Temptation (The Temptation Series) (11 page)

“That’s alright maybe next
time. Nate, Mum tells me you like Astronomy? Maybe you’d like to have a look at
my Observatory?”

“Sweet.”
Oh yeah, another
past word of the month
. It was Rick who started asking questions next.

“So, how often do you take
her out?”
Fuck, where did this come from. Was it that obvious?

“Never, why?” I said
defensively. Rick looked at me confused.

“At least once a week.” Bryce
offered.

“Too easy, must be nice and
quiet up in the air with no other traffic, or having to fight for a parking
spot?”
Oh, the Helicopter, stupid me.
Rick tried to make out it was a
joke, but I sensed he was having a stab.

“That’s one of the reasons I
love it, no other idiots to contend with!”
Hhhmmm this was starting to feel
like the beginning of a cock fight.
Bryce led us back inside but this time
into his apartment.

“Can I get any of you a
drink?”

“No, we won’t take up any
more of your time.” I ever so slightly nudged the kids towards the door.

“We aren’t in a hurry Babe,
I’ll take you up on that drink.”
I’m going to kill him, which one though?
They were both pissing me off.

“What’s your drink of choice
Rick?” Bryce moved over to the bar, he grabbed out a bottle of Gin.
Oh no
you don’t!

“I’ll have a JB if you’ve got
it.”
Rick! Yes you are first on my hit list.
Bryce turned to grab a bottle
of Jim Beam and in doing so sniggered.

“Do you like Scotch?” He
didn’t wait for Rick’s answer, he poured two glasses of Glenfiddich 50. I’m not
a drinker, but I know that is one of the most expensive bottles of Scotch in
the world. We did a brief module on exclusive luxurious items in my Bachelor
Degree and I vaguely recall a bottle being worth approximately $20,000.00.

“A Gin for you Alexis?”
You
smartarse, now you are definitely on my hit list too.

“No thank you.” I struggled a
polite smile.

“Perhaps, you’d like a cup of
English Breakfast or a hot white chocolate.”
That’s it. They may as well
flop their dicks out on the coffee table and get it over and done with.

“Water is fine.” I was
gritting my teeth and I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Maybe I could
fake an illness, I’d done it before, during school, to get a day off work, to
avoid housework, to get out of sex! Bryce picked up the phone and dialled.

“Grace, yes fine, can I order
two milkshake mountains.” He looked at Nate and Charli.

“What flavours?” Both my
children lit up, spoke at the same time and over the top of each other.

“Blue. Chocolate. Heaven”

“One Chocolate and one Blue
Heaven, yes straight away please, thank you.” He hung up the phone. I had to
hand it to him, he knew how to impress my children, Rick on the other hand,  well,
he was currently holding his own. Bryce bought the drinks over to the lounge
and sat opposite us in his laid back sexy couch position, which by the looks of
his ‘smirky’ face, knew I had taken a liking too.

“We paid Lucy a visit this
morning, and met baby Alexander, he’s amazing.” Bryce gleamed.

“Alexander Bryce Clark, he even
sounds perfect.” I could have leaped over the table and hit him. Right if he
wanted to play then play I will, I leaned back and put my hand in Rick’s hair,
I did this a lot, so Rick would have missed the attempted crack at Bryce.

“So, have you been back to
see Lucy since yesterday?” He twitched his head to the side and took a drink.
Take
that Mr agonizingly hot Clark!

“Yes, first thing this
morning.” A buzz came through a speaker near the door to his office, he got up
and went through, only to return moments later with what looked like two
massive glasses full of cream and chocolate, sprinkles and blue topping.

“Two Milkshake Mountains
coming your way.” Oh great that’s just what I need sticky milky drinks spilt
all over his rug, which probably cost more than our house alone.

“Up the dining table please.”
I ordered and pointed Bryce towards his kitchen, he placed the drinks down on
the table for the kids.

“No mucking around and no
mess, what do you say to Mr Clark?” Both Nate and Charlie chimed in with a ‘thank
you’. I turned and headed back for the lounge, Bryce was right behind me as we
passed the kitchen and he very quietly whispered from behind.

“Your arse in those jeans, is
making me hard.”

CHAPTER
TEN

The kids had their backs to
us and were not in ear shot, there was a wall in between the kitchen and lounge
which had become a useful shield.

“You need to cut this shit
out, now. My husband is in the other room and deserves better than this, do you
want me to walk?”

“You won’t.” He was very sure
of himself.

“I love my husband and he is
good to me, really good, so enough Bryce or I will walk.” I continued into the
lounge. I had a sneaking suspicion he was watching my arse, I looked back over
my shoulder, curiosity getting the better of me and my suspicion was proven.
I can’t deny it; I did enjoy his appreciation of my assets. I sat down next
to Rick and squeezed his leg.

“Drink up Rick, don’t forget
I have drinks with the girls tonight.”

We weren’t there for much
longer, my threat had subdued Bryce, he followed through with his compromise
and showed Nate the Observatory, which was apparently ‘the Sickest’, then we
politely thanked him for is hospitality and
indecent suggestive game playing
and said our goodbyes.

“Don’t forget your gym
clothes on Monday.” He called from his office door as we entered the elevator.

“What do you need gym clothes
for?” Rick was more than just curious, his tone was suspicious.

“Oh it’s nothing, I’m just
having a lesson in Self Defence and apparently it’s the Boss’s orders.” I gave
him the impression it was non-negotiable but I was actually really looking
forward to it.

As we headed back to the car,
Nate and Charlotte were on a high. Rick was a lot quieter than usual though, it
appeared our interaction with Bryce may have had an impact on him, I was just
uncertain as to the effect. Knowing Rick, I’m sure I would get an idea very
soon.

“I so can’t wait to have a
ride in ‘the Crow’.”
Over my dead body you will.
I smiled the smile that
mother’s do when you hope your child will just forget and move on, but Nate was
not going to forget this promise anytime soon.

As we were about to enter the
car park I spotted Samantha in the corner of my eye, I was just about to yell
out when a man came up behind her, he pinched her arse and kissed her neck. He
looked somewhat familiar but I couldn’t quite see his face.  I became aware of
exactly who he was when he walked around to face her.
What was Samantha
doing with Gareth?
Surely she had better instincts?
Seeing them
together left a strange feeling in my stomach, I figured it was best not to
make them aware I was here and baring witness to their affectionate display, so
I put my head down and went for the car.

I was really looking forward to
a night out with my friends, I flicked through the outfits in my wardrobe,
settling on a pair of shiny black denim skinny cut pants, black glittered
heels, a red silk blouse which gathered at my breasts and a black satin blazer,
my hair was down and straightened. I opted for some tinted moisturiser,
eyeliner and red lipstick. I was still getting used to wearing make-up again but
it was getting a little easier, I did feel that less was more where I was
concerned though. I pulled up to Carly’s in a Taxi and the driver beeped the
horn. She was my oldest friend; I had known her since we were toddlers, we had
lived next to each other for 18 years. Carly knew me better than anybody, we
didn’t really get to see each other much but that didn’t matter, we made the
most of it when we did, she opened the car door and climbed in. She had curled
her ash blonde hair and it fell in loose ringlets past her shoulders. Carly
rocked a smoky eye better than most and had opted for a little black dress that
covered one shoulder and left the other bare.

“Look at you, Totes Glam!”

“What?” I looked at her and
shook my head.

“You sound just like Nate.”
She laughed.

“Good! I’d rather sound like
him than you, you old fart!” I hit her on the arm, I was only 6 months older
than she was, but as I was married with kids, she was single, childless and
enjoying her youth. She liked to remind me of that.

“You look pretty smokin’
yourself, love those strappy heels.”  They were gorgeous, a light gold,
snakeskin pattern.

“I know right?  My Jimmy
Choos and I are like this.” She held up her hand and crossed her fingers.

 “So how’s the new job babe?”

“Yeah good, I feel like I’m
in over my head most days though and that has nothing to do with the actual
work!

“Oh? Do tell.” I knew I could
tell Carly anything, It was what I held so dear in our friendship, no matter
what we shared with each other we never judged, we were brutally honest,
sometimes too honest which results in a speaking famine, the worst being 5
months long.

“Ok, so, my boss is a billionaire,
the sexiest man I have ever laid eyes on and wants to fuck me senseless.” She
spat the Redbull she was about to swallow across the back of the passenger
seat, the driver shot us a dirty look through the rear-vision mirror.

“Fuck off.” She looked at me,
my eyes didn’t leave hers.

“Shit, you’re serious.” She
grabbed a tissue out of her bag, leant forward and wiped the back of the seat.

“That’s freakin hot, why
can’t this shit happen to me? It’s a waste on you.” She looked over at me
again.

“Alexis you little Whore,
what have you done?” She was very amused, I hated how she could read me so
easily.

“Nothing, I wouldn’t do that,
you know me, he just kissed me, that’s all, really it was nothing.” She
squealed.

“I hate you, ask him if he’d
like a threesome?” I shot her an evil look.

“Ok, I’m kidding, right
putting on my ‘Serious Carly’ face.”

“I’m struggling Carls. He’s
smart, cheeky, kind, loving, he’s arrogant, infuriating, direct and when he
talks dirty to me I almost orgasm on the spot. I’m not sure I can resist him,
the problem is, I love my job, he’s paying me half a mill…” She spat her drink
again.

“I hate backing down Carls,
it’s just not in me, so when I stand my ground it only fuels his fire.” Serious
Carly was well and truly with me now.

“Lexi, be careful Hun, you
are not used to this shit!”

We pulled into Natasha’s
driveway, Tash was another close friend, our kids were the same age and
attended the same school, so we had seen each other daily before I had returned
to work. Tash jumped into the front seat, she was also wearing a dress with
shimmery black ¾ length leggings and black latent pumps.
I should’ve gone
for my navy sequin, shift dress, damn!.
Tash had long, dark brown hair, she
was also olive skinned and could pull off a vibrant full lip.

“Hey Babe, where’s Lilly?” We
were supposed to be picking up Tash and Lilly.

“She’s meeting us there,
Scott has Tonsillitis, so she’s waiting till he’s settled then she’ll head
off.” Lilly’s son Scott was one of Nate’s friends too.

“Did you hear back from Jade
and Steph?” Jade and Steph also had kids that attended the same school, all of
our children got along really well, therefore we all became quite close as a
result.

“Yeah, they’ll meet us
there.” I loved having friends with kids, the mutual topics were always great
discussions and always a help when advice was needed. I also loved having a
friend like Carly; she was a breath of fresh air for me, tonight was going to
be great and just what I needed to get my mind off of Bryce.

“The Metro better brace
itself tonight, because I am in the mood to go off!” Tash was charged up by the
sounds of it, I love her energy. We usually headed to the Metro, the big black
and white disco floor with 70s and 80s music was right up our alley.

“Let’s ditch the Metro and go
to Opals?”
You Bitch Carls!
Opals is one of the Nightclubs at City
Towers.

“I haven’t been to Opals in
years. Yeah sounds good, I’ll text the other’s and let them know.” Tash started
typing away before I could protest.
Shit!
Carly smiled and poked her
tongue out, she did this a lot.

When we walked into Opals, it
became quite obvious that the style and décor bared a striking resemblance to
Bryce’s Penthouse Apartment. Lots of blacks, whites, silver and lime green. As
you walked in the door, the stage was against the far wall and directly ahead
of you, the bar was to the left and ran along the walls in an ‘L’ shape. Sleek
is the word that comes to mind when describing this bar. It was illuminated by
bright lime green lights, which were fitted under the bench lip and silver
lights hanging from the low ceiling above the bar. Not quite in the centre of
the room, was a staircase which led you up to level 2 and along the walls to
either side of the stage, were booths and small tables with stools. Jade and
Steph were already seated in a booth, they waved to get our attention. Steph
was the epitome of a rock girl, with short brown hair, sporting highlights of
red which was sleek yet femininely styled to frame her flawless face. She had
on a silver sequined, tunic dress, a cropped black leather jacket and black
loose knee high boots. Jade was my savour so far, as she had gone for black
dress pants.
Ok, feeling much better now.
A cream coloured, drapey top
and matching cream coloured peep toes. Jade also had her shoulder length, red
hair, straightened and framing her face.