Temptation (The Temptation Series) (2 page)

“No, not all, they are fine.”
I giggled,
more than fine,
if anything his touch burned me. He resumed
zipping the dress up then placed both his hands on my shoulders and spun me
around.

“There, you look very much
the part for Concierge Attendant.”

“Let me ask you Mr Clark, do
you give this much attention to all of your staff?”

“No Ms Summers, only the ones
that share their drinks with me.” He walked out of my room and into his own, he
was very playful and left me feeling somewhat naughty. Smiling I picked up my
soiled clothes and stepped out after him. Talk about brazen, so brazen in fact
he had left his curtain partly open, I couldn’t help but squint so that I could
see him.
Oh Shit
,
he is magnificent.
I could only see his back
and that was enough to make me blush and fumble with my clothes.
What am I
doing? Stop it Alexis you dirty little perve.
I sat patiently on the sofa
in the middle of the change area, Clarissa returned just as Bryce came out of
his room.

“Mr Clark I expect you are
happy with the fit?”

“As always Clarissa thank
you, would you mind taking our clothes to the dry cleaners and have them
delivered to my room later today?”

“Certainly Mr Clark.” She
took our damp clothes and headed out.

“After you Ms Summers,” Bryce
nodded towards the door, we walked out of Versace and I looked at my watch, it
was 10.30am.
Oh crap, I was an hour and a half late. How was I going to
explain this?

“Come along Ms Summers, I
will need to explain your tardiness.”
Tardiness, what are we back at school?
He really was quite cute.

Standing at the front desk
was an immaculate looking young man.

“Good morning Mr Clark, how
may I assist you today Sir?”

“Where is Abigail, Charlie?”

“Just a moment Sir and I’ll
track her down for you.” Charlie flittered along the large desk to his computer
and started typing away.

“She’s in Conference Room 3
Sir, is there anything else I can help you with?” Charlie raised his eyebrow
and gave me a kind but curious look.

“No that will be all thank
you. Oh by the way Charlie, have you met Alexis Summer? She will be training as
Concierge Attendant. Charlie’s smile grew wide.

“Alexis, it’s a pleasure I
look forward to working with you.” He seemed very genuine and I could see we
would get along very well.

“Nice to meet you too
Charlie, hopefully we get some time later to get better acquainted.”

“Yes hopefully Alexis. Mr
Clark would you like me to escort Alexis to Conference Room 3?”

“No Charlie, I will take her
there myself.” I blushed bright red, I felt like a school girl being escorted
to the Principal’s office. Charlie nodded and in turning to answer the phone
smiled at me curiously.

Mr Clark walked me to the
elevators and we waited awkwardly, we kept glancing sideways at each other and
smiling politely. The elevator doors opened and guests disembarked, Bryce
politely gestured me to enter before him, he pushed the button to level 5.

“Thank you Mr Clark, I’m
terribly sorry for all this.” He glanced at me again with that ‘smirk’, the
‘smirk’ that made me feel like a naughty child.

“I remember my first day Ms
Summers, it wasn’t as action packed as yours but it was nerve racking
nonetheless.” I couldn’t imagine this handsome, perfectly dressed, extremely
confident man ever being nervous about anything, he oozed confidence and
self-preservation.

We reached the 5
^th
floor and he led me along a corridor to Conference Room 3 and knocked gently, a
short, middle aged lady answered the door.

“Mr Clark is everything
alright?”

“Yes Abigail, sorry to
interrupt but I believe you are missing a Ms Summers from your Concierge
Attendants briefing this morning? I bumped into Ms Summers and unfortunately
spilt my coffee all over her, so of course I had to see she was well looked
after and delivered to you.” I gasped and looked at him shocked.

“Abigail this is Alexis Summers,
Ms Summers, Abigail Maroney.” Abigail gave me a strange look then smiled and
thanked Mr Clark.

“Come in Alexis and take a
seat.” She turned and headed for the large oval desk in the centre of the room.

“It was a pleasure meeting
you today Mr Clark,” and in a whispered voice I added.

“Again I’m so sorry.”

“Aahhhhh Ms Summers the
pleasure has been all mine.” He stepped backward and nodded whilst giving me
‘that smirk’.

“Oh Mr Clark, by the way it’s
Mrs, not Ms.” Putting two fingers to his lips he winked and turned.

“I know.” He called behind
him and then he was gone.

CHAPTER TWO

I settled into my seat and
apologised to Ms Maroney. So far my morning had been a bad dream, how could I
have been such a klutz? This job required me to be on the ball, organised and
completely professional and I’d displayed none of which so far.

“I am so sorry Ms Maroney for
disrupting your briefing.” I smiled apologetically to Abigail and the five
other Concierge Attendant Trainees sitting around the table.

“Never mind dear, Mr Clark
seemed to have your situation under control and please, call me Abigail. Now
Alexis, just to get you up to date, Jessica, Samantha, Jonathan, Marcus and
Lorell are all training as Concierge Attendants and you will each assist the
Head Concierge from all 3 of City Tower’s Hotels. Alexis you will join Samantha
and will Concierge here in City Towers, Jonathan and Jessica will Concierge in
City Metropol and Lorell and Marcus at City Promenade. Alexis if you open your
brief you will see a manual with everything you need to know about City Towers
and the entire City Towers Complex, including the Casino and Shopping Precinct.
Your IPhone and Keycard are your life; please keep them on you at all times. Your
Keycard will give you access to every room in the Hotel, with exception to Mr
Clark’s Penthouse Residence. Special instructions of his requests are also in
your brief. Your IPhone is preprogramed with all relevant contacts. Jonathan
and Jessica, City Metrolpol’s Head Concierge is Daniel and he is expecting you
both in the Metropol Lobby. Lorell and Marcus your HC is Stephan and will meet
you at the Concierge Desk in the Promenade. Enjoy your day and don’t hesitate
to contact me if needed.” Jonathan, Jessica, Lorell and Marcus all stood up and
made their way out of the room.

“Alexis and Samantha, as you
are both aware I’m the HC here at City Towers and our office is in the Lobby,
now for today I want you to familiarise yourself with the Hotel, you will need
to know this building inside and out. You both have a timetable to follow for
the week which enables you to get a good feel for how the Hotel runs on a day
to day basis, again enjoy your day ladies and I will check in on you both as
the day progresses.”

Samantha and I introduced
ourselves properly on our way to the hotel’s kitchen. She was 23 and fresh from
a Bachelor Degree of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality at Deakin, very similar to
the Bachelor Degree that I had completed online with LaTrobe, whilst raising my
children. Samantha was single and living with her parents in Doncaster and was
approximately 5 foot 7, strawberry blonde and probably a size 10. She obviously
took great pride in her appearance, her makeup was heavier than mine but suited
her. She wore heals higher than the Eureka Tower and had a smugness about her. I
liked her, there’s not many people I don’t like, but I could tell she was very
competitive, minor things like entering each room just ahead of me, walking a
couple of steps in front and she had a knack of asking questions over the top
of mine, which became apparent during our tour of the kitchen and laundry, it
was as though she had to have the last word. We decided, or more so Samantha
decided, we would eat our morning tea on the hotel’s sundeck. The hotel’s kitchen
also had an area dedicated to staff so we were able to get ourselves some
fruit, Samantha also grabbed a tomato juice and I, a cup of tea. We sat at a
small table shaded with an umbrella by the pool. It was simply beautiful and
I’m glad Samantha had made the decision to take our break here, it was the end
of Summer in Melbourne and my favourite time of the year. I loved 27 to 32
degree temperature days and the sun with its glorious vitamin D made this
little lady very happy. I peeled my banana and opened my brief, there was a
whole section devoted to Mr Clark and his Penthouse.

Mr Clark is the owner of
City Towers Entertainment Complex and resides in the Penthouse of City Tower. As
CA (Concierge Attendant) you are required to assist Mr Clark as a matter of
priority. Any request he has must be adhered to as soon as possible. His meals
are delivered to the Penthouse at the following times Breakfast 6am, Morning
Tea 10am, lunch 1pm, Afternoon Tea 3:30pm Dinner 7pm and Supper 9:30pm. You are
required to collect his daily brief from his Personal Assistant each morning at
9.15am which will contain instructions on the following day’s menu, and specific
house cleaning requests. Mr Clark’s mail is to be delivered to him as soon as
it is received by the Hotel’s Reception. His office also forms part of the
Penthouse and all cliental by appointment are to be personally escorted to the
Penthouse Foyer where his Personal Assistant will meet them.

“Mr Clark is so hot in his
company picture, was he as drop dead gorgeous in the flesh? I couldn’t see when
you came in.” Samantha was googling at me like a school girl.

“Oh, yes, he is very handsome
and very understanding.” I answered awkwardly.

“Understanding and apparently
accident prone, lucky you! He can spill his drink on me any day.” Samantha continued
to read her timetable.

“We have a House Keeping
Demonstration next, then to the Penthouse to meet Mr Clark’s P.A.”
What? The
Penthouse?
  My stomach almost did a backflip. I wanted to see him again,
something about the way he spoke to me and looked at me made me squirm in my
seat. I had a flash back to this morning, perving through his change room
curtain, his naked back was exquisite; I wanted to run my hands up and down it.
Samantha snapped me out of my reverie by slurping the last bit of tomato juice
through her straw. My cheeks reddened, I’d been licking my lips so I quickly
wiped them with my finger, how embarrassing, I’m happily married and have a very
healthy sex life with Rick. He was my childhood sweetheart and I had only ever
been with him, we were like two peas in a pod. In 12 years of marriage we had
rarely fought and had spent less than a week apart, he really did make me happy
my Ricky, so these feelings, if I can call them that, were foreign territory
for me. I smiled and got to my feet. Housekeeping Demo, it’s not glamorous but
essential to witness nonetheless, then the Penthouse, now that ought to be
glamorous. I started to wonder what Mr Clark’s P.A. would look like. Probably
drop dead gorgeous and straight from a Victoria’s Secret Catalogue, hopefully
with more clothing on.

Housekeeping was as expected,
I’d observed the most perfect hospital corner and strangely enough was keen to
give it ago on my own bed when I got home. We were on our way up to the 43
^rd
floor to meet Mr Clark’s Personal Assistant, Lucinda; even her name suggested a
tone of elegance. I was starting to get quite agitated, why? I couldn’t explain
it, these feelings were strange to me. I pushed them out of my mind and took a
deep breath in as the elevator doors opened. The Penthouse Foyer was beyond
beautiful, gold fixtures and fittings, cream coloured floor tiles with golden
edging, floor to ceiling windows with a view of the city skyline line that
could only be seen to be believed, and the curtains dressing those windows were
superb. I love curtains, they were a secret obsession of mine, a window was not
a window if it were not dressed properly. These curtains were of a golden, silk
material with gold seems and tassels, from which the light bounced,
illuminating them.
Oh they are to die for
. Directly ahead of the
elevator was a solid mahogany desk and sitting behind that desk was a very
pretty young woman, she rose to her feet and waddled towards us. I was
surprised, she was approximately 7-8 months pregnant.

“Hello, you must be Alexis
Summers and Samantha Taylor, I’m Lucinda Clark, Mr Clark’s personal assistant.
Welcome to City Towers.” She gracefully extended her hand to each of us, she
was radiantly beautiful and I couldn’t help but feel very intimidated by this
brunette goddess who was probably the most beautiful Mother-to-be I had ever
come across. Suddenly my chest pained.
Wait a minute did she just say
Lucinda Clark?
Yes she did, Oh Shit
.
She was Mr Clark’s wife, his
very beautiful pregnant wife.
I was devastated and hurt. How stupid of me
and more to the point how ridiculous of me to feel this way, I had absolutely
no right. The elevator doors opened, Mr Clark entered the foyer and went
straight to Lucinda’s side.

“Good morning Lucy.” He gave
her a kiss on the cheek.

“Morning Bryce.” They exchanged
a quick loving embrace.

“This is Alexis Summers and
Samantha Taylor, the Hotel’s new Concierge Attendants, they are here for the tour
of the Penthouse Offices.” Mr Clark looked at Samantha.