How to Resist Prince Charming(58)

“So, where did Greg stick you?” he asked as he filled the cup with ice. “Do you have your own corner office yet?”

Lenna stared in amazement as her lover made himself right at home and pulled one of her diet sodas from the fridge. He opened the tab and commenced to pour its contents over the ice.

“I have my own desk in one of the cubicles in the main part of the work room,” she said, still watching him as he carried the drink to her.

He winced, holding the cup out. “So, he stuck you out in general population, huh? Scanlon always was stingy about who he gave an office.”

“Oh, and I suppose you had your own office when you worked there, hmm?” she asked, accepting the proffered drink.

Braxton winked. “You know it.”

He returned to the kitchenette and took a clean plate from the cabinets. After placing a slice of pizza on it, he sprinkled it liberally with Parmesan cheese, just the way Lenna liked. He carried that to her next.

Her breath caught. “Thanks.”

She settled cross-legged on her bed and dove in. And as Braxton asked more questions about her day, he fixed his own supper.

He bypassed plates and cups, opting to drink a regular cola straight from the can and eat his pizza off a paper towel.

What she found so touching wasn’t his guy mentality that plates and cups were overrated, but the fact he’d fed her first and had known exactly how she preferred her meal.

For some reason, it made her want to cry.

He knew her so well, the man damn near completed her. Sometimes, Lenna couldn’t even remember how her life had been before he’d come into it. She was so content with him.

Everything else dimmed in comparison.

Their days together felt like stolen time though, and when the two of them were apart, Lenna’s doubts and fears rose. Once her dad found out about them, he would become a total butthead, making it completely clear how much he disapproved. It’d put a strain on everything. That was what she dreaded most: a strain heavy enough to break her and Braxton apart.

But there was no way they could keep their relationship a secret forever. What she had to do was sit her father down and tell him what was what. He would not interfere in her and Braxton’s future together, and he would not take anything out on Brax; she’d disown him if he did.

Lying to her family was starting to wear on her. She wanted a normal relationship with her Prince Charming. She wanted to be able to brag about him to her mother and take him home for Sunday suppers. She wanted the world to know he was hers.

Somehow, some way, she’d make Tom see things her way.

Braxton plopped down on the bed next to her and took a huge bite of pizza only to have a string of hot cheese drip down his chin.

Forgetting Tom, Lenna laughed and leaned forward to lick the cheese off his chin. He murmured approvingly and bent his head to retrieve the string from her mouth. But she teasingly pulled back. Seeing a challenge where one was offered, Braxton pounced.

And Lenna learned just how creative and exciting sex with food could be.





CHAPTER 19




Friday afternoon, Ben entered Tom’s office with a solemn expression. In the midst of typing a correspondence email to a client, Tom glanced up, saw who was visiting, and promptly returned to typing.

“Look, I don’t care. Stop bothering me with this shit.”

Ben was really getting on his nerves with his unrelenting quest to discover Braxton Farris’s secrets. Sure, Tom wouldn’t mind knowing if the boy had any more surprise business decisions hiding up his sleeve, like going international. But Ben was taking it too far when he even investigated the kid’s private life.

Without speaking, Ben settled into the chair across from Tom and watched him type. Tom continued to ignore him. He hoped Ben would get the hint and leave. He didn’t care what kind of Boss Boy report his friend delivered today. Farris had probably just used the bathroom, and Ben was running around like crazy to spread the news. Yes, Braxton Farris did relieve his bladder like everyone else on earth. What a shocker.

“I know who she is,” Ben said. “I know who Farris took to France with him.”

“Good for you.” Tom continued to type. “Still don’t care.” He didn’t even bother to look interested.

Ben tossed a CD onto Tom’s desk; it landed on the keyboard, obstructing his typing. Tom looked up in surprise. “What—”

“I was snooping in Farris’s computer and found this,” Ben said. “Thought you should see it.”

Tom’s eyes sprang open wide. “You were what? Are you crazy? What were you doing, getting into his computer? Do you want to be fired, Ben? Good Lord.” Tom wiped his hand through his hair and glanced nervously at the CD, wondering how to get the thing off his desk without touching it with his fingerprints.

Ben rolled his eyes. “I know how to cover my tracks, okay? He’ll never know I was in there.”

Then he surged to his feet and leaned over Tom’s desk, his eyes gleaming with urgency. “Forget about the computer. It’s not important.” He snatched the CD off the keyboard and he waved it in Tom’s face. “You need to look at this.”

“No,” Tom said, shoving Ben’s hand away. “I don’t want to see anything you took off Farris’s computer.”

“But they’re pictures of Lenna.”