Chapter One
Kellie Love sat in the emergency room lobby and tried to slow down her breathing. She’d be no good to her mom, who sat beside her, or her dad if she had a panic attack or something. Her father, David, had been rushed to the emergency room when he began having chest pains while eating his breakfast. Normally, he’d have been at work, but it was Saturday.
Today, he’d been home with her mom, who was a nurse. She’d called 9-1-1 and given him an aspirin. She’d called Kellie as they loaded her father into the ambulance. Kellie met her mom, Diane, at the hospital and here they had sat for the last hour. They knew nothing. And it was awful. She wanted to cry, to scream at someone that she wasn’t ready to lose her father, but what good would that do? None of it would make a difference to what was going on behind those closed doors.
She stared at the doors hard, wishing they’d open, until her eyes watered. She blinked and looked away, at the others sitting in the lobby with her. One little girl, her face flushed, leaned against her mom and whined. Another man held his arm close to his body. It looked twisted up, and Kellie looked away quickly. That was definitely a break.
Finally, the emergency bay doors opened and a man in a white coat stalked out. Please let him come to us. If she didn’t get out of here soon and see her dad, she might go crazy. He stopped in front of Kellie’s mom. “Mrs. Love?”
“Is he all right?” Diane asked at once.
“He’s alive. He’s had a heart attack. He’ll have to cut down on stress, change his diet, and no work for at least six to eight weeks.”
“Oh, thank God.” Diane dropped her face into her hands and began to sob.
“Mr. Love is asking to see his daughter.”
Kellie’s eyes widened. It was odd, him asking to see her instead of her mother. Her parents shared a deep and abiding love after David had swept Diane off her feet in college. Kellie stood. “O-okay. Can you take me to him?”
“The nurse at the desk will. I’ll let him know.” With that, he turned and walked away.
Kellie went up to the nurse. “Can you take me back to see my father?” She felt like a child, out of place and confused as to what to do next.
“Right this way.” He opened the emergency bay doors with a swipe of his card and led Kellie down a long hallway, with little curtains closed every few feet. Behind some of them, people moaned in pain.
Finally, he stopped and slid the curtain open. There lay her father, pale and hooked up to monitors which buzzed and beeped intermittently. He held a hand out to her, but then it fell, limp and useless at his side. “Kellie,” he croaked.
“Oh, Daddy.” Tears sprang to Kellie’s eyes and she wanted to run to him, to let him hold her and tell her he’d be fine. But she couldn’t do that. He needed her to be the strong one now. She stepped closer until she reached the foot of the bed. “Don’t worry about anything.”
“That’s what they told me. No worrying.” His voice… she’d never heard him sound so weak and tired. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything, Daddy. You know that.”
“I need you to go to work for me.”
Kellie frowned at that. Her father and his business partner, Alex, had a company simply named Leblanc & Love. They didn’t advertise; their business came from word of mouth only. They repaired public reputation. She supposed they were like a public relations clinic.
Last month, she’d graduated with honors with her Bachelor of Science in psychology. She’d always planned to work with her father, to let him mentor her, so she could take his place someday. She’d never expected him to need her to do so much, so soon. “Work will be fine without you for a couple of months. I’m sure Alex can handle things.”
“Alex can handle the work. He can’t handle himself.”
“What do you mean?” She crept closer to perch on the side of the bed. “What’s he doing?”
“Partying with clients, sleeping around. If someone doesn’t keep an eye on him, his reputation will be the one that needs to be rehabbed, and our company will be ruined.”
“I had no idea it was so bad.” Kellie sighed. Alex was almost twenty years older than her; forty-one to her twenty-two. Could she reign him in?
“It’s pretty bad, but I’ve managed to smooth things over for the most part. He can’t be left to his own devices, not until he calms down.”
“But what happened? He wasn’t always like this, was he?”
Her father let his head rest against the pillow. She was tiring him out. It didn’t matter why—all that mattered was that Kellie does what her father had asked her to do. Resolved, she stood to go. “I’ll send Mom in.”
***
Alex disposed of the condom, pulled his boxers back on, then his pants, and buttoned and zipped himself up. “That was great, doll.”
The beautiful, mocha-skinned makeup artist smiled from her position, naked and leaning against the wall, trying to catch her breath. “You’re amazing.”
“Thanks.” He didn’t need accolades. He’d needed two things from her. One of them he’d just gotten. The other… “So, when do you think you can introduce me to Chase Valentine?”
Valentine was an out-of-control pop singer. He’d recently been arrested for firing a gun in a nightclub. His manager had told Alex “thanks, but no thanks” when he’d offered his services. Landing a client as big as Valentine would be huge for their company. If Alex had to have sex with a beautiful woman to get some face time with Valentine, then a man had to do what he had to do.
The makeup artist, with a name as beautiful as she was—Adanna, began picking through her clothes. He’d get what he wanted, a meeting with Valentine, because though she may be younger than him, she’d wanted this as much as he had.
“There’s a party on Monday at his house. I can get you an invite. After that, it’s all up to you,” she said.
“I can close the deal. Don’t worry about me, doll.”
She gave him a glowing smile. “I’ve seen that for myself, thanks. I’m not worried.”
In his pants pocket, his phone buzzed. “Just a minute.”
He walked out into the hallway and picked up. It was his secretary, who shouldn’t even be at work today because it was a weekend. “Yes? What is it, Gayle?”
“Mr. Love called in. He needs to see you, so he’s scheduled an emergency meeting for the two of you in his office.”
“Why didn’t he just call me?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Leblanc. His daughter called me and asked that I call you. Said she was calling on her father’s behalf.”
“Hm.” This just got stranger and stranger. Why on Earth was David calling him into the office on a Saturday? Maybe he’d landed a client and the work couldn’t wait.
All the same to Alex. He just wanted to be so busy, either working or fucking, that he didn’t have to think. “Call Kellie back. Tell her to tell David I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Will do. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Not a thing. Enjoy your weekend, Gayle. Goodbye.”
He ended the call and stepped back into the abandoned dressing room. “I’m sorry, beautiful, but I’ve got to go.”
“Aw. I was hoping we could go back to my place, order some pizza and get a bottle of wine, and maybe have another go.” Her bottom lip puckered out in a perfect pout.
“Another time.” That wasn’t true. He didn’t go back for seconds, ever. He had rules now, like that one, and always using a condom. He’d been stupid when he was young, and other people had gotten hurt. He’d rather injure an ego by not calling than cause any permanent damage.
Alex strolled out and got into his Maserati and pushed the ignition. The car roared to life and he peeled out of the parking lot on his way to the office.
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got. Why the fuck was David calling a meeting on a weekend? Calling him away from what he was doing—which was working, in his own way—and into the office. Alex swore, if it was for another lecture, he’d throttle the man himself.
***
Alex walked into the Leblanc & Love offices just short of an hour after Gayle called. The place was empty, but not deserted. The hallway lights were on, as was the coffeepot. Alex helped himself to a mug of coffee before heading to David’s office.
He knocked on the door and a feminine voice said, “Come in.” That was not David. What the hell was going on here?
He pushed open the door, jaw clenched tight, coffee clutched in his hand. “Kellie?” he asked, incredulous. “Where’s your father?”
“I need you to come in and sit down. This is a bit of a shock.”
“Is David all right?” Alex crossed the room and put the coffee down on the desk so hard that it sloshed out of the cup.
“He’s going to be all right, after some rest. He’s got to make some changes in his life.” Kellie sat down in her father’s chair. It engulfed her small frame and she looked as out of place as a doll.
Leaning on the desk, he towered over her. “What happened?”
She looked up into his eyes, their faces only inches apart. “He’s had a heart attack.”
Alex eased back, plopping down in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “But he’s okay?”
“Will be. There’s just one small detail that you’re probably not going to be thrilled about.”
“Then spit it out. I don’t have all day.”
Kellie got up, walked around the desk, and leaned against it. This time, she looked down on him. “He’s asked me to keep an eye on you.”
Alex chuckled. “That’s ridiculous. Look, you tell your dad we talked, I promised to be on my best behavior, and get out of here. Shouldn’t you be in class or something?”
“I graduated last month. I have a degree in psychology and I got it specifically so I could come to work here and be an asset to the company. This isn’t a fish out of water thing.”
Alex stood up and met her toe to toe. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
He turned and walked away from her, putting some distance between them. He had the overwhelming urge to put her over his knee and spank her, although she was certainly a grown woman now. She had to be, what? Twenty-two, twenty-three?
And, damn, if she wasn’t beautiful. Long, platinum blond hair pulled back from her face. Tendrils snaked loose to frame her high cheek bones. Her eyes were a vivid green, the kind that was hard to look away from. Hell, the whole package was hard to look away from. She had an hourglass figure, all the right curves. She was like some delicious treat, all rolled up—what the hell was he doing?
This was David’s daughter for Christ’s sake. He couldn’t fuck around with his business partner’s daughter, and he was never going to settle down, fall in love. That kind of left him with limited options. He didn’t need her as a distraction, though.
She’d taken a moment, either to collect her thoughts or to let him cool down. “I intend to do what my father has asked me to do. According to him, for whatever reason, you’re hell bent on destroying your own reputation. That can’t fly at this company, and you know it. If we don’t put on a perfect face, no one will trust us to help them.”
“I don’t need you to tell me all that. I’ve been doing this for ten years, honey.” What the hell was David thinking, sending his daughter to watch over Alex? Especially one so gorgeous? He knew Alex enjoyed beautiful women. Didn’t he realize Alex would be instantly attracted to Kellie?
He hadn’t seen her in years; five, maybe six. She was a woman now, and Alex’s cock could tell the difference. It twitched to life when he turned to face her. “You will not be following me around, like a dog tied to a leash.”
“Am I the dog in this scenario or are you?” she asked, with a straight face, arms crossed over her delectable breasts.
Great, now she was making fun of him. This would not turn out well if he had to spend any time in this woman’s company. “Go to hell.”
“I can be of help, or I can stand around mutely and ‘hold your leash,’ but, in any case, you’re not getting rid of me. My father started this company with you and I recall you selling him ten percent of your stock just last year, so that gives him more of a stake. These are his wishes.” She made her way toward him, hands outstretched in placating gesture. “Just go along with it, so my father can rest and get well without having to worry.”
Damn it. It didn’t matter that David held more stake in the company. What mattered was when Alex needed cash last winter, David had been there. He couldn’t leave him hanging. “Fine. I’ll see you Monday morning. Go buy yourself a cocktail dress or ten.”