Going Down Easy (Billionaire Bad Boys 1)

She shook her head. “No.” She rose to her feet, smoothing the wrinkles out of her skirt.

“Lexie,” he said in a controlled tone, pulling her out of her panicked zone. “Have you played before?” he asked her.

Her expression softened, the light returning to her beautiful blue eyes. “When I was younger, my sister and I loved Super Mario,” she said softly. “I guess it’s a skill you don’t forget.”

“You certainly didn’t.” It was as close of a compliment as he could bring himself to give her.

She glanced at him. “Are you hungry? Did you want dinner?”

“My housekeeper left something in the fridge,” he said. She was aware he usually ate alone.

“Then am I excused for the day?”

Suddenly he didn’t want her to leave, his curiosity about her and the need to learn more and remain in her company riding him hard.

“Join me,” he said, the words bursting out unexpectedly.

“I realize I’m paid a salary, but … dinner. Is it business?” she asked, meeting his gaze. “Because honestly, I’m confused.”

He hesitated to admit the truth, but he recognized she was too smart to fall for a lie. He didn’t know what to do with the new and confounding feelings he had for her that went beyond sexual. He’d only known her a day, but she’d tapped into the part of him he’d buried after Angela blind-sided him with her deceit. And personal assistant or not, he wasn’t ready to let Lexie go.

“I’m not asking you to stay for business. I’m interested in getting to know you better.” It was the shocking truth, and for now, he wasn’t about to analyze why.

Chapter Three

Lexie didn’t think she’d ever been so stunned. On her first day of work, she’d not only held her own with her supposedly tyrannical boss but he’d now expressed interest in her.

Interest she reciprocated. Her mind whirled with conflicting emotions and realities, so she forced herself to recount the truths in her situation.

Fact: It would be stupid to mix business with pleasure.

Fact: Regardless of what was smart, this man intrigued her on a deep level that made her want to know more about him. Like why did he keep himself so withdrawn and apart from the people around him? Why was he so gruff and taciturn? And what did this part of his personality have to do with the photo of him and his brother?

Because no way had he reacted with such anger just because she’d been looking at an old picture. And she was certain she hadn’t imagined the brief hint of longing on his face when he’d stared at the picture. There was much more to Kaden Barnes than the man he showed to the outside world.

Final fact: Bad idea or not, she was already invested, which meant one thing.

She was staying.

She met his gaze and didn’t back down from the oh-so-intense look in his vivid green eyes. “So what’s for dinner?”

The moment she agreed, the wariness in his expression softened a little. “Let’s go find out what Helen left us.”

A little while later, he was heating up spaghetti and meatballs on the stove. “My favorite meal,” he muttered, as if not wanting to admit to such a tiny personal detail.

“My sister and I used to make spaghetti for dinner. When my mother was too sick to make it downstairs and cook.” She retrieved the plates he’d taken out of the cabinet and brought them over to the stove so he could serve the food.

“What was wrong with her?” he asked, deftly placing the pasta on their plates.

“Depression,” she said, having long since come to terms with the word.

Some people considered mental illness a stigma, something to be ashamed of. She thought of it as chronic illness, a burden to bear when it wasn’t controlled, and merely another facet of someone’s life when it was. For her sister, Lexie still had hope.

She didn’t, however, know how Kade viewed things. Not wanting to see judgment in his gaze, she busied herself carrying the plates back to the table.

“I’m sorry. It’s not easy growing up with any kind of issues dragging you down.”

Something about the way he spoke told her not only didn’t he judge, he might actually understand.