Authors: M.S. Parker
Club Prive (11 page)
“When can I see you again?” he asked.
My head was spinning. I needed to think. I took a step back, ignoring my body’s protest. “Soon,” I said. “Call me.”
I grabbed my dress and headed for the bathroom.
“I don’t even have your number,” Gavin called after me.
“Oh, I’m sure with your detective skills, you can easily find out,” I teased.
I caught a glimpse of Gavin’s expression before I closed the door, but I couldn’t read it. He really was mysterious.
Chapter 9
Gavin pulled his car—an expensive but not overly flashy two-door—up to the curb in front of the Mid-Town apartment building where Krissy and I lived. I was wearing my dress again and feeling much more like the frumpy morning-after conquest than I had back at the club. The atmosphere between Gavin and me had been thick with sexual tension the entire ride over, as if it was taking all of his willpower not to park the car and fuck me again. I couldn’t honestly say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind either. I needed to be away from him so I could think clearly.
“You’re still not going to give me your number, are you?” Gavin broke the silence as I reached for the door handle.
I grinned at him. “Nope. I want you to work for it.” I didn’t wait for him to reply. I climbed out of the car and headed into the building.
As I walked up the front stairs, the reality of the situation hit me. What was I going to tell Krissy? How much of the truth would I tell her? That I’d slept with Gavin or that it had been at the club, which wasn’t just another club but also a private sex club? Would I tell her about just last night or that Gavin and I’d had a quickie on the kitchen table before I came home? The questions went round and round in my head as I climbed the two flights of stairs that took me to the third floor.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked into the apartment. Krissy wasn’t here. I walked across the tiny living room/kitchen to the hallway, shaking my head at the mess in the kitchen. Krissy hadn’t cleaned up last night, as usual. I loved my best friend, but she wasn’t the neatest of roommates. Case in point, that’s how I knew she wasn’t home even though I hadn’t checked her bedroom or the bathroom. If she’d come in last night or early this morning, she would’ve stripped the moment she came in and left her dress in a pile next to the front door. She spent most of her time at home walking around in her underwear.
I undressed quickly and tossed Krissy’s dress into my dry-cleaning pile. I’d considered showering at the club, but I was afraid that if I got into that glass shower with nowhere to hide, Gavin would join me for another round and I’d never get home. I showered quickly and pulled on my robe. Clothes seemed like too much of an effort at the moment. I considered going into my bedroom and lying down, but I was starting to feel guilty for going out rather than studying, so I plopped myself down on the couch and opened up my textbook. It didn’t take long before my eyelids felt heavy.
The next thing I knew, I felt someone staring at me. I opened my eyes, blinking against the late morning sun streaming in through the window. Krissy was sitting in the chair across from me, her lips twitching in a way that I knew meant she was trying not to laugh.
“Wow,” she said. “You look like you had a fun night.”
If she thought that, she should’ve seen me before I showered. I pushed myself into a sitting position, pulling my robe closed more tightly around me. I hadn’t thought to check before and now I wondered if Gavin had left some sort of mark on me. It wouldn’t be the first time in my life I’d had a hickey, but it would be the most embarrassing since I’d probably end up seeing him at work.
“You’re finally home,” I said. I rubbed my hands over my eyes. “Yeah, my night was okay...” I paused. I couldn’t lie to her. “No, I take that back. It was amazing, but also the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced.”
Krissy leaned forward, the expression on her face clearly saying that she was expecting details of my mysterious one-night fling. I gave them to her, starting with the first kiss right after she and Jeff had left and ending with finding the sex toys. When I’d gotten to the morning sex, I’d dropped my eyes to my hands and now I looked up.
To my surprise, Krissy didn’t look smug that I’d finally gotten laid, or amused about the sex toys. Instead, there was a serious, troubled expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately. “Did something happen with you and Jeff last night?”
Krissy was quiet, seemingly searching for words, which worried me. She was never at a loss for words. “Jeff and I went back to his place,” she started. Her fingers twisted together. “And we had sex. It was fine. Not earth-shattering, but not bad either. The whole time, though, there was something bugging me. I didn’t figure it out until I woke up this morning. His place was small and plain. It looked more like our apartment than something that some rich investor should own. I knew then that something was wrong. I thought he was married and this was the place he brought his side pieces. You know me,” she said. “I don’t do married men.”
I nodded. Krissy may have slept with a lot of men, but she had rules about whom, and anyone in a relationship was immediately vetoed. Her parents’ marriage had broken up because of an affair.
“So,” she continued. “Jeff was still asleep, and I started snooping. I found his laptop and figured if he had pictures of his family, that’d be a good place to start. When I opened it, there was a work memo right there on the screen. Jeff isn’t an investor at Club Privé, he’s an employee.”
“Oh, Krissy, I’m sorry,” I started to say.
She shook her head. “That’s not the worst part.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I knew Krissy. She would’ve been more pissed that Jeff had lied than anything else, but if that wasn’t the worst of it, whatever was coming next had to be big.
“I woke him up and confronted him. I don’t know if I was just that scary or he was just that weak, but he admitted everything.”
I was willing to bet that Jeff was weak, but even if he wasn’t, I had a feeling he would’ve caved. Krissy could be quite frightening when she wanted to be.
“Jeff told me that his boss, the owner of the club, had asked him to follow me a week ago.”
I put my hand over my mouth, horrified.
“He followed me to that other club last weekend and pretended to be this big shot. Bought me lots of drinks and then invited me to last night’s opening.” Her jaw worked for a moment before she said the last bit. “And he told me to make sure I brought my roommate.”
An icy hand closed around my heart, and I could barely breathe. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to get Krissy and me to Club Privé last night. But which one of us was the target? Had Jeff insisted that she should bring me along to make Krissy feel safe, or was all of this because of me? And if it was the latter, what did this club owner want with me?
“If Jeff doesn’t own the club, who does?” I could barely get the words out and they were little more than a whisper. “Krissy, who is behind all this?”
Krissy’s dark eyes flashed. “Who do you think, Carrie? It’s Gavin. He owns the club. He ordered Jeff to follow me.”
I stared at her, waiting to feel something. Shock. Horror. Anger. Grief. Instead, I was numb. Completely and utterly numb. I couldn’t feel anything. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t put together a complete thought.
Memories of last night swirled in my brain. Every touch, every caress. It had all been a part of his plan. But what plan? Had he just wanted to get me into bed? Why? What did it mean?
As I was struggling to process everything, my phone rang. I picked it up automatically. “Hello?”
“Hey, there, beautiful.”
I nearly dropped my phone.
“I missed you and just had to hear your voice, so I did my detective thing and found your number.”
I opened my mouth, knowing I had to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. What was I supposed to say? Gavin was waiting for me to answer. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and the lawyer part of me came forward.
End of Book 1
Follow the passionate story of Carrie and Gavin in
Club Privé—Book 2
, coming April 25
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Once complete the Club Privé series will consist of 5 books in total, each book will be about 25,000 words or 125 pages – A total of 625 pages.
Club Privé - Release schedule:
Book 1: April 11
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Book 2: April 25
th
Book 3: May 9
th
Book 4: May 23
rd
Book 5: June 6
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This book was a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 M.S. Parker
Published by M.S. Parker Romance.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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