Everything He Desires (Bookkeeper for the Billionaire #1)(4)
Author: Thalia Frost

“Right this way, Miss.” He grinned at me, took my suitcase, and led me down the steps and opened the back door of the limo.

“Glad you decided to come, Lacey.” Rock’s voice was hard.

“Yes.” I cleared my throat and climbed inside. He was sitting all the way over to the left of the vehicle, his face turned away.

“Ugly city, isn’t it?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “That’s why I’m not sticking around.”

I said nothing, wondering what he was talking about. I didn’t find San Francisco ugly at all and wondered why he’d say such a thing.

“You may speak now, you know.”

I said nothing. Tears threatened. What was I doing?

“Lacey, I’m not harsh, but I do demand that a job is done well if you take it. Here are the terms if you agree on a formal acceptance of the position as my personal bookkeeper at Regal Industries.”

I found my voice. I didn’t want to be pushed around, handsome billionaire who wanted me, or not. “Let’s hear them.”

He grinned. “I like your style.” The smile faded, and he was all business again. “Number one. Our arrangement will last for a year. Number two. Your salary will be $100,000 per year.”

I made a gurgling sound in my throat. What? Was he nuts? I didn’t have enough experience for that.

He held up a hand. “Hear me out. Number three. Your main job is to please me. That one’s really important. It’s the biggest thing in keeping your job.”

I nodded, my palms slick. Three feet divided us in the backseat. It seemed like a gulf. I wanted to touch and taste him as he’d done to me the night before.

“Number four. Whatever I tell you about business…or other things,” his gaze slid down my body, and I shivered, “stays private. No exceptions.”

“I understand.”

“Good.” He flashed ultra-white teeth at me and loosened his collar, unbuttoning the top button and yanking at his tie. The motion made heat prickle her spine.

“I think I can do that.”

He tipped his head. “There are a couple more requirements to the job.”

“Oh.” I clasped my hands in my lap, hoping he wouldn’t see them trembling.

“Number five. Your job will be wherever I am. You’re never to leave my side, not for the whole year. If I’m in a city, you’re there, too. Your office will be next to or in my office, and you will work. Hard. For me.” He broke the words up like lashes from a whip. “That sort of thing, and I mean that very seriously.”

“Okay.” That was a little odd. Control freak much?

“Good. And the last one. We’re going to Venice. We’re leaving right now.”

“As in Italy? For a year?” I sounded dumb even to myself, but I couldn’t help it.

“Yes, now.”

“I need to do so many things.”

He waved a hand, dismissing all my concerns. “It’s now or never. Make your choice. You have a few minutes to decide. Other women would love this position, but I choose you, Lacey.”

Indignation flared within me. Who did he think he was? At the same time, I was flattered.

“Come over here.” He crooked a finger at me, and my body went tingly all over.

I hesitated for only a minute. I was going with him. I might be insane, but who wouldn’t make the choice I was going to in my situation?

I slid over to him, just inches away. His scent made my head spin. I was reminded of things old and new and of warm places on dark nights.

“Take your shirt off.”

I bit my lip. “I can’t do that.”

“I need a bookkeeper, someone I can trust, Lacey. Is that you? Will you give yourself to me, reveal yourself to me?”

“I don’t know you.”

“I understand that, but surely you know something of me at least from the papers. Faith is part of the deal.”

I closed my eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes. You do. You’ve already decided.”

He pulled me to him. I watched him signal Mr. Forrester  by pushing a button. The limo lurched onto the road.

“Can he see us?” My lips were at his throat where he held me against him.

“So what if he can, but the answer is no. Whatever I want to happen, I make happen, Lacey. You’ll find that out.”

“I suppose you think I’m just another person you can order around.” My voice shook.

“Hardly.” He hugged me closer to him. My lips brushed his throat, and a buzz at the contact shot through me. He was like a drug.

Rock grabbed a fistful of my hair, and I looked up at him. He crushed my mouth to his, but it wasn’t at all painful. His lips were insistent. He nipped at my mouth and parted my lips with his teeth and tongue.

“I don’t do well not having a woman around, Lacey—a woman who understands my needs.”

I moaned as he brushed my lips again with his, his hand against the small of my back.

“What does bookkeeping really have to do with this?” I gasped out when he let my lips out of captivity.

“More than I’d like it to.” His voice was grim, and he broke the embrace.

“I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing.”

He frowned and looked out the window. The city sped by us.

We really were going to the airport and to Venice. I still couldn’t believe it.

“No apologizing. There are things going on in the business. Believe me. I need your hard work for me this year. Staying in control is very important to me.” The troubled look hadn’t left his face when he turned back to me. I wondered if he meant more than just control in the boardroom. I knew that he did. His business life and private life were interconnected. He was a man interested in power and maintaining it.

I’d always been passive and had never engaged someone like him. Until now.

My gaze rested on his lap. I could see his arousal, and I was burning up inside. I stared at him through my lashes.

“Touch me, Lacey.”

I didn’t move.

“You know what I mean. Let me have what I want.”

Something inside me melted at those words, and I wanted nothing more than to give him what he wanted—whatever that was.

I ran my hand against his trousers and the rigid rod there. He sucked in a breath.

“Do it now. I need you.”

The urgency in his voice propelled me on. I fumbled for the button on his pants, nervous. He took my hand and guided me. I pulled down his zipper, and his c**k lay there for me under silken underpants.

I squirmed against the seat, my own arousal already painful.

“You never took your shirt off. Do it now.” His tone brooked no argument, his voice hoarse with need.