Attraction: (A Temptation Series Stand-alone) (The Temptation Series Book 4)

by Golland, KM

  ‘Actually, they are on the house,’ the waiter interrupted.

  ‘Make that five Slippery Nipples and five Cum Shots,’ I announced. ‘And they are all for me.’

  ‘Carly!’ Lib scolded.

  ‘Labia!’ I mimicked her scold in return.

  Will chuckled, then slapped the waiter on the back in a familiar manner. ‘I’ll have a Redheaded Leg Spreader.’

  Sally gasped and looked at Lib who was statue-like.

  ‘Is that a real drink?’ I asked incredulously.

  ‘Sure is,’ Will smiled, his focus now solely on Lib. Ooh ... Willy likes Labia. Excellent!

  ‘Ladies! Can I get either of you a drink as well?’ the waiter asked Brooke, Sal and Lib, his patience visibly wavering.

  Sal slurped the last of her Cosmo in the most unladylike manner. ‘Yep, one of these.’

  ‘Make that two,’ Brooke added.

  Staring Will squarely in the eye, Lib added, ‘I’ll have a Maneater.’

  And with that the waiter disappeared into the crowd only to return moments later with our drinks.

  I lined up my shots and started knocking them back.

  ‘You may want to pace yourself,’ Will warned, a look of concerned curiosity marring his burly face.

  ‘Yes, Dad,’ I said sarcastically.

  ‘Hey, Will!’ a female voice called from behind us. Both Will and I turned to face her. ‘Oh, hi, Carly, this is a nice surprise,’ Lucy said when she recognised who I was. Lucy was Bryce’s extremely intelligent sister. She also played alongside the boys in the band.

  ‘Hey, how are you?’ I smiled. ‘Got the night off?’

  ‘You mean from Alexander? Yeah, the crazy kid is upstairs with Bryce and Alexis. I think his presence helps them both ... strangely enough,’ she said, mumbling that last bit to herself.

  Sliding along the booth seat, I suggested she sit down. ‘Would you like to join us?’

  ‘Thanks. Maybe for just one drink, then I have to head back upstairs. Where’s Matt?’ Lucy asked Will.

  Will shrugged his shoulders. ‘Probably attached to some chick at the mouth.’

  ‘Nothing new,’ Lucy murmured.

  ‘Hey, Lucy, these are my friends: Brooke, Sal and Lib —’

  ‘Oh, thank you. Using my proper name now, are we?’ Libby interrupted, her sarcasm dripping as smoothly as honey.

  I poked my tongue out at her.

  Lucy laughed. ‘Hi, nice to meet you.’

  ‘Lucy is Bryce’s sister,’ I explained to the girls.

  They all sounded their comprehension with a long-winded, ‘Ohhh’.

  Remembering that Lucy was a lesbian, I picked up one of my shots and offered it to her. ‘Would you like a Slippery Nipple?’

  Will burst into laughter at the sight of Lucy’s tickled expression.

  I rolled my eyes at him, then smiled at Lucy. ‘Well ... I could offer you the Cum Shot, but apparently you are not into that. So, naturally, I assumed you’d want the Nipple,’ I retorted.

  Nodding her head, she accepted the shot. ‘Yes, you are right. I’d take a Slippery Nipple over a Cum Shot any day.’

  ‘Fuck, this conversation is hot,’ Will said eagerly, now leaning up against the pylon next to our booth.

  Libby tutted with disgust. ‘Come on, Sal, Brooke, let’s go dance.’

  The three of them stood and snaked their way through the crowd toward the dance floor.

  ‘So, what’s her deal?’ Will asked seriously.

  ‘She’s a redhead,’ I deadpanned.

  ‘Besides her hot as fuck hair,’ he said with a tone of desire while watching Lib dance. ‘She got a man?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘She want one?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Good to know,’ he said before finishing his drink, pushing off from the pylon and making his way in the direction of my friends with the look only a hungry predator would possess.

  ‘I hope you realise you just willingly tossed your friend to a wolf,’ Lucy informed me with a knowing smile.

  ‘I know. She needs to be chewed on for a bit.’

  ‘Nice!’ she laughed and then reached over me to grab hold of another shot. ‘Nipples come in pairs,’ was all she said, her explanation quite satisfactory. ‘So, how’s things with you and Derek?’

  I choked on the Cum Shot I was in the process of downing. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The two of you ... you’re an item, right?’

  I shook my head as I wiped my lips and chin. ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘Oh ... sorry. I just thought that from what he and Lex said — Sorry, it doesn’t matter. Forget I said anything.’

  Her reddened cheeks had me curious. ‘We’ve been having some fun together, but that’s all. And anyway, he’s in Sydney for god knows how long.’

  ‘Yes, I know. Once he has things sorted with his father, he’ll be back,’ Lucy said softly with a kind smile.

  Why does she know about his trip to Sydney? And why does she know more than me?

  I was aware of the fact that Lucy and Derek had known each other ever since they were kids. But what I wasn’t aware of was just how close they were now ... obviously closer than I thought.

  Plastering on an artificially-sweet smile, I downed the last of my shots. ‘Right, let’s dance!’ I hollered, my tone a mix of anger and determination. Clearly, in the mind of Derek, I was only close enough to fuck around with, yet not be privy to important information regarding his life. Maybe I was expecting too much? I don’t know. One minute, he was saying one thing and the next he wasn’t backing it up. He gave me the impression he wanted ‘more’, but then again, that was probably the problem ... we weren’t exclusive so why expect anything more.

  With thoughts of retribution and a weird confused-clarity now swimming through my body with the alcohol, I tore my metaphorical blinkers off and expanded my peripheral vision to take in some sexy looking man-bait. I was done with Derek holding me at bay.

  ***

  ‘What are you doing?’ Libby said angrily as she pulled me away from a piece of Italian man-sausage.

  ‘Dancing with ...?’ I asked, gesturing to the sausage and raising my eyebrow in anticipation of his answer.

  ‘Marco,’ he responded with arrogance.

  ‘Marco, I’m dancing with Marco,’ I answered Lib. ‘Want to join in?’

  ‘No, you stupid cow, I don’t. And I don’t think Derek would like you dancing with him either.’

  Italian man-sausage shook his head in frustration and then walked away.

  ‘Lib, you just scared him off. I wanted to see the sausage’s sausage,’ I whined with a giggle-infused pout.

  ‘What is wrong with you? What about Derek?’

  ‘What about Derek?’ I barked. ‘He’s in Sydney, and whatever it is that he is doing there, he obviously doesn’t want me to know.’

  Will stepped up beside me and handed me his phone. ‘You may want to take this,’ he said, with a look that spelled trouble.

  ‘It’s not my phone. My phone is here,’ I explained while reaching into my bra to retrieve it. As I pulled it out, I noticed five missed calls and ten text messages from Derek. Shit! ‘Is that him?’ I mouthed to Will, swaying slightly as a result of my intoxicated state and daringly high heels.

  Sporting a shit-eating grin, he nodded his head slowly. I groaned and grabbed the phone. ‘What’s up?’

  Derek’s sexy but infuriated voice filled my ears and journeyed through my body in a tantalising manner. ‘Baby, I’m fucking pissed.’

  ‘So,’ I slurred, ‘so am I.’

  ‘So? What the fuck is going on, Carly? I get a text from Will telling me that you’re getting salsa lessons from a cock-happy Italian fucker at Opals. I thought you said no side dishes.’

  ‘I did,’ I quipped.

  ‘So why you breakin’ that rule?’

  Guilt, frustration, anger and sadness washed over me like an emotional tsunami that forced the closing of my eyes and the intake of
a deep breath. ‘Because we aren’t working, Derek.’

  ‘Who says?’ he asked angrily.

  ‘Me.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Just wait a minute,’ I scowled. ‘I need to find somewhere more quiet.’

  I moved away from the crowd of people dancing around me and headed for a private, more quiet alcove in the club. ‘Derek, I can’t do this anymore.’

  ‘Why?’

  I sighed defeatedly. ‘Because I’m feeling things I’m not used to. Because I’m confused and I don’t like it.’

  ‘And ...’ he asked, his tone now sounding perplexed.

  ‘And it fucking frightens me, all right?’ I blurted out.

  ‘Baby?’

  I didn’t answer him. I was too confused, angry and wasted to speak.

  ‘Baby?’ he said a little more firmly.

  ‘What?’ I snapped quietly.

  ‘Let me try this in a language we both speak so that you understand it loud and clear: “I’m not a photographer, but I can picture you and me together.”’

  I dropped my head back and let out a small laugh at his cheesy pick-up line.

  ‘Your body is sixty-five percent water and I’m thirsty,’ he continued.

  ‘Derek, stop it,’ I sighed with a sad smile, ‘you are not helping,’

  ‘Carly. You and me just “are”, all right?’

  ‘Are what?’

  ‘We just ... “are”.’

  Understanding what he was getting at, I begged the question I’d been pondering. ‘Are we?’

  ‘Yes. No side dishes. Just us,’ he said firmly.

  ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘You know what I’m saying. I’m making us official.’

  ‘If we are official, then why won’t you tell me why you are in Sydney?’

  ‘I will,’ he said on a loud exhalation of breath. ‘But I want to do it face to face.’

  ‘So why is it that Lucy knows?’ I asked, unable to hide the accusation in my tone. Damn it! This is not me. I’m not the jealous type.

  There was a pause on the line before he spoke again. ‘Carly, Lucy and I have known each other for a long time. We are close, as are Bryce and I. They know my family, and they know me.’

  ‘That’s just it, Derek. How am I supposed to get to know you if you won’t let me?’

  I could hear him let out yet another frustrated breath. ‘I will let you.’

  ‘When?’

  Silence circled again, dashing my optimism that the two of us could work. ‘Never mind. Look, I’ll see you when you get back, whenever that will be.’

  Just as I was about to end the call, Derek’s voice raised to a desperate shout. ‘Carly, my dad is sick. This shit is hard for me, all right? Please just give me time and let me explain on my own terms.’

  I inwardly sighed with relief that he had finally opened up, even if it were only a little. Why was it so difficult for him to be candid, and for me to give him the benefit of the doubt? Why could I not embrace that what we shared was so much more than just surface attraction? Why was it so hard?

  ‘Baby,’ he asked softly, ‘will you give me time?’

  Surrendering to the supplication in his voice, I sighed. ‘Okay.’

  ‘Good, now get this into that pretty blonde head of yours. You and I “are”, remember that. And if I get word that you are rubbing that sexy fucking body of yours against another man, shit ain’t gonna be pretty.’

  ‘Well, best you hurry up and get back here, because I like to dance and I like to dance dirty.’

  ‘I can tell you now that when I get back, we won’t be dancing.’

  ‘We’ll see about that, Dik,’ I said, my cheeky smile audible through my words.

  Derek chuckled deeply. ‘You’ll be getting dick, and plenty of it, don’t you worry.’ His promise and deep sounding amusement were the ignition to the fuse of my heart.

  ‘I can’t wait,’ I choked out.

  ‘Neither can I. Now go. Go and enjoy the rest of your night. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Oh, and Carly ...’

  ‘Yeah?’ I asked, expectation lacing my voice.

  ‘I mean it, stay away from the Italian fucker. I’m not the sharing type, baby.’

  I smiled at his possessive words. ‘Neither am I.’

  We disconnected the call, which was when the last few moments of our conversation finally sunk in. Not the sharing type? We ‘are’? Fuck the stars! I think Derek just officially became my boyfriend.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Derek had to remain in Sydney for the three weeks that followed our discussion that the two of us ‘are’. I was still not sure what ‘are’ was. Okay, so I gathered ‘we just are’ meant we were officially together, and in youngster’s terms, boyfriend and girlfriend. But the notion was still strange to me. Yes, I was thirty-five years old and acting like a pathetic adolescent. But the whole commitment thing was foreign territory for me. I’d never committed to anything or anyone in my life — apart from raising Sasha and Rico. Oh, and my joint tenancy lease with Libby. So I guess it was only natural that Derek and I being ‘are’ would take a while for me to get used to.

  During our telephone conversations and text messages over the course of the past few weeks, Derek had opened up bit by bit on his own terms and explained that his dad had suffered a stroke many years ago.

  He and his twin brother, Sean, had both been expected to take over the family business. Sean and their mother, Loretta, had made the assumption that Derek would give up his career as a firefighter and co-run King Logistics. So when Derek explained that he had no intention whatsoever of doing that, the proverbial shit basically hit the fan.

  Just the other night, after a session of scorchin’ hot phone sex, Derek mentioned that he and his father had always gone head-to-head with respect to his chosen career path. He also explained that he’d very adamantly stood his ground and pursued the life that he wanted for himself and, because that was not the life his father wanted for him, they had become estranged.

  After his father suffered the stroke, Derek’s parents moved to Sydney to be closer to the country’s leading neurologist. Sean remained in Melbourne and was appointed president of King Logistics by proxy. Unfortunately, and ever since, Derek’s relationship with his entire family had become strained.

  He’d told me that although he hated having to go to Sydney, because being around his family was incredibly hard, he still felt obligated to make sure his mother and father were coping after his father’s most recent TIA — a Transient Ischaemic Attack, apparently. That devoted and caring side to him only further reinforced my feelings that if I’d had any doubts about his loyalty toward people he cared about, then those doubts were undeserved and disproved.

  ***

  I’d received a text the previous night, prior to Derek boarding his flight. My plans were to drive to the airport and pick him up, but he’d explained that his flight was delayed and wasn’t due to arrive at Tullamarine until the early hours of the morning. He didn’t want me driving at such a dreadful hour and had told me he’d taxi it home and pick me up the following day, where he would take me to the gig that Live Trepidation were playing at a rooftop bar in the city.

  So when I heard the engine of his Ranger pull up out the front of my house, the excited feeling he evoked in me was paradoxical: elated fear. I was excited at seeing him in the flesh after three weeks, but the thought of that terrified me. This would be our first reunion since declaring that we ‘are’.

  As I scooted along the hallway after hearing him knock, I took a few deep breaths before stopping and opening the door.

  ‘Hi,’ I said with a smile that stretched my skin, almost to the point of discomfort.

  Derek was standing with hands behind his back, his expression mirroring my own, but in a more cool and controlled manner. ‘Hi, gorgeous,’ he replied, his smile drawing an unusual feeling from within. It was a feeling of infatuation, of weak knees and light-headedness.

  I took in his tight gr
ey t-shirt and black denim jeans, which were fastened with a thick, black leather belt. The whole I’m-a-sexy-rock-god ensemble was finished with a pair of heavy black boots.

  Reaching out, I grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and aggressively pulled him to meet my lips. One of his hands instantly found my arse while the other gently slid up the back of my neck, stopping at the base of my skull. His touch sent a delightful shiver down my spine.

  He pressed me into his hard warm body, and I moaned with pleasure at finally being able to feel and taste him again — he really was addictive.

  ‘I’ve missed you,’ I murmured honestly.

  ‘Mm ... the feeling is mutual, baby,’ he murmured in return, firmly flexing his fingers into my hair.

  We continued to kiss each other hungrily while standing at the threshold to my house, neither of us wanting to separate from one another. So many emotions filled my being as we held each other tightly: desire, longing, fear, safety and an undeniable attraction. The physical allurement between us was acute.

  I felt comforted and relieved, yet I also felt anxious and frenzied. One thing I no longer felt, as a result of our forced telecommunicated relationship and lack of physical interaction over the past three weeks, was reluctance. I was no longer reluctant where Derek was concerned. The hesitation and foreboding I experienced beforehand were now a thing of the past. It was time for me to see what was beyond attraction. It was time for me to accept that we ‘are’.

  ‘Want to come in?’ I spoke breathlessly against his neck, releasing my lips from his and pressing them to his Adam’s apple.

  ‘Sure,’ he answered with obvious lust-filled restraint. ‘But first, I have a present for you.’

  I looked up at him and smiled brightly. Carly Josephine Henkley LOVES presents. ‘Ooh ... what is it?’

  Derek released me from his grip and brought his hands in between our bodies.

  Dangling off his finger and gently swaying before me was a white gift bag with a La Perla logo printed on it.

  ‘La Perla?’ I asked excitedly.

  He just nodded, smiled and indicated with a twitch of his finger that I accept the bag from him.