Relentless: A Royal Secret Baby Romance (The Alabaster Club)
Page 5
“This night was magical,” she said honestly with a small smile on her face.
On her tiptoes, her lips found his and she let out a small sigh of pleasure as he deepened the kiss. As the kissing became hungrier, Royce grabbed her waist and placed her down on the bed, never breaking contact with her. Royce trailed kisses down her neck, her collarbone, and finally the soft, plump skin of her breast that was heaving with her labored breathing. As he ran his hand down her waist and leg, she arched her back, making him push her legs apart with a small growl. He lifted her a little as he pressed himself against her, crushing his lips back against hers with passion.
Royce could feel how eager she was to have him, but there was something in the back of his mind that told him it would be a bad idea. Normally, he wouldn’t think twice about ripping her clothes off and taking her right then and there, but was he really going to do this drunkenly with her? Something about her was different, and he didn’t want to treat her like all the other women he bedded. He would tease her, he would drive her crazy, but he wasn’t going to have sex with her. She clearly wanted it, and as much as it killed him to not drive himself into her, he had to think clearly about what he was doing.
He continued to kiss her, working his way down her low-cut dress and kissing the tops of her tits before working his way up again. This was going to be harder than he thought, but he’d please her in a different way.
This was still going to feel amazing, he would make sure of it.
Chapter 13
The sound of the shower woke Paige the next morning, and she couldn’t help but smile to herself. It was almost unbelievable that she had slept in the same bed with a man as rich as the duke. It felt dreamlike.
She recalled the night before, and knew that they hadn’t gone all the way, but he had taken her to a whole new level of erotic and foreplay she had never imagined existed. She was a little surprised he hadn’t had sex with her, but she had been busy feeling so good she wasn’t going to complain. She so wanted to know how he felt about the evening they spent together, but she didn’t know how she was going to approach it with him.
Paige thought about joining him in the shower and hopefully turn up the heat to a whole new level. Her erogenous zones were sensitized and begging to be stroked again. And she was dying to explore what he kept hidden beneath his clothing. She had strong values and they were screaming out at her to respect her boundaries. Paige made the decision that the best thing to do would be to stay in bed until he came out again.
If he came out and she was still in her underwear, she knew she would have a better chance of seducing him. But if she were to be dressed already, there was no telling what he would say or do. Perhaps he would tell her that it was time for her to go, perhaps he would ask her to stay.
Either way, the suspense was killing her. Her body wanted him but her mind told her to calm down and be reasonable.
Paige took a deep breath and to distract herself, she checked her phone. There were at least a dozen messages from Candy, but she decided to hold off on updating her. She didn’t want to deal with all the questions when she herself didn’t know what was going to happen. She knew her friend would only make her more agitated about what she was possibly doing, and may give her advice she may not want.
Her thoughts were interrupted as there was a short, quick knock on the door. Before she had the chance to even react, it flew open and Royce’s advisor walked in. Paige grabbed the covers and dragged it up to her neck, hiding her bare tits beneath the sheets. William barely reacted as he scanned the room.
“Miss, it’s time for you to go. The duke has more important things to do with his day than entertain hookers he picked up at clubs the night before,” William said without giving her the chance to speak. Paige was deeply affronted, but she knew that this man was closer to Royce than anyone else, and she decided to let it slide.
“I-I need to get dressed,” she said, still a bit shocked.
“So, do it,” he barked.
“Can you leave the room?” she asked with an indignant voice. She wasn’t just upset, she was totally pissed, and she wanted to tell him to fuck the hell off.
“No, I cannot. You don’t have anything I have not seen before. I have to speak with him as soon as he’s out of the bathroom. He’s already late for several meetings he was supposed to attend this morning, and I’m sure I have you to thank for that!” he snapped. She looked at him with defiance in her eyes, but he stepped forward and literally yanked her out of bed.
“The sooner you get out of here, the less likely it’s going to be for me to call security!” William snapped. Paige grabbed her clothes and slipped her undergarments on haphazardly, arguing with him at the same time. She was trying to buy time as much as possible, hoping Royce would come back into the room before she was so rudely shoved out.
“I need to get my things,” she said. She felt nauseous from the alcohol the night before and knew she couldn’t leave her purse. William, on the other hand, had already gathered most of her things and shoved them into her arms.
“There you are, and there’s the door. Now come on, let’s get you out of here before we have to deal with more drama than necessary. I would really rather not have to call security, you know. They aren’t that pleasant when it comes to these high-end hotels.” William said as he walked behind her.
“I want to say goodbye to Royce,” Paige blurted out. Her mind was spinning, and she didn’t know what else to say. She was only in her lingerie, and she felt awkward in front of his man, but he didn’t even seem to notice. In fact, he didn’t seem to even care that he was shoving her out into the hallway practically naked.
“There’s not going to be any need for that. He wants me to convey to you that he had a great time last night and said something about calling you when he gets the chance. You have to understand that this is no ordinary man we are talking about, and you have to respect the boundaries that are set in place. Now, I’ll thank you to take your leave!” William was standing right behind her, almost pushing her out the door.
“Just five more seconds!” Paige begged. Before he had the chance to argue with her, she grabbed the notepad beside the phone, and as quickly as she could, she scrawled her name and number on the yellow paper. She tore off the note and held it out to William.
“Please tell him that’s my number, and I would love to hear from him when he gets the chance,” she said.
“Fine, now just get out.” He snatched the paper from her and pushed her out the door, closing it behind her before she had the chance to argue further. Paige stood for a moment, trying to grasp what just happened to her. One second, she had been lying in bed waiting for the man of her dreams to come back out of the shower and maybe take her into his arms, then the next minute she found herself shoved out of the room and the door slammed in her face.
Standing in the hallway in her underwear no less, with her dress clutched in her hands. How humiliating.
She quickly grabbed her dress and struggled to get it on, trying to get dressed before anyone else came around the corner of the hall. She felt mortified and disrespected, and even hurt in a way. She wanted to know what right he had to treat her like that, and whether Royce’s message to her was true.
There were so many thoughts rushing through her mind, but she knew William was also right. Royce wasn’t an ordinary man. He was one of the richest men who had been at the party the night before, and he was the heir to his very own country.
Paige realized she was in over her head. How dumb was she to think she could pursue a relationship with someone so powerful? He was so out of her league. With a sigh, she slowly started down the hall. She had to get home and take a shower—she had to be to work in an hour and a half.
As she blinked against the sunlight outside, it all finally came crashing down: fantasy time was over, and it was time for her to get back to her ordinary life with a little dignity gone and perhaps her dream guy as well.
Chapter 14
“There you are. Took some time to track you down, but I figured you weren’t going to sacrifice luxury for privacy,” he said with a flat tone.
“I told you I’m sorry about last night, and I’m going to smooth things over. But I wanted to get to know that girl, and there was no way I could with the other members of the club there. I just wanted some time with her away from all that,” Royce said as he grabbed his clothes and started putting them on.
“Now, tell me what you said to her, because I find it strange that she left without saying goodbye to me,” he said in a tight voice with his back turned. William sighed.
“I didn’t say anything at all to her. I came in and asked for forgiveness that I walked in on her in bed, and she quickly got up and left, apologizing on her way out. She said something about getting ready for work.” William put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Really, my friend, you can’t seriously expect every woman to find you so irresistible that she wants more than just one night with you.”
Royce smirked to himself, but then frowned. Part of him didn’t believe his friend, but at the same time a little doubt seeped in—she hadn’t left her number or anything. But then again, they hadn’t gone all the way last night. Maybe she was disappointed? Offended? Royce did not know what to make of her abrupt departure, and William wasn’t going to give him the chance to think about the situation.
“Now that that’s all done and over with, I think it’s time you turned your attention back to the whole reason we were here in the first place. Get the rest of your clothes on and let’s go,” William said. Royce sighed. He knew that the day was going to be long and drawn out, filled with meetings and boring old men, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Do you have everything set up?” he asked, and William nodded.
“We are going to grab breakfast on the go, something light, then we’ll be meeting with some of the investors from last night. Thankfully not everyone was turned off by the behavior of that waitress,” William said, shooting Royce a look, “and there are still a few people who are willing to move forward with what we discussed.” William clasped his hands together as he walked back and forth.
It didn’t make sense that William was blaming Paige for not having many potential deals, since they hadn’t even been linked during the event, but he chose to ignore that fact.
“Did you hear anything else about the man she threw food on?” Royce asked. There was a brief pause in the room before William let out a snort. He didn’t bother to hide his feelings about the issue, and he let Royce know it.
“No, of course not. It’s hard to find sympathy in someone who had their two-hundred-thousand-dollar suit ruined by some waitress. It didn’t help matters that you went chasing after the girl subsequently,” he said.
“Well, I meant what I said to him,” Royce replied. “The guy was being an absolute ass to her, and he’s married no less. No woman deserves such treatment.”
“That is not your problem. You are here on a mission to help support the country you are going to rule over one day. You need to be thinking about the people who need your help. They are your people. You’ve got to start thinking about your position and the actions you take,” William lectured him, crossing his arms.
Royce didn’t say anything in reply and finished gathering the rest of his things. He knew his friend was right. He did have to start looking at the big picture of his life. He had known from the beginning Paige wasn’t the right fit for him logically. She didn’t come from wealth or power, but that thought couldn’t stop him from thinking about the way she made him feel. She had such an appealing style and attitude, which was a continuous source of fascination for him.
There was nothing more unattractive than dating a woman who slept with you for your money and the power you wielded. Paige was the complete opposite. The seduction was so sweet it felt like she casted a spell over him. The sight of her body took his breath away. He didn’t want to go back to dating women who were stiff and uptight. They were after him for a title and fame. Who didn’t want to be the duchess of a country? He had a lot to offer, but they weren’t offering him much in return, and he was rather tired of fighting them over it.
“Did she give you her number or anything?” Royce asked hopefully.
“Royce, like I said, you’re going to have to forget about that one. I’m sorry that things didn’t turn out like you hoped, but you’ve got to focus on why we came to America, not some random girl you picked up at an event,” William said again.
“But did she?” he pressed.
William sighed in exasperation. “No, she did not give me her number. I don’t see it anywhere around here either, so I don’t think she wants you to contact her. That’s all I’m saying.”
Royce wanted to argue, but he knew there was no point. Perhaps William was right after all. Perhaps she didn’t want to hear from him again. Her life was so different from his, perhaps she was living a fantasy the night before just as much as he was.
Of course, without being able to talk to her again, he would never know.
The two men checked out of the hotel and got a cab, heading for their first meeting of the day. Royce promised William multiple times he would focus on the business and do what he could to keep things moving forward, but in spite of that promise, he couldn’t get his mind off Paige.
He had to find her, he knew he did, but he didn’t know a thing about her. All he had to go on was her name, but with as many people as there were in the city, he didn’t know if that was enough. To make matters even worse, he couldn’t for the life of him remember what she said her last name was.
Paige. Paige the Goddess was all he had to go on, and he knew he may as well be looking for a needle in a haystack.
But the nagging feeling wouldn’t leave. Throughout the entire day, all he could think about was her face. Her body. The way she moved on the dance floor, her body grinding against his. Throughout all the meetings he would have given anything to be back there with her, even for just one more song.
Finally, Royce knew he couldn’t take it anymore. At the end of the last meeting, he got up and headed for the door as quickly as he could.
“And where are you going?” William asked, looking at him as though he were his son rather than his boss.
“I’m going to go smooth things out with Mr. Harvey,” Royce lied.
Let that keep you out of my business for a while.
Chapter 15
Royce shut off his cell phone as soon as he was out of the meeting. The last thing he wanted was for William to try to get a hold of him. If William was sent straight to voicemail when he tried to call, it would be a clear message for him to fuck off, which is exactly what Royce wanted.
He went straight back to the restaurant from the night before as soon as he was able to get a cab, but to his dismay, he didn’t see Paige anywhere. He knew Mr. Harvey had told her he was going to have her fired the night before, but he had hoped that it was nothing more than a threat made in anger, and that Mr. Harvey would change his mind about going through with it.
“Excuse me, miss, but I’m looking for a waitress who was here last night,” he said, stopping one of the girls with a tray full of drinks.
“Sir, there were a lot of waitresses here last night,” she replied with a puzzled look on her face. “Some of them might not be here anymore, either.”
“What do you mean?” he asked with a frown.
“I’m saying that a lot of things happened last night, and several people were fired. If you want to find someone, your best bet is to ask our manager,” she replied as she pointed over her shoulder. A man was standing at the bar, wiping down glasses and putting them in the rack above his he
ad.
Royce squared his shoulders and walked over to the bar, leaning on it nonchalantly as he waited for the man to make eye contact with him.
“What’re you having?” the bartender asked, clearly annoyed.
Royce shook his head. “I’m actually looking for someone who was working here last night. I talked to one of the waitresses and she said there were several people fired, and I’m hoping that she wasn’t one of them. She did, er, have an incident with a guest, though.”
“If you’re talking about the girl who dumped the food all over one of our guests, then of course she’s not coming back. I’m not going to put up with that kind of behavior from anyone. Besides, she was temporary anyway,” he said with a shrug. “The friend of one of the other girls who works here.”
“Can you point me in the right direction?” Royce asked, feeling a glimmer of hope run through him.
“What do I look like? A spy?” came the tart reply. Royce sighed as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out his wallet and threw some money down on the bar.
“I’ll make it worth your time. It’s very important that I get a hold of that girl, and I’ll track her down in one way or another. But you can make this a lot easier for me by telling me which of your girls is friends with her,” Royce said with a sly smile. The man looked down at the money then back up at him, then snatched the bills off the counter.
“Her name is Candy, but she doesn’t come in until later. Now, I’m not your bitch, so don’t you think I’m going to be passing along any notes or anything like that. I gave you your help, now get out of my face,” he said. He turned his back before Royce had the chance to say anything else, and Royce sighed.