Felicity could not believe this was happening.

When she’d locked eyes with Mr. Bossy, Arrogant, Conceited Zeus, she had felt too discombobulated to function.

Her plan had been to find him, pull him aside, and make a game plan for the night. Did he want an interview? Did he not want to be bothered? Should she make a statement for him? He wasn’t really a make a statement for him kind of guy. If you didn’t know him as she did, you liked him. He seemed affable in interviews. He was always talking up his team, positive, and forward thinking. He would be a good politician.

When she’d seen he was surrounded by his Triple Threat boys, she’d been intimidated. Well, what did anyone expect when she turned to look at them and they were all staring at her? And he was the most daunting. All dressed to impress in his suit. His messy, gelled blond hair looked like it was straight out of a magazine. She wondered if he had a personal image consultant.

She’d been thrown off her game and, to add insult to injury, she’d gotten a text from an unknown number. ‘Crazy guy, identified as your father, is at the front door. Please come immediately."

So what had she done? Like a fool, she had left Mr. Kincaid and frantically rushed off to get rid of her father. Felicity was annoyed at herself for not thinking that her father would find a way to her tonight. It had been his shtick for the last year since she’d graduated from college and worked at different places.

Of course, he would bank on the fact that DaVinci PR would be at this event. The Rosecrest Mansion didn’t have the kind of protections in place a conference center would have. There weren’t layers of doors before getting to the main event at this very old, large mansion. She spotted her father, looking unkempt and shouting like a mad man, making a huge spectacle. “The end is near! The end is near!”

There hadn’t been time to come up with a way to keep him away from her. There hadn’t been time to tell security to just take him away. No, he’d caught her at the worst possible time—she could hear America Starr through the double doors, calling someone to the stage. Worry pulsed through her. She really didn’t have time for this.

There were two security guys at the door who rushed to him and put a hand under each shoulder.

Her father kicked and flailed. “Help!” He yelled.

She rushed to them, and her father stopped flailing when he saw her.

She should have ordered them out, but the guilt hit her. “Wait.”

The security guards put him back on the ground. “Keep it down, old man.”

Her father glared at the guard and turned to her. “Felicity, you look beautiful.”

“Dad, why are you doing this?” she asked quietly but sternly.

A slow smiled filled his face. Before he turned into an alcoholic drug user, before he’d divorced her mother, he’d been an attorney. A good one too. “Can’t a father just come see how pretty his daughter is all dressed up?”

Wishing he were really still that kind of father, she snorted. “How much?”

“Five hundred.” He demanded sullenly.

There were only two other guests out in the living room, handing their coats to a guy behind a makeshift coatroom. She caught the man’s eyes and felt shame. Turning back to her father, she shook her head. She couldn’t play into his game. Giving him money would be like handing him booze. No, she wouldn’t do that.

“I don’t have five hundred dollars. You know that. I’m trying to help mom get caught up on the mortgage.” She was so angry with her father and even more angry at herself for causing all the problems. “I can order a pizza at Marco’s, and you can go pick it up there.” Marco’s would be on his way back to the homeless shelter. At least, she could make sure he ate something.

Her father hesitated for a second. “It’s not your fault, Felicity. None of it.”

It wasn’t often that her father said things like that. “Dad,” she said quietly.

He pointed at her chest. “You have to quit blaming yourself.”

Naked was the way he made her feel. Like he could just bring up all this crap right here, at this event, where anyone could hear. Her mind flooded with all the surgeries, all the times her father had sat with her, all the medical bills he hadn’t been able to pay. She blinked. “You need to leave, dad.”

“Five hundred, and I walk away quietly.” He pushed his chin into the air.

Controlled anger surged through her. She was exasperated. “I don’t have that kind of money on me anyway, dad.” She wouldn’t have given it to him, but why would he think she would just carry it around?

Her father pulled out a phone. “I have Venmo. It’s my name and the first letter of our last name,” he said quietly.

A true manipulator. A master. She thought of the once the successful man he’d been. The sad, sorrowful pit of nothingness he was that stood in front of her. She could smell the booze on him.

After several seconds of a sheer battle of will, she turned away. “No.”

“Felicity!” He screamed.

Turning back to him, she saw the venom in his eyes.

He yelled. “The end is near!”

The security guards picked up him up again and began hauling him out of the house.

He fought. “Let me go!” His body flailed.

She wanted to do something, but didn’t know how to help.

One of the security guards turned to her. “Go back to the party. We’ve got this handled.”

Spinning on her heels, she wanted to rip somebody’s head off, and lo and behold, standing right outside the door that led to the auction …

Was Zeus himself.

Panic filled her. How much had he seen?

“Felicity!” She heard her father call out.

Turning back, the messy scene lay before her. Her father had gotten hold of one of the doors and was holding on for all he was worth.

“Felicity!” He yelled again. “Give me the money! Please!” Tears were on his cheeks. “Sweetie, I don’t blame you! I just need the money!”

Acting before thoroughly thinking, she rushed to them, taking hold of her father’s fingers and trying to pry them loose. “Let go dad!”

He wouldn’t let go. “Felicity!”

Suddenly, strong fingers tugged at her father’s, prying them loose.

The guards were able to finish pulling him out.

Shrieks of her name sounded through the air as Mr. Kincaid shut the door and turned to face her.

She stared up into his gorgeous blue eyes. She felt her hand start to shake and anger and tears threatened. What did it matter if she lost yet another job because of her father. So be it. “If you want to fire me, just do it now.” She bit the side of her lip and commanded herself not to cry until she was home.

At first his expression was hard, then a smile played at his lips. “You’ve got grit, kicking the old man out.”

She stared at him, stunned. Was he making a joke?

He grunted. “I wish I could kick my old man out.”

Her mouth went dry, she was utterly confused.

He took a step closer to her and leaned in, his gaze the same laser-like look she’d seen on the game footage she’d been watching the past couple of days. “It’s fourth and long, last play of the game. Can you make a touchdown?”

Taken aback, she felt something at this moment. A connection, maybe simple chemistry, she wasn’t sure. There was no time to evaluate it.

He held out something to her.

It looked like a credit card. “What is this for?”

“To buy me.” He shoved it into her hand.

She was stupefied. “What?”

“Well, it seems like tonight is a night for walking nightmares. I have a little situation. Sheena showed up, and she has those dragon eyes on me. Combined with the fire breathing, she could really do a number tonight if no one outbids her.”

“Crap,” she said quickly.

“I would have other words for it, but yes, it is that.”

Felicity’s heart rate pounded inside her chest. “Whoever outbids that woman will be all over the press.”

He swallowed, and his expression instantly bored. “Quite possibly.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You up for it? You’re new at DaVinci, right? Anyone know you? The press?”

She shook her head. “I’ve only been there a week.”

“Guess there’s a hole in the defense then.” He looked satisfied.

Angst pulsed through her. “I don’t date.”

Narrowing his eyes, he cocked an eyebrow in apparent disbelief. “You don’t?”

“I. Don’t. Date.”

Disbelief filled his face. “You do know a lot of women would kill for a date with me?”

Irritation rushed through her, and she knew she would never tell him the truth as to why she didn’t date, so she opted to show him her anger. “You broke my vase. I’d rather die a thousand deaths than go out with you.” It sounded very dramatic and she hadn’t meant to say it, but she was feeling rather raw after everything with her father.

His eyes softened. “You know what they say about scorned women.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “No, what do they say?”

Seeming to play the odds of making this pass, he shrugged. “You don’t want to Tango, that’s fine. Then it’ll just be a show for tonight. Later, we’ll politely tell them it didn’t work out, and I’ll ask one of my famous friends to buy me from you. We’ll make it dramatic, and the press will eat it up.” He winked at her. “Don’t worry, they’ll forget all about you in one news cycle.”

She was uncertain. She did not want to be in the press at all. And she really didn’t want to be mixed up with him.

“You in or you out? Can you handle me, or not?”

It was admittedly uncomfortable, having all of Kade Kincaid’s intensity focused on her. She thought of the notice of foreclosure. Unfortunately, she needed this job. “Fine.”

He flashed his Zeus smile and nodded to her hand. “It’s an untraceable credit card, spend whatever it takes. Just make sure I don’t walk out of here with Sheena tonight.”