THE BILLIONAIRE'S BABY (A Secret Baby Romance) (15 page)

Afterwards, my mom took Lexi to see her herb garden, flowers, and trees in the backyard, then to the room off the garden that had been made into an art studio so Lexi could see some of her paintings. While they were off, Adrianna and I cleaned up.

“Okay, Mom’s totally smitten,” my sister said in a low voice. “You two are so cute together, and you’re positively glowing
.
Lexi feels the same way, I can tell.”

I handed her a saucepan to dry and said, “Hold on there, Addy. Before you and Mom start making wedding invitations, let me actually figure out how to go from strictly work to a romantic relationship, okay? I need to let her take the lead.” I whispered all of this as I glanced nervously to the right several times to make sure Lexi and my mom weren’t on their way back.

Adrianna studied me for a moment. “I don’t know, Braden. I mean, yeah, you shouldn’t push her too much, but there should be some push and…” She trailed off as Lexi and my mom walked in from the hall.

“Give me two minutes to finish up and I’ll drive you home, okay?” I told Lexi.

***

I sped up to get through a yellow light in my Ferrari and turned onto the street with Lexi’s apartment. Seeing her with my mom and Adrianna and how naturally they got along had gone straight to my heart, and it killed me to hold my feelings back. Once I’d parked, Lexi unbuckled and turned to me.

“Thanks for dinner—again. Honestly, if you ever want to quit the production business, you could be a gourmet chef.” She smiled at me and changed the subject. “You ready for the big meeting tomorrow?”

I grinned and said, “Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing. Well, not nothing, but nothing we can’t handle. I know they’re not happy about Keith’s behavior, but that’s nothing new.” I paused as my thumb nervously tapped on the steering wheel. “You know, Lexi, I’m really glad you got to meet my mom and sister and be a part of our family dinner.” I glanced at her as a rush of warm feelings shot through me, and I wondered if I should say anything about my deepening feelings for her.

Her eyes locked on mine and she said, “Me, too. I had a lot of fun, and your mom and Adrianna are great. I like them a lot.”

I nodded and licked my lips before I plunged ahead. “That means a lot to me, because, well, you’re starting to mean a lot to me, Lexi. And I wanted to ask if you’d consider re-evaluating our relationship agreement—about possibly being something more than boss and employee, and more than just friends?” I couldn’t believe what I was saying, but the words seemed to come out of my mouth without much control.

Lexi sat still, hand poised over the door handle as she regarded me with blazing pink cheeks and startled eyes. What felt like several long beats passed in silence before she answered. “Braden—wow, I don’t know. Let me think about it, okay? I gotta go.” She jumped out of the car and into her building before I could respond.

***

The conference room was silent except for the hum of the air conditioning and my pen clicking in and out repeatedly. Everyone but Lexi and I had left by that point. It was closing in on four in the afternoon. I shook my head and pulled my hands through my hair, annoyed for getting chewed out by Shawna Young in front of my department heads and Lexi.

I turned my gaze to Lexi who sat on my right at the oval conference table. She watched me with concern. “She’s always on my case about my womanizing image and how it’s bad for Huntington, so add in Keith’s bad behavior—man, Shawna has a vendetta against me now,” I groaned in irritation, and added, “I mean, I’ve been known as a playboy, but I’ve never trashed a hotel room or gotten kicked out of bars for brawls—she shouldn’t group me with Keith.”

Lexi nodded in agreement. Shawna had appeared to have a personal dislike of Braden and gave him a verbal slap in the face at the meeting. As I sat there and stared into Lexi’s sympathetic green eyes, my stomach churned with mortification. I felt sicker than ever of a reputation I’d earned by default, and mostly because I never bothered to correct it.

And Lexi still hadn’t responded to my request yesterday after dinner at my mom’s – about trying for a more-than-friends relationship. I felt the issue needed a little push. “Braden,” Lexi’s voice cut into my thoughts, “I’m sorry. Shawna’s totally out of line. Is there something I can do? Do you want some coffee—food, anything?”

I continued to stare at her silently for several seconds, then I raised one eyebrow. This was the perfect opportunity to give that extra push. “Coffee? Actually, could you go get the bottle of single malt scotch I have locked in the liquor cabinet in my office? Bring two glasses. I could use a little help to unwind.”

I fished out my keychain and held it by the small key to my cabinet, and her eyes widened with surprise as she nodded, took the keys, and walked to the door. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Lexi smiled and was gone. My instincts had taken over and told me to take advantage of her desire to help.

Minutes later, Lexi returned, and I noticed she locked the door behind her. She placed the bottle and two glasses on the table. “I figured you wouldn’t want anyone popping in here while you’re drinking,” she explained.

I nodded. “Good thinking. I guess that wouldn’t be so good for our company image—both the notorious playboys, me and Keith, getting crazy, drinking and stuff.” I smirked as I poured us each a neat glass.

“Well, here’s to the hell with your image—and Shawna Young,” she said with a full-on grin that had my stomach doing flips as we clinked glasses. We took a long sip, and I let out a breath and shook my head.

I took another long drink and savored the smooth alcohol sliding down my throat. I cunningly rubbed the back of my neck and said, “Man, I’m stiff.” I watched Lexi out of the corner of my vision as she scraped back her chair and moved behind me, and I had to suppress an evil chuckle at how easily I had manipulated her.

Two soft, strong hands kneaded my hunched shoulders. Her fingers pressed out the knots of stress. I felt a new, acutely pleasant sensation rush through my body on top of the scotch-induced buzz. Without a second thought, I reached back and enclosed one of her hands in mine and kissed her fingertips. I heard her breathy gasp and swiveled around in my chair to take Lexi’s other hand and pull her towards me.

She didn’t resist at all and surprised me when she climbed straight into my lap and straddled me with one leg propped up on either side of the chair. The next moment, her lips came down on mine, urgent and hot. My hands slid around the back of her neck, and we were kissing deeply and passionately.

Lexi

I don’t know if it was because Braden looked like a little boy who’d been scolded for stealing candy or my pent-up sexual attraction for him combined with the scotch. Whatever the trigger, I could no longer refrain from acting on my feelings. I allowed myself to fall into the electrifying heat between Braden and me as I straddled his lap in the conference room.

His hands were hot and roamed all over, from my jaw down my arms to my waist and sliding up my thighs as he hiked up my charcoal gray skirt. His fingers played with the edge of my panties. I could hardly get a breath as his touch sent waves of molten fire through every inch of my body.

I arched my hips and pressed into his groin, where I felt his hard-on. I crushed my breasts against his chest through the fabric of my silky green button down-shirt and his suit jacket. We kissed urgently, deeply, with no hesitation. Hardly breaking contact, Braden leaned forward in the chair, shrugged off his suit jacket, and pulled off his tie with my help. He tore my blouse apart at the middle, popping several buttons off.

As he pulled my shirt off, I worked on taking off his button-down and the white tee underneath so that, within a minute, his solid chest was completely bare and I was in my lacy purple bra. In one swift, smooth motion, Braden unhooked my bra and pulled my hair out of its neat bun so that it cascaded down my back and over the tops of my naked breasts.

“Hot damn,” Braden whispered as his fiery blue eyes raked from my heated cheeks to my bared tits, which were on full display right at his eye level. His eyes trailed back up to meet mine, burning through me with their intensity and raw hunger. We stared at each other, frozen for several beats. His hands were in my hair, and his hot, full lips captured mine as his tongue slid in and explored my mouth. His hands moved to my back and pulled me into him.

In the back of my mind, I was thankful to have locked the door. Another thought tried to push through as well—one that screamed in protest at how heedlessly I’d broken our rule and given into my desires. I ignored those warnings again as Braden’s tongue ravaged my mouth, and my hands slid down his steel abs to the bulge in his pants.

Braden’s breath caught, and he pulled an inch back, his eyes bright with lust and mild surprise as I held his gaze. My fingers undid his pants button and carefully pulled down the zipper. I didn’t have time to blink as Braden stood up, lifting me with him. He placed me on the conference table and pulled down both his gray dress pants and boxer-briefs.

I sat half-naked on the long side of the table, and my eyes eagerly took in the stunning sight of a fully nude Braden. My gaze lingered on his full, hard erection. He moved with the stealth and strength of a puma when he reached up my skirt and pulled my soaking panties off and tossed them aside with the other clothes strewn around the floor. I watched in a haze, dizzy from the pure testosterone emanating off Braden combined with my own blazing hormones.

In an unexpected move, Braden grabbed my waist and turned me over on the table so that my chest was pressed against the cool, hard surface and my ass and vagina were at the table’s edge. I heard a low growl as he stepped closer and his erection pushed, hot and throbbing, against my thigh and ass cheek. He leaned over my back and began a hot trail of kisses from my neck to my shoulder and down my back.

While his lips tantalized my senses, his hands moved my hair aside and he raked his fingers down my back and squeezed both butt cheeks. I gasped and let out a moan at once. His touch made me shudder, and my head spun from the sensory overload of his mouth and hands. I felt him suddenly back away and wanted to beg him to come back when the lightest touch of his tongue connected with my clit and delved in between my pussy lips and lapped up the juices.

“Oh, God… Braden,” I cried out. The sensations were nearly unbearable as his tongue flicked and his lips pressed the surrounding area here and there. I was going to scream or burst from the pleasurable ache.

His lips and tongue were gone, and I heard a low, devilish chuckle. In the next instant, Braden had moved his body back in, grabbed my hair to pull it back firmly, and plunged his cock into my open pussy, making me cry out again with unprecedented pleasure and surprise. There was something about not being able to see what he was going to do next that made his movements more erotic.

He groaned as he let go of my hair and grabbed either side of my ass, slapping the cheeks lightly, pulled out and plunged back inside me, hard.

Again, I ignored the little nagging far in the back of my mind, the one that not only said I shouldn’t give in to Braden, but that we should use some kind of protection. I dismissed those thoughts, unable to focus on anything but the way his dick filled me and rubbed the inside of my pussy as he moved faster and harder each time, slamming into me from behind.

When I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled all the way out and put his hands on my waist as he eased me over to lay face-up on the table. My butt rested on the edge and my legs fell to either side. His eyes drank in my body, hungry and wolf-like, which made me shiver before he even touched me.

“God, you’re beautiful, Lexi,” he whispered in a guttural voice as he bent over me to kiss my cheek and claim my mouth with his. I felt his erection push against the softness of my inner thigh as he kissed me deeply.

I kissed him back fiercely and wove my hands up his back and around his neck. I took a sharp breath as one of his strong hands cupped my left breast and his fingers flicked over the taut nipple. “Please… God, Braden,” I breathed into his mouth as he pulled back with a pirate grin dancing across his face.

“Damn, it’s hot when you beg,” he said darkly as his mouth moved to take my other nipple into it.

My body exploded with electricity that buzzed up and down and out to each nerve ending. I clung to his neck, and my nails pulled at his skin. When I thought I’d go wild with the need to have him inside me again, he thrust his cock into my pussy, and I let out a groan of relief and pleasure.

“Fuck,” I breathed as he thrust in and out, standing straighter to hold my legs with either arm as I arched my hips to meet him. I let my head fall back and my arms rise up to tangle in my hair, which was spread every which way on the table. My mind and senses were utterly consumed by the sensation of Braden filling me up and by how intimately connected I felt at that moment, in every possible way.

My head reeled and my butt arched up off the table to give Braden better access as he pounded his cock into me harder and faster. I felt the sticky hotness of cum shoot deep inside me and mix with my wetness, and I cried out as a spasm overtook my body with the orgasm. Braden grunted, pulled out, and collapsed on the table next to me to cradle the length of my body with his.

I gasped for breath, and my body glowed from pure bliss as my head slowly came back to earth after rocketing off in the clouds. I felt Braden’s soft, warm mouth on my cheek for a second before he said, “Holy shit, Lexi, you feel amazing.”