He grinned at her and cupped her butt, giving it a squeeze. “Come back in a while.”
She giggled, gave him a peck on the cheek, and left the office.
“What did I tell you?” He asked as soon as the door was shut behind her. “That’s Asia and she is a peach.
I raised an eyebrow at him. So he was going to jump in, take the talk all the way there when I hadn’t even been in his office for half an hour.
“How much do you have to pay them for that kind of service?” I asked, tapping my pen against my notepad.
He chuckled and then gave me a wry smile. “I think you know that I don’t have to pay a woman for anything…ever. Every woman who walks through my office door, ready and willing for me take her, is there because she wants to be. Because she’s heard how I am, how I’m capable of making a woman feel. She’s there because she has chosen to be. Like you…you knew a little something about my reputation, I’m sure. You’re a good little journalist and I bet you did all your research before you walked in here today. So you must know something about who I am, what I’m about…and what potential there was when you walked through that door.” He gestured behind me and then rested his hand on his desk, clenching his fingers into a fist briefly before releasing them.
I cocked my head sideways a bit. “I know more about you than you realize.”
That seemed to catch him a little off guard and I felt good about the prospect of finally having the upper hand with him. It didn’t last long though as he nodded his head and gave me a sparkling smile that spread all the way up to his eyes.
“Probably know one of my exes or something, right? Well, if that’s the case, all I have to ask is that you give me a chance to prove that…well, depending on what she might have told you, that she’s absolutely right about me—or that the sex was even better than she described.”
I clicked my tongue against my teeth, deciding I was taking back the conversation for the moment. “You’re an awfully confident guy. Let’s talk about that. Where it comes from, how it impacts your life. Why, if you’re so confident in your abilities in bed, that you are still single and have been for some time.”
Pete was quiet for a moment, apparently taking the time to give the question the thought it deserved. What was the thing that kept this guy going, that inspired so much confidence in him, the thing that he used to propel Club V forward and make it into the billion dollar behemoth it was today?
“If I can be serious for a moment, and you’ll pardon the sentimentality, I’ve always believed that I was a little better than I appear on the outside.” He said the words clearly, precisely. It was evident that he was sincere in what he was saying.
“Better than you appear?” Now it was time to play to his ego. “But Pete—you’re ridiculously handsome, very eligible, and so many women want you. You said it yourself. How can you be better than you appear?”
“Perhaps I’m not making myself clear,” he was back in his chair, behind his desk now, and I was grateful that we had more distance between us again.
“You see, there aren’t many people who get to see all of me. I’m not talking about when I’m naked. Plenty of people have seen me naked.” He winked conspiratorially. “But in spite of what people may say about me or think they see in me, there’s more on the inside.”
He was right about the sentimentality. I was just waiting for him to tell me how his mother had told him how special he was and that he deserved all the happiness in the world, and that somehow that had shaped his entire worldview. But he didn’t, he stopped there and I was grateful. Pete Wilson could say whatever he wanted about how deep and multi-faceted he was. I knew the truth and the truth was that he was cruel, careless, and got off on seeing other people humiliated and in pain. There was no amount of depth that could make up for that kind of behavior against another human being, no matter what he had tricked himself into believing about who he was and his worth as a human. God’s gift to women, sure, like all alphas of his sort thought about themselves. How on earth could the rest of the world get by without them there to project their toxic masculinity onto the rest of us, building up the patriarchy and maintaining a status quo that kept everyone else in bondage to their base desires?
“Fair enough,” I said simply. “Now about your relationship status. You’re single. Everyone knows it. Is it for business—because you like to keep up the face of the club, prove that it’s for men who like to live wild and carefree lives? Or is it because of your behavior that you can’t manage to get into a lasting relationship?”
I regretted it almost immediately. It was imperative that I keep it in the forefront of my mind that I was here for an interview, not to contest him at every turn or attempt to insult him wherever I could. I knew the guy could take some ribbing, but I didn’t know him very well after all, and it was always possible that I might be going too far. And too far could mean that I lost the rest of the interviews and whatever chance I might have had at taking him down.
“Why am I single? Well, the why is more complicated than you might think. But stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find out.”
Chapter 5
Pete
Jesus Christ, this was one ballsy woman, but she wasn’t fooling me. I could tell that some of my words were getting to her. She was thinking about it now, how it might be for us together. I wondered how long it had been since she was properly fucked by a man who knew what he was doing. Looking her up and down from where I sat, I indulged in a fantasy of what it would be like to command her to stand and strip. I knew that body was hot as hell and that pussy…god, I had a feeling it was tight and wet.
Yeah, I knew she was wet. I could tell by the way she was squirming there in the chair. Women often try to hide this kind of reaction and I had seen it before, but there was no fooling me. I could see it now—her nipples were starting to harden and I could detect the outline of her tightening areolas against the white of her button down blouse. Her bra must have been thin because it wasn’t doing anything to conceal the hardness of her taught little buds. What I wouldn’t give to peel her clothes off her right there and suck on those things until she cried out.
Fuck, I was getting hard again. Now it was my turn to squirm in my chair, but at least I had my desk to conceal me as I readjusted myself.
“Stick around and find out why you are single? I’m not sure that’s pertinent to the interview or the story I’m trying to write here,” she said with a hint of disdain in her voice.
“How about this…” I began, trying to think of a proposition on the spot. “How about you come out to dinner with me. See if you can figure it out. You’re a journalist, you must enjoy a bit of a mystery, right?”
> She raised her eyebrow at me again. Shit, that was turning me on. And something about the gesture looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I usually wasn’t into women who were so blatantly and boldly attempting to turn me down. On to the next person in line, that was my usual way of handling things like this. But all it did was make me want her more. I was going to prove to this woman what she was missing out on and she could find out why I was single and decide for herself whether or not to include it in the article. Maybe putting a human face on the club would ring true with some people.
Penny shook her head. “Maybe some other time. How about we just schedule our next interview for now. We’ll cover things like the details about how the club membership works, the vetting process, and all those little details. You can be more prepared for our talk next time.”
I was slightly taken aback by her tone. “Okay then.” I grabbed my phone and opened up my calendar, scrolling through the rest of the week and the next one. “Looks like Friday at 5:00 is the next free appointment I have. Does that work for you?”
Penny checked her phone and nodded. “I’ll plan on that time then.”