Dirty Desire (6 page)

By the time I make it to the theatre the line is already down the street.

“Took ya long enough,” Leigh grumbles as I approach. There’s a decent line in front of him but it looks like the majority of the line is behind him. All these lines, all this rushing, and all of it could have been done from the comfort of my apartment. Sans clothes.

“I don’t understand why we can’t just buy them online like everyone else in the world. I shrug and take my place next to him, gaining the glares I was expecting from the few people directly behind them.

“We’ve been doing this for years, Harper. Don’t make it seem like it’s all of a sudden a hindrance on your lifestyle.” He rolls his eyes and walks forward as the line starts to move. “I can’t believe you,” he mutters.

“
Excuse
me? I’m not certain I’ve heard you correctly. You can’t
believe
me?”

We don’t fight much, but suddenly I feel my talons are out and I’m ready to attack. He shakes his head and lightly chuckles, pissing me off even more. “What the fuck did I do to deserve that?”

“Really? You need me to spell it out?!” He spins and glares at me. “You fucked him, didn’t you?”

I hold his glare and sense everyone around us quieting down. I don’t want to fight with him. I don’t want him to think badly of me. I did nothing wrong.

“Leigh, chill. It was a one-time thing,” I say, huffing. Actually, I really hope it wasn’t a one-time thing. I really hope it happens again…and again.

“You live by one rule, Harper. You broke it. Also, newsflash, Knox is my boyfriend’s boss…do you know what type of weird position that puts me in? What happens when you get pissed at him and try kicking him out at three in the morning?!” He’s pissed, but I can’t help but smile at him.

“You remembered that?” I grin. “You were so drunk and we’ve never talked about it since.”

“Fuck yes I remember it! You put my underwear on the neighbor’s porch!”

I laugh and he can’t help it anymore, breaking into a huge smile. That night he was so smashed and so mean that I figured throwing him out was a great idea. The words that came out of his mouth about my mom hurt, and as true as they were, I knew it was the alcohol talking. Still, it didn’t stop me from throwing his prized underwear collection out.

“I don’t want to be happy with you right now, bitch.” He grabs my arm as we move forward in line again. “But I can’t be mad at you, either. He is one fine specimen. I guess I’m just jealous of you a tiny bit.” He shakes his head and I laugh. This is the easy banter between us that I love. Drama and hate and anger don’t bode well with me. Especially when they are coming out of my best friend.

“So how’s living with John going?” I nudge his hip as we walk and lay my head on his shoulder. He sighs and shrugs

“Great. It’s going awesome. I’m just worried something’s going to come in and screw shit up.”

“Leigh, you’ve been with him forever. Nothing’s going to break you two. If you guys can’t make it, then none of us have a chance.”

I smile and hug him, making him groan as I squeeze him as tight as I can.

“Where’d you run off to this morning?” Knox asks as soon as I get in the apartment door. I wanted to grab lunch with Leigh after we finally got through the line, but he has something going on this afternoon with his parents. He invited me, and as much as I love his parents for saving me when I had nowhere to go, I’m not about to spend an entire day over there when I could be here sleeping.

“Ticket run,” I mumble, heading straight for the hot, fresh coffee. “You drink coffee all day?” I eye him over the rim of my mug as I let the warmth flow through me.

“Ticket?” He looks perplexed, and fuck if it isn’t adorably sexy on him.

“Tickets. You know, the things that you buy to get into places?”

“Tickets to where?”

“The Pageant?” The minute the words come out of my mouth I see him instantly tense up.

What the fuck is that all about?

“The Pageant.” I set my coffee cup down and shift onto the counter, letting my legs dangle off it. I see his eyes flick to my bare legs, but his jaw tenses at the same time as his eyes return to mine.

“What’s at the Pageant?”

“Awolnation. And a fuck ton of other bands we want to see. They have season passes that gets you into a handful of shows but there’s only a hundred of them every year so every year we have a tradition of waiting in line for them so we’re sure to get tickets.”

“You can’t do it online?” He’s still confused as ever with his eyes scrunched and arms crossed. It’s very apparent he doesn’t like to feel confused.

“Nope. Tradition yo.” I hop off the counter and start looking for something to eat. Grabbing an apple, since fruit and crackers is about all we have right now, I take a massive bite and smile at Knox who’s eyeing me curiously.

“Strange woman.” He shakes his head and walks to the living room. The room around him seems so small compared to his built frame. The grey of the couch blends nicely with his tanned skin. He’s on his phone, texting someone, and I watch from a distance how his facial features change the longer the texting takes place. After five minutes of eating my apple down to the core and watching this beautiful man, he stands up and storms out of the apartment with not so much as a goodbye right before he slams the door.

Well then.

“Mother fucking bitch,” I can’t help but slam the apartment door on my way out, no doubt startling Harper. I need to get out of here.

Her text.

Made a few changes
.

Fuck that. She turned it into everything she ever wanted. I knew she was going to be difficult about this, but not this difficult. The club isn’t hers. The club will never
be
hers. Not totally.

Kayla is currently renovating my office at the original building because, in her words ‘I’m never coming back’. I am coming back, and I’ll be damned if I walk into a building that isn’t exactly the fucking way I left it.

“Call John,” I blurt to my car, not waiting for the navigation system to load my original address.

The phone rings two times before he picks up the line.

“John,” I blurt, not waiting for him to properly answer.

“Knox,” his voice mimics mine and I roll my eyes. He’s sarcastic to me all the time. If he weren’t such a good friend I’d have fired his ass and brought in someone more professional. It’s a good thing I don’t care about that shit, though…he’s the best worker I’ve ever had.

John doesn’t know what I do all day, but he knows I’ve been preoccupied a lot the last six months. He doesn’t know I was stalking the girl I now live with. I don’t think he’d be too happy about it if he found out, either. I guess from the looks of an outsider what I was doing is probably morally wrong. I’m not doing anything wrong, though. I’m not hurting her or killing her. I’m not stealing from her or taking her away.

It will all be done with her consent. Eventually.

Well, most of it.

“I need you to make sure the final plans are sent over to me immediately in Springfield.” Jesus Christ the freeway is busy today.

“Springfield?”

“Kayla needs to be put in her place. I’ll hopefully be home tomorrow but I can’t promise it.”

“Got it. I’ll email you everything that’s needed. Just make sure you’re back by Wednesday when the ribbon cutting takes place.”

“Yeah,” I hit end on the call and growl.

I told her the plan. She knows about the new club opening. Fuck, she’s half owner; of course she knows the shit that’s going down here! Even if it weren’t for this little game I’ve been playing, I’d still be here the majority of my time until this place is operational on a level that I trust.

The drive takes me a little under two hours. Passing past rows and rows of cornfields makes it feel more like a four-hour drive. I’ve been in the city a little over a month and I’m already used to the busy lifestyle. Each mile outside of city limits I go, the more and more I regret ever moving out of it in the first place.

I had no choice. I could have moved with my parents to the east coast and lived in the mansion I’m sure they bought, but I didn’t want that anymore. I had completed college and I was itching to not be a bum. I wanted to make something of myself, for myself. So they did what they always did when I was growing up…they felt guilty for three minutes, the length of time it took to write me a check, then they took off into the sunset to go on their own adventure. I was a twenty-four-year-old with a wallet bigger than anyone else I knew of and I was sitting in an apartment on my own.

At that moment in my life I did what any spoiled rich kid would do. I took the money that my father gave me and stayed right here in the middle of Illinois. I lived it up until funds started running out. The slow feed of money I was getting wasn’t holding up to the lifestyle I was living. I soon learned that I couldn’t live it up without figuring a way to make my own income.

So I did.

I bought out a company within a few years of working there and started the Come empire. At first all I wanted was a sex club, but Kayla came along and pointed me in the right direction. With her expertise we brought what was a dirty, grimy sex club into the hottest business this part of the country has ever seen. The non-disclosure agreements that are withheld are enough to bring any willing celebrity within this countries limits to my doors. It’s funny how some of them can make themselves seem so innocent in front of the camera’s eye, but the minute they walk inside my club all bets are off.

I’ve seen shit that eyes can never unsee and I love every minute of it.

I’ve had a few friends—the ones that actually know what happens behind the gold and black doors of the club—ask how I don’t walk around with a hard on the entire time I’m at work.

It’s simple.

I don’t get off on watching other people have sex. It’s not my thing; it is, however, the thing of the majority of the country. Married, old, single, gay, straight…they all enjoy it. Who am I to judge them?

I watch, but the only time I’ve ever been hard at the club is when I’m there for pleasure.

And it’s been a while since I’ve done that.

By the time I pull into the parking lot of the original club Come, it’s dusk outside and still humid as hell. My clothes cling to me immediately as I step out of my car. I strip off my shirt the minute the car door slams; the fucks that I give when being in this club have been gone for years now.

This is my club.

Sort of.

“Kayla!” The bellow comes from deep within me as I blow through the clear glass doors. The glass wall that surrounds the outside of the building, even though shaded, is nothing compared to the sunlight pushing through it. The black marble floors, swirled with silver and hints of bright red, shine up at me as I pace the lobby.

The bitch changed the keys to the back of the club.

“Kayla!”

The click of her heels echo throughout the building and I look up to the second level, awaiting her arrival.

She shows her face and I want nothing more than to put her in her place. The grin she’s wearing has no place right now.

“What the fuck did you do?” I growl at her, tightening my fists at my side.

“Oh,” she smiles sweetly as she walks down the stairs. The cold click of her bright red shoes, the bare skin showing way too much and leaving barely anything to the imagination around her dress. Who is this woman? I left her a month ago to move to St. Louis for this club. When I left she was in modest clothing, still sexy but not too much showing. She was in heels but not that fancy. She wasn’t wearing bright red lipstick and pin straight platinum blonde hair, staring at me through those fuck me eyes that have gotten me in trouble one too many times.

“What did you do,” I growl, unmoving.

“A few updates were needed, Knox. The club is getting bigger and we needed better security.” Her smile fades, bringing a more seductive grin on her face. “Come. I have things I want to show you.”

Her hand grabs mine and the man inside me can’t pull his eyes away from her ass and the way it sways in that tight black dress.

“Kayla,” I mutter, following behind her as her fingerprint opens the black and gold doors to the back.

“Shh,” she whispers, grinning back at me.

Walking through the club, I notice a shit ton of un-approved updates that have been done, but I can’t say I’m mad about them. The brown booths in the back of the viewing areas have been updated to black and red circular beds. The closer chairs are more for comfort and viewing pleasure now than the typical benches were before. We may not be able to hold as many people in the rooms now, but those that are there are certainly going to get a much better experience.

“How much did this all cost?” I let my hand slip from hers and spin, staring back at the viewing room common area. The dark and red accents add to the appeal better than the original muted earth tones did. She did good, but I’ll never let her know it.

“Does it matter?” Her hands slip around my shoulders and I feel her breath on my neck. “Isn’t it perfect, Knox?”

“It’s nice. How much did it cost?”

We weren’t doing bad before. We were doing fan-fucking-tastic. We didn’t really need this, even though it looks amazing.

“Less than a mil,” she whispers calmly.

Calmly! She spends almost a million of my dollars on this without running it by me first?! This is my fucking business!

“Kayla, that’s not your call to make!” My voice bellows throughout the empty room and a chuckle starts to escape her lips.

“Knox,” she purrs. “You know as well as I do that this is going to bring in more money. What good is having a club like Come and not using it to its full potential? Just imagine the new clientele that I’ll be bringing in with this re-make of the most popular part of our club.”

“If it wasn’t broken, why did you fix it?” I can’t be too thrilled about the updates because she still went behind me, and that’s unacceptable.

“It’s half mine, too, you know. I decided to make it something I like better and something that appeals to the eye more. With you not here, I figured it was now or never.” She’s smiling at me, her blonde pin straight hair tucked behind her ears making her look bare to me. No makeup, no jewelry. She knows how simple I used to like it and she’s using it to play my emotions.

I’m smarter than that.

“I’m here, Kayla. I’m just out of the office for a bit.”

“Please,” she scoffs. “We all know that little twat—”

No she’s fucking not.

“Excuse me?” I growl, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the wall. She grins. The bitch likes it rough. “You know exactly why I’m doing what I am. After all…this is for you, is it not?” I brush my thumb against her jawline as I push my body to hers. The bones in her hips make me flash back to having luscious Harper pressed against me. There’s nothing bony about her. She’s just right. I stare back at Kayla, her dull green eyes do nothing for me, not compared to the bright blue ones I have waiting for me in St. Louis. She’s grinning at me a devilish grin.

Two can play this game, sweetheart.

“Knox,” she pants, “I’m s—”

“No,” I snap. “You’re the reason this is going the way it is. I started this shit for you. I don’t want to hear another word about me not being here, got it?” She nods, eyes wide. “Good. Now I’m heading to my office to fix what you started and to make sure your wild spending spree isn’t putting us in the red.” I storm off, not looking back before slamming the doors.

The minute she’s out of my sight, Harper comes back to the forefront of my memory. Goddammit can I not have a moments rest from thinking about her?!

“John,” I say to my phone the minute I get to my office.

“Yep.” He answers almost immediately. He must have been sitting at his desk waiting to hear from me.

“It’s almost midnight John. What’re you doing at work still?”

“Just waiting to hear from you. I didn’t get much info on what was happening.” He sounds tired and I’m having a hard time believing him that he was just waiting for me. He has a cell phone, I know how to get a hold of him should I need to. If I’m going to have a general manager/operator of this new club, I have to make sure it’s someone who has their head on straight and starting off working into the late, middle of the night hours, isn’t the best way to keep your head on straight. I pride myself on being a good boss…I’d rather not lose my number one employee because I didn’t care to see that something’s bothering him.

“Everything ok over there?”

“Club’s good, Knox.” He sighs.

“And you?”

He chuckles and clears his throat.

“What’s going on, John?” He’s a friend first. All of my employees are friends to me and I try to treat them all with respect and be as kind as I can to them…but John is more than that. John’s a true friend, and I honestly don’t want him getting run down by this job. “Listen, if you’re getting too bogged down I can bring someone else in to help you until the club opens, I—”

“No, Knox…just stop, ok? It’s not the club. Leigh and I are just…well neither of us have ever roomed with another man before. It’s just a learning curve for both of us, ok? And right now, I’m more comfortable in my office than I am at home. That’s all. This will pass and I’ll be fine.”

I chuckle at him and shake my head.

“Go home, John. There’s someone there that loves you and probably hates you working so late into the night. Everything I need to tell you is in the email. I just wanted to leave you a message to check it first thing in the morning. There’s been a fuck ton of spending from the Springfield club and I want to make sure we’re still on track financially to open in a month.”