6. Audrey
AUDREY
I stand in the middle of my new office and slowly turn in a circle. “This is ridiculous.”
Knox leans against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “You hate it?”
I give him a look. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
The office is huge. Bigger than my apartment was, actually. There’s a massive desk in front of huge windows that overlook downtown, a couch and two chairs on the other side of the room, and when I opened what I thought was a closet door, I found a full bathroom.
I point toward it. “Why does my office have a shower?”
Knox shrugs like it’s completely normal. “In case you need one.”
I stare at him. “At work?”
His lips twitch. “You never know.”
I roll my eyes and walk toward the windows. From up here, the city looks peaceful, but I know better. My father is somewhere out there. He knows where I am, and after what he did to my apartment, I’m not stupid enough to think he’s suddenly going to leave me alone.
Still, for the first time in days, I feel like I can breathe.
There are guards downstairs. Security at every entrance. You can’t even get on this floor without clearance, and there are Kingston men everywhere. No one is getting to me here, and that seems to give me some peace.
“You okay?”
I turn around and find Knox watching me.
“Yeah.” I nod toward the windows. “I feel safe here.”
His whole expression changes. He straightens from the doorway and walks toward me. “Good.”
His nearness is unsettling but in a good way. I feel the hair on my arms stick up as he gets closer, and I try to rein myself in. I can’t react this way every time I’m near Bennett or Knox.
I walk over to one of the boxes sitting beside the desk and start pulling things out.
Bennett apparently had someone buy me everything I might possibly need.
Pens, notebooks, folders, a new laptop. As I dig through the box, I think there are enough office supplies to last me ten years.
Plus a whole new wardrobe was dropped off at the house this morning.
They have spent way too much money on me.
I hold up a package of highlighters. “First a whole new wardrobe and then enough office supplies to fill ten offices. Do you guys think you went overboard at all?”
Knox comes over and looks inside the box. “Probably.”
I laugh. I’m still not sure what to make of all this. They gave me a place to stay, a job, security, and clothes. It’s a lot, and it seemed to all happen at once. Now I’m trying to catch my breath.
I set the highlighters on the desk. “You know this job might not last.”
Knox looks at me. “Why wouldn't it?”
“Robert Kingston.”
“What about him?”
I turn to face him. “You really think your boss is going to be okay with a Sterling working here?”
His forehead creases. “Robert is Bennett’s father.”
“And also the man who runs all of this.”
“For now.”
My eyebrows lift. “For now?”
Knox looks like he realizes he said more than he meant to. “That’s a conversation for another day.”
I narrow my eyes at him, but he just smiles.
I start arranging things on my desk again. “I’m serious. Bennett may have decided to give me a job, but Robert can put his foot down and end all of this.”
“He won’t.”
I look at him, trying to figure out what he’s not saying. “You sound pretty sure.”
“I am.”
“How?”
Knox leans a hip against my desk. “Because Bennett wants you here.”
I stop what I’m doing. There’s something about the way he says it that makes heat creep up my neck.
I busy myself with the box again. “Bennett seems to want a lot of things.”
Knox is quiet for a second, and then he says, “He told me he kissed you.”
My hand freezes inside the box. Slowly, I look up at him. “He told you?”
Knox’s eyebrows lift. “Were you expecting him not to?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what game you two are playing.”
I thought about that kiss most of last night. Actually, I barely slept because every time I closed my eyes, I felt Bennett’s mouth on mine again.
But I hadn’t thought about whether he would tell Knox. Maybe I assumed it was something between Bennett and me.
Knox watches me closely. “Was it supposed to be a secret?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I just… I don’t know what the deal is with you two.”
His mouth tilts up. “The deal?”
I put both hands on the desk and look him straight in the eye. “I’m not someone you guys are going to pass around to all your friends.”
His smile disappears instantly. “No.”
The force behind that one word surprises me. He pushes off the desk and comes toward me. “No one is passing you around anywhere, Audrey.”
I swallow, and he stops in front of me. “And there sure as hell aren't going to be any friends involved.”
My heart starts beating faster, but I don’t have time to figure out what he’s saying because he shakes his head. “That’s not what this is.”
I pop my shoulders. “What is it then?”
He searches my face. “You.”
I blink. “Me?”
“Yes.” He steps closer. “Bennett wants you.”
I hold my breath, and Knox's gaze drops briefly to my mouth before coming back to my eyes. “And I want you.”
Every thought leaves my head. I stare at him. “Oh.”
His lips twitch. “Oh?”
I’m so confused. “What am I supposed to say to that?”
“I don't know. You could tell me you want me too.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, and of course he notices.
Knox smiles. “That's what I thought.”
I take in a deep breath. The problem is, I do want him. I want both of them, but I’ve been trying not to admit that even to myself.
Bennett is so controlled about everything, and I expected his kiss to be the same, but it was anything but controlled. I swear the man lost control a little bit, and when he pulled back, I could see the surprise on his face.
I feel warm just thinking about it.
Knox’s voice pulls me from the memory. “You're thinking about the kiss.”
I glare at him. “How do you know?”
“Your face.”
“What’s wrong with my face?”
“Nothing.” His grin gets bigger. “It's pretty.”
I shake my head and try to move around him, but his hand closes around my wrist. My eyes drop to where he's touching me and then lift back to his.
He stares at my lips. “Can I kiss you?”
The question surprises me. “You're asking?”
His eyebrows lift. “You want me not to?”
“No,” I whisper.
“No, you don’t want me to kiss you?”
I narrow my eyes. “You know that's not what I meant.”
He smiles. “Just making sure.”
Then his hand slides around my waist, and my stomach does this little somersault.
He draws me toward him slowly, and I know I could stop him if I wanted to, but I don’t.
His other hand cups the side of my face.
For a second, he just looks at me. Then he leans down and brushes his mouth across mine.
He nips at me as if he’s teasing me, and I let out a little whimper in complaint.
He chuckles against my lips. “Impatient?”
“Shut up.”
He laughs, and then he kisses me again. This time there’s nothing teasing about it. His mouth covers mine, and I grab the front of his shirt.
Knox kisses differently than Bennett.
Bennett's kiss was hard and consuming, like he finally let go of something he'd been holding back.
Knox is playful. He teases my bottom lip, but underneath all of that playfulness is something just as intense.
His hand tightens at my waist, holding me against him, and I melt into him.
For a few seconds, I forget about my father and how my life has been totally upended.
There is only Knox's mouth on mine and the steady warmth of his hand against my back.
When he finally pulls away, I'm breathing hard. He rests his forehead against mine and smiles. “Wow.”
I know exactly what he means, and I shake my head and walk back toward my desk before he can see how much I'm smiling.
Behind me, Knox's phone buzzes.
He pulls it from his pocket and looks at the screen. “I have a meeting with Bennett.”
I glance toward the door. Bennett's office is literally two doors down.
I laugh. “Yeah, you better get to it. That's a long commute.”
Knox grins and pockets his phone.
I look between him and the hallway. “So let me get this straight. You two work together.”
“Yep.”
“You live together.”
“Yep.”
I hesitate before finishing. “And you sleep with women together?”
Knox goes still. His eyes meet mine, and the teasing look on his face disappears. “We'll have that talk soon.”
My stomach flips. “What does that mean?”
His grin comes back as he starts walking toward the door. “It means exactly what I said.”
“Knox.”
He turns around and walks backward into the hallway. “Get settled, princess.”
Then he's gone.
I stare at the empty doorway. Bennett wants me. Knox wants me. And apparently there is a whole lot more I need to learn about the two men who have somehow taken over my life.