“Wow…”
“If there’s anything a powerful man responds positively to, it’s a powerful woman,” she says.
“If you say so…”
“No, seriously.” She looks forward and takes a few steps across the room. Her eyes appear so intense, I instinctively slink back against my chair.
“Yeah… I can do that,” I say, nodding my head. I feel a surge of lightning charge through my veins.
Gabby steps back over to the mirror. “I did the same thing and I could literally see the saliva gathering on Ian’s tongue. Like… he canceled a meeting to fuck me.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
She shrugs and raises an eyebrow. “If you say so…”
I remember Charles’ words and how good it made me feel when he told me I was in complete control. Gabby’s advice makes sense. Charles wants me to take the lead and surprise him.
“You should even use his own driver to get there,” Gabby suggests.
“Oh, I don’t know…” I say.
She reaches into her back pocket. “What’s the number?”
“Gabby, no—”
It’s too late. Gabby finds Harvey’s card pinned to my bulletin board above my desk and swipes her phone on. Her fingers move with professional speed and she pushes the phone against my ear before I can say another word.
“This is Harvey.”
“I— uh — Hello, Harvey…” I nearly choke on my saliva as the words tumble off my tongue. “This is Alice Hughes.”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Hughes.”
“Good afternoon—” I look up at Gabby. She fights to contain her giggles with her hand clamped over her mouth. I shoot her an angry glare. “I need a ride into the city — to Charles’ office — and I was wondering if…”
“I would be more than happy to assist you, Ms. Hughes.”
I exhale a quick breath. “Oh, thank you, Harvey.”
“I can be there in ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes?” I confirm. “Thank you.”
Gabby waves her hands in the air and mouths the word ‘twenty’ under her breath.
“Actually, can you make that twenty minutes?” I ask him.
“Of course, Ms. Hughes.”
“Thank you.” I hang up the phone and drop it back into Gabby’s waiting hand.
“Always ask for at least twenty minutes,” she advises. “We still have to do your hair.”
***
“Thanks again, Harvey,” I tell him as he opens the car door for me. He offers me his hand and I take it to assist me out.
“You’re welcome, Ms. Hughes,” he says. “Will you be long?”
I nervously push my skirt down. “I’m not sure…” I say.
Harvey gives me an understanding nod. “Take your time,” he says. “I have some errands to run for Mr. Kent. Call me if you need a ride back to the university.”
I smile at him. “I will.”
“And Ms. Hughes—” he adds, “you look very lovely today.”
I feel my cheeks turn pink. “Thank you, Harvey.”
He nods again and walks back around to the driver’s seat.
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and glance up into the sky. It’s a building I’ve passed by almost a hundred times, but today is the first time I’ve really noticed it. The tall concrete is a different shade than all other buildings around it, most likely done on purpose to make it stand out next to the rest. At ten stories tall, it’s shorter than its neighboring buildings, but it doesn’t suffer from it. The Kent Insurance Corporation logo stands dominantly above, staring down at me like a hungry giant, eager to squash me with his heel as I step inside. I repeat Gabby’s words in my head like a mantra to drive me forward.
If you want to be treated like a queen, you have to demand it.
A young receptionist greets me with a rehearsed smile.
“Mr. Kent’s office is on the top floor, ma’am,” she tells me. I look her over and quickly realize we both sport similar appearances. Brown hair, brown eyes. Pale, white skin. I brush it off as coincidence and maintain my stiff posture.
“Thank you,” I tell her before making my way over to the elevator.
I share the ride with a group of businessmen, many of whom I catch sneaking peeks at me through the mirrored walls of the elevator. It sends fresh blood through my veins and I step off onto the top floor with a new confidence.
The reception desk sits immediately upon entry and the rest of the floor is blocked off by electronically locked glass doors. A young woman sits at the front desk. Once again, she’s young, not much older than me, with brown hair and brown eyes nearly identical to my own. My knees quiver as I walk up to her.
“Can I help you?” she asks as hover above the desk.
My heart races and I clear my throat. “I would like to see Charles Kent,” I tell her, keeping my voice steady.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No,” I answer.
She flashes a stiff smile at me. “Mr. Kent is a very busy man. If you don’t have an appointment, there’s not much I can do for you.”
Demand it.
“Tell him I’m here and see what he says?” I ask. “I’m a close friend.”
“What’s your name?” she asks, attempting, and failing, to hide her annoyance with me.
“Alice Hughes.”
“Have a seat. I’ll let you know if he answers.”
“Thank you.” I wander over to the blue sofa next to the door and sit down, but I keep my foot bouncing away. My heel taps against the linoleum floor, a gentle metronome to steady me, but I don’t want to become too calm. I want my heart to keep racing, pushing my nerves to their breaking point.
A business man steps off the elevator. He doesn’t lower his stride as he makes his way around the front desk. The receptionist reaches under the desk and taps a button that makes the door unlock. The man gives her a nod and passes through the door without saying a word to her.
After a few moments of typing away at her keyboard, the receptionist finally picks up the phone. I train my ears to listen in, although she goes to great lengths to keep her voice low.
“There’s a young woman here to see you, sir,” she says. “Alice Hughes.”
I keep my eyes trained on the floor. It takes everything I have not to look up and appear too anxious.
“Yes, sir.” I hear the phone click back into place. “Ms. Hughes.”
“Yes?” I look up.
“Mr. Kent will see you,” she says. “His office is the last door at the end of the hallway.”
“Thank you.”
She reaches under the desk and taps the button again to unlock the door. I step forward to pull it open and the laughter of men fills my ears before I even step into the corridor. There’s a group of them gathered around the first office door to the right. A quick scan of their faces tells me Charles is not among them. A few of them glance up at me as I pass by, their eyes lingering on me for a moment before turning back to their conversation. I slip around them and continue on down the hall towards Charles’ office.
The door is open when I get there. I peek inside and see him before he sees me. His voice murmurs softly into the phone he holds up to his ear. I gently rap my knuckles against the door and he looks up at me.
Charles gives no reaction as he turns his chair around to face me. He continues talking into the phone like nothing happened, but his eyes remain fixed on me. “Find out from Burton when the Paris branch will be ready. I don’t want to sit on this forever,” he says.
I take a moment to look around his office for the first time. In most ways, it’s exactly as I expected it to be with one wall completely made up of windows, showing an exquisite view of the city skyline. His cherry wood desk lines one corner while a small sitting area populates the center with a large sofa, two chairs, and a small table between them all. Three pieces of art line the walls, beautiful black and white photographs that appear slightly pornographic if you look at t
hem just right.
“Alice.” I turn to him to see that he’s hung up the phone. He hasn’t budged from his chair. “Close the door.”
I turn around and smile to myself as I push the door closed. Perhaps Gabby was right all along. I continue to heed her advice. When I turn back around, I keep my chin held high.
“Come here.”
He stares at me with narrow eyes and a flexed jaw. Instead of obeying directly, I step lightly along the floor, keeping ample distance away from the desk.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” he asks me as he brings his hands together in front of his face. His eyes track me across the room, glaring at me over the steeple he’s made with his forefingers. There’s anger in his voice, anger that I wasn’t expecting.
My nerves start to waver. I sit down on the large sofa facing his desk to hide the fact that my ankles are shaking. “I wanted to see you,” I say. I lean back and stretch my arms out to appear aloof, but it just makes me feel silly.
“You shouldn’t have come here, Alice,” he says.
My tongue feels heavy in my mouth. I want to say something witty and fun, but I find nothing but clouds in my thoughts.
Before I can speak, he stands up from his desk and moves towards the couch. “I don’t mix business with pleasure,” he says. His eyes stare me down and my blood runs cold.
“Then you should provide channels of communication to keep them separated,” I say, feeling the need to defend my actions. Charles is a strong man, but I am stronger. At least, that’s what I want him to believe. In reality, I can hardly breathe. I should have known better than to surprise him like this. I feel stupid, naive, but I’m in too deep now.
He pauses a moment and at the end of it, his eyes turn soft. I take the small victory, but I remind myself not to get too comfortable. He steps closer to the sofa, his stride slow, leaving me frozen in anticipation. His eyes explore my body and I notice them linger for a long moment on the slit of my skirt before he disappears behind me.
“Stand up,” he finally says.
“No,” I say. I dig my nails into my palm to try and ground my racing pulse.
I see his fingers out of the corner of my eye as they drag across the top of the sofa, slinking closer and closer to my outstretched hand. Finally, his fingers reach my skin and he spiders his fingertips up my arm until they rest against my neck.
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Alice,” he growls.
I tilt my head up to face him and I feel his fingers settle around my neck. “Tell me why you ditched me Saturday morning,” I say, keeping my eyes locked on his.
He blinks once and then adds a little pressure to his grip. “I didn’t ditch you,” he answers.
“It felt like it.” Fear shivers down my spine as he maintains his hold on me.
“I had a flight to catch,” he says.
“So I heard,” I say. “You should have mentioned it.”
“I didn’t realize we were so close, Alice,” he murmurs as he tightens his grip.
My pulse pumps against his thumb. My eyes tremble. “Do you treat every girl this way?” I ask.
“What way?”
I struggle to breathe. Shallow air rasps through me as panic settles in. “Please, let me go,” I whisper.
Charles instantly releases me and his hand falls to his side. I fill my lungs with a single, deep breath. His form blurs in my vision as he steps around the sofa and sits down in one of the chairs across from it.
“To be fair, Alice,” he says, “you ditched me first.”
He makes a decent point, but I refuse to let him keep the higher ground. “You snuck away like a rat while I was sleeping because, apparently, you think it’s funny and mysterious,” I say. “Trust me, it’s neither.”
Charles raises an eyebrow, the faintest hint of surprise teasing his gaze. “You love to speak your mind, don’t you?” A smile threatens his lips. It drives me crazy how, even as I attempt to tell him off, he finds me amusing. “You’re not like any other woman I’ve ever known, Alice,” he tells me. “I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on you in that lobby.”
“Then I deserve to be treated with respect.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
“You know so much about me,” I say. My voice shakes as I fail to keep it steady. “You say you value honesty above everything else, but I know nothing about you or what you’re thinking.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Alice.”
I wait for him to continue, but he remains quiet. “That’s it?” I ask.
“What else would you like me to say?”
I look at the floor and shake my head. His dismissal chills me. Suddenly, all of my mother’s warnings about men ring true in my head. I always thought she was just a bitter, scorned woman, but now, I’m beginning to understand her words.
He leans forward. “Alice—”
“I should go,” I interrupt. “This was stupid.” I stand up and step away from him. “I’m sorry I bothered you, Charles.”
He watches me cross the room and remains seated. “Meet me tonight,” he says.
I pause in front of the door. “Why?” I ask with a shrug. “We obviously want very different things from each other.”
“Are you sure about that?” he asks.
“Well… I…” I push air through my lips. “I don’t know, Charles. You’re not really giving me anything to work with here.”
He stands up from his chair and buttons his jacket as he drifts towards me. “What would you like from me, Alice?” he asks with steady eyes.
“Consistency,” I say. “I mean, one day you’re running hot and right now you’re pretty cold.”
“I told you I don’t mix business and pleasure.”
“Right, yeah, I know that now.”
He pauses in front of me and his eyes bore down at me. “Meet me tonight,” he repeats.
“Why?” I ask him again.
“Because you intrigue me.”
A laugh escapes my lungs, wrecking my body on its way out. “I don’t think another night in a hotel room is going to make much difference here, Charles,” I say.
“No,” he says. “Not the hotel.” He clicks his tongue. “I’ll send my driver to pick you up. He’ll take you to my place.”
“Your place?” I ask.
“Yes.” He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair off my cheek. “If you want to know me, Alice, then I’m yours. I have nothing to hide from you.”
His response takes my breath away. I’m taken in once again by the power of his words. “Why me?” I squeak without thinking. “Why now?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he whispers, “but I have to figure it out before I let you leave me.” I tremble as he leans in and kisses me softly. “Please, Alice,” he breathes in my ear, “say you’ll meet me tonight.”
I push against him. “I don’t know if I should,” I say.
“Do I frighten you?”
“Yes.” I sigh as his touch lingers along my collar bone. He kisses me again. I taste his tongue. His hand travels down my breast. “Charles, stop…” I say.
He grunts softly. I sense his disappointment as his hand slowly drops to his side. I put pressure on his chest and guide him away so I can catch my breath and try to think more clearly. I see the torture stirring behind his closed eyes before he finally steps back.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“I didn’t give you a choice,” he admits. “You were right about that. I haven’t been fair to you.”
I shrug. “It’s just what you do,” I say.
“Not to you,” he says. “Not anymore.”
“I didn’t come here to change you.”
“Alice, please meet me tonight.”
I close my eyes. “I have to think about it…” I whisper.
Charles nods. “I’ll have Harvey arrive at seven,” he says as he takes another step back. “If you’re not in the car by seven-ten
, he’ll leave.”
“Okay,” I say.
He gives a weak smile. “You break me, Alice,” he whispers.
I don’t respond. I’m not sure how. I’m not even sure what he means by it. I reach for the handle and pull the door open.
Charles lets me leave. I want to turn around and see his face, but I keep my eyes forward and push through the group of men near the front office. Their voices go silent as they glance back towards Charles’ office with curiosity. I ignore them and stare at the floor until the elevator doors close on me.
Chapter 7
Answer the Question
“Go.”
I shake my head as I stare out the window. “Gabby, please…”
“It’s seven-oh-five.” She nudges my shoulder.
“I know what time it is,” I say. “I still have five minutes. Stop hovering.”
Gabby sighs but backs off and plops down onto her bed. I look outside again, my eyes falling to the street below. The black car sits on the curb with the engine running. Harvey stands outside the car, waiting patiently in the cold, staring straight ahead at the dormitory.
I swallow hard and glance at my desk clock again. Four minutes. I now have four minutes to decide whether or not I’m going to meet with Charles tonight.
If you want to know me, Alice, then I’m yours.
I saw it. The desperation in his eyes. If he’s lying, he’s quite good at it. I’m torn between his seductive words and my mother’s warnings.
“It’s like I always said,” her voice echoes in my mind, “a man will say anything to get what he wants from you. Protect yourself first.”
I lick my lips. His taste still lingers on them. As confusing as he is, I don’t feel danger when I’m with Charles. Even when his grip lingered around my neck…
My fingertips fall to my collar bone. I feel my pulse going wild.
“I’ll go.” I turn away from the window and walk towards the door.
“Really?” Gabby jumps off her bed with wide eyes. “In that?” She glances at my outfit.
I look down at myself, clad in jeans and a flannel shirt with my hair tied back in a braid. “This isn’t a date, Gabby,” I say as I slip into my coat. “I’m just going to talk with him.”
Blind Girl: A Dark Billionaire Romance Page 7