“Shall we?” He took my hand and led me to the bedroom, pausing at the door with a question in his eyes.
I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to say anything as I stared at the handsome man in front of me. All reason had left my mind, and all I could think about was being taken by this man, roughly and gently, all night long.
It was at that moment that Anna finally emerged from the bathroom. “I’m feeling better now, Max.” She twirled into the room and I tried not to groan.
“Who are you?” Xavier looked at her in shock.
“I’m Anna. Where is Max?” She looked at me in confusion.
“He left.” I shrugged.
“Oh, no?” She made a face. “Was I in the bathroom too long?”
“What’s going on here?” Xavier pulled away from me and eyed us both. “Don’t tell me you’re a pair of working girls?”
“No, we’re in grad school,” Anna responded, not really understanding his comment.
“You’re a jackass. We are not prostitutes.”
“Prostitutes?” Anna’s eyes widened. “What?”
“So you weren’t about to have a threesome with Max?”
“Hell no,” Anna responded. “I didn’t even want Lola to come back with me, but she said she wouldn’t let me leave with him unless she came.”
“Oh, she’s your watcher?” He gave me an assessing look as he spoke to Anna.
“No, I’m her friend.” I glared at him. I didn’t care how good looking he was. I wasn’t going to put up with his rudeness. “We were at the museum earlier,” I stated, trying to see if he remembered me. I knew he had to remember me. I just wanted him to acknowledge it. I wanted him to say that he’d thought I was hot from the first moment he’d seen me in the museum.
“I see.” His eyes darkened and he walked to the side of the room. “I will get you girls a room. You’ll stay here tonight. You’re too drunk to go anywhere now.”
“We don’t—” I started as Anna nodded eagerly.
“Thanks.” She held her stomach. “I’m still feeling a bit sick.”
I gave her a look. “I told you not to drink so much.”
“Oh, not now, Lola.” She made a face. “Save the lecturing for tomorrow.”
“I need a suite,” Xavier spoke into the phone. “Is the junior penthouse available? Good. Send someone up with the keys.” He hung up and walked back over to us. “You’ll have your room soon.”
“Thanks.” I sighed and stared at his lips.
“Next time, you girls need to be more careful. You never know who you’re going to end up with.”
“I was only coming to make sure she was okay.” My eyes narrowed at him as he lectured us.
“But it seemed to me that you were mere minutes away from joining me in bed.”
“What?” Anna looked at me. “No way.”
“You know that’s not true.” I looked at Anna.
“Oh, Lola.” She giggled and then looked back at Xavier. “He is hot. Wait a second.” Her eyes widened and she looked at me. “Isn’t he the—”
“Anna.” I grabbed her arm and walked to the door. “Let’s get ready to leave.”
“I’m interested in hearing what your friend was about to say.” Xavier’s eyes lit up, and he took a step in front of me.
“She’s drunk. She needs to rest.” I looked into his eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh?” He smiled down at me and whispered into my ear, “You’ve been playing games with me all night, Lola. First the museum and now here. Next time, you will not be able to just disappear.”
“Next time, you’ll remember to be a lot nicer or you’ll find my hand across your cheek.” I smiled at him innocently and opened the door. “Goodnight, Xavier.”
“Goodnight, sugarlips,” he spoke softly as we walked out. “Don’t get too wet thinking about me tonight.”
I gasped at his words and looked back at him. He had a smug look on his face as he closed the door, and all I could think about was what would have happened if Anna hadn’t come out of the room at that precise moment.
***
His View
I watched the cab pull away and I felt angry. I was angry at the two girls for just going with Max. Didn’t they value their safety? They had no idea who he was or where he was taking them. I strode back into the museum and made my apologies for leaving early. There was no way that I was going to give Max enough time to try and convince either of them to stay the night. My blood boiled over at the thought of him trying to be with her. If anyone was going to have her, it was going to be me.