“I love it, you’re lucky, Lincoln.” She sighed but got up so they could explore the rest of the house.
Thirty minutes later they’d discovered a bathroom with antique fixtures that she clearly wanted for her own, six bedrooms on the second floor, nine bathrooms, and an attic that was one long room with another private bathroom. They went back down to the first floor with Roxie taking notes.
“I’ll want an electrician to come in and change some of the lighting, a roofer to have a look at that leak in the attic, and I’ll need furniture.” He rattled off as they came down a narrow set of stairs to the first floor.
“Alright. Anything in particular?” She asked, looking up at him as they came back to the living room with the window seat.
“Whatever will be most suitable in the sea air. Comfortable is most important, but it has to look good too.” He nodded as he looked around the large room with a fireplace across from the window.
“I can find something, I’m sure.” She looked around. “Anything in particular that you want?”
“Have someone come in and install a sound system in here and in the kitchen if there isn’t one already. I don’t see any speakers so I’m guessing there isn’t.” Lincoln turned to her and she nodded again.
“Alright.” She tapped into a note application on her phone and then looked up at him. “Anything else?”
“How about we order some dinner?” He waited for her answer, holding his breath, but breathed again when she nodded her head.
“Okay.” She went in to ask Grace how things were going and came back with the news that the owner would be happy to turn over the keys so long as Lincoln provided a down payment that day.
“That’s settled then, I’ll be a moment.” He moved to open an app on his phone.
“Lincoln, you don’t want to haggle over the price?” Roxie interrupted, surprised that he was so eager to buy the place.
“No. I love the place and want out of Kai’s.” He chuckled with a shake of his head. “I’m not haggling over the price. It’s an investment, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” Roxie said, and he stared at her to try to figure out what she was thinking. From the doubt on her face, he knew she was thinking that wealth was fleeting.
She’d grown up privileged but had lost it all in one night. She could be right, he knew she was on some levels, but his wealth was secure. She’d had no control over what her parents did, so this situation was different.
“It’ll be fine, Roxie.” He murmured and opened the app to transfer the amount the owner asked for to the account number Grace gave him when he went into the kitchen. “All done.”
“Thank you, Mr. Young, I’ll get the paperwork drawn up to transfer ownership over to you and we’ll set up a mortgage if you want?”
It seemed she’d done her homework on him, he thought. She didn’t even hedge what she’d said with an ‘if you qualify’.
“No need for that. I’ll pay cash.” Lincoln dismissed the offer and held out his hand. “The keys please?”
“Here you are.” The woman handed over a keychain that held several keys. “One of those is to the outbuilding, one for the gates, the others are all for the house.”
“Ah, that reminds me, Roxie. Have a security gate installed when the fence is changed.” Lincoln said and turned to see Roxie staring out at the ocean view from the kitchen windows.
“Yep, I’ll add that.” She said and then looked back at him. “Anything else?”
“Know anywhere we can get some chairs and a bed today?”
“Yep, I do.” She said without a bat of an eye.
“Let’s do that then.”
Lincoln gave Grace the information she needed and felt good a little while later as he picked out a bed and some stools for the kitchen. He also bought a huge couch and some chairs for the living room. The store had some bedding on hand, and he got that as it would do until Roxie could find something else.
They stopped to get pizza and headed back to the house. “The delivery truck should be here soon, let’s eat.”
Roxie didn’t say anything, she just took the cheap dishes he’d bought out of their box and washed them, so they’d have plates. Two bottles of water meant they didn’t need glasses, at least. He watched her move around his new kitchen and liked seeing her there. He’d like to see more of her there.
“I have a question for you.” He said after they’d both had their fill of pizza. He took out his phone, pulled a credit card out of the case. “Can you furnish and decorate the place?”
“I don’t see why not.” She looked around and then brought her eyes back to his. “Budget? Style? What do you want?”
“A refuge.” He answered automatically, without hesitation. “I want somewhere I can come home to and not feel as if I’ve got to tread carefully because someone might come in to take pictures.”
“I got you.” She nodded in agreement. “Do you want me to get started tomorrow?”
“That would be good. Also, I, uh, could you make one of those, ahem, rooms for me?”
She blinked at him with innocent confusion he suspected was totally fake but was convincing. “What rooms, Lincoln?”
He stared back at her, feeling the heat rise up his neck. “You know, Roxie.”
“Oh, a playroom like Kai’s you mean?” She grinned with devilish amusement and he knew she’d known all along what he meant. “That would mean you’d need to come with me, of course.”
“Um, why?” He was the one blinking now.
“Because, you have to know what you want, and you won’t know until you’ve explored what’s out there.”
“Oh, well, get the basics, for now, I guess.” He couldn’t look at her now, that teasing gleam in her eyes was too much to take.
“I’ll get you started, don’t worry.” She replied, and he just wanted to sink into the floor and die. What had he got himself into?
12
Roxie
Roxie pulled up to a store Emily had taken her to before and stopped the car. “Alright, ladies. I have a credit card and a huge list. Are you ready?”
She looked back at Emily and River in the back seat and then at Kitty. They were all excited to be shopping with Roxie, but probably not as excited as she was. Lincoln told her there was no budget, to get what she thought was best, and she’d run with that. She’d have more room in her car if she hadn’t brought the other women, but she’d need help with small appliances as she had no knowledge about them really. She even had to call Emily about the coffee maker she’d bought for Lincoln that first day she worked for him.
It was a strange job, she knew what Lincoln did, his business, but she never really dealt with any of that. She wasn’t really an office assistant so much as a Girl Friday. He paid her a salary for it, and he’d paid Nathan’s bail, so it didn’t matter. She missed dancing, but this would do for now. She’d get practice in when she had time and, in a year, she’d get back to the world she knew and loved most.
They were in the store for two hours, buying everything from laundry soap to dish towels. They all took a room at first, then converged to buy for the other bedrooms and bathrooms.
“The easiest thing to do is to just get different colors for each bathroom,” Emily suggested so that’s what they did.
Roxie took Lincoln’s bedroom however and chose shades of crystal blue and black for his bedding and the decorations. It ended up being a coastal theme by the time she was done, but she liked it. It didn’t dawn on her that she’d chosen items that were the color of her eyes.
Once they had everything crammed into her car, Emily made a call to Dylan to bring a truck over to deliver the stuff to Lincoln. And Roxie took the ladies out to lunch.
It was nice to buy stuff without Emily offering to get it for her, for a change, and though she usually hated the way rich people just bought things randomly, it was nice to get what she wanted. Even if it was all for Lincoln. He was paying for lunch, however.
She didn’t wan
t to think about how much money she’d spent, not just because she’d lived on a budget for too long, but because it reminded her that her parents had died because of money. Her dad wanted to keep up a lifestyle that he couldn’t maintain, and that had ended in tragedy.
She wanted to just enjoy the day, spending Lincoln’s money. She didn’t know what the limit on the card was, or if there was one, but she doubted she’d come anywhere near it. In a way, it was kind of like payback, spending all of this money, for all the nasty things he’d said to her when they were kids and the way he’d treated her since she started to work for him. Although he’d kind of calmed down over the last week. Kind of.
“I wish Elmo’s was still open,” Kitty said once they’d ordered and got their drinks.
“I do too,” Emily said with a sad smile.
“What’s up?” Roxie asked and leaned towards Kitty.
“It’s just the sleazy customers at the place I work at now. They let just anybody in, you know?” She frowned and rolled her eyes. “Like this guy showed up last night, already drunk. He kept trying to drag me off the stage. Called me a whore and ended up getting thrown out, but he shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”
“No, that wouldn’t have happened at Elmo’s.” Roxie agreed immediately.
“Yeah, I understand why they screened the people that came in there now.” Kitty sipped her red wine then put the glass down. “I felt so much safer working there.”
“I didn’t know they screened customers at Elmo’s.” River chimed in and looked between Roxie and Kitty.
“They did, very well.” Emily piped in. She smiled with a wink at Roxie. “They screened us very well, but the customers were screened just as thoroughly.”
“That they were.” Roxie smiled at Emily’s mention of her time at Elmo’s. It had been a personal dare Roxie worried would go too far but Emily had ended up married and in a healthy relationship.
“You’re lucky, River.” Kitty drawled with envy. “I didn’t have a protector and now I’m stuck at the Pussy Shack. Hang on to your couple and that apartment with the unlimited credit card they gave you as long as you can.”
“Shit! I forgot to call you! Do you want the instructor job I was offered? You’re as good as me and you’d be able to get out of that hellhole.” Roxie cringed as guilt swamped her for forgetting to call Kitty. She’d called Amelia to recommend Kitty, but it had slipped her mind to call her friend and tell her.
Too much stress, that was the problem. Hopefully, Lincoln would lay off a little now and she’d be less stressed out.
“That sounds perfect, actually. I can’t take too much more of that shit.” Kitty looked as eager as she sounded and Roxie wondered what else she’d missed lately.
She’d been so consumed with worry about where Nathan was and trying not to quit working for Lincoln that she’d missed out on her friend’s lives.
Their food came and everyone went quiet as they started to eat. Once most of them were done, Emily re-started the conversation.
“What’s it like working for Lincoln, Roxie?” She asked with a gleam in her eye.
“He’s a pain in my ass.” She mumbled and bit back the ‘and he always has been’ part just in time.
“But you can deal with men like that.” Emily nodded as she spoke. “You’ve always been good with assholes.”
“I suppose I have,” Roxie answered quietly.
Roxie thought back to her life at Elmo’s, the club she’d had a stake in before it burned down a year ago. She’d been more than just the star attraction, an award-winning exotic dancer. She’d been a sub and a dom, with exclusive contracts for the men she chose in her years there, fulfilling the duties of each contract in private rooms at Elmo’s. She’d learned the way to keep men happy because she’d had to. For a moment, she remembered how good it had felt when she was dancing ballet at Kai’s house while Lincoln played the piano.
In seconds she was an innocent girl again, with huge dreams that didn’t pan out, but it was okay. She was free and happy, without the memories of the fire that took her parents or the men that visited her father that day, men that she was still afraid of. She was free of the memory of how she’d ended up where she was now. Which wasn’t such a bad thing considering she was eating out with her friends on Lincoln’s dime.
“I’d have him in my bed any day of the week,” Kitty spoke up and grabbed Roxie’s attention.
Was that jealousy she felt? But she had a boyfriend. Kind of. And she didn’t want to be in Lincoln’s bed, even if she’d had a vivid dream or two about just that. He was too vanilla for her and she didn’t have the patience for training a man right now. The vanilla life went by the wayside the minute her parents died, the minute the men that she was certain set the fire took their lives. Whether the police wanted to call it a suicide or not, she’d seen two men beating up her father only for those men to later appear at the blaze.
“I have an idea. What if we get some of the girls over for a housewarming party for him?” Roxie said, which grabbed all of their attention.
“You mean the other girls from Elmo’s?” River asked, even though that was obvious, Roxie thought.
“Yeah. We’ll invite some of his friends, Dylan and Kai can handle that. We’ll get some of the girls over and introduce him to our world. He’s, um, asked me about it all, so I know he’s curious.”
“I think he likes you, Roxie.” Emily cut in to say. “When he came over to our place for dinner all he asked me about was you. It was sweet, really.”
“Hmm.” Roxie narrowed her eyes at Emily and tried to brush off what she’d said. “He probably just wanted to know if I’d bring trouble to his business.”
“No, it wasn’t like that at all.” Emily shook her head and looked over at Kitty and River with glee in her eyes. “It was almost like he’s in love.”
“Ugh.” Both women made faces and shivered, perfectly in tune with Roxie.
“Heaven forbid, that’s the last thing I need. Some missionary-position-loving newbie sniffing around my panties.” Roxie cringed and shook her head vehemently. “Not for me, thank you.”
“Oh, come on, Roxie.” Emily teased, delight in her eyes, and Roxie couldn’t help but smile back. “He’s so hot!”
“He is, but he’s not for me. He needs some sweet, little, innocent thing that will give him equally sweet little babies. I’m not that kind.” Roxie said, even if she’d dressed up today in one of the Chanel dresses Emily bought her last year. She wanted to look the part when she’d walked into the exclusive shop earlier and Kitty and River had both dressed in their best too.
Still, she was more comfortable in her shorts and tank tops than she was in these fancy dresses.
“You mean someone like me?” Emily asked, a hint of hurt in her eyes.
“No! Fuck no, Emily. You have a backbone made of steel and would have Dylan’s balls in an instant. Plus, you’re kinky as fuck.” Roxie grinned, hoping to see the hurt disappear from Emily’s eyes. It did and Roxie breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re right. I just ordered this, by the way.” Emily pulled out her phone to show them all some kind of machine that promised the most glorious orgasm of a woman’s life. The Sybian, that sex machine, as Roxie thought of it, was expensive and she’d had heard a lot about them, but she’d never tried one.
“You could have ordered me one too, my sex life doesn’t exist at the moment.” Roxie sighed with longing. Sex would be so nice.
Lincoln’s face popped into her mind and she cringed. Dammit, not him, she reminded herself.
“You want one? I’ll get you all one if you want.” Emily offered immediately but they all shook their heads.
Emily could be overly generous, but her friends were nice enough not to take advantage. Plus, Roxie had other reasons. “It plugs in. You know me and things that plug in.”
“Ah yeah, I forgot. Sorry.” Emily cringed this time but followed it with a grin. “You can come over and have a ride on mine.”
“I might take you up on that.” Roxie laughed and sat back. “It’s so nice to be with you all like this. I’ve missed it.”
“You’ve been catering to that man since I introduced him to you,” Emily said. “But I guess you need to work.”
“I do.” Roxie patted Emily’s hand. “I know you offered to help, but I can’t do that. I need to work. I just couldn’t take money from you.”
“I know. I forget sometimes how obnoxious I can be.” Emily made a face, but Roxie leaned over to kiss her cheek to take the sting away.
“You aren’t obnoxious, Emily. You never are. You’re just not used to how we live. There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re lucky and we love you, so don’t let it get to you.” Roxie said with kindness. Emily could be forgetful, and sometimes a little too eager, but she didn’t want her friends to suffer. That was noble if anything.
“Fine,” Emily drawled out but smiled. “At least you aren’t mad at me for introducing him to you.”
“No, it’s working out, slowly,” Roxie reassured her. She wanted to tell them all so much more, about her past life, about why it was hard to work for Lincoln, but she couldn’t. She’d lied about who she was for so long, she’d almost forgotten who she used to be. Telling them now would serve no purpose. So long as she could keep Lincoln quiet and avoid any of his family, she’d be fine.
“Right, anybody want dessert?” Roxie asked as she spied the waiter coming back.
They were all done with eating and River had to get back to her couple. Emily kept glancing at her phone and was soon texting like a madwoman with a dirty grin on her face. “Getting back to Dylan?”
“Yes.” Emily breathed, her eyes still on her phone. “He’s delivered what he could to Lincoln and he’s ready for me to come home now. He’s outside waiting for me.”
“Shoo, then honey,” Kitty said and stood up to kiss them both. “I’ve got to get ready for work tonight. But I’ll call that number you gave me. Split a taxi with me, River?”
Dancing With Lies (Barre To Bar Book 1) Page 12