Sweet Jealousy (3 page)

“Sounds good.” Addison wasn’t usually into things like nice restaurants or fancy meals – she didn’t really get the point. The food at those places was always overpriced and not nearly as good as you’d think. They’d bring you these tiny plates filled with things you’d never even heard of, like duck’s eggs or foie gras pancakes.

“You okay?” Tia asked as the elevator descended. “You seem a little out of it.”

“No, I’m fine,” Addison said. She forced herself to paste a smile on her face.

As promised, when they got to the restaurant, they were immediately shown to a booth in the back.

“Order whatever you want,” Tia said, like it didn’t matter. “Mario’s going to take care of it.”

She waved to the bartender, a muscled guy with a shock of curly dark hair. He waved back and gave them both a big grin.

“I’m getting prime rib,” Tia declared, snapping the menu shut.

“That sounds good,” Addison said.

The girls ordered wine and chatted about work. Halfway through their first glass, Tia leaned in close and gave Addison a wicked smile.

“So,” she said, “how did your meeting go with the new boss?”

Addison almost choked on her wine. “It was fine,” she said.
So fine that you
unbuttoned your shirt and took your panties off.

“Did you know he’s only thirty?” Tia cocked her head, thinking about it.

“Something about being thirty is hot. It’s, like, old enough to be older, but not so old that you’re like ewww. You know?”

“Yeah.” Addison’s cheeks suddenly felt flushed, and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the wine or all this talk about Nathan Sweet.

“Well, well, well,” Tia said, a delighted look on her face. “Speak of the devil.”

Addison turned to follow her gaze. Walking through the door of Circle was Nathan Sweet. He was wearing the same suit he’d had on earlier, a perfectly tailored charcoal gray that set off his blue eyes. He was flanked on either side by two men who looked as ridiculously put together as he did.

The girls watched as Nathan slid smoothly up to the maitre d’, and was shown directly to a table in the V.I.P. section.

Tia shook her head. “Wow,” she said. “Can you imagine? They probably didn’t even have a reservation.”

“Probably not,” Addison agreed. She took a sip of water. Her heart was beating fast. Shame and humiliation overcame her as she thought of what she’d done in Mr.

Sweet’s office today. At least he hadn’t gotten her to do
everything
he wanted. But still.

It was little consolation.

When the food came, Addison forced herself to pick at her steak. She was distracted by the fact that Nathan was in the restaurant. His proximity was making her nervous. She wondered what it would be like to go on a date with him, if he was the type to hold open doors and order for you. Probably.

“You’re hardly eating,” Tia accused.

“Yes, I am!” Addison forced herself to take another bite. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium and seasoned just the right amount. The meat melted in her mouth, but she couldn’t enjoy it. Her whole body felt like it was wired with electricity.

“So what are you working on?” Tia asked.

“What do you mean?”

“For the website.” Tia speared her last piece of steak and popped it into her mouth. “Did he liked your undressing idea?”

“We decided on something else.”

“What?”

“The top ten sex positions you’ve never heard of.”

Tia laughed. “Right.”

“We did!”

“You’re going to be writing about sex positions?” She laughed even harder.

“That’s hilarious!”

Addison tried not to be offended.

“What’s hilarious?” a male voice asked behind them. For a moment, Addison’s heart sped up.
Nathan.

But it wasn’t Nathan. It was Tia’s boyfriend, Mario.

“Addison’s going to be writing about sex positions,” Tia said.

Addison rolled her eyes. “You could at least introduce me first, Tia. Now I’m going to be known as the sex girl.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Mario said, grinning. He pulled up a chair and sat down at their table. “What are you guys drinking?” He looked at the glasses of wine and shook his head. “We can do better than that.”

A few minutes later, a waiter brought over a bottle of champagne. His name was Tyler, he was a friend of Mario’s, and he was about to finish his shift for the night.

“We should all hang out later,” he said, smiling at Addison.

She looked back at him. He was cute, she decided. Probably around twenty-five, with blonde hair and green eyes. He had a nice, easy smile and broad shoulders. But she was exhausted and stressed from the day, and the glass of wine she’d had was already starting to make her feel sleepy.

She started to shake her head and tell him that she really needed to get home when she happened to glance toward the bar. Moving through the crowd was Nathan Sweet.

He was alone this time, with no sign of the friends he’d come in with.

He leaned against the bar with one arm, in a casual gesture that was so sexy Addison’s breath caught in her chest. And then, their eyes locked across the room. The moment felt like it lasted forever, but in reality, was probably only a couple of seconds.

Before she could figure out what to do or how to feel, Nathan looked away. Like he had no idea who she was. Like he hadn’t been with her in his office earlier, demanding that she take her clothes off.

Shame and hurt burned through her body.

And before she knew what she was doing, she was turning back to Tyler. “I’d love to hang out later,” she said, returning his smile.

***

An hour and two glasses of champagne later, Addison was feeling loose and free.

Tyler had been telling her about the band he was in, and Addison scooted her chair closer so she could hear him better over the din of the crowded restaurant.

“Our sound is kind of like the Beatles,” he was saying. Addison didn’t know much about music, but she thought that was kind of arrogant. How could you sound like the Beatles? The Beatles were one of a kind. It was like saying the book you were writing was like Harry Potter.

“That sounds great,” she lied.

“You should come hear us play sometime. Shouldn’t she, Mario?”

Mario was on the other side of the table, with Tia in his lap. “Shouldn’t she what?” he asked.

“Come and hear us play.”

“You’re in the band, too?” Addison asked Mario.

“Yeah, if you call being in a band sitting around and smoking pot while you pretend to write songs,” Tia said. Her arms were wrapped around Mario’s neck, and she leaned into him, closing her eyes.

“That’s not true,” Mario protested. “We practice. We’re good.”

“You should come hear us play sometime,” Tyler said again. He’d moved his chair even closer to Addison’s, and now his leg was pushed up against hers.

“Yeah,” she said noncommittally. The initial buzz from the champagne was beginning to wear off, and now she was starting feel cranky. She was getting anxious again, thinking about what was going to happen at work tomorrow. Would she get called to Mr. Sweet’s office? Would he ignore her? Would she get fired for rebuffing him?

She knew trying to fire her would be illegal. But what could she really do? Get a lawyer? She didn’t have money for a lawyer. And besides, what would she say?
“Mr.

Sweet asked me to unbutton my shirt and take off my panties, so I did. And then when I
refused to sit spread-eagle in his chair he fired me.”

It almost made her laugh out loud. Besides, he hadn’t coerced her into doing anything. She’d
wanted
to do it. In fact, she was shocked to realize, if she had the chance to go back, she would have spread her legs over the chair, would have stayed there all afternoon if he’d wanted her to.

The thought sent heat pounding through her body, and she felt herself starting to get wet.

“So you want to get out of here?” Tyler was asking.

“Get out of here?”

“Yeah, we’re all going to go back to my apartment,” he said. “We’re going to listen to music, and maybe play a little.”

“I don’t know,” Addison said. “It’s kind of late.”

“It’s only eight o’clock,” Tia said, a little too loud. She giggled. “You need to learn to live a little, Addison. You’re acting like you’re fifty.”

Addison thought about it. Maybe Tia was right. She was young and living in New York City. All that was waiting for her at home was Mr. Gold and her empty apartment. And the sooner she went to bed, the sooner she’d be waking up for work tomorrow.

“Okay,” Addison said finally. “Let’s do it.”

***

When they got outside, the four of them stood on the sidewalk for a few moments, waiting for a cab.

Tyler was getting more and more touchy-feely. He slung his arm over Addison’s shoulders and leaned into her. He smelled like alcohol, and he was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her cheek.

She turned her head, but he leaned in closer.

“You should spend the night,” he breathed. “My roommate isn’t going to be home tonight.”

She was trying to think of something she could say back to him, something that wouldn’t make her sound like a total uptight case, but would let him know that she definitely wasn’t going to be sleeping over, when a hand reached out and grabbed Tyler’s shoulder.

“Get your hands off her,” someone growled.

She turned around.

It was Nathan Sweet.

He was standing on the sidewalk, a calm look in his blue eyes that was a startling contrast to the forcefulness of his voice.

“Jesus, man,” Tyler said, as he shrugged out of Nathan’s grip. “What’s your fucking problem?”

“Addison, are you okay?” Nathan asked her, ignoring Tyler’s question.

Addison nodded, dimly aware of Tia standing a few feet away, her mouth open in shock as she took in the scene before her. But Addison had more important things to worry about.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Tyler screamed. “Don’t put your fucking hands on me.” He stepped in front of Addison. “She’s with me. Who the fuck are you?”

Nathan stepped close to him, getting right in Tyler’s face. “You stay away from her,” he spat. “Don’t even think about looking at her. Ever again. Or I will end you.”

The color had drained from Tyler’s face now, all trace of his bravado gone.

Addison didn’t blame him. Nathan was impressive, standing there in his suit, with his broad shoulders and dark complexion. He made you feel that underneath the expensive clothes and polished façade there lurked something dangerous.

“Okay, man, it’s cool,” Tyler said, backing off.

But Nathan was already grabbing Addison’s hand and leading her down the sidewalk and away from the crowd that was staring to form.

Chapter Four

He took her to a black stretch limo that was waiting around the corner.

She climbed inside, and he took the seat across from her.

She was silent, not sure what to say or do. It was unnerving, the way he was just staring at her like that. She shifted on the seat.

“Are you okay?’ he asked finally.

“I’m fine.”

“What were you thinking, leaving with a stranger like that?”

“He wasn’t a stranger,” Addison said. “He was Tia’s boyfriend’s friend.”

“Oh, yeah?” Nathan asked. “He was Tia’s boyfriend’s friend? And what was his last name?”

“Smith.” She’d made it up, and they both knew it.

“That’s a lie.”

She shrugged. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why did you do that?”

“I didn’t want you to get hurt.” He seemed confused by the question, like the answer was perfectly obvious.

“By hanging out with some friends?”

He shook his head, looked at her like he couldn’t believe how naïve she was.

“What do you think that boy wanted from you, Addison?”

“He wanted to hang out with me,” she said. The shock of him showing up and whisking her away to his limo had worn off, and now she was starting to get pissed.

Nathan had no right to show up and “save” her from whatever he thought was happening.

She was a grown woman, perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

“He wanted to have sex with you,” Nathan declared.

“Oh, right,” she said, “as opposed to making me strip in his office and sit with my legs spread.”

A smile played on his lips.

He was fucked up, she realized. Yes, he was extremely good-looking and yes, he was extremely powerful, but there was obviously something wrong with him. She went to open the door. She was getting out of here.

But the limo door was locked.

She looked for the latch, but when she tried to unlock it, it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s locked,” she said, looking at him. “Unlock it. I want to get out.”

But at that moment, the limo started to move.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she said, grabbing for her purse. She started pawing through it, looking for her cell phone. She’d call the police, tell them she was being kidnapped.

If Nathan was bothered by the fact that she was about to call 911, he didn’t show it. In fact, it was completely the opposite. He had pulled a bottle of water out of a tiny refrigerator, uncapped it, and took a sip.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked.

“No, I don’t want a fucking drink!”

“Addison,” he said, “put the phone down.”

“No, I won’t put the phone down. You’re kidnapping me, which in case you haven’t noticed, is illegal. Really fucking illegal. Like, end up in jail for twenty fucking years illegal.”

“Addison, no one’s kidnapping you.” He tried to hand her the bottle of water, but she shook her head. He shrugged and then put it back in the fridge. “My driver will take you home right now if that’s what you’d prefer.”

“As opposed to?”

“Coming back to my apartment.”

Her hand was on her cell phone, her finger poised over the 9. But she hesitated.

“Why would I want to come back to your apartment?”

He shrugged. “So we can talk.”

“About?”

“About what happened in my office today.”