Pretty Wicked (4 page)

‘
Will you join us for a
drink, Mr. Barokas?’ Nigel offered coldly. I stared at Nigel. Was
he being rude? Nigel was never rude.

‘
No, I’m actually leaving.
I just came to say goodbye and wish you a pleasant
evening.’

‘
Thank you,’ Nigel replied
stiffly.

‘
Very kind of you,’ I
added softly, and Miko suddenly swiveled his black eyes in my
direction. They were blazing with desire. My thighs clenched
helplessly. WTF was going on with me?!

‘
You’re welcome,’ he
murmured softly, and then he had turned around and walked away. I
stared at his retreating back with confusion. I had never reacted
to a man like that before. When I turned back to Nigel he was
looking at me sadly.

‘
What is it?’ I
asked.

He broke a bread roll dispiritedly and began
viciously buttering it. ‘When I was very young my father used to
play Dr. Hook’s records. One of my favorites was ‘When You’re in
Love with a Beautiful Woman’. The lyrics were good. Do you know
it?’

I shook my head.

‘
When you’re in love with
a beautiful woman, it’s hard. Everybody wants her. Everybody loves
her. Everybody wants to take your baby home. You want to trust her,
but then somebody hangs up when you answer the phone. When you’re
in love with a beautiful woman, you go it alone
.’

He laid the buttered bread roll on his side
plate and looked up at me. I stared at him, surprised.

He seemed a stranger. I had been dipping my
toes in the ocean of his soul. ‘You watch her eyes. You look for
lies,’ he sang tunelessly, his voice gruff with emotion.

What was he telling me?

‘
I’m in love with you,
Lexi.’

The thought that flashed in my mind was
crystal clear: But I don’t love you. And suddenly I felt terribly
guilty. I didn’t love him and I could never love him. In a funny
sort of way I was no better than Miko Barokas.

I reached forward for his hand and he
snatched it away violently. ‘Don’t. Please don’t pity me,’ he
whispered.

‘
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
I…’ I trailed away. I had no excuse. I should never have started
with him. I should never have let it go this far. I should have
seen the signs. All my motives were selfish. I’m not a good
person.

He raised his hand. A waiter came.

‘
Bill please.’

‘
Ah, but—’ began the
waiter.

Nigel cut him off rudely. ‘Just charge me
for everything I’ve had and everything you’ve already begun
cooking.’

The waiter scurried away.

Nigel pulled his wallet
out of his trouser pocket. I loved him, but as a brother. A dear
friend. Someone with whom I had lain on the couch watching
How to Lose a Man in Ten Days
. He was the kind of man who knew how to make fluffy cheese
soufflés. I mean, come on, what full-blooded American man knows how
to do that? I had loved my time with him. It was warm and safe and
unthreatening.

The bill arrived. He slipped his card
swiftly onto the little platter. The waiter processed it and he
slotted it smartly back into a compartment in his wallet.

‘
I love you, Lexi,’ he
confessed bitterly, not looking at me.

‘
Can we talk about this,
Nigel?’

He totally ignored me and said, ‘And if
ever, ever you think I could be more to you than just a buddy you
dispense mercy fucks to then call me, because I want to marry you.'
He pulled out a box from his jacket and opened it. A diamond
solitaire—small but very, very sparkly—winked and flashed on a bed
of dark blue velvet. There were no crappy stones around it to make
it look flashier than it was. I stared at it. ‘Take it for what it
is; otherwise, consider it a bloody expensive goodbye present,’ he
muttered, and snapping the box shut, tossed it carelessly on the
table.

I stared at his hurt face, blankly. He had
brought me here to propose. How selfish I had been. How fucking
blind.

With a forlorn shake of his head he left the
table.

I should have left, but for the moment I did
nothing. I was too shocked by the direction our relationship had
taken. The group from the office was small. Most of them had gone
home, but Janey was still there and I didn’t want to join them. I
lifted my glass of wine and took a sip, and then the door opened
and Miko walked back into the restaurant. My eyes widened. He
walked up to my table and stood towering over me. I remained
silent, unsure what I should do or say next.

‘
How about it?’ he asked,
his eyes clear and direct. How different his eyes were compared to
Nigel’s.

‘
How about what?’ I
parried coolly.

‘
Going out with
me?’

~~~~~

H
is words fell like pearls on the edges of my heart. ‘Are you
propositioning me?’

‘
Do they still speak like
that in England?'

‘
Mr. Barokas—’ I
began.

‘
I’ve wanted you since I
laid eyes on you this morning.’

My breath caught in my throat. I felt an odd
heat inside my body. Strange thoughts entered my head. Forbidden
old dreams of lying underneath him or being ravished by that
beautiful mouth. I thought of Nigel. I thought of his pain. There
was nothing I could do about that. But there was something I could
do about mine.

‘
Sit down then,’ I invited
softly, recklessly.

His eyes flickered, warm for a second. An
easy conquest for the great Miko Barokas. He slid into the chair
that Nigel had vacated. I took another sip of my drink and eyed him
over the rim of my glass. His golden skin radiated sensuality. I
wanted to touch it. I licked my suddenly dry lips and glanced at
his large hands. They lay relaxed on the table. I thought of them
moving on my body in a long, slow massage.

‘
You have all my
attention,’ I murmured.

‘
So do you, Lexi Johnson.
So do you.’

The way he said it brought a surge of wild
color to my face. I swallowed and pretended that he didn’t have
such a strong effect on me. I tried to calm the fast pace of my
heart and reminded myself that he was the enemy. This was the mean
boy who humiliated me and forever changed the course of my life. I
let my eyes drop to the table—it was impossible to think when I
gazed into those bottomless pools of black ink—and my eyes fell on
the velvet box. My eyes flew up to meet his and they, too, were on
the box.

‘
Why did you come back?’ I
asked.

‘
I went outside to make a
phone call and I saw him pay the bill and leave.’

‘
So what now?’

‘
I’m going to have you in
my bed.’

No, you’re fucking
not
. I smiled seductively and raised one
intrigued eyebrow. ‘Really.’ My voice was cool.

‘
Yes, really.’

My eyes swiveled over to the table where my
colleagues were sitting. Janey was staring at us, her mean, dried
up, sex-starved mouth set in a straight line of unconcealed hatred.
Here was another truth I had refused to confront—my boss hated my
guts. There’ll be big trouble in the office tomorrow.

‘
Don’t tell me you don’t
feel it too?’

I brought my eyes back to him. I had never
seen eyes more impenetrable than Miko’s. There was nothing there
but a blank wall and a stated lust. He wanted the beautiful me, not
the real me, the freak me. I thought of Nigel, his eyes full of
desire, disappointment, admiring, laughing, sad. But what color
were his eyes? I could not remember. That’s because I only
remembered him in black and white. The only eyes I had ever really
looked into and remembered vividly were Miko’s soot-black eyes. So
black they swallowed all the other colors around them. Everything
became pale and inconsequential in comparison.

‘
I want you too…’ I said
very softly.

A waiter came up to the table, caught my
eyes, and winked slyly. He turned his attention to Miko. ‘Can I get
you something, sir?’

‘
No thank you, I won’t be
staying,’ Miko threw over his shoulder, not taking his gaze off
me.

‘…
but I work for you,’ I
finished.

He frowned. ‘I don’t see that that matters
either way. Although, technically you don’t. You happen to work for
one of the companies I own.’

‘
Right.’

Around us ‘Come Up and See Me (Make Me
Smile)’ by Steve Harley boomed. Miko’s lips quirked. He really did
have the most beautiful lips I had ever seen on anybody. Ever. The
top lip was slightly plumper than the lower lip and it was so red
it was as if he was wearing lipstick or had just eaten a bowl of
cherries. I thought about biting his mouth.

‘
I ordered that song
specially for you,’ he murmured.

I laughed and his eyes narrowed. The
laughter died in my throat. Whatever it was between us it was like
tinder. Extremely flammable. I had to be careful. I did not want to
perish in the flames.

‘
I’ll give you a ride
home.’

‘
Thanks, but I live only
five minutes away from here. The walk will do me good.’

‘
It’s late. Allow me the
pleasure.’

‘
Fine.’ I picked up the
blue box, dropped it into my purse, snapped it shut and stood. As I
neared him his hand touched mine. The inconsequential contact
stirred a deep, fierce hunger within me. His fingers drifted up my
arm. I looked into his eyes and was shocked to see the intensity of
his need. The magic of desire swirled around us.

Take control, Lexi. Take
control
.

I shifted away from him. The space made a
difference. My senses cleared somewhat. I hated this man. The only
thing I wanted from him was revenge. To take him to a high place
and drop him. In my head a small voice laughed at me. Or maybe you
will get burned again. I ignored it.

There was a chauffeured Mercedes waiting
outside.

‘
Driving in London is a
nightmare,’ he explained.

The driver jumped out and held the car door
open and Miko’s fingers brushed my elbow as I got in. He closed the
door after me and went to the other side. The interior was
wonderfully cool. Miko slid in and the car rolled away smoothly. He
asked my address and I gave it. He closed the glass partition and
turned to me.

‘
You’re a very beautiful
woman, Lexi Johnson.’

‘
Thank you.’

‘
But you are also very,
very mysterious.’

‘
What makes you say
that?’

‘
Because you have the eyes
of a woman who is hiding a secret.’

‘
All women hide secrets,
Mr. Barokas.’

‘
Miko. I can’t have you
calling me Mr. Barokas while my cock is deep inside your
pussy.’

My mouth gaped with shock.

‘
Why do you seem so
shocked? I’m sure every man you meet must want to fuck you
senseless.’

He was right—men were always falling over
themselves to bed me, but I had never been affected by their lust,
their passion or whatever they wanted to call it. Some had even
called it love. I did not believe that for an instant. They loved
an unreal thing. This thing I had become was not the real me. The
real me was in my bedroom, curled up in bed with a good book.

‘
Oh, here we are. This is
me,’ I said.

The car slid to a stop and I scrambled out,
into the hot summer night. He was around to my side faster than I
could compose myself.

‘
Well, goodnight
then.’

He seemed amused. ‘I’ll walk you to your
door.’

I somehow managed to fumble with the keys
and we stood together in the foyer of the building outside the lift
doors. I called it and turned toward him nervously. ‘There is
really no need for you to come any further.’

He didn’t answer, simply pulled me toward
his tight body so I could feel his erection pressing, hot and hard
into my belly. I gasped, shocked by the raging desire to have this
man deep inside. It was so strong it made my body shake. I had not
expected to respond like this to him.

‘
Lexi,’ he whispered, his
hand journeying from the top of my shoulder into the neckline of my
shirt. His fingers were like silk, but on the mounts of his palms
lived the excitingly rough calluses that came from training with
weights.

I watched him as he bent his head and
claimed my mouth.

Then I exploded.

There is no other way to describe how I fell
apart under his mouth. Every cell in my body craved and ached for
release as his silky fingers gently caressed my nipples through the
material of my bra and shirt. I wanted to tear his clothes off and
impale myself on him. How long since I was touched by such a
violent hunger? Not since I had sat in a car under the canopy of a
tree and looked at a star-filled sky. The thought brought demons.
Old demons. I froze. So did he.

‘
What is it?’ he asked,
drawing back slightly.

‘
Too soon. Way too soon,’
I gasped.

‘
Will you have dinner with
me tomorrow?’

I nodded.

‘
Leave the office early.
I’ll ring your doorbell at seven.’

‘
It kind of depends on
Janey.’

‘
Ah, that woman who wears
human skin shoes.’