Page 2 of Boss with Benefits (Boss of Seduction #6)

Most of the people working in the sixty-two-floor skyscraper had to leave their cars in the parking garage, but Brady had made a deal with the owner of the large lot across the street.

People found it hard to turn him down. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t seem to take no for an answer and kept pushing.

Because experience had taught him he could almost always get his way.

Juggling several things at once, including her coffee, she stepped into the lobby.

The tall cup tipped precariously. Her heartbeat quickened.

If she tried to save it, she’d drop the client folders she’d put hours of work into.

Papers would scatter everywhere, maybe get ruined, and some were irreplaceable. Indecision froze her limbs in place.

A hand reached out at the last second and caught the cup before a single drop escaped. She turned a grateful smile on the person standing behind her. It froze to her face. Once again, Brady was her savior.

He looked good in the snug gray T-shirt that molded to every rock-hard muscle in his upper torso.

Now that she was at work, she regretted not crawling back into bed with him.

Unfortunately, they had a meeting with a client within the hour.

An important client. Neither of them could afford to miss that.

“How did you beat me here?” she asked. “I left before you this morning. I bet you ran all the lights and drove like a maniac just to prove a point.”

“And what point is that?” He grinned, deepening his dimples. “That you drive like an old lady?”

“I drive like a good law-abiding citizen. You should try it sometime.”

He took the client folders from her arms, leaving her with just her purse and coffee to carry.

The elevator chimed its arrival. He gallantly gestured for her to enter first. Their workspace was nestled near the summit of one of Seattle’s towering office buildings.

It was a long way up. They retreated to the back of the elevator, making room for a handful of others who trickled in before the doors slid shut.

The elevator embarked on its tedious journey to their floor, consistently stopping to welcome new passengers and allow others to depart.

Brady sighed, already bored. It didn’t surprise her when he leaned over and whispered loud enough for the people closest to them to hear. “Did you get the blueprints for the bank job?”

If anyone looked at his face, they would think he was serious. Brady could be the straight-man for a goofy comedic genius if he wanted. He could say the craziest things and make them seem believable.

She played along with the elevator game to please him. Sometimes the reactions he got from people were funny, and it did make the slow ride up more enjoyable. Sometimes.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Lefty will have them for us before it’s time to make our move.”

“He better,” Brady said.

The elevator lurched to a stop. The doors slid open, and everyone within earshot of them hurried out. Jessica laughed, but Brady didn’t crack a smile. He rarely broke character.

He kept his mouth shut until they reached the twentieth floor.

Four more unsuspecting people stepped inside.

A couple well-dressed men checked her out while boarding.

Their eyes started with her legs and traveled up to her smile.

She felt Brady stiffen beside her. Maybe the men caught his territorial glare.

They turned away from her as a single entity, and the metal doors slid shut, locking them inside together.

In a low, seemingly hostile voice, Brady said, “I did the math.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “And?”

Where was he going with this one?

“I know the baby isn’t mine,” he said. “Were you sleeping with my father again? Or was it my brother this time?”

The men exchanged an amused glance.

The women gave each other a look, but Jessica didn’t catch it.

One of them leaned back a bit. No doubt the woman didn’t want to miss anything juicy.

Jessica shot Brady a glare. Why did she always have to be the slut in his stories?

Every time he came up with something like the ‘baby daddy’ game, he purposely made her look bad.

When she didn’t respond, he added, “I’m not raising the kid. Find yourself another sucker.”

So Brady wanted to play, huh?

She turned her entire body in his direction.

With hands on her hips, she said, “I don’t know why you thought the baby was yours when you’re impotent. Did you forget we haven’t had sex in over a year? Maybe you don’t remember, because you’re drunk all the time. Alcohol kills brain cells, you know.”

He gaped at her, speechless for once.

The metal doors opened, and she exited on quick feet before he could retaliate. “I’ll catch the next one,” she said over her shoulder. “We probably shouldn’t be seen together anyway.”

Fortunately, she was the only one to exit the elevator.

She didn’t want the two well-dressed men hitting on her or the women asking nosy questions.

In fact, she needed a few minutes to herself.

The stairs were an option. It was only eight flights up to her floor.

She was wearing heels, but she had a burst of energy fueled by irritation with Brady.

He knew she hated it when his elevator games made her look like a bad person.

She had to work in the same building with these people.

It wasn’t like they were total strangers from another state.

Before she could head to the stairwell, the doors parted on another elevator, and she caught sight of an old friend.

The young woman used to model for the same agency that she did jobs for as a teenager.

They both squealed with delight and hugged each other.

There were only two other people in the elevator at the moment.

They looked mildly annoyed by the slight delay.

“Do you have a shoot with Brady?” she asked. “He didn’t say anything to me.”

Leigh shook her head. Her shiny black hair draped over her shoulders like a silky waterfall. “I’m here to meet with someone at the Bellago Agency. They’re about to open up a new office here.”

“I had no idea.”

“They’ll be a couple of floors below you.”

Someone cleared their throat, and Jessica apologized before entering the elevator so she could continue talking to Leigh. The doors slid shut, and they were on their way.

Jessica nodded in response to the information Leigh had given her about the agency. “Convenient. I’ll have to let Brady know. We need models for almost every single ad we do these days. Clients always want beautiful women and handsome men in their ads. Sex sells.”

A predatory glint lit up Leigh’s eyes. “Speaking of sex, how is Brady doing?”

“He’s good.”

“What about women?” Leigh asked. “Is he seeing anyone?”

Jessica hesitated. She toyed with the outrageous idea of telling Leigh that she was his lover now. Yes, he’s involved with somebody. Me!

Instead, she compressed her lips to form a tight line. Her shoulders lifted in a slow shrug. “You would have to ask him. I don’t pry.”

“Maybe I will. I’m not seeing anyone, and I always had an intense attraction to him. I didn’t do anything about it, of course. I was with Rudy, but that’s over. He’s still hot, right? Brady, I mean.”

Jessica experienced the sudden urge to slap her old friend and warn her to keep her grubby hands to herself.

Ridiculous reaction. Totally uncalled for.

Her fling with Brady was over and that was that.

She wasn’t spending another night with him.

They were done. It was a no-strings relationship, and it had run its course.

He wasn’t going to live as a monk now just because he couldn’t have her.

“We should grab lunch sometime,” Jessica said. “Especially if you join the Bellago Agency. Put in a good word for us, and make sure they know our ad agency is a few floors above them.”

The elevator stopped, and everyone got out except for her.

That was a relief. She wanted to have a minute to herself.

She took a deep, shaky breath.

Why did she suddenly want to stake a claim on her boss?

Correction. Her partner .

∞∞∞

Jessica tapped her foot and drank her coffee until the elevator made it to her floor. Riding up without Brady doing his straight-man routine helped her stomach muscles unclench. She was able to relax for the first time that morning.

Until...

“He wants you in his office,” Mona said the second Jessica stepped off the elevator. Standing behind the pristine counter, their receptionist looked at her through cool blue eyes. “And he is in a mood this morning.”

Mona was tall, slender, and a former model.

She only had the one expression: neutral.

At first glance, you would think she was as perfect as her surroundings.

But if you looked closer, you could see the cracks.

There was a slight quiver in her voice whenever she spoke, and she had trouble looking people in the eyes if she had to have an actual conversation with them.

The woman couldn’t type or handle clients beyond directing them inside.

For some reason, Mona didn’t possess the confidence that usually accompanied her sort of cool beauty.

But Brady hadn’t hired her for her skills.

He insisted the first thing people see when getting off the elevator was beauty.

That was why there were fresh flowers, an immaculate, clutter free zone, and a stunning model out front.

The walls had a few of his best photographs nailed to them at eye-level.

Brady paid an outside cleaning service to come in every night, but it never smelled like cleaning fluids, because he also paid for clean, crisp oxygen to be pumped in through the air vents.

It was slightly perfumed, smelling like crisp, clean mountain air.

And he hadn’t consulted her on any of it.

“When isn’t he in a mood?” Jessica mumbled.