Once Upon A Beast

by KB Winters

  I followed him through the gorgeous, empty house toward an indoor pool, watching as he ran his fingers absently through his hair, slid a hair band out of his robe pocket and pulled it back into a man-bun while he waited for the pool cover to retract. So this is the way the other half lives, I mumbled to myself. I didn’t even have the luxury of a bathtub in my little apartment. Shower only.

  Then, to my utter shock, he dropped his robe and slipped butt-naked into the water.

  With my mouth wide open, I stared for a second, and then averted my eyes, because I had no idea what else to do. Was he so out of his mind that he’d forgotten I was standing right there, or was this some kind of sick power play? Either way, I wasn’t prepared for this. At first, heat flushed my cheeks, and my nerveless fingers nearly dropped the files I clutched like a shield.

  Being ignored wasn’t new to me, but naked men with no regard to me standing right there was. This job was supposed to be a fresh start, and I had promised myself I wouldn’t let anyone make me feel like shit again. My embarrassment crumbled, giving way to a volcanic anger that had been building for weeks. I didn’t deserve this. Just because I was in his house and he didn’t want to deal with life didn’t mean he got to treat me this way. No, if he thought he could get away with it, then he had a whole other think coming.

  I slammed down the pile of papers on a nearby table, which wobbled like it was about to topple over and sent one of the sheets flying dangerously close to the pool. For a second or two I lost my cool as I wrestled it out of the air and put it back in place. Then I planted my hands on my hips and glared down at him, waiting for him to come to a halt. He didn’t. He hadn’t even noticed me. I could have been the pool vacuum hanging on the wall for all he cared.

  “Hey Rose! You’re an asshole,” I yelled, making sure he could hear me before turning to leave. Sure enough, his head popped up from beneath the water, and he pulled himself to the side of the pool. And dammit, the cocky bastard smiled. That just pissed me off even more.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I demanded. “You can’t treat me like this. I’m here to help you, and you just strip naked and swim around like I’m not even here. I’m not asking you to be kind, Mr. Rose, but you could at least be respectful!”

  I was trembling. There was something about being under this man’s gaze that made me hot. Those eyes. Did he get them from meltyourpanties dot com? They burned right into my skin when they settled on me, and he seemed to stare deep into my soul as his gaze met mine. I wanted to look away, but at the same time, I couldn’t. I didn’t want him to think he’d won, that despite my badass stance he’d somehow made me uncomfortable enough to break his gaze. I was going to win this. I had done enough losing when it came to men, and I’d be damned if this was another defeat to add to the list.

  “Aren’t you going to apologize?” I angled my head down, clenching my fists at my sides as though fighting the urge to take a swing at him. “You’re just locked up in this mansion, not dealing with your business or anything else in your life, and when I come in here trying to help, you make me—”

  I trailed off, not sure what he’d made me do. Because I could’ve just turned and walked out when he’d refused to invite me in. Or I could’ve left when he dropped his robe and displayed his surprisingly toned, completely naked body, or even when he started swimming lengths and ignoring me. Instead, I’d chosen to stay, and there had to be a reason for it. I dismissed the thought as it nagged at the back of my head. I was here to do a job and nothing more.

  “Made you what?” he asked mildly, his tone neutral, as though he were reading my mind. It was almost uncanny, but then, someone who’d been in business as long as he had needed to have a grasp on how people functioned. I opened and closed my mouth like a guppy, failing to come up with an answer. And that’s when he pulled himself out of the pool.

  I saw him. Every inch of him. More than I signed up for. He was soaked from head to toe. His hair now in a wet, messy bun and the water glistened off his muscular body. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, even though I knew I should. His eyes were burning into mine, and I was struggling to find something to say or do that didn’t involve me throwing myself into his arms and licking his beautifully sculpted chest. My fingers itched as I wondered what he would feel like, and my eyes traveled down, down—

  And then I snapped out of it. I shook my head, averted my gaze, and lowered it to the ground.

  “I’ve left the papers,” I muttered, blushing hotter than I’d ever felt before. “Please review them when you get the chance.”

  I shot one last look at him, already talking myself into leaving, making sure he’d heard me, and found him grinning in my direction. The grin lit up his whole face—damn him—etching itself into my memory for good.

  Chapter 3

  Zach

  She backed away quickly, but didn’t leave. I’d seen the way her eyes traveled down my body, and part of me sincerely appreciated being wanted like that again. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at me with anything other than pity, and there was a huge ego boost in being ogled by a gorgeous woman with desire in her eyes.

  But she’d already proven she didn’t spook easily. I couldn’t think of anyone else who would’ve had the nerve to set me straight the way she had. And she was right. The way I was acting was totally unacceptable, and yet, everyone else would’ve probably put it down to my depression and let me get away with it.

  I stood in front of her and reached down to pull on my robe and gestured to the pile of papers sitting next to us.

  She kept her gaze trained on the ground so steadily, she didn’t even notice when I extended my hand to her. It wasn’t until I cleared my throat that she looked up, and her eyes widened when they fell on my outstretched hand.

  I introduced myself. “Zachary Rose.” She blinked slowly a few times as though trying to make sense of what had just happened. But then, she extended her hand to mine and took it, shaking it firmly and looking me dead in the eye.

  “Jessibelle Adams,” she repeated, just like she had at the door. “Good to meet you.”

  “You want to go over your strategy for this?” She still looked a little shell-shocked, but nodded, cleared her throat, and began a somewhat practiced spiel.

  “We want you to hold on to as much of your company as possible,” she explained. “You’re aware that most of the major shareholders are very concerned about your current position in the business and want to transfer power to other members of your management team?”

  “Of course.” I might not have heard it outright from anyone, but I didn’t need telling. I knew how they felt about me.

  “We hope we can shift a lot of your work from the office to your home here,” she gestured around and I took a seat in the small poolside cabana not far from us. She joined me without waiting for an invite.

  “I understand you’re not necessarily in the best frame of mind—and that’s understandable given all you’ve been through—but we can put an assistant here and hopefully restore some confidence in the shareholders.”

  “Riiiight.” I nodded, but wasn’t convinced. “And that’s it? That’s all we need to do?”

  “Unless you’re willing to come back to the office and work,” she pointed out bluntly, “I’m not sure what else we can do.”

  “Is this a course of action you endorse?” I asked, looking her straight in the eye. She’d already proven she wasn’t afraid of being blunt, but in this instance, she slid her gaze from mine, avoiding the question.

  “At the firm, we’re sure that—”

  “So, you’re not sure.” I didn’t need to hear more. I could tell when someone was lying to me. “How long have you been at the firm?”

  “A few months,” she replied curtly, probably irritated I was questioning her credentials. She licked her lips and pressed them together, and a flash of annoyance passed over her face. I didn’t want to piss her off any more than I already had, but there was something a
musing about the way she tried to hide her blatantly obvious reactions to me.

  “And what would you tell me to do if you didn’t have any interference from the firm?” I cocked an eyebrow at her. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. She hadn’t been at the firm long enough to be confident in going against the company’s agenda, but it was obvious she had ideas of her own.

  “It doesn’t seem like the best solution.” I shrugged casually. “That’s all.”

  She didn’t reply, glancing at the papers and then back at me as though stalling for time.

  “It’s the one the firm has offered,” she shot back, that flash of resolve in her voice once more. She seemed to swing between a little shy and self-conscious to fiery and certain of herself. With a little more time building up her self-esteem, she could be a formidable ally. Fuck, anyone who hadn’t run away screaming by now and was happy holding a business meeting in a poolside cabana next to a half-naked man had already proven themselves in my eyes.

  “I’m not asking what the firm suggests right now,” I pointed out. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, clasping her hands in her lap. “I’m asking what you would do. You’re well-acquainted with my case, I’m assuming?”

  “You’re one of our biggest clients,” she pointed out, “so yes, I’m well-acquainted.”

  “Of course.” I nodded. Once again, she wasn’t breaking my gaze. “You must have your own opinions on what you think I should do.”

  “I might,” she admitted coolly. “But they’re not important right now.”

  “Come on.” I grinned wider, trying to goad her into giving me a real response. “I know you want to.”

  “Can we talk about the plan we have in place?” she asked again, this time a little firmer, doing her best to control her voice and not snap at me. Part of me wanted to see what she’d be like if she completely let go, but that was because I’d spent too long indulging my darkest feelings. I wanted to see other people do the same. I probably should’ve had a better hold on it by now, but this was the longest conversation I’d had with anyone since I withdrew to this mansion months ago.

  Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I’d forgotten it was even there. I slipped my hand into my robe and pulled it out, frowning at the screen. I recognized the name. I pulled it to my ear and held a finger up to Jessibelle, indicating that I needed a minute.

  “Craig?” It was one of my employees back at my family’s business. “What’s up?”

  “The IRS,” he replied grimly, and I groaned. Those were words I never wanted to hear, not if I could avoid them.

  “What are they up to?”

  “Sniffing around the real estate sector,” he replied. The real estate section of the business was still under my control, even though I’d let everything else go. I didn’t spend a lot of time talking about it to anyone in the company, and I had the feeling not many of the board members were aware of it.

  “What for?” I asked. “Looking for improprieties? What do they want?”

  “I honestly have no idea,” he admitted. “Any clue? Anything going on there that might’ve drawn their attention?”

  “Not in a million years.” I shook my head firmly. “You know I don’t let that kind of shit go down in my company, Craig.”

  “I know, I know,” he agreed, pacifying me as the annoyance rose in my voice. It pissed me off to think the business my father had started, the one I had stepped up to take over, might be in danger because of my stupid, dumb-ass depression I couldn’t seem to get a handle on.

  “Tell them to look,” I snapped back. “They’re not going to find a fucking thing.”

  “Are you sure?” Craig asked cautiously, obviously anticipating another backlash at the implication. “Because you’ve been out of office for a while and—”

  “—I know what’s going on in my own goddamn business, Craig.” I couldn’t hide the irritation from my voice. He fell silent, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “If you’re sure,” he finally replied. “You want me to give them access to everything?”

  “Everything and anything,” I confirmed. “Don’t hold back. I don’t care what they need. Let them have it.”

  “If you’re certain.” Even his agreement sounded doubtful. I considered his hesitation.

  “Craig,” I spoke slowly, carefully. “Is there something going on down there I should know about? Something I might not want the IRS to know about?”

  He paused a little too long for comfort.

  “No, nothing,” he replied, a breezy tone in his voice. “I’ll get in contact with them and let them know you’ve given the go-ahead for them to come and do their audit. Thanks for answering your phone.”

  I knew the final comment was a little dig at how hard it had been to get in contact with me over the last few months, but I ignored it. Craig Vector and I had been working together for a long time, and I understood why he might have been so irritated with how I’d vanished from the map. He’d been there when my father had passed the business down to me, and now, he was watching me retreat into myself, and there was nothing he could do about it. It would’ve been enough to get under anyone’s skin.

  “I’ll talk to you soon.” I hung up the phone. Jessibelle was looking at me anxiously.

  “Everything okay?” she asked. I nodded, looking at the blank screen before I dropped it back into my pocket and returned my attention to her. I crossed my legs, my robe slipping to the side, exposing my thigh. I left it there. Power play? Maybe. But she didn’t even blink.

  “It will be,” I replied, as much to convince myself as to convince her. “Now, where were we?”

  “We were talking about the plan to save your company,” she reminded me, turning to grab the papers from the table next to her. She continued, but I found myself tuning her out. I should have been paying attention, but I was already lost in my thoughts. How could I not be? It seemed every time I heard from the business, it was bad news, the kind of news I never wanted to hear. Why was the IRS stalking us? Why did Craig pause when I asked if there was something he wasn’t telling me? Overthinking wasn’t helping me at all, but I’d had so little interaction over the last few months that what little I did have was overanalyzed to the point of exhaustion. Jessibelle was still talking, but my concentration was shot to hell, and I couldn’t even make sense of anything she was saying.

  Chapter 4

  Jessibelle

  I closed my mouth, seeing if silence might pull him back to reality, but he continued staring off into the space right next to me as though nothing had changed. Whatever he’d heard on his phone call had clearly bothered him, because he was sitting there like someone had slapped him in the face. Which I might do in a minute unless he starts paying attention to me.

  I reached out my hand and waved it up and down in front of his eyes. He took a few seconds to refocus on me, and after a couple of blinks to clear his head, he seemed to return to reality. Did he not notice his robe was halfway open and he was all but exposing himself? What kind of move was that? To be honest, I had to struggle to pull my eyes away from his well-toned legs.

  I took a deep breath and realized this meeting was pointless. I wasn’t getting through to him, and it was a waste of time for me to tell him anything when he was clearly uninterested. He swung from listening to me, to goading me to say what he wanted, and then to complete oblivion midway through a sentence. I was done with this crap. I wasn’t paid enough to pander to this billionaire baby right now. I’d make the drive again if I had to, but I wasn’t going to take this abuse.

  “I should get going,” I suggested, getting to my feet. “I’ll leave the papers for you to have a look at and maybe I can visit again when you’re a little less,” I waved my hand, trying to find the word, “whatever this is.”

  “Maybe you should,” he agreed. That pissed me off. I’d driven a long way to this asshole’s middle-of-nowhere mansion to talk him through shit that directly affected him, and all he had to say for himself was
I should probably go?

  “Okay then, I’ll see you later,” I nodded.

  He didn’t try to stop me as I turned to leave, and my hands shook with the need to throw something at him. I shouldn’t let him get under my skin. It did me no good to let myself get worked up, but I hated being treated like a second-class citizen.

  I got back into my car and took a deep breath, not looking back at the mansion. Time to get the fuck out of here, go home, have a big glass of wine, and put this all behind me.

  As I started the drive home, the memory of Zachary’s naked body as he got out of the swimming pool haunted me. I hadn’t seen anyone naked since I’d had sex with Aston. And that wasn’t something I needed to dredge up right now. Oh, hell no.

  Mr. Rose had a body made for sin. I mean, Aston wasn’t lacking in the manhood department, but Mr. Zachary Rose? Fucking hung. I wondered what a cock like that would feel like inside of me. Zachary had obviously let himself go a little, but he still looked amazing. His rugged beard and messy hair spoke of a different side of him than the carefully groomed pictures on the internet. He was gorgeous, no doubt about it, and those sparkling eyes, when they focused in on me, were enough to make my breath hitch in my throat. Part of me wanted to run my hands down his chest when he’d risen from the pool, to feel his muscles flex beneath my fingers.

  The other part wanted to kick him in his over-exposed nuts.

  I shoved the thought out of my head. He didn’t deserve my attention. He’d treated me like shit. In fact, in some ways, he’d reminded me of my stepfather, not in his looks but in the way he looked at me.

  Carlton Simpson, my creepy step-father, had those eyes that eerily followed you around the room. Like a painting. It made me uncomfortable. In fact, there wasn’t much about my stepfather that didn’t make me uncomfortable, but he had strong connections and wasn’t afraid to call them in for me. I probably should’ve been grateful to him instead of letting my odd little hang-ups get in the way of feeling thankful for everything he’d done for me. It wasn’t fair to think of him like a jackass. I did owe him my entire career.