Descent From Grace: A Luxe Novella Book 1.5 (26 page)

Apprehension gripped her and she began to think she may have made a huge mistake agreeing to go to his house. He could have been a mass murderer and she fell into his trap. She couldn’t help but smirk at the ridiculous thought; he caught her.
  “What?” He smiled. “Penny for your thoughts.”
  “My thoughts are worth a lot more than that.”
  “Don’t I know.” He chuckled. “Two thousand an hour to be exact.”
Her steps briefly faltered; she had no idea he was paying that kind of money. A smirk hid the guilt of charging a man two thousand dollars an hour to hang out and eat pizza.

  “And that’s actually for your thoughts, not mine.”
  “Oh, that’s how this is gonna go down?” He grinned, dialing a number on his cellphone. “You have thirty seconds to tell me what to get on the pizza. Go!”

  “Pepperoni, ham, olives,” she blurted.
Agreeably nodding and charmingly smiling, he said, “Good choice.”

Lilith looked around his cobblestone kitchen with dark, cedar cupboards. Her curiosity drew her over to one of the cupboards and she opened it. It was empty. Watching her, he smirked, but being he was still on the phone he couldn’t offer an explanation.

  “Thanks,” she heard him say into the phone; she spun to face him.
With a cocked eyebrow, she grilled him. “Why don’t you have anything?”
  “What’re you talkin’ about?” He opened a cupboard that held four bowls, two plates, and fifteen glasses.

Her nagging worry was resurfacing. “Do you really live here?”

He laughed at her, not sensing her discomfort. “Yes. I’m one man, I don’t need much.”
  “Why do you have this big of a house with nothing in it? Looks?”
  “No.” He continued to laugh and she wasn’t sure why he found it so amusing, but her worry was beginning to show. “I couldn’t care less how I come off to society. I got the house, she got everything inside the house.”
Relief warmed her. “Your ex-wife?”
  “She who shall not be named.”

Lilith began to laugh loudly.  When she stopped laughing, she looked at him oddly. “You’re a lot different . . . than I was thinking.”
  “What were you thinking?” He unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it to a chair.

  “I don’t know.” Her teeth clamped on her bottom lip.
  “Is it different better or different creepy?” He crossed the kitchen toward her.

  “Definitely creepy.” She had to bite harder to control her smile.

He was only a few inches away from her and that was what she wanted to avoid. The pull between her legs followed by a cramp caused her to grip the counter at her back tightly and stifle a cringe from pain.

Pushing him back a step, she sweetly said, “Strictly business.”

He chuckled with a shake of his head. “I forgot, surgery. What kind of surgery?” He glanced at her while opening the refrigerator.

The first thing that came to mind rolled from her mouth. “Kidney stones.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.

He winced. “Shit, El, I coulda waited on the date.” Pouring a beer into one of his fifteen beer glasses, he handed her the cup.

  “Don’t want to lose a good client.”
  “You won’t lose me.”

She smiled, putting her lips to the glass and taking a big drink.

  “Would you mind if I changed?”
Lilith shrugged. “You’re paying, you can do whatever you want. Technically.”
  “How technically?”
  “Just follow the rules.”
  “I don’t remember those,” he called out, disappearing down the hallway past the kitchen.

Fanning her face, she was feeling a little warm all because of the draw to him. As she brought the glass to her lips again, she thought about the pain medication she was on and how she shouldn’t be drinking while on them. There was no way she’d get through the night without drinking.

The ornate beer mug held her attention until she heard him enter the kitchen. When she looked up at him, she swallowed hard. Unpredictably, he was in dark bluejeans and a Bleeding Through band shirt, and his arms, both of his arms, were fully tattooed from his wrists up, past the sleeves of his shirt.

When he pushed the falling curls out of his eyes, he asked, “Good?” and nodded to the beer glass that she unconsciously held to her lips while checking him out.

Lowering the glass, she looked away from him. She was going to have to take another pain pill because she couldn’t stop the twitching want and it made her gush each time her brain wandered where it shouldn’t have been.

She set the glass down delicately then picked up her purse. “Can I use your restroom?”

Heading back the way they entered the house, he lead her into a large foyer, through a dinning room, then down a short hall to a bathroom. The house was insanely vast.

  “Thank you.” She glanced at him and stepped into the bathroom, locking the door.

Her fluttering stomach was aggravating while she nervously checked herself out in the mirror, unnecessarily fixing her makeup and hair. After a few deep inhales, she sat on the toilet. Overwhelmingness consumed her; she wasn’t in the position to be on a date or that close to a man she was that sexually attracted to. That would have been an opportune time to cut if she weren’t standing in his bathroom with nothing to cut with. She pulled out her phone dialing Ian.

  “Hello?” he answered abruptly.

  “Hey, baby,” she whispered. 
  “What’s going on?” He couldn’t say much because he was with Karen.
  “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.” She fanned her face and took deep breaths. “I just needed to hear your voice.”
  “Okay, take a few deep breaths. Calm down a bit. Can you hold a minute?”
  “Mmm,” Lilith groaned, annoyed.

Ian slipped away from Karen then worriedly asked, “What happened, baby? Are you home?”
  “No, I’m still with Justin Borg. I think I should have waited a few more days to go back to work.” She wished she could tell him the truth, that she was too turned on and it hurt.
  “Dammit. I told you, Lily. Listen, just end the date. I’ll send Tony in.”
  “No! I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you. I have to go. I’m fine, I feel better.” It was the truth.
  “Lily,” he said very quietly. “I love you, baby.” He was happy she called him and he assumed didn’t cut, but he worried about the condition she was in.
  “I love you too. I’ll see you tonight?”

  “Come to my apartment when you’re done. People are coming here, and yes, Karen will be here, but I want you here.”
  “Ian,” she huffed.

  “Lily, please. She’ll be passed out in a few hours. She’s been drinking since five.”
Rolling her eyes, she groaned, “Goodbye,” annunciating her annoyance.

Justin waited in the middle of the room, looking over a magazine. He smiled at her when she came from the bathroom.

  “Movie?”
  “If that’s what you want.” She smiled politely and followed him to yet another room.

This room had a giant television, two couches, and several reclining chairs. She was relieved to see he had some sort of furniture besides a kitchen table with four chairs.

  “I kept the DVDs though.” He smiled at her.

She crossed her legs when she sat, in hopes it’d clamp some of the arousing pressure tingling the nerves in her clit.

  “How long have you been divorced?”

  “Two years this December.”
  “How long were you married?”

As he was putting the DVD into the player he paused, turning to look at her.

  “We don’t have to talk about this.” She realized she was prying too much and he was the one paying.
  “Married seven years. Got married right out of high school because she got pregnant. She gave the baby up for adoption.”
She really wished she hadn’t asked.

  “Oh.” Shifting uncomfortably, she put her hands on her knee.
Grabbing a remote, he smiled saying, “We all make mistakes. Mine just lasted seven years.”

  “So you’ve been here two years with nothing in the house?” She chuckled.
  “She was living here up until this past January. She left and took all the shit.” He was blasé about her leaving him with an empty house, but when he referred to ‘she’ or ‘her’ there was disdain in his tone.

Lilith began to wonder how long Ian knew Justin because he’d mentioned he had never known Justin to have a girlfriend. The man had a wife.

  “So you’re one of those.” She sarcastically said, shifting over so he could sit.

  “One of those.” He chuckled. “I’m gonna ignore that.”
  “Didn’t mean offense.” She looked over at him and he smiled lightheartedly. “Are you lonely?” After she said it she realized she was continuously deriding him.
  “What?” He laughed. “Do you hate me or somethin’, El?”
  “Not at all.” She chuckled, putting her hands over her face with embarrassment. “I’m sorry.” She grinned with prolonged amusement. “I meant why are you paying ten thousand dollars to watch a movie with me?”

The gate bell rang.

  “Because the pizza was cheap,” he said, walking away.
After paying the delivery boy, Justin noticed Tony sitting in the car, playing a game on his cellphone.

Approaching the car, he opened the pizza box. “Hungry, man?”

  “Nice, yeah.” Tony enthusiastically took a piece. “Thanks.”
  “So how long do I have to keep her here until you won’t wait around any longer?” Justin grinned.

  “Can’t do that.” Tony smirked. “I’m not losing my job and she said eleven, so at eleven fifteen I’ll be knocking at your door. Don’t forget she’s paid for, this isn’t real, man.”

  “She in a relationship?” Justin asked, leaning on the car while eating a slice of pizza.
  “I think so. No one I’ve met.”
  “You guys close?”
  “Kinda.” He shrugged. “She’s my friend. She’s close with Ian so she’s close with me, capish?”
  “Yeah.” Justin nodded contemplatively. “Midnight?” He looked at Tony.
  “Can’t. We’re headed to a party after this. Per her boss’s request.”
  “What party?” Justin asked, seeing an opportunity.
  “Just a small thing at Ian’s place.”
  “Well shit, I think I’ll go to that. I’ve crashed Jacks’ parties before.” A contented smirk pulled his lips.
  “Eh, man, I’m sure it’s no problem, just know at eleven she’s no longer paid for so it won’t be a continuation of your date.”
  “Unless she wants it to be.” Justin grinned and offered Tony another piece of pizza.

He’d never had a problem with Justin before, but he didn’t know what the tattooed lawyer was up to with Lilith.

TONY
:
You okay in there?

LILY T
:
Fine. Are you supposed to be checking up on me like this?

TONY
:
It’s my job. 11

When Justin walked in, he’d finished his pizza and opened the box in front of Lilith.
  “You want to sit at a table?” She looked up at him, then back at the missing slices.
  “No. Is that rude? Do you need silverware for pizza?” He smiled at her and she grabbed a piece.
  “If I get it on your couch, I’m not sorry.”
  “Me either.” He set the box on the table in front of them.
  “Were you hungry?” She looked at the missing pieces, then at him with a teasing suspicion.
  “I fed Tony.”

  “I’m sorry if this is rude, but can I have a napkin? Please.”

He laughed. “I’m such a dick. I’m sorry, El, you want to eat at a table?” He grabbed the pizza box.
  “No. Just a napkin. If you’d like I’ll get it myself, but I’m kind of lost.” She looked around the room, not sure which door they even entered through.
He smiled at her for a few seconds.

  “I’ll get you one.” While he walked to the kitchen, he pushed at his sore cheeks, then laughed at himself.

He knew it was pathetic that his face hurt because he hadn’t smiled and laughed like that in a while, but he also thought it was pathetic that a woman was making him do it.

Returning, he handed her a napkin, plate, and beer.
  “I don’t want to dirty your dishes,” she teased, setting the plate on the table.

Their playful banter was fun, but she kept reminding herself it wasn’t a real date and she needed to act more like he wanted her to.
Sinking into the couch, he got comfortable and looked over at her.

  “So I got this party I’m goin’ to.”
  “You need a date?” She pushed the last bite of pizza into her mouth.
  “No. Not that kind of party. It’s tonight actually.”
  “Oh.” Not understanding why he was informing her, she started overanalyzing it.

Did he just want to talk casually? Was that his thing? To maybe act like they were friends? Did he want her to ask details?

It all pointlessly rolled through her head until he said, “Yeah, at Ian Jacks.”
She narrowed her eyes with a tiny smirk. “Oh?”

Even though she didn’t know him well she already had his smiles down. He had a flirty smile that he perfected, a charming smile that was a little forced, and a genuine, fun smile that happened inadvertently. His genuine, fun smile seemed to be the most predominant. He wore it like a badge all night. Every time she looked at him and saw it, she wanted him a little more.