In His World (For His Pleasure, Book 28) (2 page)

“You really want to believe the worst about everyone,” Brody said, disbelief in his voice. “And I thought I was a cynical bastard.”

“Yeah, well, maybe I’m the undisputed champ of jaded New Yorkers,” Chloe said.

“You have a beautiful smile, though,” Brody said.

The compliment took her by surprise. “Thanks,” she muttered.

Brody watched her with a wry grin appearing on his face once more. “I waited out here for you for a reason,” he said.

“You waited out here for
me
?” she asked, unsure if he was teasing her or not.

“I want you to come work for me.”

She blinked, stunned. “You just told Red not to hire me—“

“I know what I told Red,” Brody interrupted, standing up straighter. “But now I’m making it up to you.”

People were yelling random questions at Brody, trying to get his attention, calling for selfies and autographs, and now a few women began pushing in, trying to talk to Brody, literally pushing their ample bosoms towards his face as they pleaded and begged for a moment of his time.

He opened his car door, telling everyone that he wouldn’t have time to take pictures and sign autographs at the moment. Then he turned to Chloe, who was already feeling like she’d been left behind.

“Get in,” he told her, ignoring the gathering crowd.

“In the car? With you?” she asked, her voice hardly loud enough to make its way to his ears.

Brody’s expression grew skeptical. “Problem?” he said, his body poised to get into the sports car.

“I don’t even know you.”

“Everyone knows me,” Brody said. And then he got into the front seat and shut the door.

Chloe was trembling. She didn’t know what to do. He was about to drive off and she seemed to be stuck in place, unable to make a decision.

And then the window rolled down and Brody glanced at her. “Last chance,” he said, gunning the engine.

She found herself running past the other onlookers and around the car, getting in the passenger side as people filmed, shouted and took pictures.

She was sitting inside the car with Brody Hawk. The interior was luxurious, decadent, and it didn’t feel like any other vehicle she’d ever been inside before.

Brody gave her a long, approving glance that made her nipples stiffen and her breath stop momentarily in her throat.

And then off they drove, away from the milling crowd and into New York City traffic.

Up close, alone in the car, Chloe was very aware of Brody Hawk’s masculinity, his sexual aura that had already made her nipples hard and between her legs wet as she sat next to him.

She knew this was ridiculous. She knew that Brody Hawk was messing with her—something had to be screwy—because a man like Brody would never be interested in somebody like her. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel special, sitting next to him in his fancy yellow car and flying away with him to wherever he wanted to take her.

All she knew was that they were driving…driving somewhere.

Chloe didn’t even know where. Brody wasn’t telling her, either. At least, he hadn’t bothered to tell her yet.

“Where are we going?” she asked, after a time.

“That depends.” He gave her a little glance, grinning, and then gunned the engine and the car shot in between two other vehicles, passing so closely that Chloe gripped tightly to the edges of her seat.

“Would you mind driving a little slower?” she asked, holding her breath.

“It’s no different than driving in a cab,” he said.

“Except you’re not a cab driver,” she said. “And it scares me.”

He gave a little shrug, but downshifted and began driving at a more acceptable pace. “I like being scared,” he said. “Or maybe it’s not really fear I’m feeling. Maybe it’s excitement and I don’t even know what fear is anymore.”

Chloe looked at him, wondering what went through the mind of a man like Brody Hawk. He was so mysterious in his own way. Despite his brashness, his obnoxious and boisterous chatter, he was basically unreadable.

“Maybe you don’t have any human emotions,” she said, partly as a joke.

But Brody’s smile dissipated for a moment. “Maybe not.”

The car fell silent and then Chloe found herself biting her thumbnail nervously and stopped herself. “So were you serious about offering me a job?” she asked.

Brody sighed. “Yes, Chloe. I don’t just say things without meaning them.”

“What would I do?”

He gave her a glance and his eyes stopped her cold. But then he looked back at the street. “You’d be my PA.”

“What’s a PA?”

“Personal assistant,” he said. “Mine is currently sick. Bad case of mono, and it’s come at a really inconvenient time, because I’m starting my big media tour.”

“Media tour?”

“Yes, a media tour is what I do before a big fight.”

Chloe nodded, pretending she understood. “Right,” she said, her mind whirring with questions and thoughts and anxiety.

“You don’t even have a clue about my fight with Axel Forrest,” Brody said. “Do you?”

Chloe knew the name sounded familiar. “I think maybe I’ve heard something,” she admitted.

“It’s only shaping up to be the biggest boxing match in history,” Brody said. “I can’t imagine why you’d know about it.” His sarcasm bordered on annoyance.

She looked at him, swallowing a lump of embarrassment. “Sorry, I don’t really follow sports that much.”

“Then why were you reading that article about me, Chloe?” he asked.

Because you’re fucking hot.

But she knew she couldn’t say that. Instead, she shrugged. “I guess I just was reading that magazine and…I didn’t have anything else to read…”

A total, blatant lie.

Brody chuckled. “Kind of ironic to have the one person who doesn’t know anything about my boxing career be my personal assistant,” he said. “But then again, I’ve always liked to do things differently.”

Chloe nodded as if she understood anything that was happening.

Even now, she couldn’t stop herself from watching his every movement, her gaze raking across his incredible body—mesmerized.

“What would I even do as your assistant?” she asked, finally.

“You’d do everything and anything I need,” he said.

She felt her entire body tighten and she held her breath, even though he was driving slower now.

Pulling her skirt down, she was suddenly more aware of all the skin she was showing and the wetness between her legs.

Somehow, she felt like Brody Hawk could actually see her excitement, like he had x-ray eyes that could view her wet pussy, see it quivering and know just how badly she wanted him right then.

And even if he couldn’t see it, he knew just the same.

This man could literally fuck just about any woman he wanted.

And if he wants to fuck you?

Right now?

Will you do it?

Chloe swallowed. She doubted she’d be able to turn him down. The thing was, despite wanting to be a good girl and having always been one, Brody Hawk had the power to change everything with the snap of his fingers.

“That seems like a lot to ask of a personal assistant,” she managed to say, after some time gathering her wits.

“I ask a lot of people in my life,” Brody replied, switching lanes, “but I make it worth their while.”

“I still have another job,” she mused. “I’d have to give notice, probably two weeks—“

“No,” Brody said, shaking his head. “You start tomorrow. I’ve got a flight out to L.A. that leaves tomorrow and I need you to be on it with me.”

Now it was Chloe’s turn to laugh. “Obviously that’s not happening.”

“Why is that so obvious?” he asked, without a trace of humor.

She laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

He shot her a look. “I’m never ridiculous.”

“You know I can’t do that, Brody.” Even saying his name gave her goose bumps.

I know him well enough to call him Brody! Imagine if my friends or family could see me now! Calling him Brody, like we’ve known each other forever.

It sounds so intimate.

She thought about her Uncle Dominick, who absolutely worshipped Brody Hawk. Chloe only knew that because Uncle Dominick frequently held parties at his house when Brody fought, but Chloe rarely went, or she stayed in the dining room and hung out with her aunt during the event itself.

Brody gave a slight shrug of his powerful shoulders. “I usually get what I want, Chloe.”

“But things don’t work that way for the rest of us.”

“Why not?”

She threw up her hands. “Because I can’t just quit my job without even giving notice.”

“You can,” he replied casually, turning the wheel with the flat of his palm as he spoke.

“I can’t but I won’t,” she retorted.

Brody seemed to be lost in thought for a little bit. Finally he spoke. “I’m feeling hungry. Let’s get something to eat.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Is this how you live? Just doing whatever the hell you want to do, making people live by your schedule regardless of their lives and responsibilities?”

“Yes,” he said simply. Then his lips turned up a fraction at the corner. “You come eat lunch with me and if you have a terrible time, you don’t have to take the job.”

“I already knew that I don’t have to take the job,” she said, but it was hard not to be flattered by his attention and interest.

Even now, if she let herself really think about who she was sitting next to and what this man represented—how rich and powerful and famous he was—Chloe would have a complete panic attack.

The only way to survive was to pretend she wasn’t with anyone special—to somehow try and convince herself that Brody Hawk was just a normal guy.

Except nothing about him was normal, and if she even let herself look at him too long, she immediately became swept away in feelings of attraction, fear, and desire that went beyond anything she’d ever experienced.

Suddenly, Brody pulled the car into a valet station next to a tall building.

“We’re here,” Brody told her. He turned the car off and got out, while the car was swarmed by valet attendants.

Her door was opened by a young man sporting a spiffy blue uniform. He bowed his head slightly. “Ma’am,” he said, as he opened her door wide and extended his hand to assist her getting out of the car.

Chloe got out of the car, trying to act like she did this kind of thing every day. People were already beginning to stare at the car, and at Brody. The reactions were so instantaneous and over the top—people’s eyes would literally bug out of their heads and they would instantly go for their phones to try and film or snap pictures.

But soon enough Chloe and Brody had made their way inside the building and into a fancy Manhattan restaurant that Chloe had seen reviewed on the front page of the Food section of the Times just last week.

Although the restaurant was completely full, the host smiled and immediately led them to a private table next to the window.

Soon, she was seated across from the gorgeous athlete, who was already pointing out what brand of wine he wanted from the wine list, and the host said that he would inform their server right away.

“Well,” Chloe said, raising her eyebrows, “this is certainly different.”

Brody sat back in his chair, looking relaxed and at ease. He seemed to belong in the fancy restaurant as much as he belonged in the boxing ring or the sports car. “Would you rather go somewhere else?”

Chloe shrugged. “This is fine.”

“Fine?” he said, and his lips pursed. He looked slightly nonplussed for the first time.

“It’s lovely,” she admitted, toying with the soft linen napkin beside her plate.

“So this is your chance to get to know your employer,” Brody said. “Because I’m going to need an answer on the job offer by the time they bring me the check.”

“No pressure,” she laughed.

Brody wasn’t smiling anymore. “My life is all about pressure, and anyone I’m with…” he seemed to catch himself mid-sentence. “Anyone who works with me,” he corrected, “needs to be able to handle it. Needs to
thrive
under pressure, scrutiny…needs to thrive
being under
me
.”

She felt the color rising in her cheeks as he spoke to her. “I don’t know,” she said, noncommittal.

He fixed her once more with his steely, cool gaze. “What don’t you know?”

“This is a lot to process. You’re…you’re
you
,” she explained, toying with the napkin more vigorously now. “And I’m just…a normal person.”

“I think you’re special,” Brody told her.

She stopped and stared at him. “Me? Special how?”

“It’s just an instinct,” he said. “But I trust my instincts, Chloe. They’ve gotten me this far.”

“Either way, I couldn’t just up and leave with you on a plane tomorrow,” Chloe continued, trying not to let herself think too hard about the fact that the most famous, wealthiest and desired athlete on the planet was sitting across from her and talking only to her—telling her he thought she was special.

Chloe had always felt just about as un-special as it was possible to feel.

“Why can’t you just up and leave? Because of some silly job that you hate?”

“I never said I hated my job,” she told him.

He smiled now, shaking his head. “Come on, Chloe. You were at Red Jameson’s office for an interview. Obviously you’re not happy wherever you are.”

She frowned. “Even if that’s true, I still have to think about my reputation.”

“What reputation?” he said, grinning.

“Some of us can’t afford to burn bridges. If I quit without notice, then I have no reference. I can’t just walk around doing whatever I please. I’m not like you.”

“Oh, and I suppose you think I just do whatever I please?”

She sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way—“

“Well you’re right,” he said, smirking confidently. “I do whatever I please, Chloe. And that’s because I’m the best. The best in the entire world. Do you have any idea what that means?”

The waiter approached the table with the bottle of wine, presenting it for Brody’s approval. Brody waved him to pour it. He continued talking to Chloe while the waiter poured the white wine slowly into both their glasses.