Cocky Suit: A Hero Club Novel

by Harlow Layne

  “You should know about the dogs. They… well, they…” He looked confused and hot as hell while running his large hand through his ruffled blond locks as he tried to figure out what to say. I decided to save him just as he was saving me, and so he’d stop making his hair look sexier. I needed to repeat to myself not to have inappropriate thoughts about my boss.

  “They’re just dogs, and for a place to lay my head at night, I can handle anything you throw at me.” My grip on my suitcase tightened as I took a step forward.

  “Whatever you say, Ms. Wang.” He drew out the a in my last name in a way that I knew he was thinking inappropriate or childish thoughts. Again, I wanted to slap him. How was it that I always seemed to want to slap him or jump him?

  Kingston opened the door and held his arm out indicating I should go first. Okay, maybe he was a little bit of a gentleman. Wheeling my suitcase behind me, I walked into—I’m not even sure what you’d call it. It was not an apartment. I had only walked into the foyer and could see the living room, but the space was bigger than my entire house that I shared with Haider. The entire house. This was a palace in the sky on the top floor. The decor was all white, black, and gray—very bachelor. Everything was made of leather or metal, and it was all expensive and luxurious. What did I expect from a man who wore ten-thousand-dollar suits to work every day?

  I was starting to turn around to express how lovely his home was and that it was not, in fact, an apartment when I swear the few pictures that were on the wall started to shake. It sounded as if a stampede was coming toward us. Slowly walking backward, I ran right into Kingston when two monstrous dogs came flying around the corner and jumped on me. One was on each side of me with their paws on my shoulders as they licked Kingston’s face.

  “All right.” Kingston let out a deep belly laugh. “I missed you too. Now, Orvy and Sarah, get down. That’s no way to greet a guest in our home.” He gave them both affectionate rubs before pushing them off me. My back was plastered against his long, hard body and I didn’t want to move. He felt too good. I’d take his behemoth dogs mauling me if it meant I got to keep my body pressed against his a little longer. Sadly, he broke the spell when his hands gripped my shoulders as he brushed his body against mine when he moved around me. I didn’t think it was necessary, but I liked it, nonetheless.

  Looking down, I spotted what would normally be a cute little dog, but it wasn’t cute because it was humping my leg like I was the first woman who’d ever walked into the apartment. At least someone was interested in humping me.

  “Jimmy.” Kingston scooped the tiny dog up into his arms and I watched in utter fascination as the pup licked my boss all over his handsome face. Kingston smiled the whole way through before he said in a much higher voice, “I know she’s pretty, but no humping our guest.” Sitting the dog down, he took my suitcase from me and walked away. “I’ll show you to your room and after I feed the dogs we can order in dinner and go over their care.”

  Dutifully, I followed behind him with my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. It wasn’t because his apartment was huge and incredibly decorated, even if it was typical bachelor pad décor. No, it was because no matter how many times I’d seen it at work, I hadn’t realized just how phenomenal my boss’s ass looked in his suit. We kept walking down the hall only passing by a few doors until we came to one at the end of the hall. How large was this place?

  “This is your room. Feel free to put all your stuff away.” He placed my suitcase in front of the closet. “Is this all your stuff?”

  “The rest is at the office. I didn’t want to haul it around to wherever I ended up tonight. I’ll bring the rest back with me tomorrow. It’s not much.”

  “If you need any help, Roger, who’s the day doorman, will gladly help you out.” He looked around the room as if it was his first time in there. “You can do whatever you want, and I won’t hear it. I’m on the other side of the apartment, but I guess it won’t matter after tonight.”

  “You don’t have to worry, I’m not a loud person.”

  “Is that so?” A large smirk crossed his chiseled face.

  Internally, I rolled my eyes and acted as if I didn’t get his innuendo. Was sex the only thing he ever thought about? It certainly seemed it was all I thought about when I was in proximity to him.

  Leaving the room, Kingston looked over his shoulder at me. His eyes were dark as they scanned me up and down. “Put your things away and when you’re done come out and help me decide what to have for dinner.”

  Had I entered the twilight zone? Kingston Avery was nice and caring, and dare I say almost… sweet?

  Slipping my heels off, I opened the door to the closet and gasped. Holy hell, it was the biggest closet I’d ever seen. That seemed to be a running theme when it came to Kingston Avery. It was one of those closets you’d see in a magazine of a master suite. But never in a guest bedroom. Had Kingston given me the master suite? There was an honest to god island in the middle of the closet. An entire wall was meant for shoes. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine the amount of clothes it would require to make a dent in all the storage. The best part about it was it smelled like cedar. I could spend hours in its little sitting room looking at how beautiful it was. If I lived here, I’d never want to leave.

  Stepping outside the closet, I looked around the bedroom in utter astonishment. The bed seemed to be bigger than a king and yet barely took up any space at all. One wall was entirely made up of windows that looked out on what seemed to be the entire city. His apartment was like a mansion on top of a skyscraper. I’m not sure why I was so surprised. Kingston grew up with money and he made a hell of a lot of it on his own with Avery Capital Holdings.

  After unpacking my meager belongings into the closet of all closets, I went out in search of my boss. I needed to keep reminding myself he was my boss and not the hottie that was currently standing in his kitchen.

  I couldn’t help but do my own appraisal of him as he’d done of me before he left me to unpack. He looked good in his natural habitat. Not that he didn’t look good at work, but here in his home with his suit jacket off, hair in disarray, white shirt sleeves rolled up, and standing barefoot in his kitchen, Kingston Avery was phenomenal. The look of stress was no longer evident on his face, and as he smiled and played with his dogs, I wanted to run my hands through his hair and jump him.

  “Everything okay, Ms. Wang? You’re not still thinking about your tool of an ex, are you? Because if you are, let me tell you something. He was stupid to cheat on you. Stupid. Utterly stupid. I would never… Any man who would cheat on you needs his head examined.”

  “I… no I wasn’t thinking about him.” But I was now. Changing the subject so I wouldn’t start crying, I asked, “Did you give me the master suite?”

  Kingston along with all the dogs cocked their heads at me. He made a strange sound in the back of his throat as his lips moved with nothing coming out. “I gave you the biggest guest room. Do you want to move to a different room? It won’t hurt my feelings.”

  “You have feelings?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Slapping my hand over my mouth, I looked at him with what I was sure was terror in my eyes. I had to remember that even if I was in his home, Kingston was still my boss and I couldn’t say anything I wanted to him or I might get fired.

  A low rumbling chuckle filled the room. “On occasion, I seem to exhibit signs of feelings.” His eyes narrowed as his full lips tipped up. “If you tell anyone, I’ll have to kill you.”

  “Under penalty of death seems pretty harsh.” I moved into the kitchen to find about twenty menus laid out on the counter. “It looks like you do takeout as much as I do.”

  He looked down at the menus, one shoulder went up in a half shrug. “I work late and it’s more fun to order for one person than it is to cook for one.”

  I didn’t even have that excuse. I could have cooked for Haider and me, but after work and almost an hour ride home, I was in no mood to cook. Maybe that’s why Haider
strayed.

  “What are you in the mood for?” I noticed then that the menus were organized by cuisine and at least half of them were Chinese.

  I came around to stand beside him, so I didn’t have to try and read them upside down. “Anything but Chinese.”

  Kingston leaned his hip against the counter, looking down at me. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but are you Chinese?” Immediately he looked away and I swore I saw the slightest tinge of pink in his cheeks. I had to be imagining everything about tonight because nothing made sense, especially my boss being embarrassed.

  “One hundred percent.” The bite in my tone was unnecessary and I hated it immediately. I didn’t want Kingston to think he’d upset me by his question. It wasn’t him in the slightest. I couldn’t stop thinking about the redhead I caught Haider with. From an early age, I knew I’d always marry someone Chinese because that was the way I was raised, and that’s all I’d dated since I was allowed to start dating at the age of seventeen. That’s not to say I wasn’t ever attracted to a male of another race, but I was never interested until I stepped into Kingston Avery’s office and saw the Adonis standing before me.

  “I’m sorry. It’s not you.” I closed my eyes and tried to calm down enough to explain. “All my life I was brought up to believe that the only right man for me would be Chinese and my fiancé. Ex fiancé, Haider,” I amended. “He was very traditional in most ways.”

  “Wait, your boyfriend’s name is Haider?” He choked out as if it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. He doubled over the counter. His low rumble of a laugh filled the space. “As in ‘hate her’?” He placed an elbow on the counter as if it would help stabilize him from falling over. It didn’t work. Kingston slapped the counter and pretended to wipe a tear leaking out of the corners of his icy green eyes.

  It did kind of sound like that and I had to laugh along with him. It felt good to laugh today after feeling as if life as I knew it was over.

  Straightening up, I turned back to the menus. Standing there with Kingston was a mixture of both awkwardness and comfort. It made no sense and yet it did which further confused me. “My ex only ever ate Chinese food.” It never made sense to me since I’d grown up in a traditional Chinese family and although we ate a great deal of Chinese food, we ate other food.

  Kingston started picking up all the menus that were Chinese and threw them in an empty drawer. “Do you have a drawer solely for menus?” I asked on a laugh. It was possible since his kitchen had more cabinetry than my entire house. Not your house anymore.

  “It wasn’t being used for anything else.” He studied the menus as if he’d never seen them before. Was he embarrassed? Out of nowhere, he said, “How about pizza and ice cream?”

  “That’s random.”

  “What do chicks usually eat after a breakup?” Again he was looking down at me. Normally, I hated being so short at an even five feet with everyone looking down at me but not around Kingston. He had to look down at the majority of everyone he spoke to since he was so tall, and I didn’t think it bothered him to peer down at me.

  “How tall are you?” Dear God, did I not have a filter tonight?

  Another low rumble rolled out him as he hunched down some as if he was trying to appear smaller than he was. Placing my hand on his chest, I stepped toward him. “Don’t do that. I like how tall you are.”

  He licked his lips as his eyes turned from an icy mint to jade. “Do you now, Ms. Wang?” I was starting to like the way he drew out the a in my last name. And with that, I stepped back. I didn’t need to do something I’d regret in the morning; I couldn’t imagine having to work with my boss after kissing him.

  I smiled and looked back down at the counter and the remaining menus. “Pizza and ice cream, it is. You’ll get brownie points if you like pineapple on your pizza.”

  “Only if it’s Hawaiian.” One of the large dogs nudged Kingston’s hand and he immediately started to scratch behind its ears. “Now that we have that settled, what kind of ice cream do you want?”

  “Do any of the pizza places have ice cream or gelato?” I couldn’t ask him to make two separate orders. He was already going well beyond anything I ever expected.

  “Sure. Luigi’s has gelato. Their banana is to die for.” A moan slipped from his lips and I nearly fainted on the spot. Holy hell, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through the night without jumping him, especially if he made those kinds of noises.

  “Banana it is.” Maybe I was into torturing myself. “And who is this?” I pointed at the dog. I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl and didn’t want to offend him. After all, I was here to watch his dogs.

  “Right, what was I thinking? I need to introduce you. After that, we’ll eat and I’ll explain what you need to do while I’m gone.”

  The dog followed in step beside me as we trailed behind Kingston. It seemed more the size of a horse than a dog. What had I gotten myself into with agreeing to watch them? We stopped in what I would call a living room, but it seemed more like a movie room with how large the TV was. It had to be the largest on the planet. It seemed my boss didn’t do anything small.

  Turning toward me, he kneeled, and all the dogs went running toward him. Was that some sort of command or something, because if it was, I was never kneeling in front of them. “Pria, this little guy is Jimmy Chew. He humps just about anything.” As if on command, the tiny brown and black puppy started to hump one of the beds that were on the floor. Well, now I didn’t feel so special.

  “This beauty is Sarah Jessica Barker.” I did a double take on the name. Sarah Jessica Barker. Had I heard that right? She was adorable. She was all gray even her eyes except for a spot of white on her chest. “Sarah, say hello to Pria.”

  Sarah lifted her head in the air and walked away. Okay, maybe not so cute. Seemed she had a bit of an attitude.

  “She’s a bit of a diva,” he said with pure affection in his tone as he watched her walk away. “And this big guy is Sarah’s brother, Orville Redenbarker, but I call him Orvy.” Orvy’s ears perked up. He too was adorable and didn’t seem to be a diva. He had an intelligent face and knowing eyes. His were also gray, but he was white with black spots.

  I plopped down on a comfy leather chair and started to laugh. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Okay, I’ve got to ask. Where the hell did you come up with those names because seriously, Jimmy Chew, Sarah Jessica Barker, and Orville Redenbarker?” It took longer than it should to ask my question between my laughter. Those were the best dog names ever. Not that I’d tell him that. I needed to give him shit for it first.

  In an instant, the happy-go-lucky guy was gone and in his places was the cold man who I was used to. More graceful than should be possible with his tall frame, Kingston stood. The ice was back in his eyes as he looked down on me. This time I didn’t have the warm tingles. No, he wanted to eviscerate me with one look alone. “My sister named them before she died.”

  Silently I watched as he walked away with all his dogs following along behind him.

  Maybe now wasn’t a good time to tell him I knew his sister and his family.

  7

  Pria

  Stretching my arms above my head, I opened my eyes to Kingston’s lavish guest room. It had been the best night of sleep in as long as I could remember despite the way things ended with Kingston and having found out that my fiancé had been cheating on me for the last six months. The bed conformed to every curve of my body. The sheets had to have been a thousand thread count. Hell, I had no idea how high of a thread count sheets could go, but whatever it was, Kingston seemed to have had them on his guest bed. Don’t get me started on the plush comforter that felt as if it was snuggling up next to me and put me into a deep sleep almost instantly. Slipping out of bed, I quickly used the restroom and tried to make my hair look presentable by running my fingers through it before I left my room. I wasn’t sure when my boss would be leaving for his trip and I didn’t want to look like something from The Night of the Livi
ng Dead if he was still here.

  Padding down the hallway toward the kitchen, I was met with six eyes staring back at me. I think we were all in shock as we stood there, unsure of what to do. I was beginning to think it was a mistake to agree to watch his dogs when I had no idea what I was doing. Especially when two of the dogs were bigger than me. How was I supposed to walk those beasts? Maybe they walked themselves. I had a feeling I was in for a rude awakening.

  Before I could take another step, the dogs were running in the other direction. Instead of chasing after them, I followed my nose to the smell of some of the best coffee I’d ever smelled. One look at the coffee machine, if you could even call it that, and I knew I’d never figure it out. It looked like something out of a sci-fi film instead of something capable of brewing the magical elixir I needed every morning. I guess I’d be hitting up the nearest Starbucks on the way to the office.

  Sitting next to an almost empty coffee cup, I saw a folder marked rules on it. Flipping it open, I thought for sure I had to be dreaming because there was no way in hell Kingston Avery expected me to do everything that was entailed on page after page of what seemed like a mini novel. I still hadn’t figured out how I was going to take them out to go to the bathroom. Did I take them out one at a time or all at once? Maybe I could hire a dog walker to do that part. Why didn’t Kingston have a dog walker? Was he an asshole to everyone and they all quit?

  Rules

  Don’t let the dogs get up on any of the furniture. They each have their own beds in the living room and the master bedroom. Be firm with them and they will listen.

  To do EVERY TIME before you leave the apartment:

  •Food and water.

  •Bathroom break.

  •Put Animal Planet on TV to play in the background.

  •Give each their own toys. There are baskets marked with their names.