“And did he expect you to blow him after your shift?”
“No. I thought that was what he was about, but…” What had hewanted? He’d seemed so into me, or had I imagined that, swayed by myown intense desire for him? “I don’t know. He left without trying anything.”I’d meant to scare him off, but that hadn’t seemed to be the reason he left.“It was…odd.”“Midnight masturbation material?”“I’ll never tell.”“Your face says it all.”Over the past week, he had entered my thoughts, wearing decidedly lessthan he had when I’d seen him at the bar. And while sexual fantasies wereinnocent enough for most people, thinking too much about any guy wasnever good for me and Liesl knew it. But I didn’t need her lecture. As longas I didn’t see him again—and chances were slim that I would—I’d be fine.I moved to straightening things on the counter that didn’t need to bestraightened and changed the subject. “So the new owner…you’ve methim? What’s he like?”Liesl shrugged. “He’s all right. Younger than you’d imagine. Like,twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Fucking rich. He’s insane about clean-up,though. We’ve been calling him the Bar Nazi. He inspects everything,wiping his finger on the counters to make sure they’re clean, like he’s gotOCD or something. Oh, and talk about masturbation material, he’spsychotically hot.”Liesl thought any guy with a fat wallet who still had his hair was hot, soher statement didn’t say much. But the Bar Nazi remark made me smile.The staff had been lax on cleaning standards for some time and could dowith some tough love. At least, that’s what I’d say if I were a manager. Itgave me hope that the new owner and I might get along just fine.I wondered about the man who finally ponied up the unreasonableasking price for the club. Not that The Sky Launch couldn’t be worth it, butit needed some serious overhaul to stand out in the sea of New York Cityclubs. Would the new owner see the place’s potential? How hands-on wouldhe be? Would he leave the business under David’s control?“You’ll meet him tonight.” Liesl ran her barbell across her lower lip. “Iguess he’s a big deal in the business world. You’ve probably heard of him—Houston Piers or something like that.”My jaw dropped. “Do you mean Hudson Pierce?” I waited while shenodded. “Liesl, Hudson Pierce is only the most successful business manunder thirty in America. He’s like a god in that world.” Hudson had beenborn into wealth with modern day Rockefellers for parents. The eldest son,he’d expanded the Pierce wealth tenfold. As a business student I’d beenintrigued with a number of his dealings.“You know I’m not into all that Who’s Who bullshit.” Liesl straightenedto her full five-foot-ten plus three-inch heels height. “Though I wouldn’t besurprised if he’s on the Top Ten of, like, every Hottest-slash-Sexiest-slashMost-Beautiful list in the world.”I bit my lip trying to conjure up an image of him in my head. I’dprobably seen a picture of him somewhere, but I couldn’t for the life of meremember what he looked like. I generally didn’t pay attention to thosethings. But something tugged at the edges of my brain, something I couldn’tquite grasp. A connection my mind was failing to make.“Anyway,” Liesl said, leaning back against the counter, “I think he’saround. I saw him go into the offices earlier when you were grabbingnapkins from storage.”I nodded, not sure if I was thrilled to meet Hudson Pierce or not. Part ofme wanted to fan girl all over one or two of his more famous corporatedecisions. And bouncing ideas off of him could be thrilling.Or terrifying. What if I had nothing to suggest that he hadn’t alreadythought of? Hudson Pierce didn’t need my lame ideas to help him make theclub thrive.Unless he wasn’t planning to be involved with the business.But why would he buy the club if he didn’t intend on being involved? Inwhich case…Crap. Before my visions of the future I desired went poof in myoveractive imagination, I needed to meet Pierce and feel him out, whether Iwas intimidated or not.I took several inconspicuous calming breaths then returned my focus tostocking the bar. Concentrating on my task, I pulsed absentmindedly to thetechno strains that streamed over the sound system and let go of all myworries.The music wasn’t on normal business volume—we could talkcomfortably without raising our voices—but it was loud enough that Ididn’t hear the office door open to the left of the bar. That’s why I didn’tnotice Hudson at first. My back was to him and my gaze fixed above me asI reached for the Tequila Gold on the upper bar shelf. Even after I’dretrieved the bottle and turned around, my eyes first found David’s. Hescanned me from head to toe and I smiled, pleased that my tightly fittedcorset hadn’t gone unnoticed. He was the reason I’d worn the damn thing. Icould barely breathe under its vice-like grip. But for the searing look hegave me, it was worth it, heating me to low simmer in the arousaldepartment.Then I met Hudson’s stare and two things happened simultaneously.First, my arousal went full boil. Second, my brain finally made theconnection it had missed before. Hudson Pierce was the suit.Without meaning to, I scanned his body. The full view of him was evenhotter, especially in the better lighting. Again he wore a suit, two-piece thistime, a light gray that I’d almost call silver. It fit his lean body in such asexual way that it felt obscene to look at him.When my eyes made it to his face—his strong jaw, even morepronounced than I’d remembered, begging to be licked and kissed andnibbled—I found he was checking me out as well. The knowledge of thismade my already warm face flush deeper. Though his gaze wasn’t asintense as it had been when I’d first met him, his pull was just as strong,and I knew—absolutely unequivocally knew—that he desired me as muchas I desired him.David spoke first, his words coming at me through a haze, barelyregistering. “This is Laynie.” I suspected his eyes hadn’t left my bosom.“Um, Alayna Withers, I mean.” Normally I’d be ecstatic that I had him somixed-up and that his pants were visibly straining, but I was thrown by thenew owner. More precisely, by how insanely he affected me.“Hudson Pierce.” Hudson’s smooth, low murmur had me clenching mythighs together, my panties pooling with moisture. And if I thought he’dclaimed me with his eyes the night we’d met, the surge that ran through meas he shook my hand deepened his possession. Almost like an invisiblehandcuff reaching out to bind me to him permanently. “Good to meet youproperly, Ms. Withers.”“Alayna,” I corrected, surprised at the low ache in my voice. “OrLaynie.”He dropped my hand, but his touch lingered on my skin, in my veins.Pieces began to fit together. That was how he’d known my name. He’dprobably come that night to check out his would-be staff. But that didn’texplain his possessive staring. Maybe he was the type to think of women asobjects. Maybe he took the definition of owner to a whole other level. Thethought made my skin pebble in goose bumps.And underneath that, panic crept into my gut.I could not be this twisted up over my boss, the head honcho, the guywho would determine my fate at the club. Freaking out over him would endin serious consequences.I placed a hand loosely over my belly, encouraging a deepdiaphragmatic breath to calm my growing anxiety.Hudson tilted his head and studied me. “I’ve heard many things aboutyou. And witnessed your work.” He paused, moving his gaze up and downmy body once more, scorching my skin as he did. “But none of what I heardor saw prepared me to find you wearing this ensemble.”The color drained from my face. I wasn’t sure where he was going withhis
I glanced down at the black slinky pants that were so tight they gave mecamel toe. They made me feel sexy, and for some reason that made methink of Hudson’s dark expression when he’d first laid eyes on me. Theexpression I’d since convinced myself was imagined.“Great. Now you’re telling me I have to throw these out too?”“Well, just don’t wear them while you’re working.” He stood so hecould reach the printer on the corner of the desk behind me. “For therecord,” he said as his arm brushed my waist. “I don’t disapprove of thisoutfit in the slightest.”I, on the other hand, wanted to burn the whole ensemble. It had causedme nothing but trouble all night—drunk patrons thinking they could touchme and say things to me that they otherwise wouldn’t.But I’d worn it for David—for the moment when we’d be alone. Thiswas it.I put on a fake pout. “Too bad your opinion isn’t the one that matters.”David leaned in close. “My opinion doesn’t matter?”“Actually,” I said, grabbing his jacket
”“Would it be that bad if he did?”“Yes. It would be utterly, wonderfully, horrible.” But mostly it washorrible how not bad that idea sounded.While trying to empty my mind of Hudson blowjob images, I surveyedthe club. The place was slow, even for a Wednesday night. From the bar, Ihad full view of the ten bubble rooms that circled the perimeter of the upperlevel. The bubble rooms were The Sky Launch’s highlight. Each room,round in shape, featured a glass wall overlooking the dance floor on thelower level, and had private access much like box seats at a stadium. Theyall had a curved seating area around a table, and fit eight peoplecomfortably. The bubbles provided a relatively quiet and discreet area whilestill being very much part of the club. When the occupied lights were on,the outer walls of the bubble rooms glowed red. Only two were lit up. Ashame. If the club had the kind of notoriety it could have, those roomswould fill within the first ten minutes of being open.“G
“Oh.” I thought about saying I’d been to an amazing spa, but really, didhe care? And besides, talking was difficult with that thing he was doing tomy skin, burning it so thoroughly with his caress.His phone rang and he let go of my hand. I pulled it to my lap, needingthe warmth of my body once it’d lost the warmth of his.“Excuse me,” he said, taking his phone out of his pants pocket andsilencing it without looking at the screen.“You can take it if you need to.” I could use a few minutes to gather mythoughts. Because, what the hell did he want with me? Not only was notknowing killing me, but the more time I spent with Hudson, the easier itwas for me to think about him and his amazing gray eyes. And his hardbody. And his smooth voice.“There can’t be anything important enough to interrupt thisconversation.”And even smoother lines.I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the dooropening. Sasha entered with a tray of food and drinks. I watched as she setd
Semantics. But I understood what he was attempting to do, separatinghimself from me and my job at The Sky Launch, so I nodded.“This wouldn’t affect your employment at the club.” He removed hisarm from the couch and sat forward. “Maybe hire is not the correct term.I’d like to pay you to help me with a problem. I believe you’d be perfect forthe job.”The whole conversation had my head spinning, but he had my attention.“You win. My curiosity is piqued. What’s the job?”“I need you to break up an engagement.”I coughed, wondering if I heard him correctly, knowing I had. “Um,what? Whose?”Hudson leaned back, his dazzling gray eyes flickering in the strobelights. “Mine.”OceanofPDF.comCHAPTER FOURHUDSON TAPPED one long finger on the table in front of him. “Closeyour mouth, Alayna. Although it’s quite adorable to see you flabbergasted,it’s also very distracting.”I closed my mouth. A million questions circled through my mind, tooquickly for any to take shape. And somewhere behin
As he often did, he answered my unasked question. “I own the bank thatholds your loans. I looked them up today. It would be very easy for me tohave them written off. No actual money would exchange hands, if thatmakes you feel better.”“That’s an awfully generous payment.” Too generous. And just like Ijumped to buy a lottery ticket whenever the pot got particularly high, Iwanted to jump on his offer. But nothing that paid that well ended in good.“It’s worth it to me to see this project succeed, Alayna.”My answer was no. I’d already decided. It had to be no. There was toomuch risk at entering into an arrangement—any arrangement—with him.But I couldn’t help but want to know more of the details. “What exactlywould you want me to do?”“Pretend we’re a couple. I’d invite you to several gatherings where mymother would see us together. I’d expect you to hang on my arm andbehave as though we’re madly in love.”“And that’s all?” I couldn’t imagine it would be that hard to pretend to
CHAPTER FIVEI WOKE up right before noon the next morning when I heard my phonebuzz an incoming text. It was plugged in on the nightstand next to me, but Iwasn’t ready to wake up, having gotten to bed after six.Lying with my eyes closed, I grinned into my pillow and recalled theevents of the night before. The things Hudson had said to me, the way he’dkissed me, touched me—my heart sped up at the memory. Had all of thatreally happened? My obsessive relationship disorder made it really easy forme to imagine that things happened between me and others that actuallyhadn’t. It had been several years since I had fallen into those old habits.Now, was I doing it again?No, I wasn’t making it up. I couldn’t make up a kiss like that. It hadhappened. And I had wanted more to happen. But in the morning withdistance and fresh eyes, I could see so much better how it shouldn’t happen.As much as I wanted him, I was already thinking about him way more thanwas healthy.I went through the st
I took a long swallow of my water, contemplating how to react to hissudden statement. Old connotations of the word “enable” stung me. Was heinsinuating that I wasn’t well? And how was I not responsible for myself? Iwas living and working in the Big Apple—if that didn’t take responsibility,I didn’t know what did.Ever impatient, Brian didn’t wait for me to choose my response. “I can’tlet you throw your life away at a nightclub. You are too vulnerable to workin that type of establishment.”The Sky Launch. Brian had never liked me working there, not from dayone. But he’d accepted it because I’d kept out of trouble. Had he nowforgotten? “I haven’t had any issues since I’ve worked there.”“You had school to keep you occupied. You need something morechallenging to focus on.”Never mind that I’d worried about the exact same thing myself, I waspissed. “Brian, I know how to handle my triggers. And what do you knowabout it? You never went to any support meetings.”His voice rose unco