“Can I get any of you a drink?”
“No, we won’t take up any more of your time.” I ever so slightly nudged the kids towards the door.
“We aren’t in a hurry Babe, I’ll take you up on that drink.” I’m going to kill him, which one though? They were both pissing me off.
“What’s your drink of choice Rick?” Bryce moved over to the bar, he grabbed out a bottle of Gin. Oh no you don’t!
“I’ll have a JB if you’ve got it.” Rick! Yes you are first on my hit list. Bryce turned to grab a bottle of Jim Beam and in doing so sniggered.
“Do you like Scotch?” He didn’t wait for Rick’s answer, he poured two glasses of Glenfiddich 50. I’m not a drinker, but I know that is one of the most expensive bottles of Scotch in the world. We did a brief module on exclusive luxurious items in my Bachelor Degree and I vaguely recall a bottle being worth approximately $20,000.00.
“A Gin for you Alexis?” You smartarse, now you are definitely on my hit list too.
“No thank you.” I struggled a polite smile.
“Perhaps, you’d like a cup of English Breakfast or a hot white chocolate.” That’s it. They may as well flop their dicks out on the coffee table and get it over and done with.
“Water is fine.” I was gritting my teeth and I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Maybe I could fake an illness, I’d done it before, during school, to get a day off work, to avoid housework, to get out of sex! Bryce picked up the phone and dialled.
“Grace, yes fine, can I order two milkshake mountains.” He looked at Nate and Charli.
“What flavours?” Both my children lit up, spoke at the same time and over the top of each other.
“Blue. Chocolate. Heaven”
“One Chocolate and one Blue Heaven, yes straight away please, thank you.” He hung up the phone. I had to hand it to him, he knew how to impress my children, Rick on the other hand, well, he was currently holding his own. Bryce bought the drinks over to the lounge and sat opposite us in his laid back sexy couch position, which by the looks of his ‘smirky’ face, knew I had taken a liking too.
“We paid Lucy a visit this morning, and met baby Alexander, he’s amazing.” Bryce gleamed.
“Alexander Bryce Clark, he even sounds perfect.” I could have leaped over the table and hit him. Right if he wanted to play then play I will, I leaned back and put my hand in Rick’s hair, I did this a lot, so Rick would have missed the attempted crack at Bryce.
“So, have you been back to see Lucy since yesterday?” He twitched his head to the side and took a drink. Take that Mr agonizingly hot Clark!
“Yes, first thing this morning.” A buzz came through a speaker near the door to his office, he got up and went through, only to return moments later with what looked like two massive glasses full of cream and chocolate, sprinkles and blue topping.
“Two Milkshake Mountains coming your way.” Oh great that’s just what I need sticky milky drinks spilt all over his rug, which probably cost more than our house alone.
“Up the dining table please.” I ordered and pointed Bryce towards his kitchen, he placed the drinks down on the table for the kids.
“No mucking around and no mess, what do you say to Mr Clark?” Both Nate and Charlie chimed in with a ‘thank you’. I turned and headed back for the lounge, Bryce was right behind me as we passed the kitchen and he very quietly whispered from behind.
“Your arse in those jeans, is making me hard.”
CHAPTER TEN
The kids had their backs to us and were not in ear shot, there was a wall in between the kitchen and lounge which had become a useful shield.
“You need to cut this shit out, now. My husband is in the other room and deserves better than this, do you want me to walk?”
“You won’t.” He was very sure of himself.
“I love my husband and he is good to me, really good, so enough Bryce or I will walk.” I continued into the lounge. I had a sneaking suspicion he was watching my arse, I looked back over my shoulder, curiosity getting the better of me and my suspicion was proven. I can’t deny it; I did enjoy his appreciation of my assets. I sat down next to Rick and squeezed his leg.
“Drink up Rick, don’t forget I have drinks with the girls tonight.”
We weren’t there for much longer, my threat had subdued Bryce, he followed through with his compromise and showed Nate the Observatory, which was apparently ‘the Sickest’, then we politely thanked him for is hospitality and indecent suggestive game playing and said our goodbyes.
“Don’t forget your gym clothes on Monday.” He called from his office door as we entered the elevator.
“What do you need gym clothes for?” Rick was more than just curious, his tone was suspicious.
“Oh it’s nothing, I’m just having a lesson in Self Defence and apparently it’s the Boss’s orders.” I gave him the impression it was non-negotiable but I was actually really looking forward to it.
As we headed back to the car, Nate and Charlotte were on a high. Rick was a lot quieter than usual though, it appeared our interaction with Bryce may have had an impact on him, I was just uncertain as to the effect. Knowing Rick, I’m sure I would get an idea very soon.
“I so can’t wait to have a ride in ‘the Crow’.” Over my dead body you will. I smiled the smile that mother’s do when you hope your child will just forget and move on, but Nate was not going to forget this promise anytime soon.
As we were about to enter the car park I spotted Samantha in the corner of my eye, I was just about to yell out when a man came up behind her, he pinched her arse and kissed her neck. He looked somewhat familiar but I couldn’t quite see his face. I became aware of exactly who he was when he walked around to face her. What was Samantha doing with Gareth? Surely she had better instincts? Seeing them together left a strange feeling in my stomach, I figured it was best not to make them aware I was here and baring witness to their affectionate display, so I put my head down and went for the car.
I was really looking forward to a night out with my friends, I flicked through the outfits in my wardrobe, settling on a pair of shiny black denim skinny cut pants, black glittered heels, a red silk blouse which gathered at my breasts and a black satin blazer, my hair was down and straightened. I opted for some tinted moisturiser, eyeliner and red lipstick. I was still getting used to wearing make-up again but it was getting a little easier, I did feel that less was more where I was concerned though. I pulled up to Carly’s in a Taxi and the driver beeped the horn. She was my oldest friend; I had known her since we were toddlers, we had lived next to each other for 18 years. Carly knew me better than anybody, we didn’t really get to see each other much but that didn’t matter, we made the most of it when we did, she opened the car door and climbed in. She had curled her ash blonde hair and it fell in loose ringlets past her shoulders. Carly rocked a smoky eye better than most and had opted for a little black dress that covered one shoulder and left the other bare.
“Look at you, Totes Glam!”
“What?” I looked at her and shook my head.
“You sound just like Nate.” She laughed.
“Good! I’d rather sound like him than you, you old fart!” I hit her on the arm, I was only 6 months older than she was, but as I was married with kids, she was single, childless and enjoying her youth. She liked to remind me of that.
“You look pretty smokin’ yourself, love those strappy heels.” They were gorgeous, a light gold, snakeskin pattern.
“I know right? My Jimmy Choos and I are like this.” She held up her hand and crossed her fingers.
“So how’s the new job babe?”
“Yeah good, I feel like I’m in over my head most days though and that has nothing to do with the actual work!
“Oh? Do tell.” I knew I could tell Carly anything, It was what I held so dear in our friendship, no matter what we shared with each other we never judged, we were brutally honest, sometimes too honest which results in a speaking famine, the worst
being 5 months long.
“Ok, so, my boss is a billionaire, the sexiest man I have ever laid eyes on and wants to fuck me senseless.” She spat the Redbull she was about to swallow across the back of the passenger seat, the driver shot us a dirty look through the rear-vision mirror.
“Fuck off.” She looked at me, my eyes didn’t leave hers.
“Shit, you’re serious.” She grabbed a tissue out of her bag, leant forward and wiped the back of the seat.
“That’s freakin hot, why can’t this shit happen to me? It’s a waste on you.” She looked over at me again.
“Alexis you little Whore, what have you done?” She was very amused, I hated how she could read me so easily.
“Nothing, I wouldn’t do that, you know me, he just kissed me, that’s all, really it was nothing.” She squealed.
“I hate you, ask him if he’d like a threesome?” I shot her an evil look.
“Ok, I’m kidding, right putting on my ‘Serious Carly’ face.”
“I’m struggling Carls. He’s smart, cheeky, kind, loving, he’s arrogant, infuriating, direct and when he talks dirty to me I almost orgasm on the spot. I’m not sure I can resist him, the problem is, I love my job, he’s paying me half a mill…” She spat her drink again.
“I hate backing down Carls, it’s just not in me, so when I stand my ground it only fuels his fire.” Serious Carly was well and truly with me now.
“Lexi, be careful Hun, you are not used to this shit!”
We pulled into Natasha’s driveway, Tash was another close friend, our kids were the same age and attended the same school, so we had seen each other daily before I had returned to work. Tash jumped into the front seat, she was also wearing a dress with shimmery black ¾ length leggings and black latent pumps. I should’ve gone for my navy sequin, shift dress, damn!. Tash had long, dark brown hair, she was also olive skinned and could pull off a vibrant full lip.
“Hey Babe, where’s Lilly?” We were supposed to be picking up Tash and Lilly.
“She’s meeting us there, Scott has Tonsillitis, so she’s waiting till he’s settled then she’ll head off.” Lilly’s son Scott was one of Nate’s friends too.
“Did you hear back from Jade and Steph?” Jade and Steph also had kids that attended the same school, all of our children got along really well, therefore we all became quite close as a result.
“Yeah, they’ll meet us there.” I loved having friends with kids, the mutual topics were always great discussions and always a help when advice was needed. I also loved having a friend like Carly; she was a breath of fresh air for me, tonight was going to be great and just what I needed to get my mind off of Bryce.
“The Metro better brace itself tonight, because I am in the mood to go off!” Tash was charged up by the sounds of it, I love her energy. We usually headed to the Metro, the big black and white disco floor with 70s and 80s music was right up our alley.
“Let’s ditch the Metro and go to Opals?” You Bitch Carls! Opals is one of the Nightclubs at City Towers.
“I haven’t been to Opals in years. Yeah sounds good, I’ll text the other’s and let them know.” Tash started typing away before I could protest. Shit! Carly smiled and poked her tongue out, she did this a lot.
When we walked into Opals, it became quite obvious that the style and décor bared a striking resemblance to Bryce’s Penthouse Apartment. Lots of blacks, whites, silver and lime green. As you walked in the door, the stage was against the far wall and directly ahead of you, the bar was to the left and ran along the walls in an ‘L’ shape. Sleek is the word that comes to mind when describing this bar. It was illuminated by bright lime green lights, which were fitted under the bench lip and silver lights hanging from the low ceiling above the bar. Not quite in the centre of the room, was a staircase which led you up to level 2 and along the walls to either side of the stage, were booths and small tables with stools. Jade and Steph were already seated in a booth, they waved to get our attention. Steph was the epitome of a rock girl, with short brown hair, sporting highlights of red which was sleek yet femininely styled to frame her flawless face. She had on a silver sequined, tunic dress, a cropped black leather jacket and black loose knee high boots. Jade was my savour so far, as she had gone for black dress pants. Ok, feeling much better now. A cream coloured, drapey top and matching cream coloured peep toes. Jade also had her shoulder length, red hair, straightened and framing her face.
“What’s up bitches?” Tash was on fire and ready to get the night underway.
“Schnappies.” She hollowed, at the top of her voice.
“I’m on to it love. Drinks are on me tonight lovelies.” Why not? I was well and truly in the money now and more than happy to share with my beautiful friends. I got us a round of Schnappies, aka as Cock Sucking Cowboys and some Cosmopolitans. I planned on having a big night, with pretty coloured fruity cocktails and shots, lots of shots. This assortment was sure to help ease the built up tension that had formed since meeting my extremely delicious employer.
Lilly joined us almost an hour later. She too had gone for black dress pants and a baby blue blouse, her dark brown, wavy hair was pinned up into a loose bun on her head. I got her up to speed with a row of shots
“How’s Scott Hun?”
“If it’s not Tonsilitis, it’s Gastro.” I felt her pain, there is nothing worse than sick kids.
“And to top it off, I think I am getting it too, I feel like I have a huge hard Cock stuck in the back of my throat.” I laughed at her.
“Well we can’t have that then, right, drink up, and forget about it.” She did just that and slammed all four shots in succession.
“Lil, you’re an animal.”
Opals had three levels, the lower level was more laid back and had that bar feel about it, the band was great, I enjoyed all the songs they covered. I was a Rock Girl at heart, I loved Def Leopard, Kings of Leon, Pearl Jam, U2, Foo Fighters the list goes on. Steph shared my love of Rock too and we did our best version of Eddie Vedder when Betterman came on. I couldn’t help but feel guilty as I sang along to the words. It’s Karma, Alexis and you know it! Level two was current Pop, Tash and Carls had there dancing shoes on, so we spent the night switching between both levels. Level three was hard-core Techno, none of us liked this genre so it was a no-go zone.
I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder for most of the night, I felt like I was being watched and I had a good feeling by who. You’re paranoid Alexis, get over yourself. I couldn’t shake the feeling though, a few times when I was very stupidly performing Gangnam Style with Tash and Jade, I could swear I spotted Bryce leaning against the wall, but when I’d look back he was gone. I had to be imagining it, how could he possibly know I was here? He couldn’t, City Towers Entertainment Complex was enormous and even his creepy research skills could not reveal we had changed our plans to come here, surely?
After copious amounts of pretty cocktails, shots and bad dance moves, including Tash’s infamous bum dance, the clock was fast approaching 1:30am. My feet were reminding me of just how much they hated heels, they had been very good to me lately, but obviously I had taken them for granted tonight. Carls, Tash and Steph were still in dancing mode and continued there dancing, to non-existent music, all the way out of the Nightclub, through the Casino and now towards the car park. Lil and Jade on the other hand looked as punished and exhausted as I did.
“What are they on?” All three of them were crazy and attracting a lot of second glances.
“Fuck, whatever it is, I want some.” Lily started rubbing her throat.
“How’s that Cock going Lil?” I smiled at her.
“Still fucking there.” She cleared her throat.
“I’m too old for this shit.” Jade had stopped to remove her shoes. Fuck it, I’m doing it too. I figured it was the early hours of the morning and no one I knew would catch me being a drunken bogan, surely?
“You are not Jade, maybe we just need to lower our heel height a bit, or drink and dance less.�
� I attempted to pry off my left heel and stumbled into Jade.
“Lexi, did you have enough to drink tonight, Love?” That was an understatement! My tell-tale signs of stumbling, increased foul language and the constant need to smile were slowly becoming apparent.
“Just a bit.” I put my arm on hers and tried again, I was bending over and an intoxicated sleaze ball thought he had the right to pinch my arse.
“Hey, fuck you prick.” Jade was eyeballing the arsehole. I would normally just ignore idiots like these, but after many drinks I somehow thought I was a lot tougher, so stepped up my aggression also, this wasn’t always a good thing.
“Keep your fucking filthy hands to yourself, arsehole.” We started walking again, he stepped in front of me so I went to walk around him, he stumbled and blocked me again.
“Piss off, dickhead.” I clenched my heel ready for attack.
“Oh come on darling, with an arse like that it’s begging to be felt.” He went for another touch and as he did his arm was subdued in mid grope and bent so far up his back he moaned in pain.
“The lady said Piss off, not touch her arse again.” I groggily looked up to see Bryce standing behind the drunken arsehole, he looked furious and was ever so slightly inching the guys arm up higher. The arsehole’s friend went to throw a punch in Bryce’s direction, but Bryce saw it coming, he wrenched the arsehole round to block the punch. It was actually quite funny, sort of like a Jackie Chan movie, I’m sure I let out a woozy giggle. Jade and Lil had moved us back and away from the action. Two security guards showed up, they had held down both arseholes within seconds. Tash, Carls and Steph stopped dancing and doubled back to see what had happened.
“Ladies, are you alright?” I smiled up at him, my sexy knight in shining armour. He was beautiful, I wanted to pat my hand down his face and coo at him like a puppy. Alexis, you’re drunk, he is not a beautiful puppy!
Temptation (The Temptation Series) Page 8