The CEO's Secret Baby

#3 - Feeling Strange Things

Grayson

I knew hiring her was a mistake.

The moment my P.A. gasped, eyes glued to my phone, I felt the familiar burn of irritation creeping up my spine.

"Ooh she's so pretty!" Melanie gushed.

I locked the screen and shoved my phone into my pocket before she could say anything else.

"If you can see past that disaster she calls a look," I criticised.

For an award-winning photographer, Elaine Murdoch had a poor way of documenting herself in every one of her photos. Messy hair, mismatched clothes and a smirk that dared the world to judge her. I highly doubted she was even capable of doing this job right, which only unearthed my irritation with my great-grandfather for forcing me to hire her in the first place.

Frost Renew deserved more. We needed a reputable company, not some small-town firm with a disaster-clad photographer who had no business working with us. Wallace might have raved about her, but I wasn't convinced.

What I neglected to mention, though, was that I had seen beyond that disaster once, indulged in the unearthed beauty that was Elaine—for one blissful, mind numbing night six years ago, before she turned out like everyone else.

Out to cash in on the sensational story that was my life.

I guess nothing had changed if she was still willing to take this job, after the ugly way we parted—or, more specifically, the humiliating way I kicked her out the morning after and destroyed her.

"There he is!" A familiar voice rang out, shoving aside my irritation with Murdoch and drawing out my smile. I looked up to find my little brother stepping off the private jet.

Our private jet. Not that I spent much time dwelling on what we owned—well, what my parents owned. The same empire my parents and great-grandfather were convinced would be mine one day.

I hadn't had the heart to tell them yet that I wanted to chart my own path. I wasn't cut out for a job behind the desk, even if that desk sat at the top of the tallest skyscraper in Glanbury. That was more my little brother's style.

Not that 'little' really applied to Asher anymore. Sure, he was younger—by a year and a few months—but in stature, the Frost genes had done their work. Broad, towering, and smug as hell about it, he descended the stairs in a fitted tee that screamed yeah, I work out.

I arched a brow, folding my arms. I didn't even need to flex for my suit jacket to tighten, my own muscles reminding him who was still the bigger brother.

Asher's steps hitched. His gaze flickered to my arms, and I saw the moment it clicked. He knew.

"Respect the elders," I smirked.

He just lifted his shades and grinned. "That, Adi, my boy, is one wish you'll never get granted."

Adi... I laughed at my shortened name for Adrian only he and my great grandfather called me by. 'Grayson' they claimed, while beautiful a name, didn't have the right flair and they'd stuck with the name I shared with my father.

"One of these days—" he cut himself off and I knew exactly where his mind went.

The stuff he never talked about.

I watched as the lock slid into place, that split-second hesitation replaced by his signature smirk. "No matter. I'll just have to eat more of my vegetables."

I barked out a laugh, pulling him in for a hug. A real hug—not one of those stiff man-hug shoulder bumps or polite nods I gave everyone else. I loved my brother and never hesitated to show it. Even though we'd been apart for years, ever since I 'chose' boarding school—or, more accurately ran to it, when I learned I had three parents.

Had.

One gone before I ever had a chance to know her. Because of me.

The sting came right on cue. Right where it always did.

"Awww, so adorable." Two sets of giggles floated from the top of the stairs.

Looking up, the sight of my twin sisters eased the tightness in my chest, making my grin grow wider.

"We did tell him that he would be no match for you, but I guess he'll always be a Frost. Hard headed."

Laughter echoed and I was reminded of how different Scarlett and Sasha were despite being twins. Scarlett was now bowing over in laughter and probably crying at this point, while Sasha, like a respectable Victorian era maiden, only flashed a hidden smile. I always teased about getting Sasha those fans the girls carried during that era, hoping she'd laugh more freely hidden behind it. She had only glared at me.

"Come here you two." Letting go of Asher, I ran up the flight of stairs, impatient to wait for them to come down.

Scarlett and Sasha were the jewels of the family and Asher and I had vowed to protect them from any douche who dared to look their way. Not that they appreciated it that much. Well, Scarlett didn't, while Sasha? Well, there was always no telling with her. Respectable lady and all, or maybe it was because few things rattled her anyway, and having two annoying big brothers certainly didn't. She had always been the least possible person to blow up of the four of us.

"I missed you guys." I pulled them in, loving the feel of home when they hugged me back just as fiercely.

"We missed you too, old man," they chorused, making me pull back and scrunch my nose at them.

"I'm not old—"

"Yeah, you are." Scarlett stuck her tongue out at me.

"I'm not—"

"Of course you are. A decade older than us says you are," Scarlett pointed out.

I wasn't a decade older.

"And you are wearing a suit to welcome your brother and sisters on a weekend." Sasha grinned before they both ran down the steps, giggling at my expense as they joined Asher.

"I'm not old—I'm working." I defended, staring down at my perfect suit.

"Yeah, right, because that's the only functional dress for the fancy, brooding CEO," Asher quipped, rolling his eyes.

I loved them, but I swear the lot could be a pain sometimes. A lot of times.

"And speaking of work, where is the very beautiful, Elaine? The girl meant to polish up your image?" Asher asked, reminding me that my newest hire wasn't here yet.

I bristled when I checked my watch and realised that her plane had landed already. She should have been here already or at the very least called that she was in. She didn't even have that professional courtesy.

A whistle ripped through the air, cutting through my annoying thoughts. Frowning, I looked up and found it was Asher being loud as always. "If that is her, then dude, you should really work on your description skills. Because, that is not beautiful—"

"I'm pretty sure I never said she was beautiful," I grumbled, turning to look where he was and froze instantly.

What the...?

I searched for the mess—the mismatched clothes, the wild hair, the smirk that always set my teeth on edge. But it wasn't there. Instead, my gaze snagged on details I had no business noticing. The curve of her waist. The confidence in her stride. The way the sun caught in her hair, making it gleam richer than I remembered. My jaw tightened.

Damn.

"That, is a goddess on legs man." Asher complimented and I completely agreed.

"El...?" Her name escaped my lips on a whisper.

She strutted the runway carrying just a duffel bag as always. Dressed simply in a fitted top and cargo pants as always, except... I swallowed, hard, my body reacting weirdly. Feeling strange things. Things a man felt for a woman he still wanted. Not a guy who should be annoyed with her. Who should have forgotten her because she betrayed him.

Jesus.

I raked my gaze over her, taking in six years' worth of change. Everything was filled up. Her bust was all round and... sexy—dare I say, heavy, giving way to a slender waist I wanted to snake my hand around, which also gave way to the widest set of hips that had filled up the cargo slacks deliciously.

And...those lips...

Wait. I blinked. What the hell was wrong with me?

This was Elaine Murdoch. Frost Renew was her client and I was its damned CEO, not a p*****t to be perving on her like this.

And I hated her.

I reminded myself, but that didn't help the growing tightness in my pants.

God!

Where the hell were the mismatched clothes? The disaster that was El? And what the bloody hell was I doing calling her by the pet name I had given her six years ago?