"Other than the crazy ex showing up, how did the weekend go?"
"It was good," I say on a heavy breath. "We're closer than we were when we left. I think we're in a better place."
Or we were until Damaris showed up.
"Good to hear." He doesn't press for more, and I'm thankful for that.
"I'll take over the eleven o'clock and the two o'clock meetings with marketing." I tap the end of a pen on a folder on my desk. "You're off the hook."
"Taking an extra day to fuck around your apartment wouldn't have killed you." Nolan stands and buttons his suit jacket. "We don't need your ass in here every single day."
They do. He chooses to believe otherwise.
"Look, I'm only asking this because I'm worried about you. Did Damaris say anything about the …"
I stop him before the word leaves his lips. That word. My personal hell is bundled up in one word that forever changed my life. Damaris was there for me on the worst day of my life. Every day after that, she chose to remind me of the pain I was in. It was her weapon to make me weak.
"She didn’t," I cut him off. "She kept her mouth shut."
"Maybe she does have a heart after all." He looks over my shoulder at the open door of my office. He knows my assistant is on her break or this conversation wouldn't be happening.
She doesn't. Damaris has a big bank account, thanks to my generosity when we split. She wanted the wedding of her dreams. I wanted my freedom. We both got exactly what we needed.
***
I slow as I near her. She's outside her apartment, white pants and a navy blouse covering her body. She's wearing nude heels and a pair of sunglasses.
"Adley," I call out to her as she raises her hand to flag down a taxi. "Wait up."
She slides the sunglasses onto her head, as her eyes skim me from head-to-toe. "You're wearing a suit. Did you go to the office today?"
Work is my drug of choice. When I'm sitting in my office at the top of the Matiz tower, I feel centered. I needed that today after seeing Damaris in the Hamptons.
"I had some work to catch up on." It's not a complete lie. There is always something to do in my world, whether it's managing the concerns of a Matiz employee or signing off on a shipment of vodka at the club.
"I'm going to see a friend."
I follow her gaze when it drops to her phone and a text message appears. She covers it with her other hand before I can read anything beyond " Hi Adley ."
"What friend?" I ask because she's always been an open book. She's never gotten on me for invading her space even though she's never invaded mine.
"You don't know them."
Them. Not her, not him, but them. It's a man.
"What's his name?" I don't even try and mask the heaviness of my tone.
Her eyes dart over my face. "Don't act like a caveman, Crew. I have other friends."
I know she does. Most of them are women.
"Is it someone I know?" I press for more like a sixteen-year-old kid who is worried his steady is going to kiss the star quarterback behind the bleachers.
"No."
I stare at her because that's not a satisfactory answer. "Who is it, Ad?"
"His name is John." She takes a step around me toward the curb. "Are you happy now?"
Fuck no, I'm not. She's never mentioned a man named John to me so this is coming straight out of left field.
"Where did you meet?" I keep my tone calm as I watch her wave her arm in the air as an already occupied taxi approaches.
She stomps her foot when it flies by.
"That one wasn't available." I look down at my phone and thumb out a message.
"I knew that. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm here to take you to dinner." I pocket my phone again. "I want to talk about the weekend."
"It's over." She squints as another occupied taxi whizzes past us.
Panic bubbles in my chest, seeping into my lungs. I exhale and try to draw in a deep breath.
"The weekend is over, not us." She turns to look at me. "I was surprised by the fact that you were engaged once. You. Engaged. Who would have thought?"
"She means nothing to me now, Adley."
Her hand jumps to my arm. "I know and I'm glad, but a part of me is freaking out about that."
"Why?" I grab her wrist and pin her hand to my cheek. "Why are you freaking out over the fact that I dumped Damaris?"
She opens her palm and cradles my face. I close my eyes because the touch is almost too much. I've been starving for her all day and this small morsel of her attention isn't enough to satiate the hunger.
"You were friends once, you fucked, fell in love and then you broke up."
I get it. She's terrified that we're going to travel down that same road. What she doesn't understand is that what I felt for Damaris was a dim light compared to the blinding sunshine that surrounds me whenever she's near me. "I never cared about her the way I care about you."
"We'll figure this out." She brushes her fingertips over my cheek. "We'll take this slowly and if it feels like too much for either of us, we stop, we talk and we decide together whether it's still the right thing."
"Agreed," I say because I can't tell her that it's never going to feel like it's too much. She's not ready to hear that yet.
"Is that Bill?" She points at a black SUV coming up the street.
"He's right on time." I smile as he approaches. "I just sent him a text. He's going to take you where you need to go."
The car pulls up on the street next to us. She waves to Bill before she turns back to me. "You know I could have gone to see John without your help."
John, fucking John.
"Tell John to keep his dick in his pants."
Her eyes lock on my mouth before they drift to my eyes. "He's twice my age. It's not like that."
"Tell me what it's like." I step closer to her and rest my hands on her shoulders.
"I'm not ready to." The fingers on her left hand tap dance over the front of her neck. "When I'm ready to talk about it, you'll be the first person I tell."
It stings. It fucking stings but a secret isn't just hers to hold. I have my own share that I've kept hidden from her for the past two years.
"I'll call you tonight," I say before I press my lips to her forehead.
She looks up at me. "You're still the best friend I've ever had."
I know it. I'm also the man who is falling in love with her.
Chapter 31
Adley
I watch Crew when I walk in the club. He has two favorite spots. The first is up on the VIP level. He stands there, usually dressed all in black, with a glass of something amber in his hand and a woman next to him. He'll kiss her before his hand inches down her back.
I always know the exact moment when his fingers reach their final destination. Her mouth will curve into an 'O,' her head will rock back onto his chest, and she'll start to move her hips in small circles.
To anyone else, it looks like they're dancing. His hand will be in the air balancing the glass and her hands will grip tightly to the metal railing in front of her. She'll close her eyes and move slowly.
As the tempo of the music increases, so do her movements.
Depending on how she likes it, she'll push her legs further apart to give him more of what he wants.
He'll take a drink, she'll bite her lips and then she'll shudder. Sometimes violently, other times subtly, but I always know when she comes on his hand. It doesn't matter who she is. The telltale signs are there.
His other perch is at the end of the bar.
That's where he is now. Surveying his club, watching its patrons, hunting for something.
I've seen him take countless women up to the VIP area from the dance floor, sometimes one, often two.
Waiting for them to come back down isn't usually part of my plan. It happens though. The elevator always arrives first with the woman or women he's spent an hour or two with.
Then he'll ride it back down,
a look of smug satisfaction on his face, and the scent of sex peppering his skin as he walks past where I'm standing near the bar, oblivious to the fact that I've been at the club many nights when he has too.
I didn't go to seek him out. My drinks were free so when friends from work wanted a place to let loose, I'd invite them to the club for a round on me. I'd dance, have fun, talk to men and unwind.
More often than not, Crew wouldn't be there, but when he was, he'd never notice I was there. I never approached because I knew what he was there for and it had nothing to do with me.
"You should go say hello to your dreamboat." Sydney taps me on the shoulder. "He looks lonely."
He looks ready to pounce on a brunette in a short pink dress who is bouncing to the beat of a song I've had on repeat for days. I make a mental note to delete it from my phone.
"I'm going to hang back," I say as I watch Crew stand. "Go have fun."
She's off on a dash toward a group at the opposite end of the bar. I haven't taken my eyes off Crew since he walked in. His eyes haven't left his target.
Brunette, small tits, cute ass, and a smile that could light up the darkest night.
He told me he'd call tonight. He will, but I knew he'd likely be here so after my meeting I went home, changed and shared an Uber with Sydney. She was headed here to meet her friends, and I tagged along knowing I'd find him in one of his two favorite spots.
He's always here on Monday nights, and most other nights too.
I watch from the shadows as he circles the woman, not once, but twice.
It's a scene I've witnessed at least a dozen times but never before has my heart thundered in my ears like this. It's almost deafening, drowning out the music along with all rational thought.
I shouldn't do this. I should walk up to him so he knows I'm here, but my memory is clouded with so many images like the one happening right before my eyes, that I don't move.
My breath catches when he takes a step closer to her. Her eyes meet his. She turns so she's facing him directly.
Crew holds out his hand and I almost fall to my knees. My stomach recoils and I'm afraid that the salad I had for dinner will end up all over my little black dress.
She reaches for his touch because there's no reason for her not to. He's gorgeous, imposing and it's obvious that the man knows how to fuck. That energy seeps from every single pore of his body.
He pulls her closer and then he drops her hand and his arms cross over his chest.
Another man approaches, dressed in all black too. He's security. I know that. He takes a place next to Crew. They talk, to each other and then the woman and she glances around the room, her eyes darting helplessly in despair. She's searching for something or someone.
She pivots on her pink heels but the security officer has his hand on her elbow. She tries to shake him off, tears well in the corner of her eyes and then her head drops.
That's when he turns. Crew turns in my direction and across the dimly lit space, through the crowds that filter past me on their way into and out of the club, he locks his eyes on mine and a brilliant smile takes over his beautiful mouth.
***
"I don't know what the fuck is wrong with these kids who try to worm their way into the club." He shakes his head as the woman in the pink dress is guided toward the exit by the security guard. "It doesn't take a fucking genius to see that she's underage. I swear the people who work the door all need to have their asses kicked."
He smiles through that rant.
"Sydney was carded. I was too." I shrug. "Somehow that woman snuck in under the radar."
"That girl has tried the same trick before." He looks back at the dance floor. "I recognized her from the last time I sent her home. You'd think the staff could be on top of shit like that."
"Maybe their boss should have a word with them."
He studies me for a minute. "Maybe their boss should ask his best friend what she's doing in a club looking like sex in heels."
I blush. I feel it before I realize what's happening. "You're too charming for your own good."
"We both know that's not true." He rubs his forehead. "I'm too old for this shit. I hire people to handle this for me."
"Is that why you're here? To make sure kids don't make it past the burly bodyguard at the door?" I pick up his glass and take a small sip. The liquor burns my throat but I welcome the warmth.
"I'll get you a drink." He taps his hand on the bar and Penny, one of the bartenders instantly turns in our direction.
"No." I wave her away with a flick of my wrist. "I have to work in the morning. I can't drink."
He nods before he downs what's left in his glass in a single swallow. "I have to work in the morning too. That's why I drink."
I laugh. "It's funny how we both ended up here tonight."
He slides his hand to cover mine on the bar. "Seeing as how it's only the second time we've been here at the same time, I'd say that's fate."
I don't correct him. There's no need to. I've always been invisible to him. He's noticing me now and that's enough for me. At least I want it to be.
Chapter 32
Adley
"I dropped by the club to pick up some monthly statements from the office." Crew takes my keys from my hand so he can open my apartment door. "I thought I'd have one drink and then I saw that teenager trying to knock the socks off a guy that had a good ten years on her. I couldn't let it happen, legally or otherwise."
I smile. I like that he looks out for the people around him, even if he doesn't know them personally.
"Are you coming in?" I ask when he swings the door open.
"After you." He waves his arm in a wide arc.
I walk into my darkened apartment with him on my heel. I knew he'd come up after we kissed in the taxi on the way over. It wasn't an I-have-to-rip-your-clothes-off kind of kiss. It was gentle and warm, and when he bit my bottom lip, I felt heat pool between my legs.
"Do you want something to drink?" I toss my purse on the table.
"Scotch." He throws my keys, and they land next to my purse.
"No scotch." I kick off my heels. "Soda, lemonade or water?"
He shrugs out of his jacket and folds it over the back of the couch. "You must have something stronger than lemonade."
"I don't and besides, you don't need it."
His eyes sweep over my body. "We're going to fuck tonight."
My core clenches from those words. "Are we?"
He stalks toward me while he removes his cufflinks. "If you're not ready for that, I'll feast on your cunt."
I fist my hands by my side to stifle the urge to touch myself. "I love your mouth."
"You'll love it more when you're coming all over it."
I take a step back toward the couch to stabilize myself. When I finally bump into it with the back of my legs, I reach back to hold onto it.
"I could smell you on my hand the entire drive back to New York." He unbuttons each of the buttons on his shirt with effortless ease, his eyes never leaving my face. "It was driving me mad. I almost pulled over to the side of the road so I could take a taste."
I bite back a moan.
"Take off your dress."
I look at the door to my apartment. "Sydney might come home."
"Sydney won't be home for hours. She's nursing her broken heart in a private booth in the VIP room."
"With who and how do you know that?" My hands jump to my hips.
"That was the club's manager I was texting when we were in the elevator on the way up here. I told him to keep an eye on her. You seemed concerned about her when you said goodbye to her."
"That's nice of you," I say genuinely.
"She could use the chaperone. A woman with a wounded heart is prone to making mistakes she'll regret."
I nod as I watch him stalk closer to where I am. "Have you broken a lot of hearts?"
His fingers toy with the necklace around my neck. "A few, but they've always been fine after a brief period of mou
rning."
I doubt that. I wouldn't be surprised if there are dozens of women in this city wishing they could be more to him than a single night of fun.
His hands move from my neck to my shoulders. "I won't break your heart."
I stare into his eyes. I see truth there. He wants to believe that because he knows that the alternative is the end of us, as lovers, as friends, as everything.
"I won't forgive you if you do," I say quietly.
"I know," he answers in a whisper. "That's why I'll protect it at all costs."
I want to believe him. I have to if I'm going to share my body with him.
The pad of his thumb brushes my bottom lip. "I felt you in the club tonight before I saw you."
"You did?" I'm not surprised. It's been that way for me for months now. Whenever he approaches, I can feel an uptick in the restless energy in the air.
"Something changed." His hand moves lower, caressing my chin before it moves to my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "I could sense you were close. Everything quieted and then I turned around and there you were."
"You picked me out of a crowd of people with ease."
"Put a thousand people in front of me and I could find you with my eyes closed." He leans down to kiss me softly before his lips trail a path to my ear over my cheek. "Your smell, your voice, the pull of my body to yours; it's all real."
It is. I feel it too.
His hands make easy work of the buttons on the front of my dress. He hisses out his approval when his eyes land on my red lace bra.
"Are your panties red too?"
I nod. "It's a matching set."
He smiles before he drops to his knees. His breath feathers over my skin as he hikes the skirt of my dress up to the top of my thighs. "This is what I want."
I reach for his head to steady myself. My body arches toward him, seeking any contact. I'm so aroused, so needy.
He looks up, his eyes locking on mine. "Do you want me to taste your cunt?"
The words make me dizzy. They're so direct, and unfiltered. His eyes are filled with heavy need. "Yes."
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