Temptation (The Temptation Series) (4 page)

“Now, as my C.A. I need you
to present my assets with the utmost professionalism and show all guests the
greatest courtesy and understanding. You need to also be as knowledgeable with
this hotel and complex as I am with my staff, there can be no stone left
unturned, do you understand Alexis?”

“I understand” I stuttered,
still in shock.

“Now, I have changed a few
job tasks between yourself and Miss Taylor, Miss Taylor will focus more on the
hotel guests and less on my needs. I will require you to handle my Concierge
requests; I find that one attendant performing this task is much more
efficient.” He pointed to the fruit platter.

“Please it is better to taste
than to admire, I assure you.”

“Oh,” I clumsily grabbed a
strawberry, raspberry and cantaloupe flower and placed them on a small plate. I
opted for the strawberry first as it seemed less messy and the safest option. The
food and drink really did taste delightful here, I bit into the cantaloupe
flower and felt myself ease a little. Mr Clark grabbed a couple of blueberries
and popped them into his mouth all at once. He was so comfortable and at ease
now and appeared to be waiting for my response. He got up and walked over to
his desk. Just as I was about to bite into my raspberry he bent over.
Oh
Shit,
juice squirted out and I felt some of it land on my chin, I jerked
and in doing so nearly choked on what I had just put in my mouth. Standing up,
he rushed back to the lounge, sat on the arm of the seat I was occupying and
started patting me on my back.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine I choked.”
What
was I? One and learning to chew solids?
He still had his hand on my back
but now he was rubbing in a circular motion, Oh his hand felt good, If I was a
dog my leg would have started to twitch. My eyes got heavy and I started to
sink a little.
Shit, Alexis snap out of it!

“I’m fine, sorry just choked
a little, really I’m fine.” He held out his hand and pulled me up, then handed
me a folder.

“This is my personal
Concierge brief, you will need to come up here every morning and get it from
either myself or Lucinda, it will have my requests for the day.” I took the
brief from him and he placed his hand on the small of my back gently directing
me to the door. Just as I reached for the handle he put his hand up to my chin,
I froze solid. What was he doing? This was highly inappropriate, and I’m
married. Just as I was about to object, he wiped my chin gently.

“There you go, I can’t have
my C.A. wearing raspberry juice around my hotel.” I automatically followed his
wipe with one of my own and felt myself go crimson.

“Oh sorry, no you can’t, not
a good look. Thank you Mr Clark for lunch it was lovely.” I opened the door and
walked into the foyer. Lucinda was not at her desk thank goodness, so I hurried
along to the elevator and pushed the button. I knew he was still standing there
watching me and it made me feel uneasy, but not in a bad way surprisingly. The
doors opened and I got in, as I turned around, he was standing in his doorway
watching me leave and wearing the biggest ‘smirk’ so far. I couldn’t help but
smile back at him and I did until the doors closed in front of me.

I stumbled back to the far
wall of the elevator and steadied myself on the arm rail.
Holy Shit, what
was that all about?
This irresistibly gorgeous, filthy rich, privacy
invading, control freak was flirting with me and me back at him. I needed some
air, I needed some place to settle my heart which was racing like mad in my
chest. I looked at my timetable and found I was due at Front Office in 15
minutes. I opted for the Sundeck again so pressed button number 2, it was still
a glorious day and I really did enjoy this spot. I opened Mr Clark’s brief, it
was empty, except for a yellow post-it note stuck to the very back of the
folder. Handwritten in pen was a note from Bryce.

Ms Summers

Today’s Requests:-
Try not to spill any drinks!

Mr Clark

Was that it? No, organise
Housekeeping to collect my laundry or deliver tomorrow’s meal requests to the
Kitchen, or book a table request tonight at Lago’s for myself and my extremely
sexy supermodel girlfriend you know nothing about. I was officially confused.

The rest of the day went as
scheduled, I knocked off at 6pm and made it home just as Rick was dishing up
the Beef Stroganoff that I’d put in the slow cooker early that morning. Nate
jumped up from our dining table, ran to me and wrapped his arms so tight I
couldn’t move.

“Sweetheart, ease up on the
grip, yeah!” I squeezed him back then walked to the buffet where I took off my
jacket and put my bag down.

“Mum, you weren’t wearing
that dress this morning?” Of course my very observant and fashion conscious
daughter had noticed my change of attire.

“It’s a long story,
Charlotte.” I looked up at Rick and gave him the ‘I’ll tell you later look’.

“So how was your first day
Babe?”

“Yeah really good; the Hotel
is stunning from the Lobby all the way up to the Penthouse.”

“The Penthouse, Wow, what’s
the Penthouse?” Charlotte asked all wide eyed.

“The Penthouse is the suite
at the very top of the building; it’s also where Mr Clark, my boss lives.”

“Oh cool, can we go and see
it Mum, can we? I want to see a Penthouse.”

“Maybe Charli, I might take
you in one weekend and sneak you past Lucinda, Mr Clark’s Assistant.” I kissed
Charlotte on the nose and sat at the table beside her, dinner was lovely and
even more so because it had cooked itself!

I was so exhausted after
reading Charli a book and putting her to bed, then helping Nate with his
homework and kissing him goodnight, I jumped straight in to bed myself. Rick
hopped in beside me, he kissed my neck and cupped my breast.

“Oh poor baby, you’re
exhausted after one day.”

“Oh shut up,” I teased, I
nestled into his arms and started to doze off.

“So, how did you end up with
a new dress?”

“I was buying a hot chocci
from Gloria Jeans this morning, and as I turned round I bumped into Mr Clark,
spilling it down the both of us. So, to cut a long story short, he organised
replacement clothing for the two of us at Versace.” I tried to make it sound
very casual, but Rick was not stupid.

“Oh he just organised a
replacement at Versace did he? Just like he wipes his arse with $100 bills?” I
couldn’t help but giggle.

“You idiot, yeah something
like that, now shut up and go to sleep. I have to work tomorrow.” I repeated
that last bit in my head, I have to work tomorrow and it sounded so good.

CHAPTER
FOUR

The next morning I pulled
into the Staff Car Park ahead of time, the school drop-off and drive into the
city went a lot smoother this time round. Nate had still sulked this morning
but had accepted defeat and did not put up a fight, that was one of the
qualities I loved about my son, he knew when to stand his ground and when to
graciously bow out and make the most of the situation, he was very much like
his father in that sense. Charlotte on the other hand was as stubborn as they
come, when she had her mind set it was almost impossible to change, this
quality I am told (by my own Mother) has come from me! I adored my two
‘Ratbags’ as much as humanly possible and had enjoyed raising them and watching
them grow from sweet little babies to confident and well behaved children. I
had struggled with the decision to go back to work full time at first, as I did
not want the time away to have a negative impact on their lives. I was a very
‘hands on’ Mum, and still hoped to be to an extent. Of course being a Parent
Helper at school was now going to stop, but I had every intention to continue to
bake cakes for their lunches, sausage sizzle days and to help them with their
homework and school projects as much as I could.

I stepped out of my black
Ford Territory and grabbed the stunning Versace dress hanging up in the back, I
was going to have it dry cleaned and returned to Bryce, as much as I loved the
dress it didn’t feel right to keep it. I stepped into the car park elevator and
observed my reflection in the mirrored walls, my blonde hair was down sporting
a light wave and reaching to just above the small of my back. I had opted for a
navy, princess cut, dress with a matching belt and navy pumps, my feet had
surprisingly survived yesterday so I decided to give them the benefit of the
doubt today. I handed the dress in at the Hotel’s Dry Cleaning Service and had
some time to kill, so chose to grab myself an English Breakfast Tea and check
out the Shopping Precinct. City Towers offers the ultimate shopping experience
showcasing some of the world’s leading designers; Versace, Burberry, Bvlgari,
Louis Vuitton, Prada are just to name a few. I’d spotted a gorgeous, nude
coloured, mesh detail silk dress in Burberry that was simply stunning, what was
also simply stunning was the $2,400.00 price tag.
OMG that is pretty much my
monthly mortgage repayment!
Move along Alexis!
Continuing to window
shop and sipping my tea, I stopped in front of Versace. Thinking back to
yesterday when Bryce had touched my back and zipped my dress up, a shiver went
down my spine and I felt my cheeks blush. I’d truly never felt anything like
the surge of electricity that went through my body at his touch, it was very
different to what I felt at the hands of my husband. I felt loved, safe, warm,
content and adored by Rick, but this feeling, was exciting, exhilarating and
utterly HOT!

“Alexis, fancy seeing you
here!” Samantha was bright and bubbly and looked effervescent in her grey
a-line skirt and baby blue blouse.

“See anything you like? 
There’s a tote bag in Bvlgari I’m dying for, oh well, there goes my first week’s
wage.”

“Hi Samantha, I’m just killing
some time before we start.” I shook the memory of Bryce’s electrifying touch
out of my mind.

“I’m heading to the Hotel
now, are you coming?”

“Yes, take me away before I
blow next week’s wage too.”

Charlie was flicking through
some paperwork at reception as we entered the Hotel Foyer.

“Ladies, how was your first
day?” He raised his eyebrow at me then looked at Samantha, who leaned across
the reception counter.

“Can I ask you something
Charlie, off the record?”

“Oooooh sounds serious, yes
ask me?” Charlie moved closer to Samantha, I found myself leaning in also, so I
could hear what Samantha was now saying in a hushed tone.

“Mr Clark, he is an arrogant
prick or is the tough big bad boss attitude just an act?” I was a little taken
aback by her accusation, until I recalled the way she had left his office
yesterday, she certainly didn’t look too happy. Charlie tried very hard to hide
a smug smile.

“He is a very diligent,
professional and kind man, but watch out if you piss him off. Why what did you
do?” Charlie appeared intrigued and so did I come to think of it.

“Oh nothing, I didn’t do
anything, he just informed me that I would not be required to Concierge for him
privately and that anything he needs will be handled by Alexis.” She turned to
me with a critical glare.

“What?” I answered in
defence.

“I had nothing to do with it,
he explained that his needs are more efficiently handled by one Concierge
alone, I couldn’t argue with him, he’s the boss.”

“That, or maybe he felt guilty
for spilling his drink on you.” She was definitely pissed off.

“I don’t know, yeah maybe.” If
that’s what Samantha wanted to think, then that was fine with me.

My first task was to head
directly up to the 43
^rd
floor to retrieve Mr Clark’s brief. Lucinda
was behind her desk, as I walked in the phone rang.

“Bryce Clark’s Office,
Lucinda speaking, how may I help you? No, I’m sorry he’s out at the moment. Yes,
Gareth he’s at Self Defence Class, he’ll be finished soon. Yes, 10 o’clock is
fine. Ok, thank you, see you shortly.” She hung up.

“I’m glad you’re here, you’re
just in time. Mr Clark will be back any minute now, but I need the toilet BAD,
can you answer the phone for me whilst I’m gone?”

“Sure, not a problem.”  She
hurried off and yelled back.

“Love the dress Alexis, navy
really suits you.”

“Oh, thanks,” but she was
gone. I can remember vividly the increasing urge to pee during pregnancy, when
you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go! I was standing on the opposite side of the
desk when the phone rang, I automatically leaned over and answered it.

“Bryce Clark’s Office, Alexis
speaking, how may I help you?”

“Alexis is it?”

“Yes, can I help you?”

“I just spoke to Lucinda, is
she available?”

“She’s just stepped away from
her desk. Can I take a message for you and get her to call you back?” I started
to jot down the gentleman’s name. Gareth Clark.
Didn’t he just call like 2
seconds ago?

“Is Bryce in the office yet?”
No you impatient idiot, he wasn’t a minute ago and he’s not now.