HIS BOUND BRIDE: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance

by Sophia Gray

  Should I quit? Should I just run away? I bit my lip as I worked the thought over and over in my head. I didn’t want to give up such an amazing job on the first day, but I couldn’t believe that I’d already seen my boss’s ass.

  “Audrey,” Enzo said in his disaffected, smooth voice. “I’ll be needing some coffee now.”

  Chapter Two

  Enzo

  I stood and watched as Audrey shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She was wearing about a hundred layers of clothing—a frumpy, baggy skirt that looked like something a grandmother would pick for church bingo, a lumpy, loose turtleneck, a dated blazer, and a big puffy marshmallow parka that was bright pink. She had brown hair and blue eyes and a pretty enough face, but not the kind of woman that I liked.

  I wondered why HR had hired her. I smirked as I pondered the truth: was I being punished? For sleeping all of my previous secretaries? Did they really think that sending me a little mouse in drab clothing would diminish my sexual appetite? I scowled.

  “Mr. Lennox?” Audrey’s voice was quiet and soft, almost like a mouse. I laughed as I imagined what she’d look like with whiskers and little gray ears on the top of her head. She frowned. “What’s funny?”

  “Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “And please, call me Enzo.” I flashed my most charming grin at the bewildered girl. “My father is Mr. Lennox,” I added smoothly.

  Audrey blushed again, almost as hard as before. I couldn’t stop staring at her. For all of her little church mouse ways, she was actually adorable. I had a feeling that she’d never felt sexy, or maybe she didn’t even care about being seen that way. That was going to be a big change around here; my usual secretaries were complete glamazons, always staring in the mirror or fixing their bright lipstick. Audrey wasn’t wearing a trace of makeup, only a swipe of Chap Stick. Her eyebrows were bushy and ungroomed, and I could tell that her upper lip needed a wax.

  “How do you take your coffee?” Audrey asked. “Enzo.” She emphasized my first name, blushing. “Black? Or with cream and sugar? Or just milk?”

  “Cream and sugar,” I replied, my tone lascivious. “And please hurry, Audrey, we have a long day ahead of us.”

  Audrey spun on her heel and clomped out of my office. I clearly saw that the heel on one of her orthopedic shoes was crudely glued back on as there was white stuff caked on it. I frowned. Maybe with the salary I was giving her, she’d be able to afford some better shoes.

  Audrey darted back in only a few minutes later, carefully carrying a hot mug of coffee with her hand cupped around the lip so it wouldn’t spill. I took a deep breath—it smelled amazing—and watched as she set it down on my desk, her gaze frantically darting around for a coaster.

  Audrey smiled at me and stood there, her nostrils flared and her face still pink from earlier. The overwhelming desire to pull her close and kiss her came over me. I frowned; it wasn’t like my cock to want a woman like Audrey, especially not so soon after fucking someone much more in line with my preferences.

  “Enzo?” Audrey’s voice was tentative and soft. “Are you alright? Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  I shook my head. I was too busy trying to figure out how she’d landed a job here at LennoxCo. I had to admit that I respected how she hadn’t gone into hysterics. I grinned as I thought about the scene Audrey had walked in on earlier—a lot of girls probably would have started crying, or worse. But she’d held it together, even though she was clearly mortified.

  “You can sit down at the desk,” I said in a smooth tone. “There’s a slip of paper in the top drawer with your log-in information. You’ll want to change your password immediately,” I added. “And in your email, there should be a very detailed write-up of your daily tasks. I had your predecessor type it up for me.” I didn’t add the detail of how I’d had my last girl type up the document: with my cock slamming in and out of her pussy. But I figured Audrey didn’t need to hear any more details about my ravenous appetites today. After all, she’d already had the shock of a lifetime.

  Audrey backed out of my office and closed the door. She didn’t say anything else and kept her gaze glued to the floor. Through the small partition in the door, I watched as she sat down in the office chair and removed her pink parka. Even without the big marshmallow jacket, I couldn’t tell what her body looked like. I shook my head and laughed as I realized she could have any body type under all of that clothing.

  I decided that I was going to keep her around, maybe on a trial basis. I hated to admit it, but maybe it was a good thing that HR hired a different kind of girl. After all, I’d gone through six secretaries in less than six months. Each of them had been delicious in her own way, but I was starting to feel… well, rather bored with the whole process of that.

  Sleeping with hot girls at work was definitely a perk of being a hot, young CEO. But I was starting to wonder if perhaps it wasn’t beginning to affect my actual performance. Maybe Audrey was exactly who I needed: a polite little mouse who could keep me on track. Financials for the last two quarters had been dismal, and I was going to have to keep my head in the game if I wanted to turn things around.

  Chapter Three

  Audrey

  I couldn’t believe that I’d made it through my first week of work. “Only fifty-one more to go before the end of the year,” I said to my reflection at the end of the day on Friday. I winced. I could have gotten through fifty-one more weeks of intense rock climbing, or cave diving more easily than I could have gotten through that same amount of time as Enzo Lennox’s secretary.

  It wasn’t that the work was hard, exactly. But Enzo was always watching me. He’d taken to leaving his door open and calling out for coffee or a salad throughout the day, and if I didn’t drop immediately what I was doing and go out, he’d come storming through the doorway like a bull.

  I shivered. It was intimidating, that was all. I wasn’t used to that kind of work environment. Hell, I wasn’t really used to any work environment that put such a high importance on physical appearance. Working at LennoxCo definitely made me realize that I looked like an outsider.

  I wasn’t a clotheshorse like a lot of the women there, but I always tried to look professional. I knew that the girls were sneering about me behind my back, but I didn’t care; I was Enzo’s employee, not theirs.

  Still, it was a relief to have a day to myself. Ever since I moved to Chicago, I’d spent Saturdays volunteering at a food bank and soup kitchen downtown. It was the kind of thing that I enjoyed more than almost anything else, except for snuggling with Pepper on the couch and watching TV. After a week of walking on eggshells around Enzo, I was relieved to have someplace to go where the regulars liked me.

  Carl was one of my favorites at the kitchen. He showed up every weekend without fail, sometimes with a friend or two in tow. He’d been coming for years, and I was pretty sure that he was homeless. We were close, and I’d often thought about asking him if he wanted to move in with me. But I didn’t know Carl’s story, or where he was from, and I didn’t want to offend the man.

  “Audrey, it’s so nice to see you,” Carl said with a warm smile as I ladled some beef stew into his bowl. “You look tired.”

  I yawned, hiding my face in my elbow. “I feel pretty tired,” I admitted. “I had kind of a rough week. I started a new job.”

  “Oh, Audrey,” Carl said, his face breaking out into a wide smile. “That’s so good to hear. Tell me about it.”

  I glanced down the serving line. The crowd of people waiting for food was out the door, and some of the regulars were getting cranky about having to wait. I blushed. “I’ll sit down with you when I’m done here,” I said. “Just give me about an hour, okay?”

  While I finished up my shift, Carl played chess with another one of the men who showed up on the weekends. I enjoyed watching him play. Even though he was destitute, he was one of the smartest men that I’d ever met. I wondered what he’d think about Enzo, and about my new job.

  “So, Audrey,�
�� Carl said. He reached over and patted the back of my hand. “Tell me about this new gig of yours.” He smiled widely and patted his belly. “And the stew was excellent today, by the way.”

  I laughed and shook my head. Carl and I had an old joke about the food at the soup kitchen—he’d always compliment me, even though I had nothing to do with making it. It was just one of the little ways that he tried to make me feel more comfortable and I really appreciated it.

  “Well, I’m working for LennoxCo, if you can believe that,” I said. “I’m actually the secretary to the CEO.”

  “Wow, look at you, working girl!” Carl whistled. “Just like Melanie Griffith in that movie.”

  I blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I demurred. “But it’s a good job.” I swallowed. Talking about money around Carl always made me feel a little awkward. “It’s definitely the best thing I’ve landed since college.”

  “You’re going to be very successful.” He frowned. “But I’ve heard some things about that man, Mr. Lennox.”

  I nodded and bit my lip. “What kinds of things?”

  Carl shrugged. “He’s just a fast man. You know, flashy cars and girls and that kind of thing. You watch yourself around him, Audrey.”

  I burst out laughing. “I highly doubt this guy would pay any kind of attention to me. I mean, come on, Carl, you know I don’t care about that kind of stuff.” It was easy to brush Carl off. I hadn’t even told him about what had happened the first day, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t think that was very funny.

  “I’m not joking, Audrey,” Carl warned. He leaned closer. “You really have to be careful with men like that. They only think of one thing. It doesn’t matter what you look like, you have to be careful.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Carl, come on. You know a guy like him wouldn’t be interested in me. That’s like, the basic rules of attraction.” I blushed, thinking of how sexy Enzo was. “I mean, he probably likes blondes with boob jobs—the kind of girl who always wears heels. You know I’m not like that.”

  Carl shook his head. “Don’t write yourself off, Audrey. You’re still pretty young, and you have a lot to learn about how people behave in the real world.”

  “I’m twenty-two,” I said irritably. “I think I’ve figured it out by now.”

  Carl crossed his arms in front of his chest. He sighed. “You know, when I was your age, I thought I had things figured out too. But in my case, it took a little longer. I was pretty old by the time I figured out how selfish and cruel people can be. I know I sound like a worried old father, but, Audrey, you’re better off playing this one safe. Until you know this guy, really know him, I wouldn’t turn your back.”

  An eerie, unsettling feeling came over me, and I shook my head. “Carl, I’ll be fine. I promise.”

  “You’re prettier than you think, Audrey,” Carl said gruffly. “I expect this guy is a seasoned pro at picking out the pretty women.”

  I stood up and wiped my hands on my baggy jeans. “I’m not. And don’t worry, I don’t wish that he’d pay attention to me.” I shrugged. “I just want to do my job, and earn money, and send it home to my parents.”

  I swallowed hard. Thinking of my parents was painful. They were the reason why I volunteered at places like the food bank—I’d spent a lot of time in my childhood going to those kinds of places for food. When I was a kid, I’d always felt embarrassed about it. Now I wished that I could go back in time and tell my younger self that it wasn’t worth crying over.

  “Just be careful, Audrey,” Carl said. “I’m probably worried about nothing, but you know how those men can be.”

  I nodded uncomfortably. I didn’t know how men—any men, aside from my father—could be. I’d ever been around men before. Enzo might as well have been an exotic species, like a lion or a giraffe.

  I snorted. There was no way that he would ever want someone like me.

  Chapter Four

  Enzo

  Audrey had been my secretary for over a week before I got a glimpse of her legs. January in Chicago was brutal, but we had a brief respite, and the temperatures climbed up to the 40s. Audrey showed up that day in hose that bagged around her ankles and an unfashionable, frumpy skirt.

  “Hi, Enzo.” Audrey handed me my coffee and turned, almost doing something that looked like a little bow. “Can I get you anything else?”

  I shook my head. “Stay here for a minute. I’ve got a call coming up, and I want you to take notes.”

  “Oh! Okay,” Audrey said. She nodded her head and ducked out the door to her desk. When she reappeared thirty seconds later, she was clutching a yellow legal pad and a pen. She stood there, uneasily watching me.

  “You can sit over there,” I said, gesturing towards the black leather couch in the corner of the room. It was a large sectional that I’d used as a bed many, many times and I knew how comfortable it was.

  Audrey lowered herself down onto the couch as though she was sinking into a pot full of boiling water. “This is comfy,” she said, a blush rising to her pale cheeks. “I like your office a lot, Enzo.”

  I hated the way the hair on the back of my neck stood up whenever she said my name. “Thanks. I didn’t decorate it though. The company has people for that.” I rolled my eyes. “I think they were afraid I was going to put up a pinup girl or something.”

  I actually had put up a pinup girl. Well, a vintage shot of Marilyn Monroe topless. It was an expensive print, and I’d hung it up on the first day. But then my secretary complained about feeling sexually harassed, so down Marilyn went. I think she was still in the closet, probably waiting for me to hang her up once again.

  “Enzo?” Audrey’s voice was quiet. “What’s so funny?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said, waving my hand dismissively in the air and picking up the mug of coffee. It smelled good. From the very first day, Audrey had always gotten the cream and sugar ratio perfectly.

  Sitting down at my desk, I watched Audrey carefully out of the corner of my eye. Despite being clad in those horrible stockings, she had nice legs. I winced as she turned around, exposing a large run up her left calf.

  “Audrey,” I said sharply. “I’d like a Caesar salad for lunch, with olive oil and vinegar on the side. Make sure the kitchen prepares it with chicken, not fish, and no cheese.” I looked at her over the tops of my reading glasses. “Can you get started on that?”

  Audrey frowned. “I thought you had a call?”

  I looked down at my blank schedule. “Nope,” I said cheerily. “Must have been mistaken. But I’d love that salad now, thanks.”

  Audrey’s cheeks flushed, and she shot up from the couch like she’d been burned. “Okay, I’ll be back soon,” she said in an unsteady voice as she rushed from my office. “I’ll make sure the salad is right, Enzo.”

  “You’d better,” I muttered under my breath as I watched her dart away in clunky orthopedic loafers. Leaning back in my chair, I steepled my hands together on the mahogany desk and waited patiently for Audrey to return with my lunch.

  She was back in less than five minutes, pink and blushing and sweating. “I ran up the stairs,” Audrey said, panting as she handed me the salad. “The elevators were down, or had a long line, or something.”

  I chuckled. “Audrey, don’t feel that you have to exert yourself like that.” I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the salad. “This looks good. But a little less oil and vinegar on the side for next time, please.”

  Audrey bit her lip and nodded. She smiled at me before turning on her heel and clomping out of my office.

  I grinned.

  # # #

  The day was almost over when I realized that I needed to give Audrey some files to start annotating at home. I called her, but she didn’t come in. Frowning, I stood up and walked over to the door. Audrey almost never left her desk—she’d even asked my permission to use the bathroom during her first week. When I saw the empty seat spinning around, I narrowed my eyes.

  “Audrey!” I
called out louder. “Audrey, come in here right this instant!”

  I didn’t even see her as she darted across the office and smacked right into my chest. She was much shorter than I was, and the top of her head barely grazed my chin as we collided. I was surprised to discover the feel of her body under all those layers of ugly clothing; she actually had an incredible body. She wasn’t heavy, but nice and curvy, with a big, firm rack. My cock stiffened in my pants as I wondered whether or not her ass felt the same way.

  “Oh my God,” Audrey squealed. She leaped backward away from me, tripped over her own feet, and fell crashing to the floor. Her face was bright red the second her ass hit the carpeting. “Enzo, I am so sorry! I just stepped away for a second to check on those copies you wanted by the end of the day. Do you still need those?” Her voice was insistent, eager to please.