I wake up and feel like I’ve just had a really vivid dream. I know I am trying not to fall for Alex’s smoldering eyes. But the dream… wow, it felt so life-like.

I can see it now. He slowly undressed me, and I had brought both him and me to an orgasm with my own hands. It was just so real, it was as if I actually did it.

I hope I wasn’t sleep walking?

I swing my legs off the bed and pull the curtains open. I see the sun just beginning to rise across the horizon.

Another glorious day in paradise…

I open the large glass door and walk onto the patio. The sea breeze washes over me. I hear the noise of the construction from the other side of the building. I tie my hair and walk to make myself a coffee.

I grab hold of the hot mug and open the door of my room. I stand in the open hallway and look down to the stables. I see Alex talking at the bottom of the grassy area.

I decide to walk down to where he is standing. The other guy looks over Alex’s shoulder. I sip on my coffee as he turns.

“Wow, you are awake early?” he says, eyeing my body, obviously.

“I couldn’t sleep, there is construction going on somewhere,” I reply sarcastically.

“Sorry Ma’am,” the older guy says.

“I am only joking, I didn’t hear a thing until this morning.”

“Sorry for being ignorant. Brooke, this is Mike, he is Beau’s chief go-to guy for construction,” he says.

“Hi Mike,” I say.

Mike smiles, and I realize I am in a large t-shirt and not wearing a bra. I casually hold my arm across my breasts. Shit.

“It’s not finished inside, but do you want a sneak preview?” Mike asks.

“Sure, it will be good to see how the place is going to be changed.”

We walk toward the smaller outbuildings. Mike explains this will be the entrance and that the barns will be the final destination for the club.

“What’s that walkway there that meets the hotel rooms?” I ask.

“It’s exactly what you just said, the joining part for the rooms, you know the fun rooms. With the hookers,” Mike whispers.

I nod. “Oh, I see.”

“It shouldn’t affect the regular residents, that’s why we chose a separate block,” Mike says.

Mike pushes open the large glass door. I walk inside and see that the interior is mostly black velvet and mirrors.

“Isn’t is a little dark?”

Mike flicks a switch. The reception area fills with reds, blues and greens. The lights slowly move around the walls and bounce off the mirrors.

“I feel like I am in a kaleidoscope,” I say.

“That’s what I was aiming for,” he says, grinning.

We walk down to another area, where seats and alcoves adorn all the walls, and they look like shells, oversized shells.

“Why are these shaped like shells?”

“Well, we have something similar in one of the other clubs, you can have a private dance, a very private dance,” Mike says.

I sit in one of the shells. All around it gives the impression I am covered but not totally enclosed. Mike stands in a small, wooded area and wiggles his hips in time to the imaginary music.

“See, no one can see in from any direction,” he says.

“Very smart.” I reply. I laugh at his mock dancing, it looks hilarious.

Mike leads me past the bar. Alex is standing at the entrance. I join him at the top of the small staircase.

“Geez, this seems huge.”

“You wouldn’t believe it from outside,” Alex says.

“Not at all, it still looks like three barns.”

Alex points out where things will be when everything is finished. Changing rooms for the girls and a hallway to the side of the stage. Obviously, the stage is where all the naughty dancing will happen, and the tabled area next to the dance floor will be for clientele.

“I have to say, it looks fantastic, and I’m sure it’s not only going to be the hotel guests who will be coming.”

Alex shrugs his shoulders. “Hopefully not, Beau and Shona have plowed a fortune into this place.”

“Yeah, you told me. You gambled some of it. Remember?” I use a sarcastic tone. I feel mean for doing it, but I am cheeky, sometimes.

Alex glares at me. “Thanks for reminding me so early in the day.”

“Don’t be such a wuss. You are a grown man, face up to your failures and weaknesses. You can’t change anything if you don’t acknowledge it first.”

“What happens if you are one of my weaknesses?” Alex asks, using his seductive eyes.

I laugh as I sip on my cold coffee. “It’s better for me to be one of your weaknesses, instead of one of your failures.”

“How very true,” he replies, now perfectly smiling.

We walk back through the club to the entrance. Mike waves as he talks to a guy leaning on the bar. We reach the glass door, and Alex pushes it open and holds it as I walk back into the early morning sun.

I look up and toward the hotel. I see the guy who was in the club with Alex, and another couple walking with him.

“Who is that?” I ask.

Alex turns. “Crap.”

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

“It’s my cousin Shona and her cashed-up boyfriend,” Alex replies.

“What are they doing here?”

I look at Alex as his shoulders slump, and he sighs. “It must have been Conor doing his job. I think he has already told her about the money.”

“You have replaced most of it though, right?” I say.

“Yeah, but that’s not really the point,” Alex adds.

The couple walk up to us. The girl and her boyfriend. They both look like they’ve just walked out of a magazine. The hot kind.

“Alex, I think we need to talk,” the girl says.

“Hi Shona,” Alex says quietly.

The girl looks at me. “Who is this?”

“Shona, meet Brooke,” Alex says, sheepishly.

“Is she the reason you have gone all crazy on us?” Shona asks. She has a definite tone.

Alex changes his expression. He points at Shona. “That is not fair, and you know it,” he says plainly.

“I’m sorry, it’s just we heard you lost all the money,” Shona says.

I raise my hand. They all look at me. “I think here, in the middle of a field is not the best place to discuss this.”

The large guy nods. “She is right, we should calm down a little first,” he says.

Shona relaxes a little. She looks at me. “Alex didn’t introduce you, this is Beau, he is the brains behind all of this. I’m Shona, his girl,” she says.

“I’m Brooke. I am impressed,” I reply.

Shona giggles. “Impressed with what? The club or my man?”

I lean close to her ear and whisper. “Both.”

Shona turns to Alex. “Give us an hour to get settled, and we will meet you in the dining room. Both of you that is,” Shona says.

I look at Shona. “You want me there?” I ask.

“I know Alex too well. I’m sure there are some holes in his story that you can fill in for him,” she says plainly.

“But, but… I hardly know him.”

“Brooke, Alex is the type of guy where it never takes long to get wrapped up in his world.”

“Okay. Dining room. One hour,” I reply.

“Good girl,” Shona says.

I saunter back up the field. I watch them walking away from us toward the hotel reception. Alex sidles up at the side of me and puts his arm around my shoulder.

“Sorry you had to meet her like that,” he says.

“I have been put in a position, it seems.”

“Shona is fine, she’s not as tough as she appears,” Alex explains.

“I’m glad, she looks like she could be a real bitch,” I say.

Alex smiles. “She is tough, but a bitch she most definitely isn’t.”

I shrug his arm from my shoulder and stare at him. “Just answer this. How the fuck have I got mixed up in your world?” I ask.

Alex smiles and looks at me with his piercing bedroom eyes. “Perhaps you have finally fallen for me?” he says, obviously grinning.

“Yeah right. In your dreams.” I walk to my room.

“Bye Dear,” he says, sarcastically.

I sit on the edge of the bed. I am puzzled with myself. I had all my defenses up against any advances from Alex, but he seems to have permeated them. God. Either way, I am involved.

Even the damned dream I had makes it worse. I imagined him undressing me, was that just a thought, or is it something I want to happen?

“Jesus Christ Brooke. Get a hold of yourself.”

“How can you explain yourself when there is nothing to explain?”