Page 6 of Alex (Men of Forbidden Temptation #4)

ALEX

I sit at a table along the wall of the crowded bar and order a beer from the waitress when she stops by.

She immediately heads to the bar and brings the open bottle to me. After I thank her and she leaves, I take a large sip and let the ice cold liquid coat the taste buds on my tongue.

My gaze makes its way over to the bar where Elise is taking shot after shot with her friend.

I know she hasn’t eaten yet because dad made the meeting run late and she didn’t stop to eat on the way. I would have invited her out, but Dad wanted to talk to me one on one about the future of the business and where I fit into it.

Dad hates going home at night to an empty house, so he makes his employees pay. And what was with all that shit about thanking his employees for sacrificing their time and staying late? There’s only one employee that stays late, and I’m looking at her .

An older guy watches Elise from the end of the bar. He scoots closer while keeping his eyes on the pair that’s taking yet another shot.

No one seems to notice or care that the women are consuming more alcohol than they can handle, especially on an empty stomach. They seem to know the bartender more than anyone else here, and he’s more than willing to keep pouring them shots.

I grab my beer, stand up, and slowly make my way through the crowd over to the curvy woman who’s had my attention for the past six months.

Her curves haunt my dreams in all the right ways. She’s the fantasy I want more than anything in the world. I crave her and her pomegranate scent.

I want to mark her for all to see and make her mine in every way imaginable.

As I get closer to Elise and her friend, I overhear part of their conversation. It’s not like they are whispering, but no one is paying attention to their conversation.

No one but me. And a large part of me wants to know what she talks about when she’s not at work. Who does she talk about?

Her friend waves her perfectly manicured hand like she’s dismissing whatever Elise just said.

“Elise, you could have any guy in this bar tonight if you wanted.”

That’s true. Elise is sexy, desirable, and could point her finger at anyone here, and they would worship her delectable body all night long .

Especially me.

Elise shakes her head. “No, thank you. I’m selective about who I sleep with.”

Her friend laughs and several people turn to look at them, but they turn back to their own little groups after a couple of seconds.

“Elise, you slept with one man, and it was on the beach six months ago.”

Shit. She was a virgin?

Why didn’t she say anything to me? I never would have been so rough if I knew she was still a virgin.

She deserved better for her first time. At the bare minimum, she deserved it to be more romantic and slow paced with more foreplay, but she was soaking wet and eager.

Elise shrugs. “Technically, it was on the rocks, and it was the best first time I could have imagined or hoped for. At least I had several orgasms, which is more than you can say about your first dozen times.”

The friend leans her head back and howls with laughter, but all I can focus on is that Elise is bragging about her first time, and that was with me. Pride fills my chest as need and arousal make my dick hard.

I don’t hear what Elise’s friend says, but Elise shakes her head and I watch as her long hair sways from side to side. Her hair is like a silk curtain swaying in the breeze.

“No, thank you. I’d rather stick to someone relatively close in age that has already rocked my world. Besides, I wouldn’t mind repeating my first time. Maybe not on the rocks, though.”

That one sentence is enough to make my dick harder than steel. If she wants a repeat, then I’ll give her a repeat. This time will be better, though.

“Yeah, you need to try it at least once on a bed. It’s even better.”

“I can’t imagine it being better.”

I want to tell her I promise the next time will be better than our first time on the rocks. It will be mind blowing and earth shattering. I just hope I have all night unlike last time.

Having heard enough of the conversation, I clear my throat loudly as I take a couple of steps and stand behind Elise.

Her friend’s smile widens as she looks at me. I see her gaze travel along my entire body, getting hungrier the more she takes in, but I’m only interested in Elise. My dick jumps in my pants, agreeing with me.

Elise slowly turns around, her face blushing as she realizes I heard part of their conversation. I won’t confess to it unless she asks, and even then, I wouldn’t want to embarrass her.

Her friend, not knowing who I am, sticks out her hand. “I’m Kate. This is Elise, and we’re celebrating my birthday. Who are you?”

I shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Kate. I already know who Elise is. I’m Alex.”

My grin widens before meeting Elise’s shocked and embarrassed gaze. “It’s nice to see you out of the office and letting loose again.”

Again, like she was letting loose on the beach.

The night my dick decided no one else would make us happy except her.

Elise’s lips open slightly as she lets out a small gasp. Those perfect fucking lips.

Kate raises an eyebrow at me and turns to grin at Elise. They seem to have a mental conversation, and I can only assume it is about me.

How much does Kate know about me? Obviously, she knows Elise, and I hooked up, but does she know Elise works for my dad?

I give Kate a once over. She’s wearing designer clothing and holding an expensive purse. The only reason I know about the purse is because my mom begged my dad for one and wouldn’t stop nagging until he bought it.

She kept rambling on about how a woman shouldn’t buy that brand for herself. It had to be a gift.

Dad ranted for a week over the cost of the damn bag. He said it was more than his car, and I wasn’t sure if he was exaggerating or if it really did cost almost six figures.

So it’s clear that Kate is very well off.

I clear my throat again, getting both of their attention. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, how did the two of you meet?”

Elise looks at Kate before turning back to me. “Oh, umm, well, we were at the flower shop and we both wanted the same bouquet, but the shop only had one, so I let Kate have them.”

They were both buying flowers? Call me old-fashioned, but I think a man should be the one to buy his woman a bouquet.

As if reading my mind, Kate chimes in. “Coincidentally, daisies are both of our mom's favorites, so I offered to split the bouquet with Elise and split a bouquet of pink coneflowers as well.”

Elise continues their story. “We went our separate ways, but I never thought I’d see her again ten minutes later. We were both visiting family at the cemetery.”

Kate grabs Elise’s hand and pulls her into a hug. “We’ve been best friends since that day.”

They share an intimate and teary-eyed moment before pulling apart.

I’m at a loss for words. How could I have guessed that was how they met?

“Wow, that’s-”

Elise’s hand reaches out and gently rests on my arm. “Morbid? A good ending to a shitty beginning? Yeah, it’s not the normal beginning to a friendship, but we both understand one another better than most people our age.”

I take a large swig of my beer. “That’s one way to look at it. And at least you have each other to lean on when times get rough.”

My heart aches from the pain of missing my own mom. Except unlike Elise and Kate, my mom is alive. She chose to pack her shit into her expensive, name-brand suitcases and leave Dad and me like we didn’t matter to her.

My hand wraps tighter around the neck of the bottle. My mom was selfish with everything she did and said. She never called, messaged, or stopped by to see me.

I don’t know what emotion is displayed on my face right now, but it must not be anger because Elise rubs my arm while giving me a sympathetic look.

I swipe a tear that’s falling down her cheek. She leans her face into my hand, surprising me. I want to comfort her, to promise her everything will be alright, but I don’t know the intimate details of her life, so I can’t make that promise.

Downing the last bit of my drink, I say, “Well, I never meant to ruin the good mood of the group.”

Kate chuckles. “Trust me, you didn’t ruin anything. We still have plenty of time to turn the night around.”

After she takes a sip of her drink, she says, “So, Alex, your dad owns Strickland Enterprises.”

“Correct.”

What else am I supposed to say? It’s not like she asked me a question.

“And do you work there too?”

“Sometimes. Usually only when he makes me, but I’m going to be around more. He’s eager to show me the ropes and have me take over a little bit. ”

Kate’s eyes widen as she looks at Elise. “Did you hear that, Elise? He’s going to be around more.”

Elise presses her lips into a tight line as she narrows her eyes at Kate. “Yeah, I heard.”

I glance from Kate back to Elise. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“No! Of course not.” Elise looks down at her half empty drink in her hand, like she wants to say more, but is refusing to speak her mind.

“You might be Dad’s executive assistant, but I think we will be working closely together in the near future.”

She gulps down her soda before looking at me. “I don’t mind helping you, but you have to do some of the work. I have a company to run.”

It’s the first time she seemed confident regarding work.

I lower my voice so only she can hear me. “I wouldn’t dream of making you do all the work. I intend on working hard and making things better for you. So much better.”

Both in and out of the office. Her eyes darken as she comes to the same conclusion as me. We both want each other and it’s only a matter of time before she’s screaming my name again.

I take a step back, putting some distance between Elise and me before turning my attention to Kate.

“So, Kate, what do you do?”

Her lips twist into a smirk. “What do you think I do? ”

I look her over for any obvious signs, but fall short. “Model maybe?”

Elise smacks Kate’s arm with a resounding thwack. “See? I told you.”

It’s my turn to be confused. “What? Are you not a model?”

Kate shakes her head. “Nope.”

Elise faces me with an enormous grin on her face. “Kate doesn’t work unless you count traveling all over the world spending her daddy’s money while looking for her future husband. She’s an heiress looking for the poor man that will bend to her every beck and call.”

There’s not a hint of jealousy in Elise’s voice. She’s genuinely happy for her friend, even teasing her about her adventures. I only see love and happiness in Elise’s gaze.

I glance toward Kate to see if this is really the truth, and she quickly nods. “That’s true. I’m a little disappointed that even though I’ve been to sixteen countries, I haven’t found someone yet.”

Elise chuckles. “That’s because you intimidate and use them. You chew them up and spit them out.”

“I can’t help it if they can’t keep up with me. I might need to find a set of brothers that way when I’ve exhausted one, I still have the other.”

Elise glances at me with arousal in her eyes before turning back to her friend. “If anyone can handle two guys, it’s you and I wish you luck because there’s no way in hell that I could do it. ”

Kate leans closer to Elise and me and whispers, “I’ll do it for the both of us.”

The excess alcohol causes Kate to giggle uncontrollably. It doesn’t take long for Elise to join in. The two of them hold on to one another and laugh like they just heard the funniest joke of all time.

I laugh with them while glaring at the man that is now an arm’s length away from the laughing pair of best friends. He looks from me to the women before taking a few steps back.

Elise’s phone dings with a message a second before it rings. She digs it out of her bag, smiling when she looks at the caller ID.

She holds it up to her ear as she answers the call. “Hey, Peter. What’s going on?”

Who’s Peter?

I glance down at her left hand. She’s not wearing a ring, so he’s not a husband or fiance. Not that I expected her to be married, especially after finding out I’m the only guy she’s been with.

Is Peter her boyfriend? It’s entirely possible. She smiled when she saw his name. Even though it’s clear that she’s attracted to me, maybe she’s also attracted to him.

So if I know she wants me, why is jealousy bubbling up inside of me like a raging inferno threatening to explode like a volcano?