Temptation (The Temptation Series)

by K. M. Golland

  Samantha and I introduced ourselves properly on our way to the hotel’s kitchen. She was 23 and fresh from a Bachelor Degree of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality at Deakin, very similar to the Bachelor Degree that I had completed online with LaTrobe, whilst raising my children. Samantha was single and living with her parents in Doncaster and was approximately 5 foot 7, strawberry blonde and probably a size 10. She obviously took great pride in her appearance, her makeup was heavier than mine but suited her. She wore heals higher than the Eureka Tower and had a smugness about her. I liked her, there’s not many people I don’t like, but I could tell she was very competitive, minor things like entering each room just ahead of me, walking a couple of steps in front and she had a knack of asking questions over the top of mine, which became apparent during our tour of the kitchen and laundry, it was as though she had to have the last word. We decided, or more so Samantha decided, we would eat our morning tea on the hotel’s sundeck. The hotel’s kitchen also had an area dedicated to staff so we were able to get ourselves some fruit, Samantha also grabbed a tomato juice and I, a cup of tea. We sat at a small table shaded with an umbrella by the pool. It was simply beautiful and I’m glad Samantha had made the decision to take our break here, it was the end of Summer in Melbourne and my favourite time of the year. I loved 27 to 32 degree temperature days and the sun with its glorious vitamin D made this little lady very happy. I peeled my banana and opened my brief, there was a whole section devoted to Mr Clark and his Penthouse.

  Mr Clark is the owner of City Towers Entertainment Complex and resides in the Penthouse of City Tower. As CA (Concierge Attendant) you are required to assist Mr Clark as a matter of priority. Any request he has must be adhered to as soon as possible. His meals are delivered to the Penthouse at the following times Breakfast 6am, Morning Tea 10am, lunch 1pm, Afternoon Tea 3:30pm Dinner 7pm and Supper 9:30pm. You are required to collect his daily brief from his Personal Assistant each morning at 9.15am which will contain instructions on the following day’s menu, and specific house cleaning requests. Mr Clark’s mail is to be delivered to him as soon as it is received by the Hotel’s Reception. His office also forms part of the Penthouse and all cliental by appointment are to be personally escorted to the Penthouse Foyer where his Personal Assistant will meet them.

  “Mr Clark is so hot in his company picture, was he as drop dead gorgeous in the flesh? I couldn’t see when you came in.” Samantha was googling at me like a school girl.

  “Oh, yes, he is very handsome and very understanding.” I answered awkwardly.

  “Understanding and apparently accident prone, lucky you! He can spill his drink on me any day.” Samantha continued to read her timetable.

  “We have a House Keeping Demonstration next, then to the Penthouse to meet Mr Clark’s P.A.” What? The Penthouse? My stomach almost did a backflip. I wanted to see him again, something about the way he spoke to me and looked at me made me squirm in my seat. I had a flash back to this morning, perving through his change room curtain, his naked back was exquisite; I wanted to run my hands up and down it. Samantha snapped me out of my reverie by slurping the last bit of tomato juice through her straw. My cheeks reddened, I’d been licking my lips so I quickly wiped them with my finger, how embarrassing, I’m happily married and have a very healthy sex life with Rick. He was my childhood sweetheart and I had only ever been with him, we were like two peas in a pod. In 12 years of marriage we had rarely fought and had spent less than a week apart, he really did make me happy my Ricky, so these feelings, if I can call them that, were foreign territory for me. I smiled and got to my feet. Housekeeping Demo, it’s not glamorous but essential to witness nonetheless, then the Penthouse, now that ought to be glamorous. I started to wonder what Mr Clark’s P.A. would look like. Probably drop dead gorgeous and straight from a Victoria’s Secret Catalogue, hopefully with more clothing on.

  Housekeeping was as expected, I’d observed the most perfect hospital corner and strangely enough was keen to give it ago on my own bed when I got home. We were on our way up to the 43rd floor to meet Mr Clark’s Personal Assistant, Lucinda; even her name suggested a tone of elegance. I was starting to get quite agitated, why? I couldn’t explain it, these feelings were strange to me. I pushed them out of my mind and took a deep breath in as the elevator doors opened. The Penthouse Foyer was beyond beautiful, gold fixtures and fittings, cream coloured floor tiles with golden edging, floor to ceiling windows with a view of the city skyline line that could only be seen to be believed, and the curtains dressing those windows were superb. I love curtains, they were a secret obsession of mine, a window was not a window if it were not dressed properly. These curtains were of a golden, silk material with gold seems and tassels, from which the light bounced, illuminating them. Oh they are to die for. Directly ahead of the elevator was a solid mahogany desk and sitting behind that desk was a very pretty young woman, she rose to her feet and waddled towards us. I was surprised, she was approximately 7-8 months pregnant.

  “Hello, you must be Alexis Summers and Samantha Taylor, I’m Lucinda Clark, Mr Clark’s personal assistant. Welcome to City Towers.” She gracefully extended her hand to each of us, she was radiantly beautiful and I couldn’t help but feel very intimidated by this brunette goddess who was probably the most beautiful Mother-to-be I had ever come across. Suddenly my chest pained. Wait a minute did she just say Lucinda Clark? Yes she did, Oh Shit. She was Mr Clark’s wife, his very beautiful pregnant wife. I was devastated and hurt. How stupid of me and more to the point how ridiculous of me to feel this way, I had absolutely no right. The elevator doors opened, Mr Clark entered the foyer and went straight to Lucinda’s side.

  “Good morning Lucy.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Morning Bryce.” They exchanged a quick loving embrace.

  “This is Alexis Summers and Samantha Taylor, the Hotel’s new Concierge Attendants, they are here for the tour of the Penthouse Offices.” Mr Clark looked at Samantha.

  “Miss Taylor if you wouldn’t mind following me, I’d like to get better acquainted and discuss my expectations of you as C.A. of my Hotel. Lucy if you wouldn’t mind showing Ms Summers around first.” He then directed Samantha to one of the mahogany, wooden panelled doors to the right of Lucinda’s desk. He looked back at me and gave me ‘that smirk’. How dare he, the arrogance of this man. How dare he look at me like that in front of his wife and child to be. I was mortified beyond belief. Raising her eyebrow and displaying a similar smirk, Lucinda looked directly into my eyes

  “Very well Ms Summers, if you’d like to come with me.” She almost looked amused as she said it, I was horrified, somehow I felt she knew I’d been day dreaming of her husband on and off since sharing my hot chocolate with him. We entered a large conference room to the left of Lucinda’s desk.

  “As you would be aware Ms Summers, Mr Clark is the CEO of Clark Incorporated and owner of City Towers Entertainment Complex. He resides here in the Penthouse which also houses his personal office, the rest of Clark Incorporated’s offices are situated on levels 7 and 8. Most of his personal meetings are conducted here in his personal office, however, the direct running of Clark Incorporated takes place on levels 7 and 8.” We walked through the conference room to another door and into another foyer, Lucinda pointed to a door to my right.

  “Mr Clark’s personal office is through there.” I wanted X-ray vision, if I squinted hard enough I might just see what is going on in there and if he was obnoxiously flirting with Samantha as well. My blood started to boil so I looked away.

  “Just through here is a kitchenette and off to your left is a bathroom.” This Penthouse floor really was impressive, and I’d only bared witness to the offices here, I wonder what his personal residence was like? What his bedroom was like? Stop it Alexis, again enough of the perverse imaginings that are completely irrelevant to what you are doing here.

  “Alexis, are you finished scrutinizing the kitchenette?” Lucinda was standing in the doorway impatiently waiting for me
to leave the room.

  “Yes, sorry,” I quickly scuttled out and back into the foyer. There was a table in the middle of the foyer and on it was a large vase of beautiful lemon coloured roses, they were immaculate and smelt fabulous. I love roses, I have many rose bushes in my garden at home and loved the array of colours my garden displayed in Spring. Lucinda pointed directly ahead to a large door which was locked by security card.

  “That is Mr Clark’s private residence.” The awe I was feeling must have betrayed me.

  “It’s pretty impressive isn’t it? All of this I mean.”

  “Oh yes, this is an exquisite complex. I’m thrilled and fortunate to be working here.” She smiled.

  “Yes Clark Incorporated is a wonderful company to be a part of and Mr Clark is a brilliant employer.” I found it funny how she kept referring to him as ‘Mr Clark’ and ‘Employer’. We took a seat on an elegant day lounge which was against the wall outside the door to Mr Clark’s office.

  “I hope I’m not being intrusive, but when are you due?” I thought this could be seen as brazen or rude, or simply none of my business but I was genuinely interested in her answer. She smiled and naturally caressed her very full belly.

  “I’m 34 weeks along.”

  “That’s wonderful, you and Mr Clark must be very excited. Is this your first child?” I can’t believe I just said that, and by the strange look on Lucinda’s face I was sure I had overstepped the mark.

  “Oh never mind, I’m terribly sorry, I’m being intrusive.” I looked down at my feet in horror.

  “Oh no that’s quite alright. Yes this is my first child and yes Mr Clark is thrilled, thrilled that in the coming weeks he will be an Uncle.” What? Uncle? Yes she did say Uncle. Oh, Uncle, of course. I was so relieved and stupid, how could I have been so wrong? I’d doubted this wonderful man who did not fire me for covering him in hot chocolate and who comes across as being kind and caring despite him being utterly rich.

  “You thought we were married didn’t you?” I put my hand to my head and peaked through my open fingers.

  “Yes I did, you can’t really blame me, you share the same surname and obviously share a special bond.”

  “We do.” The look of admiration was plastered all over her face, it was very sweet but I felt I was intruding into their special relationship so a change in subject was needed.

  “You know, speaking from experience, you are about to embark on a crazy wonderful rollercoaster that is Motherhood.”

  “You have children?”

  “Yes two, Nate is 9 and Charlotte is 6, they are adorable but I guess I’m biased. I love them to pieces, but gone are the days of solely using my brain to decide what we will eat three times a day and whether to dust, mop or vacuum or all of the above.” I was starting to ramble, I tend to do that when discussing my kids. They had pretty much been my life in its entirety for the past 9 years.

  “That sounds lovely, I’m looking forward to using my brain to decide what brand of nappies to use and to breastfeed or not to breastfeed.” We both laughed, I really liked Lucinda, especially now that she was no longer Mrs Clark. The door to Mr Clark’s office opened and Samantha strolled out looking like she had received a lecture on professionalism and stature, hhhmm interesting.

  “Alexis, Mr Clark will speak to you now.” Then she stood by the day lounge Lucinda and I were comfortably sitting on. I stood up and brushed my hands down the stunning dress I was wearing, I think I might sleep in it tonight, surely there’s nothing wrong with that! I turned to Lucinda and offered her a hand, she gracefully accepted and thanked me.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you Miss Clark and good luck in the coming weeks.” I entered Mr Clark’s office, closing the door behind me and already chills were prickling my spine.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Mr Clark had his back to me as I walked into his office, he was behind his desk looking out of the floor to ceiling window at the view of Port Phillip Bay. He appeared to be lost in thought, with one hand in his pocket and the other on his chin. I studied his arse which looked very nice in his Versace suit, he definitely worked out or was blessed with not only wealth but good genes. I’d guess he was maybe 6 foot 5 and that hair was just luscious, I am partial to blonde men, my husband is tall, dark and very handsome but there was something about blonde men that made me clench my thighs together and this particular dark, blonde man had me clenching like never before. He turned around, his stare had me worried.

  “Alexis take a seat.” He gestured to the cream coloured leather lounge setting in the middle of his office. On the coffee table was what looked like a strong black and a hot white chocolate topped with a marshmallow.

  “You never got to drink the one you bought this morning, so I took it upon myself to get you a replacement.” His tone was very stern, I smiled nervously. No, I didn’t get to drink it this morning Bryce, but I would’ve been more than happy to lick it off you. Alexis you devil, get a grip.

  “No, I didn’t, I opted for this new dress instead!” He analysed my little black Versace number.

  “Hhmm.”He groaned, it was almost a primal sounding noise which made me shift in my seat.

  “In all seriousness though, thank you for the dress and thank you for replacing my drink, it was very thoughtful of you. Technically I should be getting you a replacement for the one you never got to order.”

  “I wasn’t going to have a drink Alexis.” I screwed up my face.

  “Oh, perhaps you are a muffin type of man then?” I took a sip of my drink, mmm yummy, they really are very naughty these choccis.

  “No, not a muffin man. I wasn’t there for anything that morning. In fact, I noticed you walking briskly through the Casino and out to Gloria Jeans and thought I’d introduce myself, before you started your shift. You see Ms Summers, I make it a priority to know every single tiny detail there is to know about my staff.” And there it was, ‘that smirk’.

  “Every single tiny detail, really? Well I’m not sure if that is impressive or creepy.” He laughed and I felt his initial rigidness wear away.

  “So Alexis, how has your morning been so far?” He picked up his coffee, his lips were full and the way he put them over the rim of his cup made my nipples tingle, I imagined him putting those lips on me. Seriously Alexis? You’ve been out of the house one day, one day and you have pretty much undressed this man in your head and now you want to do naughty things with him.

  “Well apart from spilling my drink on my Boss, it’s been great. I’ve enjoyed seeing this beautiful Hotel from behind the scenes, I’ve always loved City Towers, I stayed here once before with my husband, although he wasn’t my husband at the time.” Mr Clark raised his eyebrows and took another sip.

  “So how was it?”

  “The tour has been great, the staff are lovely and….”

  “No, not the tour, the time you stayed with Rick?” I was momentarily stunned, he said ‘Rick’; he knew my husband’s name. Then again he did say he made it a priority to know ‘Every tiny detail’. I decided this time it was impressive investigatory skills rather than creepy, so I smirked back at him. This seemed to amuse him, he really was quite cheeky, I liked this about him. He was a man with immense power and authority and here he was being very playful and cheeky with me. I thought I’d play along, why not? It’s just harmless fun.

  “So, you have done some creepy research.” I would never have talked to any of my previous employers like this nor flirt my arse off like I was doing now, but I honestly couldn’t help myself, it was though he was drawing this naughty little minx version of Alexis out of me.

  “It was wonderful, the room was sophisticated and the view breathtaking. However, we didn’t really leave the room all that much.” I cannot believe I just said that, I was on a roll, but could I keep it up? Quickly Alexis, say something else suggestive or give him a flirtatious smirk, or something. I couldn’t do it; instead I blushed bright red and looked down. Oh my God I am so out of my league. This sexy masculine man h
ad me in knots and I could not keep up.

  “I’m glad it served its purpose Alexis. I built this hotel with beauty and romance in mind, I want it to be enjoyed, whether it is down in the Casino or within the Suite walls.” I was still looking down at the cup in my hands, I was morbidly embarrassed by my offering of too much information.

  There was a knock at the door and Lucinda walked in followed by a food and beverage attendant with a trolley. Lucinda kindly ushered the young man to the coffee table in front of Mr Clark and I, he very carefully placed the Cloche down and removed the lid. It was a platter of fruit and some tasty morsels.

  “Thank you Sebastian that will be all.” Sebastian kindly nodded to Mr Clark and promptly pushed the trolley back out of the room with Lucinda following.

  “I don’t know about you Alexis but it is lunchtime and I like to eat my meals when they are due and as we are not done yet would you please join me for lunch?”

  “Oh yes, this looks wonderful, thank you.” It really did look wonderful, the fruit platter was divine and it seemed to only contain fruits that I could eat. Having Fructose Malabsorption definitely has its limitations but this platter was perfectly stacked with Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries and Bananas, the Cantaloupe and Orange segments were cut into flowers, they were gorgeous. It dawned on me that this was no co-incidence. I glanced up at Bryce and yes he was ‘smirking’.

  “Let me guess, more creepy research?”

  “It’s what I do Ms Summers.” He then reached for a strawberry and popped it into his mouth, I smiled and followed suit.