Going Down Hard (Billionaire Bad Boys 3)

She hadn’t planned or expected the kiss. He knew how to take charge, and the way he’d kissed her reflected the alpha-driven man he’d become. With his hand behind her head and the hard press of his lips, she’d been lost. At least until they were interrupted by the waiter. She ran her tongue over her lips, imagining she could still taste him, before she forced her mind back to the business at hand.

Moving forward on the interview.

She called his cell phone, and he answered on the first ring. “Good morning,” he said, sounding happy to hear from her.

She wondered if that good feeling would continue after he heard her idea.

“Morning. Do you have a minute? I’d like to run something by you,” she said, doodling on a piece of paper on her desk as she spoke.

“For you I’ll make time.”

Her body warmed at his words. “I wanted to discuss the interview.” And before he could change his mind, she continued. “With everyone else, I’ve met with them once, maybe twice, and written based on that discussion and prior research. I wanted to go in a different direction with you.”

“Uh oh.”

She laughed at his response. Little did he know…

“What did you have in mind?” he asked.

“I thought I could shadow you. Sort of a day in the life except over the course of a longer period of time. That way I’d get a broader perspective of what you do, how you think … how you became the success that you are.” She bit down on her bottom lip and waited for a reply.

“You do realize you’re asking a lot. I don’t want to open myself up for public scru

tiny.”

“I understand and I can give it that slant. I promise I’ll respect your boundaries.” She could almost hear him thinking and she held her breath.

“I’ll do it for one reason,” he said at last. “So I can spend more time with you.”

“You won’t regret it,” she promised as her heart skipped a beat at his answer, equal parts thrilled for her interview and for herself personally.

Because she wanted to spend more time with him too.

* * *

Derek waited for his partners at the gym for their Thursday night boxing, sparring and workout. He’d arrived first and ran on the treadmill for fifteen minutes before he saw Kade make his way in.

“Sorry I’m late,” the other man said as he joined Derek, putting his duffel on the wooden bench by the treadmill.

“I’m here,” Lucas muttered a few minutes later, jogging in, out of breath.

“Held up at work?” Derek asked neither man in particular. He stepped off the machine and wiped his face down with a towel.

“No, Lexie baked some chocolate chip cookies, which are my favorite,” Kade said.

“And what? She let you lick the pan?”

A smirk lifted Kade’s lips. “Nah, she let me kiss the cook.”

Lucas snickered.

“What was your excuse?” Derek asked his friend, who still laughed at Kade.

“Nothing I’m willing to discuss in public. Or with you two.”

Derek was lucky all three of them were here at all. While they used to see each other more often, since Kade and Lexie had married and Lucas and Maxie had become engaged, guy time had declined.

Derek got it. Well, he accepted it. He didn’t get it, as in, he’d never fallen for a woman to the extent he wanted to spend most of his time with her. His thoughts immediately went to Cassie, who he couldn’t wait to see on Sunday, before he shook his head hard.