All He Wants Read online

  I flounder on the first call, but by the second, I’m getting the hang of it. I just treat each millionaire I call like I’m taking their coffee order. I keep it friendly; casual but efficient. And it makes it easier and easier with each call. But the whole time, I’m very aware of the man sitting in the next room over. At times I hear him roaring into the phone at someone. Other times, he’s pacing, like a caged animal. But he’s also working his ass off.

  My computer and his share a daily task checklist—a way for him and his immediate assistant to keep a handle on the avalanche of to-do tasks. So, I can see the way he’s burning through his list from both ends. The man might be being attacked right now, but holy hell is he fighting back.

  Occasionally, the door to his office flings open, and he storms out. Whenever he goes for the coffee machine, I stand quickly from my desk to help. But he keeps waving me off.

  “We’re not in the Blue Fish, Julia,” he growls with a small smirk.

  “Yeah, but I’m your assistant. I think getting you coffee is in my job description.”

  “It’s fine, and no it’s not.”

  I grin. “I think it literally is. It’s in the actual job description Kelly showed me.”

  He smiles to himself and turns to me. His eyes meet mine, and I tremble. Good Lord, he’s so gorgeous. His eyes pierce me and sends excitement and heat through my core. My body tightens, and my face reddens when I mortifyingly feel myself start to get wet. I need to get a-fucking-hold of myself, and now.

  “Today, we’re at war. Let’s worry about who’s making coffee tomorrow.” Without another word, he’s back in his office. I smile to myself and get back to work. An hour and ten calls later, he’s yelling in his office again. I hear him swear sharply, and then the door flies open. This time, he’s just in his dress shirt. The jacket and tie are gone, the top few buttons are undone to halfway down his chiseled and broad chest. He’s got his sleeves rolled up, too. I feel my face redden when my eyes linger at the way his forearm muscles ripple under the folded sleeve.

  He storms over to the coffee machine and swears. He pulls his cell out of his pocket. “Motherfucker,” he hisses. “They’re early.” He glares at the coffee machine and then turns to me. “I do need you to make coffee, actually,” he growls. “Please.”

  “Of course, yeah,” I utter quickly. Evan storms back into his office and slams the door. Quickly, I go to the machine and start prepping it. There’s a really expensive espresso machine sitting next to the drip coffee brewer, and I smile. A look into the small refrigerator, and my smile grows.

  He’s been drinking regular coffee all day, but I decide to do it anyway. I might be fumbling my way through a job I’m definitely not qualified for. I might even be fired today when he figures that out. Until then, though, I can make him one hell of a triple vanilla soy extra shot extra foam oat milk latte.

  When I’m done, I turn and quickly go to his door holding the big steaming mug. I open it and let myself in. Evan is growling into the phone and scowling. His eyes hold mine when I step inside, and I tremble at the power in his gaze. He looks away, and I quickly head for his desk holding the big mug.

  But just as I get to his side and try and put the mug down, disaster strikes. I move at the same time as him, and in a second, his forearm whacks the mug out of my hands. I gasp, and the big mug of steaming hot espresso and oat milk tips all over Evan’s shoulder and chest.

  “Fuck!” he roars. He lunges to his feet, and I scream. With a hiss, he rips his shirt off. He literally tears the freaking thing away, sending buttons flying.

  “Evan!” I freeze at first. But then I quickly reach for the large bottle of sparkling water on his desk. I twist it open and start to dump the contents over his pink shoulder. It’s only then that I actually look at him, and my jaw drops. Holy fucking shit. I knew Evan Danforth was handsome, and athletic. But sweet freaking God, the man is pure muscle.

  He’s lean and ripped, with broad, carved shoulders and bulging arms. His abs make my eyes widen, and looking at those v-lines on his hips has my brain melting. I’m so lost in staring at him that I don’t even realize that I’m wet until the bottle is empty. I’ve been standing right next to him and dousing him with water. He’s dripping wet and shirtless. I’m still wearing my shirt but it’s soaked through now. It’s like the sparkling water has splashed off of his hard chest and right onto mine.

  Now my white blouse is very see-through, and the hottest man I’ve ever known is looking right at me, shirtless. I look up at him, and I gasp softly. Evan looks at me with an unblinking, hungry gaze. He sets his phone down on the desk, and his jaw clenches.

  “Ms. Summers…”

  I’m fired. I’m so totally fired. I mean I’m obviously fired; I just dumped hot coffee on my boss and then finished it off with sparkling water. His desk is a mess, and the important looking papers across it are soaked and pulpy.

  “I’ll just show myself out,” I say quietly. I turn to walk for the door. But suddenly, Evan’s large, firm hand clasps around my arm. He pulls, and I gasp, whirling back to him. I fall against his bare, muscled chest, and my heart races. I look up into his deep blue eyes, and I tremble. Heat throbs deep inside of me, and I worry my bottom lip as I squeeze my thighs together.

  “You’ll do no such thing,” he growls.

  “I’m not…” I worry my lip. “I’m not fired?”

  “If you think I’m letting you get away from me that easy,” Evan growls. “You’re dead fucking wrong.” He pulls me against him tightly. Before I know it, he’s leaning down, and his lips are pressing hotly to mine.

  Suddenly, I’m kissing Evan fucking Danforth; gorgeous billionaire, dominant tycoon, and my boss.

  5

  Evan

  I kiss her hard, tasting her sweet lips. My cock thickens and throbs in my pants. My very soul aches for her, and my body craves her. My mouth is dying to know what every part of her tastes like. I hold her against me, kissing her deeply. She moans, and the sound spurs me on.

  I pin her to the desk, heedless of what this means. I don’t care what the consequences of this may be. All I know is, this girl was mine the second I laid eyes on her. Claiming her here and now is an inevitability. And by the way she kisses me so eagerly too, I know I’m not the only one who understands that.

  I can feel her chest rising against mine through her drenched blouse. I cup her face and kiss her deeply. Julia moans, and her hips push into me. Her eagerness has a fire searing through my heart, and I want to taste every inch of her and claim every part of her for myself. But then, reason stops me like a cold blast.

  With a snarl, I pull back from her plump lips. Heat clouds her eyes, just like it does mine. But in one second, it clears from both of us.

  “Mr. Danforth…” she whispers.

  I step back from her, and I hate when my hands slip from her hips.

  “Leave,” I growl.

  Julia’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Leave,” I hiss through a clenched jaw. My eyes squeeze shut in an attempt to stay strong.

  “Are you fucking firing me?”

  “Did I say…” I snap my mouth shut. The frustration at stopping myself is making me sound angry, and I’m not. I could never be angry at her. If anything, I’m angry at myself, for breaking so easily. And I’m pissed at myself for inviting a girl like Julia, who I knew would break me, into my world.

  “I need you to leave this office and get back to your desk.”

  She looks at me with pursed lips, looking pissed.

  “What? Say it,” I growl.

  “Trust me, you don’t want me to say it.”

  “I’m asking, aren’t I?”

  “Fine,” she snaps at me. “Want me to say it? Okay, you’re a manipulative, egotistical, possibly psychotic asshole. And I don’t think nearly enough people in your life have told you that.”

  I blink in surprise, and I start to chuckle. Julia purses her lips, whirls, and marches out the door, slamming it sh
ut behind her. Shit. I sink into my chair behind my desk, my pulse pounding. I feel shaken, and unhinged. She wrecks my defenses, and tears down my walls. A familiar demon murmurs inside of me, and I hiss as my hands grip the edge of my desk.

  Not today, I growl to myself. Not fucking today. But it’s there, an all-to-familiar beast roaring inside of me. I prefer to keep the cage locked on this myself. I’m a man of action and I hate falling back on people. But Elise is an exception.

  I’m shaking when I dial her number and bring the cell to my ear.

  “Where are you?” she hisses. I don’t ever call my sponsor to chat, so when I do call, she knows it’s bad.

  “Office,” I hiss. “I’m fine.”

  “You called, that means you’re probably not,” she retorts sharply.

  “I just needed… I need the speech.”

  I can almost hear her smirk. “Fine. Let’s do this.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Don’t be a fucking pussy. Sack up, face the demons head-on, and if you fucking break, you don’t deserve what you’ve built, because breaking means you’re weak.”

  Some might call Elise harsh, or a psychopath herself. And for a lot of addicts, she’d be way too intense. I understand that, but she understands me like no other. Also, what can I say, tough love works like a damn charm on me.

  Elise James was the fastest rising CEO on Wall Street a few years ago. At twenty-four, she commanded a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund that was the talk of the town. Beautiful, powerful, unstoppable… and a raging drunk with penchant for cocaine to keep her going.

  When she broke, she quit it all, even though her investors would have gladly waited for her to clean up to keep making the returns she could promise. Instead, she cashed out, got sober, and now she coaches guys like me through sobriety, because she understands guys like me.

  Elise also exclusively sleeps with women, so I’ve never felt any sort of issue with our genders. Not that I’m ever looking for that, but wires can get crossed, especially when getting sober is a part of it.

  “Feel better?”

  I smile. “Much, thank you.”

  “What triggered it?”

  I bark a cold laugh. “Everything.” I give her the rundown on my week, and she swears.

  “You should hit some meetings today.”

  “No time,” I grunt stubbornly.

  “Make time.”

  “Elise, I’m fine. I just needed the tough-love routine, which you’ve helped with.”

  “You’re having a bad week, but you’ve had bad weeks before.”

  “Not like this, trust me,” I muter.

  “True, but it’s something else too, isn’t it?”

  “No,” I say much too quickly.

  She chortles. “You’re holding back. Don’t bullshit me.”

  “Fine, it’s a girl,” I snap.

  “Well now,” Elise infers with an amused tone.

  “Is that hard to believe?”

  “When it comes to you, Evan? A bit, yes. I thought you’d sworn off dating until you were sure you had the beast in the cage?”

  “I’m not dating her, she’s my secretary.”

  “The one who just quit?”

  “What? No, my new one.”

  I know how bad it sounds, and Elise’s laughter backs that up. “Well, that was fast!”

  I smirk. “She’s the barista from down the… forget it.”

  Elise laughs again. “Sorry, but you need to hit a meeting, Evan. You’re spiraling.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Go to the source.”

  I smile. It’s Elise’s go-to method for me when I’m in the danger zone. She means, find the source of my issue. Which in this case, is easy. She hears my hesitation and sighs.

  “It’s her, isn’t it? Damnit, Evan, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “I’ll be fine. I feel leagues better already, Elise, thanks,” I mutter dryly.

  “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  I laugh. “Everything does, remember?”

  “I’m around today, Evan. Call anytime. And go to a meeting, I’m serious.”

  “Thanks, mom.”

  “I hate when you call me that—”

  I hang up with a smile. Elise won’t take offense to me hanging up on her. She’s done it to me plenty of times. I turn, and my smile turns hungrier as I look to the door that separates my office from Julia’s reception desk.

  I stride over. I don’t know what I’m going to say or do for that matter. Maybe I’m insane enough to kiss her again, but I need the confirmation to know which way I’m going with this. I yank it open, and I stop short.

  Motherfucker. She’s gone. I swear at myself and grab her phone to call down to security. One of my guys answers quickly.

  “Sir?”

  “Ms. Summers,” I bark. “My new assistant. Did she come down?”

  “She did, Mr. Danforth. She just left the building, actually. I think Michaelson outside called her a car to… one second, sir.” I hear him asking someone, and then he’s back. “To Brooklyn, Mr. Danforth. Greenpoint. Should I call the service to bring her back?”

  “No. That won’t be necessary.” I’m about to hang up with a scowl, but I pause. “Actually, one more thing.”

  “Sir?”

  “I need a car. Now.”

  6

  Julia

  I drop my keys in the little dish by the door and fall onto my sofa. It’s not a far walk, seeing how my entire apartment could fit into the reception area at Evan’s office. I frown when I think of him, and his gorgeous, smug face. And his lips.

  Well that job didn’t last long. I’m sure I’m fired at this point. Or at the least, there’s no way I can work for him now. Goodbye ludicrous salary, I guess. I feel a twinge of sadness, knowing that it doesn’t look like I’ll be moving out of my cruddy little Brooklyn studio apartment anytime soon. I sigh and wonder how easily I can get my job back at the Blue Fish.

  I shrug my coffee-stained office clothes off and roll my eyes at them when they’re laid across my bed. It’s the one office-type outfit I own. Well I guess that surely says something. It says I’m not a part of that world of his, and it also says I have no business being entangled with a man like him. I don’t know what just happened, but I do know it was the single hottest kiss of my entire life.

  I simmer, thinking of the way his lips tasted, before I stop myself with a stern shake my head. No way. I don’t know what sort of mind-games Evan Danforth is used to playing with women, but I’m all damn set with being one of his “girls” or whatever that was.

  Maybe it’s a power thing, having women work for him so he can act out a lame workplace romance fantasy. Part of me starts to wonder exactly just why his last assistant left. But suddenly, a knock hammers on my apartment door.

  I freeze. “Um, hello?”

  “Julia.”

  I blink rapidly, and my pulse quickens at the sound of Evan’s voice. What the hell is he doing here? And yet, there’s another side of me that thrills that he is.

  “What are you doing here?” I call back. I quickly pull on a hoodie and some cut-off shorts.

  “Talking to you through a door.”

  I smile slightly, but I bite it back. “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “Well perhaps if you opened it, we could change that.”

  I roll my eyes, biting back another grin. “I meant I wished you wouldn’t talk to me at all.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Good Lord, I can actually almost hear his cocky grin through the door.

  “I’m not opening this door,” I say with about as much conviction as a substitute teacher trying to get a handle on an unruly class.

  “And if I promise not to leave until you do?”

  “Then the police could help you do so.”

  He chuckles. “Open the door, Julia.”

  I say nothing.

  “Please.”

  Damnit. With a groan, I cave, and the latc
h gets pulled.

  “What,” I grumble at him. I know damn well I’m not actually mad at the man who just gave me the single hottest kiss of my entire life. I’m embarrassed, mostly.

  Evan’s cool, gorgeous blue eyes hold mine captive, effortlessly. “May I come in?”

  “No, you may not,” I answer primly.

  He grins, and my defenses are already weakening. Damnit.

  “What happened in my office…”

  I roll my eyes. “If you’re here to make sure I don’t bring a harassment suit or something, I’m not that petty.” I swallow, and I eye him back. “I kissed you,” I whisper. “Just like you kissed me. But that can’t happen again.”

  It’s the least convincing thing I’ve ever said.

  “Agreed,” Evan growls.

  “I’m not that girl, Evan. I mean that.”

  “I never assumed you were.”

  “Isn’t that why you hired me?”

  He scowls, and the concerned anger on his face is pretty obviously genuine. “Absolutely not,” he grunts. “I hired you because I was genuinely impressed with your ability to keep cool under pressure. It’s what I look for in all the people in my business.”

  I want to say something about how I hardly kept my cool when he kissed me, but I say nothing.

  “You destroy my walls, Julia,” Evan says plainly in that deep, velvety voice of his. “I knew it before I hired you, and I did so anyways. I know now that that was a mistake.”

  “So I’m fired?” I say flatly.

  “Did I say that?”

  “In so many words?”

  He growls. “Goddamnit, Julia.” I gasp as he suddenly steps into me, and his hand moves up to cup my jaw in this extremely sexy and possessive way. My core tightens. A part of me wants to pull away or slap him, but I know that’s not happening.