Temptation (Club X #1)(26)
Author: K.M. Scott

“I don’t know. There’s something sexy about neither one of us admitting we’re together. Like it’s a secret just between us. We both know but say nothing. I guess I’ll just have to play it by ear, but I’m reserving another room this Friday. That I do know.”

Josie hugged me tightly and pressed her head to mine. “I’m so loving this Livy Version 2.0, you know that? I say let it ride, and if you get the chance, ride that man like there’s no tomorrow.”

“I think I will.” Reaching up to grab a black silk bra with deep cleavage action, I dangled it in front of Josie’s face. “And just in case Cash decides Friday night is the night, I’ll be ready.”

* * *

It was easy to be all bravado in front of Josie, but once I returned to work on Monday, I found walking the walk and talking the talk so much harder. Cash sat in his office, like he always did, and I worked in mine, sure that we’d have to speak at some point in the day. I dreaded the idea of speaking to him and craved it at the same time.

By four o’clock, I was just about ready to burst from anticipation. I’d always heard people say it’s the not knowing that’s the worst, and I had to agree with them. All day my mind had been busy creating a million scenarios as to how things would go when we finally spoke, most of which involved him either ignoring me for the rest of the week or worse, acting cold toward me when we finally spoke. Some of the scenarios weren’t all bad, though. Every so often, my brain let a romantic idea sneak in among the doomsday ones, and it was those few sweet thoughts that let me stay optimistic.

He stopped in front of my open office door just before five, and I prepared myself to be cool. I may have been showing that on the outside, but my insides were doing the jiggly Jell-O dance. Straightening papers on my desk unnecessarily, I sat up in my chair and lifted my chin, hoping to project an air of confidence.

It was all for nothing, though. Instead of coming in to speak to me, he simply turned toward the club and walked away. Disappointed, I sagged in my chair and closed my eyes, exhausted from the not knowing. Perhaps we wouldn’t speak again. That seemed normal for a boss and his assistant. Yeah, right.

“Olivia, is everything all right?”

He said my name just like he had in the fantasy room, his voice low and husky. It curled around me like a tendril of smoke. After a day of waiting, the sound of it thrilled me instantly. Slowly, I opened my eyes and straightened myself behind my desk. “I’m fine. Thank you. Did you need something?”

Cash stared at me intently for a moment and then appeared to relax. “No.”

This man, who with just a word could ignite such passion inside me, stood there staring like he was looking right through me and then with a half-hearted smile, turned away and walked back into his office. Rome was burning down around me.

Worse, by Tuesday afternoon, I’d convinced myself that our time together upstairs meant nothing to him. How could it when he never even told me it was him there with me and then practically avoided me for the next two workdays? It could have been a coincidence that he was either in his office with the door closed or out of the building all Monday and Tuesday. It could be. Or it could mean that he didn’t want to deal with me after our last time in the fantasy room and he was avoiding me.

I couldn’t let the memory of that night go, though, so just before I left on Tuesday night, I made the decision that I’d give it one more try—one more night in the fantasy room with Cash. One more opportunity for him to let me know it was him seducing me. Rather than emailing Kane, I marched myself up the stairs to his domain and found the floor entirely empty. Peeking in room after room, I finally saw him in one at the opposite end of the hallway from the room Cash and I met in sitting behind an enormous, old wooden desk. For the first time since I’d met him, Kane looked comfortable and at home in what I assumed was his office. So different than the first floor offices, it reminded me of the kind of place a private detective worked out of in every old movie I’d ever seen. Much smaller than Cash’s and mine, it was dimly lit and cluttered with books and papers. The desk sat at the back of the room away from the door, and other than that piece of furniture, there wasn’t much else in there but Kane.

He looked up as I raised my hand to knock on the door, smiling for a moment before his expression turned serious again. “Olivia, what can I do for you?”

So much larger than his half-brothers, Kane always unnerved me but not in the same way Cash did. With Kane, his intimidation wasn’t sexual so much as physical. Everything about him seemed hard from his short, cropped hair, to his sharply angular face and enormous frame. Where Cash was lean and cool, Kane was huge and muscular with almost an ice cold way about him. Both men shared the same stunning crystal blue color of their eyes, but Kane’s never softened, at least not around me.

I stiffened briefly and then blurted out, “I’d like to reserve another room for this Friday.”

“Same as the last two times?” he asked casually as he typed something on his laptop.

I began to say yes, but then I had a thought. It was now or never to be brave, so I answered, “No. I’d like to do a gold level fantasy, if that’s allowed.” Embarrassed, I lowered my voice and admitted, “I can’t afford it if it’s not included in my job benefits, though.”

He stopped typing and looked up from his keyboard, his face impassive. “No, you can choose any level.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I turned to head back downstairs and heard him say my name. Stopping short, I turned back. “Yes?”

“Do you want the same person to join you?”

He knew. I saw it in those cold eyes of his he knew I was falling for Cash. I nodded and stood waiting for him to ask me something else, but all he did was smile, and for the first time, it reached all the way up to his eyes and they softened as he looked at me.

I quickly made my way out of the building and out to my car feeling good about my choice. Olivia Version 2.0 was back on track and making progress.

Chapter Ten

Cassian

For reasons even I couldn’t defend, I’d avoided Olivia all week, even after Kane’s email letting me know she’d reserved another room but at the gold level for Friday night. To be honest, she was driving me to distraction. I didn’t want to think about her so much that I got little work done and laid in bed at night tossing and turning over our time together. It didn’t matter, though. This was who I was, or at least who I’d been with Rachel. I’d promised myself I’d never be that preoccupied by another living soul again, and there I was nearly obsessed with Olivia after just two nights together in one of my fantasy rooms.