Tempt Me (Temptation Series Book 1)

by Kally Ash

  “How’s my darling Erin?” she asked. “Has she settled in?”

  “As much as a seven-month-old can,” he replied with a small smile. “She’s good. I don’t think she’s even realized we’re living in a different city.”

  “I’m sorry I left you high and dry with her. Have you adjusted okay?”

  His mind went back to Gigi’s face. She looked like an angel, but he had a feeling if he pushed her too hard, she could grow horns and a tail. “I’ve managed to find a nanny,” he heard himself say. It wasn’t exactly true. He’d managed to potentially get himself a nanny—depending on the whims of said nanny.

  “So soon? How did you manage that?”

  “Pure luck, really. One of the new waitresses had a roommate who was looking for work.”

  “Well, don’t hold out on me, Max. Tell me about this person,” she urged.

  “Her name is Gianna—Gigi—and she’s a college student. She’s too focused on her studies to go out and party, so she really is the perfect person for the job.”

  “Is she pretty?”

  His mom’s question left him speechless. Pretty didn’t seem like a descriptive enough word. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Stunning. All of these words seemed much more fitting. But the word naïve also seemed to fit Gigi—innocent, guileless, and very, very unaware of what she was…of what she could be. She was the opposite of Chelsea in every way.

  “Max?”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” He tried to keep the growl from his voice.

  She chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes. What hours will she be working?”

  He frowned at his mother’s words. “We haven’t worked out the particulars yet.”

  “When does she start?”

  “As soon as I can convince her to,” he replied. “Look, Mom, I hate to cut you short…”

  “No, you’re right. I should get back to your father. I’ll call you in a few days with an update.”

  “All right. Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

  “Love you, too, Max. Give Erin a big kiss and hug from me.”

  “I will.”

  Max hung up the phone and finished the sandwich. His plan to have Gigi as his nanny was taking a little longer than he’d anticipated. He didn’t want to push her to make a decision too quickly, especially since their talk over breakfast had been somewhat progressive. But without someone available to look after Erin that night, it looked like his daughter was going to a night club opening. That would be something to tell her on her twenty-first birthday.

  Chapter 10

  Gigi returned to the apartment to the sound of retching coming from the bathroom. Silently placing her messenger bag on the floor by the front door, Gigi approach the bathroom.

  “Jen?” There was a pained groan followed by more violent sounds. “Jen, are you all right?” Gigi asked, placing her hand on the door handle only to find it locked. “Jen?”

  “Kill me,” Jen moaned. The toilet flushed.

  She sank to her knees, her hand still resting against the door. “What’s wrong?”

  The lock disengaged and Gigi immediately opened the door. The overwhelming smell of vomit hit her nostrils, causing her to seal her lips up tight. Jen was slumped against the toilet, her cheek pressed to the closed lid. She was pale and shaky. Gigi swept her damp blonde hair away from her forehead and felt her temperature.

  “You’re burning up, Jen.”

  “Kill me,” she repeated, her eyes still tightly closed.

  “How long have you been vomiting for?”

  Jen waved a hand in the air. “Don’t know. Hours? Days? Argh, it feels like days.”

  She pursed her lips. Jen had been fine when she’d left no more than an hour or two before. “When do you start work?”

  “At four,” Jen managed to whisper, her eyes squeezing shut more tightly.

  Gigi looked at her watch. It was only midday. There was still time for her to rest and recover. “Come on. I’ll help you get into bed.” She helped her roommate get onto her feet. Together they shuffled towards Jen’s room where Gigi tucked her into bed and went to fetch some water and a bottle of Gatorade. She placed them on the bedside table. “Get some sleep. I’ll check in on you, and if you can, try to drink this,” she said, gesturing to the two bottles on her bedside.

  “You’re the best, Gigi,” Jen murmured before falling to sleep.

  She went back to the bathroom and opened the cupboard under the sink. She found some bleach, a pair of gloves and a rag and got to work cleaning the bathroom. She checked in on Jen then went into her room to study.

  When she resurfaced at three-thirty, Jen was still asleep and her temperature was still high. Gently, she woke her up. “Jen, you have to go to work in half an hour.”

  “Kill me,” Jen said, and Gigi rolled her eyes. She could at least come up with something more original.

  “I’m not going to kill you. I am, however, going to call Max to let him know you won’t be coming in.”

  Jen replied by making a gagging noise and bolting to the bathroom. Gigi sighed and retreated to her room to find her phone. She pulled up Max’s contact details and made the call. His rich voice on the other end was just his voicemail. She left a message then hung up. Making her way to the bathroom, she found Jen passed out on the bathroom floor.

  When she tried to move her, Jen weakly fought her off. “Leave me here. It’s cold and I don’t have to run as far.”

  “I’m going to try Max again. Hang tight.”

  Three more voicemails later, and another dozen hang-ups, Gigi gave up. Max obviously couldn’t hear his phone. She had to phone the club directly. A quick search on the Internet couldn’t help her. Because the club was so new, no number had been added to the business details, which left her with only one choice.

  She put her shoes back on, grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

  Chapter 11

  Max felt his pockets for his phone, and found they were empty. He must have left the goddamn thing in his office. It was nearly five o’clock and almost all of the staff rostered on for the opening were there…almost all of them. Jen Jacobs was missing, and he was just about ready to fire her ass if she didn’t turn up in the next five minutes with a valid excuse.

  Five minutes went by without so much as her blonde hair in sight.

  Everyone else had managed to make it there, and they were all working their asses off just as he expected. He knew Jen was going to be the fucking thorn in his side. This stunt was just another mark against her name.

  He scanned the bar, finding all of the waitresses carefully avoiding his gaze. He had them polishing the glassware again, and the bartenders were taking inventory…again. The club officially opened at six, and nervous, excited energy was filling the room. Max strode towards Jeremy, who was stocking one of the last empty fridges.

  “How are we doing? Are we all set?” he asked.

  The guy looked up from his work, sliding the pencil he’d been marking the inventory off with behind his ear. “We’re good. We got an extra box of Bombay from the supplier. I’ve stuck it in storage, but other than that, we’re square and right on track.”

  Max nodded, glad to hear something was going right. “Are all your guys here?”

  “Yeah, they all arrived on time. Yours?”

  Max ground his teeth. “Jacobs is missing.”

  “Jen?” Jeremy asked, looking surprised. “I ran into her at the gym this morning. She said she was looking forward to coming in today.”

  Max’s brow arched. “You saw her at the gym? Forgive me, but she doesn’t look like the kind of girl who would hit the gym very often.”

  Jeremy smiled. “She’s not. She came to check me out.”

  Somehow, that did not surprise him. “Have you heard from her? I mean, I assume you’ve already given her your number.”

  “You know me too well,” he replied. He slid his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen.

  “Nothing yet.”

/>   “She’s got one more fucking minute to show up. If she doesn’t, she’s fired and I’m calling in one of the other girls.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “This is your show, boss.”

  Max stalked away, heading to the front door to look outside. Just as he stepped out into the late afternoon heat, his eyes zeroed in on a very familiar figure.

  “Gigi?” he asked, watching her come to an abrupt stop. Her eyes started at his face then slowly made their way down his body. He was wearing a fitted black button down with a black tie and a pair of black slacks. Her eyes lingered on his hips and he couldn’t help but smirk. “Gianna?” he asked again, his voice stern.

  Her eyes darted up and a blush fanned across her lovely cheeks. “Sorry. Yes. Hi,” she replied.

  “What are you doing here?” He ushered her into the club. It took his eyes a few moments to readjust from the bright sunlight his retinas had been bathing in not two seconds ago. Gigi was looking around, taking in the décor.

  “This is nice,” she said absently.

  “Gigi, what are you doing here?” he repeated.

  “Oh. I tried calling you, and I left a bunch of messages.”

  “I left my phone in the office. I was about to go and get it. Why were you calling?”

  “It’s about Jen. She’s really sick. I came home after meeting you and she was vomiting violently. She managed to sleep for a while, but she started vomiting again as soon as she woke up. Suffice it to say, she won’t be able to make it in tonight. I know she was looking forward to it.”

  “Thanks for coming down to tell me.”

  She smiled at him, and Max’s icy exterior melted just a little. “Did you find a sitter?”

  “A sitter?”

  “For Erin,” she replied.

  Impulsively, he took her hand, pausing just a second to think about how soft her skin was before taking her back to the office. Everyone they passed stared, but he ignored them.

  “Max, where are we—” Gigi began, just as he pulled open the door. He knew it wasn’t ideal, but he had Erin set up in a playpen with all the toys he had brought with him from LA. He spent as much time as he could back there with her, but he also had to focus on work and make sure everything ran like a well-oiled machine.

  “You brought her to work with you?” Gigi asked, bending down to pick up Erin; Max couldn’t help but stare at her perfect ass as she did. When she turned around, his eyes shot back to her face.

  “I didn’t have a choice,” he replied. “The girl I want to hire as a nanny left me with no real answer to my job proposition, and I won’t be getting someone else until I know what her decision is.”

  She frowned at him. “You should have told me you were stuck. I would have helped you out.”

  “You made it abundantly clear this morning that you weren’t prepared to start working for me just yet, even with my generous remuneration package.”

  Her frown deepened. “You can’t bring your seven-month-old daughter to a nightclub.”

  Max did feel guilty about it, but like he’d just told her: he’d had no choice. “So what are you going to do about it?” he asked, watching Gigi bounce Erin on her hip.

  She met his gaze steadily. “I’m going to stay right here and look after her.”

  Even fucking better. He thought she’d tell him to give her his apartment keys so she could watch Erin at his place. But this way, Max could come and see them both whenever he wanted, and with the way he was feeling about Gigi, it would be a bonus to lay his eyes on her once an hour.

  “Good,” he said. “Want anything to drink?”

  “Just a soda,” she said, her attention firmly fixed on his daughter.

  Max left the office and made a beeline for one of the bars. He reached for a glass and bottle of Coke from the fridge and dropped them off to Gigi.

  Looking over her shoulder at him, she smiled. “Thanks.”

  Goddamn, her smile was amazing. He didn’t return it though. It would ruin his reputation for being an asshole. Instead, he picked up his phone and a clipboard from the desk. “Text me if you need anything.”

  And with that, he turned and left. Outside in the hallway, he pulled up the directory of all the staff on his phone and started ringing to find a replacement for Jen. With such short notice, he thought he’d have to call at least ten people before he found someone willing to fill in. He was pleasantly surprised when the second girl he called said she’d be there soon.

  In a quarter of an hour, the club would be opened, but Max was determined not to let this one small problem ruin the whole night. While he’d been talking to Gigi, the DJ and the half a dozen security guards had shown up. House music was thumping through the speakers, and the lights had been dimmed. Walking over to the head of security, Max pulled the guy aside.

  “How are we doing, Rocco? Are your boys ready to go?”

  “Max,” Rocco said, thrusting out his hand. “I had a small issue with one of the comms systems, but it’s all good now.”

  “Here’s the guest list for tonight.” Rocco held out his hand to take the clipboard, but Max kept his grip tight, meeting the guy’s eyes. “No exceptions. No letting friends in. Nothing. You got it?”

  The guy nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Doors open in ten.”

  Max strode away, hearing Rocco barking orders to his guys. Ten minutes until show time. Jeremy was giving his bartenders the last minute pep-talk across the other side of the bar, which left only the waitresses.

  “Staff meeting,” he announced loudly over the music. All the women started making their way over to him. Now that they were dressed in the Temptation uniform, Max had to admit they all looked good. They looked like they could lure in a man and coax him out of his money. That was exactly what he wanted them to do.

  “In less than ten minutes, those doors and this club will be open. We’ve got a full list tonight, including some VIPs and celebrities. We will be busy. Like I said before, I expect you all to give one hundred percent of yourself. If you don’t, you’ll be looking for another job.” He paced in front of the group, facing them again after a few seconds. “If you work hard for me, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. There are a few ground rules though. Number one: you can flirt with the customers, but under no circumstances are you to exchange numbers with them. Rule two: break rule one and I will find out about it. Rule three,” he looked each of them in the eye, driving home his point, “look out for each other.” He glanced at his watch. One minute to six. “Get ready, ladies.”

  Making his way to the door, Max stepped outside, pulling up beside Rocco and one of his other bouncers. There was a crowd already formed, the line snaking down the block. Clearing his throat, he said loudly, “Ladies and gentleman, Temptation is now open.”

  *

  It was nearly two hours before Max could get back to the office to check on Gigi. The club was at capacity, and there hadn’t been any major incidents. Skirting around a group of women standing directly in front of the doorway leading to the staffroom and his office, he pushed into the hallway and took a moment to enjoy the muted pulse of the beat tearing through the club. He opened up his office, finding Gigi sitting in his chair. She looked up from her book, put a finger to her lips and pointed. His eyes followed her finger to find Erin asleep in the port-a-cot he’d also managed to bring down to the club earlier in the day.

  “How long has she been sleeping?” he mouthed.

  Gigi looked at her phone lying on the desk. “Maybe an hour,” she replied in a whisper. “How’s it going out there?”

  “So far, so good.” He approached the cot and stared down at his daughter. He couldn’t help but smile. He heard Gigi get up, felt her approach.

  “She’s a good sleeper,” she said beside him.

  “Yeah, she is.”

  Gigi’s deep green eyes met his. “You can’t keep doing this, Max.”

  At first, he didn’t understand what she was talking about. Then he realized she was referring
to bringing Erin to work. “You’re the solution to this problem.”

  She frowned at him and turned away. “Maybe temporarily,” she admitted. “But I’ll have to get a real job soon. You’ll still have to hire someone who’s properly qualified eventually. Why put off the inevitable?”

  Why was he? Because he wanted to get to know her a little better. Although he’d sworn off women altogether, he couldn’t seem to shake the need to claim Gigi as his own somehow. She was a challenge to him. Max had always gotten what he wanted in life. Nobody said no to him, but this little spitfire of a woman had and continued to, and that intrigued him.

  “I always get what I want in the end, Gigi. You should know that.”

  Her chin jerked up a little, and he could see her spine straightening. “Well, you should know that I’m stubborn and don’t like being told what to do,” she retorted in a hushed hiss.

  His lips flexed into a small smile, which he hid almost automatically. “I’ve always liked a challenge.”

  She huffed angrily. “Do you always do business this way?”

  “Yes,” he replied without hesitation. “Always.”

  After staring at him for an immeasurable amount of time, Gigi looked at Erin again. “I told you, I’ve applied for an internship over the summer. If I get it, there’s a chance I’ll have a job ready and waiting for me when I graduate.”

  “What happens if you don’t get the internship?” he asked.

  She looked back at him, her eyes dropping to his mouth for a fleeting second. “Then I guess I’ll come and work for you.”

  Max’s pulse quickened. “When do you find out about it?”

  “In two weeks.”

  “I can’t wait that long, Gigi,” he replied, and he wasn’t exactly sure whether he was referring to having to bring Erin to work with him, or to waiting for Gigi.

  She let out a small, annoyed breath. “Can we talk about this later? I’m sure you have to get back to work.”