Dark Favors

by Sophie Stern

  Instead, I made a mental note to return it to Mr. Locke. I didn’t know where he lived and a management company handled my rent payments and maintenance requests, but I’d figure out where his main office was tomorrow and return his money to him.

  It was only right.

  It was only fair.

  Besides, something about the way he looked at me made me feel...

  Alive.

  Chapter 2

  Paige

  BY THE TIME I FINISHED showering, brushing my hair, and putting on my makeup the next morning, it was nearly 10:00am. Luckily, I didn’t have morning classes that day, so I had plenty of time to go visit Mr. Locke’s office and return his cash to him. I told Fawn, my roommate, where I was going.

  She just shook her head at me.

  “Girl, if a man as fine as Mr. Locke gave me almost three hundred bucks, I’d be buying new boots to wear while wrapping my legs around him - not itching to return the cash.” She stared at me like I was totally crazy. Fawn was sprawled out on the couch eating popcorn and watching some show she liked on Netflix. She was a relaxed roommate, but she was also wildly opinionated. Sometimes that worked out for me. Most of the time, it didn’t.

  “I’m sure it was an accident,” I told her, blushing. I glanced down at my own well-worn boots. I could use a new pair, but it wasn’t my money. It wasn’t meant to be. Besides, I could earn the money for my new shoes like everyone else in the damn world: by working hard. That was the whole purpose of going back to school at my age, right? I knew it was weird that I was a non-traditional student. I was too old for most people to look twice at. If anyone spared me a glance, it was to mentally question whether I was a graduate student or a really young professor. Nobody ever thought I was an undergrad.

  “You’re an idiot,” Fawn snapped, setting her popcorn down. She paused her show to give me her full attention, and I didn’t like where the conversation was headed.

  “What?” My jaw dropped. Was she being serious right now? What the hell was she talking about?

  “You heard me,” Fawn shook her head. “You really think a man as meticulous and shrewd as Mr. Locke would accidentally give someone that kind of money?” She raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, but I was starting to get pissed. I didn’t like the insinuation.

  “Mistakes happen.”

  “You’re living in a dream world, Paige.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Fawn just shrugged and went back to her popcorn. She picked up the bowl and started eating it piece by piece. She ignored me, letting me know that the conversation was totally finished. As if I didn’t know.

  I glared at her for a minute before spinning around and leaving. I was careful to slam the door as I hurried out of the house. I didn’t need Fawn’s negativity right then. I didn’t need any of that. I was trying to make the right choice. I was doing the right thing here.

  Fawn just didn’t understand.

  She didn’t really come from money, but she also didn’t know what it was like to struggle. Fawn’s parents had worked her entire life and they were paying her way through school. She still had to work to pay for her rent and car and gas, but she didn’t have the weight of the world on her shoulders, either. Me? I learned long ago that the only person I could count on was myself.

  I didn’t have the luxury of being picky about who I worked for or where I lived.

  I lived where I could afford.

  I worked at places that gave me hours.

  Fawn was younger than me by a couple of years, and during times like this, it really showed. Was she trying to suggest that Mr. Locke expected me to sleep with him? Was she trying to say that I was supposed to, what? Get naked for him? This wasn’t a sugar daddy kind of situation, and I didn’t really know what Fawn was trying to say. More importantly, I didn’t want to know. Fawn was the kind of undergrad kid who did the bare minimum required to get by. She was 24, which was already too old to be working on your first degree, and unlike me, she hadn’t taken a break from school. She just went part-time to classes, soaking up as much of her parents’ money as she could. During moments like this, I totally resented her.

  When I got into my beat-up Saturn, I shook my head and tried not to cry. I didn’t want to be sad. I didn’t want to feel hurt or pain over Fawn’s words. I pulled the money out of my purse and looked at it for a second. Then I counted it again.

  Maybe she’s right, I thought. Maybe I should just keep it. All of it. Maybe I should keep this cash and just not worry about the consequences. After all, what were the odds that Locke would notice it was even missing? He seemed like one really fucking rich dude. Besides, it would be so much easier to pretend like I hadn’t gotten the money or that I hadn’t noticed it, but something told me this was some sort of test. There was no chance that a guy as meticulous as Locke didn’t know exactly how much cash he’d handed me. She must be right.

  I had Googled his address last night. Late, long after I should have gone to bed, I looked up where he worked during normal business hours and what he did. There were a bunch of articles about him, and lots of pictures of him with beautiful women hanging off his arm. Him and those suits... He always had a suit on. If I had to guess, I’d say he probably even had one specially made for swimming. That’s how often this guy wore suits. I didn’t dig any deeper. I didn’t read the articles. I wasn’t trying to win this guy over or anything like that. I just wanted to get him his money back.

  Finally, I pushed all of my thoughts aside. Super rich businessman or not, he was my landlord, and I didn’t want to piss him off. It was the middle of the semester, after all. The chances of me finding another place to live this close to campus and in this price range were non-existent. I needed to just suck it up and graduate. If I could keep my head down and my nose out of trouble, I’d be finished before I knew it, and then I’d be able to get a real job in a different place. I’d be able to go somewhere new and start my life over again.

  I didn’t want to get kicked out of my house right now. Not over a couple hundred dollars, anyway. Locke was a busy guy, but he was my landlord all the same, and I didn’t want to do anything to make him think I was untrustworthy.

  I drove to the building where Locke worked. Correction: the building he owned. Apparently, he was quite the real estate guru. Who would have known? I probably should have assumed this, of course, but I’d been busy with my classes. My landlord had always been the least of my concerns.

  Locke, Incorporated was a real estate firm and a real estate planning company that basically did it all. They owned properties, they bought properties, they designed properties, and they sold properties. If you needed something involving real estate in the city, you could turn to Locke. The building was huge, stretching into the sky, and as I stared up at it, I couldn’t help but wonder once more if I was making the wrong choice in visiting his place.

  There was a parking garage beneath the building. I winced at the $20 price tag on parking. Maybe Mr. Locke would validate my parking or something. I didn’t know. Apparently, being honest had a hefty cost, and it was twenty bucks.

  Damn.

  Would it be trashy if I took the parking money out of the cash I was returning?

  That would be trashy.

  Shit.

  Whatever. I’d deal with it later. I parked and took a deep breath, then grabbed my parking ticket and my purse and headed toward the elevators at the end of the row. The parking lot was full of cars, but there were no people in sight. It was 10:30. Everyone probably had places to be and meetings to attend. I pressed the button for the lobby and silently rode up to the main building.

  When the doors opened, my heart sank as I took in my new surroundings. The lobby was pristine, and it was bustling. People were walking around, talking on phones and chatting with each other as they moved from the elevators to the glass doors. Some people moved to different, non-parking-garage elevators that had glass doors. Those moved quickly upwards, and I knew that those w
ent to different parts of the building. Everyone in the lobby looked...perfect.

  Although I had chosen my best, most professional-looking outfit, I still felt out of place among the designer labels and the heels. Everyone had lovely heels on.

  And me?

  I was in worn-out boots, a too-tight pencil skirt, and a white blouse that had looked great in my mirror at home but that now looked about as beige as my house.

  There was a reception desk in the center of the room, and I walked over to it. There was a woman sitting at the desk. She was beautiful. She was on the phone, though, and she was speaking so quickly I couldn’t understand a single word she was saying.

  I looked around the lobby for a second as I waited. People were rushing around, moving to and from the elevators. Everyone had a briefcase. Everyone looked busy.

  This...this was the place Mr. Locke came each day?

  Yet he’d chosen to shop at Wish Mart for groceries last night?

  He probably could have afforded to have someone do all of his grocery shopping for him. Hell, with the right app, he could have had his groceries delivered directly to his door. Why had he come in last night? Maybe he just liked to feel like a normal person.

  “Can I help you?” The woman hung up their phone and looked up at me. She didn’t seem mean, but she didn’t smile, either. Her makeup was perfect and her hair was pulled back into a very tight bun. I wondered if she used hairspray, or if she straightened her hair before she pulled it back to get it looking so neat.

  “Hi, um, hello,” I gave a little wave and a goofy smile. I was nervous. I didn’t know how to act appropriately. Hopefully, she wouldn’t hold it against me. “I, um, I’m here to see Mr. Locke.”

  “All right, what time is your appointment?” She glanced at the computer screen in front of her. A look of confusion crossed her face. She didn’t see me in the computer, I realized, and she was about to send me away. I couldn’t let that happen.

  Normally, I’d mumble something about trying again later and leave, but Fawn had me riled up. Her comments about this being stupid bothered me. I wasn’t about to let something as silly as a scheduling conflict be the reason I couldn’t return this money to Mr. Locke. More importantly, I wasn’t about to let this woman prevent me from seeing my landlord.

  I got that he was a bigwig here.

  I understood it.

  That didn’t mean I didn’t have the right to see him.

  “10:30,” slipped out of my mouth before I could start it. The receptionist glanced at her clock and frowned. “I’m running late,” I added. “There was a problem in the parking garage,” I shook my head. “Would you believe the machine wasn’t working? Hank had to come over and manually lift the bar to let me inside!” I held up my hands in faux exasperation, as though this woman was supposed to know who “Hank” was.

  “Mr. Locke doesn’t react well to tardiness,” the receptionist bit her lip. “You need to hurry, Miss Reagan.” The woman jerked her head toward the elevator. “Twenty-fifth floor,” she said. “You know the drill.”

  I nodded and began walking quickly toward the elevator.

  It wasn’t until the doors closed that I realized I’d never told her my name. She’d looked at the computer and based on the time I’d told her, had come to the decision that I must be a Miss Reagan. I wasn’t sure who that was or why Mr. Locke was meeting with her, but I guessed that woman would be pretty displeased when I stole her appointment slot.

  I pressed the button for the 25th floor just as another woman began approaching the receptionist desk. Her bright blue dress was the color of Locke’s eyes. She opened her mouth and I could almost make out her name as she spoke to the receptionist. Then, just as the doors were about to close, both of the receptionists and the woman in blue turned and looked at me.

  I gave them a wave as the doors closed shut.

  Guess they figured out whose appointment I took.

  Chapter 3

  Paige

  Mr. Locke was waiting for me when the doors opened on floor number twenty-five. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was there, or that he’d be waiting to see exactly who showed up.

  “Paige,” he said. He wasn’t smiling. For what seemed like the millionth time, I was regretting my decision to do the right thing and bring the money to him. I couldn’t help but feel like it was all a giant set-up. Okay, I obviously shouldn’t have taken someone’s appointment, but I didn’t want to risk being sent away, either.

  I stepped out of the elevator and brushed invisible lint off my skirt to avoid looking at him. I could already tell that this floor, like the lobby, was a place a girl like me didn’t belong. It was too pristine, too perfect. I wouldn’t do anything but dirty up this type of place.

  Behind him there was another sort of reception desk with an assistant working hard to avoid looking at us. There was also a sitting area of some sort, and hallways extended out from the elevators. I didn’t look at those, though. Instead, I stared at the marble flooring.

  “Locke,” I responded, not meeting his eyes.

  “Mr. Locke,” he corrected me.

  I looked up at him then. Our eyes met and I stared at him for a long minute, wondering what he saw when he looked at me. I didn’t say anything, though, and he let out a sigh.

  “Follow me,” he said, and he turned down a large, open hallway. Not following wasn’t an option. As much as I wanted to stomp on the floor, throw his money at him, and run away, I knew that he was the type of man who got what he wanted. Besides, I’d gotten myself this far. I could get myself a little bit farther.

  I’d never been in a place like this before. Not on the top floor of a huge building about to head into the office of the company’s owner. This was incredible, and I knew that I’d never have another opportunity like this.

  For a second, I forgot who I was and why I was there.

  The adrenaline rush from my lie was still pulsing through my veins as I followed Locke into his office. I stood in the center of the room, looking at the wall of windows, the immaculate furniture, and the beautiful paintings on the wall. He closed the door. The click caught my attention and I looked back at him quickly.

  Then he locked the door, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  I stood in the center of the office and stared at him. His pecs looked huge. He didn’t have his jacket on, I realized. I’d never seen him in just a shirt and suit pants before. I’d always seen him with the jacket on and now I could see, even through the shirt, that he definitely worked out.

  I was too busy gawking at him to notice the huge desk, the chairs, the sofa. I was much too busy scoping him out to notice the art or the open windows or the fact that I was alone with him for the very first time.

  “Paige,” he said. This time, his voice was deeper.

  Firmer.

  “Locke,” my eyes shot to his, and he shook his head.

  Then he stepped forward, into my space. I tried to back up, but he slid his hand onto my waist and pulled me close to him. This movement took my breath away because Locke - my Locke - was pressing his chest against mine.

  He leaned down so his lips were against my ears.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, Paige?”

  “T-T-Tell me what?” I whispered.

  “To address me with respect,” he said.

  “I-I-I’m sorry,” I whispered, but I wasn’t. I was shocked, more than anything. My landlord was holding me in place while our bodies touched. We’d never hugged before. Never touched like this. I think we might have shaken hands at some point, but that was it.

  “Mr. Locke,” he repeated.

  “Mr. Locke,” I said.

  “Now,” his voice was sultry, dark. He didn’t move. He was still right there, still touching me. My heart was racing, and I wondered if he could hear me. “My receptionist has informed me that you lied to her about your name, about having an appointment, and about the reason for your visit. Is that true, Paige?”

&nb
sp; “I...”

  “Paige? I don’t have time for games.”

  “I just lied about the appointment time,” I blurted out. “She assumed everything else. I didn’t...I didn’t make up anything else,” I whispered. “I just...I didn’t think she’d let me see you, if I didn’t. Mr. Locke,” I added. “Mr. Locke,” I repeated.

  “Paige, I currently have the CEO of Extrance standing just one floor down. She’s giving my VP a piece of her mind because she was supposed to meet with me today, but someone swiped her appointment time when she was a few seconds late pulling into the valet parking.”

  I gulped.

  Extrance was the other big real estate development company in the city. I realized that Miss Reagan must have been the CEO. That was whose appointment I took. That was what I did, and Mr. Locke was not pleased. Not pleased at all. Shit. Suddenly, the reality of what I’d done started to weigh on me, and I wondered how I was going to get out of this situation, or if there even was an out.

  “I’m really sorry,” I whispered again, but my breathing was still heavy, and my voice came out husky. It almost sounded...aroused. Embarrassment swept through my body. I wasn’t turned on by this. Nope. Not at all. Not at the way Locke was holding me. Not at the way I could feel his body pressing against mine.

  “I don’t think you are, little girl,” he growled, and then he released me and stepped away.

  Humiliated, I stood perfectly still with my hands in front of me. I didn’t move and I certainly didn’t look up at him.

  What just happened between us?

  Why did he call me that?

  Why did I...like it?

  I didn’t say anything for a long time. Neither did he, but I heard him pacing around me, walking in a circle. He was like a lion and I was his prey. Only, I didn’t know what it was he wanted. Usually, lions would eat you. I didn’t think that was what Locke wanted from me.