Chapter Twenty-One
Xander (Friday)
Just as I squirted the last spray of aftershave, my cell phone blasted out loudly. For one horrifying moment, I feared it was going to be Lila canceling at the last minute, so I found myself quite relieved to see Michael’s name on the screen.
“Everything all right?” It was very possible that I sounded distracted; after all, I was examining my reflection in the mirror as I spoke. My mind was only on the night that lay ahead... But then again, Lila had been pretty much all that I could think about from the very first moment that I’d met her.
“Yeah, I’ve just been looking over the numbers.” His harassed tone was enough to draw me back in. I didn’t like to get bad news, and this certainly didn’t feel like it was about to be a positive conversation. “I met with the accountant, as you know. And, well, things aren’t looking good.”
“What do you mean?” I chuckled awkwardly. This had to be wrong. We were doing all right. As far as I was aware, we’d been on an even keel for a very long time.
“I mean that if we don’t start getting some hit albums out soon, we’re going to have to make some cutbacks. And, I don’t just mean here and there – I’m talking big, serious cutbacks.”
Relief flooded through me. It was fine! He was simply freaking out and overreacting to something that wouldn’t be an issue for very long. But I didn’t want to keep the record company afloat with my billions from my first company. I had already invested enough and the company needed to start making money on it’s own. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Lila and Kyle will be ready soon...”
“We can’t just rely on them,” he cut me off sharply. “I know that you think they’re gonna do well, and I agree with you there, but I’m warning you now that it won’t be enough.”
I couldn’t deal with his hissy fit right now. I had too much else to deal with. I felt utterly convinced that I could have this all sorted out in an instant, but I wasn’t prepared to sacrifice my time with Lila for that. It could wait for now; it didn’t need my attention on a Friday evening. Much as I always put the business first, this was one time where I needed to take a rain check.
“Okay,” I told Michael gravely. “I see what you’re saying, and I will definitely take a look at things when I’m in the studio.”
“You don’t want me to bring anything over to you now?” He sounded incredulous, which was maybe understandable. Under normal circumstances, I probably would.
“I have plans.”
Please don’t ask me what... For the love of God, don’t ask me what...
“What are you doing?”
He’d warned me off Lila. I didn’t want to confess that I was seeing her, especially not when the conversation was already so tense, but I didn’t want to outright lie, either. “Oh, just out. So, I’ll see you soon, all right?” I hung up quickly, like the coward that I was. I just didn’t want to be thinking about work and possible cutbacks, not when I was about to go out with a woman who worked for me.
This was exactly why mixing business with pleasure was a terrible idea. But, it was far too late to be worrying about that now.
But the worry didn’t leave my mind on the drive over. I couldn’t think about anything else.
If the album created by Lila and Kyle wasn’t the instant success I assumed it would be, was it going to be a case of “last in, first out?” It was my company, I had the last say, but I always took the advice of others. I had business sense and my own idea about how I wanted to run things, but I wasn’t too proud to admit that I didn’t always get it right.
I just hoped this wasn’t another of those times.
As I thundered up the stairs and knocked on Lila’s apartment door, I did my best to keep my expression neutral. I didn’t want her to notice that things weren’t right. I didn’t need her to start asking questions. I had the horrible feeling I wouldn’t be able to keep it all inside.
“Wow.” Everything vanished the second she opened the door. “You look beautiful.”
She blushed and glanced down at the floor, clearly shy under my scrutinizing gaze, but I couldn’t stop myself from looking at her all the same. She was dressed far more casually than the last time I took her out, which was probably because I’d spent a ridiculous fortune on her last time, but she still looked just as good. Maybe even better because a lot of her personality was shining through.
“Thank you,” she replied quietly. “You don’t look so bad, yourself.”
I leaned across to see her brother hovering behind her, awkwardly, as if he didn’t quite know where to place himself. “Hi, Kyle, how’s it going?”
“Yeah, yeah, all right.” He was so shy, that was acutely obvious to me now. I had spotted it at first, which was why I wasn’t surprised to find him so quiet, but now that I knew him a little better, it was written right across his face. “How are you?”
“I’m good thanks, looking forward to working with you again.” A cold, acute point of guilt stabbed into my heart as I said those words. Even though I wasn’t being dishonest, I had no idea what was going to happen next, so it felt that way all the same. “Anyway, Lila, shall we go?”
She linked her arm in mine and grinned up at me with her eyes shining gleefully. I did my best to match her expression but knew it didn’t quite meet my eyes.
I was going to have to shake that off if I wanted us to have an amazing night.
By the time I pulled the car up outside the restaurant I’d chosen for the night, I felt a little better. Lila was so intoxicating and managed to draw every inch of my attention on her. If she was even slightly less fascinating, I might have had to call the whole thing off!
“Right, here we are...” My voice trailed off as I glanced at the Mexican place in front of me. It was another place I went to regularly, so I didn’t ever have to book a table, but tonight it appeared to be jammed. “Oh, no.” My heart sank when my eyes fell upon a sign that said the place was closed for a private party.
The whole night was ruined. I had no idea what we could do now.
“Oh, never mind.” Lila grinned brightly. “Maybe we could go somewhere else.” I felt like she could tell from my expression that I wasn’t totally comfortable with that idea. For some reason, I had my heart set on there, and I wasn’t sure that anything else could be the same. “Or maybe we could go back to your place. I could cook you something there.”
Ooh. I had to admit that idea sparked my interest. Having Lila totally to myself, without anyone else in the room was appealing. “Yeah, okay, I could go for that plan!” I nodded, a warm happiness filling me up again. “Let’s do it.”
As I flicked the engine back on, I felt good. Maybe we could turn this back around, after all!
***
“Wow, this place is incredible,” Lila gasped, leaning forward to get a better view of my home.
Most people assumed that I lived in a huge mansion, which wasn’t the case. I didn’t care about size. I just wanted a bit of privacy, which wasn’t easy to find in New York. However, I’d achieved it by purchasing a property just outside of the city centre. “You have such a lovely home!”
“Thank you.” I slid out of the seat and went around to her side to open her door. “Come on, let me show you inside.”
“Well, I hope your kitchen is well stocked if I’m going to cook for you.” She weaved her fingers through mine as she spoke, and I felt that buzzing electricity racing through me again. “It’s going to be fun to cook without knocking everything over with my elbows as I go.”
“Your apartment’s nice,” I told her, a little lamely, since that wasn’t strictly the case. “You’ve done well with it.”
She chuckled happily, not even bothering to dignify that comment with a response, and allowed me to show her inside. As we moved seamlessly through the rooms, she tickled me with her adorable comments. I wasn’t so set in my ways that I didn’t appreciate what I had, so I could see where she was coming from with her remarks.
As we reached my bedroom, I felt a weird sexual fission floating between us. There was an unspoken conversation between us, like we were both wondering where this night was headed. To be honest, if Lila hadn’t spoken out at that moment, I wasn’t sure what would’ve happened.
“Do you mind if I borrow something to wear?” She glanced quickly at me, redness heating up her cheeks. “It’s just that this outfit isn’t as comfortable as I thought it would be. Now that we aren’t out, it doesn’t make sense to torture myself anymore. You know?”
“Oh, of course.” I raced to my wardrobe and handed her the first thing I came across: a t-shirt and some sweatpants. They would be huge on her, but I felt like she’d probably look cute. “Here you go. I’ll leave you to it. Meet me in the kitchen. I’ll see what I can find for us to eat.”
My heart danced in my chest as I made my way back down the stairs. This had turned out so much better than I expected. I couldn’t worry about all that was going on with the studio when I had Lila here. She was all the distraction I could possibly need.
I whistled to myself as I grabbed a pizza from the freezer to throw into the oven. It wasn’t gourmet and there was no way that it’d taste anywhere near as good as what we could’ve had at the restaurant, but that hardly mattered anymore. As long as we had something to eat, that’d be enough.
“You’ve started cooking already?”
I spun on my heels, ready to defend my decision, but my words got totally stuck in my throat. She looked utterly breathtaking in only my t-shirt. She must have decided somewhere along the line that the pants weren’t for her, so her long, luscious legs were teasing me. All I wanted to do was grab them and run my mouth all over them.
To make things even more torturous for me, she wasn’t wearing a bra. I didn’t know if she’d had one on before or not, but now I could see her nipples poking out underneath the material, and there was a definite stirring in my underwear.
She looked absolutely edible, and I needed a taste.
Food was forgotten, the hot oven flew from my mind... All I wanted was her, so I stepped forward purposely to grab her in my arms and press my lips passionately against hers. I needed Lila. I absolutely had to have her right now, and nothing was going to stop me. I pressed her back against the wall, knotting my hands in her hair. Lila didn’t even try to resist. This was exactly what she wanted, too, which made everything so much hotter.
“You look...” I panted into her mouth, but I couldn’t quite express myself. I didn’t even know where to start looking for the words. She looked like a fantasy I didn’t even know I had coming true.