I grabbed a seat next to Mom, and she slid me a glass of wine. My dad gave her an irritated look, but she waved him off. “She’ll be twenty-one in a month. Don’t give me that look, David.”
I took a sip of the crisp liquid, the taste of apples, lingering in my mouth long after I swallowed the dry wine. I smiled around the rim of my glass when I noticed a muscle tick in Kent’s jaw at the mention of my age.
“Olivia, how’s your project going? Have you found a business to intern for yet?” my mom asked.
“Well, you won’t let me work with Uncle Daniel, so I’m at a loss.”
Daniel laughed and winked at me. “Nice try. We don’t want to give your teacher a heart attack with your presentation. Or spoil that angelic mind.”
According to my family, I only knew what Voyeur was from a few comments made here and there by Daniel and Dad. No one but Kent knew I’d snuck in and already corrupted my angelic side.
“Why don’t you intern for Kent?” Daniel suggested. “I’m sure he can conjure up a spot for you.”
All the relaxation that Kent had gained since coming back into the room vanished. His shoulders tensed, and his head jerked to Daniel.
“Ummm…” I hesitated.
Daniel didn’t notice and kept talking up the idea. “Yeah, it’d be great. He’s opening a new hotel here in Cincinnati, a big, ritzy one. It’s in the end stages, so you’d get to see how the final business is set up. It’ll be great.”
“Um,” Kent began. “I’m not sure that will work. I’ve got the one in New York too that needs me, and I won’t be here very often.”
“Nonsense,” my mom said, waving her hand like she was swatting the problem away. “I’ve seen the project criteria. She only needs a few hours a week.”
“And she could work with one of your managers if you happen to not be there,” Daniel added.
They just kept talking, building up the plans, each idea making it harder and harder to turn down. Kent kept opening his mouth to speak, but they’d talk over him, shutting down anything he was going to say. I could tell he wasn’t too keen on the idea but didn’t have a leg to stand on to deny it.
“It’s really up to Olivia if she’s interested or not,” he said when he finally had room to speak. His eyes gave a hesitant look. He probably wanted me to say no, to give him an out.
But for the first time since I’d agreed to fuck an older man in a sex club, my heart raced. My skin prickled with excitement like I had my hand on a battery, and the electricity worked its way through me. Oaklyn said I couldn’t just sit by and wait for things to happen. She told me I had to take charge.
So, I ignored Kent’s look and took charge.
“I’d love to.”
4 Kent
“How long until you leave again?” Daniel asked from his lounged position in the club chair.
“In maybe a week or two.”
“Always gone. You should at least buy an apartment here to give you a home-base.”
I stared at the glass of amber liquid hanging precariously from my fingertips, entranced by the round ball of ice circling the bottom.
“My parents live here, and that’s enough of a home-base for me.” I lifted the glass and sipped the spicy drink.
Daniel smirked. “Can’t exactly bring girls home to the parents’ house.”
I gave him my own smirk in return. “That’s what hotels are for. And I just so happen to own one. Two pretty soon.”
“You could always buy a place in my building. Olivia lives there too, so you can just join the brood, and we can slowly take over the entire building.”
Olivia. That name had haunted me for the past week. More, if I had to be honest. She’d been haunting me for over a year. At least then, she was just an elusive memory. Now, she was a tangible, in my face, temptation. One I had to ignore, specifically because of the man sitting across from me awaiting a response.
“Why pay rent if I’m not going to be here half the year?”
“Like you can’t afford it.”
I shrugged and drained my glass, setting it on the wooden side-table. I was happy with my situation. I could leave my meager belongings with my parents and stay there when I needed. If I had company, I always took them to the hotel. Nothing personal, just a fun romp for a day or two and an easy out. Just the way I liked it.
I’d done the whole house and serious relationship thing a long time ago. I was better off without it. I was happier without it.
“Hey, boys,” a husky voice greeted behind me.
Daniel smiled, and I knew I’d find a knockout brunette when I turned.
I wasn’t disappointed. Carina’s full lips were tipped in a barely-there smile, and an eyebrow cocked liked she’d find us boys up to no good. Mostly, she wouldn’t be wrong, but tonight we were just two men enjoying drinks at our club.
“Hey, Carina.” Daniel stood to give her a hug and gestured to the seat between us. “Did you have any trouble getting into the front?”
“Nope. Andre, let me in just fine. I come so often, I should just get a membership discount,” she said, winking at Daniel.
She leaned over to pull papers out of her briefcase. I tried to be a gentleman and not stare at the curve of her breast exposed by her low-cut shirt, but I couldn’t help myself. And when she leaned back up, she caught me staring and slapped the top of my head with her thick stack of paperwork.
“Ow.”
“Don’t be a pig.”
“Don’t be so gorgeous.”
She rolled her eyes and began setting up her computer. Men all around us stared. Her long brown hair swaying over her shoulders, made a man want to wrap it around his fist. But when I imagined it, the color of hair sliding through my fingers was blonde. When I jerked her head back and made her stare up at me, her eyes were a paler blue, her skin like porcelain rather than Carina’s tan.
“I don’t know why we couldn’t have met at the office,” Daniel said.
“Voyeur always makes everything more interesting. Why not include our business meetings?”
Carina opened files, pulling up numbers that her counterpart, Jake, had run for the probability of success for each marketing plan. She was efficient without judgment of our business, therefore making her the prime candidate to handle our future projects.
“We’re thinking of opening a club in New York.”
Her eyebrows rose high at the news. “Leaving Cincinnati?”
“No,” Daniel explained. “Just expanding.”
“I’m in the process of closing on a location for the next hotel,” I explained. “And we figured it was a perfect time and place to expand.”
“And we were wondering if you’d be willing to take on the business. Only you,” Daniel specified. Carina’s father, the owner of their marketing company, doubted Carina’s ability as a woman in the business field and tried to take the larger jobs for others. But we wanted to make sure she was the one handling us.
“Wow. Of course. I’d be honored to.” Her eyebrows lowered and lips pursed. “I’m in the middle of another large project, but I should be able to make the occasional trip out and do everything else from here.”