He sat on the edge of her bed, and her pussy instantly clenched. She squeezed her thighs together, trying not to focus on the broadness of his bare shoulders, the hardness of his biceps, or the dark ink on his skin. It didn’t help that she’d had her hands all over him last night while he was unconscious. She kept telling herself she was just nursing him, doing her job, but that was a total lie.
This was way too much for her handle. What was he doing to her? Their proximity crossed too many boundaries to count. And she didn’t care.
“You understand more than you let on, don’t you, Alesha?” He reached out with his free hand and drew a line across the seam of her lips with his finger. “I’m not sure if I can trust you.”
She said nothing, spellbound by his touch and not sure if she should be afraid of his words.
“I have a business dinner tonight, and I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone just yet. Since I need a date, it’s going to work out just fine.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong. If this is about last night, I was only trying to help.”
Why wouldn’t he trust her alone in the house? She was his housekeeper. It was her job to keep things together while he was away.
“Yes, my curious little lamb.” He stood up, walking towards the door. “You probably don’t realize that this house and property are wired from top to bottom. The very best in high-tech surveillance.”
She swallowed hard, not liking where this was going. What had he seen her do? Was she in trouble? Did he watch her going through his wallet?
He turned around once reaching the door. “I’ll have your outfit here within the hour. Let’s call tonight a test of your loyalty, Alesha.”
“What does that mean?” she whispered.
“Reputation is everything in my business. I can’t have one person tarnishing everything I’ve worked hard for because of a misunderstanding. That’s all last night was—a misunderstanding.”
She should have kept her big mouth shut, but it had a mind of its own. “So, you’ve never killed a person?”
“Have you?”
Talking to him was like pulling teeth. She should be trying to mend all these broken bridges, agreeing that it was a misunderstanding. But, deep down, she’d felt the sincerity when he spoke last night, even if drunk. He was raw, honest, real. Now, completely sober, she had the growing feeling he was trying to cover up the truth.
“Sorry, silly question, I guess.” She slipped off the bed with the blanket securely around her body. “I’ll get your gun.”
He watched her every move as she bent down in front of her dresser and slid open the bottom drawer where she kept her bras and panties. One of her undergarments hooked on the barrel of the gun, and she rushed to pluck it off as she lifted the entire harness out of the drawer. She handed it to him, and he tossed it over his shoulder.
“Where are we going tonight?” Was this a real date? Did he really not trust her alone in his house now? This wasn’t looking good for her cushy new job.
“Black-tie fundraiser. I hate them,” he said. “Maybe it’ll be bearable with you there.”
“Misery loves company?”
“Something like that,” he said.
“Why didn’t you invite one of your flings from last night?”
Alesha wasn
’t exactly arm candy. And her jealousy had been brewing since he’d told her about his bitches and partying. He tilted her chin up, and she didn’t pull away. “If I’m going to pretend I’m with my fiancée, I want to take a woman I’d choose myself. Much more convincing.”
“So, we’re acting?”
“It’s a couples only event, and I need to portray a certain image if I want to blend in.”
“And blending in is good?”
“I should say fitting in is more appropriate. We won’t be blending in once you’re wearing the dress I’ve picked out for you.”
Chapter Four
Xavier regretted the dress the moment she walked downstairs toward him. After he’d ordered her an outfit he’d debated on going with the plain black cocktail dress that molded to her curves, showing off a great deal of cleavage, or the red number. The model had a similar figure to Alesha and he’d wanted to see her in the flesh in a dress. Big mistake on his part.