Boxed Set: The His Submissive Series Complete Collection (Part One-Part Twelve) (26 page)

I gripped two coffees from the Keurig and sat down beside Jacob, handing him one. He glanced up and said thank you. When I squeezed his thigh beneath the table, I saw one side of his mouth tug upward.

The meeting was a brief one, with Missy doing most of the talking. While in town they'd set him up at The Today Show and the late night circuit, being interviewed about the film. Once we received any pertinent talking points from the studio, we'd include it in a press docket for him to review before he went live. Missy and Cade's assistant met for a moment, calling Jacob over for a question. Even several seats away I felt Cade watching me. I pulled out my cell and pretended I was the busiest person on the planet, keeping my eyes on the screen as I moved toward the exit.

"Leila, wait up!"

I was a few feet from the door so I ignored him and pushed into the hall. Unluckily for me, he followed.

"Leila!"

I stopped moving, my heart tap dancing in my chest as I slowly faced him. "Mr. Wallace! S-sorry, I just have a lot of things I have to take care of."

The man had tree trunk for legs and spanned the feet between us in two strides. He was close enough that I could see that all those muscles weren't photoshopped. I couldn't escape the alluring scent of soap and sweat and sandalwood and god, he was all man. I wasn't brave enough to look at him eye to eye and felt more vulnerable than I liked.

I took a few steps in the opposite direction as goose bumps raced up and down my arms. "If you have any questions, Missy would probably be a lot more helpful than me."

"My question is for you, and you alone."

"Me?" My eyes snapped upward and I regretted it instantly because I couldn't look away from his olive gaze.

"Yeah." He ran a hand through his sandy hair. "You wanna grab a cup of coffee sometime?"

"A cup of coffee?" I parroted back, dread clinging to every word.

"Or tea or ice cream or something else if that's not your thing." He scanned my face. "Are you ok? You look kind of green."

I tried to smile and reassure him, but I was sick with worry and guilt. I still didn't know for sure if he was coming on to me and if I dropped the boyfriend bomb and he wasn't, I risked looking silly and possibly insulting him. But if I said yes, I had Jacob to deal with.

So I lied.

"We're not allowed to uh, fraternize with clients."

"I wasn't offering a moonlit walk on the beach," he joked. "I just..." His face went serious and he shut down, just like he had when he talked about his history in the military. "Never mind. I'll see you later."

He walked around me and stalked toward the exit. He looked like a man marching toward his execution.

My heels clacked on the floor as I raced to catch him. He was just as surprised as me when I asked him a question.

"Just a cup of coffee?"

****

I
slipped out of the office a little early, being as vague as possible about my departure when Natasha grilled me like a warden. Jacob was tied up in a meeting so I didn't have to face his questions, thank God. I had a feeling he wouldn’t be a fan of me grabbing a coffee with Cade, even if we’d both agreed it was strictly platonic. It would be easier to ask forgiveness than permission, right?

That's what I kept repeating over and over like a mantra as I stepped into the coffee shop, The Roast. As soon as I smelled the fragrant aroma of coffee beans, it was like pulling on my favorite old t-shirt.

The Roast was in a touch and go part of town and definitely qualified as 'hole in the wall'. Somehow they made it work, the peeling wall paint mixing with works of local artists and scuffed tables and armchairs barely holding onto their threads. I'd pretty much lived in the tiny shop during the months before I got the job at Whitmore and Creighton since they had free refills on large coffees and I could drain the well dry and use the wifi.

Cade sat at a table near the back. Even though he was clearly packing in the muscle department, his slightly wrinkled chambray shirt and shaggy blond hair blended in with the surroundings. With gold strands of hair spilling into his eyes as he leafed through a paperback book, he looked like a bodybuilding hipster. I was the one that looked out of place in my silk blouse, couture slacks, and blood red pumps. It was only magnified by my slicked, bobby pinned hair. I debated ducking into the bathroom near the door and at least taking my hair down. But Cade glanced up when he took a sip from his coffee mug and spotted me.

I clutched my latte and walked over, trying to smooth out the nerves that had me close to spilling the contents all over the floor. I managed to sit down without making a mess or a fool of myself and swiped a hand over my forehead.

"Hi! How are you?"

"Surprised that you showed up," he said, a teasing smirk on his lips. When I gaped at him, he added, "I know you're dating Jacob. And even if I didn't recognize you as the 'secretary turned Cinderella' that’s all over the magazines, Jacob's territorial glares all meeting did the trick."

I relaxed, feeling a little less like Judas. "For the record, I'm a personal assistant, not a secretary."

"My bad,” he said with a grin that said he was anything but. He gestured at my cup. "What's your poison?"

"Mocha," I answered, bringing the rim to my nose and inhaling deep. "Extra shot."

"White chocolate mocha here," he said, nodding with approval. "Two extra shots." He took a long sip of his coffee, swallowing hard before speaking. "You'll be a double shot-er before you know it."

"Is that right?" I said, highly doubting it. My extra shot was pushing it...I’d be bouncing off the walls all night.

I watched the jovial nature drain from his face like air from a balloon, replaced by a solemnity that reminded me of the quiet moments when he withdrew inside himself. Like when he was talking about filming
Soldier’s Creed
and how he felt like a fake. Or when I first declined to get coffee.

"This life isn’t easy,” he said after a moment. “It's hard being on the receiving end of those flashing lights. It drains pieces of you that you never get back."

"It can't be all that bad, Cade,” I said. “Look at all the opportunities you get because you are Cade Wallace." I said his name in that movie preview guy's voice, trying to lighten things a bit. The tight line of his jaw unwound just a little.

"I guess you have a point. I have seen things and worked with actors and directors I idolized." He steered the conversation back to me. "How about you? Met anyone interesting while you’ve been in the biz?"

"Besides you?" I thought about Rachel, remembering all the drama fit for a movie screen. "Nah."

"And I'm sure I'm a disappointment."

"Well, you're certainly more emo than I thought you'd be," I said, mixing equal measures of joking with truth.

He laughed at that and it pushed away the rest of the storm clouds on his face. "Emo, huh? I've been called a lot of things, but that is definitely a first. Though God only knows what I'd find if I was brave enough to read comments section online."

"Do
not
read the comment section online," I said after gulping down chocolatey goodness. "Like, ever."

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "I take it you found that out the hard way?"

"It was definitely enlightening to discover that complete strangers could call me ugly, uninteresting, and a waste of oxygen in one breath."

Anger reignited in my gut as I remembered going further and further down the rabbit hole, my eyes glazing over as the list of reasons I wasn't worthy of Jacob lengthened. Even though my sanity told me to step away from the keyboard, I just kept clicking through pages and pages of people who thought I was so out of Jacob’s league it was ridiculous.

"Well that's the thing about the public; most of them are complete idiots." He shook his head. "On what planet are you ugly, uninteresting, or a waste of anything?"

The heat of anger changed to a kind of shame. I didn't want him to think I was some weakling that stayed up at nights stressing over it. It hurt because I was human, but I was trying really hard to not let their crap impact my identity or my relationship with Jacob.

"You don't have to do that."

"Do what?"

I remembered my mother's sweet, slightly patronizing voice ringing in my ears after someone said something mean about my appearance when I was younger. “The whole, ‘You are beautiful in your own way’ thing."

"In your own way?" he repeated, his mouth creasing into a frown. "You're beautiful in every way."

I froze, my cup hovering inches from my lips. I didn't know what to say to that—or what to do with the feeling his words sent scattering over me. Either way, I had to make the lines clear as day.

"Just so we’re on the same page-" I began.

"It's just an observation." He held up both hands in defense. "Please don't sic Jacob Whitmore on me."

I tossed my coffee stirrer at him with a laugh. "Jacob's about to be the least of your worries."

His own laughter tapered off and he gave me a strange look before he picked up his drink and polished it off. “I’d be lying if I said I understand it though.”

“Understand what?”

“The female obsession with Jacob Whitmore.”

I playfully glanced to the right, then the left, then gestured for Cade to come close. I lowered my volume like I was about to share some top secret information. “Honestly? It’s the dreamy blue eyes.”

“And what about my eyes?” He said it playfully too, but his face was mere inches from mine and I could tell he was asking me a serious question. His warm, minty breath washed over me, fanning the heat in my cheeks.

If I reared back it would seem like I had feelings that I didn’t. That I couldn’t. So I just sat there, practically nose to nose with him, trying to think of something witty to say. The problem was suddenly, I couldn’t remember how to speak at all.

I looked into his evergreen eyes, as wild and untamed as some lush, exotic forest. Flashes of gold swirled in and out like some vibrant bird, beckoning me to come closer. To explore. If this was a movie, I knew exactly what would come next. An impassioned, powerful kiss and he would pull me on the table, his hands pulling off my clothes as his mouth made promises of the delights to come.

I slid back a fraction of an inch and gave him a noncommittal shrug. “They’re alright.”

He held my gaze for a minute more before he released me, leaning back in his seat. “Just alright, huh?”

“I mean, I can see why some women would be into them,” I said, trying to maintain my indifference. “The intensity or whatever.”

“But not you?”

“I have a boyfriend,” I said pointedly. “So as a general rule, I don’t go swooning over other guys.”

Finally, he cracked a grin. “Fair enough, Leila. Fair enough.” He lifted up his empty mug. “Want another?”

“Sure.” I reached for my clutch but he stopped me, insisting that he pay for it. I went rigid, looking at his hand covering mine. He retreated almost instantly, already halfway to the counter by the time it registered that this was becoming more and more like a date.

Cade came back, balancing two mugs and a couple of pastries. “I went ahead and got that second shot for you,” he began. “And I hope you like whipped-”

“Actually, I forgot that I have something to take care of in the office.” I made sure I didn’t make eye contact as I stood up, stumbling a little in my hustle to get out of there. When he tried to steady me, I recoiled from his touch. I couldn’t help but look at him and I saw a mixture of confusion and hurt.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No, I just have things to take care of.” My voice sounded phony, pinched and too high, but I didn’t have time to care.

I never should have come.

“Thank you so much for the coffee. Take care, Cade.”

This was a mistake
, I thought, barreling toward the door.
A horrible, terrible mi-

BAM!

I ran into a man standing a few feet from the door. I opened my mouth to apologize but gasped instead when a camera fell from his jacket and clattered to the floor. Our eyes met and a sinister grin crept across his face.

The paparazzo’s voice was thick and full of delight. “Just wait until the world finds out that Cinderella is cheating on her prince."

Part Six

E
scape.

It was the thing I’d wanted since I realized my friendly cup of coffee with Whitmore and Creighton’s new client, action star Cade Wallace, had been a horrible mistake.

I’d come to my senses too late, just in time for a photographer to snap enough pictures to tell a story. A story where I wasn’t Cinderella at all—unless Cindy liked to spread ‘em for any Prince that came knocking.

I thought I had time for damage control; to surprise Jacob with a nice dinner and after his belly was filled with steak and he had a glass of wine or two, explain myself. I thought I had time to ease him into the truth before he saw any photos of me staring into the eyes of a man I swore meant nothing. But Jacob was home and without saying a word, I knew something was terribly wrong.

I held my breath, hoping the savory aroma would sink in and he’d lose the scowl on his lips. Instead, it deepened.

“I picked up some Sullivans for dinner.” My stomach churned madly as I tried to explain. “I remember you saying how you loved their prime rib so-”

My voice trailed off as he ignored me completely, instead, peeling off the remnants of his work day. He put his briefcase down with a click near the door. His coat was next, easing one arm out, then the other. He loosened his tie with an abrupt yank.

His movements were mechanical and precise and when he finally gave me his full attention, his face was tight and void of any signs of emotion. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that his silence was par for the course. Classic Jacob. But he didn’t mask his emotions around me anymore. Not unless I was in big trouble.

I tried to convince myself that he couldn’t know. There was no way the story, the pictures, could be live that quick...right?