Chapter 3
Bastian
The bass thumped hard against my chest as I squeezed through the excited crowd in the direction of the VIP lounge with Drusilla James on my arm. The nightclub was jam-packed with people. My investment would be doing well tonight judging from the lines outside. Not that I doubted the manager behind the club. He knew what the fuck he was doing to attract crowds in—the rich and the not so rich.
The tickets had been in my email long before I even thought about going to this concert. It was Drusilla’s idea for public relations purposes since she had been working with the manager of the club. Or some shit like that. I couldn’t remember exactly what Drusilla did all day long, but I knew what she could do at night. She could party hard, and she could fuck even harder. It was a match made in heaven for the time being.
“What do you think?” Drusilla shouted into my ear over the noise. “I suggested this band a month ago to get some more money in here.”
I didn’t care for the band. Popular music wasn’t my thing, but whatever it took to get sales through the door, I was all for it. I had seen the dismal numbers last month. I scanned the jumping crowd in front of the stage. Drusilla was good at her job. I had to give her that.
“Good call,” I shouted back. “Let’s get to our table near the bar.”
“No way,” Drusilla said and tugged me in the direction of the crowd. “I like this band. You have to at least stand through one song.”
There was no standing, though, when I let Drusilla drag me through the crowd. Her tight ass pushed up against my groin as she wiggled to the music. By all physical appearances, Drusilla was attractive for a thirty-something woman. Her body felt tight underneath the palms of my hands as she danced up on me to the beat of the music. Her hips were full and graceful as they writhed beneath my hands. Her dark hair fluttered against my face in a cloud of rose-scented perfume. Men glanced over at me enviously.
Yes. Drusilla would do nicely tonight.
She grabbed my hand when the song concluded. We made our way through the crowd to the booth I had suggested near the bar. I motioned for the waiter to sweep by our table so I could order us both drinks.
“I have to give it to you,” Drusilla said. “You know where to put your money. This is a good place to invest in. Very popular here around the city on the weekends.”
“Except for on Sundays. Everything is closed on Sunday here in Salt Lake.”
“For obvious reasons,” Drusilla said, rolling her heavily mascaraed eyes at that. She sat up straighter then to wave at a group of people near the bar. “Excuse me, Bastian. There are a few of my coworkers over there. I’ll be right back to join you for the rest of our evening together and the future”—she reached beneath the table to squeeze my thigh—“activities that you have planned for us.”
“All sorts of activities,” I said, running an appreciative gaze along her busty chest. They were obviously fake, but I wasn’t going to be too picky tonight. I needed something.
Drusilla smirked at me as she slithered out of the private booth we were seated at. She walked confidently over to the table a few feet away to address the crowd gathered around there.
I sat back in my seat to take in the bar with boredom. In truth, I didn’t like loud music and bars that much. I preferred taking my activities elsewhere because of the tabloids that made their money trying to fabricate scandalous stories about me. Most of the time, I didn’t care what people wrote about me in the gossip sites and papers, but the flashes of cameras that followed me were annoying as fuck. Billionaire. Semi-young. Unattached. The only reason they followed me around was because they wanted juicy gossip about me, true or not.
My eyes swiveled around the dimly lit room and back to the stage when the band kicked off again. I froze in surprise when I saw the last person I expected to be there, front row and center—Joanna Lind. Speaking of scandal…
I took in the tight black yoga pants she had paired with a pair of teetering heels with an inward groan. It hugged her toned body perfectly, and when she twisted around to shimmy alongside her coworker, Sabrina, I glimpsed the deep cut of her shirt that teased her perfect, round breasts. Her blond hair was free and straight tonight as it shifted around her shoulders while she danced along to the band and the crowd around her.
“Damn,” I muttered, smoothing a hand through my hair. All those fantasies about Joanna came flooding back to me right then and there. It wasn’t Drusilla I was interested in taking back to my penthouse tonight. It was Joanna.
Indecision weighed on me while I watched Joanna dance with a carefree smile spread across her pretty lips. There was no harm in going up to speak to her. We could talk outside of work, and I had meant what I’d said to her two days ago about talking to me about anything she needed to get off her chest. I heard rumors around the office about that piece-of-shit boyfriend of hers that sometimes called the landline obsessively to check if she was at work. I wanted to know what was going on in her life that made her never want to leave my office some days. No one liked to work as much as Joanna did. My entire life was built upon work, but even so, I liked to clock out at the end of the day to go home and relax. Not her, though.
I glanced over at Drusilla, who was tied up in a conversation with her coworkers. Saying hello to my own employee wouldn’t hurt. I downed the rest of my whiskey before heading through the crowd in the direction of Joanna and Sabrina. Neither one of them noticed me until Joanna glanced over to find me standing alongside them with a grin tugging at my lips. Surprise filled Joanna’s eyes as she twisted all the way around to look at me full on. Which was a mistake, given that her white shirt dipped down the valley of her breasts. A part me hoped that the liquid and firm flesh would slip out for just a small peek.
“Fancy seeing you both here!” I shouted over the music.
“No kidding,” Joanna shouted back, tucking a strand of hair bashfully behind her ear. “You didn’t strike me as the type of guy to enjoy bands and clubs.”
“I have an investment here in this place. I get free tickets all the time.” I glanced over at Sabrina, who was watching the both of us curiously. “Care for some drinks on me?”
Joanna glanced over at Sabrina, who shrugged her shoulders. They followed me back into the VIP lounge, and I gladly slid into the booth next to Joanna with Sabrina sitting across from us. I motioned for the bartender to return and take their order. An awkward silence fell upon the table as Joanna’s eyes skirted over me nervously.
“So,” I said, once they had ordered their drinks, “I didn’t expect to see my employees out and about tonight here in Salt Lake.”
“I practically had to beg Jo to come out,” Sabrina said, rolling her eyes. “You know, she never goes out. She needs to have some fun in her life.”
“It’s not really my thing to come to places like this,” Joanna replied defensively. “I’ve always been a stay-at-home type of girl. You know that.”
I nudged Joanna in the arm. Her bare skin felt warm and hot against the fabric of my shirt. I tried to ignore the fact that my cock twitched in response to sitting so close to her.
“You were enjoying yourself out there,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so carefree since you started working for me.”
“That’s because it’s been a long time since her boyfriend has let her get out of the house,” Sabrina said. She ignored the dirty look that Joanna sent in her direction, but I couldn’t agree more with her about it. “I’m just being honest, Jo. He’s a fucking prick. He doesn’t let you have any fun. He threw a damn fit over you coming tonight even though he’s working. What kind of boyfriend does that?”
“We don’t need to talk about that right now,” Joanna said quietly. “Let’s just drop it.”
The center of Joanna’s cheeks burned as she looked down at the tabletop. I reached over to place a hand on her forearm, squeezing there to gain her attention.
“I meant what I said earlier,” I said. “If there is anything going on and you need help, don’t hesitate to talk to me.”
A small smile tugged at Joanna’s lips. “You’re my boss. I don’t think that open-door policy applies outside the workplace.”
“I’d make an exception for you,” I said, nudging her again. “Anytime. Any day.”
“Thank you, but—”
“Excuse me.” I looked up at the sound of Drusilla’s voice. She stood in front of the table with her hand on her hip, gazing down at Joanna with narrowed eyes. “You’re in my seat, darling.”
“Oh,” Joanna said, and she immediately slid away from me to make room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize someone else was sitting here.”
“His date is,” Drusilla said as she took her place next to me. She slithered up close to me and placed a hand on my upper thigh. “I’m Drusilla James. I’m sorry that I don’t know your names.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the theatrics. Sure, I’d leave with Joanna in a heartbeat if she asked me to go home with her, but she had a boyfriend to go home to at the end of the night. Even if he sounded like a prick from what Sabrina said and my other interactions with him.
“I’m Joanna Lind. This is Sabrina Sanchez. We work for Bastian. I mean, Mr. Burke.”
“That’s so nice of you to invite your employees over for drinks,” Drusilla said in a sugary voice that instantly grated on my nerves. “I’m sorry to say that the VIP lounge is only for VIP tickets.”
“Of course. We want to see the band close anyway. It was good to see you, Mr. Burke.”
Joanna nodded as she nudged Sabrina out of her seat. She didn’t spare me another glance as the both of them quickly left the table in the direction of the band. I kept my eyes glued to the curve of Joanna’s lower back as she followed Sabrina through the crowd.
“It’s rude to check out other women when you’re on a date with someone.”
I looked back over at Drusilla as her lips thinned at me. “I didn’t say this was a date, to be fair. Just a casual thing like we’ve had before.”
“You shouldn’t stoop to lusting after women like her,” she continued on, reaching up to rub at my dick through my pants. “How about we get out of here? I’ll make sure you’ll want to come back for more again.”
I doubted that, but given my interaction with Joanna in her revealing outfit, I needed something to give me a good release. Drusilla’s skills in bed were good enough for that. I glanced through the crowd of dancing people around the stage one last time before I took Drusilla’s hand to exit the club. Tonight, even if it was fucked up of me, I’d be imagining Joanna squirming beneath me in pleasure. I just hoped that it would make interacting with Joanna in the future easier, because I had a gut feeling she needed help.