She knew Kendall wouldn’t expect her back midday, so she decided to do a spot check on her meds and make sure she’d been taking them. Or at least pretending to take them. The most she could hope for was that today’s pills were gone from the container. Whether her sister took them or flushed them, time would tell. She hoped for the best but expected the worst. The doctors said people with bipolar disorder often had multiple hospitalizations before coming to terms with the illness and beginning to take their meds on a regular basis.
She looked in the kitchen, where she’d left the pills along with a note, but the counter was empty. With guilt but also a sense of resignation, Lexie knocked once to be safe and opened the door to her sister’s bedroom, planning to do a quick visual sweep of the counters. Her gaze immediately went to department store shopping bags on the floor, and it felt like her stomach plummeted.
Compulsive shopping usually happened on one of her sister’s manic episodes. Lexie sighed, wondering where she’d gotten the money. She didn’t have credit cards of her own thanks to the last time she’d abused the privilege and their father had to bail her out. She hoped Kendall hadn’t talked either parent into giving her money or a credit card behind Lexie’s back. Both her mother and father found it hard to say no to Kendall when she asked nicely and made excuses that were too easy to believe for why she needed something.
Lexie didn’t have time to dwell on it now. She glanced at the nightstand and saw the medicine holder, with today’s pills gone from the container. Well, maybe something was going right. She’d just have to deal with the shopping issue another time. She stepped out and shut the door behind her.
She gathered her things, made sure she had the email on her phone, and headed to food shop for her boss. As she went up and down the aisles of her local grocery store, she discovered he was a heath nut with a sweet tooth, from his coffee to the four large packages of Twizzlers red licorice on the list.
She wondered what his dental bills were like. Which led her to think of his gorgeous smile, which he didn’t use often. In fact, she thought she might have seen it once in their first meeting, when he’d realized she wouldn’t let him push her around.
She grinned at the memory and finished up her list, then paid for the items with the money he’d given her. A bagger asked to help her outside while she hailed a cab, and she gratefully took him up on the offer.
A little while later, she arrived at his luxury building. A doorman met her. She gave her name; he greeted her with a friendly smile and a nod and pulled out a cart, proceeding to transfer the bags while she paid the driver.
Every so often, worry over the shopping bags she’d found in her sister’s room and the fact that Kendall hadn’t been home surfaced, but Lexie pushed the concerns aside. She’d have to compartmentalize if she wanted to succeed at this job, and she did. Badly.
Despite the part of her nature that needed to be a caretaker, she also wanted to earn her own way and succeed in whatever employment she chose. Not only wouldn’t she let Kaden Barnes drive her off with his demands, she wouldn’t allow her family issues to intrude on her professional life.
Her personal problems already prevented her from having a private life, and she’d lost so much by putting Kendall before everyone and everything else. She couldn’t allow her sacrifices to keep extending into all areas. She’d keep this job if it killed her, she thought, and worry about things like dating and sex when her sister turned a corner.
“Go on up. I’ll bring these up the service elevator,” the doorman said. “Penthouse.”
Of course, she thought. No regular floor for Kaden Barnes. She took the elevator up and stepped out into a well-lit hallway with only one apartment door to be found.
She rang the bell. Nobody answered. She rang again. If he’d stayed at the office and forgotten to tell her, she’d… Before she could finish that thought, the door swung open wide, and he stood before her, wearing nothing but a towel tucked around his waist in all his bare-chested glory.
Her gaze traveled from his dark brown hair, handsome face—he hadn’t bothered to shave—down his chest, taking in the sleeve of tattoos on one arm, giving him an even sexier edge. Finally her gaze dropped to the towel knotted at his hip, and she sucked in much-needed air. Her girl parts definitely took notice, and considering it had been a long time since she’d been with any man, she was definitely aware of the rush of desire sweeping through her body and the sudden tingling between her thighs.
“Did you forget I was coming?” she asked, her voice catching on that last word, which she hadn’t meant as a sexual innuendo but felt like one anyway.
“No, that’s not something I could forget.” Amusement and a rough timbre laced his tone, letting her know he’d picked up on it too.
Her cheeks burned. “Your doorman should be up with the food any minute. Am I expected to put it away too?” she asked, deciding it was best to move past her foot-in-mouth moment.
“The housekeeper will do it. She’s here today.”
“Okay then. I can just go back to the office and—”
He reached out and grasped her arm, generating a jolt of heat that ricocheted through her.
He jerked and immediately released her. “Come in and get familiar with the place. You’ll be working here,” he said gruffly.
He stepped back to let her inside, shutting the door behind her. “I’ll go get dressed. Keep yourself busy,” he muttered and stalked off, leaving her alone to examine his home.
She shrugged and began walking through the apartment, which was huge, with state-of-the-art everything. The kitchen, which she passed on the way to a big living area, had high-end appliances, from a Wolf oven and Sub-Zero refrigerator to a Miele dishwasher. She doubted he used any of them himself. Still, she was in love with his kitchen.
And the living room? Of course there was a massive screen on the wall and a full tech setup of Xbox and Wii devices for the geek in him. She loved it and could very well imagine him sitting here, playing his games, and envisioning life-changing apps.
The room itself resembled a cinema, and she sat down on an oversized sofa, sinking into the soft leather. She didn’t go so far as to extend the chair into a reclining position, choosing to remain upright and keep her wits about her. While she waited, she looked around, and her gaze fell to a set of photos on wall shelves across the room.
Intrigued, she rose and walked over, taking in the various photographs. There were pictures of Kade and his partners wearing frat shirts from their college days. Some of Kade and an older man who was obviously, based on the resemblance, his father. And in the back row, a small shot of two young boys who appeared about the same age and who looked remarkably alike.
Being a twin herself, Lexie was curious and picked up the small picture. She thought she could pick out Kaden. He was a little taller and bulkier. Both brown-haired boys stood in mimicking poses with their arms crossed over their chests, both in bathing trunks, with a pool behind them, and mischievous smirks on their faces.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
She jumped, very much feeling like she’d been caught snooping. Which, she supposed, in theory, she had been.