Free Frisky Business by Michele Bardsley

Chapter 1
     
    “MR. DEVERAUX, I’M not wearing that.” Claire Williams handed her boss the rejected clothing and picked up her planner. She wasn’t sure what bothered her more: that she wanted to wear the provocative clothing or that her gorgeous not-quite-former employer had asked her to put it on. Pushing away such useless thoughts, Claire flipped open the planner to the current day, took out her ballpoint pen, and said, “You have an appointment with—”
    “Claire.”
    Did he have to say her name like that? Her boss had the most sexy voice—it was as silky-smooth as a late-night DJ’s. Luscious Lucius, which was what other female employees called the annoying, arrogant, and handsome publisher of Bad Boy Magazine, crooked a finger at her. She obediently stepped into his personal space. He draped the tiny black leather skirt over her shoulder.
    “There is a dress code,” he said. “You must wear appropriate attire.”
    She opened her mouth and he pressed a finger against her lips, his brown eyes sparkling with their usual mischief. Such an intimate gesture caused tingles in her belly. In fact, she had suffered the same kind of idiotic attraction to ol’ Luscious as every other woman who came within three feet of him.
    However, she had vehemently resisted being drawn in by his charm and good looks. Hah. Fat lot of good it had done to resist. Trying to stay out of Lucius’s Lust Zone would be like the Earth trying to stop orbiting around the sun.
    That’s why she’d quit.
    Until Lucius had drawn her back into a job that she’d vacated officially three days ago.
    With a sigh, she plucked the skirt from her shoulder and tossed it onto the couch. It landed right next to the corset, which she had also rejected.
    “You are my executive assistant,” Lucius said, “which means you must assist me wherever I go.”
    Claire pressed her lips together so that she wouldn’t point out she had stopped being his executive assistant on Friday. But then he’d begged and bribed her to stay through this last Bad Boy project. So, her services had been purchased for the weekend because he was footing the bill to a tropical paradise. He promised she would have more vacation than work.
    He had failed to disclose the nature of the resort.
    This kind of wild behavior is why she’d given her notice. She could no longer cope with the insanity of Lucius and Bad Boy. Well, that’s the lie she told herself. Truthfully, she could no longer cope with her unprofessional emotions. She didn’t want to be another name on Lucius’s long list of heartbroken women.
    She knew better than to be attracted to her boss. He appeared easy-going, but he had iron will and iron control. Underneath his devil-may-care attitude hid a man who was dangerously sensual. Once, Claire had loved a man who’d promised her the same kind of wicked thrills.
    But his idea of wicked and thrill had not matched hers. He hurt her—and destroyed what sexual confidence she had harbored.
    She was very good at her job. But after two years of denying her feelings for Lucius and her needs as a woman, she’d had to let go. Her severance package was generous enough that she could take a couple of months to reroute her career. She wanted to work somewhere less stressful—such as for the Pentagon or for Anna Wintour.
    “Claire?” he asked. “What are you thinking about?”
    “About booking the next flight out of here.” She sighed. “Call or text me. I’ll handle any request from the hotel room.”
    Lucius lifted one eyebrow—his trademark look of amused incredulity. “They’re closing one of the dungeons for two hours so we can do the photo shoot. It will be just you, me, the models, and the Bad Boy crew. You won’t have to watch anyone get flogged … er, for real, okay?”
    Oh, crap. That’s exactly what Claire didn’t want to see. As it was, she seen plenty already. In the hotel lobby, she saw a group of ladies, who must’ve been in their sixties, in