Chapter 1

 

“Well, you are 18 now, and I thought you would want to get started in big business. I believe everyone should know how to handle customer service and such, but I don’t believe you need to do that in a fast food restaurant.” My dad smiled at me with that charming smile of his.

I wasn’t buying it. I was still reeling from the news he’d just given me – he had gotten me a job working as a personal assistant for his best friend.

Of course, I felt thrilled to be given such a job, especially right out of high school. I’d already become tired of looking for a position, and I wasn’t too eager to dive into college just yet. Thankfully, my dad jumped in to save the day as he so often did for me in the past. But this time, I was more than grateful.

It’d  been a few months since I had seen his friend – but I’d thought about him every single day. The last time was my birthday party – and I still remembered the events as though they had taken place yesterday:

“Happy birthday to you!” everyone sang and I blew out the candles. This was it – I was finally turning 18. A grown ass woman after waiting so long for it, and I was eager to get started in my newfound adult life. Sure, I didn’t expect there to be huge changes taking place overnight, but I couldn’t wait to be treated like the adult I had now become.

“Happy birthday Sweetheart!” my dad nearly shouted in my ear as he planted a kiss on the side of my head.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Daddy! Stop! I’m not your little girl anymore; you can’t just do that to me.” I made a show of wiping the side of my face with the back of my hand while the others gathered around the table laughed.

My father even joined in the laughter and brushed off my comment with a shake of my shoulders. “You’re always going to be my little girl, Meagan, nothing is ever going to change that!”

I was about to argue further, when the door opened and Knox Grayson, my father’s best friend, walked into the house. My jaw fell open—I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years, and he was still every bit as handsome as I remembered him being.

“Knox? I had no idea you were in town! You should have called me!” my father said with another laugh. He rose from the table and vigorously shook hands with his friend before pulling him in for a big hug. They both slapped each other on their backs as they greeted each other.

As for me, I could hardly contain my own excitement.

I loved Knox—always had, but since I’d become a teenager, my passion for the man had grown even more. He was above and beyond any celebrity crush I ever had, though I always did assume he could be considered a celebrity himself. As the founder of Starboard Industries, one of the biggest music labels in the country, he was a billionaire – making my father’s millions look like mere pocket change. This wasn’t the main thing. He had always been so good looking. So sexy, really. Tall, muscular and just yummy to look at.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked when it was my turn to give him a hug. I had to force myself to turn my head as he took me in his arms, my instinct being to bury my face in his chest and breathe in the rich scent of his cologne.

“Hey, Kiddo! It’s your birthday, and a big one at that. I couldn’t just not come now, could I?” he teased.

I hated letting go of him, but I knew I had to – there were others who wanted to also step in and greet him. I took a step back and watched as he was engulfed in the crowd. Knox was popular with all of my father’s friends as well as my own; in fact, many of my father’s friends were the parents of mine.

The party really livened up after Knox showed up, but I couldn’t shake the question out of my mind why he was alone? Knox married his high school sweetheart right after they graduated, and it was strange to see him here without his wife. My father had often said she couldn’t bear to let him out of her sight, fearing he might not be faithful to her. This was odd in itself, how could they have a marriage if she didn’t trust him at all?

Of course, I could see why though.

With a body so gorgeous and a personality so perfect, as the recipe for any woman to fall in love with the man, regardless of his relationship or, dare I say it, her age. Although I was still the star of the show at my party, I couldn’t get enough of Knox. He gifted me with a small necklace which I instantly fell in love with, insisting that he himself put it on me in front of everyone.

Then later in the evening when most of the other partiers left I had the chance to see Knox alone – and it was then when he told me he had divorced his wife. I knew he’d had a couple of drinks, and I’d also managed to sneak a beer myself when my father wasn’t looking, but something about the conversation made me feel so—adult.

He confided in me how he’d been feeling over the past few years, and how it had been time to just call it off. It sounded like a messy divorce, and I hated to see the toll it had clearly taken on him. I leaned in and put my arms around his shoulders, listening to him and offering as many condolences as I could. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but when he suddenly looked at me like he had never looked at me before, I couldn’t help it.

Closing my eyes, I leaned in, and when our lips touched, I felt an electric shock run through my entire body, down to the very tips of my toes. I don’t know how long the kiss lasted—though I can bet, it wasn’t for more than a few seconds. My world tilted, at least if felt as if it did. I’d been kissed before, but this—I almost got dizzy from it.

The sound of my own best friend, Kenzie, coming up the stairs and into the kitchen broke us apart. He quickly stepped to the other side of the room.

Kenzie seemed oblivious to anything that had just happened when she saw me. “You’re missing your own party!” she drawled.

I shook my head, wondering if it was obvious to any of the other adults that she, too, had been indulging in drinks she should not have been.

“She’s right, you go on,” Knox said before I had any time to reply.

I looked back at him, and I could see in his eyes so much passion, my heart melted on the spot. Saying nothing, I followed my friend back out to the party and enjoyed even more attention being lavished on me.

But I couldn’t get the kiss out of my head.

My crush for Knox had always been fierce, but it grew to a burning passion ever since that afternoon, and he was all I could think about. I dreamt about his lips – about his body. I wanted nothing more than to make out with him – to have sex with him. I envisioned what it would be like to spread my legs and let him enter me, enjoying me with all the passion he had inside him.

I even envisioned that one day, the two of us would be married.

But after the party, he left again. At least, he seemed to be too busy to spend any time with my father and incidentally, me. I heard that he was busy with work, and I accepted he would always be one of my fantasies – until today.

Hearing that my father had gotten me a job as Knox’s assistant was enough to make my heart pound – and my panties damp. I would get to see him every day – to do anything he asked me to do and to make him happy. I would be the girl he went to for anything he needed. He would think of me first.

“Meagan?”

My father’s voice broke into my thoughts, and I almost jumped with fright at the sound of it. “Yeah?”

“I asked if you wanted the position?” he prompted, staring at me as though I had lost my mind.

I quickly nodded. “Yes! Sorry, I was distracted. Yes,” I mumbled.

He sat back in his chair with a broad grin on his face. “Excellent,” he said. “You start tomorrow.”