Chapter Four
Ashley
So the reason for his sudden change in personality had been revealed. Now that was out in the open and the air cleared, I hoped we could begin a great working relationship. I was glad that Aidan had already showed him around the club when it was closed so he knew what all the rooms were. It was a totally different experience to see the club full though and I saw his Mr Cool persona drop a little as he walked into the main bar area where a guy was sitting at a table, his pants around his ankles while a woman blew him.
“I knew what the club was about and yet when you see it directly in front of you, wow, I guess that takes some getting used to?” He looked at me, his head tilted.
“A week in and it’ll seem second nature.” I told him as we headed to the bar. I gestured to Damien, one of the head bartenders. “Can I have a coke please, and a beer for Lucas.” I introduced him to the rest of the bartenders. We took our drinks and headed to a table away from the guy moaning in ecstasy as he prepared to shoot his load down the woman’s throat.
“So, how long have you worked here?” He asked me.
“Sixteen years. I started off working for the original owner, Henry.”
His eyes widened. “You must have been very young?”
“Yeah, eighteen.”
“Did this not come as a shock to you then? All the sex and debauchery?”
I smiled. “At first. I’d taken on a job as Henry’s assistant and I didn’t know what all his businesses were. He was mainly a property developer; so yes, I admit I was a little shocked at first, but like I said, within a short space of time you just become used to it, seeing it day in, day out.”
He leaned close to me. “So, does the arousal wear off? Because seeing that guy over there being deep throated has me in the throws of what I think may be the start of blue balls.”
I laughed at his honesty. He wasn’t being lewd, just open, and I would be the same.
“At first you’ll be constantly turned on and then after a while you’ll become immune to most of it. All I find is that particular scenes might give me a frisson now.”
“So I guess something that you might be into would still turn you on, is that what you’re saying?”
“I guess. Just occasionally I’ll walk past something and well, parts of me show they’re still alive after all.”
He took a drink of his beer.
“So, a week in and I won’t have to walk around with my briefcase in front of my trousers?”
“Yes, you should be good by then.”
There was a suspended silence for a moment then he broke it.
“So, my cousin bedded a bartender?”
“He did. Though she didn’t work here very long. You know her other job, right?” I hoped he did, because it wasn’t my place to tell him.
“That she was an adult movie actress? Yeah, he told me. I have to admit I took some convincing that he’d found the woman of his dreams.”
“She certainly is and just as understanding seeing as her boyfriend owns a sex club and an adult movie company.”
“He always was weird.”
“You two were close I take it?” I realized I was getting personal. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that. It wasn’t a business question.”
“It’s fine. Yeah we were. I kinda became a second brother to him after Rick died. But you know, time moves on and our lives went in different directions, until recently, when he decided to bring me into his sorded enterprises.” He smirked.
“Well it will be nice to have a team to work with. My job was getting ridiculously busy and given Abandon’s future plans, I was due a breakdown anytime soon.”
“See, now you won’t have to have one. You can just call me on my cell and we’ll go grab a coffee. Caffeine keeps me sane.”
I couldn’t help but study Lucas while I was directly in front of him. As long as the coffee we were grabbing wasn’t back at his hotel room we were fine. Stop your mind from going there right now. I lectured myself. Seriously, I saw good looking men all the time, usually with their clothes off, so why was I getting flustered by this one? Maybe because he has his clothes on and you’re wondering what’s underneath , my traitorous mind said.
“Right, shall I show you around the rest of the club? Then we could go up to check out the apartment space and you could let me know what sort of thing you’re looking for? The sooner we can get plans submitted, the quicker we get our apartments.
“Are you living in yours full-time then? Not just when working?”
“I can’t see the point. I’m here most of the time anyhow. May as well live here, I practically do already.”
He got off his seat.
“Come on then. Let’s see Abandon in action.”
The first place I took him to was through to the rooms with the large beds and big glass windows where you could watch the action.
Lucas groaned. “This place is going to kill me.”
I laughed. I was so used to it all these years later, that it was amusing to see someone so affected by it. All the staff went through it, but it made Lucas seem more human.
“Seriously, is there a back office with photos of really ugly hairy bodies, and cold showers?”
As I looked at Lucas I was taken aback by the sheer hunger in his eyes. He looked at me through hooded lids. His voice was raspy. He was deeply turned on by his surroundings and I felt a stirring somewhere I shouldn’t when I recognized his lust fueled gaze. I quickly turned away.
“Look, let’s have a break from this and go up to the upper floor.”
It was strange going up to a floor usually busy with office workers. We exited the elevator into the lobby and were greeted by silence. It was eerie and I was pleased I hadn’t come up here on my own. I could detect the close proximity of Lucas’ body to my own, his heavy breath near my ear. I needed space.
I pressed a switch and light flooded down the offices as the main lights flickered on.
Lucas shielded his eyes from the bright glare after the dim golden ambience of the floor below.
“This way.” I informed him.
He followed me down to the offices that would be converted to our apartments. We had to pass Aidan’s office on this floor and I headed inside to my desk and picked up a notepad and pen.
After I’d explained how the plans looked and what our apartments would contain, I turned to Lucas.
“So, any specific requests? Decor etc?”
“A hotel room look. Gray, black, white, chrome. All mod cons. I like to cook so a kitchen is important. A speaker system where music can be heard in every room. A comfortable sofa and a massive flat screen. I like to put my feet up when I relax. A large shower cubicle because I find in some hotel rooms or apartments I’ve rented that I’m squashed up against the glass when I’m trying to wash.”
An image of Lucas’ naked chest crushed up against the cubicle, water showering down on him came unbidden into my mind. I became aware of my breasts engorging, pushing against my bra, my nipples hardening. I must stop this, I need to work with this man. I don’t do relationships and Lucas has already taken me into his confidence about what happened with his last female boss.
I took a few steps away from him.
That sounds good. I think I’ll talk with the designer about both being like that. A hotel room look is a great idea. I’ll make sure we get the workspace we’d get in a hotel room too. Once the designer has come up with some visuals, I’ll get Jess to set up a meeting with us and Aidan so we can get everything approved.”
“Good job I like you, given we’re going to be working together and neighbors.” He smiled.
“Well, a lot of the time you’ll be working when I’m in my apartment and vice-versa so it’s not like we’re going to be in each other’s space too much. I’ll have my VIPs to entertain. Speaking of which, I need to get to my office and make some calls. I want to meet with some and get some idea of what my VIP club is going to look like. Are you going back to the club?” I asked him.
“I’ll go and check out the rest of the rooms and then I’m going to call it a night and go back to the hotel. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow sometime.”
“I’ll be in from 2pm. I’m working until 4.”
“Yes, we need to get Jess to look at our schedules because I need to learn about Abandon as soon as possible so that you can be a little freer, get to relax now and then.”
“That’ll never happen.” I told him. “This club is my life.”