“I don't bring clients back to my house,” I state. “Ever.” And then I realize that a woman is showering in my bathroom while another raises her left brow at me and pops out a hip, resting her hand on the rounded curve of her body. “Where the fuck have you been?” I ask before she starts taking in the little details and putting together a bigger picture. Audra Holiday is too perceptive for my liking. “Your car's been sitting in my driveway for three days.”
“Uh, yeah, because I was trying to help your ass out.”
“Help me?” I ask, glancing nervously at the bathroom door. The last thing I want right now is to have to introduce these two women. And why's that, Lucas? Have you lost your touch in the arms of a virgin goddess? I frown and cross my arms over my chest.
“Yes, help you.” Audra pulls the curtains aside a few inches and peers out, cringing when she catches sight of something across the street. I can't take it. I move forward and grab her arm, dragging her out of the way and wrenching the curtains apart. Parked directly across from my house is a red Mercedes. And I only know one person who drives one. “This bitch was following me around. I thought if I just ignored her, she'd go away, you know? Pretty sure you're the one she's looking for anyway.”
“This is ridiculous.”
I shove past Audra and storm out the front door and down the steps. My carefully compartmentalized personal and business lives are clashing, mixing together in the most unappetizing of ways. Clarice Braxton at my house? That is not fucking happening. Audra Holiday isn't quite a client, and Robbie Carrell is my … neighbor. Clarice Braxton is nothing.
As soon as my shoes hit the street, Clarice is tearing away with a screech, the sound echoing around the quiet neighborhood like a gunshot. Fuck. I watch her go apathetically, well aware that a situation is building. Clarice is high profile, not like Mark the Nobody. She can't be made to disappear, and if she wants to make my life a living a hell, she certainly has the resources to do it. I turn around and head back inside.
“See? This started after I left the Farmer's Market and kept on until this morning. Lucas, when I got out of the shower that bitch was waiting in my living room.”
“And so you decided to lead her over here?” I ask, my voice calm. Audra plays with her dangling earring for a moment before shaking her head.
“She offered me a small fortune to tell me where you lived.” She holds up a finger before I can object. “But I didn't accept. I didn't like her attitude.” Audra shrugs and turns back toward the window, eyes scanning the neighborhood. “When she left, I looked around the block for her and didn't see anyone, so I decided to walk over here and get my car. When I got here, she was already parked across the street. I don't know how she found your address … the bitch is freaking me the fuck out.”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. I don't need to wonder how she found me. If you have enough money, nothing's impossible in this world. In my line of work, I expect these things to happen. Creatures of darkness, like Clarice Braxton, sometimes revert back to their baser natures. What I wasn't prepared for was dragging someone else into the mix.
“Don't engage with her,” I tell Audra, wondering if this is my fault or if Clarice was already on her way to snapping. Did I cut her off because I truly believed she was cured? Or did I do it because I was just plain sick of her? It's hard to say. “I'll deal with this.”
“How?” Audra asks, moving towards the kitchen like she owns the place. When she picks up Robbie's glass and takes a sip of wine, I see red.
“That'll be all, Miss Holiday,” I tell her, storming across the living room and through the dining room to extract the glass from her hand. When our fingers brush, my pulse picks up speed and my dick stiffens unbearably, drawing me against Audra's round body. When her hands touch my shoulders and her mouth flutters against my throat, I'm struck with memories of Robbie and the fact that I've just devirginized a teenager. I may be a heartless bastard, a devil in disguise, but I have composure as well as an inordinate amount of tact. Pushing Audra away is difficult – though it rightfully shouldn't be – but I manage to put some space between us and step back. “When you've decided to become my client, you can – ”
“Oh, but I've already decided,” she tells me with a smug smile, walking in a circle around me like she's the predator and I'm the prey. I don't like it. Not one bit. My eyes follow Audra's movements, narrowing in on her green eyes and the way the stray shafts of sunlight reflect back at me. Like a cat. I've always liked cats, but I have no intention of being the mouse.