Alluring (2 page)

"I'm sorry, but I don't go home with strange men."

"I can promise you," he took his finger and trailed it up her arm, "I'm not strange."

Alexis felt goose bumps sprout along her arm where his finger touched.  She took a tiny step back to break contact.  Getting flustered, she stuttered,  "Wh ... what I meant was, I don't do that sort of thing."

"Well that's a shame because
that's
the only thing I do."

"Then it appears our association is at an impasse.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."

She was proud of herself for walking away.  However strong the attraction, no good would come from a night with Mr. Gorgeous. 

* * * * *

Jackson Cole watched the stunningly beautiful woman walk away.  The bare, slope of her back was the single most sexy thing he had ever seen.
  That she turned his proposition down, was for the best.  He knew better than to get involved with employees, but he felt drawn to her.  He couldn't seem to stop himself from approaching her.  She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he had seen his fair share of beautiful women.  Hell, he probably slept with most of them.

Every so often, he would visit the casino floor.  He liked to interact incognito with the patrons and staff to make sure things ran smoothly.  So far, he hadn't been disappointed.  His guests were happy and the staff was friendly and courteous. 

His eyes searched out the bewitching cocktail waitress as he made his way to the elevators.  There she was, over by the five-dollar slots, talking with an older woman.  He stood transfixed, watching her laugh at something the woman said.  Her smile so captivated him, he wanted to keep her smiling forever.  He shook his head at the sheer ridiculousness of his thoughts.  He sounded like a besotted fool.  He turned his back on the dazzling display and promised himself he wouldn't look back.  It was a hard promise to keep.

He couldn't stay away.  Every night before going upstairs to his penthouse, he would stop by the casino and watch her.  He loved to watch her move.  The sway of her hips as she walked.  The graceful line of her arm as she handed out drinks.  The way she tilted her head when she listened to someone speak.  She had turned into a bedtime addiction, and he needed his fix before going to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he had spent pondering but when he looked to the last spot he had seen her, she was gone.  His eyes searched the floor, seeking her out.

"Looking for someone?"

Jack turned his head.  She stood about five feet from him.  Close enough to be heard but far enough to make it obvious, she didn't want to get too close.  Her voice was huskier than he remembered.  Sultry.  So either she had a cold, or he made her nervous.  Her nose wasn't red, and her eyes weren't watery, but she was twisting and playing with her fingers.  He'd go with nervous.  He didn't want her nervous.  He gave her a charming smile to put her at ease.

CHAPTER TWO

He was here again.  Alexis saw him lounging against a pillar near the entrance to the 100 dollar slot machines as she served an older woman her drink.  Saturday nights were busy in the casino, but she didn't have any trouble spotting him.

The last two nights, he had been in a suit, but he dressed causal again tonight in black boots, faded jeans, and a black T-shirt, that even from a distance, she could tell he filled out really well.  He had a ball cap pulled low over his face, but she knew it was him, Mr. Gorgeous.

He had come every night since they met on Wednesday.  He usually stayed for about an hour, watching her work from some random spot in the casino.  He hadn't tried talking to her again, and she found that odd.  Why would he keep coming, if not to talk to her?  She knew he didn't need to work up his nerve.  That man didn't have an ounce of insecurity in him.  So what was the issue?  She had to find out.  Maybe it was stupid to approach him, but he became impossible to ignore.

She went to the bar and clocked out for her fifteen minute break.  She took the long way around a bank of slot machines to approach Mr. Gorgeous from the side, stopping a few feet from him.  She had butterflies in her stomach, nervous to talk with him.  She never approached or started conversations with men.  She didn't fear him.  He wasn't creepy in any way.  Just the opposite in fact.  He made her feel jittery and out of sorts.  Like a school girl, talking to her long time crush for the first time.    

He was scanning the room.   

"Looking for someone?"  She asked, her nerves making her voice sound throaty.  She couldn't keep her fingers still, and her heart, with it's frantic beating, felt as if it was about to explode.

He turned to her and smiled.  The smile was her undoing.  God, she couldn't believe how utterly magnificent he was.  He nearly turned  her into a puddle on the floor.  She had to pull herself together. 

"I think I've found her."

She gave him a wry smile.  "You think?"

His devastating smile never faltered.  "I know I've found her."

"Seems to me, she found you."  Her expression turned serious.  "Why are you watching me?"  She straightened her spine and gave him a hard look, challenging him to produce a good reason for watching her every night.

He gazed at her a moment, rubbed the back of his neck then looked down at the floor. He pondered a moment before shaking his head and sighing.  He looked up.  "Truth?"

Alexis couldn't help it, she smirked.  "That would be nice."

"I like watching you."  At her expression he laughed.  "Not in an alarming way.  As in, when someone looks at a beautiful painting.  They buy it, hang it on their wall so they can stare at it for hours.  That's how I feel about you.  I can't seem to stay away."  He gave her a boyish grin.  "I really like the view."

Alexis knew how he felt, for while he watched her, she had watched him, knowing she would never get tried of doing so.  Every night, when he left, she felt a pang in her chest. 

But she also knew this behavior was wrong.  She had to put a stop to his surveillance.  Nothing good would come of it.  He was still that guy, looking for a good time, and she was still that girl, not looking for anything.

"Can I see your phone?"

He frowned at her random request but pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her.

She fiddled with the buttons, pulling up the camera, then snapped a picture of herself.  She held out the phone.  "Here, now you can look all you want, but please don't come back here."

He took the phone from her hand, sending electricity shooting up her arm from where their fingers touched.  He looked down at the picture and laughed.  "You surprise me.  That doesn't happen, often.  But you're right, we're looking for two different things.  I'll stay away."

He turned to go, then stopped himself.  "Can I have a name to go with my picture?"

She thought for a moment but didn't see the harm.  "Alexis."

He gave her a nod.  "Jack."

She gave a slight nod back, turned on her heel, and walked away.  She felt his eyes on her and forced herself not to look back.

"What about this one?"  Steph asked, holding up a scarlet-red dress with tiny rhinestones down the front and fringe at the hem.

As promised, Steph had shown up at Alexis's door at nine the following Saturday morning, two vanilla lattes in her hands and a smile on her face, ready for a day of shopping.

The week had gone by extraordinarily slow.  Even though she had told Jack not to come back, her eyes couldn't help scanning the casino floor, looking for him.  He had kept his word and stayed away.  She didn't know why but that made her extremely sad.  Well, maybe she did know why, she just didn't want to admit to herself that she was devastated he had given up.  Not that she had expected anything less, after all, he had said it himself, they wanted two different things. 

But a girl could fantasize.  And in her fantasies, Jack was the relentless suitor, breaking down her door, and whisking her away to live happily ever after.  Alexis giggled to herself.  Talk about an unrealistic fantasy.

Alexis looked up from the sale rack she was browsing through.  "It's too flashy.  Can't you find something ... I don't know ... plainer?"

Steph rolled her eyes.  "You are such a bore."

"You know," Alexis said, placing a finger on her chin, "that dress would look perfect on you."

Steph held the dress up in front of her and looked down.  "You think so?  Maybe I'll try it on."  She folded the dress over her arm and continued her search.

Alexis had just about given up on the sale rack, when a black, jersey-knit dress with long sleeves, a low, scooped neck and a tight skirt caught her eye.  Alexis looked at the price tag, saw it was fifty percent off, took it off the rack, and went in search of a dressing room.

She had just put the dress on, and turned to look at herself in the mirror, when she heard Steph yelling for her.  She opened the dressing-room door and poked her head out.  "I'm over here.  Quit yelling."

Steph walked in, took one look at Alexis, and declared, "You are buying that dress."

Alexis turned to look at her behind.  "It doesn't make my butt look big?"

"Girl, your ass looks perfect.  That dress is sexy as hell."

  Alexis took one more look at herself in the dress.  "Okay, I'll get it. "

After a successful shopping trip (in which Steph did buy the red dress), they stopped for lunch before heading back to Alexis's to get ready for the party.  She had a small one-bedroom/one-bath apartment that was about ten minutes from the strip.  Everything in the apartment was from her old house.  From the light brown, beat up, but comfortable couch to the dishes in the kitchen cabinets.  Memories of her mom were everywhere. 

Alexis was anxious.  She didn't do well in large crowds, and she had a feeling tonight was going to be a very large crowd.  She attributed her social awkwardness to the way she grew up. 

At fifteen, when she was about to discover boys and participate in school activities, her mom got sick.  At the first sign of her illness, her dad left, and she'd never heard from him since.  Not one visit.  Not one phone call.  Nothing.  She got a part time job after school to help pay the bills.  Because she would get so tired, her mom could only manage to work part time and with her dad's paycheck gone, they needed the money.  Alexis spent her nights cleaning the  house, looking after her sister, and caring for her mother.  She lived on virtually no sleep.  Looking back, it was a wonder she survived it.

As the years went by and the cancer spread, her mom became bedridden.  After high school, Alexis turned her part-time waitressing job into a full-time waitressing job to pay the bills and keep a roof over their heads.  Her mom held on for three more years.  Just long enough to see her youngest daughter graduate from high school. 

With the sale of their house, Alexis paid part of her mother's medical bills.  The amount left over was still staggering and with the addition of her sister's collage tuition, she felt she would be in debt for the rest of her life.

Steph collected their bags, walked to the bedroom, and threw them on the bed.  The bedroom was small with her king-sized bed and dresser filling most of the space, but her bathroom was a decent size.  Steph took her make-up tote into the bathroom, and by the time Alexis walked in to get ready, it looked like a beauty supply store had thrown-up on her bathroom vanity.  Make-up and hair products littered the counter top and Steph still pulled things from her bag.

"I'll do your hair and make-up," Steph said, waving to the toilet.  "You sit there."

"What you don't trust me to do it?"  Alexis asked, with an exaggerated pout.

"I want you to be drop-dead gorgeous.  I want all the men to fall at your feet as you walk by.  I want them to salivate and beg for your attention.  And as God as my witness, I will get you laid!"  Steph ended her tirade with her left arm up in the air, curling iron held high, and her right hand over her heart.

Alexis giggled at Steph's impassioned speech.  Steph cracked a smile that caused Alexis's giggles to turn into laughter.  Steph's laughter soon followed.

Alexis gawked at the crowd waiting to get into the nightclub.  Fortunately, they didn't have to wait in that ridiculously long line.  Steph's romp with Brad from accounting had produced VIP tickets, enabling them to jump to the front of the line, causing dirty looks from the women and leering from the men, as they walked by.

Alexis had to admit, Steph did a great job on her hair and make-up.  They looked fabulous.  The red dress and gold platform heels made Steph look tall and slim but still very curvy.  Her blond hair fell in waves down her back, and her make-up screamed,
drama
. 

Alexis loved her new dress.  The skirt fell to mid-thigh, was super tight (but stretchy), and hugged her hips and ass.  The top was blousy with a low cowl-neck and skin-tight sleeves.  Stephanie had tamed her wild curls, so they fell softly down her back with just the front pulled back away from her face and held in place with a red rhinestone clip.  Steph gave her
smoky
eyes with her signature red lips.  Red high-heeled sandals that tied at the back of her ankle with a black satin ribbon adorned her feet.