by Lola Darling
With a moan, he comes. The pulse of his release is long, hot, his pelvis slamming against me, ratcheting every sensation. My mind goes blank, the room fuzzy. My body is lifted—I’m floating with the damn angels—softness under my body, warmth all around and I let go.
When I surface, I’m wrapped up in the bed sheet, Andrew asleep beside me on the bed. I blink, confused by the sunlight outside the windows.
Wait, what time is it?
With a bolt of panic, I sit up and look around to the clock on the nightstand. Five AM?! Dread uncurls in me. I fell asleep! My internship starts in two hours and I’m still naked, in bed with a man I don’t even know. Heart pounding, I look at him again, remembering how hard he made me come. How completely I surrendered control.
It was incredible. Sensual. Mind-blowing.
But it was all a lie.
Spotting my dress on the floor near the windows, I creep slowly from the bed and retrieve it, hastily slipping into it. No idea where my panties are, or my bra. Hell, I don’t even have a coat to cover up this walk of shame. Grabbing my clutch to my chest, I tiptoe out of the room, trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to make it out of one of the best hotels in the city without looking like a tramp.
Pausing at the bedroom door, I look back at him. We’ll never see each other again. But I don’t have time to be sad about that.
In two hours, the rest of my life begins.
Chapter Four
Ten minutes to spare. I made it!
Nerves threaten to break me as I park my car in the employee section in The Rexford’s parking garage. I’m never this much of an emotional mess. Leaving your bra and panties on the floor of a stranger’s room and almost being late for the most important day of your life will do this to a girl, I suppose.
I can’t be thinking about Andrew right now. Not his hotness, not his hands. Certainly, not his huge—
“Stop it, Juliet!” I hiss and pull down the rearview mirror to check my lipstick. I quickly showered back at Callie’s, but skipped washing my hair to save time. Humidity from the shower destroyed its beautiful sleekness, making it unruly as usual.
Last night, I’d been an elegant, beautiful woman. Today, I’m back to regular Juliet.
Even if the sweet ache between my legs reminds me just how amazing it was to be someone else for a while.
I take the stairs and exit the garage. I don’t have a keycard for the employee entrance yet, so I have to enter through the front of the hotel. A graceful navy awning sparkling with hundreds of little white lights arches over golden carpet on the approach. I know the minutes are ticking by, but I can’t help but pause and look up at the stately greystone building just to take it in.
“Miss.” The doorman greets me with a polite nod as he opens the glimmering glass doors.
“Good morning,” I reply cheerily and step inside the grand lobby.
A thrill rolls through me as I take a moment to savor the gleaming granite floors and teardrop chandeliers dipping from the recessed ceiling. Four marble columns line the room, while antique gold on blue wallpaper gives a stately feel.
I follow a sign welcoming interns to the conference room and rush in with a minute to spare. The doors slam closed. I jump and glance over my shoulder. A rake-thin woman stands behind me in a crisp navy suit, her dark hair pulled back in a severe bun. She turns her nose up at me.
“Thank you for joining us,” she snaps and breezes past. “Everyone, sit.”
Heat flushes my face and I take a small, calming breath. There are ten other interns at the front of the room, all dressed in smart business attire like me.
I find a seat next to a blonde woman with a friendly smile. She’s got curly hair and a cute patterned blouse.
She side-eyes me with a whisper. “She’s a charmer, huh?”
“Right? I’m Juliet,” I introduce myself.
“Shauna,” she smiles. “I just moved here from San Francisco—”
“Let’s begin.” We’re interrupted by a bark from the front of the room. The brisk woman is glaring at us all. “I am Edith Payne, internship director. Let me remind all of you how very fortunate you are to hold such a prestigious spot in The Rexford’s internship program. Hundreds applied. You were chosen. Don’t forget that.”
My excitement rises, despite her sneer. I know I was chosen from hundreds. I’m going to work my ass off to do a good job. Nothing is going to screw this up.
Nothing.
Edith grabs a stack of folders from the table behind her and hands them to an intern to pass out.
“In the next three months, you’ll rotate through every aspect of this magnificent hotel, from housekeeping, to basic administration and everything in between. You’ll find personal schedules inside your folders. Please clip on the included name tags.”
My hands are shaking a little as I flip through the folder. There are pamphlets on employee etiquette and legal stuff, and a keycard to the employee entrance. I’m most interested in my assignment rotation.
“I have reception first!” Shauna exclaims.
“Me, too.” We discreetly bump fists. “Exactly what I was hoping for.”
Satisfaction wells inside. I’m great with people, if not a little awkward in certain situations… like flirting. But I got over that in a hurry last night, didn’t I? The ache comes back to my thighs as if to agree. I shift on my seat and slide the papers back into my folder.
Edith claps her hands and goes through a series of expectations and rules. After a solid ten minutes of pacing and reciting directives in monotone, she turns to face us.
“Discretion.” She gives a dramatic pause before clasping her hands in front of her. “Discretion is an utmost priority at The Rexford, and extends to each guest, as well as the Rexford family. Before you leave today, you will review and sign the in-depth non-disclosure and discretion document inside your folder.”
I wonder if the Rexfords are a scandalous bunch. Callie would know. She reads the society pages like it’s the gospel, but I don’t really keep up with gossip. I know little about the Rexford family beyond the history of its founder, Alastair Rexford, who financed construction of the original hotel in 1869 with money he won from extensive gambling.
“We’ll begin our tour now. Leave your folders on your seats, please.”
Shauna and I follow Edith out the door with the rest of the group. I look around and appreciate the arched hallway. There are hand painted golden roses on the ceiling, and golden accents in the wallpaper that set off the navy blue carpet with swirls of red, gold and black flowers.
“Alexander wants it all, my money’s on him.”
I glance behind me. Two of the guys in the program are talking, in know-it-all smug voices.
“My dad is a corporate attorney,” the other brags. “He says this’ll be a dirty boardroom fight.”
“I don’t know, Dom’s a Yale man. Like me.”
I look to Shauna with a confused glance. She rolls her eyes. “Just stupid gossip. I swear the only reason some of these jerks are here is to have a front row seat into the Rexford brothers’ showdown.”
“What do you mean?”
She looks surprised. “You… don’t know about the power struggle going on?”
“No?” I feel a little foolish. The last thing I can recall hearing was that the older brother, Dominic, was filing for divorce from his socialite wife. Callie had read the announcement from the paper, but I’d only been half listening. It didn’t seem important at the time.
Shauna subtly looked around before leaning in. “Dominic inherited fifty-one percent stake in the Rexford Company after his parents died a few years ago. You knew that much, right?”
I nod like I do, but the truth is I’m clueless.
“The younger brother, Alexander, is back. He’s been sleeping his way around Europe for the past four years and racing that fancy car of his. Apparently, he had enough of that and decided he wants control of Rexford. Although what a playboy like that is going to d
o with a global hotel brand, I don’t even know.”
One of the guys behind us pushes in. “Xander wants to upgrade the entire global line of Rexford hotels, starting with this one. Dominic refuses though, he’s stuck in the past.”
“Or playing it safe,” the other guy argues.
“Please, this place needs a total gut renovation to bring it out of the dark ages.” He sneers at the beautiful décor.
“Are you insane?” I gasp, indignant. “Why would you want to remodel? This place has been untouched since the Great Fire of 1871. The outer south wall is constructed from stone blocks salvaged from the original building, char marks and all. This building was the first known greystone to be erected in the city, twenty years before the style became a Chicago cornerstone.” As I hear my dad’s words pour out of my mouth, I feel a sense of pride well up in my chest. He taught me well.
The jerky intern just scoffs. “Thanks for the history lesson.”
I know I should quit while I’m ahead, but I can’t stop myself. “The wallpaper in the Grand Lobby is 19th century, hand painted by noted French artist—”
Shauna nudges me with a steady look at Edith, who is glaring at us both. I shut up fast. At least this douche isn’t in charge of the company – I can only hope the current owners appreciate the gem they have here.
We follow Edith on a whistle-stop tour of the locker rooms, employee break room, and the rest of the guest amenities. There’s a gym, complete with personal trainers and an Olympic size swimming pool. A salon and clothing boutique. A five-star restaurant with a bar to rival the Coq D’or, all resplendent with the details that make The Rexford so memorable.
I’m still reeling from the tour as she takes us to the corporate wing of the hotel. Here, the décor is sleeker, with glass-walled offices and equally sleek looking staff busily at work.
“Holy shit,” Shauna whispers beside me, as we’re shown into an office.
“Agreed.”
Two full walls of windows overlook Chicago’s famous Magnificent Mile, the glossy buildings and groomed architecture posed like a picture from a magazine. The room is beautifully styled with leather furniture, and a huge black walnut desk with a chandelier perfectly centered above it.
“I’m guessing this isn’t the head of housekeeping’s office,” Shauna quips.
“She’s in the penthouse,” I joke, but my nerves are building. It hits me again what an incredible opportunity this is. This hotel, these offices, they reek of power. I’m going to nail this internship, and after that?
I can’t wait to see what opportunities arise for me here.
Suddenly the doors open. A man steps in. He’s looking down, buttoning his midnight blue suit coat, but he gives off an immediate air of authority. Shauna whispers something to me, but I don’t process it.
I watch his long fingers fasten the button, those beautiful hands… familiar.
A slow buzz starts in my head.
He looks up and my entire body goes cold. I take him in—brown hair with a smooth undercut and perfectly messy waves. Gorgeous, rugged, yet elegant features set hard, indifferent. Uninterested.
I know those stunning blue eyes.
I know those perfect lips—how they taste. How they feel on my breasts, between my legs.
A bolt of realization goes through me, straight to my feet.
Oh. My. God. It’s Andrew.
It’s fucking Andrew!
Edith gives a huge smile. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce the CEO, Dominic Rexford.”
Chapter Five
“Are you okay?” Shauna grabs my arm.
“Mr. Rexford, thank you for taking the time to meet with us today,” Edith says. “I’m pleased to introduce our new class of interns.”
Andrew – no, Dominic — nods, and starts chatting. He hasn’t looked at me yet, and God, if he does, will he know it’s me?
I had one night of carefree, wild sex. One damn night! It’s already coming back to bite me. Then it hits me in a rush – the reason I was there to meet him at all.
The assignment. Get pictures of him in an incriminating position, for somebody to use against him. Never mind the fact that the job was over before I went upstairs, if he ever discovers the real reason I met him that night, I’m screwed.
Slowly, I take a small step back. Maybe, if I shield myself behind Shauna, he won’t notice me.
“This is a great opportunity,” Dominic is saying. “Our program is the best in the country. None other offers you such a comprehensive education in what it takes to run a successful hotel.”
His voice. My eyes close with the instant recall of that timbre in my ear. I want you to come on my cock. I had, harder than I’ve ever come in my life. Heat spreads across my face as flight instinct kicks in.
He lied. I lied.
But the consequences for him are nothing compared to what he can do to me. He could fire me from the internship program, crush everything I’ve worked so hard for, before I’ve even had a chance to get my foot in the door.
“I look forward to the internship program every year, as it tends to develop some of our best employees.” He smiles and his face transforms with that kiss of youth I so admired last night. I take another nonchalant step back as his eyes begin to travel.
He keeps speaking. I only absorb the vibration of his words as I try to figure out how to get out of this room unscathed.
Tonight, your breasts, your ass, your pussy, belong to me. My sex clenches at the memory, my skin growing hot. Unscathed? I’m going to be tormented by the mental replay of his expert fucking every time I set foot in this place.
I’m so, so screwed.
“In fact,” his voice lowers and the air seems to thicken. I don’t want to look at him. But I can’t stop myself. My eyes slam into his. He blinks and the pause in his speech seems longer than necessary.
Maybe that’s just my guilty perception. Because I’m freaking out inside.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you, learning about your goals and your reasons for choosing The Rexford as part of your education.”
Around me, the others are clapping, and Edith is thanking him again for his time.
Fear isn’t something I handle well. It pisses me off. I don’t have time to be afraid, certainly not now, and certainly not because of something I had no foresight into. How was I supposed to know who he was?
Andrew—Dominic—moves to the back of the room as the crowd leaves his office. I give him a quick glance to find he’s staring at me, one hand braced on the edge of the desk. My chest is so tight, I can barely draw a decent breath. The last in the group, I quickly slip between the glass doors and down the hall with the rest of the group.
“Seriously, are you okay?” Shauna asks again. “You look really pale.”
“I’m fine,” I falter. “I just forgot to eat this morning.”
She reaches into her purse and hands me a package of snack cookies. “Here.”
I take them with a mumbled thank you, looking fearfully behind me at Dominic’s closed office doors.
“That concludes the tour portion of your morning,” Edith announces loudly. “You’ll have a ten minute break, before reporting for duty for your assignments. Don’t be late,” she adds with a warning glare.
I let out a small breath of relief. I need a moment to pull myself together. The others mill towards the main doors, but I hang back, slipping into a small alcove tucked away from the main office.
I feel sick.
The cookies are dust in my mouth, so I toss them aside and sink back against the wall. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
“No magic trick to make you disappear?”
I spin. Dominic is so close that I nearly slam into him.
He takes my elbow to steady me as his eyes fall to my name tag. “Imagine my surprise to find you in my internship program. Juliet, is it?”
Everything knots back up inside.
He’s so gorgeous. And so dangerou
s.
“Thank you, Dominic,” I retort, jerking back from him. I cross my arms to barrier myself. Anger flares and I know it’s from nerves, but I can’t help it. “Seriously, I fibbed the one letter. You fabricated an entire name.”
I want him to touch me. I want to feel those hands roving under my clothes and caressing my bare skin. The desire only makes me angrier. I take a step back but it’s a weak attempt to control my feelings.
And it fails.
He offers one beautiful hand but I don’t take it. “Dominic Andrew Rexford. Though, I’m sure you knew that last evening.”
Is he serious? I shake my head. “I had no idea who you were. Really.”
Dominic arches an eyebrow. “It’s very convenient that you’re here.”
“Coincidental.” I sigh. “Clearly, I have the worst luck.”
“Or the best. If what you say is even true.”
“Of course it is! I didn’t know who you were. Obviously, I knew you weren’t a lion tamer.” I make it sound stupidly obvious. “I mean, look at you.”
My attempt at being collected is failing miserably.
“And yet, you still pass as a sexy assistant.” An arrogant smirk pulls one side of his mouth. How can he be so equally gorgeous and insolent?
“It worked,” he says darkly. “You certainly played your magic to your advantage last night.”
My fingers curl into my palms. Is he trying to turn this on me?
“Are you saying that I seduced you, Mr. Rexford?” My temper is fraying. “I’d like to remind you that you… you had a hand in that as well.”
He steps closer to me. “Oh, Juliet. You haven’t begun to see seduction.”
His eyes drop to my mouth before he presses a finger to my lower lip. I lean into his touch, wanting it to be his mouth, his tongue sliding between my lips and mating with mine.
His eyes crinkle at the corners. He knows what I’m thinking. I know he does.
My lips part, eager to take his finger into my mouth.
“Juliet?”
I jerk back at the feminine voice. Shauna steps into the alcove but stops when she sees us. Dominic drops his hands, sliding them into his pockets. She looks between him and me, her lips parting in surprise.
