by M. S. Parker
I yanked my hand out of his and took a step back. He looked startled, but made no move to touch me again.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Who are you?”
“What?”
I wasn’t going to fall for that innocent look. Something weird was going on here, and I was going to find out what. If he wasn’t Gavin Manning, I was going to find out who he really was.
“Who the hell are you?”
Chapter 6
He stared at me, as if he didn’t understand my question. Fine, I’d explain it.
“The bouncer said there wasn’t anyone named Gavin Manning here, but there you are, and obviously, he knows who you are, which means he was either lying to me, or you’re not who you said you were. And since you’ve lied to me before, I think I’ll err on the side of caution with this one. So, I repeat, who the hell are you?”
Gavin held up a hand, as if sensing that it wouldn’t be a good idea to try to touch me at that moment. When he spoke, his voice was calm, not defensive.
“Lenny was just being careful. He’s been my driver and bodyguard for over a year. A few months back, this crazy woman came after me with a gun. Lenny wrestled it away from her, but was shot in his hand. He’s been a bit more cautious than usual since then.”
I gave Gavin a skeptical look. “A woman with a gun?”
He gave me a half-grin. “Her husband was one of my consulting clients. The day before she came after me, she found lipstick on his shirt. She confronted him and he admitted that he’d been having an affair, then told her that I’d set him up with the woman. She got pissed and decided to come after me.”
“Did you set her husband up with a woman?” I couldn’t believe I had to ask the question, but something about this just wasn’t sitting right with me.
“No. I’d never do something like that. I may own a sex club, but I do have certain standards. If married men come here and hook up with someone, that’s one thing, but I’d never purposefully set a married man up with a woman for a sexual encounter.”
He sounded like he was being honest, but I wasn’t so sure I could believe him. I’d never heard him talk about other clients, and that last line had come across almost like he’d rehearsed it.
“Are you ever going to trust me?” His voice was soft.
I looked at him then and saw the hurt in his eyes. I wished I could tell him that I didn’t have any doubts, but that would be a lie.
“Look.” The corners of his mouth twitched up as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID. He held it out to me and I took it. “My license says Gavin Manning. I would show you my birth certificate, but I left it at home.”
I handed his ID back and his fingers brushed against mine when he took it. I supposed I was being sort of silly. He’d given me an explanation that had made sense and he hadn’t been on the defensive. Why did I still doubt him? From the moment he’d promised me no more lies, he’d kept that promise. I needed to decide if I was going to trust him or if this was going to be a constant thing, me always questioning, him always having to explain. It was no way to have a relationship.
I held out my hand. He smiled and took it, leading me down the short hallway and into the main club area. Aside from the lack of people, something was different. It was still beautiful and opulent, but something was missing. It was so large and obvious that it took me a couple minutes to realize what it was.
“Where’s the pool?”
In the space in the center of the room where there’d been a large pool on opening night, there was only floor.
Gavin smiled at me and pointed towards a panel on the wall just a couple feet away from us. He reached into his pocket, took out a key, and inserted it into the slot next to the panel. He twisted the key and pushed one of the buttons.
With a faint hum, the floor began to split. I watched as it parted, slowly revealing the water beneath. I had to admit, I was impressed. I knew there were schools that had pools under their gym floors but I’d never heard of a club doing it. Then again, I’d never heard of a club with an indoor pool next to their dance floor.
“Why was it hidden?” I asked as he returns the floor to its original place.
“We only use it for special events,” he said. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to maintain a pool with the health department? This way, we don’t have to worry about weekly inspections; only every month, since it’s only going to be used for specific events.”
“Like what?” I asked as he began to lead me further along the wall.
“Well,” he said, thinking. “Like our members-only nights. We open the pool and hire... entertainment.”
His hesitation told me that the entertainment consisted of only one gender. I scowled. He was bringing in hookers for his clients.
I started to pull my hand away, but he tightened his fingers around mine.
“Dancers, Carrie.” The look on his face said that he knew exactly what I’d been thinking. “Exotic dancers. Strippers, if you like that word better, but all they do is dance. They’re paid for the event, not by the men, and it’s all high-class stuff.” He paused, then added, “Though in the spirit of total honesty, as I’ve promised, if any of them decide to accept a man’s offer to go upstairs, I won’t stop them. Consenting adults, and all. I’m not their parent.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that aspect of the business, but I didn’t say anything. I followed along in silence, smiling and nodding as Gavin showed me all of the intricate details of the club. It was really quite beautiful and, after a few minutes, it pushed thoughts of members’ night to the back of my mind.
Chapter 7
“So, I heard that you were having trouble getting the information you needed about some of the women in Howard’s life.”
I looked up at him, startled. He appeared to be faintly amused by my reaction and, when I thought about it, I supposed it should have been obvious. It did seem to be part of his job to know everything to do with Howard.
“Let me show you my office.”
I thought the change in subject seemed a bit abrupt, but I didn’t say anything about it. Obviously, he had something on his mind and I had an idea that it’d be better to just let it play out rather than try to figure it out on my own.
As we stepped onto the elevator, my heart gave a little skip and I rubbed my palms on my skirt. The last time I’d been in this elevator, Gavin’s hands had been on me the moment the doors had closed. I watched the door panels slide into place and kept staring straight ahead as we rode up. I wanted to look over at Gavin, to see if he was remembering that night too, but I was afraid that if I did, either I’d see he was staring at me with lust in his eyes or, worse, was completely unaffected. The first would be bad because I didn’t have much self-control when it came to the man standing next to me. None, actually. The second would be bad because it would mean that our encounter wasn’t enough to spark the memories. So, I stayed a chicken and kept looking directly in front of me.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Gavin stepped out first and I followed. We walked side-by-side, not joining hands again. I knew why I didn’t reach for him, and I hoped he had the same reasoning for not doing the same. One touch and I wasn’t sure what I’d do. We stopped in front of one of the doors marked for employees only, but my gaze kept traveling down to the door at the end of the hall. The door that lead to the room for members only.
The door looked innocuous enough, but I knew what was behind it. The memories of everything Gavin and I had done that night in that room came rushing into my mind. How we’d laughed at the vibrating bed. The first time I’d seen him naked. The expression on his face when he’d seen me...
“Carrie?”
Gavin’s voice brought me back and I realized that he’d opened the office door and was waiting for me to go through.
“Sorry,” I said, heat rising to my cheeks.
“It’s okay.” He lowered his voice as I stepped past. “I think about that night
every time I see the door too. Makes coming to my office... hard.”
I shivered, the double meaning not lost on me. Now I was wondering if that was why he’d brought me here. Did he want us to have sex in his office? Maybe some sort of role-play thing? Immediately, the images popped into my head, one after the other.
Gavin as the boss, me on my knees, working hard for a good review.
Him bending me over his desk.
Me riding him in his chair.
Desire unfurled low inside me. It was just a tendril of heat, but I knew it wouldn’t take much to get it stoked to a full flame.
“Here.”
It took me a moment to realize that Gavin was holding out a file. I was puzzled, but I took it.
“Have a seat.” He motioned around him.
A couch sat against one wall, two plush chairs against the other. A large desk was in front of a window, the chair behind it looking like it cost more than some cars. The entire office was tastefully decorated, the subtlety saying that it cost a lot to look this simple. Nothing was cheap, but nothing was outlandish either. I liked it.
I could have taken one of the two high-backed chairs that sat across from the desk, but I still didn’t know why we were there, so I decided to go halfway. Rather than sitting on the couch like I wanted to, I chose the closest chair. Gavin perched on the arm as I opened the file.
“That should have everything you need on the women you couldn’t find.”
I stared at the papers and pictures in front of me. Where had he gotten these? I began to flip through the files and saw head shots, personality tests, questionnaires. A suspicion started to form. The only types of places I’d ever seen use this kind of information were dating services. I remembered what he’d said earlier this evening about a client’s wife thinking he’d set her husband up with a woman. Then I remembered the women from the gala. Were they his doing too?
“I know what you’re thinking.”
I looked up. I seriously doubted that.
“After Camille died…” His face tightened briefly. “I was lost, but I found my way back by finding something that I was good at. Writing software.”
Okay, not what I’d been expecting.
“Howard saw my potential and gave me a loan for my start-up money. The first thing I developed was dating software. That’s where all of this,” he gestured around him, “came from.”
“Dating software.” I’d thought that was what the information looked like.
“Yes. It scans the Internet for information about potential dates. It’s more thorough than any dating site out there, and I use it to find matches for millionaires, men who have to worry about women’s only wanting them for their money.”
“Or married bastards who want to cheat on their wives?” The question came out more harshly than I’d intended, but I didn’t apologize. I could put up with kinks, or even people who wanted to invite other people into their relationship. That might not have been my thing, but who was I to say anything against consenting adults? What I did have a problem with, however, was adultery. I’d seen what infidelity could do to a marriage. My brother’s ex had cheated on him, and it had nearly destroyed him. It was bad enough to have to have people like that as clients, but I could never be with a man who assisted in that deception.
Gavin was studying me intently, as if those deep blue eyes could read my everything, my very soul. “No.” He shook his head. “I have two types of matches. Possible romantic dates for single or separated men, and companions for men whose wives don’t want to attend events.”
“Really?” The word dripped my disbelief.
“You’d be surprised at the women who want to rub elbows with the rich and famous. Being on the arm of someone like Howard can get women into places that they could never get to on their own.”
I closed the file and folded my hands. This was sounding more and more like one of those escort services who said they only provided companionship so they wouldn’t get in trouble with the law.
“It’s not a call girl service, Carrie,” he said. “The women aren’t paid and every single client, male and female, agrees to our terms of service, which specifically state that no money is to be exchanged for sex.”
“Sure,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking anything like that.”
Gavin laughed and shook his head. “We said no more lies.”
I grinned, the mood lightening. “You said that. Not me.”
He laughed again, the deep sound rumbling through me and making parts of me throb.
“Thank you,” I said. I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I looked more deeply into his business, but I appreciated that he was helping me.
“Here.” He took the file. “I’ll have someone deliver that to your desk tomorrow morning. You shouldn’t have to carry it all night.”
He stood and held out his hand. I took it and stood.
“Now, for your surprise.”
“This wasn’t it?” I asked.
He smiled, that slow, sensual smile that made me quiver inside. “That wouldn’t be very romantic, would it?” He started towards the door. “Come, let’s go eat.”
Chapter 8
As we headed back downstairs, I kept trying to think about what my surprise could possibly be. Dinner couldn’t be it. We’d eaten meals together before.
“Are you cooking for me?” I asked.
He laughed and reached over to take my hand. He threaded his fingers between mine as we walked across the club floor towards the side door I’d used to enter.
I was going to ask for a reason behind his laughter but as soon as we stepped outside, something else caught my attention. A limo was waiting. I suddenly felt very underdressed, even with my sexy lingerie.
A thought occurred to me. This was the second time he’d had a car appear without having called. “Do you have some sort of telepathic connection with the driver?” I joked.
“Better than that.” He held up his phone. “It’s an app.” He grinned and my stomach did a flip. “Whenever I need a limo or town car, I just press this button. The company at the other end uses the GPS in my phone to locate me and then they contact the closest available driver. I called for it when we were on our way up to my office.”
“Well, that is a fancy little app,” I said as the driver opened the door for me.
“Thank you,” he replied as he followed me into the limo. “And it’s quite the time saver. I haven’t waited for a ride since I helped develop it a few months ago.”
My eyes widened. Okay, now I was impressed. I’d thought he’d just been bragging about his ability to have limos and town cars at his beck and call. “Just how much software have you developed?”
He chuckled and shrugged, his eyes flicking away from mine for a moment before coming back again. The thought immediately popped into my head that he was hiding something, but I pushed it away. I’d already decided that I was going to trust him. I wasn’t going to let myself go back down that path over something that was probably just an embarrassed little tic.
“Is there anything you don’t do?” I made it into a tease.
He laughed again, this time louder. “Actually, yes, and that would be why I laughed when you asked if I was cooking for you. I’m an awful cook.”
“Come on, you can’t be that bad.” I let him veer away from talk of work. He seemed like one of those rare guys who actually didn’t want to make everything all about how wonderful he was.
“Trust me,” he said. “I am.” He raised our linked hands and pressed his lips against the back of mine. “I’ve screwed up boiled eggs.”
“How in the world do you do that?” I laughed.
“The water boiled away and the eggs exploded.”
We laughed over that for several minutes before I finally asked, “Where are you taking me, then?”
“Wait and see,” he replied cryptically.
I tried to scowl at him, but couldn’t manage it. He was giving me that sideways look that made his hair
fall across his forehead and made me think about what he must’ve looked like in high school. I had a feeling he’d been one of those kids who’d never gotten in real trouble in school because he’d just give his teachers that same look and they’d let him off easy. Girls would’ve fallen all over themselves to get that smile, and guys would’ve followed him anywhere.
The limo pulled up in front of a magnificent high-rise. I’d seen this building, of course, and knew that it housed some very rich people.
“Does Howard have a place here too?” I asked as he helped me out of the limo. I hadn’t seen this listed on his assets. Maybe he was trying to keep it from his wife.