Seducing Lola

by Jessica Prince Author

  She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a man’s voice. “Ah, there’s my baby girl.”

  The fake cadence in his tone set me on edge, and it took everything in my power not to knock the old man’s teeth down his throat when he pulled Lola from my side and planted a kiss on each of her cheeks. It took a real piece of shit to use his own child to further his career goals.

  “Just as beautiful as I remember. You remember Chelsea, right?” he said by way of introduction to the woman on his arm, but that was all the attention he granted her. It was clear she was nothing more than a trophy, and judging by the diamonds glittering on her neck and ears, she was more than okay being an older man’s arm candy.

  “Dad,” Dominic gritted out, coming to stop at the man’s side. “I told you, now’s not the time.”

  “Nonsense!” the man declared on a chuckle. “A father should always take an interest in the man in his daughter’s life.” He turned from Lola, blatantly dismissing her, and extended his hand to me. “Roberto Abbatelli. It’s a pleasure to meet you, son.”

  I looked down at his hand like it was a piece of flaming trash. “I know who you are.”

  Oblivious to the venom in my tone, or simply not caring, he lifted the hand I ignored and patted me on the shoulder. “I was so glad to find out my girl caught the eye of an esteemed man such as yourself. It speaks well of her character that she was able to land a shark among so many fish. But then, her beauty is enough to catch any man’s attention, am I right?”

  Chelsea stared off into space with a blank, bored look on her face, as though she was used to hearing the man she’d tied herself to speak so low of women. It spoke volumes to the kind of man Roberto Abbatelli was.

  “Jesus, Dad,” Dominic grunted at the same time Lola spoke up with a furious “Seriously?”

  “Sweetheart, why don’t you take Chelsea to powder your nose, or whatever it is you women do, while I talk business with your man?”

  “I’m sorry,” she bit out sarcastically. “Did I fall asleep and wake up in the nineteen-fucking-fifties? Did you really just say that to me?” She was going to blow. That fiery spirit of hers I’d come to love and admire so much had been brought to the surface at her father’s chauvinistic comment, and I feared her head was just seconds away from exploding all over the room. I needed to intervene before she did something that warranted the police being called… or worse, landed her old man in the hospital. Not that he wouldn’t have deserved it.

  “Leave,” I said, drawing everyone in our small circle’s attention with just that one sharp command.

  “Excuse me?” Roberto chuckled again.

  “I said leave. I have no desire to talk business or anything else with you. Your daughter doesn’t want you here, so you need to go.”

  The old man sputtered indignantly, his face growing red with embarrassment. “Why… you can’t be serious.”

  “I most certainly am. You’ve been in my presence for all of two minutes and managed to belittle your daughter and make an ass out of yourself in that short amount of time. If Lola hadn’t already made me aware of what a slimy motherfucker you were, your actions would have made it abundantly clear. I know exactly what you were hoping to gain by approaching me, and I’m more than glad to inform you that I’ll do business with a spineless, dickless piece of shit such as yourself over my cold, dead, rotting fucking body. Now if you’ll excuse me, dinner is about to be served, so I need to get my girl to her seat. She’s impossible to deal with when she’s hungry.”

  Without so much as a backward glance, I led Lola away from her father and to our reserved seats.

  “That was….” She trailed off as I pulled her chair out for her. “I am so turned on right now,” she leaned in and whispered once I sat down next to her.

  “Man.” Dominic came up behind me and clapped me on the shoulder with a laugh. “That was fucking outstanding!” He turned to Lola. “Let the record show that I totally approve, shorty. You’ve got a good one here.”

  “So noted.” She grinned. “Now get your ass away from our table before Sophia sees you.”

  He offered his sister another smile and took off just seconds before Daphne and Sophia joined us. Caleb followed next, taking the empty chair to Daphne’s right, and proceeded to try and engage her in conversation. It was obvious to everyone watching that she wasn’t the slightest bit interested, which only made him work that much harder. He’d been fixated on the blonde since he first laid eyes on her down in the studio more than a month before.

  My mother and father, Nana, Deacon, and Fiona rounded out the rest of our table. Dinner was surprisingly enjoyable, everyone laughing and chatting amicably. Even Lola and Fiona tipped their heads together, whispering and laughing at certain points. The anxiety that had been knotting my gut for the past two weeks finally started to dissipate, and I felt calm and relaxed for the first time.

  That was until the MC got up on stage and announced that it was time to start the bachelorette auction.

  “Fuck me,” I muttered into my glass of whiskey.

  “It’ll be fine,” Lola leaned in and whispered with a smile.

  “How the hell is it going to be fine? I’m probably going to go broke tonight just trying to keep you away from all the other motherfuckers in this room.”

  She giggled happily and gave me a quick kiss before standing from her chair. “Trust me?”

  I let out a disgruntled sigh, but nodded. No matter what, I trusted her. I just hoped she didn’t mind dating a poor man, because I had a feeling bidding on Lola Abbatelli was going to drain my bank account substantially.

  Lola

  “GOOD EVENING, LADIES and gentlemen.” I smiled past the mic in my hand at the large crowd, making a conscious effort to avoid eye contact with Grayson. I was afraid I’d lose my nerve and chicken out again if I looked into his eyes. And I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t do that to us.

  I’d already made the girls aware of the change in plans. Now all that was left was to make the announcement. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so nervous. Public speaking was my thing. But standing there on the small stage as the ballroom fell quiet, I was a jittery mess.

  “Thank you all so much for coming out tonight to help support the Wave Foundation. As you all know from previous years, I, along with the other ladies of Girl Talk, like to do our bit to raise even more money for this cause. And this year is no different. After deliberating about what we could do to make everyone reach even further into their wallets, we finally came up with the perfect idea. What better way to raise money than a bachelorette auction, right?”

  The crowd clapped and applauded excitedly, clearly loving the idea that Sophia, Daphne, and I had come up with, just as we’d hoped. “We decided that we’d auction ourselves off for a date to the highest bidder — now, hold on,” I said over the playful laughter and cheers. “It’s just a date, so don’t get too excited,” I teased, earning more chuckles.

  “But after we came up with this brilliant idea, something changed,” I continued, finally finding the courage to look in Grayson’s direction. “See that devastatingly handsome man sitting right over there?” I pointed at him, drawing the entire room’s attention his way, silently reveling in the way his cheeks tinged pink under everyone’s scrutiny. “Well, we came up with the plan for the bachelorette auction before I ever met him. But now that I’ve had a chance get to know him…” Here goes nothing. “…and fall in crazy stupid love with him, I decided it wouldn’t be right to offer up something that was no longer mine to give.”

  I ignored the surprised gasps and “awes” of the crowd and kept my focus trained on Grayson’s shocked face. “Because the truth is, I belong to him completely. And it wouldn’t be fair to him. But to make up for the fact that I unexpectedly — and somewhat unwillingly, at times — gave my heart to that sexy man shortly after publicly humiliating him on the radio” — more laughter — “I’ve enlisted the help of a friend to take my place, and I’m c
ertain you’ll all be thrilled with my choice.”

  My eyes inadvertently went to Deacon as I announced, “So please welcome the beautiful Fiona Prentice to the stage.” I didn’t miss the way his jaw dropped open, or the way lust clouded his vision as he watched Fiona make her way up the steps to where I stood next to my two best friends. “Gentlemen, get your checkbooks ready. And let the auction begin!”

  With that, I handed the mic back over to the MC and made my way off the stage on shaky legs. Grayson was standing there as soon as I cleared the last step.

  “Gray—” Before I could get another word out, his mouth was on mine, his tongue invading in a soul-destroying kiss that rendered my knees completely ineffective. Luckily, he was holding me tightly against him so he took my weight instead of letting me fall to the floor.

  He ripped his lips from mine before I was ready. “Did you mean it?” he panted, his voice rough and jagged.

  “I’m in love with you,” I said as an answer. “I’ve been in love with you for a long time. I just wouldn’t let myself believe it.”

  “Christ, baby,” he grunted, dropping his forehead against mine and tangling his fingers in my hair. “You have no idea what you’ve just done. There’s no fucking way I’m ever letting you go now.”

  I wrapped my fingers around his wrists, holding his hands in place as I nuzzled into his touch. “Well I’d hope not, seeing as I just publicly declared my love for you. It would be humiliating if you did, and then I’d have to kill you. Can you imagine the PR the company would have to do?” I bugged my eyes out comically. “Talk about a disaster.”

  He chuckled deeply, then declared, “God, I love you so much.”

  “I love you too,” I replied, a huge smile splitting my face in two. “But there’s still one last hurdle we have to jump before we have our cheesy, clichéd happily ever after.”

  “I took an online quiz that said I’d belong to Ravenclaw, so if you’re worried I’d end up in Slytherin, it’s not a problem.”

  My mouth dropped open in complete shock. “God, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted you more than I do right now. You’re going to get so lucky tonight.”

  He let out a deep belly laugh that made my insides all melty. “Good to know my research on Harry Potter is such a turn-on for you.”

  “While I’m thrilled you’d go to such great lengths to prove your devotion to me, that’s not the hurdle I was talking about.”

  “Whatever it is, we’ll get through it.”

  I pulled back and gave him a skeptical frown. “You say that now… but you haven’t met my mother.”

  If there was ever a statement more deserving of ominous background music, I hadn’t heard it. But he didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

  Poor guy. He didn’t have a clue what he was in for.

  Grayson

  Three months later

  “BABY, WILL YOU just relax? You’re starting to drive me crazy.”

  Lola stood from where she’d been hunched over, dusting the bookshelves for the millionth time that day, and gave me a look that said she was trying to set me on fire with her eyes.

  “You could help, you know,” she harrumphed, propping her hands on her luscious hips. “It is your house, after all.”

  “Ah, ah, ah,” I tsked, standing from the sectional and setting my beer bottle down on the side table before closing the space between us. “It’s our house now, baby.” I took her hips in my hands and pulled her against me. The feel of her tits pressing into my chest caused my dick to stir.

  “Silly me. How could I forget,” she breathed, burrowing closer. Her light-brown eyes darkened with want as the dust cloth fell from her hand and her fingers came up the trace my abs beneath my T-shirt. We couldn’t get enough of each other. Since we’d started our cohabitation, we’d spent every single free second we had tearing each other’s clothes off. It was fucking bliss.

  Despite her reservations, it had taken me no time at all to win her mother over. Moms loved me, after all. Then it took approximately a week after the gala to convince her to move in with me. Which, in hindsight, worked out perfectly, since her mother and Maury had hit it off so well they’d run off to Vegas and eloped. Her mom was living in Lola’s old apartment with her new husband.

  Now Lola’s stuff mingled with mine, creating a warm, comfortable feel in a house that had once been devoid of personality. She breathed life into the place — she breathed life into me. She’d done what I’d always hoped for and turned my house into a home.

  “I know something that’ll relieve some of your stress,” I growled, nuzzling the crook of her neck and biting at her tantalizing skin.

  She let out a low hum that made my cock stand at full attention. “That sounds — wait… no.” She gave me a hard shove that sent me back a step. “Stop trying to distract me with your sexy body! We’ve got too much to do and everyone will be here in—” She looked at the clock hanging on the living room wall and her eyes went wide. “—three hours!”

  “Baby.” I hunched down and caught her eyes. “Calm down, okay? The house is spotless. You’ve been cleaning it for the past two days. There’s literally nothing left to clean. You’re cleaning cleanness. You need to relax. It’s not like we don’t already know each other’s families.”

  Her face fell into a sexy little pout. Jesus, even her pout got me hard. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m just nervous. This is the first time our families are meeting. And your people are so great and mine are kind of nuts, and I’m scared it’s going to go wrong.”

  “Everyone’s going to get along great. You’ll see.”

  Her frown didn’t lessen as her fingers toyed with the cotton of my shirt. “You say that now, but don’t come crying to me when a West Side Story-style brawl breaks out in your living room. My mother’s certifiable, and Nana’s squirrely. I don’t trust her with that cane.”

  I laughed and leaned in planting a kiss on her lips. “Sometimes your imagination frightens me.”

  “As it should.” She nodded seriously. “But I’m being real here. What if something happens and my brother punches you again? It could totally happen.”

  “He’s not going to punch me,” I assured her. “Besides, I’m his boss now, so he’s too busy trying to make a good impression to even think about punching me.”

  “This is true,” she muttered to my shirt.

  That was just another of the many changes that had occurred in the past few months. After the showdown between me and their father at the gala, Dominic had decided it was time to cut the last of the strings that held him to an unhealthy relationship, quitting his job with his father. He’d pulled up his roots and moved from New York to Seattle, officially becoming an employee of Bandwidth Communications a month back, much to Sophia’s detriment.

  There had been a lot of adjustment on everyone’s part, but everything seemed to be going well, and life was moving at its regularly set pace no matter what. And for the first time ever, Lola and I were hosting a dinner at our house — catered, of course, since my girl couldn’t cook for shit — so our families could finally meet. I’d never felt so happy in my life. I just needed to get my woman to loosen up and get onboard the happy train with me.

  “Do you love me?” I asked, leaning down and nipping her bottom lip.

  “Yes,” she sighed dreamily, tilting her head back so I knew she wanted my attention on her neck. I was glad to give her whatever she wanted, placing open-mouth kisses along her throat to her collarbone. “Do you love me?”

  “Baby, I think I’ve loved you since the minute you shot me down in line at Starbucks. You were just slow on the uptake.”

  She giggled and leaned in even closer. “It was the dress,” she teased.

  “Oh, it was definitely the dress,” I agreed, my voice dipping low. “That dress is burned into my fucking brain. But it was also the woman in that dress.”

  She stood on her tiptoes, her lips sliding along mine as she spoke. “My man is so getting lucky tonight.”


  And just like that… life got even better.

  The End

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