“Head up.” Mara patted her on the ass.
God, she loved her friends.
“Always.” Even so, she lifted her chin a few notches as she went to the car to climb in and slid over the supple leather seat.
They went to a restaurant for an early dinner. A place Jack hadn’t wanted to take. Said, she wouldn’t enjoy it.
She was determined to.
As the three women walked in, she sure as hell enjoyed turning all those heads.
This is like the movies where the beautiful women all either come around the corner or step outside. The action dropped to slow motion and all eyes were on them.
“Yep, just like that,” she murmured.
After they enjoyed their meal, they attended a Circe de Solei event. An experience that blew her mind with all the beauty and pageantry.
“Are you tired?” Mara demanded as the car cruised silently along the street.
“No.” She smiled and wriggled her toes inside her thigh high boots. “Just wallowing in the afterglow.”
Mara smirked. “I thought Velli didn’t touch you.”
“Had I touched her like that, she would be unable to walk much less speak. Those firm thighs would still be quivering.”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “Leave my thighs out of this. Firm or not.”
“Firm,” Velli chortled. “Very firm. Let’s go sing some karaoke.”
Neela perked up. “Haven’t done that in forever. Let’s go.”
Mara leaned forward and picked up the phone connecting her to the driver where she gave him their next destination. Velli poured them all a drink. With smiles they toasted and drank the champagne.
They rode laughing and reliving past adventures. When the limo pulled up to the bar, the urge to sing buzzed below her skin.
Together, the women walked in the establishment. The place was busy. A couple sang to the encouragement of the raucous crowd.
God, she couldn’t wait to get up there.
They pushed through to the bar and got another drink each before grabbing a table. An hour or so later as she made her way back to the table from a bathroom break, he, strode through the door as if he owned the place.
Hell, for all I know, he may.
Her thong grew damp, simply at the sight of him. It wasn’t fair. Flicking her tongue along her lips, she took a deep breath, pushed back her shoulders and headed for her friends.
At the table, she plucked Velli’s drink from her hand and downed it, her eyes watered and she sputtered from the burn.
“What the fuck is that?”
“Help yourself,” Velli drawled, taking back her glass. “It ain’t one of your fruity pussy drinks for sure. What gives?”
“He just walked in and I think it’s time for me to sing another song.”
The women looked in the direction she’d pointed and muttered unpleasantries beneath their breath. Velli nodded and rose.
“It is time for your solo and I know just the one to give you.”
She immediately shook her head. “I don’t need your help, in fact, I think I should skip a turn.”
“Fuck no. And you’re not running.”
“Who said I was running?” She crossed her arms briefly.
“So it’s normal for you to down Jack like its water? And I’m talking the alcohol, not the man.”
She let that go aware a response would garner something she wasn’t quite ready to get from them. “So that’s what that crap was? Figures. No wonder it burned like hell.”
Velli grinned and waved her toward the emcee who currently announced her next stage performance. Velli stopped at the guy running the music and spoke to him while Neela ascended the stage.
Neela wasn’t a shy person by any means but as the room fell silent, she nearly hesitated. Refusing to back down, she tossed her hair and stepped to the mike.
The music began and her lips curved up as it dawned on her what song Velli had chosen. Her friend was right. This was what she needed. Time to rock it.
* * *
Jack couldn’t tear his gaze from the woman on stage. Neela had the attention of everyone in the building. Men and women alike. Part of him wanted to dash up there and cover her with his jacket. The other part wanted to beat his chest and toss her over his shoulder.
He’d been searching for her even since he’d been a fucking dumbass and yelled at her in front of others, pouring out all their private business to them. It was now on social media and she’d been labeled a gold digging whore.
A call from a guy he’d consider an acquaintance informed him that she was here with some friends. No advanced warning could have prepared him for the sight that met him.
Her dress was scarlet red, and those beautiful toned legs of hers that he loved having wrapped around him as he fucked her, were covered in leather of the same ‘fuck me’ color. The dress was off the shoulder with short sleeves, a bit larger in the top and fitted for the skirt with ruching. The boots also had the ruching, along with some four-inch heels and pointed toe.
His cock roared to life, throbbing with a need to sink between those firm thighs and fuck her until the only words out of her mouth were either “yes” or “Jack.”
He knew she spied him but she didn’t stop from going up on the stage. In fact, she didn’t do anything other than look away from him.
Arrogant? Sure. She could act however she wanted, but he had no doubt she saw him there.
Her hair fell around her face in soft ringlets, shining in the bright stage light. Music began and he along with everyone else fell silent.
She brushed her hand through her hair, the silver bracelets glinting in the light. Her tongue flicked over her lips as she closed her eyes and began to sing. A strong powerful alto poured from her and he was mesmerized. All over again.
Her eyes ripped open, pinning him as she belted out the lyrics from “I’m Still Standing” never once taking her gaze from him. Not that he could look away. Or wanted to. Eventually the words sank into him and he realized she was announcing that she was fine with moving on alone.
No, he wasn’t ready to claim this over between them. He needed her.
Somewhere deep within her, he prayed she needed him as well.
Neela had the entire place rocking as she finished up. The moment she was done, she spun on her heels and strode off to thunderous applause. He tracked her and watched as she joined two other women at a table.
Jack hesitated a mere minute before he strode off in her direction, weaving through the tables as if they weren’t there, ignoring the heavy crowd he shoved through, until he stood before her and her friends. All three peered up at him before glancing away without a word to focus on the person who took the stage after Neela.
“A word, Neela.”
She slashed her gaze to him. “Try not to be disrespectful to the one on stage. I know it’s hard for you when you’re used to everyone bowing to you and treating you as if you’re a god. It takes a lot for some people to get up there and it’s rude to be standing there talking. Isn’t this kind of place beneath you and all your money?”
A few people around them were listening in. He accepted her reprimand, always had and would always do so. She meant something to him so he was not going to challenge that as he would have it come from anyone else.
Still, he couldn’t help searching for a bit of hurt in her tone. Unfortunately for him, all he found in that hunt was cold anger, no sign of pain.
Without taking his gaze from her, he yanked a chair from a nearby table and sat pressing his leg against hers. Scowling when she shifted away from his touch and refused to look in his direction, he settled his hand along the top of her boot, wishing he could delve beneath the leather and caress the silken skin of her leg. Her entire body stiffened, but she held her tongue and didn’t make a scene.
Not until the song was over. Then she gripped his wrist and moved his hand before she stood. Her friends mimicking the action. He tipped his head to gaze at her and crack!
&
nbsp; She smacked him hard.
“You lost the right to touch me when you accused me of sleeping with you to get to the top. When you did nothing to defend me to those around you calling me a whore. You’re not my boss, in fact, your nothing to me. So take your millions or billions, whatever it is, I don’t care, never did—not that you cared what I thought—and do whatever you were doing before we met in Georgia.”
“Fucking his way through the female population.”
He ignored the harsh comment from the sexy redhead.
Neela shrugged. “There you go then.” A brief glimpse to her friends before she spoke once more. “Shall we go ladies? There is still night left and this place suddenly has lost its appeal to me.”
“Five minutes, Neela.”
Christ, he was seconds away from tossing her over his shoulder to lock her away in his room.
She sucked on her teeth before delivering a line he’d stupidly said to her before the press. “You couldn’t afford me.”
As one the women walked out of the establishment, leaving him alone to face the amused and interested looks of those around. Neela departed with her head high. The crowd which had jostled him more than once, parted for them like the Red Sea had for Moses.
Jack shook his head and got to his own feet, following her out. He lengthened his stride as she began climbing into a limo.
“Neela!” Command laced his tone but unlike everyone else, she didn’t stop, turn, or even slow.
The driver closed the door behind the women and made his way to the driver’s side and moments later, the limo pulled away leaving him there, alone, feeling as if the door on his life had just slammed shut in his face.
6
Damn it, Neela. Open this goddamn door before I break it down.” Jack pounded on the wood separating him from the woman who wouldn’t leave him alone in his thoughts or dreams.
Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.
Anger simmering near the top, he whirled around to bark and snap at the one making that noise behind him, sending them away with their tail between their legs. It was the redhead that had been with Neela the night in the club.
She didn’t back up at all nor did she appear the least bit impressed or in awe of the man before her. Quite the opposite in fact, he read derision and a slow boiling anger in her gaze.
He raked his gaze over her, taking in the black outfit. The crop top was off her shoulders and the high waisted pants with loose legs, showcased her fit body. Matching stilettos added height and almost had them eye to eye. Sex on heels. In the past, she was the type of woman he would have been sleeping with for a night before he moved on. Right now, all he wanted was Neela.
“What do you want?”
“Your attitude may work wonders for you in your boardrooms, but I don’t give a flying fuck how much you own or what your name is. You want to talk to me, I suggest you find some politeness in that tone of yours. Now get out of my way.”
She didn’t give him a chance to say another word, just shoved him aside and put a key in the lock. A side eye and she opened the door.
“Property damage is frowned upon, especially when it is a property that I own,” she commented, pushing the door open all the way.
Jack didn’t wait for an invitation, just strode by her inside and froze. It had been cleared out. Even the furniture was gone. The floors were spotless. No sign that anyone lived there, not her, not the girls and not their uncle.
“Where is she?” he growled.
“Somewhere else.” She moved by him and went to the kitchen outcropping countertop where she placed a black leather bag.
Jack thought about the time he’d fucked Neela on that counter until his legs could barely hold him up.
The redhead picked up an envelope and opened it. After she drew out the sheet of paper, he turned his attention to the rest of the small place. His mind raced with possibilities.
“How the hell did all of this get moved up and out so quickly?”
“Things don’t have to work on your timeline,” she said, putting the letter back into the envelope and subsequently back into her purse. “You can leave now.”
Jack crossed his arms. “Where is she?”
“I’ll never tell you. All I will say is this. You should have treated her better if you wanted her to stay in your life.”
Unkind words flowed to the surface yet by the will of God he managed to keep them contained. It wasn’t her fault that he’d spoken callous words.
“Is she okay? Does she need anything?”
The woman cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow as she stared at him with a new level of disdain he’d been unsure any one person could express on their features.
“She never needed anything from you. That arrogance was your own hubris. She was with you for one reason only, she wanted to be. Not because of what you may be able to offer her other than you. Neela doesn’t give a damn about money, never has. She’s not one of your gold digging whores like your media is calling her.”
The woman moved toward him, reminding Jack of a King cobra, mesmerizing the prey as it closed in for the kill. Warning spiked up his spine, yet he refused to move. He was desperate for any information she would give him if it meant facing her wrath then so be it.
“We may not have the billions you do, or the automated house that takes all the fun out of living by disguising it as something forward thinking and progressive. The new wave of what is to come, but we have something you’ll never have.”
She shooed him toward the door. He allowed her to moved him that direction.
“What’s that?” he asked as they both went into the hall.
“Family.”
She was right. Other than Toby and Melinda, he didn’t have any and hearing that fact from another didn’t bother him until he’d not had Neela in his life.
He dug for his business card and held it out. She blinked and never made a move to take it from his outstretched hand.
“Give this to her and have her call me if she needs anything.”
“You truly are a self-absorbed asshole. She was your assistant, your personal assistant for months. Don’t you think she knows how to reach out to you if she wanted? And I had such high hopes when she told us about you. Thought perhaps you were the one we would actually get to meet. So not the case.”
“She never talked about you to me.”
“She didn’t trust you enough. Which tells me all I need to know.”
After a final scathing look, she strutted off down the walk to the waiting dark gray SUV and slid in the back with a comment to the driver who held the door for her. Jack stared after her as she was whisked away.
His own vehicle and driver still waited. Off in the distance, black clouds rolled in, bringing with them the promise of more bad weather. Lightning sliced through the clouds and even from this distance the thunder could not only be heard, but also felt.
Back in his vehicle, he gave the destination to his driver and leaned back against the leather seat.
Her friend owns the building she lived in. I’ve been an idiot, I was so focused on keeping her beside me I, didn’t check to see about her friends aside from Paulson. And that was only because of jealousy.
All those months and I found ways to weasel out of taking her to places I know she would have loved. Places I would have loved to take her and have the world see her on my arm.
“Here you are, Mr. Perrot.”
Sliding from the seat, he nodded once to the man there, holding the door, standing there, holding an umbrella out for him. He took the handle and sighed.
“Take the rest of the day off, Paul. I’m not going out again. Go home and spend time with your family.”
Paul gave him a short nod. “Thank you sir. Call me if you need to go anywhere.” Paul shut the door.
“I’m serious, Paul. Go home. I’m not leaving again today.”
“Yes sir. Thank you sir.”
Letting it go, he strode inside the building, handing the umbrella over to the doo
rman with a muted ‘thank you’ then continued on to his elevator that took him to the penthouse.
Welcome home, Jacques.
It wasn’t the feminine voice he wanted waiting for him.
“Any messages?”
Just one from Ms. Fitzgerald.
His heart stopped then began again at triple the speed. “Why didn’t you forward her to me? I told you to do that.”
It was at her request.
“Since when do you listen to anyone else?”
Since Ms. Fitzgerald would play chess with me and talk to me as if I were more than a piece of artificial intelligence.
He shrugged out of his suit coat and reached for his tie. “Just play the damn message.”
At your command, Jacques. Here it is, left today at three-twenty-seven pm.
“Hello Jack.”
His heart clenched at the sound of her voice, deep and throaty as it was in his dreams since the day he met her.
“I’m sure today, Ms. Donna put my resignation paper on your desk. I’m done. I should have trusted my gut and never taken that job. I don’t blame you, not fully. Could you have stood up for me? Certainly, but then people may get the mistaken idea that you actually have a heart or soul. We both know that’s not true. The outfits you purchased for me will be returned as well, all of them. I want nothing from the time we spent together. And as much as I want to be petty and wish you shit for the rest of your life, I refuse to give you that kind of power over me. My wanting to hate you would allow that to be as I would expend my energy on keeping that anger alive when I have much better things to do with my time. So I will leave you with this. Have a good life.”
She was gone.
“Did she say anything else?”
That was the full extent of the message, Jacques.
He walked to the bar and started drinking. “Play it again.”
Did you miss part of the message? I can recap it for you if you would like.
He downed the drink, it burned as it sailed down his throat. “Play the goddamn message again!”
Four days later, his mood had only soured further.
“Mr. Perrot, you have a visitor who wasn’t on your schedule.”
Seduction in a Suit: An Office Romance Collection Page 126
