Paradise Found

Maybe this isn’t going to be so bad after all.

When I turn, Alistair is looking at the two of us with a frown on his face.

“Mr. King, this is Roxy, she will be helping with your massage today,” I explain to him.

He raises a questioning brow as Roxana moves beside me. His eyes then flare with heat as he looks over the beauty standing beside me.Shit.

“Fuck, he’s hot,” Roxana mumbles under her breath, and it takes everything in me not to want to scratch her damn eyes out. I take in a deep breath as I try and control my emotions.

You can do this.

You’re a consummate professional.

“Roxy, is it?” Alistair questions.

She nods and bites her bottom lip, putting on a performance for him.

“Come here,” he commands as he curls his finger and beckons her over.

Roxana does as she is told and walks over to him, her hips seductively swaying.

You’ve got this. No matter what happens today, you can deal with it.I try and give myself a pep talk.

Alistair looks over Roxana’s shoulder to me, and those hazel eyes never leave mine. He reaches out and wraps his hand around her throat, which makes her gasp before a giggle falls from her lips, his attention is then pulled back to Roxana. They stand like that for what feels like an eternity as I wait for him to make a move. A smirk falls across Alistair’s face as he pulls Roxana to him and kisses her. The moment their lips meet is like a punch to the gut, but I don’t look away. I willnotlet him see how much his actions are hurting me. As he kisses her, his eyes open and land on me and never leave.

Screw him.

I muster up my best-bored expression as I watch him kiss another woman.

I will not give him the satisfaction of reacting.

What does he expect me to do, run?

Storm out?

Make a scene?

Hell no.I will be fired.

I’m going to take it and push the pain all the way down inside me like I have with all my childhood trauma and pretend it never happened. That Alistair King never happened.

He pushes Roxana away from him. She stumbles a little bit from the intensity of his kiss, then looks over at me angrily as if upset by my lack of reaction. Roxana notices the tension that’s swirling between the two of us, and a frown falls across her face in confusion. Panic runs inside my veins as Roxana gives me a questioning look. She’s confused over why there’s tension between Alistair and me, and I can’t tell her the real reason.

That I let myself fall for a client.

Then he destroyed me.

Instead, I go on instinct and step forward and reach out to Roxana and pull her to me. I copy the exact move Alistair did and kiss Roxana, my eyes landing on him as her lips press against mine. With his anger now palpable, Roxana kisses me back, and I can’t help but smile against her lips.

“You taste like raspberries,” Roxana purrs as she licks her lips after our kiss. I give her a small smile, but my attention is pulled back to Alistair, who doesn’t appear turned on like most guys would after our little display. Nope! He is one hundred percent furious. But he’s the one who started this, and now I’ve turned the tables on him.

“I’ve changed my mind, Roxy. Thank you, but I won’t be needing your services today,” he says while looking at me intensely.

“If that is your wish,” Roxana says to Alistair and gives him a nod. She turns her back on him, and I can see the questions on her face as she looks over at me. She mouths, “Are you okay?” and I give her a nod reassuring her that I am fine. She isn’t going to push the subject in front of a client, but I know she’s going to have questions when we’re alone. I watch as she retreats from the villa, and as soon as the door clicks shut, my entire body begins to vibrate with tension.

“What the fuck, Eloise? What the hell are you doing here?” he asks, raising his voice as he runs his hand through his hair before he starts pacing the villa.

I’m taken aback by his questioning tone. “I’m here to do my job, Mr. King.”