“Well, I don’t know, but he just called and requested us both for dinner. His assistant is supposed to text with the details later.” I took this moment to move myself from his grasp, and I was under no misconception that I had gotten my way. This is a huge favor, and it did nothing to help the ‘leave me alone’ case I was trying to push with Matt, but you don’t just tell my father no. Yes, I was an adult, but even an adult knows when to push their parents and on this I couldn’t.
“Ember.” He exhaled a breath and ran his fingers through his hair, a sure sign he was conflicted. It had me wondering why he was conflicted. It wasn’t like he’d never had dinner with my father in the past, he had, but they had been all at my dad’s home and all formal for some function or another. Never something as casual and intimate as dinner alone just the three of us.
“I’ll go baby, but one on condition.” When he said it, I got that feeling the pit of my stomach, maybe lower that people get when something important or scary was about to happen.
Piss my…ah fuck it.
Matt
I had her.
Originally, I was going to back out and tell her to tell her old man the same thing I had told Royce in not so many words, because at the moment he was up there on my shit list right under Royce. But I could use this situation to my advantage. My father would be proud; he’d always taught me in business to use everything to your advantage, and this was much like a business transaction.
She wanted something from me, and I sure as hell wanted something from her.
“Matt…” she began, ready to say no to whatever I said.
“Just listen Rabbit. I’ll go to this little dinner and let you say whatever you need to appease your father. And all I ask for in return is 72 hours of your time, devoted only to me. No Mika, no Harley, just you and me. Deal?” I watched emotions and possible reactions play across her face and waited until it settled on acceptance.
“Fine. I’ll talk to you about it later; I’m running late,” she hedged, and something about the way she worded it made me pause.
“Late for what Ember?” She was off work and she normally didn’t go out after a long day.
“I’m just busy Matt. What business is it of yours? Your three days haven’t started yet,” she shot back, clearly not happy about our little arrangement. Well, tough shit. I knew Ember, and I knew that I could get her to hear me, to take me back in those three days, and if I couldn’t— I didn’t even want to think about that; she had to take me back, she was it for me.
“Baby, do I have to follow you?” Her eyes widened, and I dared her to call my bluff; she knew I never backed down.
“If you must know Matthew, I have a date,” she said and then strode away.
The fuck?
Chapter Fifteen
Ember
Holy shit, I actually did it. I did a little booty jiggle around my room. I’m a shit liar; I suck at it, surprising I know being the mayor’s daughter and all. I should have learned deceit when I learned how to walk. But I was the honest person in the family and could never lie or be deceitful until now. I had called Mika to ask her advice on what I should do about the dinner, because I just knew that Matt would have some sort of ulterior motive if he agreed. And I knew he’d agree. Matt is nothing if not amendable when it suits him. Mika knows that and devised a grand this-is-it plan.
Matt has always been a bit jealous; he’d see other guys checking me out and get pissed. At first, he’d get off on it; he thought it was flattering that guys wanted what he had, but sometimes, those guys would blatantly disrespect me being crude and gross and those times Matt’s nice guy gloves came off those times.
Since hanging with Spencer though it seems like they have this contest of who can get the most jealous. It was a risk but I was willing to take it.
My heart was racing as I walked brusquely into my room and closed the door. I listened for his footsteps to come clomping down the hall. I could almost hear his fist pounding on the door, demanding I tell him what the hell I was talking about. I didn’t really have a date; I was supposed to dress up and then meet Mika at Taste, have a few drinks— long enough for Matt to lose his shit— then come home slightly buzzed and looking like I’d just had a really good date with some nameless guy.
Easy peasy.
I waited for five minutes and still nothing happened. No banging on the door no angry curses, no nothing. Hum, maybe he stormed off mad? I cracked the door opened and listened carefully and head the video game he always played. Well, that’s not quite the reaction I had hoped for; it’s definitely not what Mika said would happen. He’s supposed to be here right now demanding I not go anywhere with anyone, at which point I’m supposed to laugh in his face and do it anyway. That was the plan!
Should I call her, abort mission or something? I wasn’t sure what to do. He’s supposed to react and them I’m supposed to react. We rehearsed this! Only he was doing the complete opposite of what Mika said he’d do and throwing me for a loop.
I should call her, only how much can I rely on Mika? I should be handling this myself, right? At some point I had to put on my girl panties and ovary up. So what if he was not following the plan and I had no idea what to do, I’d stick with it.
So I closed the door and prepared for my ‘date.’
I chose to wear, and when I say ‘I’, I mean Mika, chose for me to wear a blazing red bralette and a pair of skinny jeans I would have to lay down to zip up as my ‘date’ attire, along with the highest black wedges I owned. I swiped on some mascara and lined my eyes a little darker than normal with black eyeliner, giving myself the cat eye look. Then I put on the red matte lip color Harley told me was good color on me, put some mouse in my hair to give it a slight curl and voila, I was as ready as I would ever be. I scrutinized myself in full-length mirror I had hanging on the back of my closet door. If I moved any kind of wrong, my nipples were likely to slip a peek, and there was no way I was going to the bathroom, because if I had to push the jeans down past my hips, they were not going back up. So to sum it up, if all didn’t go as planned, I’d be a flasher who couldn’t pee. Great.
I stuffed my essentials in a small clutch and took a deep breath before leaving the room to walk past Matt. Just because he hadn’t blown up about my date yet didn’t mean that he wouldn’t. I slowly walked past him as he sat on the couch playing his video game, one because I didn’t want to fall in my wedges, and two, I was giving him enough time to say anything in protest before I got to the door.
When I reached the door and he still hasn’t paused the game, said something about my attire, or the fact that I was going on a date, I dared a look over my shoulder.
He was so unbothered by me; I wasn’t sure if I should take that as a good sign or bad sign.
“Don’t wait up; I’m not sure when I’ll be home,” I taunted. Do you know what he did? He shrugged. Shrugged!
“It’s cool babe. I’m going to hit the gym and then crash after that. Have fun on your date.”
Was he kidding me? Have fun on my date? Have fun on my… ugh! I huffed maybe a little too loudly and blew through the door and down the steps to a waiting Mika and hoped in her car with a grumble.
“I take it the bait worked? What did he say to piss you off?” Mika looked freaking amazing in a similar bralette, except hers was black, and she filled it out a hell of a lot better than I did. She had paired it with some flower print high-waisted shorts. Her hair, which was ruby red now, was down and her curls were flying everywhere. Mika loved to embrace her exotic heritage when it suited her, and tonight she was all in.
“No, it didn’t. He didn’t say a damn thing!” I complained as she put the car in drive and eased away from the curb. “I thought you said he was supposed to stomp and demand I didn’t go, throw a man-fit, or something. But he didn’t do anything.”
“Huh,” she mused. That’s it? Huh?
�
�OMG, you sound as unbothered as he did!” I knew I shouldn’t have listened to her; this was a stupid idea. I should have gone with my plan, which was to send myself flowers and gifts to the apartment seemingly coming from some secret admirers or something. It worked in all the movies I’d seen, but Mika was all like, ‘that’s the lamest shit ever’ and nixed the idea. Now look where I was.
“Relax, E. I’m not unbothered and neither is he. He’s chill,” she said, like that explained everything.
“He’s chill?” I asked, just to be sure I’d heard her correctly.
“Yes. Chill.”
“What the hell does that even mean?”
“It means he’s chill. How else can I explain it? He’s playing it cool. He’s waiting. He’s acting nonchalant.”
“Okay, but why? You said he was supposed to…”
“Look, E, sometimes men don’t do like they’re supposed to.” Isn’t that profound?
“Well, what would Spence have done?” I was curious now, because if she knew what Matt should have done, that means it’d happened to her before, right?
“Different breed babe. Matt is not Spence, ” she said, but in a way that made me not want to ask anymore. I swear they had the weirdest relationship ever.
“Well, whatever, it didn’t work. He either doesn’t care or he’s an asshole.” Oh god, what if he didn’t care? What if he really was over me and he was just playing a game to see if he could get me back, even after breaking my heart, only for him to break it again because that’s what bored rich guys do. Deep down I knew Matt wasn’t like that, but it was buried deep, deep down under all the hurt.
“Be chill, E. He cares. Trust me,” Mika stated with ease, as she started the car and pointed it pulled out. I almost believed her, almost. Except, he hadn’t even looked at me. I settled in the for the ride, lost in my thoughts, and when we got to Taste, I headed straight for the bar and ordered whatever the special was, advising the bartender to keep them coming. I’d get drunk then snuggle up with some peanut butter because you, you guessed it, piss my life, piss my life so hard.
Matt
“Get your ass to Taste bro. Now,” Spence said, bypassing a greeting as was normal Spence behavior.
“I was just about to hit the gym,” I said as I triple tied my shoes; nothing sucked worse than doing dead lift squats and your shoelace comes untied.
“No, bro. You want to get your ass to Taste,” he emphasized and I just knew. She was cute and shit when she told me not to wait up, trying to bait me. I should have known she’d find her way to Taste. I knew not to fall into her game, which is why I didn’t make a big deal about her going on a ‘date’ even though I wanted to storm into her room and demand she tell me what the hell. I also knew that with what she had on— yeah I saw— she was getting into some shit, especially if she was with Mika.
“She there?” I scooped up my keys and headed to the door, gym forgotten.
“Yeah, she and Mika are kinda the main attraction right now,” he spit out. I could only assume that no one had actually touched them. Spence was insanely possessive of what was his, and when I’m not around, Ember is his, no matter how temporarily. No one touched what was Spence’s. I was one to talk. I hated to admit that Spence and I got along so well because we were both jealous assholes. When it came to Ember, I was no better than he was about Mika.
“I’ll be there in ten.” Knowing if I didn’t get there soon, Spence was liable to be leaving in a cop car. It wouldn’t be the first time.
I made it there in record time, and the bouncer nodded me through even though my basketball shorts and t-shirt didn’t fit with the dress code. I’d spent enough time there in the past months that I should have bought stock in it. The club was a split floor plan, with the front part being a normal club complete with a full bar and the back being a strip club, complete with private rooms for private things. The music was loud and there was a crowd of guys in the center cheering and yelling. Two guesses why.
“Gimmie another Lemon stop !” Ember yelled at Mika as I pushed my way past the wall of guys and watched as she continued to bounce around on the dance floor. Times like this I appreciated my slightly psycho best friend as people who frequented Taste were familiar with Spence and knew that Mika, and tonight Ember because she is with her, were off limits. They could look but they’d be signing their hospital bill if they touched either of them.
“Who wants to get my friend here another shot?” Mika shouted seductively, and even though the music was loud and there were several couples on the dance floor, several douchy looking muthafuckers stepped up at her request. Like fuck. Mika and Spence might like to play this game, but I drew the line at assholes buying my girl drinks and expecting something in return. Ladies, whenever a guy buys you a drink, in a strip club at that, he is always expecting something in return.
I spotted Spence and gave him a chin lift before he grabbed Mika by the hips and ground her back against his front. She didn’t even try and hid her smile when she saw me. Crazy bitch.
I moved my way over to Ember, who now had her back turned as she did some hip movements that had me pausing long enough to notice the way her ass jiggled in jeans that seemed to be painted on. Her tits shook in her low cut, lace, halter-top, which was basically a bra, every time she moved. Unfortunately, every other male was doing the same thing.
I shouldered my way through the crowd, stopped directly behind her, slipped my hand around her waist, and squeezed, sending a clear message to everyone watching. Back the fuck up; she’s mine. “Let’s go Rabbit.” I swear if one more slimy fucker undressed her with their eyes, I was going to start flipping tables and shit.
She spun around in my arms at my touch, and recognition was soon replaced by…satisfaction, confirming my earlier thought that she, with Mika’s help no doubt, had planned this.
“I don’t think so, mister. I’d very much like to have another…lemon dot… lemon stop…lemon whatever, just give me another. And stop calling me that!” Christ, she was cute, and the little wrinkle of frustration on her face as she tried to remember the drink she’d apparently been drinking almost made me agree to her request for another drink. Almost, but one look over my shoulder at all the thirsty assholes waiting to get a shot at her had me gripping her waist tighter .
“It’s Lemon Drop, and no, you’re done for the night.” I couldn’t be mad at myself for falling for the trap; I knew what this was. This was the old ‘try and make him jealous’ shit that every girl pulled and thought worked. Well in this case, it did. Normally, I’d say fuck it and not give in, let her have her shit plan and sit back and watch it backfire when she became uncomfortable with dudes touching and rubbing on her ass all night. But one thing had me conceding and letting her have this win; she was lit. As the Mayor’s child, she’d always tried to uphold a certain image and public drunkenness was not it, however, that shit had apparently been tossed out the window along with the rest of her shirt.
“I’m not your responsibility anymore Matthew, remember?” she seethed, or tried to. Her mouth seemed to make this funny noise that drew my attention to her lips. The way she kept licking them hardened my cock with each swipe of her tongue across those full kissable, bitable lips. Unable to resist, I drew her in closer to me, with only a small gap left between us, and wound my hand up around the nape of her neck, locking her in place where I wanted her; her face inches from mine.
“You’re always my responsibility Em. Always.” The dance floor was getting more crowded by the minute, giving me a mild case of claustrophobia. Funny, when I was here any other night this shit wouldn’t bother me, but tonight… It grazed my mind that the other times I had been drunk and looking to get lost in something; tonight I knew what I wanted, rather who I wanted to get lost in.
“Fuck you.” I don’t know if it was her inebriated state or what I said that had her hesitating in her reply, but either way it was weak, and I t
ook advantage of that weakness and pulled her the rest of the way into me, molding her body to mine. I could feel every curve of her soft body, feel her nipples harden and the pounding of her heart vibrate into my chest, and I wanted to believe that she had this reaction because of me and not because of anything else. I was a bastard for doing this while she was lit, but I also knew she was so lit that if she wasn’t feeling this, she would have put up a good fight. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, she wanted me as much as I wanted her. She could lie to me all she wanted, hell she could lie to herself, but the body never lies. Which was evident when I reached down and squeezed her ass, and an involuntary sigh escaped her lips only to be replaced with a scowl.
“I just want to make sure you’re safe Ember. Let me take you home, and I’ll get you one more Lemon drop. For the road.” Working with Royce, you learn a thing or two about mergers, negotiation, and compromise. This was no different. I knew my end game was Ember safe and home with me at the end of the night. Besides, I knew Ember would decline the shot on principle, so this was a win/win situation.
“Fine, let’s go.” She marched around me and to the bar, shocking the shit out of me while at the same time impressing me a little. 20 minutes later, the last drink must have kicked in. On our way up the stairs after she’d finally agreed to ride in the front seat instead of the back like she wanted, she sat down on the third step from the top and declared . “This is a good place.”
I was so close. “Babe, up. Not here.” I stood and waited for her to comply, but apparently Ember was stubborn as shit when she was drunk.
“Babe, no up, yes here ,” she mimicked my voice on a giggle. “Did you think that would work on me?” she asked, genuine curiosity wrinkling her face.
I breathed deep. I just wanted to get her inside so she could sleep this shit off. “Ember, I’m serious, get your ass up.”
Know Me: A 'Me' Novel (Book 3) (A 'Me' Series) Page 11