Seduce (8 page)

“So what have you been up to, Jack? Are you still working for your father?”

I had forgotten that my father and Sally’s parents knew each other. They ran in the same circles and attended the same functions.

“Yes, still working for Dad. I’m now CEO of the London Company, which is fantastic but it doesn’t really be much time to myself.” I laughed and made a face, not feeling the least bit guilty about making myself out to be a workaholic. Luke smirked and rolled his eyes at me, knowing just how hard I played. Sally and her mother disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Luke and I alone with her father.

“Did you want a drink?” Luke asked. I nodded. Fuck, I was dying for a drink.

“Ah, yes that would be great. A beer?” I said, pretty sure Sally’s father would frown upon me having scotch at eleven in the morning. Luke disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Sally’s father. We eyed each other awkwardly, neither of us speaking. Well, this was fun.

“So how have you been?” I asked easily, taking a seat on the couch. I may have felt nervous, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to show it. Jack Falcon never gave anything away.

“Not bad. You know how it is, I’m sure. You work hard, and then you work even more!” he laughed heartily at his joke, obviously finding his own sense of humor quite amusing. I laughed politely.

I discreetly reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. No missed calls and no messages. I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t been expecting to hear from her, which was crap. She didn’t even have my number, but my mind had decided it was plausible that she might’ve checked the incoming calls on the phone she called from my phone the night her car broke down. I’m not crazy at all, right?

The doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts. Mr. Gale jumped up, muttering something to himself about tardiness and respect. I chuckled, getting the feeling that he and his daughter had a similar relationship to me and my father. I rested my head back against the seat, closing my eyes for a moment. I had one fucking hell of a headache and I didn’t think it was planning on going away anytime soon. In the hallway, I could hear Mr. Gale arguing with his daughter. I shook my head, glad it wasn’t me in his firing line. He seemed like a man who held a grudge.

“Annabelle, this is Jack Falcon, a good friend of Luke’s,” Mr. Gale announced. I looked up with my usual smile ready on my lips, knowing I didn’t need to do much to make a good impression. If there’s one thing I did right, it was impress women. It was the
only
thing I did right.

The smile froze on my lips. What. The. Fuck.

The blood drained from my face as the realization hit me that Sally’s sister Annabelle was
my
Belle. The same girl I had fucked last night on the bed, in the shower, and on the kitchen bench was standing in front of me, her father’s arm draped over her shoulder, smiling sweetly at me.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, desperately trying to keep my voice even and void of emotion.

“Jack? Nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name,” she gushed, her green eyes sparkling. My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. She seemed
way
too calm and together.

Fuck. This was bad.

“I might go and check on the girls. I’m sure you two will be fine here, getting to know one another?” Mr. Gale didn’t wait for an answer. Alone in the room, I grabbed her hand and yanked her towards me. She came freely, her body now oh-so-close to mine.

“What the fuck is this? Did you know who I was?” I said angrily, trying to ignore how fucking amazing she looked in that dress. The lining of the dress clung to her figure while the sheer black outer fabric flowed loosely around her. My god, she was sexy.

She pulled her hand away from mine as hurt flashed through her eyes. “No! What do you think…You think that I knew who you were? That’s fucked up! And besides, you pursued me. You came into my workplace, you drove me home.
You
chased
me
.”

My pounding heart began to slow. She had a point.

Suddenly I thought back to my conversation with Luke in the bar the other week. He’d spoken about Sally’s sister, or more specifically, about
me
staying the hell away from Sally’s seventeen-year-old sister.

Seventeen. Seven-teen.
Seventeen.

No matter how I said it, the result was still the same. What was the age of consent? Fuck, this was still really bad. This was really, really bad. I needed a drink. Glancing towards the kitchen, I quickly walked over to the bar, grabbed the first bottle of scotch I spotted, and poured myself a glass.

“Is that your answer for everything—a drink?” Belle hissed.

“You’re seriously having a go at me here? You are fucking
minor
. You’re underage and I had
sex
with you,” I growled. “Did you not think of how much fucking trouble that could get me into?”

“I didn’t… It didn’t…” Her voice trailed off, as if she just realized for the first time how serious this was for me. “I’m over the age of consent, Jack. The legal age in the UK is sixteen. I’m
seventeen
, almost eighteen. Stop calling me a minor.”

“It doesn’t matter! I asked you about college. You let me believe you are in your final year of college! What are you, fucking still in high school? Do you even realize or care that I’m eight years older than you? I mean, we can completely forget the fact that you’re my best mate’s wife’s sister, because there are so many fucking things wrong with this that it’s
insane
!” I was yelling by now, I had to calm myself down, or everyone in this house was going to know.

Fuck this
. I stormed past her and out the front door. I stood on the porch breathing in the fresh air, trying to calm myself down. I had to get through this lunch, and to do that I needed to pretend this just wasn’t happening. I would deal with this later.

When I walked back into the house, Belle was in the dining room setting the table with Sally. Sally glanced up while Belle refused to look at me, placing all her energy into setting the table perfectly.

“Jack, I was wondering where you went,” Sally smiled.

“Yes, sorry. Phone call.” I rolled my eyes as if random work calls happened all the time.

“Have you met Annabelle? You probably wouldn’t remember her—she was barely a teenager at the wedding,” she laughed, hugging her sister. Belle rolled her eyes. Well that made me feel great. At the wedding when I was twenty, and fucking woman after woman, she’d been twelve! The thought made me sick. What kind of perverted freak was I?

“Yes, Annabelle and I have met,” I said, smiling sweetly. “So what do you do, Annabelle? Are you still in school?” I asked innocently. She shot me a look.

“Yes, I’m still in school. I’m in my last year at St Martin’s High school,” she replied calmly.

“Really, that’s fascinating! God, high school was so long ago I can’t even remember it,” I said with a forced laugh. Belle glared at me. Sally, oblivious to the tension in the room, laughed.

“Yes, I heard you were a bit of a player in high school. Luke told me all about you. And I bet things haven’t changed, have they? Are you ever going to settle down?”

“What’s the point in settling down when women are throwing themselves at me?” I laughed again, taking a swig of my beer. Belle slammed a fork down on the table, her jaw clenched.

“Excuse me,” she said storming out of the room.

Sally shook her head, her brow furrowed. “Sorry about her, you know how it is—teenage hormones and all that,” she apologized.

I knew how it was, all right. Something told me this lunch was not going to get any easier.

Chapter Ten

“So,” Luke began as Mrs. Gale slipped into her seat. We all sat around the table, waiting for Luke to continue. I could feel Belle’s eyes boring into me from where she sat across the table. I pretended not to notice, leaning in as though Luke’s next words had me on the edge of my seat. “There is a reason we asked you all to dinner tonight. As you know, little Thomas will be here in a couple of months, and we want all of you to be involved in his life.” Luke reach for Sally’s hand and then turned his attention to me. “Jack. I’ve known you for years. You’re my oldest friend, and as hard as you play and as much as you claim to hate kids, I know you’d make a great father. We would be honored if you would be Thomas’ godfather.”

Even though I had been expecting it, actually hearing those words was a whole other story. A lump formed in my throat. What the fuck, why the hell was I feeling so emotional? I didn’t want kids, my own or someone else’s. I knew the chances of something happening to both Luke and Sally were slim, but all the same I just didn’t need this responsibility right now. Or ever.

“Wow. I don’t know what to say,” I stammered, reaching for my water.

I searched for the right words and realized they weren’t there. If I was going to decline, now was not the time—not with all these people around, and especially not with Belle staring at me from across the table. I couldn’t think straight with her in the room. 

“Thanks guys, this is a huge deal. It means a lot to me that you trust me enough to ask this of me.” And it did mean a lot. It made me realize exactly how much Luke loved me.

“And, this might come as a surprise to my favorite sister, but Anabelle, Luke and I would be honored if you would be Thomas’s godmother.” Sally smiled at Belle, who laughed and nodded.

What the hell? How was I going to get this girl, this
underage
girl, out of my head if I had to see her every time something baby-related came up? The only saving grace of this whole situation was with her as godmother, chances of me ever having to fulfil my obligation became even slimmer.

“Thanks, Sally and Luke. It means a lot to me that you want me to be a part of Thomas’ life,” Belle said quietly.

With the formalities out of the way, the rest of dinner moved quite quickly. If anyone noticed the tension between Belle and me, they didn’t mention it. Everyone talked and laughed amongst themselves, and every now and then my gaze would meet Belle’s until one of us looked away—usually me.

Four o’clock couldn’t come fast enough, because it gave me the perfect excuse to leave. I was meeting Dad for dinner to discuss something business-related. It was always business with Dad. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d had a conversation that wasn’t about work. Just once, I’d like him to sit down with me and talk like a normal father and son would. That would never happen though, and wishing for it would only feed the fury inside of me.

“Thanks for dinner, guys, it’s been great,” I said, shaking Luke’s hand and kissing Sally’s cheek. “Mr. and Mrs. Gale, it was lovely meeting you both again. I hope we can do this again soon.”

“You too, Jack. I hope we can do this again soon. You’re a good man, according to Luke.” Mr. Gale shook my hand gruffly. I managed a smile, trying to push the images of me on top of his daughter out of my head.
If only you knew
, I thought.

I turned to Belle, my heart pounding. Leaning in, I kissed her cheek, breathing in the fruity scent of her perfume. As my lips touched her cheek my whole body jumped. I had done the one thing I didn’t want to do: react to her.

I was fucked up. Even now, after everything, after knowing who she was and how old she was, I still wanted her. More than that, I
needed
her.

***

I entered Calare’s, the only restaurant in this part of London my father would step foot in, and glanced around. He wasn’t there—not that that was really surprising considering I was twenty minutes early. I approached the waiter. He led me to a small table in the corner by the window. I thanked him and sat down, ordering a glass of scotch.

Glancing out the window, I sighed. My life was never this complicated. I worked hard to keep things clean and free from drama. This was the last thing I needed right now, especially with Dad on my back about this deal. I felt the vibration of my phone against my thigh. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled it out. One new message. I opened it, not realizing it was from Belle until it was too late.

I’m sorry. I don’t know what I can say to make this right. The last thing I wanted to do was lie to you. I thought you would have ran a mile if you knew I was only seventeen.

I snorted and shoved the phone back in my pocket without replying. So she
did
have my number. The thought of her roaming through a phone (her father’s?), searching for my number, made me smile. 

A pretty, redheaded waitress walked over to my table carrying my scotch. She smiled as she set it in front of me. Tilting my head slightly, I narrowed my eyes and grinned up at her.

“Thanks,” I murmured softly, not taking my eyes off her. She blushed and tucked a stray curl of hair back behind her ear, as if she were embarrassed by my attention.

“Can I get you anything else while you wait?” she asked, not quite meeting my eyes. She was so into me that it was almost sad. The lack of eye contact, the blushing, and the way she looked at me was a dead giveaway. This would be easy.

“Just your number,” I said huskily. At least this meant I wouldn’t need to spend the evening alone. Little Red would be more than capable of distracting me. She giggled, her eyes darting around the room. She pulled a napkin out of the holder and jotted down her number. Shoving it towards me, her eyes met mine.

“I’m finished here at six,” she said softly. Her body language told me this was out of the norm for her. I was sure plenty of guys would’ve hit on her, but she never reciprocated. The difference was none of those other guys were me.

I averted my attention to the imposing figure walking through the restaurant: my father. As he neared the table, I took in his expression. As usual, it was hard, emotionless and intimidating. My father was a master at masking his feelings. Even as a child I’d never known what he was feeling. He could say one thing and then act in a completely different way.