As I watch her exit the elevator to the VIP level of the club, dressed in a sleek red strapless dress and matching heels, I already know what the first three words that pass over her pink-stained lips will be.
Thank you, Crew.
"Fuck you, Crew," she says as she approaches.
Why do I like those words so much more?
"It's good to see you too, Ad. You look like a dream."
"You're a nightmare."
She has no idea how badly I want her. Visions of me pushing her onto her back on one of the low tables and tasting her cunt get crossed with images of her bent over the metal railing that overlooks the crowded club while I inch up that dress and fuck her from behind.
"Did you skip the nap?"
That draws the corner of her mouth up in an almost smile. "I had a nap."
I wish I would have been invited along for that ride. If that were the case, she'd look a lot less rested, but much more satisfied than she does right now.
"Something's changed about you since this afternoon." I tap my index finger on my bottom lip. "Did you pick up a new attitude on your way over?"
I'm gifted with a full smile, perfect white teeth and all. This woman is beyond beautiful.
"You went to see Dr. Hunt today."
The man didn't waste any time. When I stopped by the clinic after seeing her, I asked him to keep our discussion private until I had a chance to tell Adley my plan, but so be it. There's always a workaround in my world.
"I did."
Her eyes rake over me stopping on my jaw. I shaved since I saw her this afternoon. Everything else is exactly as it was. Gray suit, black shirt, killer smile. I flash her one for good measure.
She scowls. "Why would you go behind my back like that? I need that job, Crew."
I lean my hip on the metal railing, briefly glancing over at the club below. We're as busy tonight as we are every other night. "You have that job, Ad. You're not going to lose it because you take some time off."
"I don't want to take time off." Her shoulders go back. "The clinic is short-staffed. I can't just skip out without a good reason."
My hand itches with the need for a glass of something. I bypassed the bar on my way up here and sent the VIP staff down to the first floor so I could spend time alone with Adley. I'm regretting that now. "You have a good reason for taking a long weekend. Besides, you weren't booked to work next Saturday or Sunday. Monday is technically the only day you have officially off."
My words do little to placate her. She's vibrating from anger or frustration, maybe a little of both. "Explain to me why you did it because from where I'm standing it feels like you're trying to fuck my life around."
I am. I'm trying to take her out of her comfort zone so she can see the world, and us, through fresh eyes. I look into her stormy blues.
"When's the last time you took a vacation?"
Her chin drops. I know the answer to that because I've been a constant in her life since shortly after we met.
Reaching out, I rest my index finger on her chin and draw it up, so she's looking directly at me. "I'll answer for you. It was when you went to Vegas to visit Ellie. That was two years ago, Ad."
She can't afford to travel. I've never offered to send her on the trip of her dreams because she'd push back with so much resistance that it would damage what we have. This time is different. We're hanging by a thread of something that neither of us can define.
"That was the last time," she agrees softly.
"My family owns a home in the Hamptons." I doubt like hell I've ever mentioned it to her before because I haven't been there myself in years. "Take the weekend to go there and relax."
"The Hamptons?" Her face brightens. "Is it close to the ocean?"
"It's oceanfront. You can hear the waves as you fall asleep."