Temptation (The Temptation Series) (24 page)

“Your hair is gorgeously long
Alexis, I will only take a small amount off the ends and give it some subtle
highlights. Now, because the dress is the star and has quite an eye attracting
plunge at the front and back, I’m going to put your hair up and let it cascade
to the side.” He began working his magic, Sebastian had come to deliver us
lunch, which was organised by Bryce, time really was going by rather quickly. Jane
was now working on my make-up and I hoped it wasn’t going to be as full as
hers, I still felt less was more in regards to me, I was starting to take shape
as Carl finished pinning my hair up.

“Now all hands on deck with
the dress.” Clarissa had taken the dress out, she handed me the underwear which
I slipped on underneath my robe. All three of them helped me step into the
dress without affecting my hair or make-up, Clarissa zipped and hooked it all
together, she handed me the most stunning pair of light gold Christian
Louboutin heels I had ever seen. I slipped them on and stood up doing a spin for
all three of them, the smiles on their faces said it all.

“Ok my turn, show me the
mirror.” I hadn’t seen any of my transformation yet, Clarissa wanted me to get
the full and final effect when they were done. Jane turned the mirror around, I
was delighted, the dress was simply stunning and it really was a work of art, I
think anyone who put it on could resemble a movie star. Carl had kept my hair
quite straight with only a very slight wave to it, he pinned it up and only
very slightly to the side allowing it to fall down the opposite side to the
detailed shoulder strap, it was very elegant. Jane had surprised me the most
thank god, my make-up was very subtle, again she had stayed true to the dress
allowing it to be the star, I had a light smoky eye, very faint pink blush but
a striking red lip. As I was pirouetting in the mirror Bryce walked in and
suited up in a very sexy black Tuxedo, the man did not need much to make him
mouth wateringly delicious.

He froze at the entry door to
his apartment, our eyes were literally stuck on one another, I could see him
swallow quite hard which made me do the same. Clarissa, Jane and Carl were
looking between us like spectators at a tennis match.

“Ok. We are done here.” It
was Clarissa who ushered Jane and Carl to very quickly pack up and get the hell
out of there. We had both barely said goodbye as they were walking out the
office door. Breaking Bryce’s hungry stare, I shouted out to them.

“Thank you, thank you very much,
you all did a wonderful job.” Each of them smiled at me and Bryce showed them
out, he was back in the room almost instantly.

“Alexis, you take my breath
away.” I blushed, I couldn’t help it, I don’t think I have ever taken anyone’s
breath away, well, apart from the time I pushed my sister off the fence and
winded her.

“You look very delicious
yourself Mr Clark.” He was standing at the top of the step, that led down into
the lounge area, he had one hand in his pocket and the other through his hair. He
stepped down slowly and made his way over to me, he placed his free hand on the
side of my head and kissed me on the cheek, then on my neck and lower again, it
was so soft yet so sensual and incredibly romantic. He came back up to my face
and rested his head on mine.

“Now that I have you, I am
never letting you go.” He pulled out a jewellery box from his trouser pocket
and my heart nearly when into cardiac arrest.

Sensing my complete shock, he
smirked and opened the box, I can’t say I was disappointed when the most
beautiful pair of diamond chandelier earrings were revealed inside.

“They are beautiful.” I went
to touch them and he snapped the box shut on my finger. My mouth dropped and I
couldn’t help but smile at him, he burst into laughter.

“I’m so sorry; I’ve always
wanted to do that.” I laughed and punched him in the arm, he opened the box
again carefully removed them and handed them to me. I was still giggling, he
was so comfortable and relaxed and it really was lovely to be around.

“Shall we?” He put his arm
out and I hooked mine around it, tonight was going to be one of the best nights
of my life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

We entered the Atrium were
the red carpet arrivals were to be held, I’d figured we would get through this
section quite quickly as the celebrities were the star attraction, what I
hadn’t bargained on was Bryce being somewhat of a celebrity himself and my
dress attracting a lot of media attention.

“I have with me now, Bryce
Clark the owner of this fabulous Complex and his date for this evening, Alexis
Summers.”
OMG, how embarrassing this is going to be televised.
I clung
to Bryce and used him as a shield, the television presenter for channel 7 kept
talking, I recognised her but couldn’t recall her name.

“Alexis who are you wearing
tonight?” She pointed the microphone in my direction, I cleared my throat.

“Versace and the shoes are
Christian Louboutin.” My tiny voice was barely audible.

“Absolutely stunning, spin
for us.” Bryce held up my arm and twirled me around, I couldn’t help but smile,
however I did desperately want to get off the red carpet and out of the
spotlight.

“Lovely, well there you have
it Alexis Summers, definitely a contender for best dressed at tonight’s 55
^th
Tel V Awards.” The camera went down.
Thank Fuck!
We kept walking but had
to stop a couple of times for photos, Bryce held me close and as much as I
liked it, I was feeling uncomfortable I was still technically married, we
entered the Queen Victoria Ballroom and were escorted to our seats.

“Here you go Mr Clark, Ms
Summers, enjoy your evening.”

“Thank you Paul.” Bryce
nodded to the very polite and friendly usher, I loved how he knew what seemed
like all of his staff by name.

“Do you have a photographic
memory or something?” He was scanning the room, then turned to me, putting his
arm around the back of my chair.

“No, why?” He looked
interested in my answer.

“You seem to know everyone
and more particularly your staff, by name.” He smirked and gently put his hand
on my leg.

“It’s what I do Ms Summers.”
I placed my hand on top of his.

“What else do you do Mr
Clark?” I challenged him and licked my lips; this made his eye and cheek
twitch.

“You’ll soon find out.” Those
words had me squirming, as much as I was excited and thrilled to be here in
this elegant ballroom amongst some very high profile celebrities, I couldn’t
wait to go back up to the Penthouse. The intense stare Bryce was giving me was
momentarily broken when he looked up, he then looked back down at me with pain
and anger plastered across his face. I looked up to see what had caused this
sudden change of atmosphere and Gareth was standing there with Samantha hanging
on his arm and sporting the biggest grin I’d seen since Christmas Day.

“Good evening Bryce and Mrs
Summers.”
Smug arsehole
. He pulled a chair out for Samantha and pushed
her in.

“So Alexis, where is Mr
Summers this evening? At home with the children?” Samantha turned grey and looked
between Bryce and myself.
You know
what?
Fuck him.

“If you must know Gareth, Mr
Summers and I have been separated for quite some time now.”
Slight
exaggeration.

“So to be honest I’m not really
sure where he is.” I wiggled in closer to Bryce and he moved his hand from the
back of my chair to my shoulder. Gareth glared at me and waved a waiter down,
Samantha smiled shyly. The table began to fill with other board members and
their partners, at first the other gentleman seemed a bit sceptical of me as
I’m sure Gareth had filtered lies into their heads, however as the evening
progressed I had a good feeling I was winning them over.

“So, Ms Summers”

“Oh please call me Alexis.”

“Very well, Bryce tells me
you have been a vital part of marketing for our new family friendly rooms in
the Promenade Building.” Mr Gordon was an older man with silvery white hair and
large thick glasses, he sort of reminded me of Santa, maybe it was the white
hair or maybe it was just the child in me but I found it hard to take him
seriously when he chuckled. Gareth rolled his eyes and said something under his
breath. If Bryce could kill with just a look Gareth would be no longer. I had
to get to the bottom of whatever it was that made Gareth so majorly pissed off
and especially with me.

“Yes Mr Gordon, actually I’m
flattered to have been consulted on such a huge project it really is an
honour.”

“Well then Alexis, I look
forward to seeing some of your ideas at the board meeting next month.” I smiled
politely and realised the ladies room was well and truly calling me. Bryce was
deep in discussion with a few of the other men at the table, I placed my napkin
on the plate squeezed his leg and made my way out, it was now or never the
telecast was on pause for advertisements and that gave me a small window to get
there and back.

The ladies room was quite
hectic with women making minor adjustments to their gowns and make-up. Sierra
Thomas was up for a Silver Tel V for Best Actress, she was also the hottest new
thing on Television at the moment and Charlotte’s favourite actress, she eyed
me in the mirror whilst I was touching up my lipstick.

“That dress is stunning; I
think I’m going to have to fire my stylist.” She was blotting her face with a
tissue.

“Is it Versace? It looks like
a Versace.”

“Yes it is, you’re Sierra
Thomas right?” She smiled.

“That would be me.”

“My 6 year old daughter
adores you.”

“Nice, what’s her name?”

“Charlotte.” She pulled out a
napkin from her bag and scribbled on it with eyeliner.

“Here, I know it’s not
perfect but you have to work with what you’ve got.”

“Aaaw thanks, she’ll love it.
Can I get a quick photo?”

“Sure.” I pulled out my iPhone
and took a photo of the two of us.

“Thank you so much Sierra and
good luck tonight.” The announcement of 5 minutes to recording time came over
the speaker, we picked up our clutches and headed out the door.

I exited the ladies room and
was caught on the arm, startled I looked up to see who was restraining me quite
painfully.

“Not so fast Mrs Summers.” Gareth
had me in a vice like grip, onlookers second glanced at him and he released his
strength just slightly, he smiled and put is other hand round my shoulder.

“Let me go. Now”

“Don’t make a scene Alexis,
you are quite the centre of attention tonight.” We smiled falsely as Bert and
Patty Newton walked past. With their backs to us and no further witnesses
around, I slammed the heel of my Louboutin into his foot and broke away, making
my way directly to my seat. As I approached our table, I noticed Bryce looking
a bit concerned and trying to find me, when he did see me coming relief flooded
his face. I sat down and almost instantly his arm was around my shoulder.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, just nature calling.” I
leant in and kissed him briefly, I think it caught him off guard, Samantha also
blushed and looked away. I scooted across a seat to get closer to her.

“Hey, are you ok? You’ve been
very quiet.” She looked around nervously.

“Um yeah, I’m fine, what’s be
happening with you? And why is Gareth so horrible to you?”

“Good question.” It was a
good question and one I wanted an answer to sooner rather than later. It was
obvious he hadn’t mentioned anything to her, however she was acting a little
nervous.

“So this thing with Gareth is
it serious?”

“No, I don’t think so, um, I
really don’t know. What about this thing with you and Mr Clark? What about your
husband?” She had that gossipy look in her eye, normally I would be intrigued
with what we were discussing when she possessed that look but seeing this time
it involved my private life, I was not impressed.

“It’s a long story but like I
said I’m separated.” I shuffled back to my seat and Bryce automatically claimed
my leg. The telecast resumed and 4life took the stage, the room was a buzz. It
was a moment where I wished Charlotte was on my lap, she would have been
ecstatic.

“What are you thinking
about?” Bryce had been watching me.

“Nothing.”

“That’s not a nothing look
Alexis.” He squeezed my leg.

“I’m just thinking Charlotte
would have loved to see 4life perform, they are her favourite group.” He kissed
my cheek.

“I need to make a phone
call.” He got up as the song finished and walked away, at this moment Gareth
returned with a slight limp. I shot a satisfied look in his direction, he was
far from impressed. Mr Santa
Oops,I mean Mr Gordon
asked if Gareth had
taken a fall.

“No, some bitch stood on my
foot.” Mrs Gordon was offended by Gareth’s choice of words and muttered
something into her husband’s ear.

“Perhaps it was an accident
Gareth.”