Temptation (Club X #1)(36)
Author: K.M. Scott

“Isn’t this costume adorable?” she cooed.

Kane looked away, interested more in the crowd and his job upstairs than my wife. Never his type, they tolerated each other more than anything else. Kane preferred a far more submissive female, something Rachel definitely wasn’t. Stefan, on the other hand, enjoyed all women, without exception. To say he didn’t discriminate would be an understatement.

Rachel backed up toward Stefan and said, “Feel it! It’s fake fur, but it feels so real.”

Shooting me a look, Kane raised his eyebrows as Stefan stroked her long, black tail, pulling it up to tickle her neck. “It does feel real.”

I pulled her back next to me and leaned close to her to whisper, “I can’t wait to use that tail when we get home.”

She turned her back on my brothers and ran her hands over my chest. Smiling up at me, she winked. “That’s not all I want you to use when we get home.”

When she said things like that, I had to fight the urge to steal her away to my office and make love to her right there on my desk. Looking down into her almost black eyes, I smiled. “Do you know how much I love you?”

I closed my eyes to push the memory of that night from my mind. Fixating on it did no good, so there was no point. I couldn’t change what happened.

A knock on the front door tore me from my misery, and I opened it to see Olivia standing there still in her work clothes and staring up at me with big eyes. So much for avoiding her. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s nice to see you too, Cash. Can I come in?”

Moving off to the side, I nodded. “Sure. Come in.”

She walked past me and began looking around my condo as I closed the door. By the time I’d joined her, she was at the window admiring the view. “This is stunning, Cash! I love this view!”

“It’s pretty nice. Definitely one of the selling points when I bought the place.”

Turning to face me, she rolled her eyes. “Always so understated. If you saw the view I have, you’d say this was stunning.”

I forced a smile and nodded, but there was no denying the tension between us. Olivia was an intelligent woman. She knew I’d been avoiding her. How she’d approach that fact remained to be seen.

A sheepish look crossed her face. “I hope you haven’t been sick. I noticed you haven’t been in work for the last two days.”

“No, I’m fine.”

A long lull followed my denial and then she said, “That’s good. I’d hate to hear you were under the weather.”

She stood there with that sweet look on her face, but I knew we couldn’t continue this for much longer. “Would you like to sit down?”

“Sure.”

We sat down on the very couch where I’d told Rachel I didn’t want to see her anymore. Then I’d been unsure how I felt about Olivia but wanted to explore whatever there was between us. Now I knew how I felt, but I couldn’t act on it.

She looked around like she needed to memorize my every inch of my home. “You have a really nice place.”

This was even worse than I’d imagined our first conversation after the other night would be. We’d spent some incredible time together, and now we sat there exchanging pleasantries like two people waiting for a bus or stuck in a waiting room at a doctor’s office.

“Olivia, what are you doing here?”

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly and hung her head. “I guess I’m not too slick, am I? I want you to know it took every ounce of courage I possess to come here, so if you’re going to tell me you don’t even like me enough to talk to me other than at work, I’m not sure I can promise I’m going to handle it well.”

I touched my fingertip to her chin to force her to look at me. “I do like you, Olivia, and more than just to talk to you at work.”

That smile she so rarely gave me lit up her face. “That’s good. I mean, I’m not a fool. I know that the other night probably didn’t mean much to you. I know I’m not your usual type of woman you spend time with.”

She wasn’t wrong. My usual type didn’t look like her or act like her, but most of all, they didn’t make me feel much of anything. Not that caring about her was any good for either of us. I knew how this would end.

“You’re smart and fun, but it’s true. You aren’t my usual type.”

No sooner were the words out of my mouth had I realized I should have said something more romantic. What kind of woman wants to hear she’s smart when she’s comparing herself physically to other women?

My answer registered on her face in a frown, and she leapt to her feet. “I’m going to leave. This was a mistake. I’m sorry.”

I reached out to grab hold of her, but she slid out of my grasp and nearly ran away from me. Chasing after her, I caught her just as she opened the door. Pushing it closed, I tried to find the right words to say. “Don’t leave. It’s okay.”

Still facing the door, she said quietly, “No, it’s not okay. I thought that maybe if I came over here you wouldn’t want to avoid me anymore. I thought that maybe you liked me like I like you, but the only person doing the liking is me. It’s better if I go.”

Her voice was so full of sadness that I already regretted every mistake I’d made that had brought me to that point. I didn’t want to hurt her. I just couldn’t give her what she wanted.

“Olivia, turn around. I want to talk to you.”

She sighed and slowly turned around to face me. Staring up at me with big brown eyes so full of fear, she bit her lip nervously. “Okay.”

“I liked what happened the other night. I don’t want you to think I didn’t. But I’m not able to give you what you deserve.”

“And what’s that?” she asked, her tone defensive.

I struggled to find the right words but then just said the painful truth. “You deserve to be with a man who can at least promise you the future might include something long-term. I can’t do that. Not now, anyway.”

A look of relief came over her. “That’s what you thought? That I wanted you to profess your undying love and commit your life to me? I guess I really do have that good girl thing going on. Cash, I don’t expect anything exclusive.”

“You don’t?”

“No,” she said with a smile. “I just hoped we wouldn’t have just that one night. I’m not going to deny that I’m definitely attracted to you, and I think you’re attracted to me.”