Exposed by Fate (Serve #2)(23)

“When am I seeing you again, Eliza?”

At the serious tone in his voice, she rose slowly to a sitting position. Had he even heard a thread of desperation in his question? Maybe. He didn’t know. Could only stand very still and wait for her answer. She reached out a hand and he hauled her to her feet, steadying her with a hand on her waist when she stumbled toward him. Another chance to kiss her. Her lips were so close. This time, she didn’t give him enough of a window, though, probably because he’d let his opportunity pass in the bathroom. With a toss of her hair, she moved around the kitchen island and dug through her purse, pulling out a leather day planner and leafing through it.

She looked up at him. “Does Sunday night work for you?”

“Sunday?” He all-but shouted. “Today is Tuesday. What are you doing for the next four nights?” God, he sounded pathetically desperate. He needed to get a grip. “Not that I can’t find a way to stay occupied.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to slam his head against the wall. If he continued in his current vein, the next four nights would have been spent pretending to be interested in whoever approached him first at Serve or another club. Right now, the very contemplation of doing that made him feel nauseous.

Eliza’s smile was tight. “I’m sure you will, playboy.”

“I’d drop everything for you.” God. Have I already?

She propped a hip against the island and crossed her arms. “Friday night I’m going out with Caroline for dinner.” They exchanged an uncomfortable look. “Then Saturday night I have this formal gala at Cipriani where I’m expected to land a huge client named Conrad Sterns. Huge. Every night between now and then, with the exception of Friday, will be spent learning all there is to know about him. I’ll probably have a ninety second chance over champagne to sell him on letting me decorate his mansion in the Hamptons.”

“Wow.” He dragged a hand through his hair, reminded once again how impressive she was. “You need a date to the gala?” They both froze. Had those words just left his mouth? Yeah, they definitely had. He didn’t go on dates, and they both knew it. But the alternative was waiting an extra night to see her. When she didn’t answer right away, he experienced a foreign sense of insecurity. “It can double as your second lesson, of course,” he added quickly.

“Right.” She fidgeted with her day planner. “Sounds good. It’s the Forty-Second Street location. Meet me there at eight?”

He nodded once. “I’ll be there.”

She shoved the planner into her purse and hefted it up onto her shoulder. “Bye, Oliver.” Obviously as uncertain how to proceed as him, she gave him a little wave and headed for the door. His feet were moving in her direction before he was even conscious of it. Her breathing went shallow as he drew closer, his own doing the same. I’m in trouble. So much trouble. More than anything in the world, he wanted to drag her to his bed and go for round two, but she’d been too emotional earlier. She might not be ready yet. Plus, he didn’t know if it would count as their second lesson. In which case, this thing between them would be over faster.

“Are you good with everything we did? I need to know.”

“I am now.” She looked at his mouth, so he dipped closer, eliciting a barely audible gasp from Eliza. “Everything got a little muddled for a second.”

“Muddled. Yeah.” He settled his mouth over hers, but didn’t move it. Just let them breathe into one another’s mouths for long moments. If his tongue touched hers, it would be curtains. No question. With a rapidly dwindling will, he pulled back, even though his libido was shouting at him to press her back against the door and pound her senseless. Down boy. “You were amazing tonight. If things get muddled again, you call me. I’ll be there before you hang up the phone.”

For just a split second, she looked at him like they’d just met for the first time. It unnerved him. It…relieved him? He didn’t know, but it went away too quickly for his liking. “See you Saturday.”

She slipped out the door and was gone.

His apartment felt darker as he walked toward his bed.





Chapter Ten


Eliza and Caroline flopped back onto the plush, deep-purple lounger and clinked their red martinis together. They’d finished their dinner of sushi and sake, vowing more than once that they would head home after their next glass. True to form, however, they’d ended up stumbling their way over to Serve where a section had immediately been roped off for them in the lounge. Even though Caroline’s boyfriend, Jonah, hadn’t yet made his way downstairs to see them, his presence was felt all over the club. Eliza knew through Caroline that Jonah had cameras trained on every inch of the space and based on her friend’s continuous squirming, she could feel him watching right now.

Lifting her glass to her lips, Eliza surveyed the section they’d been given. It seemed less about convenience and more about keeping the male customers away from Caroline. And in turn, her. Another mark of Jonah’s presence. Eliza shrugged and took another sip of her drink, feeling relaxed for the first time since Tuesday. Tuesday with Oliver. Nothing could compare to the boneless contentment she’d felt following what they’d done in the shower. Would anything ever come close? Probably not. Unless they managed to top bound and blindfolded shower sex. God, she’d really underestimated how hard it would be to stay away from him until Saturday. Her body ached for him to fill it. Fully, relentlessly. Hard. Whenever memories of that night surfaced, the part she reacted to most was his pulling her hair, telling her he would whip the orgasm out of her. Even now, she had to cross her legs together tightly as the sound of his deep voice reverberated through her head.