Temptation (Club Destiny) (32 page)

Once inside, she gave her name to the pretty young woman standing at the hostess stand. Moments later, she was being seated alongside Sam at a table in the back.

“Ashleigh’s on her way. She said she got sidetracked this morning, and the time had gotten away from her.”

Sierra smiled knowingly. “Is Alex still pursuing her relentlessly?”

“That would be my guess, but I don’t know for sure.” She said quietly. “Logan mentioned that the two of them had been seen at the club over the weekend. Together.”

“Well, that’s progress at least.” The waitress returned and asked for Sierra’s drink order, in which she gave. Once the two women were alone again Sierra turned to her friend. “I know I’m not supposed to ask, and you are definitely not supposed to tell, but is Alex a member of the club?”

Sam glanced in both directions, as though trying to ensure there wasn’t a Club Destiny spy hanging out in the near vicinity before lowering her voice even more. “Yes.”

“Does he –” Before Sierra could finish the question –
engage in threesomes
– Ashleigh approached the table, a glowing smile gracing her beautiful features.

“Hey, ladies.” Ashleigh greeted, as though they were all long lost friends. Since Sierra didn’t have any close friends in the Dallas area, she and Sam had discussed on occasion reaching out to Ashleigh to see if the woman would be interested in joining their weekly girls’ lunch get-togethers. Apparently Ashleigh had been onboard with the idea.

“Hey, Ash.” Sam greeted, and then turned to Sierra with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye. “Is it me or is she glowing?”

“Oh hush.” Ashleigh said sweetly, taking the vacant seat between the two women. “I am definitely not glowing. Alex couldn’t get that lucky.”

Sierra grinned, relieved that Ashleigh could at least joke about the not so subtle man who was doing everything in his power to make his interest known.

“Well, that’s a shame.” Sam stated, perusing the menu. “I was hoping at least one of us could share some juicy details about their love life.”

Was it her or did Sam sound disappointed? She heard the woman’s attempt at light hearted banter, but Sierra got the impression there was some truth to the statement. Instead of responding, the three women reviewed their menus until the waitress returned to take their order. Once the girl was off to put in their lunch order, they all turned back to one another.

“So, since I’m fresh out of sexy stories, I’m all ears if either of you would like to share.” Ashleigh stated with a grin.

Right. As if the woman didn’t have lewd and lustful thoughts filling that brain of hers. How she managed to come up with some of the creative scenes in those books of hers was beyond Sierra. When both women’s gazes landed on her, Sierra blushed. Profusely.

“
What
?” She asked, realizing the guilt was front and center in the single word.

“Spill it.” Sam stated firmly.

“There’s nothing to
spill
.” Sierra knew how transparent she sounded, but good grief, she couldn’t imagine sharing the intimate details of what happened between her and Luke and Cole with anyone. Even Sam.

“If the grapevine is accurate, and, unfortunately, it usually is, I heard Cole was invited to Luke’s house on Valentine’s night. Would there be any truth to that rumor?” Sam asked ever so bluntly.

Sierra stared back at both women, and for the first time she actually longed to share her thoughts with them. She longed to have the kind of relationships she had left behind in Nashville, ones where she could share her life with her friends and feel safe and secure in doing so. She hadn’t had that since she moved to Dallas. After a second of thought, she shrugged her shoulders and decided to go for it.

“Maybe.” She told Sam, glancing over at Ashleigh and noticing how the woman turned her full attention on her.

“Do tell.” Ashleigh encouraged and Sierra found herself sharing some of the details – definitely not all – with the two women over lunch. By the time she was through with her story, her face was on fire, and both women were hanging on her every word.

“Who knew that I’d walk away from this lunch with so much material for my books?” Then, as though she just realized she’d spoken out loud, Ashleigh’s hand flew to her mouth, and she looked stricken.

Sierra laughed out loud, and Sam joined in. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us.”

“Oh my God! Do others know?” Ashleigh asked, truly startled that her secret was out.

“Just a few.” Sam told her, pushing her plate away. “I only have one question.”

Ashleigh stared back at Sam in disbelief and Sierra hung on for the one question that was burning a hole in Sam’s mind.

“Do you ever worry that you’ll put something inappropriate in one of those children’s books you write?”

Ashleigh’s eyes went wide and then the woman laughed out loud, a sound so sexy, Sierra couldn’t help but stare at her. Damn. It was quite possible that Ashleigh Thomas was close to perfect. Down to earth, friendly, beautiful, and apparently pretty damn horny. Every man’s dream.

“I do actually. I know, funny, right? But seriously, could you imagine? Even if my editor were to read it, I’d be so mortified.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get your start in writing erotic romance?” Sierra asked the question, but Sam appeared to be just as interested in Ashleigh’s answer.

“Since I was young I’ve been writing, whether in my journal or just some form of creative writing. I loved it. Then, as I got older, I started writing stories that I would just dream up in my head. And then I started writing children’s books, figuring that was the safe, respectable way to go and no one would look at me cross eyed for talking about magical horses, or princesses. But, deep down, there’s always been a part of me that I kept under wraps, and I would allow myself to write those stories, but never dreamed of publishing them.

“One day, on a whim, I decided I would publish anonymously, going the independent route because heaven forbid anyone ever find out that I write those types of stories. And then out of left field, they started selling. Like crazy.” Ashleigh told them, completely serious, keeping both Sam and Sierra riveted on the story. “I’m not sure how anyone ever tied me back to Ashton Leigh, and I will be mortified if my grandfather ever finds out.”

“Well, like we said earlier, your secret is safe with us. It isn’t our place to tell. And honestly, I only know of two other people who know the truth.” Sam stated, glancing from Ashleigh to Sierra and back again.

“Who?” Ashleigh asked, clearly concerned.

“Logan and… Alex.” Sam didn’t smile when she mentioned Alex’s name.

“Oh God! Are you serious?” Ashleigh asked, her face turning bright pink. “Well, no wonder the man chases me around so much. He must think…”

“Wait. No.” Sam interjected, placing her hand on top of Ashleigh’s. “That’s not it at all. I can assure you Alex has no preconceived notions about your sexuality.”

Ashleigh looked down at her hand, the woman was apparently lost in thought and Sierra wondered about the situation between her and Alex. Did she really think that was the only thing Alex would be interested in? Was the woman really that clueless? Not that Sierra even knew Alex, nor had she even met the man, but one look at Ashleigh Thomas and Sierra knew, regardless of her moonlighting as an erotic romance author, men would flock to her like a moth to a flame. She was
that
beautiful. And fun.

“So, I think turnabout is fair play.” Sierra suddenly said, hoping to divert Ashleigh’s attention. “Since you and I have both shared our intimate secrets, I think it’s time Sam gives up something as well.” She smiled sweetly back at Sam who now looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Me? Why me?” Sam asked, clearly stalling.

“I agree.” Ashleigh said, turning those piercing gray eyes on Sam as well. “I think it’s your turn to talk.”

The waitress returned to refill their drinks, take their discarded plates and offer them dessert. Each woman kindly declined the offer of dessert and waited for the waitress to get out of earshot before they focused on Sam once more.

“Ok. Fine.” Sam tried to sound exasperated, but Sierra noticed the smile in her eyes. “It’s no secret that Logan and I have had our share of threesomes, however, since the man we had originally chosen to come to our bed has so graciously declined because apparently the man is in love…” Sam paused for effect, grinning mischievously at Sierra. “Well, do either of you know anything about Tag Murphy?”

And with that, Sierra listened intently as Sam discussed her desire to incorporate the newest member of Club Destiny into her extracurricular bedroom activities. Although from what Sam said, they very seldom restricted those activities to the bedroom.

She only hoped Sam didn’t see the sudden and intense relief that washed over her from the admission. Knowing that Sam and Logan had shared a bed with Luke and accepting that fact were two entirely different things. Since Sierra had developed strong feelings for Luke, she wasn’t interested in sharing him with anyone else. Well, unless you counted Cole.

~~  **  ~~  **  ~~  **  ~~

Sierra spent the rest of the week trying to appease one very demanding, very selfish lawyer. Yes. Selfish. It was no wonder the woman wasn’t in a relationship, or not that Sierra could tell anyway. She thought of only herself and Sierra found the trait rather annoying. However, that didn’t change the fact that Sierra worked for her. So she continued to put her best foot forward, doing what Susan asked and gritting her teeth in the process.

The week droned on and thankfully Sierra had an appointment with one of the other clients she met at the conference and that meeting turned out to be the polar opposite of any she had had with Susan. The man, Mr. Brendon Cason, a well to do architect whose eye for design was right along the lines of Sierra’s, was happy with her ideas. She had spent the better part of two days placing orders and tying up a couple of loose ends. Lucky for her, the weekend was in full force because she was more than ready for a break.

So when Sam invited her to Club Destiny for drinks, she hadn’t been able to refuse. And here she was, sipping one of those drinks as she watched intently while various groups of people laughed and had a good time around her. She was all for the good time, but, unfortunately, Luke apparently had other plans for her. Upon her arrival, he immediately exiled himself to his office to do whatever it was that he did.

“How are you and Luke doing?” Sam asked, and although the question sounded innocent enough, Sierra knew Sam picked up on the apparent tension between the two of them.

Sierra just wished she knew where it was coming from. Since Valentine’s Day, she hadn’t seen much of Luke, both of them so busy that their schedules never seemed to sync up. Now Sierra wondered if that hadn’t been planned on Luke’s part.

Sierra glanced behind her, as though Luke might be lurking somewhere in the vicinity. As if.

“I don’t know. Until tonight, I thought things were fairly normal. We’ve both been busy, so I haven’t seen much of him.”

Sam appeared to be lost in thought, as though trying to figure out what could have happened. “Logan said there was a problem at the club, so maybe that’s keeping him busy.”

Possible, but not likely.

How much time could it possibly take to determine the consequences for one of your employees that had been caught stealing? Yes, Sierra knew all about the problem Luke was dealing with. Luke had shared the details with her one night over dinner, the only night she had managed to coax him over to her place so she could spend just a little time with him. Luke had played down the actual theft, but strangely tried to play up his thoughts on Cole’s relationship with the woman. Sierra had been stunned to learn Cole could possibly be seeing someone, and she hadn’t believed it for a minute, but Luke had been rather convincing.

After what happened on Valentine’s, Sierra found it hard to believe Cole would have volunteered to come over if his affections were diverted elsewhere. He wasn’t that type of man, Sierra knew that much. But, instead of arguing with Luke, she’d let him tell the story and even asked the right amount of questions, all of which Luke continued to answer the same. Apparently Cole found someone and Luke wouldn’t be surprised if he lost interest in the two of them. Sure, the comment stung, but Sierra hadn’t argued.

That was the first sign that Luke was trying to withdraw from her. And likely Cole as well. If she had to guess, he was overwhelmed by what happened between them, to the point that he was running. Even if it was figuratively.

Not wanting to dwell on the depressing thoughts, Sierra changed the subject. “Luke told me CISS is taking on another big client. What does that mean for you?”

“I’m not quite sure yet. Dylan, Alex and I have talked a little about what I might be doing for them, but we haven’t carved out the plan. The only thing I do know is Logan isn’t too happy with the idea of me leaving XTX.”

“Do you have to leave?” Sierra asked pointedly.

“Not necessarily, but if you want to know the truth, I’m kind of intrigued by the idea. My contract with XTX isn’t up for another year and a half, so I’ve got some time to convince Logan.”

Sierra’s eyes were drawn to a group of people walking in the front door. Eight o’clock on Friday night seemed to be the time to go out based on the way Club Destiny was filling up. The noise level was increasing thanks to the hordes of people filing in, and the music had been turned up a few notches.