Made for Frank Read online

  Then I, Frank King, did the one thing I never, ever did unless it was absolutely necessary – and in this case, it certainly was not.

  Rather than grabbing her to the collar and taking her to the police station, I opened my mouth and asked her why she was doing this. She didn’t answer. And instead of taking that as the reality check I so desperately needed, her reluctance only fueled my determination to know. Therefore, after a well-aimed threat to take her to the police station, she squared her shoulders and told me that if I wanted to do so, at least I should first give her the wallet so that she can make sure her siblings had something to eat.

  “Your siblings?” I’d asked. And she promptly stood up and led me to them.

  Following her and discovering the situation in which she and her siblings lived was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. But what stunned me was not where they lived, or the severe sickness that gripped her brother. No, it was the tenacity in her eyes, despite all that. As I looked around the house, taking it all in, she stared at me as if daring me to judge her, to do or to say something.

  How… just how could I run away from that?

  I know I had always been a hard man to reason with, especially when it came to matters of justice. In fact, my business associates had confessed one time too many to me being a difficult, rigid partner. But that toughness was one of the reasons I got to where I was today. And so, I never for once thought I’d one day bend the rules of my morality and actually offer to take care of her family.

  And I did it on one condition – that she come work for me.

  After a brief discussion where she revealed that she never finished college, had no credentials whatsoever, and previously did jobs that leaned more towards manual labor, I decided that a perfect fit for her would be to work as my maid.

  So here she was, standing right in front of me, in the living room at my house.

  I walked towards the sofa and sat it, clasped my hands in front of me, and cleared my throat, wondering where to begin. When I played this scene in my head, everything had seemed so smooth. I’d meet her, tell her the terms and conditions, and leave her to begin her work.

  But one thing I’d not been counting on was this sudden… strange feeling in my chest, that ‘poof’ that went off every time I raised my head and looked at that face of hers.

  Now that her face was free of the cloth, her skin appeared clearer, almost angelic. Was it just the lighting or did she always have such pink, succulent lips and big blue eyes?

  And why did she have to wear such a tightfitting gown?

  Frowning, I snapped my head to the side and shut my eyes, shaking the thoughts away. What the hell had come over me?

  Coughing, I turned to her.

  “How is your brother?”

  “He… He’s holding up well, sir.”

  Her voice was soft, with a lilting quality that seemed to flow across the room.

  Blinking, I gave a firm nod and stood up before walking over to the kitchen. Waving my hand at her as a signal that she should follow, I continued, “So you know why you’re here, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I…” She swallowed, her steps lightly tapping against the marble floor, “…I’m here to work for you.”

  “Then that’s—”

  “Sir?”

  Her interruption had me turning around, my eyebrows in a questioning arch as I looked at her. “Yes?”

  “First, I wanted to say that I’m extremely grateful for all you did. My brother is now in a good hospital, and my sister lives in that nice house with the other maid. If not because of you, we'd still be in that dump and I don’t even know how much longer we would have survived on our own. I’m extremely grateful but I… I just want to know one thing.”

  She paused, raising her eyes to look tentatively at me. Leaning against the wall, I folded my arms and nodded at her, “Yes?”

  “What do you get in return?”

  Frowning, I dropped my arms from my chest and walked towards her, turning around to point at everything in sight, “You’re working for me. As my maid. You’re cleaning and cooking and taking care of all that.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” She sighed, biting her lip as she also looked around, “But you’re paying me for this, aren’t you? If you said that I should work for free, I’d understand that. Not only you insist on paying me, but you also took care of my brother’s hospital bills and put my sister in a good, safe house. I… I’m just…”

  She sighed, clasping her hand in front of her as she shook her head, a confused expression on her face. “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know us and we didn’t exactly meet under a very friendly circumstance.”

  That – that earnest, soft-spoken bundle of words that just left her lips – constituted the same question I’d been asking myself for the past two days, right after I opened my mouth and said that I’d do all these things for them.

  Why did I do that?

  I didn’t know her or her siblings… I was under zero obligations to be the good guy. Heck, she should be with the cops by now, not with me.

  But as I stood in the entryway to the kitchen, right in front of her, I had no reasonable answer to that question. This strange act of kindness was so unlike me that I felt ruffled, unsure of how to proceed.

  With a dismissive shrug, I turned around and proceeded into the kitchen, “It’s an act of kindness. Just think of it that way.”

  “Sir,” She sighed, “People are rarely, if ever, kind without a reason, sir. Trust me. I know and….”

  “Crystal.” I snapped out the word she’d given me when I asked for her name, turning around to look her in the eye. It felt strange, somehow forbidden, to say her name out loud but I pressed down the uncomfortable feeling, narrowing my eyes at her, “You don’t have to pay me back. Don’t overthink it. Just do what you’re here to do, okay?”

  Chapter Four

  Frank

  With a heavy sigh, I drove into the underground garage, parked the black Audi I’d chosen to drive today, and turned off the ignition. Then I looked at my watch and shut my eyes, realizing that the time had come for me to, once again, go into that house.

  It wasn’t as if there was a ghost inside, or an evil force that I was trying to avoid. In fact, everything was perfectly normal. Except for the fact that, of course, I had a woman in my house.

  A woman who unsettled me like no other.

  Groaning, I tightened my grip around the steering wheel and squeezed my face into a tortured frown, looking out of the window.

  The garage was completely silent. And the only thing I could hear was my own breath. That quietude was very misleading, wasn’t it? I mean… just judging from my calm, collected exterior, one wouldn’t know the war that was going on in my mind.

  I just drove from the office after closing a multimillion-dollar deal which, in any other circumstance, would have been thoroughly satisfying. Heck, if this was just a week ago, I’d already be inside the house, opening a bottle of champagne as I arranged some temporary female company for the night. If I didn’t feel like having women nearby, I always had my friends – the fellow members of the Merry Men club who were never too busy to celebrate a brother’s success.

  But it seemed like ever since I made those calls right after Tom dropped the ‘love’ bomb, both Jack and Kevin have had one reason or the other why they couldn’t meet up. If I didn’t know better, I might have been tempted to believe that they were avoiding me. The very idea was simply ridiculous, of course. Why on earth would they suddenly start avoiding me?

  Apart from Jack and Kevin, the last two options for male company were Richard, the weenie who got married to Tom’s daughter, and then Tom himself, betrayer extraordinaire. Lord knows I wouldn’t be caught dead near any of those two – especially not after they not only broke the pact but also chose women over friendship.

  So, without male companionship, I’d been left on my own, with my thoughts, which was the very la
st thing I wanted. Why? Because whenever my mind had the opportunity to lift itself from the countless files at the office, issues at meetings, or other business-related matters, it went to one place – the very direction from which I’ve been trying hard to steer away from in the past few days.

  Crystal.

  This was ridiculous. I shouldn’t be sitting here outside in my car, bidding my time. I shouldn’t dread entering my own house. And I most definitely shouldn’t, for some reason, keeping imagining the moment I’ll get to see her again as if I was actually looking forward to it.

  And all this anticipation, anxiety, and discomfort started from the very day she moved in.

  And I couldn’t even deny that this anticipation was not entirely platonic. Whenever I looked at her and saw her walking past me in that damn maid uniform that was a few sizes too small, my eyes couldn’t help but rise and just… behold her.

  She was… perfect. With curves in the right places and a body that made me think of a bed just by looking at it. She nearly drove me crazy with her presence.

  And to imagine that it had only been a week since she came here.

  With a frustrated sigh, I hit my forehead against the steering wheel and shut my eyes, my chest tightening. Was I so sexually starved that I’d started looking at someone who was supposed to be my maid? A person who trusted me with the safety and health of her family?

  I couldn’t keep this up. This wasn’t the first time I’d encountered a beautiful woman, and this won’t be the last. The circumstances of our meeting might have been quite unique, but Crystal and I were never going to happen.

  That’s it.

  I needed to go in there. Right now. And set this right.

  Placing my hand on the car door, I opened it and got out. Within minutes, I was on my way to the front door, my lips set in a grim line, and a harsh, determined look on my face.

  But then I opened the front door and stopped abruptly, blinking as the bravado I spent at least thirty minutes beating into myself just tumbled down like a house of cards in the wind.

  Unexpectedly, Crystal was right in front of me.

  But she wasn’t actually facing me. She was bent over, doing something on the table. I didn’t know or couldn’t even begin to care about what she was doing. All I could see or comprehend at that moment was the way her curves stretched against the maid uniform, her long, smooth, tantalizing legs pouring down from under the dress.

  She must have sensed my presence, because, instantly, she gasped and swerved around, her eyes meeting mine as her lips stretched out into a smile.

  Is she that happy to see me?

  “You’re back!” She exclaimed and then revealed a glass of water in her right hand, offering it to me.

  I let my eyes go down to the water, and then back up to her face, so sweet, beautiful, and painfully innocent in the light.

  What exactly about this woman interests me so?

  ***

  Crystal

  Why isn’t he saying anything?

  Swallowing, I kept my hands on the glass of water steady, making sure to keep the slight, respectful smile on my face as I stared up at Frank King, my boss.

  'Your boss, really?' That sly, devilish voice piped up again.

  Who on earth thinks about his or her boss the way I think about Frank?

  With each passing day, looking at him became almost… unbearable. It wasn’t because of the way he looked, for there was definitely nothing wrong with him. With his chiseled face, grey, piercing, magnetic eyes, his straight nose, a muscular body which seemed to always fit in whatever clothes he chose to wear, I was pretty sure he got much female attention, probably more than he knew what to do with.

  But physical appearances were one thing. And even though I had humble beginnings, I’d seen my fair share of beautiful people. And none of them made me feel even half of what Frank did.

  Then what was it about him?

  Honestly, I had no idea.

  I could just stand there, the same way I have in the past few days, and watch him from afar, wondering why my heart beat so fast and why I suddenly felt like an awkward duckling around him.

  He was so cool, so detached. Sometimes I hid behind the door at the kitchen or maybe pretended to be cleaning someplace and just watched him, my eyes going over his features as he concentrated on his work. At first, I was curious about him. How can someone be so selfless to the point of helping my entire family? I’d been so sure that he wasn’t what he appeared to be. And so I tried to find the ulterior motive behind all these.

  But I didn’t know when that innocent intention started to evolve to something else.

  Soon enough, I began to notice how different his smiles were, depending on what he was doing. Whenever his lips curved to the side, I’d immediately know that he’d just closed a deal or solved some problem. But when he smiled a full smile, he was probably fully satisfied with himself over some physical feat. And he had the habit of gritting his teeth when irritated. His wardrobe was like his life – each clothing item carefully arranged by color, material, and relevance.

  At this point, I felt like I’ve observed him so much that I could write a whole essay about him. And even then, these new, unsettling sentiments I was starting to have for him wouldn’t be completely expressed.

  “Do you want me to bring juice instead?” I croaked out, my voice unsteady as I pointed towards the kitchen.

  It had been minutes and all he’d done was to stand at the doorway staring at me with a strange, intense look in his eyes.

  “Or…” I swallowed, getting quite nervous under his continued silence, “…I could just… maybe prepare some dinner real quick? Do you want me to—”

  “Crystal.” He said in a deep, gruff voice, making my words hang in my throat.

  I blinked, my chest tightening as my heart began to thump. Hard.

  The way he’d said my name… softly, breathily and, if I was not mistakenly, with a bit of longing? The atmosphere in the room changed and it became difficult to breathe.

  “Y-yes?” I stammered. My voice was so unsteady that if this had been another situation, I would have become pink from embarrassment. But right now, my thoughts were occupied by another thing – him. And the tiny, teensy possibility that maybe… just maybe… he felt the same way I did.

  Why else would he look at me like that? Like the only thing, he wanted to do right now was… eat me for dinner?

  With another laugh that probably came across as too awkward to be genuine, I turned around with shaky hands and put the glass of water on the table, more so that I could get a chance to look away from him and gather my bearings.

  “I’ll just go to the kitchen and—”

  “Crystal.” He breathed my name again. But unlike before, this time, his voice was nearer. Closer. So close I gasped and turned around, only to find out that my suspicions were correct.

  He was right before me now, the previous distance between us shrunk into a few inches.

  “S-sir?”

  “Frank.” His deep voice grounded as he raised a hand and slowly – as if he was touching precious thousand-year-old porcelain – placed it on my face. “Call me… Frank.”

  “Frank.” I exhaled, my breath shortening as I felt the warm, comforting insides of his palm on my face.

  And then, in a gradual move, he lifted my face with his hand and brought his face to mine, looking straight into my eyes as his lips rested on mine.

  It was feather-light. At first.

  My eyes fluttered close, the point of contact tingling and sending thrills of electricity down my body. Slowly, he deepened the kiss, his lips sinking deeper into mine, and within seconds, the tempo increased.

  I couldn’t breathe. Or think. Or do anything but submit myself to his ministrations. The kiss zapped the oxygen from the room and I gasped against him, desperate for more. Of him. Of this and whatever he was making me feel at this point. Then his hands were on me, embra
cing me, sliding up and down my body as I groaned into his mouth.

  But then… in such an abrupt manner I almost tripped and fell, he took his lips off me and pushed me away like I was hot coal.

  “Wh-wha—”

  I didn’t even finish the sentence before he turned around and the next thing I heard was the loud, resounding bang of the front door.

  Chapter Five

  Frank

  It had been three days. Three days since I left the house.

  Now let’s rewind.

  Within the thirty-eight years that I’ve been alive, there were only a handful of times when I’ve found myself in a situation of such… distress. Sure, life was not always easy for me. I wasn’t always rich. My parents, bless their souls, were neither poor nor rich. They just had enough and tried to bring me up in the way they knew best. And my innate ambition had to do the rest of the hard work. Few years after graduating from college, I became the billionaire I always knew I would be.

  But through all that, never for once did I doubt myself, or ask the crazy, irrational questions that were now pouring through my mind. Or try to stave off sinful, erotic images of a woman I shouldn’t even be thinking of in the first place.

  Sighing, I closed my head and let it fall to the headrest as I turned off the ignition.

  I couldn’t even summon the will to go into the house. Or more accurately, if I went back inside and saw her again, I really didn’t know whether I could stop myself from doing the many things on my mind.

  It was pretty ironic, honestly. When had my hands ever trembled at the mere thought of a woman? And when had I, billionaire and owner of multiple multinational companies, ever been twice reduced to spending an inordinate amount of time in my own car, in the garage?

  I always took pride in my ability to control myself and my emotions – especially when it came to things like money, or women. If I didn’t want to be with a woman, I wouldn’t. No questions asked.

  But Crystal was different. An unexpected exception to that rule which I once saw as second nature. And I’d be a fool to keep denying it.