She just wanted time to live her own life.
As for the man she wanted to live it with?
The end result of the interview on the morning show was that Kade did not have to walk away from Blink, and he’d gone back to work. Social media had gone crazy after Lila’s admission about her lies. A firestorm of coverage resulted on why it was so difficult for women who’d been raped to be heard in today’s society. Because of lies like Lila’s, true victims were afraid they wouldn’t be believed.
Kade had stepped forward to help change that. Despite being wrongly accused, he’d donated a substantial amount of money to RAINN, the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network, also known for running the National Sexual Assault Hotline in order to help women who have been victims of rape. He was everyone’s hero.
He’d always been hers.
How did she go about proving to the man who had everything that she loved him and wanted to put him first? Lexie put her brain to work and came up with two things she could do to make her point.
She was going to return to work as his assistant. Invited or not, expected or not, he needed someone who understood him, and Lexie was it. Even if he no longer wanted a relationship with her, she intended to stand by him and do her job. Because she knew how well they clicked and how much she helped him manage day-to-day living.
Her second idea was more complicated and risky, but she’d taken care of that too. He’d either be thrilled or he’d never forgive her. Either way, she was going to be around to see the end result.
So now, on another rainy Monday, with her father visiting Kendall at the treatment center, Lexie dressed for work. She was nervous, not knowing what kind of reception she’d receive at Blink. Maybe Kade would be happy to see her. Maybe he’d written her off for good. She wouldn’t know until she showed up there.
Of course, Waffles, who was now her responsibility, chose this morning to get sick, necessitating a messy cleanup and a change of clothes, causing Lexie to be late getting out of the apartment. She’d hired a dog walker and had to leave the young girl a note, letting her know to watch out for the dog’s upset stomach, then ran for the bus. In a Groundhog’s Day repeat of her first day at work, she also forgot her umbrella and was splattered with rain by the time she got onto the bus.
In other words, there was no way she was going to make a good impression on her surprise return to the office.
* * *
Kade strode into his private office and glanced out the wall-to-wall windows and into the gloomy rain that matched his mood. Despite the weather, he ought to be happy because, at the very least, he had part of his life back. Blink, his baby, the thing that defined him, was his, and he was no longer forced to walk away. That, in and of itself, was a relief because he’d put his lifeblood into the company.
Hell, it was all he had since losing Lexie.
“Good morning, Mr. Barnes,” a chipper, familiar voice said.
He blinked in surprise, his pulse picking up speed. As if his thoughts had conjured her, Lexie popped up from beneath his desk. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and she had rain stains on her white shirt, which was tucked into that black pencil skirt he loved.
Déjà vu, he thought, hope racing through his veins as she adjusted the computer on the desk.
“What are you doing?” he asked, as curious as he was pleased to see her.
“Well, let’s see. Someone moved your computer back to where it was before I changed things around.”
He shrugged. “That would be the cleaning staff. They came in and did a mass dusting and cleaning.” He’d arrived the next morning to discover nothing was where he’d left it. “I fired them right after.”
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “Well, you’re all fixed now.”
“I can see that.” His desk was back to its neat form, piles of color-coordinated files sat on the corner, all his pens in the holder. He’d kind of missed Lexie’s organization. “Mind if I ask why you’re here?” he asked, afraid to wish she was here for him.
“About that.” She twisted her hands together nervously. “Have you hired a new assistant?”
“One I’ve kept? No.”
Another small smile edged that too sexy mouth. “Okay, then I’ll assume the position is open. And now I’m back, so consider it filled.”
This time it was his turn to grin, but the smile slowly faded. “Is it business only?” He asked their familiar refrain, unsure if he could handle her as his personal assistant and nothing more.
They’d been too close. He’d shared too much with her. He’d let himself open up and be himself. And he loved her. So he couldn’t just be her boss.
“That depends on you.” Before she could elaborate, someone knocked on his office door.
“Shit. I’ll get rid of whoever it is,” he promised, needing this conversation more than his next breath.
Her eyes opened wide. “No. Umm, you can’t. Give us a minute!” she called out before turning back to Kade. “Listen. I did something and I don’t want you to be mad or upset with me.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Tell me.”
“Well, I know how much you like things orderly and expected. Maybe I didn’t think this through as well as I thought, but it’s done now, right?”
“You’re rambling,” he said. “What’s going on?”
A loud banging sounded outside his door again. “What?” Kade shouted.
“Your brother is waiting to meet you,” Lexie said, ducking around him.
“My brother?” he asked, his chest suddenly hurting and painful. “Brother, as in…”
“Jeffrey, from England,” Lexie said, cheeks stained pink. “Just know I did this because I love you. And because I knew it was something that, deep down, you needed.” As she spoke, she walked backwards, edging her way to the door and grasping the handle. “And I only invited him after I made sure he felt exactly the same way. He misses you, Kade.”
All the moisture drained from his mouth, and words failed him, which was a good thing, because he really didn’t want to yell at Lexie for trying to do something nice. Even if that something turned into a disaster. But maybe it wouldn’t. And there was that damned hope again.
She unlocked the door … and the brother Kade hadn’t seen in twenty-three years walked into his office. Kade stared at an older version of the boy he’d known, whose picture he looked at often, despite hiding it behind other photos on his shelf.
“Jeffrey.”
“Kade.” He extended his hand, Kade shook it, and before he knew it, he was hugging his long-lost sibling. Thanks to Lexie.
* * *
An hour later, Jeffrey, who Lexie had met at the airport yesterday, left Kade’s office, giving her a wink as he strode to the elevator.
She let out a sigh of relief … for the brothers. She still didn’t know if Kade was angry with her for meddling. Even if she had his best interest at heart. Not to mention, they’d been mid-serious conversation when Jeffrey had arrived, so things between Lexie and Kade were still up in the air.
When the buzzer rang, she jumped. She picked up the phone. “Yes?”
“In here. Now,” Kade said, his voice stern.
Her stomach was doing flips and turns as she entered his office, waiting on the threshold.
“Come in and shut the door.” His voice and expression gave no inkling as to his feelings.
She inched in and closed the door behind her. Nervous, she decided to jump right in with her explanation.
“I’m not here for business only,” she said, picking up where they’d left off. “When I decided to come back to you, I wanted to make a grand gesture. Something that would prove to you how much I love you.”
His eyes flashed a deeper hue at her use of the word love.
She gathered her courage and continued. “The first idea I had was returning as your assistant, because what do you get the man who has everything?” She shrugged. “The one thing he needs the most.”
“Someone to
make my coffee?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with laughter.
She felt a little better and grinned. “That’s part of it. Contacting your brother was the other part. I wanted you to have that connection, and I knew how important it was to you. If I’d gotten any inkling that Jeffrey didn’t want that contact too, I’d have put the entire idea to bed.”
Kade waited patiently, watching her, his gaze warm, giving her courage.
“As it turns out, Jeffrey had wanted to reach out for years, but your mother convinced him neither you nor your father had any interest in him.” She shook her head, hating herself for having to hurt him that way.
To Kade’s credit, he didn’t even flinch. “She’s such a bitch,” he muttered.
“I’m sorry.” She stepped forward, wanting desperately to touch him, but they weren’t there … yet.
“I’m over it and her. I swear. Something about meeting you and your immediate acceptance of me… It changed my perspective. It changed me.”
She lit up inside at his admission. “You changed things for me too.” She drew a deep breath. “You see, a few weeks ago, I took my sister to the Maple Hill Treatment Center upstate. For a long-term stay.”
“Come here.” He gestured for her to come closer, and she met him by his desk. He grasped her hand in his, and she took comfort from his touch. His thumb caressed her skin, and the heat set her aflame.
“Now go on,” he said in a husky tone.
She allowed herself to meet his gaze. “I was sitting alone in the waiting room, and I saw you on television. What you went through, admitting to the date rape accusation, walking away from Blink so you could save Derek and Luke … so Julian wouldn’t go after the people you cared about again. You’re amazing. And I should have been with you. I wanted to be with you.”
Understanding settled in his handsome face. “Your sister needed you,” he said. “I not only understood that but I respected it.”
“And I’m grateful, but don’t you see? My sister will always need me. Does that mean I don’t get a life? Does it mean I don’t get to choose you?”
He blinked, then stilled. “Is that what you’re doing? Choosing me?” He squeezed her hand tighter, and she understood what he wasn’t saying.
“I am. If you still want me.” She managed an uncertain smile. “I realized too late why you left the morning after we made love. Because you didn’t want to force me to choose. Because you’ve always come out on the wrong side of that in the past.”
“You’re right,” he admitted.
She reached up and cupped his cheeks. “I told my father it’s time for him to step up and be Kendall’s parent. That I’m entitled to my own life. I love my sister, and I will always be there for her. But I can’t clean up her messes anymore. She has to get there on her own or with the support of my father. When I can help her, I will, but you’re my priority, Kade. Does that make me selfish, wanting my own life?” She drew a deep breath and met his gaze. “Wanting you?”
He shook his head, squeezing her wrists and bringing her hands down in front of them. “No, you are not selfish. And I don’t ever want you to have to choose between me and your family. You needed me to walk away, to let you cope the way you always had before, so I did. I’ll always give you what you need.”
“Oh, Kade. I need you. I want you. I love you.” She blinked, her eyes watery. “But the one thing I don’t want is for you to leave me ever again.”
The next thing she knew, she was in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, her lips on his, kissing him without coming up for air.
She’d missed him so much.
Kade tugged on Lexie’s hair, tilting her head back and drinking his fill of the woman he never thought he’d have in his arms again. Desire swept over him, along with a longing that was soul deep and all consuming.
He backed her against the wall and cushioned his hips between hers. His cock was hard and insistent against her pussy, his brain a haze of want and need. He wasn’t focused on anything other than getting inside Lexie again, and considering this was his private office, there was nothing stopping him. He was about to make was a shitty rainy day a spectacular one.
“I mean it, Kade. I love you,” she said.
He’d never get tired of hearing those words. As a matter of fact… “I want to hear you say it while I’m balls deep inside you.” He pressed a kiss to her nose, her cheeks, her lips.
He needed to hear her say it when they were as physically close as they could be. He’d lose himself in her warm, always willing body and bury the last shred of feeling not quite good enough, once and for all.
Her gaze never leaving his, she unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor, then slid her panties off too. Those he shoved in the back pocket of his jeans. She stood before him in sexy heels, her shirt barely covering her sex, legs parted, waiting just for him.
He expelled a harsh breath, then got to work on his belt buckle, dropping his jeans along with his briefs, kicking both aside. He said a prayer of thanks the windows in his office that overlooked the city were the only ones he had to worry about. Nobody in the office could see the perfection that was Lexie, and his alone.
“Come here.” With a smile, she stepped toward him. He lifted her into his arms and carried her over to his desk, placing her on the cool aluminum.
“Aren’t you glad I cleaned your desk?” she asked.
“So fucking glad,” he muttered, stepping between her legs, his solid erection poised and ready, except… “No condom.” He hung his head, his entire body protesting reality.
“Kade? Before you, there hadn’t been anyone in a long, long time. I had a recent yearly exam. I’m clean.” She looked up at him with her gorgeous blue eyes. “And I’m on the pill.”
“I’m clean too and I’d never put you at risk.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” she asked, leaning back on her elbows, her entire lower body open and ready, exposed to him.
With a groan, he grabbed his cock and rubbed it over her sweet pussy, coating himself with her wetness, nudging himself into her heat.
She whimpered, her body desperately trying to clamp around him. “Now, please.”
“Whatever you want,” he said, and thrust hard, fast, and deep, groaning as he found heaven inside her tight body. He eased out and pushed back again, burying himself to the hilt.
She pushed herself upward, her eyes on his as their bodies connected in the most intimate way. “I love you, Kade. I don’t ever want you to wonder or have to ask for the words. And you’ll always come first.”
On that sentiment, he released the hold he had on his body, grabbing her hips and pumping into her, grinding their bodies each time they came together. It was hard, it was fast, but it was absolutely perfect. And when he came, the words I love you were on his lips.
Epilogue
Three months later…
When it was right, it was right. Kade wanted to bind Lexie to him forever, and she was all too eager to become Mrs. Kaden Barnes. Not that he’d have given her a choice, but she’d accepted his ring, all three carats, and wore it with pride. Although he’d had to convince her that the bus to the office had to go if she wanted to wear her ring. Since she’d moved in with him almost immediately, they shared a car to work every day.
Because Lexie didn’t want to bother her father with a wedding, and her sister was still at the treatment center, she decided she wanted to elope in Las Vegas. Which was why they now stood in a private chapel that lacked any tacky Elvis impersonator, and a justice of the peace waited to marry them. They’d flown out with Derek, Luke, and Jeffrey to stand with Kade, and Tessa and Becky to be Lexie’s bridesmaids.
Lexie entered the chapel and took Kade’s breath away. She wore a formfitting white gown with beading, a V-neck that had him drooling, and a small tiara atop her head, her long curls falling over her shoulders.
She walked straight to him, her wide smile promising him she was all in.
And all his.
<
br /> “Is everyone ready?” the judge asked.
“Just one thing first,” Kade said, nodding at Derek, who stood by the doors to the chapel.
“You can’t get cold feet,” Becky warned him.
Lexie narrowed her gaze.
“Not a chance.” He glanced at Lexie and grasped her hands, which were cold and clammy in his. “Nervous?” he asked.
“I wasn’t … until now.”
He merely grinned. “Look.”
They all turned toward the doors that Derek opened. Kendall stood by her father’s side, wearing a matching bridesmaid’s dress to Becky’s and Tessa’s royal blue ones. Together they walked into the room and headed straight for the bride.
“Oh my God!” Lexie gasped, her beautiful eyes filling with tears. “How?”
“Straight from the institution to Vegas,” Kendall joked. “No, seriously. I knew I was being discharged, but I wanted to surprise you.” Her twin pulled a shaking Lexie into her arms. “Your soon-to-be husband flew us out on his private jet so we’d be here on time.”
“I wouldn’t miss my daughter’s wedding,” her father said. Implied was a scolding for Lexie’s attempt at leaving him out in the first place.
Her father had stepped up and done right by both daughters, as well as his wife. Kade admired him for that, even if he’d come late to the realization that the burden shouldn’t be on Lexie.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m overwhelmed and so happy.” Lexie turned to Kade. “I can’t believe you arranged this.”
He grasped her hands and pulled her over to the corner for a minute alone. “I’d do anything for you. You have to know that. This was just my way of giving you back your family. The same way you returned mine to me.”
His brother, a businessman in the import-export business, had moved to the United States to get to know his father and brother. He and Kade had fallen into the same old rhythm, as if no time had passed, and he had Lexie to thank.
Summer Heat: A Steamy Romance Boxed Set Page 16
