What He Bargains (What He Wants, Book Nineteen) (7 page)

Stopping her blowjob for a second, she turned and looked at Raven with a seductive smile. “Want to play?” she purred.

She’s very friendly. I’ll give her that.

“Uh, no thanks. You kids have fun, though,” she said, backing away and shutting the door.

Her heart was hammering away in her chest, beating out a steady, fearful rhythm as she walked in the opposite direction.

Now she just wanted to get home, get out of this weird and creepy mansion and forget it had ever existed.

Whatever this whole thing was, she was glad to have experienced it so she could cross it off her list. This wasn’t for her—these people, these parties, these mansions.

She remembered once again why she’d stayed away from parties ever since high school. Nothing had changed since that horrible time when she was seventeen. Here she was, four years later, and the people had gotten older but their true natures were still the very same.

Raven shook her head, half of her wanting to laugh at it all while the other half wanted to cry.

Finally, she was able to retrace her steps and find the big stairway that led down to the first floor and the grand foyer, which was surprisingly quiet. The unsmiling tuxedoed man was standing with his hands behind his back, seemingly waiting, for what Raven had no idea.

“I’m leaving now,” she said. “Can I get my cell phone back?”

He knelt down next to the basket. “I believe you had the pink iPhone here,” he said, retrieving the very phone she’d dropped in hours before. He handed it to her with a brief smile.

“Thanks,” she said, holding it gingerly, as if it had been infected by some strange virus, sitting with those other cell phones for so long.

The man in the tuxedo didn’t smile, but his eyes were softer now. “Maybe you’ll come back and join us again sometime.”

“Somehow I doubt it.” As she was crossing the foyer to leave through the front door, someone called out to her from behind. At first, she thought it was the tuxedoed man again.

“Leaving us so soon?” came the familiar voice.

But when she spun, Raven saw none other than Jake Novak walking down the stairs after her.

She caught her breath and tried her best to act natural, as if this happened to her every day. “Yeah, well, it’s past my bedtime.”

“That’s too bad,” Jake said, still coming closer. “I was hoping we’d get more time together.”

Raven shrugged. “A girl can’t wait around all night.”

“Nobody asked you to wait around all night. I’m standing right here,” he said. “And so are you.” He walked another step closer, and now he was so near that Raven could see the stubble on his jaw, the flecks of green in his brown eyes, the small scar above his eyebrow.

“I should go,” she said, not even knowing why she was saying it. She wanted to talk to him, after all.

But now that the moment had arrived, she was indescribably frightened.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

She hesitated. “Why do you want to know?”

He laughed. “That’s a very strange response to a simple question.”

“Maybe I’m strange. I just…” she didn’t know what else to say. She was getting more and more scared as he kept watching her. If he’d kissed her instead, it might have been easier.

“What’s your name?” he asked again, insistent.

“Raven,” she told him.

“I like that name,” he said. “It suits you.”

“Well, I guess it would. It’s my name, after all.”

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “You don’t take compliments very well,” he told her.

Raven could still feel the heat from his fingertips as they’d grazed her cheek.

She looked away. “I think I’m just tired, and a little drunk.”

“I’d like to meet with you again.”

Now she did look at him, because she couldn’t believe he’d said those words. Was Jake Novak asking her on an actual date? Or was he just fucking with her?

Was someone filming this for YouTube?

“You want to meet with me,” she said, as if by restating it, he might tell her she’d totally misheard him.

“I’m in town for a few days to kick off the new tour, and I’d like to get together with you while I’m here.”

Her heart soared. This was beyond belief, and yet, she had to admit it was real. Jake Novak was interested in her—her out of all the others. “Okay. Yeah, sure, why not?” she laughed. “I’ll give you my number.”

Jake’s expression changed at this suggestion. His eyes grew cold and serious. “That’s not typically how it’s done. We have to let the agency know about this first—I can’t just cut them out of their commission.”

“Agency?” she squinted at him. Did he think she worked as a model or something?

He laughed, but sounded slightly annoyed now. “The agency. The one that brought you here.” He looked at her like she was speaking gibberish, like she was the crazy one.

“Stop screwing with me,” she told him, getting nervous now. Really nervous.

“Did you or did you not sign a contract?” he said. He stared intently at her.

She swallowed. Her breathing felt stifled. “I…I just signed some kind of…what do you call it? I signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement.”

Jake wasn’t smiling anymore, not even a little. “You signed much more than that, Raven.”

“I don’t work for any agency,” she said, her voice urgent now. “I just came here with my friend as a favor, to hang out with her. All I signed was a non-disclosure thingy. That’s it.”

He sighed, as if she was being difficult. “The only way this is going to happen is if I pay you for your services.”

It was like a slap in the face. “Pay for my…my services? What does that even mean?”

“It means that this thing between you and I only happens if we do it my way.”

“And what exactly is your way?” she asked.

“There’s an easy way to find out. We go through the agency and take it from there.”

Whatever Jake Novak seemed to be believe she was—Raven thought it was quite clear that he’d gotten the wrong impression about her.

“I don’t think I’m the kind of girl you’re looking for.”

He looked at her with his brown eyes, and he reached out again and touched her arm with time, just above the elbow. “I think you’re exactly the kind of girl I’m looking for.”

Her nipples stiffened automatically when he made contact with her. “But I don’t understand,” she said. She felt faint, out of control, frightened—but worst of all, she felt her desire for Jake Novak was something that could undo everything good that she’d done for herself these last four years.

“Maybe someday soon you’ll start to understand more. And then I’ll come find you.” He turned around and walked back up the wide staircase, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. In that brief moment, she both hated him as much as she’d ever hated anyone, and she wanted to scream for him to come back down and kiss her.

But she did nothing of the sort.

Instead, she turned the door handle, opened the massive oak door, and walked out into the cool night air.

Leaving the mansion and getting in a cab to take her home, Raven could almost convince herself that none of it had even happened.

T
he next morning
, Raven’s brain felt like it had been put through a meat grinder. Her head was pounding and her mouth tasted like cardboard. She sat up in her futon bed and groggily opened one eye, glancing at the time on her cell phone.

It was just after ten in the morning. That meant she’d have only a few minutes to shower and get dressed before heading to the restaurant for her lunch shift.

Why did I go out partying on a night when I had to work a lunch shift the very next day?

She glanced at the phone again, this time with both eyes open. That’s when she noticed that it said she had a missed call and voicemail.

Yawning, she got up and shuffled to the bathroom, phone in hand, starting to play the voicemail as she walked.

She expected to hear Skylar’s voice on the other end, or perhaps her stepmother asking her when she was coming home for a visit.

But no—the voice was decidedly male, and the tone was decidedly unfriendly.

“Hi, Raven, this is Max Mendez from Club Alpha. You need to call me as soon as you get this message.”

Raven got a cold chill up her spine as she re-listened to his brief message. At first she had no idea what he meant by Club Alpha, until she faintly recalled the title at the top of the contract page she’d signed last night.

Club Alpha was the name of that agency that Jake Novak had been talking about. Thinking back to the last conversation she’d had with Jake made her tremble inside. He’d said a lot of very confusing things, things that she wasn’t sure she wanted to think about.

But then she remembered the way he’d looked at her, the touch of his fingers grazing her skin as he’d brushed a lock of hair from her face.

The way her nipples had stiffened and the need had tightened her belly, a feeling she hadn’t ever imagined she could feel.

His words still echoed in her mind.

The only way this is going to happen is if I pay you for your services.

Raven tried to get the sound of his voice out of her head, knowing that in the cold light of day, one thing about Jake Novak was abundantly clear. He was no good. And there was absolutely no use thinking about what he’d said and done last night, because she would never see him again.

If she was going to forget about Jake Novak, she certainly was going to ignore that voicemail. Whoever was calling her, she wanted nothing to do with it.

Ignore them long enough and they’ll go away. You learned that the hard way a long time ago.

She set her phone on the bathroom sink, stripped off her undies and got into the shower. As she let the hot water run over her, she closed her eyes, and flashes of the night before ran like strobe lights through her mind.

Picturing Jake Novak’s face again, the way he’d looked at her, the sound of that low voice with just the perfect masculine rasp, she felt that same familiar quiver in her stomach.

Stop thinking about him! Just stop it!

You had a chance at Jake Novak and you blew it!
She imagined Skylar saying.
You blew your chance at the lottery—every girl would have loved to be in your shoes and you just tossed it all away.

Would Skylar still say that if she knew that Jake Novak wanted to pay Raven for services rendered?

Probably. Skylar was crazy enough not to care.

That made Raven smile a little, knowing that when she went to the restaurant, she’d see Skylar there and they’d both laugh about last night.

She turned the shower off but it continued to drip because her landlord absolutely refused to make repairs. That’s what you got when you lived in Watertown and paid $500 a month to live in a tiny basement apartment.

Raven wrapped a towel around her hair and then walked to the mirror.

That’s when she noticed her phone buzzing again. She glanced down and saw UNKNOWN CALLER and got a shiver.

“Dammit,” she whispered. Her heartbeat accelerated as she stared at her cell and contemplated what to do next.

She sent it to voicemail and started brushing her teeth, frustrated and nervous.

What if they’re calling you because Jake Novak was interested in you? Maybe he sent someone to track you down and ask you on a date on his behalf.

That didn’t sound like his style, but she’d heard of famous guys contacting publicists or agents to get a girl’s number.

Still, whatever the reason for the calls, Raven didn’t want to deal with it this morning, still hung over, slightly regretful, and needing to get to work so she wouldn’t be late for her shift.

And then the cell phone was buzzing again. UNKNOWN CALLER.

Now she was pissed.

“Hello,” she said angrily, holding the cell phone to her ear while she spit toothpaste into the sink.

“Is this Raven Hartley?” the voice asked. She could tell instantly that it was the same guy as the voicemail she’d listened to a few minutes ago.

“Please stop calling me,” she told him.

“We have a big problem,” he replied, “so you better think very carefully about what you do next.”

Raven swallowed the rest of her toothpaste and stepped away from the sink. Her heart was racing again, and she was feeling vulnerable and queasy. “I don’t even know you,” she said, her voice less authoritative than she would’ve liked.

“My name is Max Mendez and I’m affiliated with Club Alpha.”

“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Well it might not, but it will very soon, because you work for us now.”

Raven choked back a laugh of disbelief. “You must be kidding.”

“I’m dead serious,” he said. His voice didn’t have a trace of humor.

“Well, that’s pretty funny,” she said, “considering I’m about to leave for my job right now, and I don’t think I’ll be seeing you there.”

“You mean your job at Charlie’s Café in Watertown Square?” Max asked her.

She was stunned, and now the fear was icy, like an iron hand around her throat. This creep knew where she worked. He had her phone number. “This is harassment,” she told him. “I’m going to call the police if you don’t leave me alone.”

“I’ve given you the courtesy of a phone call, Miss Hartley, because we’ve had a client complain about you. A very important client. This is unacceptable to our organization, and we intend to make things right.”

“Was it Jake Novak?” she said, knowing he was the only person who would have had any reason to complain about her. She hadn’t even talked to anyone else.

He continued on as if she’d never spoken Jake’s name. “A client at the party last night expressed interest in your services, and you said that you weren’t going to participate in the requested arrangement.”

“That’s right. I won’t sleep with a guy for money because I’m not a hooker.”

“You don’t get to say what you will or won’t do, Miss Hartley. You work for us and you’ll do what the client tells you to do.”

His confidence had unnerved her, but she fought back. “I don’t work for you and prostitution’s illegal.”