“Yes, but your safety is my utmost concern, there you go all buckled in.” He reached for a headset for me from under my seat. Now his head was basically in my lap. Seriously Bryce you are killing me. I clenched my thighs together as hard as they would go. Think about Poo and Snot and Baby Vomit and all things disgusting Alexis. This man was getting the better of me, I’m not sure I like him getting the better of me. I do like it, but do I like him having the upper hand? I could step it up a little and try and beat him at his own smirking, flirting and groping game, but will it work? Or will it just fuel his fire? Is that crossing the line? I’m married, he isn’t. I’m dwelling on this far too much, probably because I have just had an emotional couple of hours. It’s easy, go with the flow, but don’t cross any lines.
“Do you know what it is you are looking for down there, Mr Clark?” I opened my legs to allow him easier access but kept my knees well and truly together, he gritted his teeth and didn’t look at me for a moment or two. When he did finally meet my gaze, his eyes burned with lust.
“I always know what I’m looking for down in this vicinity, Ms Summers.” He removed his hand from beneath my seat and placed the headset in my lap, it took every ounce of me to keep my knees together.
“I should hope so, Mr Clark.” I put the headset on, he burst into laughter, took it off my head, turned it around and put it on the correct way, continuing to laugh and shake his head as he closed my door. He jumped in and we took off for City Towers, as we approached his magnificent building he circled it once. I shouted through the headset, although I forgot I didn’t need to shout.
“Admiring your handy work Mr Clark? The view is just beautiful.” He spoke so softly through the headset.
“The one next to me is better.” I looked over at him in shock, he didn’t return my gaze. He landed the chopper and helped me out, there was awkwardness between us from his declaration moments ago. I followed him inside to his bar, he got two glasses out, poured himself a Scotch and me a Gin. We sat down on the lounge opposite each other and he handed me my drink.
“You and your creepy research.” Gin is my drink of choice.
“It’s….” I mimicked his voice.
“I know, I know. It’s what I do Ms Summers.” I raised my glass. “Cheers, Congratulations Uncle Bryce.” He squinted his eyes at me and I reckon if we were a lot younger he would have probably poked his tongue out too, he leaned over and clinked my glass.
“Thanks, what a morning! I’ve got to hand it to you ladies, that is a hard act to follow.” I laughed.
“What child birth? Ha, that’s not an act, she did a great job and so did you.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it if you weren’t there.” He looked at me sincerely.
“Really Alexis, you were amazing and you kept me grounded, that’s,” he hesitated a moment. “That’s not something I’m used to.” He leaned back on his couch, putting one arm up on the head rest and the other one resting on his leg holding his Scotch. He looked so comfortable, and so incredibly hot in his jeans and t-shirt, it was a loose t-shirt, but due to the size of his pecks and biceps it clung to him in all the right places.
“Thank you, but it was nothing really, it pays to have experienced it yourself that’s all.” I tried to dismiss his compliment, I’m really not very good at receiving compliments, it’s not that I don’t get them, Rick is always telling me he loves me and praising me, it’s just I don’t think I deserve such sentiments for being just me. Now, if I had actually delivered Lucy’s son, well yes, I’d accept the praise!
“Oh, by the way, you have Jessica scheduled in at 3pm, I didn’t know who she was or how to contact her so I was unable to cancel, also I didn’t cancel the 5 o’clock meeting either.”
“Don’t worry about Jessica, I’ll deal with her.” He obviously didn’t know Lucy had filled me in on who Jessica actually was, it was completely understandable that he would see a therapist, what he had been through was terrible. I didn’t question him any further about Jessica, if he was protecting his pride, then who was I to bring that protection down.
“So Alexis, did Lucy give you a tour when you were here last?”
“Yes, just briefly, your apartment is amazing, she mentioned she stayed here every now and again, which must be nice. She also mentioned you had a private elevator and an Observatory. It was only a quick tour, mainly just to familiarise me with yours truly so that I can do my job more efficiently.” I was sounding defensive, I really didn’t want him to think I was snooping around his place.
“And rightly so, you will need to get to know me very well in order to do your job properly, which is why I have configured your keycard to allow access to my apartment.”
“Oh, thanks.” Slightly confused I took another swig. Shit, access to his private residence.
“So what else has my darling sister told you about me?” He looked so laid back and with a touch of arrogance, he lounged back on his couch. It was this display that seemed to trigger my inner naughty Alexis.
“Who says she’s told me anything, I may have my own talent in creepy research!” I decided I’d mimic his relaxed position, so I wiggled back into the seat, crossed my legs and put one arm behind my head. Alexis, you probably look ridiculous!
His stare penetrated my body to its core, my heart started to pound, the physical and sexual tension in the space between us was immense. I noticed his free hand clench into a fist, then release again. What was I doing? I was beginning to understand just how much I was affecting him and possibly torturing him, this wasn’t me, I’m not normally like this. It’s just I can't help myself around him, I think he does this to me.
“Well lets hear it? Your creepy research that is.” His tension, eased!
“Ok, you are incredibly wealthy and innovative and have created an empire of luxurious Hotels worldwide. You’re 36 years of age, adore your sister and baby nephew. You have impeccable taste in décor. You are a Helicopter Pilot, Guitarist, Pianist, Astronomer and Martial Art Guru. You like to cook, conduct creepy research and you have an allergy to nuts!” He leaned forward and placed his empty glass on the coffee table between us.
“Is that all?” Grrrr, the arrogance of this man. I placed my empty glass down on the coffee table also.
“You suffered a devastating loss, when your parents and younger brother died in a car accident. You have an estranged relationship with your Uncle, yet seem to get along with his son. You are highly desirable by women all around you yet you remain single. Why? Because, you haven’t met your match yet!” I sat there frozen, Oh Fuck, did I just say all that? Shit, shit, he is going to have me thrown out. I stood straight up and put my hands to my mouth.
“Shit, I’m so sorry. I, I didn’t mean, Shit” I spun around and practically ran for the front door.
Seconds later I felt a hand on my arm and I was suddenly pinned against the entryway wall, he had both hands pressed against the wall on either side of my head.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said any of that, it was inappropriate and rude. I’m so sorry.” He looked directly into my eyes.
“Don’t be sorry, you were right, except for one thing, I have found my match.” He leaned in and kissed me passionately, he moved his hands from the wall and placed them on the sides of my face. I was momentarily stunned, my hands were splayed out on the wall behind me, at first I wanted to fight him off, but he tasted so good. He was a superb kisser, his lips were soft and his tongue was incredible, it possessed mine entirely, I opened my eyes, and pushed him back.
“Stop,” I whispered
“I can’t do this!” He didn’t argue, he rested his forehead on mine.
“I can’t do this Bryce. I’m married and I love my husband, I’m not the kind of person to cheat, ever” I fought back the tears, he moved aside to provide some space between us and put one hand in his hair and the other across his mouth.
“Shit, Alexis, I’m sorry. Fuck!” He turned away and headed for the kitchen. I stood there with my back against th
e wall for what seemed like eternity. What have I done? This is all your fault Alexis. You flirted with him knowing he had feelings for you. You crossed the line and lead him on. Now you have hurt him and fucked up your job. I pushed off the wall and cautiously entered the kitchen. Bryce was leaning against the bench with his head in his hands.
“Bryce, this is all my fault, I shouldn’t have flirted with you, I was enjoying it a lot, maybe too much and I let it go too far. I’m sorry. I never thought you would want to take it any further, I’ll go and clear out my stuff.”
“Alexis No.” He was firm, yet fragile.
“Alexis, please don’t leave, I should never have kissed you without your consent, I promise it won’t happen again. I want you to stay and I think you want to stay as well.”
I did want to stay, more than anything. This past week has been amazing, I have felt energetic, exhilarated and a bit like the Alexis I once was before I had kids. Don’t get me wrong I love my kids and I love being a mother and wife, but I gave up my single life very early on and sacrificed my career for a family. I would never go back on those decisions nor do I regret them at all, this was now the time to get a little bit of the old me back and I needed that for my own sanity. I just lost control a little bit, that’s all.
“No I don’t want to leave, I love being here, I feel like I was meant to be here, but I am married and I have two beautiful children that depend on me to make decisions in their best interest.”
“I know, I’m sorry. Just don’t leave, I need you to stay.”
“I’m not going anywhere Bryce if you don’t want me too, but I do need some air. You’re about to see Jessica and I need lunch.”
“In that case take as much time as you need, although the meeting tonight will still go ahead, so I’ll see you back in the office at five.” He gave me an unsure smile, I nodded my head and exited the room. I left his apartment I headed straight for the elevator, I had to get some fresh air and dissect what the hell just happened. Alexis, what had just happened was so horribly wrong, but somehow it felt right, it felt very right, how could that be?
CHAPTER EIGHT
I pressed level 2 and headed for what felt like my sanctuary in this place, to my disappointment the sundeck was so busy, too busy to clear my head. That being the case I thought I would go and check out the Aquarium, the Aquarium was built like a cylinder 2 stories high, it was surrounded by a spiral staircase that went from level 1 to level 2. I peered into the it, swimming around were lots of different tropical fish, I didn’t know what species they were, except for Nemo, the sharks and the sting ray. My mind was swimming around just like these fish, I felt terribly guilty, if Rick found out what just happened he’d be furious but more importantly hurt. Rick had become close to a family friend once and although it never ended in a passionate embrace, or so he said, it still hurt terribly that he let himself get in that situation in the first place and here I was in the same position and it happened so easily. I knew I wanted to stay, l loved it here, but I had to be stronger, I couldn’t let this happen again.
I stopped on the landing in between the two levels, I was watching Nemo swim back and forth, he was looking at me, I swear he twitched his fin at me. Don’t judge Nemo, I really am a good person. He swam off, probably in disgust. I peered deeper into the tank and noticed a person looking back at me, it scared the shit out of me at first, but then I realised it was Gareth and he was around the other side of the tank on the stairs. He smiled, waved and started to climb the steps towards me.
“Alexis, nice to see you again, so how have you settled in?” Gareth was attractive, he wasn’t as tall as Bryce, his hair was light brown and short. He gave me the creeps, I don’t know what it was about him, he was pleasant enough, he just gave me the heebee jeebeez.
“Hi Gareth, I’ve settled in just fine, although, I’ll be without my teacher now.”
“Oh?” He looked at me quizzically.
“Lucy gave birth this morning.” He had no idea. Shit did I just put my foot in it?
“Lovely, what did she have a boy or girl?” Again he had no idea, I didn’t want to share any more information, it wasn’t mine to share.
“Um, I’m not too sure, listen I hate to be rude but I have to be somewhere, it was nice to see you again.” I smiled and climbed the stairs to level 2, I could feel his eyes pierce deep into my back and it gave me a chill.
I made my way to the hotel kitchen, I was starving and felt quite ill from the encounter with Gareth, I grabbed myself a salad sandwich and a much needed cup of tea. Abigail walked in as I was about to head back up to my desk.
“Alexis, how are you Love, how’s Lucy doing, did she have the baby?”
“Yes, Abigail she did, she did a wonderful job, I’m hoping to go and see her tomorrow.”
“Oh, wonderful, so how is your new position going?”
“Great, Bryce is a lovely person and very easy to work for.” He is also incredibly irresistible and tempting and I was lip locked with him over an hour ago.
“That’s great Alexis, I’m glad you are enjoying the change. If you do see Lucy tomorrow please pass on my congratulations, babies are such wonderful gifts.” I knew only too well what she meant, my babies were the greatest gifts I’d ever received and I missed them so much, I needed to do something special with them this weekend. Maybe I could bring them in to see where I work and see the baby, I know Charlotte would enjoy that.
“Yes, they are the greatest gifts of all. I must be off Abigail, I’ve been summoned to a meeting with Bryce to brainstorm ideas for the new family friendly rooms in the Promenade.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Really? Hhhhm quite impressive Alexis.” She smiled and let me pass.
I made my way to the elevator, drink and sandwich in hand. Impressive what did she mean by impressive? The fact that Promenade is being renovated or that I’m helping with ideas, or something else entirely? I felt there was so much more going on around here, more than I was aware of. The elevator doors opened and Bryce was standing there with a sophisticated red head who was dressed in a grey feminine business suit, her hair was up and she had glasses perched on the end of her nose. Who is this toffee-nosed carrot top? He placed his hand across the elevator door for ‘Miss Carrot Top’ and smiled looking somewhat relieved when I stepped out.
“Thank you Jessica, I will see you next month.” Of course, Jessica. Ok maybe I was a bit quick to label her ‘Miss Carrot Top’. She tilted her head down just a little so she could see me over the frame of her glasses. Is she sizing me up?
“Yes Bryce, you will.” She stepped into the elevator and pushed her glasses right up to her eyes.
“Afternoon Mrs Summers.” I couldn’t bring myself to smile at her as I sensed a bit of hostility on her part.
“Afternoon.” The doors closed behind me and Bryce’s smile had turned to irritation, which I’m assuming was directed at Jessica.
“Alexis, you came back?” He leaned up against the glass window.
“I thought you might decide to leave.”
“I told you I’m not going anywhere. What happened was my fault and I won’t let it happen again.” I continued on to my desk.
“Have you eaten anything?”
“Yes, I ordered afternoon tea during my appointment with Jessica.”
“Ah, Jessica, who is she exactly? She obviously knows who I am.”
“Alexis, are you telling me your creepy research did not extend to Jessica?”
“Ok Bryce, let’s not play dumb, you told your therapist about me. She obviously knows something because I now have frost bite after her icy reception.” He put his hands down on my desk.
“Not bad! I may need to employ your creepy research services in future!” I looked up at him.
“I doubt that, you are very well equipped with those skills yourself.” Changing the subject, I thought I would get some information on exactly what this meeting would be about and what was required of me so that I don’t look like a deer in headlights
.
“Who are we talking with at this meeting and what do you need from me?” I started to bite into my sandwich. Oh thank goodness, I didn’t need my stomach gurgling any louder than it had only minutes ago. I sipped my tea, Bryce was ‘smirking’ at me again.
“You really need to stop doing that.” I mumbled with a full mouth.
“What?” The ‘smirk’ grew bigger. I glared at him.
“We are meeting with my head designer Patrick, I want you to give him ideas of what you would expect in a hotel room labelled ‘family friendly’.” That doesn’t seem too daunting, I took another bite of my sandwich.
“He will be here in about 15 minutes, so finish your lunch and bring him in when he arrives. Ok?” He smiled weakly and headed into his office.
Patrick arrived promptly, I introduced myself and escorted him into Bryce’s office. He laid out some sketch boards on the coffee table and pulled out his iPad.
“Well, Mr Clark, as you can see from the sketches the transformation is not diabolical, adding some extra walls here and there, and taking some out. I’d like to change the colour palette to neutral, contemporary doesn’t suit the demographic. Furniture changes like bunk beds and sofa beds.” Patrick rambled on a little longer. I was almost certain this dude had no kids.
“Patrick, Alexis is a mother of two and I think her thoughts and expectations on what should constitute a ‘family friendly’ room are paramount in deciding the design changes.” Patrick sat back and rested the iPad on his lap.
“I see.” He looked at me in expectation. Oh that’s my cue. I cleared my throat.
“Ok, um, alright. If I was sitting at home behind my lap top looking up hotel rooms to book for a family holiday and came across a hotel advertising and promoting ‘family friendly’ rooms, I would expect safety as a given. It wouldn’t be a selling point, it would be expected. Firstly, I’m not sure what levels you are thinking of renovating but high rise levels would freak parents out. None of us really want to be 10, 15, 20 stories high with kids, so levels closer to the ground would be better. Secondly, rooms with accessible balconies, again, freak parents out, so either no exterior doors or doors that are key locked with the locks being at the top of the door and the parents having the choice to acquire a key or not.” Bryce sat back, relaxed and put his arm on the head rest of the couch, I remembered how much I liked seeing him like this, he smiled at me so I continued.
Temptation (The Temptation Series) Page 6
