KILLIAN

 

The balls on this bitch goddess!

I wasn’t her business. I wasn’t her anything. She was a thorn in my side and it wasn’t even nine.

My intention to play with Lucy disappeared as soon as she walked into Grandfather’s office. I reacted to her strongly. Too strongly. Something inside me recognized she was dangerous and all I wanted was for her to be gone.

Then even that changed.

Why?

Her lovely little face shone with earnest stubbornness. That pointed chin dared me to deny her passionate statement. Lucy Martin really believed she was here to help.

God save me from fools.  

“You do realize you’re an instrument for my humiliation.”

“What humiliation? You don’t have any shame.”

Shows what she knew. Lucy wasn’t as smart as she thought she was. This made me feel better. Just a bit.

“I developed it sometime between 7:59 and 8:00.”

Turning away, I walked at a fast clip to my office. Predictably, the goddess’s little shoes clacked behind me. A gentleman would slow down. Too bad for her I wasn’t.

Flinging open my office door, I stalked over to my desk. Mondays sucked but today sucked worse than usual. I couldn’t believe Grandfather thought setting another watchdog on me would make me toe the line. What had been a promise of fun changed between last week and now as the reality sank into me.

Grandfather refused to trust me or let me be anyone other than his screwed-up grandson.

But this one is different. She isn’t male and she’s gorgeous.

So the fuck what?

Did he learn nothing after all these years? I wasn’t going to be bullied or coerced into becoming his clone. I wasn’t Rafael King goddammit. I was Killian Johnathon Von Hügel King.

Resident bastard and king of disappointments.

Whether Grandfather or Prince Von Hügel made me or I flung myself into a pit of hell, it was too late. I was who I was and nothing or no one was going to change me.

Least of all a stubborn little goddess wearing a cheap suit and cheaper clunky heels.

Who let her walk out of the house like that? Didn’t she have a mother or a sister to teach her how to play up her loveliness? Her skirt hung too low and her jacket was too loose. A peplum cut would’ve served her best.

Clenching my jaw, I wondered why was I wasting my time on this? Lucy’s abominable taste wasn’t my problem or responsibility.

However, the thought of dressing her in clothing worthy of her beauty sank into me for a moment. With her curvaceous body, she’d be a delight to dress up. And the shoes…I imagined her small feet were as gorgeous as the rest of her.

Lucy Martin pulled out a chair and sat down. My attention flicked back. “What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to take notes.”

“You’re not my PA. I don’t have one because I don’t need one.”

She snapped open a notebook and set it on her crossed leg. The skirt rose high enough to show me her knee. I imagined what lay above.

“I know.”

My God she was annoying!

But not boring. Yet.

Turning on my computer, I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She held a common ballpoint pen tightly, biting her lip as she scribbled industriously. Hmm…I wondered what it was she wrote down.

Temptation to snatch her yellow pad away pricked me. It wouldn’t be such a hard thing to do. Her anger might even be amusing.

“What do you want most in the world, Killian?” she asked while still focused on writing.

My family back to the way it was.

Where did that come from? I stopped praying for miracles when Mom went into the hospital.

“For you to go far, far away.”

“Okay. What’s the second thing you most want in the world?”

I started an e-mail to the factory manager in Singapore. “For you to stop asking me pointless questions.”

“The third then.”

“For you to pretend to be a plant.”

“Fourth.”

“For you to develop a bout of diarrhea that keeps you homebound for the next week to a year.”

There. That should shut her up.

“Fifth.”

My fingers stopped flying over the keyboard. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because I want to know you better.”

“You don’t care about me.”

Lucy Martin, interfering goddess that stubbornly kept writing instead of looking at me, answered, “You’re right and you’re wrong. But I do care about my work and you are a big part of that work.”

“And knowing my inner thoughts humanizes me?”

“Doesn’t it?”

“No. It doesn’t. I could tell you any manner of lies and you wouldn’t know the difference.”

“Okay. Then lie to me.”

“The fifth thing I want most in this world is for you to look up at me.”

Ah. A reaction. Faint blushes pinkened her cheeks. Interesting. I wouldn’t have pegged Little Lucy as a blusher.

Expecting her to argue with me, I was mildly surprised when she complied with my request. I met her dark gaze and fell in. What did she see when she looked at me?

A handsome face, a walking dollar sign, a jerk, what?

“I’m looking,” she said softly.

“Yes, and so am I.”

She had a small mole high on her cheek, right beneath her left eye. My thumb stroked a path across my desk. I had the sudden urge to touch it. Kiss it.

Miss Martin’s breathing changed, coming a bit faster than before. Good. Apparently, the little goddess wasn’t completely oblivious to me. I wondered what it would take to get Lucy to blush some more.

Then and there I decided I was going to have this woman in my bed. Life would pause being an interminable bore just long enough for me to feel her tightness milking me until I couldn’t think.

The question being how to get her there? What did she need for that to happen?

Looking at her yellow notebook, I didn’t take long to figure out a strategy. Lucy wanted to be a hero in my grandfather’s eyes. This wasn’t just about a job. She promised Grandfather she wouldn’t let him down. Her word mattered to her.

How did she put it?

As good as gold.

Principles. How unexpected!

Which meant I had to play nice. I could be nice if there was something in it for me. Having Lucy Martin sprawled naked in my bed, legs wrapped around my back as I fucked her into screaming submission was quite an inducement.

And judging by what I’d seen already, she wasn’t going to be an easy conquest. Pesky principles, optimism, morality and all that.

Hmm…her treasure trove of brighter emotions could be fun to play with.

Turning away from Lucy’s delectable form, I focused my attention back onto my screen. “Today will most likely be boring for you, but as long as you keep quiet for the next hour while I answer these e-mails then maybe I’ll take you on that tour.”

I spared her a glance, catching her smile. It was genuine, beautiful actually. None of that artifice I usually surrounded myself with. Lucy should smile more often.

Rather, she should smile at me more often.

“Okay. I can do quiet. Do you need any coffee or some water?”

“You’re not my PA, Miss Lucy. Need I remind you again?”

“I know I’m not, but I was going to run and get some for myself…so do you want?”

Yes, I want. I want you to sit on my lap while I suck your nipples.

“Water if you insist.”

She smiled again and stood up. “I’ll be back.”

Shamelessly, I watched as she walked out my office, notebook clutched against her side. Her black skirt rose a few inches in the back due to her luscious ass. Not high enough, but still it was better than nothing. My palms tingled as I imagined how nicely she’d overflow my hands.

Yes, Lucy Martin would definitely be worth me pretending to be more angel than devil for the next week or so. By the time she found out differently, I’d be done with her.

And she’d be out of King Cosmetics.