“Sophie,” he murmured, and the slight smile on his lips let her know that her greeting had pleased him. Christ, he was gorgeous. All in black, from his well fitted shirt to his trousers that tapered down to black boots. He was covered from the throat down, yet somehow sexier than any other man naked.
How would Lucien look naked? The scandalous thought made Sophie glance down at her shiny shoes and hope mind reading wasn’t one of Lucien’s skills. Although, it wouldn’t surprise her if it was. He seemed to look at her and see straight through her carefully constructed outer shell, right through to a dormant, sexy temptress that needed awakening from her slumber. She’d known Lucien Knight for less than forty-eight hours, but he’d already changed her in more ways than anyone else had in her entire life.
A few minutes later, Sophie glanced at Lucien’s computer screen as she placed coffee next to him on his desk. From what she could make out, it looked like a club website, but not any kind of club she’d ever been in. It was dark and opulent, and screamed sex from every shot.
“Is that one of your clubs?”
He picked up his coffee and rolled his shoulders. “Yes. The newest of the Gateway Clubs. It’s curtain up tonight.” He paused and licked his lips. “We’ll head over there around five o’ clock.”
“We?” Sophie’s mouth went dry.
Lucien nodded. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Did she have a problem with that? She shook her head. “I guess not. It’s just I’ve never been to a …”
He laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back in his chair, a lazy grin on his face. “A what, Sophie?”
“Anywhere like that.” Sophie gestured towards the screen.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
She glanced down at her dress. “Aren’t I a little underdressed for a club?”
Lucien’s laugh was low and suggestive. “Quite the opposite, actually.” He laughed again at her shocked expression. “I’m joking. We’re going to work, not play.”
Sophie nodded and escaped back to her own office.
She didn’t want to go to a sex club with him.
She did want to go to a sex club with him.
She opened the email programme and started work, letting the routine of getting to grips with her new job soothe her tattered nerves. Her predecessor had run a very tight ship, which made Sophie’s job much easier and stopped her from needing to constantly ask Lucien for help. A bleep from the computer alerted her to the flashing message box on the screen.
“You’re very quiet in there.”
“How much noise do you expect a PA to make?”
“The previous one was quite vocal.”
What did he mean by that? Sophie burned to know why Claire had needed to leave the job early. Had she been sleeping with Lucien? Had it all gone wrong? He certainly didn’t seem to be nursing a broken heart.
Lost in thought, Sophie must have taken too long to reply, because a second message flashed in as she sat there mulling things over.
“She left to marry her French boyfriend. A whirlwind romance, or some equally trite phrase, I believe she used.”
Christ, he really was a mind reader. Or else, he really understood how her mind worked. Sophie went through to Lucien’s office and picked up his empty cup. It was half past four.
“Do we need to leave soon?”
Lucien nodded. “Don’t be nervous, Sophie. I think you’ll enjoy it if you keep an open mind.”
Sophie appreciated his attempt to settle her nerves, but the fact that she was going to need an open mind was actually more worrying than calming.
“I’ll just grab my bag.” Back in her office, Sophie checked her phone for messages. Nothing. She sighed heavily. Even by Dan’s standards, this was ridiculous. She flicked her mobile into mirror mode and slicked a fresh coat of gloss on her lips, then paused for a second as her reflection gazed back at her. Did she look different, somehow? Did her eyes have a more alive glow than usual? This job and Lucien Knight made her skin tingle with excitement and the blood flow a little faster in her veins.
“Come on Sophie. Time to roll.”
An hour or so later Lucien eased his Aston Martin into a reserved parking bay outside the newest in his chain of Gateway clubs and turned to Sophie in the passenger seat.
“This is it.”
She glanced out of the windscreen at the gleaming, low-slung building, and then turned big, apprehensive eyes to him.
“Is it open yet?”
“Not yet. It opens at eight.”
Sophie’s eyes cut to the clock on the dash. He could almost see her working out how much ‘safe time’ she had left.
He turned to face her. “Sophie. This is business. We aren’t here to play, so just relax, okay?”
He saw her throat move as she nodded and swallowed hard. She didn’t fool him for a second with her acts of bravado. She was like a kitten, brave every now and then, but mostly marshmallow. Her feisty interludes turned him on, and he wanted to push her into situations that encouraged the tigress in her to come out more often. The girl shimmered with untapped sexual potential. Her dick of a husband obviously wasn’t able to see what he could see, or he wouldn’t be swanning around the Med with some pixie-faced tramp.
The man must have rocks in his head, or else not be using his head at all. He was obviously the kind of guy who listened to his cock rather than his conscience.
He got out and opened Sophie’s car door. “Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour before it opens.”
The reception area was a world away from Sophie’s expectations. More like an upmarket spa than a club, she thought, as Lucien pointed out the changing rooms as they passed through the double doors beyond the reception area. Inside, the club opened out onto a large open plan space, opulently decked out in aubergine velvets and gilt chandeliers.
“This is the social area.” Lucien gestured at the various seating nooks, a bar, and a dance floor.
“It looks like any other club,” Sophie marvelled, surprised by the normality of the space. “Or a nicer version of a normal club.”
“I’ll take that.” Lucien nodded. “What did you expect? Something seedy? People use this area to make friends, dance, have a drink…” He shrugged.
“Just like a normal club,” Sophie said again, feeling slightly less intimidated.
“Kind of.” Lucien’s tone made her look back at him curiously, but he just shrugged again and motioned for her to head towards the open tread staircase that ran up one side of the dance floor.