by Cara Nelson
***
The gala was as extraordinary as I expected, but to describe it as lavish would be a huge understatement. It was an occasion fit for royalty, but what else could be expected from the upper class? It was my job that night to be at Solomon's beck and call, but there was very little for me to do at the gala as he networked and mingled with the bigwigs. He had given me an incredible lavender ball gown that I would never be able to wear anywhere else, and I was almost positive that he had ordered it in the same color as the dress he had tried to remove from my body at the wedding. He was most definitely a master manipulator.
I headed to the bar to get some champagne. It seemed to be the drink of choice that evening, and though I wouldn’t normally partake, I was in Paris after all. I leaned back against the bar and surveyed the scene around me. The place was packed, and it took me awhile to locate Solomon in the crowd. He stood with a group of men, some his age and others much older. I watched him in awe—he was in complete control of the conversation, and he exuded confidence. I wondered if I would ever achieve that level of aplomb. I’d probably turn to mush in a similar situation.
“Now what is the most beautiful woman in the room doing standing alone?”
I turned to find a handsome dark-haired gentleman beside me. He couldn't possibly have been talking to me. I scanned the room and, for the most part, all I saw were supermodels or women who looked like one.
I laughed nervously. “You must have mistaken me for someone else.”
“I certainly did not. Who did you accompany to the festivities?”
“Mr. Jacobson. I'm his assistant.”
“Oh wonderful. We've done business with him in the past. He’s a good man. So you're just waiting on the sidelines until you're needed, are you? Must make for a dull trip.”
“I guess it does sometimes. But I'm in Paris, so I can hardly complain.”
“Well, what say you and I go grab ourselves something to eat elsewhere?”
Surprised, I said, “I apologize, but I can't. I think it would be inappropriate for me to leave when I'm working. And besides, we just met.”
“Then how about we take a quick fifteen-minute break in my hotel room then. That way you can be back in time for your next assignment?”
My mouth dropped involuntarily, and I wondered just how pissed Solomon would be if I punched this guy. What kind of man had the nerve to speak to a complete stranger like that?
“Excuse me?” I said in response.
He put his hand on my bare shoulder and started rubbing it. He moved in really close, so close I could smell what he’d had for dinner. “Don't act like you wouldn't like it. You should consider it an honor. A girl in your position won't get many offers from a guy like me.”
“I'm going to ask you to kindly remove your hands from my assistant.”
We both turned to find Solomon standing there, looking angry enough to rip some limbs off the guy. He looked me up and down as if checking to be sure I was still as he had left me.
“I meant no disrespect, Mr. Jacobson. I was just offering the lady a tour of the city.” There was a nervous tinge to his voice. He probably hadn't expected Solomon to stand up for me.
“I bet you were. And that sightseeing offer requires you to maul her shoulder? I think it's time you left the party, sir, and I would suggest doing it immediately.”
The man glared at Solomon but left without another word. He was the kind of scum regularly found at parties such as that, and I was no longer a fan of such occasions.
“Wow, how powerful of a man are you that you can force someone to leave a party?”
“You’d be surprised. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I'm fine. It was nothing I couldn't handle.”
“I'm sorry, Sasha. No one should ever make you feel like they have a right to touch you without your permission.”
I smiled. “I'm okay, really. But if it's all the same with you, I’d like the driver to take me back to the hotel. I think I'm all partied out. Besides, I haven't been of much use tonight, and you don't really need me here. ”
He nodded. “I understand. Let's go together.”
“Solomon, I can't ask you to leave. You came here for business, and you should stay with your colleagues.”
“No, I want to go with you. What do you say we take a stroll through the city? It's quite beautiful. You'll love it.”
I grinned. “That sounds marvelous.”
We left right away, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone. The party had suddenly lost its luster.
The stroll was just perfect. I was feeling out of sorts after the man had touched me and made those vile comments. It was good to get outside to clear my head. We would be leaving Paris soon, so seeing the city a little more was exactly what I needed. The night life in Paris was extraordinary—there were so many things to do, and it wasn't at all like the brashness and sass of New York City. I loved browsing all the little shops. Paris had a class and elegance to it that not too many places could match.
We rounded a bend with a famous burlesque club on the corner. Suddenly Solomon grinned. Stopping in front of the club, he asked, “Do you want to go in? You may be a bit overdressed, but I think they’ll be okay with it.”
I looked up at the sign and felt my face redden. “No, I think I'm okay. It's not really my scene.”
“Oh come on, I think it would be fun. Besides, it might spice up your love life to see how the other half lives.”
I laughed nervously. “I don't think so.”
“You never know, you might actually like it.” He winked at me, and I was half tempted to go for it.
“No.”
“Okay, this is what I'm going to do for you, Sasha, and one day you might thank me for it. I'm going to give you a dirty dare.”
Laughing again, I asked, “What? What on earth is that—or should I even ask?”
“I'm opening up your horizons a bit, little lady. In the theme of burlesque, I want you to do something sexually that you’ve never done before. It could be dressing up, taking a class, or trying a new move.”
“I will not!”
“Are you chicken?”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I said, “I'm not.”
“Then it looks like a dare. Let me know how it works out for you. And I expect pictures . . . or something as proof that you actually did it.”
We continued walking, my brain abuzz.
Chapter Eight
I was still on a high from my trip to Paris with Solomon. He had taken me shopping for couture the day after the gala, and being out in the shopping district was truly magical for a girl like me. Everything was breathtaking and so high fashion.
I used my bonus to acquire some pretty fabulous clothes for work and play. They were beautiful and special, and I would always treasure them as part of a great experience. How many women get to travel to Paris for work and shop in one of the most famous fashion districts in the world? Not many, that's for sure, and I was the lucky one who got to be escorted all over town by Solomon.
I had taken my first day off since our return from Paris, and I wouldn't be returning to work until the following morning. But I had a plan, a really good one in fact. Something that was going to make Solomon think twice about me.
The one thing I hadn’t been able to get out of my head since Paris was his dirty dare. He had completely taken me off guard when he had done that. I still couldn't figure out what his strategy was. We had definitely been getting along better, but we were hardly in a place where we could throw things like that at each other. I, however, was thinking about changing that.
Things had been so different between us—but in a really good way. I hadn't expected him to come to my rescue at the gala, and I definitely hadn’t expected that all I would be thinking about was how much I wished I had gone as his date. I assumed he felt the same way since he’d ditched his own party to go for a midnight stroll with me.
The more I got to know Solomon, the better I felt about him. There
was no doubt about it, he was an arrogant man and a real pain in the ass at times, but I was starting to see him in layers. There was more to him than meets the eye—it was just a matter of peeling away the layers like you would on an onion. I was starting to see a side to him that I hadn't realized a man like Solomon could have. Or maybe I wasn't being fair. Considering the environment in which he’d been raised and the kind of people he was surrounded with, it was no wonder that arrogance had crept in. He had been in competition for a greater part of his life. He’d had to constantly prove that he was the best, especially in business and in regards to his dad. My mother had always let me go my own way, mainly because she knew it was pointless to try to raise me to be a socialite. That was something she had always aspired to, but it was not for me. Still, regardless of whether she let me go my own way or not, I always felt that whatever I did was never good enough because it wasn't what she wanted for me. I’d thought that was a heavy load until I got a taste of Roger. I couldn't imagine being Solomon and having that kind of daily pressure to seek out perfection, feeling like you were walking on eggshells all the time. But that was Solomon's world, he lived it every day. So could I really blame him for his arrogance and his supreme confidence in everything he did, including picking up women? No, I couldn’t. It was just who he had been raised to be. And it was also only the surface—there was so much more to him underneath it all.
It was that part of him that I was starting to see and like. He seemed very protective of me, and seeing him open up in Paris was part of what made me turn a corner where he was concerned.
I was determined to win that dirty dare he had given me, and I knew just who could help make it happen. Rose. It was going to take me completely out of my comfort zone, but wasn't that exactly what Solomon had intended it to do? I absolutely felt like he had a master plan in mind that I knew nothing about. It didn't matter, though, because I was not going to lose the bet—I was going to see what it was like for shy little me to step out of her shell and try something new. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone would know. My parents wouldn't know, and my job was secured. All I had to do was give Solomon proof, but I planned on doing one better.
I put in a call to my best friend and waited impatiently until she picked up the phone.
“Well, well . . . how was your European vacation?”
“It was hardly a vacation, though I have to show you these insane clothes I got while there. Solomon gave me a bonus, and we went shopping. It was amazing.”
“Now was that the only bonus he gave you?”
I started laughing. “Yes, it was. You know I'm not that kind of girl. I like to make my men wait as long as possible.”
“Do I need to remind you about the bathroom?”
I groaned, “Please don't. That was part of a mental breakdown or something.”
She chuckled. “I'm sure. But anyway, you have to tell me everything. Despite it being work, you must have had a blast.”
“It really was great, no complaints. Even with work, it was all pretty glamorous.”
“Well, get used to it, Sasha. That world is about to become your own.”
“I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I guess it's something I’ll have to accept since my mother decided to marry into it all. Not much I can do about it now, I suppose.”
“No, I'm afraid you're in it for life. Even if they get divorced, your mother will have the money and her society friends.”
“You're starting to depress me.”
She laughed. “Wait, did you say you like to make them wait? Does that mean you're thinking of getting together with Solomon? I thought you were against that whole idea?”
“I was. Well, I am. I'm not really sure what’s going through my head at the moment, but since I’ve been working with him, things have changed. He's changed. Or maybe I just wasn't willing to see beyond the arrogant rich boy routine. I don't know, but something is definitely there.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“To be honest, I'm not sure there’s anything I can do. Roger made it perfectly clear that I’d be fired if anything happened between us. So if we start something up, I'm out of a job, which I'm sure will go over really well at Christmas dinner.”
“Do you think he’d really fire you? You're family after all. I know he fired those other two, but seriously, he's going to have to explain that to your mother, and she's not exactly a passive creature. She’d be pissed.”
“Yeah, I'm not sure how well it would go over, but I have to take the fact that I’d be out of a job into consideration.”
“Ahh, who cares? Solomon is a billionaire—he’ll take care of you.”
“Geez, Rose, it's not like we're engaged. I could throw everything away for this guy and then end up on my own with no job. Does that sound appealing?”
“So if you get fired, I'm sure at the very least Solomon would have you working at another company by the afternoon.”
“Maybe.”
“So go for it, girl! You only live once, and he's hot and rich.”
“You're a really big help. But I did want to talk to you about something. The last night I was with Solomon, he gave me a dirty dare. He wants me to complete it so that I get out of my shell, so to speak.”
“What's a dirty dare?”
I explained to her what had happened outside of the burlesque club and how I refused to go inside. She started laughing as soon as I explained the dare and how at first I had declined—but then things had changed.
“Stop laughing. I had no intention of doing anything, but then he called me a chicken, and I actually felt like one.”
“I'm sure you did. He deliberately got you riled up, and you fell for it. That boy has something up his sleeve for sure. He's got something sexual in mind for you, otherwise he wouldn't have started you thinking about sex. He definitely wants in your pants, girl, so make sure they’re double-buttoned.”
“Stop it,” I said, laughing. “You're killing me here.”
“I know, but times are tough, and I know you well enough to know that you haven't been laid in a while. You might want to take this opportunity to sweep out those cobwebs.”
“Oh my god, you didn't just say that to me.”
“I did. Now let’s get down to business. What's your game plan here?”
“Well, I know for a fact I have no intention of doing a burlesque act or signing up for a class. Not yet anyway.”
“So that leaves an outfit. That should be easy enough—we watched the movie Burlesque with Cher, and we know all about the Pussycat Dolls. It’ll be a slam dunk.”
“Will you help me shop?”
“Of course I will. This will be awesome fun. Let's do it. Come pick me up in an hour.”
“Okay, but one other thing—I don’t want to just send him a picture.”
“Go on . . .”
Spilling the beans about my dirty little plan was exciting and made me feel alive for the first time in . . . well, in forever. She helped me the plan the particulars, and I headed out the door to do some dirty shopping.
***
That night, I found myself working late in the office. Ever since my return from France, the office had been bustling and busy as usual. Although I had given Sasha the day off, I had returned to the office to see how things were flowing while I had been away. I liked to have my hand in everything and needed to make sure that nothing had gone wrong while I was out of the country. I didn’t like surprises, especially bad ones. Chuck was a stellar right hand man, so things were as they should be. He rarely disappointed me, and that's what I wanted—no mistakes. Once we’d had a meeting upon my return, I was pretty happy with how things had gone.
Hungry, I was considering going out to grab a bite to eat. I wouldn't mind having a stiff drink as well. Things here could probably be left until morning. Just as I was shutting things down and grabbing my jacket, I heard a voice.
“Hello, Solomon.”
I turned to find Sasha in my of
fice, or was it Sasha? She looked incredible. She was wearing a red and black burlesque outfit complete with fishnet stockings, a smoking red corset, and small leather ankle boots. Her hair was wild, and for that alone, I would have ravished her. In a word, she was breathtaking. She had always been gorgeous, but she had taken things to a whole new level.
“Sasha, wow. You’re a vision.”
She beamed, which just made the picture that much more magnificent. Her brown hair was curled and teased for volume, and it cascaded down around her shoulders. She was a knockout, and I just couldn’t fathom how someone who seemed so sweet and innocent could walk in looking like sin incarnate.
“Thank you, Solomon. You look quite handsome yourself.”
“Dare I ask what's going on here? Not that I'm complaining—I'm pretty sure all my dreams just came true the moment you walked in the door.” I was aware that we had grown extremely close lately as I had her working late, and well, there was France, but how had I managed to deserve this? There were a few nights when we talked the whole night as we worked, mostly about her childhood and her home life. I hadn’t realized how different and often complicated her life had been before she’d begun working for me. It was no wonder she’d started bawling during her job interview. I had learned a lot about her, and every moment I had spent with her made me want to be around her that much more. But I hadn't expected this, not now or ever. She’d once had such a distaste for me that I thought it would be impossible for her to see me in any other way. Working for me had certainly been a great start in getting her to like me, and I’d grown quite fond of her, as well, since she started working with me. I wasn’t sure exactly how safe I felt around her right at that moment.
“Well, you gave me a dirty dare, Solomon. I'm just proving to you that I'm not a chicken.”
“No, I guess you're not. I must have been mistaken.” He chuckled, looking me up and down.
“You certainly were. As you can see, I can do absolutely anything I set my mind to.”
“I do see that. You know you only had to send pictures of you in that outfit and you would have won fair and square.
