Chapter Two
“You know I don’t have to watch you work out. I’m pretty sure you can find your way around the weights perfectly fine,” Leah said.
“That is true, but I also like the company.”
She never talked to him. This, right here, was the most she’d ever said to him in one day. She didn’t like to interrupt him while he was working out. Like now, she tried not to catch a glimpse of him as he lifted weights, showing off his impressive arms.
The man was old enough to be her father. The only problem was, she didn’t get the ick vibes, nor did she think of him as her father. Far from it. She thought of him as … much more. A lot more than just her boss.
It was messed up, because she should hate him. His son was a piece of work, and by extension, the father should be as well, but that wouldn’t be fair. She didn’t have the first clue about her own parents. For all she knew, they were complete assholes, and she didn’t think she could be mistaken for being one of them.
She tried not to think of her parents, but compared to Cain, it seemed like a much safer topic. Those abs, those muscles, and she couldn’t forget those deep blue eyes. Sure, the man was scary, if you were easily afraid.
Now, she wasn’t the kind of woman that drooled over a horror movie. She knew from personal experience that life was horror enough. Having your best friend die in your arms, that kind of pain and horror was not going to leave you quickly. That kind of shit scarred you for life, and it was a pain she accepted.
It was easier to deal with.
Normal to her.
Natural.
And nothing was going to change that.
This attraction to Cain was scary. It was fucking terrifying. He was her boss. She shouldn’t be wondering what his hands would feel like touching her body, stroking her. This was insane.
She ran fingers through her hair and went to his walking machine. She didn’t know what name it had, but she stepped onto it in bare feet. Glancing over the controls, she turned it to a steady walk.
Today, Cain had pulled out a black pencil skirt, along with a white blouse he insisted she tuck into the waistband. He’d even stepped up his game and chosen some white silk lingerie for her to wear beneath. The man clearly didn’t know when to stop, but she wasn’t going to argue with him.
Walking helped clear her head and avoid whatever messed-up attraction she had for him. She clearly had “Daddy issues” or something a therapist would lap up and charge her a small fortune to diagnose.
Leah was getting into the flow of the walk when her problem stepped right in front of her.
“I’m walking here. Can’t you do your weights on the opposite side of the room?” she asked.
Seeing him in front of her wasn’t helping her rid whatever attraction she felt. She still had to spend the whole day with him, and this was not ideal, not in the least.
“How are you at dancing?” Cain asked.
She clicked a button and brought the machine to a stop, but she didn’t get off right away.
“Why?” she asked.
“Simple. I’ve got a function, and I need you to look your best. Also, it is a formal event and there will be dancing.”
“I don’t dance.”
“Is this you being stubborn, or you genuinely don’t dance?” he asked.
She stared at him and wanted to tell him to fuck off. “I just don’t dance. I can’t dance. I never had a reason to dance.”
“You’ve never been to a party?” he asked.
“Never.”
“Even a birthday one?”
“None.” She stared at him and waited for him to get to the point.
“Okay, what about a nightclub? A New Year’s Eve party?”
She smiled. “You’re really not grasping the whole ‘no party, zip, nada, nothing,’ are you?”
“I’m finding it hard to believe a beautiful woman like yourself has never had a man take you dancing. Were your dates always a meal and a show?” he asked.
“I’ve never been on a date.” And she wasn’t embarrassed by it either. This was her life.
“No dates?”
“None.”
“I find that incredibly hard to believe.”
“I don’t fall with random guys. I don’t trust easily.”
“Well, this is just no good. You see, I have a dinner coming up, and I’m going to need you to learn how to dance.”
She stepped off the damn walking machine. “Then show me, or better yet, why don’t you get a date to these things, and leave me on the sidelines?”
“That won’t do. Women are tricky business.”
“You do realize you are talking to one of those tricky women?” she asked.
He smiled. “Exactly, so you know what I am talking about. Anyway, I need you to play damage control, and if I need you to cut in, that is exactly what is going to happen.”
She blew out a breath and then sighed. “Fine, teach me how to dance. There can’t be much to it.” She held her hands out to her sides and waited.
Cain tutted and then stepped close to her. He surprised her even more by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close. At first, she didn’t know quite what to do. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and, well, his naked body was close to hers. She felt breathless, which was quite alarming.
“Look at me. When you’re dancing, you always look at your partner,” he said.
“Why?”
“It’s rude not to. Besides, why would you be dancing with one person if you were thinking about another?” he asked.
“I can think of plenty of reasons to look at other people.”
He tugged her a little closer, which made her suddenly stop as she was very much aware of how naked he was. He still had on pants, but that didn’t feel like enough between them. She’d never been this close to a man she had feelings for, and it was a little unnerving.
There were words he was saying, but she was too busy trying not to panic to even comprehend what he was saying.
Both of his hands moved to her hips, and he held her, putting slight pressure to move her from side to side. She suddenly realized they were swaying to an imaginary beat. There was no music, just the rapid sound of her heartbeat. She hoped he couldn’t hear it.
Get a grip, Leah. This is dancing. This is doing a stupid job. It doesn’t mean anything, she kept trying to remind herself. Although her treacherous body was no help to her at all. It did what it wanted to do.
“Right, let’s change this up. This is when the music is slow, and we can be close.” One of his hands left her hip, and the other took hold of her hand. Her hand looked so small compared to his large one.
“Do you like dancing?” she asked, hoping to distract herself.
“No.”
“Then why do it?”
“Sometimes it is a necessity. I’m sure you have had to go through things that are necessary, rather than an odd desire.”
She nodded her head. “But isn’t dancing kind of a luxury?”
“With the right person, it can feel like a necessity,” he said.
“How?” she asked, more curious than she wanted to be. There was that tempting smile again.
Why did he have to possess such a sexy smile? She knew it was why she was in the circumstances she was in. His smile was too much of a temptation. She’d even tried to think of him as a father, but there was no way that was happening. No daughter should ever think of a parent the way she felt about him. She certainly shouldn’t be drooling over him naked, and wondering if it would be a good idea to lose her virginity to him.
Pushing those messed-up thoughts to the back of her mind, she looked at Cain and tried to focus.
She’d never given in to desires before. Ben had once told her that succumbing to desires was a surefire sign of weakness, and that she couldn’t accept. To show any kind of weakness wasn’t good. Not in her life.
Weakness always equaled pain, and she was never going to be at its mercy again.
****
There was a lot about Leah he didn’t know. She was certainly an enigma, and she was so tense in his arms. More tense than she needed to be.
“Relax,” he said.
“This is no good. You must have women you keep on standby who know the score.” She pulled her hand away from him and stepped back.
This time, he let her. Whatever was bothering her, he saw she needed space.
“I could, but what is the point of having you around if I cannot use you?”
“Simple, if you choose one of your other women who already know the score, then you can have sex with her at the end of the night.” She held her hands open, as if it was a problem solved.
Did she even notice her nose wrinkled as she mentioned him having sex with someone else? Since Leah entered his world, he’d not been with another woman. There had been no cause to. Admittedly, he hadn’t crossed that line, even though on many occasions he wished to. Something held him back.
“I don’t want to,” he said.
“You don’t want to what?”
“Have sex at the end of the night.”
She frowned. “I find that hard to believe. I thought all men were supposed to be horndogs who can’t keep it in their pants.”
“Do you know a lot of them?”
“Not personally, but working at your bar, I met a lot of men. Married ones as well as single who were more than happy for a chance to sleep with a new woman.”
“You’re judging them?” he asked.
“I’m not judging anyone, but there has to be more to life than just sex.”
Cain chuckled. “And why do you think that? Is this some kind of notion, that you can only have one woman or one man?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Look, I’m not even trying to talk about monogamy, although it is something I do believe in.”
“And you think the key to long-term relationships has nothing to do with sex?” he asked.
Leah rolled her eyes, and then she folded her arms across her chest. “Look, I get it, sex can be important, but what happens when you can no longer have sex?”
He raised his brows.
“When you’re a lot older, and you cannot get it to work, and for whatever reason you’re not allowed to take that valuable medication. What then, when sex becomes no more? If all you were good for was hot sex, then there is nothing. You’re with someone you can’t stand unless they’re naked. I guess, for me, I’d like to find someone who is more than an attraction. Someone I happen to like being around, who likes being around me. Is that too hard to understand?” she asked. “And yeah, it probably makes me an idealist, but at least I have something I know I want.” She shrugged.
Cain looked at her, and the truth was, he couldn’t laugh. There was no reason to mock her. She made valid points. More valid than he could begin to argue. He didn’t think of a future that far ahead, when his dick might not work.
The strangest thing of all was, the only woman he’d been able to stand for a long period of time stood in front of him right now with her arms folded.
“So. all you’ve done is help validate my argument,” he said, and then held out his hands. “I’m not going to have sex with any random woman who knows the score. I can’t stand them for long periods of time, so that means you must learn how to dance.”
“You’re a pain in the ass.” She took a step toward him. “Fine, show me.”
Leah was a fast learner. The truth was, he didn’t know the first thing about how to dance, but he had no choice but to attend this dinner. He already accepted the invite weeks ago. It was for a charity dinner to help foster kids. Fucking foster kids, of all people, and Leah had come from the system.
He had a feeling she wouldn’t be so impressed about a bunch of rich people donating money to help needy kids. From what he could tell, none of the homes she’d been to had ever gotten additional funds.
Also, he knew some of the men who ran the charity were fucking crooks. He liked to make an appearance to keep them on their toes. Some people believed they could get away with stuff, but his presence was a reminder that he was always watching.
Leah tensed up whenever he touched her. She didn’t recoil from his touch, but he’d come to realize she wasn’t used to finding comfort from other people. He was going to change all of that.
She listened to his instructions, moved to where he needed her, then back again. There was such an intense frown on her face.
“You know this is stupid,” she said.
He chuckled. “I have come to see that anything a little too hard for you is stupid.”
“Not on purpose, but this is very stupid.”
Again, he offered her a smile, and they took a break at lunch. One of his staff came down to his gym to let him know that food was waiting.
With a hand at her back, he walked with her up toward the dining room. They passed a few of his staff, and he noticed how Leah greeted them. Everyone smiled at Leah.
He was surprised his staff had become so open to her. Usually, they were very reserved, certainly if he brought a guest home. He rarely did, but they never smiled or offered a welcome.
“The staff like you,” he said, taking a seat at the head of the table.
“Not at first,” Leah said.
“They didn’t?”
“No, at first they thought I was one of your many dates, only here for a good time. When I told them you had hired me because I beat the crap out of your son, it had been a conversation starter.”
“Ah, going back to putting Danny in his place. I’ve been meaning to ask you … where did you learn to fight like that?” he asked.
He had a rough idea. There was a document in her file that stated she’d been there when a young man had died in a drive-by shooting that had turned into a hit-and-run. There were no great details. Just a statement taken from a fifteen-year-old girl. He had no idea who the man was to her, but the man—Ben he believed the name was—had also been in his early twenties.
Leah sat down, and he saw how tense she got, and at first she didn’t say a word. Just stared at the empty plate in front of her.
She nibbled her lip. “I knew someone. A fighter.”
“A fighter?” he asked.
She looked up and he saw her press her lips together and then shrug. “Ugh, this is … I ran away. I tended to do that from time to time, it was just easier than putting up with all the crap. Anyway, I met a guy. He was a fighter. I don’t think it was legal but he had a name and was building a name for himself—Savage. It was what he was called, and he’d been undefeated. He saw me on the streets and a pimp was trying to bully me. Ben, or Savage, came to my rescue. He was a real good guy. Rare. He took me back to his place and said I could stay there as long as I needed, as long as I didn’t do drugs or bring any bad shit to the place.”
There was a smile and Cain, for the first time in his life, felt jealousy. He wasn’t used to this feeling.
“He didn’t ask me for anything, but he told me I reminded him of his sister. He lost her when she was young in the system. She had it bad and … killed herself. He couldn’t help her. He knew how bad it was, and one day he said it was time for me to learn to be able to take care of myself. The world was full of bad men and women, and I needed to be able to handle whatever life threw at me. He taught me to fight dirty. Sometimes, that was all that was going to keep me alive. So I learned, and one day we were out, and that was when it happened. I don’t know if it was one of his enemies, which seems insane because everyone liked him. He was fair. He was honest. Apart from in the ring, when he was a savage.”
“You miss him?” he asked.
“Yeah. I do. He died in my arms, and he told me to never be afraid. He’d always be there for me.”