The Arrangement (15 page)

‘What
do you want to do for dinner?’ asked Emma from the bathroom.

‘I
don’t know.’ Lucas could feel his stomach started to
grumble. He pulled off his coat and dropped it down on the end of his
bed. ‘I guess we could order down for something to be brought
up. The company is paying for this trip after all.’

‘That
sounds like a good idea. What do you fancy?’

‘I
fancy you.’ He decided not to voice that part out loud.
Instead, he loosened off his tie and pulled it out from beneath the
collar of his shirt. ‘I will have a look at what they have.’
He moved slowly across the bedroom to the small set of brochures and
leaflets spread out on the dressing table. One of the small pages
contained the number for room service and another was a menu from the
restaurant downstairs. ‘They don’t seem to have that much
of a great selection.’ That was a bit of an understatement. The
menu only contained four different types of meals.

The
bathroom door opened with a click.

‘They
have um…’ his jaw hung open, as she stepped into the
room.

Emma
was wearing a very revealing night gown, but that was if it could
even be classed as a gown. His eyes were acting with a mind of their
own, as they travelled up and down and all around her amazing body.
The dark blood red dress was kept up by two hair thin shoulder
straps. The top of the dress cut down seductively into a low cut V
and showed off more cleavage than should have been legal. Lucas was
surprised that her large plump breasts didn’t spill out the top
of the skimpy dress. The fabric of the dress hung loose from her body
and bounced when she walked. The base of the dress only just reached
about a third of the way down her smooth kissable thighs.

‘What
do they have?’ she walked around her bed towards Lucas with her
clothes in hand. She stopped a yard from him and bent over towards
her travel bag. It was done in such a way that she kept her legs
straight and lowered her torso down.

‘T-they…’
the base of her dress lifted, as she tucked her clothes into the bag.
Lucas’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and bounced away
across the bedroom floor at the sight of her lacy red panties. The
sight of her cute ass cheeks sticking up in the air caused a wave of
pressure to rush down through his body and straight between his legs.
Lucas quickly dropped himself down on the bed. It was the only thing
he could think of doing that didn’t involve pushing his hands
into his pockets so that she didn’t see the growing bulge
protruding from his pants.

Emma
looked back over her shoulder and smiled.

‘You
said you were going to be good,’ muttered Lucas.

‘Are
you not enjoying the view?’

How
did he reply to that?

Emma
zipped up her bag and stood up straight. She turned to face him and
stepped into what had to be considered his personal space. Lucas
found himself licking his dry lips, as he looked up at those two
large mountainous lumps directly above him. Something dark and
dangerous was screaming at him to reach up and touch them. The bad
side of his soul was feeding off Emma’s lustful actions. She
wanted him and she wanted him to have her, but Lucas had to stay
strong.

He
loved Scarlett.

He
took in a long slow breath in through his nose to calm his chaotic
mind.

Emma
took the menu from his hand. ‘Will the cheese and tomato pizza
do?’

‘Sure.’
His eyes remained glued to her breasts. They were so close yet so far
away.

Emma
walked by him to the bedside table. She picked the phone up and
dialled downstairs. Lucas found himself starting intently at her ass.
The fabric of her dress now covered it, but the memory of her ass
cheeks would be forever burned into his mind. He looked up nervously
at Emma. She was watching him check out her ass.

Lucas
swallowed down the lump in his throat.

He
had a bad feeling about this.

Perhaps
sharing a room with Emma wasn’t the greatest idea he had ever
had.

‘Hi,
I would like to order a large cheese and tomato pizza,’ said
Emma into the phone. ‘No. I would just like that and…’
she looked at Lucas and smiled a naughty smile. ‘Could you
bring up a bottle of wine as well? Thank you.’ She placed the
phone down and then sat down beside him on the edge of the bed.

The
two of them shared a glance.

‘So,
what do we do now?’ she raised a curious eyebrow.

‘W-well…’
Lucas stuttered.

Emma
let out a loud laugh. ‘I am just teasing you, but you do look
so cute when you are nervous. I promised you I would be good and I
am.’ Lucas’s heart nearly stopped, as her hand reached
for his lap. She picked the television controls up off the bed beside
him. ‘How about we watch a movie?’

Lucas
let out a breath he hadn’t even realised he had been holding.

‘That
sounds like a great idea.’

Emma
got up and lay down on the single bed opposite. Lucas let out a long
weary sigh and forced his thighs harder together. He couldn’t
allow her to see what effect she was having on him, or there would be
no stopping her. The worrying thing was that he wasn’t sure if
he wanted to stop her.

***

How
long had it been since Scarlett had last been taken to a restaurant
like this? She had thought Brandon’s invitation only extended
to a nice reasonable place, but he had taken her to the most
expensive and glamorous restaurant in the city. Lucas had only
managed to take her here once because the waiting list was so long.

‘I
know the manager.’ Brandon winked, as he held back her chair.

Scarlett
sat down at the candle lit table. It was a small intimate table
designed for only two people. They were placed slightly away from the
other tables and sat directly in front of the wall sized aquarium,
which looked like some kind of undersea paradise. This was what
normally was classed as the V.I.P area.

Was
he trying to go out of his way to impress her?

Was
it bad that it was working?

Before
they even had a chance to look at the menu, two glasses of
complimentary wine were brought over. ‘Thank you.’
Brandon nodded to the waiter and then turned his full and undivided
attention towards her.

‘Are
you okay? You look a little shocked.’

‘Sorry.’
Scarlett felt so small under his gaze. ‘This is such a nice
place.’

‘It
is my favourite place to come too,’ he admitted. ‘So, you
have to tell me all about your new book.’

Scarlett
giggled like a school girl. How she loved talking books. ‘Well,
at this moment it doesn’t have a title. The story is about this
psychic medium that has a psychic ability unlike any other. He cannot
talk to ghosts and he cannot do predictions. He can’t even
sense things based on intuition.’

‘He
really isn’t like any other psychic mediums,’ joked
Brandon.

‘That
was the angle I was going for,’ admitted Scarlett. ‘It is
based on the idea that he died at birth, but was brought back after
several minutes. I wanted to take the out of body experience that
people talk about to a whole new level. So, he isn’t your
cliché usual psychic medium with the same old, same old
abilities, but what he can do is step out of his body and become a
ghost for a limited amount of time.’

Brandon’s
eyes sparkled with excitement.

‘That
is an interesting idea.’

‘I
thought so, too,’ giggled Scarlett. ‘It means I get to
write the investigation side of the story where you learn about the
characters, their lives, and possible motives for doing a hoax and
what not. His sidekick is a psychic medium in the normal sense and
she gets information on the locations, people they meet, and learns
who is lying and who is telling the truth, but the key part of the
story is when he steps into the spirit world because I can write this
really weird and wonderful world and offer the reader a completely
different perspective on what they have learnt so far.’

‘This
sounds like an amazing book. So, what are you having trouble with?’

‘It’s
the characters,’ admitted Scarlett. ‘You see the female
psychic medium is married to a man that does not support her beliefs
or what she does. He does not work on any of the investigations with
them, but many of the investigations are dark and dangerous and in
very out of the way locations, which mean the two main characters,
are working together on nearly every page.’

‘The
love angle,’ nodded Brandon.

‘That
was my idea. I wanted them to be conflicted about their extra marital
affairs, but also show this really sweet and caring love story. I
wanted it to be romantic and sexy, but the problem is that their
relationship has got very bitchy and sarcastic.’

Brandon
couldn’t contain the chuckle. ‘Stories do have a habit of
that.’

‘How
do you mean?’

‘Well,
you can plan a book to death, but ideas, motivation and inspiration
can evolve based on the things that are going on in your life. Like,
sometimes I would attempt to write a really amazing love story. I
know what I want to say and how the characters will say it, to really
make the reader connect, but if my life isn’t right then these
scenes can be impossible to create.’ Scarlett was hanging on
his every word. ‘It’s like when my wife left me I
struggled to write love scenes, which is why many of the characters
in my first novel were so dark and hard up. They were a reflection of
my own mental state.’

‘I
think you could be right about that.’

‘You
just need to sort out the conflict in your real life and the conflict
in your writing will cease to be.’

‘I
wish it was that easy.’ Scarlett let out a sad sigh.

‘Is
it your fiancée?’ he asked. Brandon quickly added.
‘Maybe that is too personal, I’m sorry.’

‘No,
it’s okay,’ Scarlett replied. ‘We are having some
problems.’

‘Is
it serious, or something that will pass?’

‘I
think it is serious, but I am not too sure if he thinks it is.’

Brandon
thought about this for a second. ‘Can I help at all?’

Scarlett
didn’t mean to laugh, but she did. Brandon could help all
right, but she wasn’t sure Lucas would like that too much. ‘I’m
sorry.’ She covered her hand to hide her smile. ‘That is
nice of you, but I think this is something we have to sort out
ourselves. It is complicated.’

‘Complicated
isn’t good. That was how I used to describe my relationship
with my ex-wife, shortly before she left me.’

‘What
happened?’ Scarlett took a sip of her wine. It tasted nice.

‘She
was seeing someone else.’

‘I’m
sorry.’

Brandon
shrugged his shoulders. ‘These things happen in life. Of
course, at the time I didn’t know she was seeing anyone. She
just one day started changing her routines and acting a bit strange.
I could feel something coming between us and felt her distancing
herself from me. I tried to do romantic meals and other things that I
knew she loved, but the passion was gone. The worst thing was having
her make up all sorts of awful excuses not to um… how can it
be said?’

‘Have
sex with you?’ Scarlett nodded her head. ‘That is how
Lucas is with me.’

‘Do
you think he is having an affair?’ asked Brandon.

‘I
don’t think he is. Well, at first I was sure he was sleeping
with another woman, but then I realised that he kept going on about
waiting until the wedding night so that it could be special.’

‘How
does that change anything?’

‘That
is something that my father would have said to him. Lucas works for
my dad.’

‘Ah,’
said Brandon. In that, it now makes sense kind of way.

‘In
a way I think that is worse. Lucas is so strung up on proving himself
to my father and making a career for himself, in the company, that he
would choose what my father wants over what I want.’

‘And
what do you want?’ a cheeky smirk climb Brandon’s face.

‘The
same thing you wanted with your ex-wife,’ winked Scarlett.

‘I
don’t think so,’ grinned Brandon. ‘I don’t
think you’re that naughty.’

They
both laughed, loud.

Heads
turned from other tables to see what all the fuss was about.

Brandon
and Scarlett exchanged a glance, as they both took sips from their
wine. It was the type of glance that friends shouldn’t make. It
was a glance that was held for a very long time and sent silent
signals into the others mind.

‘I
think you would be surprised how naughty I can be,’ said
Scarlett.

She
ran her finger along the rim of her wine glass.

Suddenly,
a waiter appeared with his little notebook. ‘Can I take your
order?’

‘Oh,
um…’ Scarlett turned an interesting shade of red. She
hadn’t heard him approach them.

‘Can
you give us a few more minutes?’ asked Brandon.

‘Of
course I can.’ And with that he left.

Brandon
picked the two menu’s up from the centre of the table and
handed one to Scarlett. ‘What would you like to eat?’
Brandon smiled that naughty smile again. It was the type of smile
that caused her breasts to tingle and butterflies to flutterer within
her stomach.

‘I
doubt it’s on the menu,’ giggled Scarlett.

She
couldn’t believe how flirty and naughty she was being.

It
just felt good to be her flirty self especially with someone that
appreciated it.

‘I’m
sure you can make some special requests.’

‘And
what do you fancy?’ Scarlett picked her words carefully. He had
to hit it.

‘The
thing I fancy is already taken,’ admitted Brandon.

‘Is
that going to stop you from getting it?’ Scarlett was more
shocked than anyone that she had actually said that.

‘I
don’t think anything could stop me from getting it.’