I shook my head. “Of course not.” God, how was this guy still so hot even in a situation like this.
“Could I interest you in joining me for a drink in my office? Consider it my way of making it up to you for that man trying to ruin your evening.”
I didn’t know what came over me. I did know that if Samantha were there she would be steering me in the other direction, but I found myself nodding and getting up from my place at the bar.
“I’d love that,” I said with a smile as I followed him out of the bar and down the hallway—the same hallway I had been down just the night before when I had stumbled into his office by accident.
He opened the door to his office and ushered me in. The lighting was different this time. Not nearly as dim, but still with more of a feel of mood lighting rather than being illuminated for the purposes of doing work in an office.
“Bourbon?” He asked as he moved to the bar in the corner of the office.
“That’s fine. On the rocks.”
“Coming right up.” He was a deft hand behind the bar and I wondered if he had done that kind of work before.
“Thanks,” I said as he handed me the drink and headed over to his desk with nothing in his hand for himself. “Are you not having one?”
He shook his head. “Not tonight. I’m heading to the gym later.”
I sipped the bourbon. It was nice, but I wasn’t sure I knew enough about the stuff to truly appreciate whatever he had poured for me.
“Isn’t it a little late for the gym?” I asked.
“Haven’t you ever heard of a 24 hour gym, Taylor?”
“I have…I just, well, I would have thought that after a long night of working here that you would want to go home and relax for the evening.”
He nodded. “Yeah, sometimes I do. But tonight isn’t one of those nights. How is the bourbon?”
“Good,” I answered with a smile, taking another sip.
“Sorry I didn’t offer you one last night. If I had known you were in my office I would have gladly poured you a drink.” He said in a deep husky voice.
I almost spit the bourbon across the room, choosing instead to hold it in and almost choking in the process.
“Excuse me?” I asked once I could speak again.
“You know when you were in my office last night while I was entertaining a guest.”
“I
…I don’t know what to say.” I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say or where to begin, or how to convince this man that I wasn’t intentionally trying to spy on him having sex with a woman in his office.
“Well, I’m not expecting you to apologize really. I mean, that doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of Club V, does it? People come here to watch. Did you know that? We have people that are regular members who never touch another person in this place. I find that an odd choice, one that I wouldn’t make, but who I am to judge another person’s desires.” He grinned as he leaned back in his chair. “Would you like to tell me about some of yours?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and placed the glass down on his desk. I would be drinking no more of his bourbon tonight.
“First of all, tell me how you even knew I was in here. If you knew I was here why didn’t you say something?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t realize until later when I was checking security tapes. See, the girl who was in here with me…well, I don’t really want anyone else to know she was in here, so I was taking care of that footage. I’m telling you that because there is no way you can share that information with anyone without having to reveal that you were here, in my office, trespassing. I’ve got you on video entering the office and then leaving approximately five minutes later. That is an awfully long time to spend in the office of a stranger, don’t you think? Especially when you have no business being in there.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even and keep from giving away how shocked I was. I didn’t feel very safe in this situation. No one, except Celeste, knew where I was. This guy’s office was pretty far away from everything else in the club and he owned the place. Jake definitely had the upper hand here.
“Are you going to blackmail me? I don’t know where that would get you. I don’t have any money.”
He laughed loudly at that. “You think I want your money? No, I’ve got more money than I’ll ever need. No, Taylor Dawson, I want to know what it is that makes you tick. I want to know what you thought about what you saw in here last night. Tell me, honestly. What was your reaction? You stayed in here watching for some time. What exactly was happening while you were in here? My apologies, I was busy at the time.”
I swallowed hard, realizing he was serious. I was determined not to back down from whatever bizarre challenge he was throwing my way.