Temptation Read online

  I heard him turn away as he said, “Maybe you should have.”

  * * *

  By midnight, I was ready for a diversion. A full night of my mind wandering to my new assistant when I should have been hard at work had been frustrating, and I wanted nothing more than to start acting like myself again. Cassian March didn’t spend hours fantasizing about any woman, especially one of his employees, no matter how hot she was. Thankfully, it didn’t take much to make the real man I was come back again.

  My phone rang as I drove back to my condo providing me with exactly the distraction I needed to get my mind off Olivia. Pulling into my parking spot, I picked up my phone to see Cheri calling, as if the Universe had seen me acting like some oversexed boy and sent her to remind me of exactly what I was.

  “Cash, it’s Cheri. What are you doing, baby?” she cooed into the phone.

  “Just getting home.”

  “I can be there in fifteen minutes. Why don’t you take a shower, don’t bother with putting clothes back on, and have a glass of Cab Sav waiting for me?”

  The memory of my last time with Cheri sent a jolt through my body, making my cock stiffen in anticipation. Blond hair, blue eyes, and nearly six foot with legs that seemed to go on forever, she was built like she’d been made especially to please a man. A little vapid, she didn’t offer much in the brain department, but then again, I wasn’t looking for an intellectual discussion tonight. I really didn’t give a damn about what she thought about much of anything. What I wanted tonight was someone to fill up the spaces in my mind occupied with fantasies I shouldn’t have with the reality I could easily have again and again.

  Thinking Cheri’s offer was exactly what I needed, I closed my eyes and still said, “I don’t know. It’s been a long day.”

  The phone fell silent and I could almost hear her pouting. I pictured her perfectly shaped lips brushing against her cell phone as she considered what words she needed to say to convince me.

  “Cash, you know you want to. I can hear it in your voice. You’re dying for something to take the edge off after a long day running that club of yours. Don’t deny it.”

  “You’re very persuasive, Cheri, but I don’t know. Maybe I just want to relax tonight.”

  “Baby, in fifteen minutes, I can be there and you can be feeling like you haven’t felt since the last time we were together.”

  Any other woman saying that would sound ridiculous, but when Cheri promised a night of pleasure, I knew she’d deliver. The girl was one-of-a-kind. Running my free hand over the front of my pants, I closed my eyes and remembered the last time we were together. If it was possible, my cock grew even harder at the memory of her on all fours and me fucking her from behind on my balcony. Never a quiet lay, she took it to the next level that night, screaming my name over and over as she came. My neighbors must have loved that show. Thankfully, I couldn’t make it to the next condo association meeting. Taking a deep breath, I said, “I’ll leave the door unlocked. Let yourself in.”

  She quietly moaned. “And do you know what I’m in the mood for tonight, Cash?”

  I could only imagine. Cheri’s sexual appetites tended toward the wilder side compared to most of the women I knew, with role play one of her favorite pastimes. While I normally enjoyed the idea of tying her up or her in that schoolgirl outfit she liked to wear, I wasn’t sure I wanted anything that involved tonight. I wanted to fuck Olivia out of my system, not put on some sex show. Some nights just called for the basics, and tonight was one of those nights.

  Turning off my car, I stretched my legs at the thought of what she might want. “I have no idea.”

  “I’ve been aching to fuck you in your shower again. Do you remember that time? My legs were tired all the next day. I don’t think I’ve ever had sex for that long in my life.” Her voice practically purred in my ear.

  The time she and I fucked in my shower I nearly blacked out from the sex. The woman knew how to fuck, no doubt. I hadn’t planned on doing anything that required that much exertion tonight, but if this was what the Universe was sending me, who was I to turn it down?

  As the memory of Cheri riding my cock until the two of us practically melted into an exhausted heap of sated flesh danced through my mind, I made my way toward my place, thankful the Universe knew me so well.

  “Be here in fifteen, but I think we’ll have a replay of our time on my couch instead. And don’t be late or I’ll find someone else to spend my time with,” I said sharply, not exactly teasing. Cheri liked a strong hand to guide her, and I was more than happy to oblige.

  Only a fool would turn down such a gift.

  Chapter Three

  Olivia

  “I can’t believe you guys never told me about Club X! What am I? The ugly stepsister?” I said jokingly while I handed Josie and Erin glasses of wine as we settled in for a night of celebration for my new job.

  “We did. Don’t you remember?” Erin said in their defense. “It was that time when Jake offered to help us all get memberships.”

  I narrowed my eyes to faux angry slits and studied her expression to see if she was kidding. Her dark brown eyes stared back at me, telegraphing she was telling the truth. I didn’t remember Jake ever offering to get us into Club X, though.

  “I have no recollection of that, ladies,” I teased, doing my best lawyer voice for Josie.

  Erin looked to her right at her, who sat on the arm of my couch smiling. “Would you like to help her remember?”

  Josie loved her job as an insurance fraud investigator and even though we teased her about the fact that she acted like one twenty-four-seven, she took every opportunity to tease us right back. “My pleasure, Ms. Andrews. Now, Ms. Lucas, do you remember the night Mr. Richfield and the two of us sat here discussing how to celebrate your twenty-fifth birthday? I believe you were seated in the same place as you are now, not surprisingly since you’re a creature of habit who never changes.”

  She took a breath in her interrogation, and I mumbled, “Harsh,” at her assessment of me, regardless of how correct she was.

  “Continuing on, Ms. Lucas. Now do you remember Mr. Richfield suggesting you go wild and really let your hair down?”

  Her piercing blue-green eyes stared at me as she waited for my answer. To be honest, I didn’t remember anything she and Erin were claiming. “Ms. Tellow, since Jake says that to me at least once a week, I doubt I’d be able to remember the time he said that nearly three years ago.”

  “It was a week before your birthday, and he told all three of us he could get us into Club X. If I remember correctly, and I’m sure I do, you declined his offer while the two of us eagerly jumped at the chance to join.”

  Erin nodded her agreement. “Ringing any bells, Liv?”

  “No, but now I feel like the odd man out. So you two have been going to Club X all this time? What’s it like?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know but too curious not to ask.

  “In. Fucking. Credible,” Josie said as she slid down onto the couch cushion next to Erin. “Some of our best times have been at Club X. Now I’ve never taken advantage of the top floors, but someday I will. I’m telling you ladies, when I think of a fantasy I can’t make come true in my regular life, those Club X folks are going to come in damn handy.”

  I looked over at Erin, the more reasonable of my two closest friends, but she had that same wide-eyed look that told me she’d enjoyed my new workplace too.

  “What?” she asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “You’re looking at me like you’re surprised. I’m not allowed to have any fun?”

  “No, it’s just that I always considered you the more sensible of the two of you.”

  “Yeah, well, sensible or not, that club you’re working at is the hottest place I’ve ever partied. You should see the men there, Liv. Oh my God!”

  “Nice. So why haven’t I heard you guys talking about this place before now?”

  Erin and Josie turned to look at one another, and then Josie made a gesture to
zip her mouth closed. “It’s like Vegas, baby. What happens at Club X stays at Club X.”

  The two of them burst into laughter, and for the first time since I’d met them years before on our high school track team, I felt like an outsider. Everybody I was close to knew all about Club X but me. It was sophomore year when I didn’t qualify for regionals and they did all over again.

  “It’s okay, Livy. You haven’t missed anything you would have liked. You like a more refined kind of place,” Erin said trying to make me feel better but only making me feel worse.

  Emptying my wine glass, I swallowed my pinot noir and shook my head. “You’re right. I don’t like to have fun much anyway. I was too busy working my ass off to get canned before I could even get vested.”

  I knew I was slipping into the pool of self-pity, but I didn’t care. I may not be the kind of girl who swung from the chandelier, but I wasn’t the model for the front of Old Maid cards either.

  “Oh, Livy. Erin didn’t mean anything bad by that. It’s just that you tend to be more straight-laced, you know? We just thought Club X was too low brow for you since you showed no interest in Jake’s offer. You’re more of a wine and cheese party kind of girl.”

  “I guess that’s supposed to make me feel better, Josie?” I asked with more emotion in my voice than I’d intended.

  Erin leaned over to give my knee a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m sorry. We’re both sorry. It’s all water under the bridge now, though. You’re going to be part of the inner circle of Club X, so whatever stories we have are going to pale in comparison to yours. I’ve heard the men who run the place are sexier than all hell. Are they?”

  I thought about Cassian and Stefan March and had to agree. Both were definitely sexy. And Kane? While that mad, bad, and dangerous to know vibe wasn’t what I liked in a man, I could certainly understand why some women would be all over him.

  “I don’t know, Erin. They were very nice,” I teased as I pretended to play coy.

  “Nice my ass,” Josie butted in. “I saw that Cassian March one time at a hospital benefit Sebastian and I attended last year. The man oozes incredible fuck. I swear if I hadn’t been in a relationship, I would have made my move on him. I bet he gets freaky when that Italian made suit comes off.”

  “I remember seeing his younger brother one night at the club,” Erin added. “No suit for him, but I can tell you that man can definitely fill out a shirt. He was wearing this button down look that fit so perfectly I swear he had it painted on. I like my men more muscular than Josie here, so he’s my kind.”

  “His name is Stefan,” I said, liking that I could at least feel like I knew them in a different way than Erin and Josie. “He’s really sweet.”

  “You like him! I see it in your eyes, Liv. Tell us everything that happened!” Erin squealed.

  I stood from my seat to head into the kitchen for another glass of wine and to escape the probing stares of my two best friends. The non-disclosure agreement I’d signed just hours before weighed heavily on my mind already. I knew it probably wouldn’t have violated anything if I told them about meeting all three brothers, but I wasn’t going to be able to keep my cool about Cassian and Stefan if I didn’t get my feelings under control.

  Gulping down some wine, I took a deep breath and walked back into the living room to find them waiting for me to explain. Sitting down, I balanced my glass on the arm of my favorite chair and shrugged. “There’s nothing to tell. I met all three brothers in my interview. I’m going to be Cassian’s assistant, but I had to meet with the other two also. They were nice.”

  Josie pointed her finger at me and cocked one perfectly shaped dark eyebrow. “You’re holding out on us, girl. I know. I deal with witnesses all the time who have that same face you have on right now. Spill it or we’ll never let you have any peace.”

  “Yeah and don’t leave any of the details out,” Erin added.

  “There’s nothing to tell. I swear. Yes, Cassian is very good looking. Yes, Stefan is funny and hot. The third brother, Kane, is a little scary for my taste, but he’s definitely got a sexy vibe to him too. Other than that, I don’t know what to tell you. No one asked me out or bent me over the desk while the other ones interviewed me. It was just a boring, run-of-the-mill interview. I swear.”

  Both women had leaned forward in anticipation of hearing all my salacious details, but now they sat back crestfallen with a look of disappointment on their faces. I must have looked like I told the truth because Josie didn’t appear to want to grill me anymore.

  “I’ve never heard of the third brother, Kane. What’s he do there?” Erin asked, almost as an afterthought.

  “He’s in charge of the fantasy part of the business,” I explained, suddenly realizing there was something I could tell them that I hadn’t. “Oh, I forgot! I get a free membership to Club X, and that includes the fantasy stuff, not that I’ll ever use it, I imagine.”

  Josie’s and Erin’s jaws dropped. It was one of the rare moments in our friendship that I, Olivia Lucas, got to shock them instead of them shocking me. It wouldn’t last, but for the time being, I basked in the limelight of being cooler than everyone else in the room.

  “So what fantasy do you plan to have them fulfill? You know what they say about you quiet types—still waters run deep. And dirty. I know you have some deep, dark desires inside that business suit look you sport,” Josie said with a wink.

  “Oh, I love this! Liv, you have to do the fantasy thing. It costs a fortune, and you get it for free,” Erin said.

  “I don’t know, guys. It might not be a good idea if I want to keep my job. You shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. You know, no shitting where you eat.”

  “You have a scat fantasy?” Erin asked, her eyes huge with shock.

  I couldn’t help but laugh when Josie elbowed her for being so dumb, splashing wine down the front of her shirt. “No, I don’t want someone to shit on me. Jesus, Erin! What the fuck? I’m boring, remember?”

  As she grabbed a napkin off the coffee table to blot the wine, she tried her best to explain. “Well, Josie said your kind runs deep and dirty and then you mentioned shitting. I just thought…”

  “Well, don’t.”

  “In all seriousness, Liv, they wouldn’t offer you the club’s services if they didn’t expect you to take advantage of them,” Josie said in her legally solemn voice. “I think it might be good for you too.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you two spend your time pitying me, like I’m some nun or something compared to you guys?”

  “How many dates have you had since you and Mark broke up?” Josie asked in her interrogator voice, making me feel like any answer I gave would only validate their sad opinion of me.

  I didn’t want to admit that I’d had just a handful of dates in nearly a year, and only one of them had included any sex whatsoever. And that hadn’t been anything to write home about either. Quietly, I admitted, “A few. You know how it is. When it doesn’t click, there’s no point in going any further.”

  Josie turned to look at Erin, and they both gave me their best pity faces. “Honey, you’re twenty-seven years old and you spend more time in this apartment alone than any healthy woman should. You’re gorgeous and you could have any man you want. You just choose not to. I know the whole Mark thing was tough, but there are more fish in the sea and you need to put your pole back in the water,” Erin said, her voice full of sympathy.

  “I think you have your sexual metaphors mixed up. Seriously, I’m fine, guys.”

  Shaking her head, Josie frowned at me. “You’re not fine, but I think you might have a good chance at fine if you find some happiness at this new job and take the chance on their fantasy services.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, lying. I knew all too well I didn’t want to get involved in any fantasy business at Club X.

  Erin tilted her head and smiled. “We’re not saying you have to try to fulfill a fantasy of having sex with an entire soccer team or anything wild like that. Jus
t try something small that feels good. Will you at least consider it?”

  I was never going to see an end to this conversation if I didn’t agree, so I forced a smile and nodded. “I’ll think about it. Good enough?”

  “That’s all we’re saying,” Josie answered. “Just keep an open mind, okay?”

  “I will. And if I ever come up with something I think Club X can make come true for me, I’ll consider it.”

  * * *

  Opening the heavy steel door to Club X, I paused as my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the club. The place was quiet and deserted, but I suspected the three owners were nearby. Unlike the day before, I took a good look around my new workplace, imagining my best friends having the time of their lives there. The club was really just a large space lined on the side with metal walkways to the upper floors and an enormous bar on the main floor, but I envisioned when it was filled with people and the lights were flashing to the beat of the music it transformed into the place my friends had bragged about.

  I waited for someone to come out and greet me, but after a few minutes no one had appeared so I decided to investigate a little around the main floor. The bar looked like it was made of glass and seemed to go on forever down the left side of the room. Reaching out, I ran my fingers over the top of it and felt the coolness of glass. Above me, hung from the ceiling, hung frosted curved pendant lights. Behind the bar was more glass in shelves and refrigerator doors. Bottles of red, blue, and even a neon green liquor sat on the shelves that reached what looked like ten feet in the air. Craning my neck, I wondered how the bartenders reached the top shelves and the liquor up there to make drinks.

  “You came back, so I guess my brothers didn’t scare you off. Good. I bet you’re thinking you can’t imagine how anyone gets to the top shelf stuff, aren’t you?”

  I lowered my head and saw Stefan standing next to me. Dressed in what I imagined was his usual look, he wore a black Club X T-shirt and jeans and looked incredible. His hair looked tousled, as if someone had been running their hands through it in the heat of passion just moments before. I imagined it was entirely possible that had actually just happened, likely with one of the many women he had in his life. He had a look that said he was rarely alone and liked it that way.