Lexi
I look up at the penthouse of the address Ms. Jackie gave me, reminding myself I'll need to be careful around this man’s personal belongings. Someone with this much money must have a decorator. I’ll bet the artwork is breathtaking, and everything will be high-end.
I smile at the senior man at the desk as I walk into the building.
“Hello, my name is Lexi. I’m here to see Mr. Knight,” I say.
“How does he always get the beautiful ones?” The man gives me a wink, making me grin. “My name is Joe,” he says, putting his hand out for me to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Joe,” I say, taking his hand in mine.
“Mr. Knight is on the top floor.” I give Joe a surprised look. “He’s remodeling and has ripped everything out from the penthouse suite,” Joe tells me.
Making my way to his apartment, I think about one of the first rules Ms. Jackie gave us. We are never to Google a client. She doesn't want us to judge them before we even get a chance to know them by the stories we might find. She always gives us the information we need, and from there we make our own conclusions about them. I made the mistake of googling one of my clients when I first started and suffice it to say, it wasn’t glamorous. I was on edge with him the whole evening. Afterward, he called Ms. Jackie to let her know how stand-offish I acted, and she wasn’t pleased, to say the least. She told me that if I ever did it again, she would let me go without a second thought. Since then, I’ve never googled a client.
I knock on his door and smile as a woman opens it and looks at me. “You must be Lexi,” she says while opening the door wider. I take a step in and look around. “I’m Selena, Mr. Knight’s PA. We asked you to come early so we can let you know who will be at this event and what we need from you.”
I follow her through the apartment and look around to get a feel for the man. I'm confused, though. There are no pictures, the walls are unfinished, and the furniture is all white. There's nothing to help me come to a conclusion about him. Then I remember what Joe said downstairs. Mr. Knight is only in this apartment until his penthouse is complete.
She hands me a file. “This is everything you need to know for the event. It would be ideal for you to know what it's for and who will be there.”
“Ms. Jackie gave me the file. The ball is to raise money for charities throughout the city. Mr. Knight is very close to the cancer charity because his mother is a recent breast cancer survivor. He's also a member of the children's charity and is working hard to make a center for troubled children. Somewhere they can go and enjoy the day and not be on the street.” I take a breath. I read the file more than ten times before I got here and almost have it memorized. "One of the men coming to the event wants to put a stop to the center. He believes it'll just bring all the troubled children together and create more strife in the city.” I stop when I hear footsteps behind me.
“Where the fuck is my coffee?” I hear a man yell as he walks into the kitchen. I see another woman rushing around to fill a mug with coffee.
“Well, Lexi, it looks like you know what you're doing." Selena turns to Mr. Knight. “We have a few hours before you have to leave, sir.” She looks down at her iPad. “You have a call to take in ten minutes, then you can get ready,” she tells him.
He still has his back towards us, so I stand there and wait for them to tell me where my dress is so I can start getting ready.
“Cancel my calls.” His voice is clipped and tinged with a dark edge. The shiver that runs through my body just hearing it makes me look up at him. “Order food before we leave.” He turns around and looks at me. Fuck. His baby blue eyes are beautiful. The unshaven look makes him looks so fucking sexy. The combination is making my legs feel a little weak. “Have you eaten?” he asks.
“Yes, thank you.” Keep your shit together Lexi, he’s just a client. One event and you'll never have to see him again. Never, ever fall for a client.
“Well, you can eat again. You might not like the food there tonight. I know I won’t,” he says, walking past me. What a dick! How dare he tell me what to do? Any attraction I had for him is long gone. Asshole.
I turn to Selena, who shakes her head. “You get used to him. He's not a controlling person, but he does like things his way.” She walks away but waves her hand for me to follow.
Entering the room, I see Mr. Knight looking through his suits. “So, these are your dresses. He wanted to see you first before choosing which one to put you in, so—”
“She'll wear the red one," he says, without turning around.
I’m starting to hate this man. Is the word please not in his vocabulary? I look at the red dress. “We got two sizes, so go try them on.” Selena takes them off the rails then drapes them over my arms.
I must admit this dress is beautiful. It's full length, with a side split right up to my mid-thigh and shows my cleavage perfectly. Giving myself a final look in the mirror, I’m amazed at how sexy I look in this dress. I’m not one of those women who thinks all clothes look amazing on her, but I'm lucky to have a figure that can pull off most styles.
As I walk out, Selena beams at me. “Mr. Knight,” she says, to get his attention.
He turns around, and his eyes move slowly up my body, his eyes lingering on my legs for a moment before they continue their journey. I see him bite his lower lip when he gets to my breasts before his eyes finally meet mine. He holds the stare for a moment, and I swear he's fighting with himself about what to say. The way his eyes travel over my body has me all distracted. This is not okay. I cannot be affected by this asshole.
He gives me a nod of approval. “Mr. Knight, would you like my hair up or down?” I ask. He watches me lift my hair up, and I hear the air hiss out of his lips. Then, I put my hair back down and wait until he answers me. But he doesn't. He just stares at me. I would love to know what he's thinking.
“Up,” he says, then leaves the room.
I let out a big sigh then walk back into the bedroom to take the dress off so I can eat before we leave.
Hearing my phone beep in my bag, I walk over to see who's messaging me.
Selena glances my way. “You look beautiful,” she says, before following Mr. Knight out of the room.
Ms. Jackie– Did you have any problems getting to the apartment? Are you okay?
I love that Ms. Jackie sends us a message to see that we are safe. She will message us every ten minutes until we respond that we are okay and comfortable with our clients.
Lexi– I’m here. Everything’s good. He's an asshole :)
Walking out and back into the kitchen area, I watch the woman set plates on the table as the food arrives. My phone beeps again.
Ms. Jackie– LOL message me when you get back home. X
Sitting down at the table, two seats away from Mr. Knight, I pick up the fork and start eating. I've learned that if you keep the client happy, then Ms. Jackie is happy, which means you're more likely to get a decent bonus. I look out the window at the beautiful San Francisco skyline. You can see the bridge from here, and the view is stunning.
“Wine?” Mr. Knight says, bringing my attention back into the room.
“Please.” I hold my glass closer to him. “Would you like me to call you Mr. Knight or Ethan?” I ask, taking a sip of my wine.
“Ethan. There will be a woman at the event that I need you to talk to about the children’s center,” he says as he slides a file over to me. It has everything he would like me to mention about the center.
I read through the file as I eat my food. I can feel Ethan watching me as I read through everything. No wonder he wanted me over so early. There's a lot of information to go through, but he’s paying a lot of money for tonight, so I better get it right.
***
Ethan didn't speak to me the rest of the time we were in the apartment. When I came downstairs after getting dressed, he stood and stared at me before ushering me outside to the waiting car. He was quiet during the car ride as well. Even though he's an ass, I can't fight the way he affects me. He looks hot in a tux. I'm talking mouth-watering hot.
The car pulls up to an elegant building. Ethan exits the car and puts out his hand for me. He stands by the door and takes my hand, helping me get out of the car. Standing up straight, Ethan puts his hand on my lower back, and I shiver again. What the hell? My body is betraying me. He's an asshole; I need to remember that.
I follow him in with a smile on my face. Let the show begin. Many of the other men came up to him and expressed their appreciation of his date. They told him he had the most beautiful woman in the room. He smiled coyly and thanked them. He whispered the words ‘a little laugh’ to me every now and then and I knew what he meant. He wanted everyone in the room to think we really were a couple. I would give him my most affectionate look and laugh seductively, and he would smile and give my neck a little kiss. I thought it was weird at first, but the more he did it, the more I liked it.
Walking around the room, I see the woman he told me about.
“Mr. Knight, I’m happy to see you here.” She leans in to kiss him on the cheek.
“Emily, this is my date, Lexi.” Ethan's eyes flicker my way, and I give him a knowing smile in return.
“Nice to meet you.” I put my hand out for her to shake.
“Well, you're much prettier than the ones he usually brings,” she replies. I’m sure that was a little dig at Ethan, but I flash my pearly whites, letting her know it doesn’t bother me.
“Well, I did have to kiss a few frogs to finally find my prince. I hope Ethan feels the same.” I turn to face him and lean my head on his shoulder.
“Unquestionably,” he says, then kisses the top of my head.
Emily's eyes scan the both of us momentarily then she gets straight to the point. “Are you donating today?” she asks Ethan.
“I am. To the children’s center—”
“Oh Ethan, I’m so thrilled you’re donating there. I saw Mr. White the other day, and he was worried you were having second thoughts about it. I told him you love the idea of the center and are one hundred percent behind it,” she says.
Ethan's hand finally softens on my lower back, tension draining from his shoulders. “Thank you, Emily. I'll give Mr. White a call and let him know I’m still supporting the center.”
“Emily, have you seen the plans for the center? It's stunning. There are two floors for the children to get together and hang out. I spoke to Ethan about having a teacher come after school to help children with homework.” I smile at her. That wasn't in the file, but Emily strikes me as someone who would put education above fun anytime.
“That's a brilliant idea.” Emily looks over at Ethan, and her face is radiant with enthusiasm. My mission is complete.
“Yes, I think so. I loved Lexi’s idea and have been speaking to some teachers,” Ethan tells her.
“That's great. Please bring me your proposal when you have it written up, and if I like what I see, you might just get my vote.” Her eyes are bright, and you can see the thoughts running across her face at the possibilities.
“I'll get something to you by the weekend. If you could excuse me, I think my date would like a dance.” Ethan leads me to the dance floor, and I drape my arms over his shoulders. He pulls me in closer so that there's only a whisper of space between us. This is not helping my lady parts at all. “How did you know the teacher approach would work?” He looks at me for the first time with a grin. His eyes light up with intrigue, and there's something about it that makes you think he doesn’t smile very often. “I've called her office so many times to talk about this center and haven’t ever gotten anywhere with it.”
“This is not my first event. She looks the type to put education over everything else.” I covertly observe the other people dancing around us.
He doesn’t reply. His smile disappears, and the tense Ethan returns. We dance for another song before the music stops to let everyone know the food will be served soon.
I follow him to the table, saying hello to everyone else. I sit next to one of the men who has been trying to buy Ethan out. Ethan has a small business that the man has a small share in. There was nothing more about him in the file, but I can tell that Ethan's unhappy with him being here, much less sitting at the same table.
I lean closer to Ethan. “Do we like him or not?” I ask. This is the first time I have no idea what the fuck to do at an event.
“No, he wasn’t meant to be here,” he replies in a cold tone. I start giggling as I see some of the people around the table looking at us.
“Ethan now is not the time,” I say pulling away from him.
“If my date looked like you, I think I would be the same as Ethan,” one of the older men tells me, and I grin at him.
“I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you,” the man next to me says before introducing himself. “Mr. Aaron Clark,” he says, offering his hand for me to shake.
I take Ethan’s hand instead. “He got me first,” I smile, then turn my face toward Ethan, and he leans in and kisses me on the cheek.
As food is being served, Mr. Clark makes small talk with me about his business and what he does in his free time. When he inquires as to how Ethan and I met, I tell him that Ethan happened to come into a café I was singing in. He complimented me on my song choice and voice. Apparently, I was singing his favorite song. From there, we had coffee and talked. The rest, as they say, is history. Even though Ethan was talking to other people at the table, I knew he was listening to me, making sure I didn’t say anything wrong. I know how important tonight is for him, and I need it to go well for me too.
***
The ball finally came to an end and Ethan never once left my side. After a while, he was happy to show me off to his business friends, and I didn’t mind at all that was the reason I was there.
As we sit in the car, I take out my phone to send Ms. Jackie a message.
Lexi– Just left the event. Going to Ethan’s apartment to pick up my car. I'll send you a message when I get home x
I look out the window while Ethan takes a phone call. He's shouting at someone for not sending the papers on time. He's so rude to his staff. I know I wouldn’t want to work for him on a regular basis. He disconnects the call then dials out to someone else.
“Selena, My apartment. Six am.” He puts the phone on the seat between us. Once again, I think of how someone needs to add the word please to his vocabulary.
The car stops and I look out the window to see we have arrived back at his apartment.
“My driver can drop you off at home,” he says, as he starts typing out another message on his phone.
“No, thank you. I brought my car with me. I just need to get my things,” I say as I open the door.
I smile at Joe as we enter the building, and he gives me a wink. I see his smile wither when Ethan looks his way.
After Ethan opens the door to his apartment, I go to the room with my belongings and change back into my clothes before heading back downstairs. I search for Ethan to say goodbye, but he’s nowhere to be found.
Not thinking much about it, I leave the apartment. I’m sure Ms. Jackie will let me know if he was happy with me or not. But then again, she did say this was a one-time thing with him, so I shouldn’t have to worry about it.
I send Ms. Jackie a message to tell her I’m home, safe and sound.
After a relaxing shower, I lie in bed and think about Ethan. There must be a reason for him to be so rude to the people around him. He may not have been rude to me, but he sure didn’t even speak to me unless he had to.
Turning down the music, I lie in bed and fall asleep to images of baby-blue eyes.