Lucas, Samantha - The Seduction of Anne Ruby [The Seduction 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Samantha Lucas

  “Hey, baby, how was your day?”

  “Fine.”

  It was more than fine. She’d had the best day of her life. After their conversation at the gazebo, Grey had given her a real tour of the zoo, and the conversation and laughter flowed easily between them all afternoon. He had opened up to her about deciding to move to Hollywood, accidentally falling into acting, and how much he loved bringing a character to life. She could have listened to him explain the complexities of working up a role all day, but eventually, and somewhat tragically, she absolutely had to go home and get a few hours of sleep.

  She smiled secretly to herself remembering how Grey told her he’d rain check her remaining two questions.

  “That’s good.”

  Jordan’s tone told her she was looking for more details, but Anne kept her focus on the coffee grounds. It was just past eleven, and the lounge was empty as usual at this time of night. While they did get the occasional night owl with a laptop, she was just as glad there were no guests around tonight. She refused to acknowledge the little pang in her heart that had hoped Grey would be there.

  She started the new pot of coffee, emptied and took down the second pot, and disposed of the leftover hors d’oeuvres from the evening’s cocktail hour. All the while, her hands shook. It happened the second she walked in the building. She was looking forward to their next meeting. She wondered what he would do with her. She was willing to give herself to him completely, even though it made no sense. She was actually more than simply willing. She wanted it, but she had a long night of work ahead of her, and she needed to focus.

  “I’m going to take the dishes back to room service. You need anything while I’m gone?”

  Jordan jumped up from the desk. “No. I’ll do it.”

  Anne narrowed her gaze with suspicion. “You never do it.”

  Jordan tidied up her work space, putting all the forms in a drawer and leaving the desk entirely cleared off, with the exception of the flat-screen monitor, and came to take the dishes from her hand. “There’s a new hottie down there.” She crinkled her nose flirtatiously. “I want to acquaint myself.”

  Anne didn’t argue, though she didn’t entirely buy her reason, either. She let Jordan take the dishes and went to straightening the rest of the lounge, then booted up the guest screen to see who all was still on the floor. It was something she did every night. Technically it was part of her job, but if she were entirely honest, tonight she just wanted to know if Grey still remained in the hotel. He said he’d be in touch, and he knew where to find her when he wanted her, but that didn’t reassure her much about whether she’d ever see him again. Still, that feeling in her gut told her she most definitely would and that she was in for the ride of her life with the man.

  Grey wasn’t registered, but then, neither were half the people she knew were sleeping right down the hall at the moment. She looked at the names of the guests that were registered and wondered which alias was his. She should have at least gotten a room number out of him.

  Realizing she was bordering on obsession, she shut down the screen and went to check the half-dozen flower arrangements. There was never much to do on these overnight shifts. They only scheduled two people for safety, because one person could have done this job with their eyes closed.

  She opened the drawer where her purse was stashed and reached for the new book she bought earlier that day, feeling her skin heat as she touched the novel. She’d always read romance novels since she was a teen, but this was the first time she’d ever ventured over a few aisles from the romance section to the erotic romance section and had selected a story about a woman’s first foray into the BDSM world. It seemed an appropriate read given the circumstances.

  She pushed the book back inside her purse and walked into the hallway, looking down each direction, but not a soul was visible. She closed her eyes and went back to the desk.

  “This is ridiculous.”

  She felt like she was back in junior high, waiting on Mark Sinclair to ask her to the homecoming dance, which of course he never did.

  She blew out a breath and reminded herself of all her failures with men. The memory of Grey started to fade. It was the only sensible thing to do. After all, when she wrapped her brain around it, she couldn’t even believe she thought it truly possible that he could want her. Not to mention that she admitted to him she wanted to be dominated! Until today, she hadn’t known she had. She couldn’t have explained it if she tried, but something in Grey’s eyes, in his tone, when he said he wanted to dominate her, touched something at her core. It lit a fire that was now burning hot, and she knew that was exactly what she wanted as well.

  Only now she was forced to wait, and she was not historically known for her patience.

  She went back into the lounge and pulled her book back out from her purse. She would push Grey, and the way her body felt even at the thought of him, far from her mind. It was probably her best hope for sanity.

  The book started the same all romances did, boy meets girl, kind of how she’d met Grey. She smiled, and her insides warmed. She shook her head and went back to reading. By the time she heard the elevator ding the arrival of someone, she’d gotten through three chapters and the heroine was about to be seriously debauched by the hero.

  Good lord, I want to be debauched by Grey.

  She drew a breath and forced herself to focus on the book and fictional couple.

  “Oh my God, seriously, Randy Kinsey is now officially the hottest employee at this hotel.” Jordan leaned back on the desk and giggled. “I’m so going to get that man into my bed.”

  Anne brought her reading glasses partway down her nose and looked up at her friend. “How on earth do you do it?”

  Jordan stood and turned to face her head-on and blinked innocently. “Do what?”

  Anne shoved her glasses and book back into her purse and stood up. She was agitated, due in large part because she knew the man with all the answers she sought was somewhere within a few hundred feet of her this very minute but didn’t see it a priority to come say, “hi,” or “thanks for breakfast” or “wanna take your first submissive lesson here on the desk?”

  She balled her hands into fists, refusing to give in to the petty tantrum she was feeling.

  “Sex. Why is it such an easy thing for you? Why aren’t you even the tiniest bit unsure of yourself or reserved? I mean, is there a line you won’t cross for physical pleasure?” Her voice rose to a high-pitched shriek at the end, which showed the extent of how tightly wound she was at the moment.

  Jordan’s raw look of concern only supported what she already knew—she was losing it. She’d only known the man for about twenty-four hours, which didn’t bode well for a lasting, satisfying relationship. Perhaps running while she still had the chance would be the best option. Of course, he may have already done that… She was driving herself literally insane.

  Jordan rubbed her arms as she looked down on her with a motherly look of concern. “I’m very comfortable with my sexuality, true, but yes, I have limits. Everyone has limits, but it’s because I know what mine are, and I know I have the ability to express those with the men I let into my bed that allows me to thoroughly enjoy the things I do engage in.”

  She thought about that for a moment and realized she didn’t know anything really about what she liked. There had been a few times with Cole where things had felt pretty good, but more often than not, sex with him had been about what felt good to him. She mentally shrugged. Didn’t matter, and if she started overanalyzing things, as she was known to do, all she would end up with was a headache.

  “That makes sense, actually.” Then a rogue thought barreled through her mind. “But how did you figure all that out in the first place?” She pulled away and paced to the windows, staring out at the quiet city below. “I’m driving myself crazy, Jordan.” She turned back to face her friend. “I’m tired of being alone, and I’m tired of pushing down things I feel, desires…”

  Fantasies.


  Emotion started to well up, and it pissed her off. She’d worked so hard over the years to keep all of this bottled up, and one afternoon at the zoo had undone all of that hard work and left her teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

  Jordan walked close and sighed. “Aw, honey, I’m sorry. I never should have let Grey hit on you. My gut told me that, but I thought if a guy like Grey flirted with you a bit, it might loosen you up.” Her smile went crooked, she nearly looked sick. “I just thought maybe it’d give you some confidence, but I should have known better. I mean, you were in over your head with a man like that, and I just yanked the life preserver out of the water. I’m so sorry.”

  Anne shook her head, trying to make sense of what Jordan was saying, but as usual, she was mostly lost, but there was one thread in there she had picked up on and was important.

  “Wait, what? You let him?”

  Jordan groaned and tugged on Anne’s arms, dragging her across the room before collapsing to the long bench sofa permanently built into the wall beneath the windows.

  “He asked me to clear out for a while last night so he could chat with you. He seemed harmless enough, and I didn’t realize you were going to leave the hotel with him after your shift, but even when you did, I just thought it would be an adventure.”

  Anne drew a long breath. “You know what, it really doesn’t matter. He took me to the zoo, we ate hot dogs, had a nice time if I’m honest, but come on, in what world does a Hollywood star start up some grand affair with a desk clerk at a hotel? He may fuck her, but—”

  “Oh my God! You said fuck!”

  She smiled. “I did.”

  The word was written a lot in that book she was reading, and she’d said it with Grey. Now she said it just to see how the word would feel on her tongue. It wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. She sank onto the sofa beside Jordan. “I wasn’t expecting a marriage proposal, but I was kind of hoping he’d have left a note or something.”

  “Well, he’s an idiot if he doesn’t see how amazing you are.”

  She shrugged. “What he probably saw was just how inexperienced I am, and it scared him off.”

  Her naivety had scared off her last three dates. A fulfilling romantic life was not in the cards for her, but she still hoped to have a satisfying sex life like Jordan had.

  “I know what room he’s in. You wanna go down there and tell him off?”

  “Good God no!” She started to grasp just how ridiculous she was being. “I just want to forget him. Some day maybe it’ll be a cool story. Right now, though, I just feel sort of stupid.”

  Jordan took her hand. “Don’t. He’s a major player. There was just something about him that made me think…”

  She stopped there, but Anne knew what she was thinking. It was sort of nice to think that even Jordan had a romantic streak in her somewhere.

  “Hey, ladies, ready for lunch?”

  Both women looked at Thomas as if they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, then laughed. Jordan moved first from the sofa, pinching Thomas’s butt on her way by. “It’s kinda early, but sounds good, baby.”

  Thomas gasped and turned. “I swear, woman, you are incorrigible.”

  She smiled over her shoulder as she headed for the elevator, “Don’t you know it, baby.”

  Anne laughed, gave Thomas a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, and yanked her purse from the drawer. “Thanks, Thomas.”

  “Yep, have a great lunch, ladies.”

  Anne followed to the elevator bay where Jordan was already holding open a door for her. Perhaps what she was feeling for Grey was too much to be real anyway, but one thing the experience had taught her for sure, she was done living this half existence, ignoring what she really needed and desired out of life and out of a man. Now the only question was what was she going to do about it?

  * * * *

  Grey looked at his watch for what must have been the fortieth time over the past hour. It was nearly three in the morning. Anne would be back from her lunch break by now, and he had plans for her that were rapidly unraveling as he sat in a bar with his friends, Vaughn and Jake, two of the guys from Bon Jovi, and three roadies, watching them all drink, sing, dance, and flirt.

  He had agreed to be the designated driver, although that was when he thought it would just be him and Jake and he figured they’d be back at the hotel by midnight. Now he was in a foul mood, thinking that if he’d been able to read the future, he would have told them all just to take the fucking limo. Being sober did not have to make one a doormat. Regardless of how the evening had unfolded, he was now stuck, about thirty minutes away from the little temptress who had his cock hard and his mind wound in knots for the entire day.

  “Another Coke, Grey?” The waitress smiled down at him sweetly, resting a tray of empty glasses on her hip.

  He picked up his glass and looked into the watered-down liquid. “No, love. I think I’m about Coked out.”

  Her gaze heated as her smile grew wide. “Can I do anything else for you then?”

  He chuckled, remembering a different time in his life when he’d be the one drunk by now, lining up a drug score, and fucking anything in the room with the right genitals, but those were definitely different days.

  “No, sweetheart. I’m the good boy tonight.”

  Disappointment clearly registered on her face. “Well, if you change your mind, I get off in thirty.”

  He watched as Vaughn pulled a little blonde down into his lap and continued to watch as he immediately slid his hand under her short skirt and saw the look register on her face when he knew Vaughn’s fingers were in her pussy.

  “Good God, I need to get out of here.”

  The waitress had moved a booth away as she continued to gather empty glasses.

  “Actually, love—” He stood out of the booth, reached into his jeans pocket, and pulled out the keys to Jake’s truck. “You have a license?”

  Her eyes got big. “I do.”

  He pushed the keys into her hands. “Then take good care of my friends, will you? Make sure they make it home okay. Don’t waste your wiles on Jake. He’s lovesick over an unattainable woman, but the others are fair game.” He kissed her cheek and headed for the door. “Have fun!”

  He pulled out his cell as he walked through the door and punched in the number for the hotel, wondering why he hadn’t thought of this hours ago. Too busy feeling sorry for himself, no doubt. Within a half hour, the car sent by the hotel pulled up. By the time he finally got to the hotel, it was after four, and he wondered what Anne was doing right then.

  He’d really enjoyed their time today at the zoo. Not just the sexual tension between them, as much as that pleased him. It always pleasantly surprised him how easy it was simply to talk to her. He had probably bored her to death with shop talk, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. In a way, it was his way of keeping her there way past when she should have been home asleep.

  There was so much he wanted to know about her, but once he had her naked in his bed he imagined he’d unravel her secrets fast enough. He pushed the button for the fourteenth floor and tried not to get aggravated with the lack of a dedicated concierge elevator and the three stops the car made on its journey.

  When he finally stepped off the elevator, his blood was humming, his cock was hard, and he couldn’t wait to see her. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt such attraction to a woman before. He supposed it was simply the self-imposed celibacy of the past three months, a celibacy streak that he was determined to end in a blaze of glory buried between the fair Anne’s lovely thighs.

  Disappointment congealed into a rock in his gut when he walked in the lounge and she was nowhere in sight.

  “Where is she?”

  Jordan looked up from the magazine she was reading and glared at him.

  “She went home. Where were you, jackass?”

  He growled and ran his hand through his hair before punching the wall beside him.

  “Damn it!” He shook the p
ain out of his hand and turned back to Jordan. “Wait, why did she go home? She wasn’t off until seven, right?”

  Jordan stood up and folded her arms hard across her chest.

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe she felt like an idiot sitting here hoping some man-whore would show up and make her feel all squishy inside.” She stepped closer and poked her finger into his chest. “I told you she was different. That she was sensitive. You promised me you weren’t fucking with her!”

  He caught her hand and pushed it away from him.

  “I wasn’t…I’m not. I went out for drinks with some of the guys, and it got later.” His excuse sounded lame even to his own ears.

  “Oh, because drinking’s always been such a good choice for you. I thought you were sober, because if I thought you were still drinking I never—”

  “Back down, bulldog. I wasn’t drinking. I was the designated driver, which was why I couldn’t leave.”

  “Bullshit.”

  She moved away and sat back down behind the desk, propped her cheek on her palm, and went back to her magazine. Grey really wasn’t in the mood to argue with this chick, but he knew how friends worked, and if he didn’t get passed Jordan, he’d never get to Anne again.

  “Look, I fucked up. The night started out with one plan, but things changed and…” He brushed back his hair, holding it to his head with his palm. “I don’t shift gears all that fast sometimes. Tell me how I can make it up to her.”

  “You can’t.”

  She didn’t even look up from her magazines. Grey was so damn frustrated. He was pissed because this was important, and he’d blown it. His lame excuse nagged at him. Why hadn’t he just called for a car for his friends? Why hadn’t he simply put his foot down and said he was leaving? In hindsight, there must have been a dozen ways he could have gotten around this to be here when Anne showed up to work. He hadn’t, though, as much as he’d wanted to. Why not?

  Instantly, he knew the answer, and he wasn’t pleased with it at all, but if he stopped to analyze it, he’d be dead in the water, and regardless of what he wanted or didn’t, he owed Anne, at the very least, an apology.