Alluring (7 page)

Alexis had to walk fast to keep up with his long strides.  "Where are we going?  I only have an hour for lunch."

They reached his SUV and he pulled open the passenger side door.  "Relax and hop in."  He fastened her seat belt then closed the door. 

He drove about two blocks, before pulling into a parking space.  "Don't move." 

Alexis watched as he got out, rounded the hood, then opened her door.  He unfastened her seat belt, took her hand, and helped her out of the SUV.  She looked up at him dumbfounded.  "Now, what was that all about?"
             

"I open your door for you.  Always." 

"That's a little archaic."  He didn't reply, just gave her his
Jack
grin and escorted her into the restaurant.

The interior was dark, cool and smelled like garlic and tomatoes.  Yum.  Jack walked in like he owned the place, leading her to a small booth along the back wall.  Alexis looked around.  The room was packed.

"Jack!"  A large man, with an even larger stomach, covered by an enormous, white apron, arms held wide in greeting, approached their table.  "It's been too long since I've seen you."

Jack stood and gave the man a hug.  "I've been busy, Vinnie."

"And who is this bella rigazza?"

"This is Alexis," Jack said, giving her a big smile.

Alexis held out her hand.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Vinnie."

"The pleasure is mine,"  he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

"Hey, find your own girl.  This one's mine," Jack said, with a laugh.  He wrapped his arm around Alexis's waist and pulled her closer, so their legs brushed under the table.

"What can I get you?"

"We're in a bit of a hurry so whatever's ready." 

"Two lasagnas coming right up."

"Thanks, Vinnie."

Alexis smiled at Vinnie as he left, then tried to scoot away from Jack.  He held her waist tighter.  "We don't need to sit so close."

He brought his lips to her ear.  "If we weren't this close, I wouldn't be able to do this."  He lightly traced his tongue along the edge of her ear.

Alexis felt a shiver run down her spine.  "Jack."  She meant for it to sound like a reprimand, but it came out more like a breathy whisper.

"Or this."  He brought his lips to her neck and trailed feather light kisses down its slope.

Alexis slowly tipped her head to the side to give him better access, when a booming laugh brought her back to her senses.  Vinnie stood in front of their table with a large plate of steaming lasagna in each of his hands.

She quickly scooted away from Jack (she knew, she was only able to do that because he let her) and picked up her fork as Vinnie set their plates on the table.  "Thank you.  It looks and smells delicious," she said, putting her napkin on her lap.

"Buon appetito."

After eating about half her lasagna, Alexis put down her fork, sat back in the seat, and looked over at Jack.  His T-shirt fit him like a second skin, and for the first time, she could see how truly muscular he was.  His hair looked thick and soft with a slight wave that gave it body and was slightly mussed, as if he ran his fingers through it or drove with the windows down.  His lips were full, yet firm looking.  Although she knew just how soft his lips felt as they grazed her neck.

Alexis mentally shook herself out of her musings.  Jack was regarding her as intently as she had him.  "We need to talk," she said, placing her napkin on the side of her plate.  Jack moved his plate aside and set his arms on the table, never once taking his eyes off her.  "This is never going to work," she said, waving her hand between them.  "You need to stop."

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly held up a hand.  "Let me finish."  He closed his mouth and took a deep breath.  She saw him mentally restrain himself from speaking.  He closed his eyes and breathed deep, as if counting to ten in his head. 

"I know I surprised you, that first night, when I wouldn't sleep with you.  And, I know you think of me as some sort of challenge that you need to conquer."  She watched as his hands, resting on the table, form into fists, his knuckles turning white, as he squeezed.  "I just want you to know that that's not going to happen.  No mater how much I sometimes want to be that kind of girl, I'm just not."  She watched his nostrils flare, and his jaw tighten.  She could tell, his desire to speak was all consuming, but he stayed silent, letting her continue.  "This isn't going anywhere, Jack.  It's a waste of your time.  I'm the kind of girl that wants to be kept, if not forever, at least for a while, and you're not a keeping kind of guy.  You're a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy."

There, she'd laid it out for him.  Now he could walk away with no hard feelings.

"Are you finished?"  At her nod, he continued.  "If that little speech was supposed to scare me away, it didn't work."  Alexis opened her mouth to speak, but this time he held up his hand.  She closed her mouth.  "You've had your say, now it's time for me to have mine."  He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.  He looked angry.  Why was he angry?

"You think I don't know what kind of girl you are?  You think I don't know you're a keeper.  Believe me, sweetheart, if all I wanted was a quick fuck, I wouldn't be doing all of this."  He flung his arm out to indicate the restaurant.  "You would be at my penthouse being so thoroughly kissed, your panties would melt, destroying the only barrier between me and your pussy."

Oh my God!  Who talks like that?

"And when I do get into your panties, it won't be to fuck you, it will be to make love to you.  Do you understand what I'm telling you?"  When she shook her head, he explained, "I plan on keeping you.  You're mine, Alexis."

Alexis was in a daze the rest of the day at work and through her shift at Allure.  She'd gotten several drink orders wrong and dropped her tray once.  Thank goodness, it was full of empty glasses and not full ones.  

She didn't understand what kind of game Jack was playing.  Did he say all that stuff to her today just to get her into bed?  Did he know he would have to form a relationship with her, to get her there?  Then once he got what he wanted, dump her?                                             

Or, was he sincere when he said he wanted more than just sex from her.  What she didn't understand was, why?  Why did he want
her
?  She could understand why he wanted to have sex with her.  She wasn't horrible to look at and she had an okay body.  Men weren't too picky when it came to sex.  What she couldn't understand was the more he wanted.   She wasn't anything special.  He was a millionaire, for God's sake, maybe even a billionaire.  He could have movie stars and models (and has!).  She was a girl who worked two jobs to make ends meet.  A nobody who came from nowhere.  And that's why, she doubted his intentions.

She really needed to talk to someone about this.  She had no experience in this sort of thing.  She felt way out of her depth, and Jack was so out of her league.  But, she knew what Steph would say, "Go for it.  You only live once, besides he's really hot."  That kind of advice she did not need.

Alexis was in the lounge, changing into her street clothes, when Erica, another waitress, came in.  Erica was tall and slim with short black hair surrounding a cute face.  Alexis always thought, she looked a lot like Demi Moore.  She was friendly with Erica, but they weren't friends.  She was too busy to make friends.  Steph understood that.  She knew what it meant to work hard and wormed her way into Alexis's life and her heart.

"Rough night?"  Erica asked, opening her locker.

Alexis sighed, "You can say that."

"Just be careful you don't have too many bad nights or they'll move you from the high roller section back into mainstream."  She gave Alexis a little smirk.

All the waitresses wanted the high roller section, the tips were better.  But, she never realized someone would act so catty and jealous for her position.  "I'll try to remember that.  Thanks for the warning," she said, sounding anything but grateful.  She grabbed her purse, closed her locker, then left the lounge.

Alexis saw a large shadow looming by her car as she walked through the employee parking structure.  She slowed her step and pulled her cell phone out of her purse.  The shadow moved into the light as she got near, and she saw it was Jack. 

"You scared me," Alexis said, slipping her phone into the back pocket of her jeans.  "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't stand the thought of you driving home alone, at two in the morning." 

"I've been doing it for two years."

"Not anymore."

Alexis walked to her door and inserted the key.  "Jack, this is silly.  What are you going to do, follow me home every night?"

He prevented her from opening the door by stepping in close to her back.  He placed his hands on either side of her and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.  "If I have to."  Alexis felt chills race along her spine from his warm breath feathering across her ear and cheek.  "Or I can arrange a driver to come pick you up and take you home every night."

"Absolutely not," she said, spinning away from the car to face Jack.  She tried giving his chest a push to give her more space, but he didn't budge.

He leaned down further, so they were eye to eye.  "The way I see it you have three options.  I follow you home every night. A driver picks you up.  Or you quit working at night."

Alexis stood staring at him, speechless for a few seconds, before getting angry.  "You can't tell me what to do or give me ultimatums.  You're not the boss of me, Jack."  She pushed at his chest again, this time harder.  He still didn't move.  Frustrated, she yelled, "Step back!"  He took a step back to give her space.  She took advantage of it by pacing away a few more steps.  "And, I'm sure as hell, not quitting my job."  Not to mention, she wouldn't be able to pay her bills without it.

She watched as he put one hand on his hip the other he ran through his hair as he hung his head to look at the floor.  His subdued posture deflated some of her anger.  "You can't possibly understand how much that frustrates me.  I'm in control of everything in my life."  He looked back up at her.  "Everything.  Yet, there you stand," he said, holding his arms out to her.  "It seems as though, everything I say or do, you want to do the opposite.  You're right, I'm not the boss of you and you have no idea how much that kills me, because I want to be.  I want to lock you up in my bedroom, so I know you're safe and protected.  I can't bear the thought of any harm coming to you."

He put his hands back on his hips, tilting his head back, this time to look at the ceiling.   She watched his throat muscles work as he swallowed, and his chest rise and fall with his breaths.  He was still dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, his biceps on display, bulging and flexing, as he brought himself under control. 

Everything he'd just said to her was incredibly scary, while at the same time strangely sweet.  She sighed.  She knew, if she gave him an inch he would take a mile, but she was tired and didn't feel like arguing anymore.  And, she had to admit, at least to herself, that the thought of him being worried about her and wanting to protect her, gave her a little thrill that tingled from her head to her toes and all her girly parts in between.  She hadn't had anyone worry about or take care of her since she was fifteen, when her mother got sick and her father bailed, walking out on his three girls and leaving Alexis to take care of everything. 

She exhaled a heavy sigh.  "You can send a driver.  I don't want you having to drive back and forth."  He brought his head back down and started walking toward her.  She put her hand up to keep him from coming any closer.  "But don't think, that because I gave in on this, you can walk all over me."

He ignored her hand, walked his body flush up to hers and cradled her face in his hands.  "Thank you," he said, before bushing his lips to hers. 
             
It was their first kiss.  Alexis hadn't had many kisses in her life, but she'd had a few, and none of them made her feel what she was feeling now.  He traced his tongue along the seam of her lips, coaxing them to part and, as if they had a will of their own, with no thought from her brain, they fell open.  His tongue invaded her mouth, swooping in.  Claiming her.  Alexis didn't know what to do, so she grabbed fistfuls of his hair and held on, feeling entirely consumed.

He slowly pulled away, nipping her bottom lip, then running his tongue over the spot to take away the sting.  Jack's kiss left her in a daze.  Her body leaned heavily into his, and her breathing was rough and choppy.

"Open your eyes, sweetheart."

She did as she was told without hesitation, still befuddled, and stared into his intense, green eyes.  He ran his thumb across her bottom lip.

Once. 

Twice. 

Before closing his own eyes and leaning his forehead against hers.  "Let's get you home."  He led her to her car, opened the door, then angled her behind the wheel.  "I parked a few spots down.  I'll follow you."

Alexis gave him a nod and started her car.  As she sat, waiting for it to warm up, she leaned her head against the steering wheel and tried to compose herself.  As she got her wits about her, she became certain of three things.