to ache, and her panties would get uncomfortably wet.
She knew why, of course. She was twenty-six years old and a college graduate. She’d heard about arousal before. She’d just hadn’t felt it before.
A person couldn’t go through college and not find things out. Her roommate from her first year had different guys over all the time to have sex, and other girls on her floor talked about it all the time.
She also heard Lana talk about arousal and how her body would feel. The changes her body would make when she was attracted to someone. Hearing it from an adult instead of a sex-crazed teenager made a huge difference.
She felt exactly the way Lana had told her she would feel, and that fact startled her, and it just made her uncomfortable because she didn’t know the man at all. The fact he was huge and extremely attractive made her emotions even more pronounced and that much more uneasy. She found it disconcerting that all she had to do was hear the deep timbre of his voice to feel funny.
Her gaze roamed over him. He was a large man, over six feet tall and big-boned. His shoulders were clearly twice the width of hers, and his hands were the size of dinner plates. She could see from the tightness of his dress pants the bulging muscles in his thighs. His dark-brown hair was cut short, and his eyes were hazel. In some light, they looked green and, other times, brown.
She cleared her throat. “Yes, I do very much—” She stopped abruptly.
“What?”
She felt her face heat with a blush. “I’m sorry. I forgot your name.”
He smiled gently. “It’s Kaleb.”
“What do you do?” she asked.
“Several of my friends and I own some businesses together. We all work together and manage them. We also like to find failing businesses to buy and hopefully turned them around.”
“Why do you need more than one?”
“More than one what?”
“Business?”
He shrugged. “I guess we like making money.”
She tilted her head to the side. “How much money do you want?”
“I don’t have a limit set. I just keep working hard because I don’t have anything else.”
“I don’t either.” Her lips turned down. “I have a friend, but she lives a long way away and I never get to see her.”
“I’m sorry, baby. That must be hard.”
Aleena shrugged. “It is. She’s the only friend I’ve had who understood me and liked me just the way I am.”
“How’s that?”
She looked away for a moment to try to find the words she needed. “I don’t like the way women act or how they’re treated. It sometimes confuses and scares me the way men handle them, and the ones I know seem to like it.”
“I know some girls like that. They don’t like the things women their age are doing. They also like to have a man who protects them and helps them with everyday decisions.”
Her eyes widened. “You know of other girls like me?”
“Yes. The friends I told you about. A few of them have girlfriends that like a simpler life, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I like that about you.”
“You do? Why?” Her lack of sophistication usually irritated most people.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess I need to be in charge, and I want the woman to look to me for everything.”
“Tell me more.”
“I want a woman who won’t mind me picking out her clothes, telling me where she’s going all the time, deferring to me about everything. I want to be the center of her world, and I, in turn, want to take care of her. Make her safe and happy.”
“Wow,” she whispered and then looked out the large window in front of her.
“Is that all you’ve got to say?”
Aleena looked back at him. “I’m just shocked, I guess. I didn’t know there were men out there like you. I thought they all wanted s … sex and stimulating conversation.”
Kaleb chuckled. “Some guys are pretty shallow.”
They both fell quiet for a moment.
Kaleb stood with his empty glass. “I think you’re going to be fine now, so I should get out of your hair.”
Aleena scrambled up off the sofa, almost spilling the rest of her chocolate milk. She set the glass down on the table by the chair and walked behind him to the door.
She twisted her hands in her t-shirt. “So, um, thank you for bringing me home.”
She stiffened when Kaleb took a few steps back until he stood in front of her. He cupped her face in the palm of one hand.
“Would you have dinner with me tomorrow… I guess it’ll be Friday night?”
“Really?” Her stomach flipped, and her heart pounded furiously in her chest at the thought of seeing him again.
“Yes.”
She nodded. “I’d like that very much.”
He ran his thumb over her soft cheek. “How about I pick you up at work, and we go from there?”
“Shouldn’t I change after work?”
“No, just wear something comfortable to work tomorrow.”
Aleena nodded and smiled. “I can do that.”
“I should go.”
Aleena nodded but didn’t say anything.
Kaleb pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Bye, little one.”
“Bye, Kaleb.”
Chapter Three
Aleena was a nervous wreck all that next day, anxious to be with Kaleb but scared he wouldn’t like her if he really got to know her.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart?”
She looked up to see Gregory in the doorway and smiled. “Yes. Everything’s fine. How are you?”
Gregory chuckled. “I’m good. Lana and I and the kids are going to the cabin if you’d like to come.”
She shook her head. “No, but thank you.”
“All right. You have a good weekend.” He raised a hand and walked off.
“You, too. Tell everyone hi for me.” A frown crossed her face after he left. Should she have told him about her date? He’d been like a father to her since she moved to the city and started working for him.
She felt a little guilty not saying anything, but he worried so much about her. If she went out on more dates after tonight, she’d tell him then. She sometimes had to remind herself that no matter how much she loved and respected the man, he wasn’t her father, and she was an adult who could take care of herself.
Aleena stood, pulled her purse from her desk drawer, and made her way into the lady’s room across the hall from her of
fice. She put on deodorant and sprayed on some perfume to freshen up. Then she put a little brown eye shadow on her eyelids, added some blush and red lipstick, and stood back to survey herself. She hardly ever wore makeup, but she wanted to look good for Kaleb.
She’d worn black pants and a white silk button-down, long-sleeved shirt. She’d pulled her long hair back from her face with a barrette, but some of the hair had come loose, so she unclipped the barrette, smoothed her hair back again, and clipped it in place.
Aleena scrunched up her nose at her face when she realized she might look more like a clown, but she wanted to look more like a grown woman, and the ones she knew wore makeup.
After she brushed her teeth, she looked at herself one more time and walked out of the bathroom. She made her way down the elevator and to the front door, then she stepped out and looked around.
Her heart started beating heavily in her chest after five minutes passed. People were coming out of her building and jostling her, so she stood off to the side to get out of the way.
After several minutes, she checked her phone. It was close to five-thirty.
They hadn’t set a time. She assumed five o’clock was when most people got off work.
She started to get agitated. She didn’t know what to do. Should she stay and wait? For how long? She decided to give it another ten minutes. If he didn’t show up by then, she’d go home. The thought of not seeing him depressed her. They’d spent an hour together, and already she looked forward to being with him. He was easy to talk to and be with, and she liked how gentle he was with her.
She rechecked her phone and sighed. She’d waited for about an hour, and she thought that was long enough. Maybe he’d thought about spending time with her and decided he didn’t like her. She didn’t know, but she’d think about it later. Right then, she needed to find a bus that went to her side of town.
She walked down the sidewalk, not really paying attention because she couldn’t stop thinking about Kaleb. She dodged people and apologized to the ones she hit. Only a few more blocks, she thought. When she made it home, she’d release the tears that burned her eyes.
A scream tore from her mouth when she tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell down. She did let a tear fall when the people just walked around her instead of helping. She made herself stand and limped out of the way to lean against the front of a business. Wiping a tear from her cheek, she looked at her scraped hands. Great. Now she probably had blood and grime on her face.
She felt something warm slide down her shin, so she pulled up her pants legs as far as they would go and looked down. She cringed. Both knees were badly scraped and bleeding.
Now what? She didn’t have a Band-Aid or even a tissue. Should she go back into the building? But if she did that, she might miss her bus.
Aleena used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat and tears from her face. She looked down the street to the bus stop she’d been heading to, and with a sinking heart, she watched the bus she needed drive away.
She inhaled a shaky breath that she hoped would calm herself down before she had a panic attack. Reminding herself that she wasn’t lost, she knew she could walk home if she had to, even though it would hurt. It was only seventeen blocks.
Aleena relaxed a bit. She had money in her purse, so she could grab a cab. They’d take to right to her door so she wouldn’t have to walk on her sore legs. She took the few steps to the edge of the street and held her arm up like she’d seen other people do.
The traffic was so congested, much like the sidewalks, and she was so small a cab couldn’t see her.
She almost screamed when an arm came around her middle. She jerked her head around to see an angry Kaleb staring down at her.
“Hi,” she said lamely.
“Hi, where are you going?”
She shivered at the gravelly tone of his voice. “H … home.”
“I thought we had a date?’ he asked.
“We did, but you didn’t show up.”
If anything, his scowl got darker. “You were supposed to wait in the lobby. I told your receptionist I’d be there at six, and it’s actually a few minutes before.”
“I didn’t get a message.”
Kaleb wiped his free hand down his face. “Dammit. I’m sorry, baby.” He tightened his arm and started leading her back to his large SUV that was parked illegally in front of her building.
“How’d you find me?”
“I saw the back of your head when I pulled up. I lost you for a second when I got to the sidewalk and headed your way. By the time I got to you, you were hailing a cab.”
She sniffed. “I fell.”
He stopped abruptly and grabbed her shoulders. “Are you hurt?”
She nodded. “It’s not bad, though.”
“Where?”
“My hands and knees.”
He lifted her in his arms and started walking briskly toward his vehicle.
“I can walk,” she told him.
“No.”
She tucked her chin down. “People are staring at us.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” he said with a growl.
She gasped and then grinned. “Everybody heard you curse.”
“Yeah, I curse sometimes. You’ll get used to it.”
“It doesn’t bother me. We just got a few offended looks from people.”
He deposited her in the passenger seat of his vehicle and grabbed her hands. He wiped the dirt and grime from her palms with a napkin from his glove compartment.
He pulled one pant leg up the best he could since they were tight at the bottom. “Goddammit,” he barked, making her jump.
She leaned forward to see the damage and winced. “It’s still bleeding,” she informed him, although he could see that for himself.
He gently tugged her pant leg down, put on her seatbelt, and went around to the driver’s side. Then he grabbed a Kleenex from his side door and turned to her. He cupped her face and wiped the tears and dirt from her face, and then the color from her lip.
“I don’t like seeing you in makeup.”
She scowled at him. “I thought I looked pretty.”
“You do, little one. But I love your natural beauty, not the paint women put on their faces.”
She nodded and stayed silent. She was actually happy about that. She’d never been able to put on makeup the right way.
He pulled out into traffic abruptly, making a few cars behind him honk.
She watched him as she bit her lip. She worried more as the minutes passed and he didn’t say anything.
“Are you mad at me? If you are,” she continued without letting him answer, “you can take me home.”
At a stoplight, he turned his head to her and narrowed his eyes.
“There is no way I’m taking you to your place. We’ve got so much to talk about. I’m not pissed at you. I’m pissed at myself. I made so many mistakes.”
“You did? Like what?”
“Like not getting your number or talking to you directly when I called earlier. That’s just the start.”
“I don’t want you to be mad at yourself. It all worked out.”
“Not yet, it hasn’t, but I guarantee before I’m done, it will be.”
Aleena settled back. She felt calm. She knew he would take care of everything, so she didn’t have to worry about it, and she felt a peace she never had before.
Chapter Four
He couldn’t get the sight of the blood that had been on her legs and hands out of his mind. He cursed again under his breath. This woman would never know pain again if he had anything to do about it.
He glanced at her a few times, worried when she was so quiet. “I’ll get you taken care of, baby.”
Aleena turned her head toward him and smiled. “I know. I’m just resting.”
Kaleb’s chest tightened, and a ball of emotion clogged his throat. The fact she trusted him to take care of her was more than he’d expected so soon. His friends had told him about how they fe
lt when they met their littles. He just hadn’t understood how powerful the emotion would be until that moment.
He pulled into underground parking and into his own space. It was next to the elevator that would take them to his penthouse.
He came around and opened her door, unsnapped her seatbelt, and lifted her into his arms.
“I really can walk.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
She giggled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and laid her head on his shoulder.
Within a minute, he had her sitting on the sofa, and her shoes pulled off and set aside. He turned on the fireplace. “Stay there. I need to get a few things.”
She leaned back. “Okay.”
He came back with a box with a red cross on it and a bowl of warm water. He reached for her and stood her in front of him. He unsnapped her pants.
She grabbed ahold of his hands. “Wait. What are you doing?”
“I need the pants off so that I can take care of your legs.”
“I can roll my pants legs up.”
He shook his head. “They’re too tight. Baby, nothing is going to happen. I’m just going to take care of you. I swear to you, you have nothing to fear from me, ever. I would never take something from you or make you do something you weren’t ready for.”
Aleena studied his expression for a moment and then released his hands.
“Good girl,” he praised her and then effortlessly pulled her pants down and off, being careful with her knees, leaving her in pink panties and her white silk top.
He sat her back down and then reached for the washcloth. He wrung it out and started on her face where there was a bit of blood and dirt still evident. From there, he went to her legs and started working on the dried blood.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but your pants are trash.”
She straightened. “Really? Darn, I really liked them.”
“I’ll buy you a new pair.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ve got plenty of pants. I’ve got almost twenty.”