Romance: Edge of Desire (5 page)

Chapter 12

When I walk into the office the next morning, I expect flowers to be laid out on my coffee machine, because that’s how I feel. Despite my lack of sleep, I feel full of energy and excitement.

Have I tamed the player?

After last night, I feel like I have. I feel like a million dollars. That could not have gone better for him or me. That really was a special moment.

A night to remember for a very long time.

Just when I felt like my city adventure was over, it played another card. That’s what a city can do – surprise you with excitement.

I have fallen for Brad… hard.

I wouldn’t say love, because that is too strong a word, but he has my heart.

I haven’t fallen for the money or the power, I have fallen for the man. For every coffee interaction that we have had over the past month, I felt like we grew a little bit closer. I felt like I was getting to know the real Brad.

That moment yesterday with the receptionist was to be expected – the man has been a player most of his life, he can’t just switch it off.

I’m ok with that.

Especially after last night.

That…

That was the stuff of Hollywood movies.

I hear the elevator arrive and it makes my heart skip a beat. It has to be Brad, arriving for the morning.

How do I greet him? With a kiss on the cheek?

Or will that be too much?

Nerves flood through my body as the elevator doors open and his tall, manly physique strolls out.

Oh… that suit looks so good on him, clinging to his broad shoulders. Knowing what is under that suit makes me even happier.

What do I even say to him?

‘
Hi. Thanks for the best sex I have ever had
.’

No. Nope. That would be too much.

But what should I say?

He walks closer but his eyes don’t engage in contact with me.

Maybe he’s nervous about his reputation? Dating the coffee girl is a step down from his usual supermodel girls.

He keeps walking…

Right past me.

What?

He must have seen me. There is no way that he could have walked past me and not have noticed me. I am standing right next to where he walked. There is no way that he could not have noticed me.

Maybe the work problem has still got him distracted?

He walks into his office and my eyes are glued to the door. It is a few moments before I notice Nancy staring at me.

“Don’t worry, dear,” she says in a caring tone. “He is a busy man. I’m sure he would have said hello if he wasn’t so busy. He has a lot on his mind.”

I don’t respond.

Instead, I give Nancy a small smile and disappear back into the room with the coffee machine.

Shit.

Damn.

Fuck.

What was I thinking?

The man is a player. Always was and always will be. He probably doesn’t even remember my name.

All men are the same – they just want sex.

The morning passes and Nancy asks for a few coffees to be made, and I deliver them promptly to her desk.

This is a job. Nothing more. This is the job that lets me stay in the city. A well-paying job making coffees.

That’s it.

Nothing more.

After the morning passes slowly, I hear a heavy knock on the door to my room next to the kitchen.

It’s Brad.

He puts his head around the corner, “Sorry, Nancy is out to lunch. I’ll have two lattes, Harper. One with sugar and one without.”

What?

After the moments we spent together, that is all he can say?

There is no emotion in his statement – it is stony and cold. His statement was only a coffee order. I could have been anybody in any café – but I’m not.

I’m the woman he spent a night of passion with.

Maybe he has short-term memory lost.

Or maybe not.

Maybe he’s just a bastard. Yep. That is it.

It wasn’t a night full of emotion.

It was lust.

Dirty lust.

I have been used and it makes me feel disgusting - like I need a shower to wash away his touch. He used me for sex. Nothing more.

Bastard.

All men are bastards.

The rest of my day is filled with increasing rage, and I am lucky that I don’t explode.

Chapter 13

“It’s just a job Harper.”

“It was more than that,” I reply to Nicole as I swig the rest of my wine glass and reach for the bottle. “Damn. The bottle is empty already. I’ll get the next one in the cupboard.”

“Settle down Harper. There’s no need to waste all your first paycheck on drinking two bottles of wine.”

“Maybe that’s why he is paying me so much, because he knows I will spend at least a third of my pay on alcohol after dealing with that ass.”

“Maybe.”

I sigh as I sit back down on the couch, “How could I have been so stupid, Nicole? How could I have fallen for that guy? I knew his history. I knew his story. I knew that he was a player. That was clear from the moment I stepped in his office. But I was still stupid enough to fall for his game.”

“If it makes you feel any better, he has got a good game.”

“Nope. That doesn’t make me feel any better at all.”

“There would hardly be a girl in New York City that wouldn’t fall for him. The guy is rich, amazingly handsome, charming and seductive. And you were tired. It was two o’clock in the morning and your resistance was gone. Don’t beat yourself up over this. It was what it was.”

“And that’s the problem, Nicole. It
was
incredible. If it was poor, sad sex then I don’t think I would be feeling this bad. But it wasn’t that. There was a connection between us. A real connection. Something that made the room alight with chemistry. It was unbelievable sex… to me, at least.”

“And to him?”

“Maybe it was just more sex. Maybe to him I was just another girl.”

“You don’t believe that,” Nicole states firmly.

And she’s right.

I don’t believe it.

Nicole knows me better than I know myself, and that is why she is the perfect person to sit down and discuss life with. We have been there for each other over these last two years. She has been there for me more times than I know, and I have been her shoulder to cry on when she has needed it.

We have been through boyfriends, one-night stands, stalker-like men, creeps and bad bosses at the coffee shop. But all that has only served to make our relationship stronger.

We are both strong, smart, independent women and sometimes it feels like there is no man out there that can handle us.

Well, Brad could have handled me.

It’s just that I can’t handle him.

“What am I going to do? I can’t go back in there tomorrow.”

“Of course you can. You’re looking at it the wrong way. Don’t look at it like you’ve been used – look at it like you’ve used him. What you’ve gotten out of this is a great job with great pay, a chance to pay back all your debts, and a night of unbelievable passion. Nights filled with that much passion don’t come around very often. You need to take that moment and remember it forever.”

“I suppose…”

“Look when you’re fifty-five years old, and you have a house in the suburbs, three kids and a busy social life, you can look back on your moment of pure, passionate lust. When you’ve been having sex with the same guy for the past twenty years and it is only ever missionary style on a Saturday night, you can think back to that night of incredible lust.”

We both burst out in a fit of giggles.

She certainly knows how to change my outlook. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. Look at it like you’ve used him – not he has used you. You used him for sex, nothing more. Amazing sex, but that was it.”

“So I should go back to work tomorrow?”

“Of course you should. You will go back to your great job tomorrow. The alternative is going home to the country and I don’t want you to do that.”

I nod, “You’re right, as always. I used him, not the other way around.”

If only I believed that were true…

Chapter 14

After drinking and laughing with my best friend last night, I return to the mammoth building the next morning, reinforcing to myself that this is just a job.

This is just a job. 

I have been sucked in and used by Brad’s game but it will not happen again. And I used him – not the other way around.

“I used him.
I used him
,” I mutter to myself, trying to convince myself of that fact.

Working here might not be the dream job – but it is providing me with the opportunity to continue my city dream. I am using this job to stay in the city.

That is all.

“Good morning.”

The voice is smooth and elegant, relaying a sense of calm.

My heart skips a beat.

Damn.

He almost has me at the first words that he has said this morning.

“Hi,” I manage to utter without a smile.

“You look amazing today. Your hair looks fabulous.”

No. Don’t fall for that. Don’t fall for his charm.

He is a player.

“Coffee?” I try to redirect the conversation.

“Please. One sugar this morning.”

I move to the coffee machine and aggressively begin making coffee.

“Harper, you are an extremely beautiful woman.”

His statement is so firm, so strong.  So believable.

No!

I will not be sucked in.

I try hard to resist and focus on the actions of making his coffee.

“And I love the way you make that coffee.  It is so… smooth.”

Damn.

My heart starts to flutter. 

Even with my back turned to him, I can feel his presence from here. 

“You know, I was really struggling to maintain focus on work for the past year and then something happened.”

You fucked every girl in the city?

“And what was that?” I reply with a touch of sarcasm.

“You. When I walked into that coffee shop and saw you for the first time, I was blown away. I was almost speechless, which is very unlike me. Your eyes project a sense of calm and beauty… and I love that.”

I don’t reply as I steam the milk for his coffee. I am tempted to overheat the milk so I can burn his tongue.

“I’m sorry about Kate.”

“Kate?”

“The receptionist. She is very forthcoming but nothing happened. She was just sitting on my lap. She tends to think that she can have me, but I have rejected her every advance. I’m really sorry that you walked in on that, Harper. There is nothing between us.”

“And why would I care if there was anything between you?”

His mouth drops open a little – I am sure he is not used to people arguing with him. “I was…” he sighs. “I like you, Harper. And not in the way that I usually like girls. I like
you
, not your body.”

“So now you’re calling me ugly?” I snap back.

“No. No. Not at all. I mean, I really like your body. You are beautiful. I’m saying that you are different than the girls I usually meet and I really like that. I like talking to you. Usually the girls can’t even hold a five-minute conversation.”

“So you’re a man-slut. Congratulations.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Here is your coffee. Just as you like it,” I hand him the coffee without a smile.

But when his hand touches mine, he smiles at me.

Damn.

That smile…

It is so seductive.

And his gaze is so strong that I feel like I am the only person in the world that matters to him right now.

No…

For all my strength, he has drawn me in again.

As he sips the coffee, he winks with a cheeky look stretched across his face.

Damn.