The Escape

by Alice Ward

  Mason shrugged and gave an appreciative glance to his cousin, as if losing to him hadn’t bothered him at all, but Isabella wore a frown on her face.

  Harv interrupted my musing by telling us the rules to the challenge. “Challenge number three, you will each tell a secret. That is, something you’ve held deep inside and never told anyone before. I know you all have one. After you divulge your secrets, we are going to vote on the worst one. That is, the most terrible secret. It will be a private vote, and Lucy and I will also be casting our votes. So, let’s get started!” Harv threw an enthusiastic fist in the air. “Lucas, you’re up first.”

  I took a deep breath. I was nervous for Lucas, and for me. While my secret was the worst thing I’d ever done, I doubted it was so bad it would win a competition for the worst thing. What a weird competition, playing to see who had hidden the worst thing about themselves the best.

  Lucas began his confession with a quick clearing of his throat, which made me wonder if he was feeling more worry than he let on. “I’ve never told anyone this secret because there’s never really been a reason to. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not ashamed either.” He appeared smug and aloof, which made me even more nervous for him. “Before I started my own investment company, I worked as a temporary employee at different firms while in college. I spent one day at a small firm with a huge portfolio and tons of room for growth. I was working as an administrative assistant to one of the partners, and I wanted to be in on the action. I’d overheard them talking about candidates for an investment banker with the partnership — one of the names I recognized as someone who attended my university the year before.”

  Lucas paused and looked at his uncle, who gave him a nod. “Go on.”

  “I hated the guy, He was amazing in business and slid through school effortlessly, which I guess irked me. So, I went to HR and gave them my resume for the job, which I bluffed on some of the work experience. I called a few of my friends I was tight with at school and asked them to pose as managers of the fictional private companies I’d listed. They didn’t know the magnitude of the job, so they agreed.”

  Mason was watching him with an unsurprised expression.

  “HR wanted me to set up an appointment for an interview with the classmate I knew. But I didn’t just not call him. Instead, I put my name in his interview slot and slipped my resume into the pile. I sent the schedule to HR, and they approved it.” Lucas jammed his hand into his hair. “That was the most nerve-racking part, because my boss was one of the partners and he had to approve the candidate list.”

  When he was silent for a moment, Harv urged him on.

  “I knew when I wasn’t questioned that he didn’t look at the list, just signed it. He was a busy man. He seemed a little surprised when I showed up to interview, but I impressed him so much that he didn’t really comment. I got the job two weeks later. It was assumed the guy from my university wasn’t interested because he never called them back.”

  “That’s the end of the story?” Harv asked.

  “I worked for Gary for a year and took most of his business with me when I started my own company. You gotta know how to work people.” Lucas shrugged off his scandalous offense.

  The tingly attraction between us had fizzled as he spoke, and my heart sank. He was the kind of person I usually avoided, privileged and entitled with a slippery moral fiber. I didn’t want to let Lucas know that I was really disappointed in him for the sake of the game, so I put on a fake smile which I was pretty sure he saw right through.

  Mason’s confession was funny, but awkward, about a frat party trick gone bad. Isabella’s was a bit more risqué and involved a motorcycle club.

  Then it was my turn to confess. I stood, my palms slick with sweat, my mouth dry. “Well, when I was in college I was dating this guy, Donovan. I was so into him.”

  Lucas repositioned himself in his seat. I wondered if his movement was the equivalent of a squirm. Was it possible he could be jealous of a guy I dated a long time ago? Was he attracted to me enough to have any real feelings? These were interesting questions. He was such a strange mix, commanding and uncaring on the outside, and yet kind, playful, and thoughtful on the inside.

  “We lived in the same apartment building, and his parking spot happened to be right beneath my window on the fourth floor. Late one night, I heard his voice outside and looked out to see that he was with this incredible-looking blonde woman and they were going up to his apartment. I mean, she was so gorgeous, and the way they were laughing and joking with one another, it immediately got my blood boiling. Not only was he cheating on me, but this woman was amazing. I felt angry and inadequate.”

  I reached for the fuzzy shawl draped over the arm of the couch and buried my fingers in it.

  “So, fueled by rage and ridiculousness, I waited for them to come back out. When they didn’t, my imagination went wild with the things they could be doing. In a red-hot fit of jealousy, I went outside and keyed his new truck. He’d only had it a week, and it was shiny and black. I scratched my key from the front bumper to the back on the passenger’s side. I thought of it as akin to pissing on my side of his vehicle.”

  Lucas was watching me with assessing eyes, and I realized that I wasn’t as squeaky clean as I thought I was.

  “As soon as I did it, I felt great, but the next morning, I felt like a serial killer, especially when I ran into him in the hall later, and he introduced me to his beautiful cousin. Oh my god, I felt like such a shit, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. We continued dating, and I kept the knowledge of what I’d done to myself, though it was a stone around my neck. I knew he was angry about the keying because he talked about it every time we took his truck out. At first, it pierced my heart, and I almost told him, but ended up keeping my mouth shut.”

  I guessed it was the reason I wrote guys off for a while. Cause he really had been cheating in my face. I’d seen it and still gone on obliviously.

  “About a month later, I saw him with another girl. This one was also knockout gorgeous, and also a cousin. It didn’t take me long to realize he was cheating on me, had been for a long time. And not with cousins. I broke up with him and moved out of my apartment. He never knew who keyed his car, but when I found out he was really cheating on me, it actually felt good that I’d done it. I’m horrible, I know.”

  And there it was, the worst thing I’d done to anyone. Telling the secret felt like a load of bricks had lifted off my chest. When I looked up, the bricks smashed over my head as I stared at the blank faces looking back at me.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lucas

  I loved her breezy attitude toward things. She was a complete optimist, nothing daunted her. While she wasn’t solid in her assessment of me or the situation, she trusted herself enough to know when to stay or quit. I didn’t think she had any idea how strong she was, which made her more alluring and less like any woman I’d ever dated.

  Confessing a secret was not fun, and my palms were still a little sweaty after the fact. Ava’s secret of a mild vengeance against an asshole made mine nearly criminal. Well, I guess it was criminal, but it was ten years ago — there had to be a statute of limitations protecting me at this point.

  Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to Ava’s reaction after I’d confessed to being such a jerk. However, that one incident didn’t define me.

  Okay, so there were other jerky things that did define me. I could see my uncle’s plan unfolding now and wondered what the endpoint of the whole thing would be. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. The one thing I did know, this wasn’t just going to be about the sex.

  Riding up the elevator with Ava, I was silent, mentally torn between justifying my past behavior and pressing her against the wall and wrapping her legs around my waist. Did this damn elevator have a camera? I looked around, and by the time I was certain there wasn’t one, the damn thing stopped and Ava stepped off.

  In our suite, sitting on the foyer table was a little box wrapped in
shimmering red paper with a white bow. The card on the top read “CHALLENGE #4.” Sitting next to the box was a silver tray laden with a single red rose, a plate of chocolates, strawberries, and melted chocolate in a mini fondue.

  Ava looked at me, her eyebrows raised. “A third challenge in one day? This is moving fast.”

  We stared at it, neither of us too excited to rip into it and risk humiliation.

  “Nothing, so far, has been as I’d expected.” Her blue eyes lingered on the box as if she could see through it for a peek if she looked long enough.

  “Are you ready for this?” I tried to sound casual, but my voice came out tight, wound up. Like the rest of me. Please, let it say I can touch her.

  “I think so.” Her note of hesitation told me the last challenge had erased the moment we’d had in the snow.

  “About downstairs, the secret.”

  Her eyes moved to mine, and it was as if I heard something deep inside me I didn’t even know was broken click back into place. I’d never been sorry for what I’d done, had moved through business ruthlessly, sometimes playing it just above illegal. With her looking at me, I suddenly wanted to be better than that. Wanted to be someone she would respect.

  “It’s okay. We all do things we aren’t proud of.”

  I stepped closer to her but kept my hands at my sides. “It’s not okay. Doing business in an unethical manner isn’t something I’ve reflected on much. I am now.”

  Her eyes searched mine, and I could see tiny fragments of gray and gold in hers, like sparkles embedded in the irises. Beautiful.

  She nodded. “I hope you know I’d never key your car.”

  I laughed, delighted at the way she’d changed our serious mood to lighthearted. I’d have to watch it, or I could get used to being with her and not want to give her up when this was over.

  “I trust you.” Did I? I wanted to. I nodded at the box. “Let’s do it.” She smiled, nodding her head at my double meaning, while I prayed doing it was exactly what we’d be tasked to do.

  She handed me the box, which I ripped open. Inside, there was a card with the usual foo-foo hearts around the edges and a little red kitchen timer. I read the embossed words out loud:

  CHALLENGE #4

  Wine and Dine

  I sighed, my body both relaxing and becoming ultra-aware of the woman standing next to me. I could smell her sweet scent, hear her rapid breaths.

  “Is that it?” Ava squeaked.

  I tilted the card so we could both read it.

  The ladies will lead the seduction tonight. Dinner will begin at seven, after you’ve prepared it together. You’re forbidden to touch each other until after dinner.

  Start the timer at seven to begin the two-hour hands off/seduction/dinner time. The women may seduce the men without touching them, and after the bell rings you may begin your evening together.

  Have fun and good luck with this challenge.

  Please place your vote for the worst secret in the envelope provided and slide it under the door.

  When I was finished reading the note, I looked at Ava, but her eyes were lowered to the floor. As soon as she felt my gaze upon her, she lifted them and took a deep breath. I couldn’t think of anything I’d like better than watching Ava seduce me.

  “Even though I think you had the worst secret, I don’t think you’re the worst person.” Her playful countenance was back, and I could tell that if she was nervous, she was also excited.

  The tension that had begun winding up in my balls since the moment she entered the chalet gripped me in a tight fist. “Yeah, I’d be voting me too.” I dropped my head a little for effect.

  “You should.” Her voice was scolding but playful. “I wonder if the worst one gets a prize or a punishment.”

  I almost dropped the pen as I wrote my own name on the voting card. Knowing my uncle, it would be a punishment. Punish me, please. A fine sweat popped out on my forehead. “I’ll take the heat for you.” I sealed it in the red envelope along with hers and did as instructed.

  “Hmm.” She looked like she was trying to imagine what kind of punishment it would be, and I knew without a doubt from the innocent expression on her face that she had never been pussy whipped with a tassel or restrained with her ass in the air. She most likely believed that good concurred evil and nefarious acts only happened in the movies and really bad neighborhoods.

  “I’m not proud of what I did. I was ravenous for a great job, and I was stupid.”

  “The best of us make mistakes. It’s what we learn from them that counts.” Her sultry lips tipped up into a smile as she took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “What do you want to do now?”

  Her question was innocent, but I had so many devious answers.

  “Can’t do what I want to do, but how about we get out of these wet clothes and freshen up?”

  “Sounds good.”

  I took the bathroom in the utility hall and gave her the master. I wanted her in my shower, but it would be too tempting, and I wasn’t sure we could keep it down enough for the audio in the outer part of the penthouse not to pick it up.

  “Just a few more hours,” I told my cock as I prepared him for tonight.

  Dressed, I stepped into the hall to the sound of her laughter. Following it, I discovered her inside her enormous closet, wrapped in a fluffy white robe and rifling through a rack of garment bags. When she saw me, she held up a uniquely cut red down coat and a skimpy see-through nightgown and robe.

  I felt myself swell as I imagined her wearing the nightie.

  “I can’t find anything casual, but this is amazing! My designs, custom-made.” She sighed and clasped the nightgown to her chest, giving me a better visual with her standing there in a robe.

  I gripped the doorframe to make myself stay where I was.

  “This must be part of the challenge,” I muttered to myself.

  She shook the see-through number. “This, you weren’t supposed to see.”

  “I, personally, really like that.” I deliberately licked my lips, which had her diving deeper into the rack of clothes until she found what she needed. It was going to be fun to introduce her to my way of pleasure, watch her blush, then get over her embarrassment and beg for more.

  My insides were in a knot as she skipped into the bathroom to change. When she reemerged, she looked beautiful and confident dressed in thick leggings and a sweater that kissed her ass. What a magnificent woman.

  I had to admit, I was jealous when she’d mentioned a prior boyfriend even though it sounded like she’d moved on. There must’ve been other boyfriends, possibly even a current one. When this much money was at stake, a lot of women would lie about their relationship status, but surprisingly, Ava didn’t seem like the type to lie for money.

  Since we had so much time to kill before touching was on the board, I figured I’d ask about the men in her life. We both grabbed our jackets and some hot tea and sat outside on the terrace, even though it was chilly, to enjoy the view of the mountaintops. I thought we were still a little worn out from this morning’s shoveling, and the fresh air felt amazing, the incredible view rejuvenating.

  We could see the mountains from every angle from our position at the top of the chalet.

  “So, you keyed a poor guy’s car.” I was joking but really wanted to know more.

  “He wasn’t a poor guy, he was a schmuck.” She smiled and lifted her mug to mine in a toast.

  “To schmucks.”

  She laughed at my humor. I thought I’d do just about anything to hear that sound again. “He was so pissed though. Because he had this huge drooling dog that he thought should have alerted him. That dog was in the doghouse after that.”

  “What about other boyfriends? You do anything to their cars or stuff? Should I be worried?” I was teasing, but you knew what they said about jokes being half true.

  “You mean, am I a serial keyer?” She laughed as she sipped her tea.

  “Or worse?” I inferred with a raised brow.
/>
  “No, Donovan was the only one I liked enough to hate. When I found out he was cheating, I went nuts. The only other guy was just an asshole, and I walked away as soon as it became obvious.” She was looking out at the mountains, having retreated to some distant place in her mind.

  “The other one… just one other?” I had to make sure I’d heard correctly.

  “Yeah, just one other.”

  “Why?” My voice betrayed my astonishment.

  “Well, I’ve been so involved with school and fashion. Relationships haven’t been on my radar the past few years. Having the opportunity to go to the New York School of Design was a dream come true.” Her expression was more energized than I’d ever seen it. This was the real Ava, the passionate Ava.

  This woman, who had a couple failed relationships with assholes, and apparently hadn’t been with any assholes in “the past few years” was going to be hard to overcome. She was so unlike anyone I’d fucked, which was too many women to count.

  The women I usually went for loved being dominated in the bedroom as well as in life. I unfolded incredible fantasies for them, but it didn’t seem like they were the kind of dreams Ava would want, which made her my greatest challenge in all of this.

  “Right, what man could compare to fashion? Our species is doomed.” I wondered what the way to her heart would be.

  “Not at all. There are good men out there who are just as scintillating.” Her gaze rested hard on me for a long moment. “They just need to take some lessons on how to treat women with love, respect, and a dash of fabulous. What about you? Any women in your life?” She asked this so innocently, it was like she wanted me to pour out my heart. But if I did, she’d probably leave immediately.

  So I gave her the sanitized version. “I’ve had a lot of women. Men like me seem to filter through them pretty effortlessly.” You sound like a complete douche. “Like some men’s inability to properly appreciate a woman, some women are only after money and fame. They’re willing to overlook almost anything to get what they want out of a man. Unfortunately, I’ve dated these kinds of women in the past. However, my tastes are a little extreme.” I suddenly wanted to confide in her, tell her the secret that had been foremost in my mind during the contest.