Chapter Seven
When I’d recovered enough to sit without support, Hudson left me, returning with a wet washcloth. I watched as he wiped the insides of my legs and my sex, the warmth of the cloth and the intimacy of the action transfixing me.
“Thank you,” I said when he met my gaze, my gratitude extending beyond the cleansing.
He kissed me, my taste clinging to his tongue. Though sated, arousal began anew at the touch of his lips and the awareness of the bulge in his suit pants.
Too soon he pulled away. “You’re welcome.”
I followed him with my eyes as he walked to the bedroom and threw the washcloth in a tall, black laundry basket. When he looked back, he caught me staring and winked.
I blushed. The new familiarity he had with my body made me feel awkward. Scrambling to compose myself, I fumbled with the buttons of my dress. Then I slid off the barstool, found my underwear on the floor and stuffed them into my purse.
He raised a questioning brow as he straightened his tie.
“My panties are, um, soaked.” I noted his expression of satisfaction. “I can’t wear them.”
A frown replaced his smile. “You can’t work without them. Your dress is too short.”
“I’ll be careful. I don’t mind.”
“I do.” Hudson approached me, putting his hands on my upper arms. “Alayna, you not wearing panties is very sexy. When I’m with you. I definitely don’t think it’s sexy knowing you’re bare and surrounded by a bunch of grabby drunk customers.” He was stern, as though he were reprimanding a wayward child. “In fact, it makes me very unhappy.”
Well, well. Hudson had a jealous streak. Could he be any hotter?
But I couldn’t have him infiltrating all aspects of my life. He’d already insisted on a driver. And weighed in on my wardrobe choices. I stood my ground. “I can take care of myself.”
He folded his arms over his chest.
I mirrored him. “I’m not putting on soaking wet panties. I’ll smell like sex all night and let me tell you what that does to a bunch of grabby drunk customers.”
He scowled. “Leave them then. I can at least have them laundered.”
I held out my panties for him. “If you wanted a memento all you had to do was ask.”
He took them, his expression still tight. “I’m not keeping them. Excuse me a moment and I’ll be ready to go.” He disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door open.
“You’ll be ‘ready to go?’” I hadn’t expected him to be going with me. He didn’t respond, though, or I didn’t hear his answer over the sounds of water running.
“Did you say something?” he asked when he returned. He put on his suit jacket and held his hand out to me.
I took his hand, realizing he no longer smelled like me, his hands washed and his teeth freshly brushed. It was practical, but I deflated as he officially distanced himself from the passionate scene of moments before. “I hadn’t realized you were going to the club.”
“I am.” He pulled me through a main door into a corridor with another elevator. This one, I guessed, led to the main lobby instead of his office. He let go of my hand and pushed the call button. “Is that a problem?”
I shrugged though I wanted to say, Hell, yes it’s a problem. You befuddle and dazzle and distract. How could I present my ideas with Hudson’s hot eyes on me, staring at his incredibly wicked mouth that had recently devoured me with such skill? Especially when his hot eyes and wicked mouth gave no indication that anything out of the ordinary had occurred.
Unwilling to be that honest but unable to let it go, I pushed. “Why did you have me meet you here when you could have met me at the club?”
“Privacy, Alayna. I can’t imagine you would want to experience that at the club, would you?” The doors opened and he ushered me into the elevator. “Do you regret coming?” The smile in his tone emphasized the double meaning in his words.
“No,” I answered quickly as he pushed the L button. “I regret you not coming.” I couldn’t think of a time when a man had let me take all the pleasure without receiving any of his own. It made me feel even more vulnerable in front of him.
“You’ll have opportunities to rectify that.”
And then thoughts of rectifying that raced through my mind, touching Hudson’s naked body, his shaft in my hands…
My sex felt swollen and needy. Again.
Damn. Not what I needed at the moment. I had to get my head in the game. Which would be easier without the object of my desire standing next to me, his arm brushing at my shoulder. “Just after all your talk about not being my boss and all that, I didn’t think you’d show.”
“David may want advice. I should be there.” He peered down at me. “Also, I’m curious. Is that going to bother you?”
“I wasn’t prepared. That’s all.”
His eyes lit with understanding. “You’re nervous.”
“Yes.”
He shifted behind me, wrapping me into his arms. “Don’t be. You’re perfect. You’ll be perfect.”
I sunk into him. That’s what I’d needed—his touch after such an intimate act. I’d felt bereft and exposed. I needed reassurance, not just about the business presentation I was about to give, but about his feelings, or attraction, or whatever it was he had for me.
As we descended, I turned my thoughts to David and the presentation I was about to give. Oh, god, David. A new horror struck me. “Could we…?” I didn’t know how to ask what I wanted to ask. “Do we have to, um, do the pretend thing today?”
“You don’t want David to give you extra points because he thinks you’re dating his boss.”
“Right.” And since I still might marry David one day, my sham with Hudson required delicacy. Though the idea of marrying David sounded less appealing than it once had.
“We can keep it under wraps for a day or two, if you’d rather.”
“Thanks.” Anxiety crept into my belly as I wondered how I planned to balance the men in my life and all the facets of my relationships with them: the fake romance with Hudson, the wannabe future with David, the severing of dependence on Brian, the real sex with Hudson, the possible promotion from David. I shivered and pulled Hudson’s arms tighter around me.
He misread my anxiety. “You know what they say to do about nervousness,” he whispered in my ear. ”Imagine your audience naked.”
I raised my brows. “You and David?”
“No, precious. Just me. That’s an order.”
Hudson’s commanding tone sent a trickle of desire to pool between my thighs. Somehow I didn’t think picturing him naked would be any help.
Jordan waited for us on the street in front of the building in a black Maybach 57. I’d never been in a luxury car and my natural reaction would have been to gush and salivate, but I held in my enthusiasm, trying to appear more unaffected than I actually was. I did recline my seat, taking advantage of the footrest, while Hudson attended to some work issues. He typed away on his Blackberry and made several phone calls.
I should have been focusing on my presentation, but listening to him conduct business fascinated me, his commanding tone and demand for respect radiated so naturally in even the simplest directives. Usually when he spoke like that to me, I felt shaken and off-balance. But when I witnessed him speaking that way to others, or perhaps because of what had transpired between us, I felt empowered. As if I could embody those qualities myself through osmosis.
We arrived at the club five minutes before the scheduled meeting. Hudson stayed in the car for a while, allowing me to go in first instead of together. In the office, I found David setting up my laptop.
“Hey,” he said in greeting. “Are you ready to show off those brilliant brains of yours?”
I wondered if David knew about Hudson’s plan to attend or not. Either way, I didn’t want him to know I knew. “Should I start?”
“No, Pierce said he might come. You should give him a few minutes.”
Hudson walked in seconds later. “David,” he said, shaking his hand. “Alayna.” He nodded at me, and I wondered if this was out of consideration to me, knowing that his touch drove me beyond distraction. Or did touching me do the same thing to him? I couldn’t imagine that could be true—he compartmentalized so naturally, I had to think his thoughts were sincerely only on the moment at hand.
Beginning my presentation of ideas took the most effort, but with my PowerPoint slides to rely on, I easily fell into the zone, soon forgetting my audience. First, I focused on the operational aspects of The Sky Launch, items that threatened our competitiveness with other clubs, suggesting an increase in hours and days we were open, a retraining of key personnel, and a unified mode of operation between bartenders and wait staff. Then I moved to marketing recommendations, emphasizing a total rebranding with a spotlight on the bubble rooms.
I spoke for nearly an hour and a half. Sometimes David asked questions, and I answered confidently and succinctly. I knew The Sky Launch. I knew business. I knew what would make the club a rockin’ place. I felt good.
Except for occasionally asking for clarification, Hudson remained quiet and attentive. When I finished, I looked to him, hoping for feedback or praise or a reaction of some sort.
Instead, he looked at his watch. “David, I have some place I need to be now. You can call me tomorrow if you want to discuss these ideas.”
The endorphins of presentation performance weren’t enough to shelter me from the defeat of Hudson’s lack of acknowledgement. Had I completely sucked shit? Did smart girls turn him off? And where did he have to be at eight o’clock on a Thursday night?
Whatever. If Hudson didn’t like it, then tough. He wasn’t my boss, as he’d so vehemently pointed out. I didn’t need his stupid validation. I’d been top of my class. I knew my stuff. I put my laptop away, fury leaking into my brisk movements.
“Thanks,” David said.
“Great. Alayna?”
“What?” I may have snapped.
Hudson waited until I met his eyes to continue. “Walk me out, please.”
I bit my lip as I followed him out the office door, knowing my attitude had been less than professional. At least he would chastise me in private.
We walked in silence down the ramp toward the entrance. The club didn’t open for another hour and the place was empty except for a few employees preparing for the night.
When we neared the front door, Hudson pulled me into the coat-check room. I squealed in surprise.
“Alayna,” Hudson growled, pressing me against the wall with his body, pinning my hands to my sides. His nose traveled along my jaw. “You were brilliant, do you know that?”
“No.” My voice squeaked, his unexpected change of temperament throwing me for a loop. “I mean, I thought my ideas were good, but then you didn’t say anything…” I trailed off in a moan as he nipped at my earlobe.
“I couldn’t. I was too f*cking turned on.” He pushed his groin against my stomach, emphasizing his point and I fought off another moan. His warmth against me spread tingles throughout my body.
“Then it was good?”
“Oh, precious, do you really have to ask?” He pulled back to look at me. “You think smart—practical and yet outside the box.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “And it drives me f*cking crazy.”
I felt giddy. I generally hooked up with men who were attracted to my body, not my mind. It elated me. I was also now sure that Hudson’s attraction to me began at the graduate symposium at Stern. “So Hudson Pierce is into nerdy girls.”
He alternated his words with hot kisses at my neck. “I’m into you—when you’re nerdy, when you’re flustered, when you’re whimpering under my tongue.”
Damn, Hudson knew how to hit my buttons—buttons I wasn’t even aware I had. I shivered under his kisses. I longed to touch him, to run my fingers through his hair, to pull his body closer to mine. But he still had my arms pinned so I had to settle with telling him with words. “I’m into you, too.”
He crushed my mouth with his, letting go of my arms to let his hands wander under my dress. He grabbed my bare ass squeezing and caressing my tender skin as he kissed me aggressively. My fingers flew to his face, and I cupped his cheeks as his tongue danced with mine.
When he pulled away, we were both panting. His eyes gleamed mischievously. “During your presentation—did you picture me naked?”
Always. I grinned. “I didn’t have enough to go on. I haven’t seen ya naked.”
“I haven’t seen you naked and that doesn’t stop me from picturing.” He scanned my body momentarily and growled. As if he were picturing me naked that very second.
His playful mood made me braver than I had been with him. “So when are we going to remedy all the seeing of naked bits?”
Hudson rubbed his thumb along my cheek. “Ah, now she’s eager. After she’s sampled the goods.”
“I was always eager. Now I’m sure.” I turned my mouth to nibble on his thumb and he raised a brow.
“What time do you work tomorrow?”
“Nine.”
His eyes widened as my nibbles turned to sucking. “I’ll make sure I’m done with work by five,” he said hoarsely. “Come by the loft then. Take the main elevator to the penthouse. You’ll have to enter the code: Seven-three-two-three. Repeat it for me.”
“Seven-three-two-three.”
“Good. I’ll text it to you so you don’t forget. Five o’clock. Don’t eat. I’ll feed you.” He pulled his thumb from my mouth and gave me a swift kiss. “And I’ll feed on you.” He returned again for a deeper kiss.
He sighed when he pushed away from me. “Tomorrow, precious.” He grabbed my hand and held it as long as he could while he walked away. Before he disappeared out of the coatroom he turned back. “Oh, and I assure you, bits is not an appropriate word for my naked parts.”
I assumed that already from the outline in his pants.
Less than an hour after Hudson left, Liesl stopped me as I passed the lower bar. “Laynie,” she said, nodding to a small bag on the counter. “Hot Stuff left that for you while you were pulling the cash drawers from the office.”
I bit my lip. “Hot stuff? You mean Hudson?”
“Yeah.” I had no idea what Hudson could have given me, and though I had been on my way to unlock the front doors and open the joint, I changed my direction and headed to the package.
A folded paper was taped to the outside. In neat block print he had written: I can’t let you go without. I blushed as I peeked inside, suspecting I knew what I’d find. Sure enough, there were my panties—laundered and folded neatly. I didn’t even want to think about what member of his staff got the job of cleaning the under things of Hudson’s f*ck buddies. But the fact he’d made it happen was kind of cute.
“So what the f*ck, Laynie?” Liesl said, and I quickly closed the bag.
“It’s nothing. I left something when I was at his office earlier.” Internally I smacked myself. Next she’d question why I’d been in Hudson’s office.
But that wasn’t what she asked. “You left your panties at Hudson’s office? Yeah, I looked. What did you expect from me?”
I rubbed a hand over my face. Liesl would find out soon enough. She’d find out the fake story, anyway. This was the perfect opportunity to tell her I was dating the man.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to share him yet. I wanted to live with the genuine a little longer before I started playing the pretend. “Liesl, I promise I’ll tell you. Just not tonight.”
She breathed out an exaggerated puff of air. “Fine, whatever. But you better have juicy details when you’re ready to spill.”
“Deal,” I said. I took the bag and its contents to the bathroom to put them on.
After I did, I caught myself smiling in the mirror. Maybe I’d been wrong about Hudson. He obviously wasn’t the pompous a*shole I thought he was. In fact, he was turning out to be a pretty decent guy.
Damn it.