Illicit Temptations (Tempted Series Book 1) (17 page)

“The blonde seems to be into you,” Vic said patting me on the back. “I don’t think she’d mind if she didn’t get the job but walked away with you instead.”

I looked at the woman he was referring to our eyes caught and she smiled sweetly. She was pretty enough with her long blonde hair cascading around her shoulders. She was one of the few girls here that wasn’t dressed like a skank. Her petite frame was dressed in an emerald green sweater dress that matched her eyes, which seemed to devour me.

“She’s not really my type,” I said lying through my teeth. The truth was I didn’t have a type. I would screw anything with a pulse because I was a self-destructive asshole but there was that little problem I recently developed
. Nikki. “Besides she seems like she would be a better fit
for the job than half the people here.”

Victor shrugged his shoulders. “You’re probably right. Sweetheart?” He motioned to the blonde in question summoning her to us. Like all the others we interviewed Victor fired a few questions at her. Once her experience was established and the fact that she had open availability she was hired. She smiled at me a smile which held an unspoken promise that she’d be happy to work with me in more ways than one. I winked at her in return before looking at Vic again who was putting her resume in the folder with the other new hires.

“When are we doing the rough opening?” I asked him running my palms along the length of my thighs. I needed a break from this shit desperately.

“The night after tomorrow, that should give the employees enough time to get a general idea of their responsibilities and an understanding of what we expect of them,” he glanced up at me. “Have you seen Rico yet? He was supposed to test out the sound equipment.”

“No,” I said hearing his name made me wonder if Rico was with Nikki. The thought of her being with him caused an unfamiliar ache in my chest maybe that’s why she was avoiding me. All along, I had been telling myself that she wasn’t answering me because of what had happened between us that I just assumed she wanted it too. She opened the door inviting me to act on the temptations that I had been struggling with every time we were in the same room. Maybe I was wrong; maybe I didn’t know anything about what Nikki wanted.

“I need a break,” I declared. Victor peered up at me raising an eyebrow at the agitation in my voice.

“All right,” he said suspiciously. “When you get back call Nikki find out if she knows where that boyfriend of hers is. My time is valuable and I will not have my kindness taken for granted by anyone. That guy thinks because he dates my daughter he gets away with murder.”

“That’s your own fault,” I said instantly.

Victor placed the folder on the table beside him leaning back in his chair he crossed his arms against his chest and looked at me almost amused.

“Care to explain?” He questioned, his voice sounding eerily calm and controlled.

“How do you expect him to act when you don’t set him straight?” I matched his controlled voice. “He mauls your daughter at your dining room table and you barely flinch. He’s a disrespectful prick. It’s blatantly obvious he doesn’t give a shit who you are or what you stand for. If you ask me all Nikki is to him is a trophy.”

“And this is based on your observations?” Victor asked.

“Partially but mostly it’s a gut feeling. My theory might not have a leg to stand on but mark my words his intentions with Nikki are far from pure.” Something about Rico rubbed me the wrong way I didn’t trust the guy. I may not be a good judge of character but something was off with him. I didn’t like him for Nikki. The shitty thing was I had nothing to base my theory on and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that it wasn’t because I wanted her for myself. Could be that I labeled the one she was with no good for purely selfish reasons and it didn’t faze me one bit.

“She seems happy enough,” Victor said.

“You sure about that?” I asked him watching as his expression changed proving my words had him questioning himself. He remained silent. “I’ll be back in ten,” I said deciding to let him think about it. I had no right to tell Nikki how to live her life or who to live it with. It didn’t matter that I wanted her. This pull towards her that I was feeling was purely sexual making me a hypocrite. Sure, I cared about her she was my friend but I was not looking to be the man in her life. I could barely take care of myself let alone be the man good enough to take care of her. Not that she needed someone to take care of her but needing and wanting were two different things. The man who was lucky enough to be with her should be the man who wanted to take care of her. That man should be capable of being all that she deserved. That man wasn’t Rico, but it wasn’t me either.

I stepped outside of the club greedily breathing in the fresh air. I pulled my phone out of my pocket about to try Nikki again. I couldn’t explain the need to hear her voice to know that I didn’t fuck up our friendship. I was selfish so fucking selfish that I made myself sick. I should stay away from her. Clearly, I was affecting her in ways I shouldn’t. If I were half the man I should be, I’d leave her the fuck alone. My hand closed over my phone and I fought with my conscience to do the right thing.

“Don’t worry about Nikki she’s not going anywhere.”

Hearing her name caused me to snap out of the internal war I was battling and round the corner to see who was talking about my girl. Rico’s back was towards me as he spoke into the phone. I leaned against the wall to listen without making my presence known.

“Trust me I’ve got her under control. She’s not going to call it quits before the opening,” he paused. “I’m not worried about her. I know what I told you, but I don’t think it’s going to be a problem anymore. Yeah, I know. Just relax I have this under control. We’ve come this far do you really think after all the time I invested in this shit I’m going to let anything bring us down? I’ll talk to you later I’m walking into the club now.”

I watched him end the call and shove his phone into his pocket. I decided to wait a few moments before walking around the corner. I didn’t want him to know I overheard his conversation deciding that it was better to keep an eye on Rico and uncover further information regarding his conversation. I didn’t know what that prick bastard was up to but whatever it was involved Nikki. Something told me it wasn’t close to any kind of good.

I turned the corner just as he did purposely bumping into him. He looked up, eyes full of anger until he realized it was me.

“Watch where you’re walking buddy,” I said smoothly.

“I could say the same to you,” he replied. We stared at each other for a moment. He was probably wondering where I came from or if I had been outside long enough to hear his conversation.

“Victor’s been looking for you,” I said as I studied him.

He grinned at me. “Yeah, well I don’t think he’d like to know the reason I’m late.” He said with a laugh and then patted me on the back.

“What’s the reason?” I asked balling my fists inside my pockets knowing that I was going to regret my question.

“Well, I can’t tell him I had a late start because his daughter wouldn’t let me leave the bedroom if you know what I mean,” he winked slyly. I wanted to punch him in the face and poke his eye out with an ice pick. “I doubt daddy dearest wants to hear his daughter is a tiger in bed.”

“Word to the wise?” I said, leaning closer to him. My voice dropped to a gravely whisper. “I don’t want to hear it either.”

“Duly noted,” he said evenly. He looked at me sizing me up before he stepped around me without uttering another word. He walked into Temptations with an arrogant swagger leaving me to plot all the ways I was going to make him suffer.

There is something to be said about the guilt that consumes a person after they cross a line. It’s as if the guilt has a life of its own taking over your entire being. Everything that you were once sure of no longer exists leaving you in a state of uncertainty. I am not the type to cope with uncertainty well. I like having the upper hand in life, but after last night, I had no idea what to feel anymore. I have no idea how my actions will affect my friendship with Mikey and I am too much of a coward to find out.

That’s why I hightailed it to my sister’s house, hoping that she would be able to make sense of what I had done. I’ve been here for two hours working up the nerve to tell her that I baited Mikey into phone sex. I told myself that my intentions last night were to talk to Mikey about the attraction we have for one another and establish a way to get passed it. If we were going to remain friends, he couldn’t look at me as if I was his last meal and he would savor every bit of me. I also planned to lecture myself that I wouldn’t enjoy the way he looks at me
. I wouldn’t enjoy being on the receiving end of those devastating stares. Problem
was, I liked the way he looked at me and I’d be lying to myself if I said a part of me didn’t wish I had the balls to end things with Rico so I could explore my options with Mikey.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re sulking all day or are we going to continue to sit here and pretend that you’re not torn up about something?” Adrianna asked as she poured me a cup of coffee.

I looked up at my sister taking the cup of coffee she offered. “I’m not torn up about anything.”

“Okay, so we continue to pretend,” she said treating me to an eye roll as she sat in the chair across from me. “Did you have a fight with Rico?”

“I thought we were pretending.” I said hopefully as I stirred the creamer into my coffee. She shot me a warning look to give it up. “Fine… things are a mess between me and Rico and I am afraid it’s my fault.”

“What happened?” She asked giving me her undivided attention. I loved how attentive my sister was with me so eager to help me unravel my problems. I hope that one day she will allow me to return the favor.

“Mikey,” I started, taking a sip of my coffee. Closing my eyes, I silently damned Mikey with his good looks and bad boy tendencies to hell.

“Mikey?” She raised an eyebrow pointing an accusing finger at me. “Spill.”

I cringed taking a deep breath before I spilled the whole sorted story to my one and only confidant. “Ever since Mikey came home, I’ve been a disaster. I don’t even know if I love Rico because all I can think about is Mikey. How can I love him if it’s that easy to forget him? I can’t control myself around Mikey. I look at him and my body goes haywire! One minute his eyes get to me looking all sad and tormented. All I want to do is make him feel better take him in my arms and make it all go away. The next minute it’s his muscles. If he wears a T-shirt I become a blithering fool and all I can think about is holding onto his arms as he screws my brains out,” I gasped as the words flew out of my mouth. Adrianna’s mouth fell open, forming a perfect O as she stared at me wide-eyed.

“Nikki!” She covered her mouth to hide the laughter that threatened. Sure, laugh it up Sis. I stared daggers at her, forcing her to pull herself together.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me!” I warned. “I’m so out of control that… oh god. I can’t even say it.” I threw my head into my hands shamefully.

“Okay, big deal,” Adrianna said calmly. “So you’ve got the hots for Mikey. I for one am not surprised you’ve had a crush on him since you were ten years old.”

“This is far passed just a crush,” I said, muffled by my hands.

“Well, it’s definitely inconvenient because of Rico,” she said before sighing. “You might not want to hear this, but Nikki maybe you and Rico should take a break.”

I lifted my head to meet her gaze. I was so not expecting that from my sister.

“Hear me out. Mikey isn’t going anywhere and the crush you have on him doesn’t appear to be either. I mean ten years later and you’re still pining away for him. I know you care about Rico so before you are tempted to do something you might regret— “It’s too late!” I exclaimed. “I may have coerced Mikey into phone sex,” I coughed, trying to cover my words.

“You had phone sex with Mikey? Wait a minute, how exactly— “
      

“Don’t ask for details please,” I begged. “We sort of kissed, but Anthony walked in.”

“Anthony caught you two kissing?”

“Well, we were about to I mean he completely walked in at the wrong time killing the mood. Anyway, I left after that and went home. I thought Mikey was calling me to say it was a mistake and to apologize for kissing me. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want him to say he was sorry for doing something we both wanted. He said it wasn’t a real kiss he baited me really, so I let my curiosity get the best of me and I kind of asked him to describe what it would’ve been like if he had really kissed me,” I felt my face flush just thinking about it. I could still hear Mikey’s gruff voice telling me he’d fuck my mouth. I looked at my sister noticing her mouth was agape.

“Well don’t stop there,” she said swallowing as she leaned her elbows on the table resting her chin in her hands giving me her full attention as I continued with my sorted tale.

“It just sort of escalated from there we started telling one another what we would like to do to the other. I mean they were just words, but hearing him say them knowing he was just as affected by them, it turned me on. I could hear the control slip from his voice as he started to pant. I couldn’t help myself.”