Substitute (2 page)

She put a hand on Tony’s chest as he buttoned his shirt.

‘Give it a few minutes before you leave,’ she told him, back in control.

‘Sure thing … boss!’ Tony smiled sarcastically.

Phillipa made for the door. The red soles of her killer Louboutins showed a very small unsteadiness in her walk. She opened the door and the music from downstairs flooded the room. She paused, then went out, closing the door behind her.

Alexia was leaning against the wall, still slightly out of breath. The throb that had spread through her limbs and her stomach was subsiding now, and she was left with the warm afterglow of pleasure lying languidly in her veins. I’ll wait here a couple of minutes until Tony leaves too, she thought. She closed her eyes, waiting for her breathing to return to normal. The room was quiet again, save for the dull thud of the bass line.

‘What the hell …?’

Alexia’s eyes burst open to see Tony standing in the small bathroom, staring at her with disbelief.

‘Were you watching us?’ Tony demanded

‘What! No … No … I … I mean …’

‘You
were
watching us … Get a kick out of it?’

Alexia stammered, ‘You don’t understand. I was already in here, and when you came in … I …’ Her voice trailed away.

Tony studied her for a moment. Those same wicked eyes that had fixed Phillipa now rested on her. He might have only been around 25, but Alexia could see why it had been such a battle for the strong and controlling Phillipa. He was no boy; he knew he was attractive, with his dirty blond, surfy hair and fit body. He loved himself and he loved to see himself reflected in the eyes of others.

‘Maybe you’d like a turn? Give me a couple of minutes to get my breath back!’

‘No!’ cried Alexia. ‘No!’

She caught a panicky note in her voice. He regarded her coolly for a moment.

‘You’re the Ice Queen, aren’t you?’

‘The what …?’ Alexia was confused now.

‘That’s what they call you, the boys downstairs. Cool as anything, with that “look but don’t touch” thing going on.’

Alexia was dumbstruck.

‘Hey, that doesn’t matter, ice can – melt.’ He said the last word as if the breath of his voice alone could accomplish the task.

‘Alexia isn’t it?’ His full lips formed her name as if he were sucking her in as he said it.

She flushed, unsure what to say or do. Then Tony stood straighter and finished buttoning his shirt.

‘Don’t worry, little ice maiden, plenty of time for that. Though spring is coming. Thawing season might be just around the corner.’

He laughed to himself and disappeared from view. Her stomach lurched with relief and embarrassment. It seemed unreal, but it was real all right. She’d just watched two people fuck and now one of them had caught her. She moved to look out into the boardroom to make sure he was leaving, but as Tony got to the door it flew open, and in strode a tall, dark-haired man in a perfect dark suit, carrying a briefcase. He stopped and eyed Tony, then his eyes flashed to Alexia. She felt her stomach somersault so heavily she thought she’d fall backwards.

The smell of sex hung unmistakably in the air, and Alexia’s flushed appearance made it all too obvious that some serious fucking had just taken place in the room.

‘Finished?’ said the man coolly.

His voice was hard and commanding, without a hint of sarcasm. He was clearly Tony’s superior, in every way. Tony half raised his hands in a “you got me” gesture and walked out, leaving Alexia standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

The man eyed her coolly. She didn’t know who he was but she wouldn’t forget him in a hurry. He was very tall, at least 6 foot 3, with broad, strong shoulders. His hair was very dark brown, almost black, and well cut, but strands escaped and hung down over his dark blue eyes. He had an aquiline nose, slightly French-looking, which gave him a haughty appearance.

‘Don’t let me keep you!’ he said with mock civility. He strode over to a desk and put down the briefcase. Alexia couldn’t help noticing that his legs were long and athletic. He looked tired, as if it had been a very long day and he was eager for it to end.

‘I … It’s not what you think –’ she stammered

He raised an eyebrow in a gesture of tired indifference.

‘As long as people do their jobs in my company, then I will put up with a certain amount of excess, but don’t insult my intelligence, young lady …’ He almost spat out the last word.

His company? Oh my God, thought Alexia, this is Nathan Fallon, the Fallon Sports Agency, my boss!

She had never met him; she’d been at the company only two days and he had been away on business.

‘Please go and find your boyfriend, and do whatever it is you do somewhere else. I have work to finish.’ He walked back towards the door and opened it. The music flooded the room again. Shame and mortification flushed through Alexia’s face.

‘But –’ she protested.

‘Look, it’s been a long day, I’ve had a long flight, now kindly go and find yourself –’ he looked at the table where the fucking had just finished ‘ –find yourself a more comfortable bed.’

He walked behind her and ushered her out before she could protest any further. She could smell his aftershave, soft and warm; it filled her nostrils and its heady effect seemed to find its way into her panties. But she didn’t have time to ponder on it for long, as she found herself propelled into the hallway by a strong hand and the boardroom door shut firmly behind her. She could hardly breathe.

Alexia was dumbstruck. It was like a bad dream. She gasped suddenly and clutched her forehead. She ran down the corridor, straight into the main office where the party was still in full swing.

Romy was sitting on some guy’s lap, and he was clearly intent on getting the kind of action Tony had got. ‘Hey where you going?’ she slurred, a little drunk.

‘Home!’

Alexia grabbed her coat and handbag and ran the gauntlet of the partying staff to get to the door. As the cold night air hit her chest, she sucked in a lungful of it. A taxi was drawing past the office; its yellow roof-light blinked invitingly, signalling her salvation. She waved him down frantically and fell into the back seat.

‘Good night?’ said the taxi driver, regarding her in his rear view mirror.

‘Oh God!’ she whimpered. ‘How the hell am I going to get out of this one?’

‘Don’t worry love, it can’t be that bad. Whatcha do? Kiss the boss over the photocopier?’

Alexia’s mind was swirling. ‘No … I … Look, I’m sorry, I just need to get home.’

She gave him the address and he obliged, moving the cab away from the kerb and away from the scene of her shame. Alexia looked out at the office and saw the boardroom light still on. Nathan Fallon was standing in the window. Was he looking at her? His lone figure in the window grew smaller as the cab drove away; he turned away from the window and was gone, just as the cab turned the corner. Her misery was complete.

Chapter Two

Alexia woke up slowly. She was exhausted; the last few months with Carter had really worn her down. After her sudden flight from captivity, and being catapulted into a new job, her nerves were in shreds. She rubbed her eyes and peered groggily at the sweet little room that had become her new home. She hadn’t had time to make it her own yet, but it felt good to have a bedroom door that was hers and hers alone. No man could enter unless invited.

She sighed heavily, and stretched her long legs to the cool patch of the bed. Why did that feel so good in the morning? Cool cotton sheets slipped against her freshly waxed legs. The waxing was Romy’s idea.

‘You have to up the grooming if you’re going to work here sweetie!’ Romy had laughed as she dragged Alexia into the salon.

She’d drawn the line at a Brazilian wax, though; that was a step too far. She settled on a neat triangle. That was as radical as she wanted to get.

She moved her hand down to her pussy and felt the triangle of hair and bare upper thighs. She was still foggy, not fully awake. But as her hand slid over the curls, a jolt of memory snapped her into full wakefulness.

‘Oh God!’ she cried out loud. So loudly she heard Romy’s voice through the door.

‘Hey, I thought you came home alone, girl!’

Romy came into the room carrying two huge, steaming mugs of coffee. Alexia felt her face flush violently with the embarrassment of remembrance and she flung the sheet over her face as if it would cover her shame. She needed to hide from last night, from the memory of Tony’s invitation and – worse, much worse – of Nathan Fallon’s disgust and disappointment. He was her boss and their first meeting had been a car crash. She was on three months’ probation at the firm, and now she would never get the job.

She groaned under the sheet. Romy pulled it roughly away from Alexia’s face.

‘What the hell’s the matter with you? Here, I made you coffee. I don’t know about you, but my head’s banging!’

She proffered the steaming cup of salvation. Alexia sat up slowly and took the offering; she sipped. The scalding hot liquid seemed to be a reproach for her behaviour and her shame. She bit her lip.

‘Hey, the coffee’s not that bad! It’s the expensive stuff from the deli, thought we could do with a treat. Celebrate your new job!’

‘Oh God, Romy!’

‘What did you do last night? I saw Tony looking at you when you ran out.’

Alexia groaned with shame.

‘Oh my God, did you fuck him?’ demanded Romy.

Alexia was horrified. ‘What? No!’

Romy raised her eyebrows.

‘No, I didn’t!’

‘Mmm, thought not, you’re not the office fucking type. Mind you, you might feel better if you had shagged him. Might loosen you up a bit. Get Carter out of your head. Out of your snatch, certainly!’

‘Romy!’

‘Well, if you had a bit more – you know, experience – you might not let bastards like Carter get their claws into you. I think you should give Tony a ride. I certainly wouldn’t mind, I bet he’s a bloody good shag.’

Alexia nearly spat out her coffee and started coughing violently.

‘Oh, come on, sweetie, I know you’re a good girl and all that, but you must admit he looks like he’s got a cock that could keep you happy for hours!’

Romy giggled at the thought of Tony and his tool.

‘Well he has, actually,’ said Alexia, who’d finished her mini coughing fit.

‘Eh? I thought you didn’t …?’

‘I didn’t! But I saw who did!’

Romy was understandably confused.

‘What happened last night? Because you ran out like your arse was on fire. And not in a good way!’

Alexia took a deep breath and put her head in her free hand, trying to smooth away the memory by rubbing her temple. She took a long glug of her cooling coffee to steady herself.

‘Alexia?’

‘OK, OK … Look, I just needed a pee. I went in the loo and it was full of people snorting coke so I went to look for another toilet. There’s one off the boardroom.’

She stopped, flushing again at the memory of the previous night.

‘Well …?’

‘I was in there, and I couldn’t find the light, so I was just feeling the wall, looking for it, when two people came into the boardroom. They didn’t know I was in there, in the bathroom. I couldn’t just burst out.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well, it was Tony and that Phillipa woman and they’d come in …’

‘To fuck! Oh my God, this is too good. So what happened, what did you do?’

‘What could I do? I just had to hide.’

‘Did you see them – you know – do it?’

Alexia took a long, slow slurp.

‘Oh my God Alex, you did! Oh details, details. Come on …’

‘Well they just – you know – got on with it.’

‘Phillipa! She’s a right bitch; she’s like a praying mantis. Did she rip his head off and eat it afterwards? Bloody hell, Tony’s brave!’

‘Oh no, he won that bout!’

Romy looked at Alexia, her eyes wide.

‘Seriously, it was like watching a couple of tigers or something, you know, big cats … Circling each other, like they were trying to decide who was hunting and who was …’

‘Getting eaten?’ Romy smirked at the double meaning.

The two girls slurped their coffee, both imagining the scene.

‘God, that sounds hot!’ said Romy.

‘Yeah,’ Alexia said quietly to herself, remembering.

‘Hey, you were turned on!’

‘No, I bloody wasn’t. I was trapped. It was awful!’

Romy remained unconvinced. ‘Well, when you ran out of there last night it looked like
you
were the one who’d been royally fucked.’

Alexia flushed violently.

‘Come on, Alex, what’s wrong with that? It’s just like watching porn, only live. Did you see it all?’

Alexia nodded as she drank her coffee.

‘Is he good?’

‘He left Phillipa looking like she’d been filleted.’

Romy screamed with laughter. Alexia relented and had to join in; it was funny, after all. The two girls rocked with laughter on Alexia’s double bed.

‘Well, it’s about time someone brought that cow down to size,’ said Romy. ‘What did he do to her?’

‘Well, it wasn’t so much what as how. He was making her virtually beg for it. And the way he was …’

Alexia faltered.

‘Way he was what?’ demanded Romy.

‘Well, hammering into her … Literally.’

Romy bit her lip. ‘Is he big?’ she asked.

Alexia nodded ‘Yeah, he is … And rock hard. It was like a truncheon!’

The two girls dissolved into laughter again.

‘So, what were you so torn up about when you left?’ asked Romy.

Alexia stopped suddenly. The laughter abandoned her as she remembered the finale to the little pornographic operetta she’d witnessed. She groaned.

‘Phillipa left, then Tony found me!’

‘Oh my fucking God!’ Romy’s mouth fell open.

‘And he … Well, he said …’

‘What? He said what?’

‘He offered to …’

Romy’s eyes rolled with realisation. ‘Oh yes! Go for it. Every girl in the office wants to fuck him. He’s been with us for six months and he doesn’t seem to have done anyone yet, except Phillipa, obviously. He must be more into fucking management. Although I hear he’s fucked quite a few clients. If Nathan knew he’d be out on his ear.’

‘He told me everyone calls me the Ice Queen or Ice Maiden or something.’

Romy’s enthusiasm suddenly evaporated. She looked uncomfortable.

‘Romy? Oh my God … Is it true? They call me that?’

Romy sighed ‘Well, you have this untouchable look, sort of virginal. And you don’t give off vibes that you might be up for it, which is unusual.’

Alexia suddenly looked like a child and Romy felt huge guilt. She wanted to protect her friend; her doll-like beauty always made her look so vulnerable, and never more so than now.

‘Don’t take any notice,’ said Romy. ‘The girls are just jealous ’cos you’re gorgeous, and the boys just all want to get there first. You take your time.’ She blew out her cheeks. ‘Although Tony … I wouldn’t mind tripping him up and making sure I’m underneath him when he lands!’

‘Romy!’

‘Look, he’s gorgeous. And it wouldn’t be serious … You should think about taking him up on the offer. You need to get over Carter. I’m just talking about a damned good fuck, not an affair. You need it.’

Alexia couldn’t deny that. Watching Tony last night, she realised that she needed it, and badly.

‘That’s not all that happened,’ she said quietly.

‘There’s more? Bloody hell.’

‘Well, after Phillipa left and Tony found me, and I told him to get lost … After that, he started to leave, but … Oh God!’

Alexia collapsed on the bed and closed her eyes.

‘Oh God … What?’

Alexia just lay there shaking her head, her hands covering her face.

‘What? What?’ Romy was desperate.

Alexia sat bolt upright. ‘Nathan Fallon walked in.’

‘Oh buggering hell!’ Romy looked startled for a moment, then started to laugh with the craziness of it.

Alexia was beside herself. ‘He took one look at me and knew that Tony had been …’

‘He thought Tony had fucked
you
!’

Alexia was miserable again. She buried her face in her hands. Romy gave a low whistle.

‘Wow! The white whale thinks you shagged Tony.’

‘The white what?’

‘The white whale,’ repeated Romy. ‘It’s what we call him. The big one no one can catch. No one knows why, but he doesn’t fuck around – well, not so that anyone knows if he does. And it’s not because no one’s tried. God, I’d give anything for a night with him, he’s fucking gorgeous. I’ve been his PA for a year now and he’s never flirted with me once. He’s just a good boss … Damn him! He built that company from nothing, he knows everyone, goes to all the best parties; he’s the catch of the century. I saw him in tennis shorts once …’ Romy closed her eyes in remembrance. ‘
Tight
tennis shorts. Oh God, is he ever a mouthful. Not sure I could cope … I’d love to try though.’ She giggled.

‘You should have seen the way he looked at me, Romy. Like I was a cheap little tart!’

‘Oh I’m sure he didn’t … It was a party, and he knows how people behave in this industry. Just ’cos he doesn’t join in doesn’t mean he doesn’t know about it.’

‘No, I know he thinks that … It was the way he …’ Her voice trailed away.

Romy pushed a blonde lock away from Alexia’s pale face. There was a tear running down her pink cheek.

‘Oh sweetie, don’t. So he thinks you fucked Tony, so what?’

‘Because it’s a temp job and I need to keep it. If he thinks badly of me then he might not give me the job permanently.’

‘Listen, as long as you do your job OK, you’ll be kept on. It’s only temporary while they try you out, so stop worrying …’

‘But then …’ Alexia bit her lip.

‘Then what? what?’

‘Nothing. I just … I don’t know.’ Alexia looked desolate again. ‘I don’t want him thinking that about me.’

‘Why? Want a shot at the while whale yourself?’ Romy cocked an eyebrow.

‘Well, that could never happen
now
, could it?’ Alexia realised what she’d said and tried to backtrack. ‘I mean, could never
have
happened …’

‘Hmm,’ said Romy knowingly. ‘Be careful who you have a crush on. Tony you could fuck and throw back into the pond, but Nathan Fallon – he’s not catch and release. And you don’t need your heart broken again.’

The two girls fell silent. Then Romy jumped up.

‘Mind you, if you just want to get back on the bike Richard is going to be here in a minute.’

‘Who?’

‘He’s an old mate. He needs somewhere to crash for a bit so I told him he could have the sofa. He’s American, very pretty, complete tart but great fun. He could pump your tyres up! Come on, get up, he’ll be here soon and you look like a fright. I’ll run you a bath.’

She flounced out of the room, singing to herself. For a moment Alexia could see the old Romy, punky and proud. You can change on the outside, she thought, but not on the inside, not really. The thought made her sad. She knew she needed to change, to reinvent herself the way Romy had done. She couldn’t bear to think that the office staff thought she was frigid. But maybe she was. Her sexual encounters with her college boyfriend had been uninspiring. She’d slept with him because that’s what you did. And Carter? That was horrible; she didn’t want to think about him or his bedroom.

But then last night had proved to her that the aching in her loins was as strong as any woman’s, stronger perhaps because she had been so starved of satisfaction.

Alexia heard Romy turn the tap in the bathroom and heard the water running into the bath. She swung her legs over the bed and looked at the floor. There was her laptop. She thought for a moment, then reached down to pick it up. She turned it on and found herself slowly typing a name into Google. She was jittery and her fingers were jumpy. She seemed to have trouble typing straight. N-A-T-G- no wait, that’s an H-A-N …

She tapped out the 12 letters that made up the name but her finger hovered over the search button. Why was she nervous? She made the final tap and half a dozen pictures of the gorgeous Nathan Fallon jumped off the page. Her stomach flipped, a jolt of electricity running down the invisible line from stomach to pussy.

There he was: Nathan Fallon at Wimbledon; Nathan Fallon with Premier League football managers; Nathan Fallon with his arm around that gorgeous women’s Olympic sprinting champion; Nathan Fallon alone, in black tie, smouldering into the camera. Looking into those eyes, the same eyes that had looked down at her in the boardroom, the surge to her pussy was undeniable.

He was like a panther, with his black hair, black suit, and searing blue eyes. He was handsome, but not in the conventional sense; his face had a smouldering intelligence. He was in his late 30s and very self-assured. Nathan Fallon, star sports agent. His image stared out at her from the screen. He’s my boss, she thought. The boss who thinks I’m a tart.

She threw herself back on the bed. Images of Nathan swam before her eyes and her face burned again. She hadn’t done anything wrong and here she was feeling like it was she who’d behaved appallingly, when her only real crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How could this have happened to her?