Page 10 of Alex (Men of Forbidden Temptation #4)

ALEX

Banging on my bedroom door startles me awake, except this time I’m not in the middle of an erotic dream. I didn’t dream all night, well, all morning, since it was past four when we finally called it a night.

It’s hard to dream when you pass out from exhaustion.

Elise is wrapped all around my body, and her hand is dangerously close to my morning wood. She looks innocent when she sleeps, but I saw the real her. The one that stepped out from one of my fantasies.

The Elise from last night is nothing like the Elise who works for Dad. She’s carefree, sexy, and fun. And oh so eager to please.

The loud bangs continue on the door. It’s a damn good thing I locked the door, not because I’m embarrassed Elise is here, but because right now, the cover is only covering her left leg and her deliciously sweet pussy.

Her perfect nipples are already in stiff peaks, begging for my mouth to give them the attention they deserve.

I stretch and let out a long groan before getting out of bed. Elise flings the cover over her head as I pad my way to the door, naked.

Not bothering to find any clothes, I twist the lock and crack the door open to reveal Dad pacing the hallway and in what appears to be the middle of a freak out.

I’ve never seen him act like this. He wasn’t this freaked when Mom left us. “Uh, are you okay, Dad?”

Dad stops pacing the hallway to talk. “Someone broke into the office building last night, trashed the place, then started a fire.”

Wait, what?

“How?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been to the office yet. Hell, I haven’t even talked to the police. I got a voicemail from Peter, our security guy, last night. I just called him back a little while ago and he tried filling me in.”

“I know Peter.” It’s hard to forget him when he was sending daggers my way the entire time. “Where was he when all of this happened?”

“He was there. I’ll get the full story as soon as I can get to the office. I called the staff to let them know not to go by the office on Monday, but I can’t get in touch with Elise. I left her a voicemail, but she usually answers when I call.”

Shit.

He actually sounds worried about Elise. Or does he suspect she was the culprit? Maybe some of his past assistants would trash the place and set it on fire, but not Elise.

Should I tell him she slept in my bed last night?

I clear my throat. “Well, maybe she’s busy.”

Dad narrows his eyes. “Busy at seven in the morning on a Saturday?”

He got me there, so I just shrug in response. “She could enjoy early morning walks or yard sales.”

He snorts. “She’s not a normal twenty-three-year-old, but I doubt she enjoys yard sales.”

“Maybe she was at a kegger last night and is just now stumbling home.”

“She’s not you, Alex. She’s responsible.”

He stares at me like I am the spawn of Satan himself. I stare back, not knowing what to say to that remark.

Dad glances at his watch. “I’m heading to the office to see how bad the damage is and if I can salvage anything.”

I nod my head. “I’ll get dressed, grab a granola bar, and come help you.”

Dad’s eyes widen, and he takes a step back. “Really?”

I’m surprised at myself, too. I’d rather lay in bed and fuck Elise all day, but I know the chance of that happening is slim to none, especially since Dad already called her.

“Yeah, why not? You said you wanted me to be more involved in the company, and that includes looking through rubble and soot.”

Dad beams like I made him the proudest father alive. “That’s my boy.”

When Dad walks away, I close and lock my bedroom door and lean my head against the wood.

Knowing Elise is awake and heard the entire conversation, I say, “We’ll give him a few minutes, and then I’ll drive you home.”

Elise’s voice is soft and full of sleep when she speaks. “Why didn’t you tell him I was here?”

Her question plays on repeat in my mind. Why didn’t I just tell him she stayed the night with me?

I feel protective of Elise and whatever it is that we are doing. I don’t want Dad coming in and popping the bubble.

Plus, what if he wanted Elise and fired her because she chose me? It wouldn’t be the first time that scenario has happened amongst the elites. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened to Dad and me, but the possibility is still there.

Does Elise think Dad’s attractive? Would she even date her boss?

I don’t know how long I’m lost in my thoughts for, but it had to have been a while. When I turn around, she’s already getting dressed.

Walking over to her, I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her into my naked body. “I don’t know. I just didn’t want him to know that you were here. Is that a problem?”

She tilts her head up to look at me. “No, that’s not a problem, per se.”

She averts her gaze from mine, and that’s my first clue that I fucked up. “Per se?”

“Well,” she whispers before meeting my gaze once again, “are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”

Her question is not what I was expecting. How could she think that? I was with her in the bar and at the office last night.

“What? No. Why would you ask that?”

She looks down, but I cup her chin with my hand so she has to look at me.

“Elise, what’s wrong?”

She shakes her head and steps away from me. “Nothing is wrong. I was just curious.”

“Curious if I was embarrassed to be seen with you? What gave you that idea?”

She doesn’t answer me. She gathers up her purse from the floor near the door where she dropped it last night and crosses her arms across her chest.

The movement pushes her perfect breasts together, and it takes all my willpower to not ogle her.

Maybe her question isn’t really about me. Maybe someone in the past was embarrassed to be seen out with her and she assumed I would be the same.

Anger bubbles up in my chest as I throw on a t- shirt and a pair of shorts. Who in their right mind would be embarrassed by Elise? She’s everything any man could ever want, and for the moment, I’m the lucky asshole who gets to be with her.

If anything, she should be embarrassed to be seen with me. Like Dad said, she’s not like me. She’s responsible. I’m not.

I grab my stuff off my nightstand and slip on my socks and sneakers.

Putting my ear to the door, I listen for any sounds coming from the garage or kitchen. Not hearing any, I say, “I think he’s gone. Let’s go.”

We walk down the long hallway towards the garage. Elise doesn’t ask for a tour or to see the kitchen, so I open the garage door and wait for her to walk through before following.

When we are settled in my car, she gives me her address, and I type it into my phone. She lives on the opposite side of town, where the two most ruthless gangs in the city call home.

She shouldn’t live there. It’s not safe for her. Why would her friends and family let her live in the worst part of town?

Just like I thought, the closer I get to her address, the worse the scenery is. Large mansions morph into small outdated houses which turn into dilapidated shacks.

Nice stone faced businesses and houses turn into graffiti ridden and boarded up businesses and houses .

Even simple things like streetlights and sidewalks are broken, dirty, and neglected.

Is this really how the city lets its citizens live? Why isn’t the city council or mayor doing their jobs?

Monday morning, I will be getting these questions answered with a solution in place to fix what’s broken.

Elise doesn’t speak until I’m pulling up in front of her apartment. With one hand on the door handle, she turns to look at me.

“Thank you.”

I raise my eyebrow at her, wondering what she could be thanking me for. The entire twenty-minute ride was in complete silence.

Why the sudden change in attitude? Does she regret last night? Is this her way of letting me down easy?

“For what?”

“For everything. For driving Kate home, driving me to the office, driving me home, and-” She glances away and doesn’t finish her statement.

“And what?”

She glares at me as her face turns light pink. “Are you really going to make me say it?”

I grin, finally knowing exactly what the ‘and’ was, but I don’t speak.

She sighs. “And for last night. It was incredible.”

“It was incredible.”

Neither of us speak for a few moments. She looks like she wants to run away, so I say, “I guess I’ll see you around. Are you coming to the office?”

She climbs out of my car and dips her head inside to answer my question. “I guess it depends on what your dad said in the voicemail.”

I nod my head as she closes the passenger door. I wait until she’s inside the building before putting the car in drive and heading towards the office.

When I get to the office, I have to park in the furthest row from the building. A half dozen cars are all parked out front alongside a fire truck.

I find Dad in the crowd and jog over to him. “Dad, hey, what’s going on?”

“The police investigators and insurance guys are inside gathering pictures of the mess for the claims, and the firemen are verifying that everything is safe enough for us to walk around and collect everything that’s not ruined.”

I look around for the copper haired man, but come up short. “Where’s Peter? Did you send him home?”

Dad blows out a breath of air. “He quit. He didn’t even try to work out a two-week notice or anything. As soon as he saw me, he told me to find a different security guy.”

Why the hell would Peter quit? Did the intruder scare him that badly?

“Did he at least tell you what happened last night?”

Dad shakes his head. “He just left. I tried looking at the camera footage from my phone, but it’s disabled. The company is going to try to reactivate the cameras and send me the lost footage, but until then, we have to hope the police figure out the cause of all of this.”

Dad heads inside the building, leaving me outside.

I don’t want to say that Peter had a hand in this destruction, but his quitting so abruptly raises several red flags.

Did he do this because I was with Elise last night and I’m the boss’s son, so this was the easiest way for him to get revenge?

My hands ball into tight fists. I want to hit something, anything, to keep my mind off Peter.

Just as I’m about to turn around and head to my car to go back to Elise’s apartment, Dad comes back outside.

“Good news, son. We are allowed to head inside and pack up some stuff. Upstairs is safe if we stick to where they outlined. I have boxes in my office we can use to pack up the files.”

“What about all the computers and other electronics? How are we going to pack them up?”

What good is having all the files, but none of the electronics?

“I’ll get someone from IT to come and pack up my computer and Elise’s and set them up at the house. Everything else can stay. I can have them bring a computer for you if you’d like.”

He looks at me like he wants me to say yes, but I shake my head and disappointment clouds his eyes .

“I don’t need a computer here when I have my laptop at home. I can do everything from it.”

Dad doesn’t smile, but the edges of his lips curl up slightly into a bemused expression.

“In that case, let’s get started. We have a lot to do.”

The longing in my heart causes me to blurt out the question in my mind. “Hey, Dad, have you heard from Elise?”

Maybe she called him when he was inside and said she was on her way.

Or maybe she called and told him what I did and quit, too. Just like Peter. My mind screams at me.

“Not yet, son, but I’m sure she’s fine. Peter said he was alone, so I know she wasn’t in the building at the time of the ransacking.”

Sure, he answered my question, but that didn’t answer the question in my heart or in my mind.

Will Elise want to see me again?