Tempted at Midnight

by Cheris Hodges

  “Ingrid,” Erik said. “This is Sylvia Gates, the owner of SG Designs. She’s the woman behind the redesign.”

  “Oh,” Ingrid replied, then held up a mirror. “Erik, it’s time to get you ready for your close-up. The press is circling outside.” She turned to Sylvie and offered her the fakest smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m sure your work here will be amazing.”

  “Yes, it will,” Sylvie replied and returned Ingrid’s cool smile. “Erik, I’ll be in your office soon.”

  He nodded at her and headed inside his office with Ingrid. Sylvie tried to act as if she didn’t think the tall chick wasn’t the second most annoying woman she’d ever met. That number-one spot would always belong to her former partner. Not that she wished bad luck on anyone, but if a truck hit Amanda, Sylvie wouldn’t shed a tear. But she’d send flowers to the service.

  This Ingrid chick reminded her of the pretty girl from high school who stayed pretty while other people aged, and let them know she’d kept her girlish figure and could still wear her prom dress. The way she looked at Erik, Sylvie knew she wanted him to be her prom king. But whatever. She was here to do a job, and seeing this was just what she needed to put distance between Erik and her thighs. Heading down to the coffee nook, Sylvie couldn’t help but get drawn into the office gossip swirling around.

  “I can’t believe Mr. Jordan got arrested,” a woman said to her colleague as she loaded her mug with sugar.

  The other woman shook her head, her face contorted. “Do you think Erik is really going to be able to run this company? They just snatched him out of the lab because his last name is Jordan. What does he really know?”

  “How to sleep with the models, for one. Remember Madison Monroe? She was supposed to be the face of the new collection and he messed that up.”

  The other woman took a sip of her coffee and then grinned. “I thought it was because she had a drug problem.”

  “A drug named Erik’s dick.”

  Sylvie fought her laughter and lost. The two women glanced in her direction, then gathered their coffee and pastries before exiting the room. Poor Madison, I can totally understand how that addiction can start.

  She filled a paper cup with coffee and two packages of sugar. It was time to work and stop thinking about Erik and Ingrid. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on at the company and if she was going to get the chance to show off her work or not.

  * * *

  Erik may have felt as if he had a ton of makeup on, but the quality of Jordan cosmetics had his face looking smooth and natural in front of the camera. Ingrid told him to smile but not show all of his teeth before starting his statement. He needed to present the air of a leader and a surprised son. Erik didn’t realize he needed to be part Denzel Washington to be a good CEO.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the news about the arrest of former CEO Simon Jordan is a blow to the legacy of Jordan Industries, but we are going to weather this storm by continuing to produce quality products and restore faith in the minds of our stockholders, investors, and most importantly our consumers. My father, Simon, will be held responsible for the crimes he’s accused of if he’s guilty. But he is no longer a part of this company. We’re going in a new direction with Jordan cosmetics and I’m pleased to announce that we’re debuting a new and exciting line of makeup that will embrace the beauty of every woman in every hue.”

  Erik paused and smiled again. “Just keep in mind that Jordan Industries is more than one person. We’re a family business that is starting over with an eye to the future and a nod to the past.”

  Ingrid started the video screen behind Erik. Red lips filled the screen, and now he wished that he’d looked at the video first. Not that it was in poor taste, it was just Sylvie. Whenever he saw red lipstick, he thought of her. His body remembered her and he wanted her all over again.

  The presentation of the lipstick and the announcement of Logan’s line went over well with the press. But when Ingrid ushered Erik away from the podium without allowing him to take any questions, an audible groan filled the room.

  “What was that all about?” he asked when they’d entered his office.

  “Leave them on a high note. You know every question was going to be about your father and not what we wanted the media to focus on.” She pulled up a file on her phone. “I’m going to send every reporter who was here more information about the cosmetics line and a transcript of your statement.”

  “I don’t like doing business this way.” Erik shook his head as he paced. “I’d rather be transparent and take the tough questions than—”

  “Questions about how you’re a chemist and not a businessman? Or questions about how you and your father’s relationship will recover from this? Trust me, we’ll be transparent when you sit down with a reporter we can trust. That would’ve been throwing you to the wolves.”

  Erik nodded. He paid this woman because she knew what she was doing, and now wasn’t the time to question that. “Who are we going to do the interview with?”

  She shrugged. “Not sure yet. Give me a couple of days and—”

  A loud clang at the door caused them to pause their conversation. Erik focused his stare on Sylvie, who had dropped a bunch of charts and rulers on the floor. Crossing over to her, he assisted her in picking up her tools.

  “Sorry, I thought you were still doing your press conference thing.” She smiled as he kneeled in front of her.

  “That’s done for now,” he said. “What is all of this?”

  Ingrid rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. “Erik, do you want to go over the reporters who you want to do the interview with?”

  “Let’s meet for lunch. You can even pick the place. Sylvie and I need to figure out how long I need to be out of my office.”

  Ingrid released an exasperated sigh. “Fine, I’ll go monitor the news reports and get with the staff about some press releases as well as uploading the video to social media.” She turned on her heels and clicked out of the office.

  “What’s her deal?” Sylvie muttered.

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing. I thought you didn’t want to be involved in picking out color swatches and what color the walls were going to be.” She set the rest of her tools on his desk.

  “Can’t a brother change his mind?”

  Sylvie shrugged. “I guess. But why did you really change your mind, Erik? From what I was told, this isn’t your favorite project.”

  He was about to respond when his phone rang. “Hold that thought.” Erik walked into the hallway before answering the phone. “This is Erik.”

  “You had to throw your father under the bus,” his mother hissed.

  “He threw the whole family under the bus with his stealing. Is he locked up in his hospital bed or in a jail cell?”

  “Now you’re concerned? Erik, why are you joining in this campaign against your father? After everything he’s done for you? We’re going to lose the house.”

  “Ma, you know I’ll take care of you.”

  “In the same manner that you’re taking care of your father? I don’t think so.”

  “Are you involved in this?”

  “What? How dare you?” Yvonne yelled. “Your father and I built this company and I’d rather see strangers run it than for you and your brother to destroy it!”

  “Dad is the only one who’s trying to destroy anything. He stole from the company, he’s behind the falling stock prices, and—”

  “And you’re responsible for destroying his good name when you could’ve looked the other way and voted for the sale!”

  “Who are you and what have you done with my mother? The woman who raised me always taught me to do the right thing.”

  “Family comes first seems to be the lesson you forgot.”

  “I’m not the only one who doesn’t know that lesson.” Erik hung up the phone and shook his head. Now he was convinced that his mother was hiding something. How was he going to find out the truth, though?

  Erik w
alked back into his office and watched Sylvie climb up on a step stool with a tape measure in her hand. As she inched forward to take window measurements, her foot slipped. He jetted over to her and caught her before she hit the floor.

  “That was close,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Why would you do something so reckless?” He brushed his lips across hers. Sylvie moaned as he captured her mouth in a smoldering kiss. She tightened her grip around his neck and reveled in the heat of his body against hers.

  Erik fell into his desk chair, still holding on to Sylvie. Their bodies were a tangled mess of lust and he wanted every inch of her right then and there. But this wasn’t the time or the place, especially when . . .

  “Oh my God!”

  The couple broke this kiss and looked into Olivia and Logan’s shocked faces. Sylvia leapt out of Erik’s lap.

  “It isn’t what you think. He just saved me from a fall. I, um, have to go get some . . . I’ll be back.” She dashed out of the office and Erik shook his head.

  “Better learn to close that door,” Logan quipped. Olivia punched her fiancé on the forearm.

  “How about he learns that he and Sylvia are supposed to be acting like they’re in a place of business.”

  Erik folded his arms across his chest. “What do y’all want?”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “Well, we wanted to come and congratulate you on your press conference, but it looks like—”

  Erik held up his hand. “Liv, I know you and Sylvia are close, but trust me when I say that she isn’t doing anything she doesn’t want to do.”

  “Babe, you’re going to have to let them do their thing without your interference.” Logan stroked the back of Olivia’s arm.

  “I’m not trying to interfere. But since I’ve known this guy, he hasn’t had a great track record with women.” Olivia speared him with an icy look. “You treat them like interchangeable bed warmers, and I’m not going to sit here and watch you do that to my friend.”

  “Need I remind you that . . . Olivia, I’m not going to do anything to your friend that she doesn’t want. I’m not sitting here promising to love and cherish anyone. Logan has that on lock.”

  She rolled her eyes, then turned to her fiancé. “I’m going to check on Sylvie.”

  Once the brothers were alone, Logan picked up a paperweight, which was shaped like a baseball, and threw it at Erik. “Whatever is going on with you and Sylvie, you have to stop it now. If I have to listen to another hour-long diatribe about you two being horrible for each other, I’m going to kill you in your sleep.”

  “What?” Erik caught the paperweight and set it on the edge of the small table in the corner.

  “Olivia and Sylvia are more than just friends. So, she is super concerned about whatever this is between the two of you, which means I’m in the middle. Don’t like being in the middle.”

  Erik glanced at the door to make sure they were still alone. “There’s something about that woman that drives me crazy.”

  “Is it because she doesn’t chase you like everyone else has? Or are you trying to get her back for that New Year’s Eve tryst?”

  Erik shrugged. “She’s different. Sylvia isn’t intimidated by shit. And she haunts me.”

  “Really?” Logan raised his right eyebrow. “This might be serious.”

  “Shut up, and if you tell Olivia anything I’ve said I’m going to kill you in your sleep.”

  Logan clasped his hand around Erik’s shoulder. “But you know I never sleep. So, I win.”

  “Why are you really here, though?”

  Logan perched on the edge of Erik’s desk. “Came to jump-start this line and get the world talking about something other than Dad’s arrest. You know, all that business shit we talked about last night.”

  Erik narrowed his eyes at his brother. “You know what, let’s go to the lab and look at some color palettes. I swear you get on my last nerve.”

  “Sure I do. So, if Olivia and I had been about five minutes later, would you have ripped her clothes off and taken her on the desk or nah?”

  * * *

  Olivia cornered Sylvie in the coffee nook, where her friend was gulping down a bottle of cold water.

  “I guess you do need to cool off. What’s going on with you and Erik?”

  “Nothing,” Sylvie said after taking another gulp.

  “Bullshit,” Olivia said. “You two seem to keep having your lips touching all the time.”

  “That’s not true. It’s just he was there when I almost fell and . . . Didn’t I tell you last night that I like kissing him?”

  “Sylvie, I know that you’re trying to act like you’re focusing on business and you don’t want to fall in love with someone. But Erik is dangerous.”

  “You’re being overly dramatic here,” she said. Although, Sylvie was well aware of how dangerous that man could be. A drug named Erik’s dick.

  “I don’t want to see you hurt, when I know you do want to give your heart to the right man.”

  “Says you. I’m good with this whole love thing. What’s with you and my mama these days?”

  Olivia folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “Your mama wants a grand-baby. I want my friend to be happy. What’s wrong with that?”

  Sylvie shrugged. “I’m going to ask you the same question I asked my mother: Who says I’m not happy now?”

  Olivia threw her hands up. “You’re right. You’re probably content as hell.”

  “The last time I put my happiness in the hands of someone else, we saw how that turned out.” Sylvie raised her right eyebrow. “I don’t need a man to make me happy. But a few orgasms isn’t a bad thing.”

  “Stephen was an asshole, but you can’t keep thinking that everyone is going to be like him.”

  “So, you’re saying Erik shouldn’t be judged?” Sylvie laughed. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want anything from Erik. And I certainly don’t want a relationship with him. Besides, I think he has something brewing with the PR lady.”

  “What PR lady?”

  “The one he’s taking to lunch later today. She had him wear makeup during the press conference, can you believe that?”

  Olivia laughed, then grabbed her own bottle of water. “You don’t sound jealous at all.”

  Sylvie glared at her friend. “I’m not. It’s just that I asked him to let me do a CEO portrait of him in makeup and he told me no.”

  “Umm-huh, not jealous at all.”

  “Again, I’m not. Listen, I don’t care who he spends his time with, because according to office gossip, he’s a man who wants the models. Ever heard of Madison Monroe?”

  “Girl, that cokehead? If that’s the kind of woman Erik wants, why are you spending time with him?”

  “Eh, because I’m renovating this place.”

  “Whatever. Just be careful. I know you want this because of the national exposure for your company, but make sure you’re not putting yourself at risk. Okay?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I have this under control.” Sylvie almost believed what she said, until she saw Ingrid walk into the coffee nook.

  “Hello, ladies,” she said. Sylvie gave the woman a slow once-over and couldn’t help but think that she and Logan looked alike. Maybe it was just her imagination. Olivia told the woman hello, then ushered Sylvie out of the room.

  “Go to work, but stay out of Erik’s arms.”

  She offered her friend a mock salute. “Will do, Captain.”

  When Sylvie returned to Erik’s office, she found it empty. She was cool with it, because she could get her re-measurements without worrying about her lips being assaulted again. Well, assault wasn’t the right word. Erik’s lips were the magnets and she was the steel. Despite what she’d told Olivia, there was something about Erik that made her quiver. And she hadn’t felt that since the beginning of her relationship with Stephen.

  To think she almost married a man who wanted a Stepford wife. When she’d started talking about
going into business for herself, he’d discouraged her at every turn.

  “Sylvia, you don’t need to work. I make enough money for us to live comfortably. Why do you want to turn a hobby into a business?” Stephen cut into his steak and she vowed that she’d never eat red meat again. Obviously the flesh of a cow made people stupid.

  She closed her eyes and counted to ten before she responded to her soon-to-be ex. “My mother taught me that hard work is important, no matter how much you love your mate. Things happen and . . .”

  Stephen dropped his knife and fork, then threw his hands up. “Oh my God, do I have to sit through this story again? Your father died after lifting y’all out of the slums of New Orleans and your mother worked hard to make sure you didn’t suffer. I got it. Maybe if your father had planned better for your future, you wouldn’t be sitting here feeling so insecure.”

  Without a second thought, Sylvie grabbed the steak knife from the table and pointed it at Stephen. His eyes stretched to the size of quarters, because neither one of them knew what was going to happen next. Part of her wanted to bury the knife in his shoulder. How dare he talk about her father? He never met her hero, and no matter what he thought, her dada did everything to take care of the family. But who can predict death? No one!

  “Don’t you ever mention my father ever again, you son of a bitch!” She dropped the knife and stalked away from the table. “How about you get out of my house?” Sylvie pulled her engagement ring off and tossed it across the room. “You will never be half the man my father was and you’re not good enough to be my husband.”

  “And you’re just a good piece of ass that I thought I could turn into a housewife. Clearly I was wrong.” Stephen marched out the front door, leaving the engagement ring spinning on the floor.

  The next morning, Sylvie took the ring to Magazine Pawn Shop on Magazine Street and got the seed money for her business. When she’d told her friend, Amanda Warren, that she wanted to start an interior design company, her friend had jumped in with a one-hundred-thousand-dollar investment. At the time, she and Amanda were determined to make it on HGTV with their projects. The call never came, but the duo gained a reputation in New Orleans for creating magic.