Page 10 of Alluring

Jack walked to her by the open door, leaned in, and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "No need to thank me. I'm just glad I was there." He looked deeply into her eyes. "You are wrong about one thing, though."

Alexis was still recovering from the forehead kiss. She mentally pulled herself together before replying cheekily, "Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I will see you again."

She watched him walk down the breezeway and down the stairs until he was out of sight. He looked almost as good going as he did coming. She mentally kicked herself. The last thing she needed was the image of Jack's ass floating through her head.

Alexis laid back down on the couch and tried to read, but after rereading the same paragraph for the fourth time and still not comprehending it, she gave up and let her mind do what it wanted, think about Jack. She replayed his visit repeatedly until disgusted with herself, she got up and made something to eat. After doing the dishes, she decided to get to bed early. She still felt a little weird and tired and knew she had to get up early for work the next day.

She took her phone with her into the bedroom to try Steph once more. She wouldn't be able to sleep until she talked to her. Steph picked up after the third ring.

"Why didn't you call me back?" Alexis asked, clearly annoyed.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry, but I just got home. I haven't even had a chance to shower yet," Steph said, speaking fast.

"You can shower in a minute. First you have to tell me why you're just now getting home."

"Well, after the party broke up, I ran into that really cute waiter and went home with him."

"The really young one?"

Steph laughed, "Yep. And let me tell you, that boy's got stamina. I can barely walk today."

"Oh my God, gross, TMI Steph."

Steph laughed then turned serious. "I heard what happened to you last night. Are you okay?"

"What? How did you hear about it?"

"I tried texting you last night to find out where you were. Jackson Cole called me back from your phone and explained what was going on. And let me tell you, I freaked right the fuck out. I mean, Jackson Cole, calling me. The Jackson Cole!" Alexis heard her take a big breath. "So anyway, I knew you were in safe hands."

Steph kept chattering away, but Alexis stopped paying attention. She was still trying to recover from the news.HerJack was Jackson Cole, the owner of Allure. He wasn't just a guy in management. He was management. Wow. Now, she was doubly glad she turned him away. He wasn't just wealthy. He was insanely wealthy. He was also a hard-core playboy. Never attached to one woman, but he always had a woman on his arm. And, he was so far out of her league it wasn't funny. She was just a nobody from nowhere with no experience with men like him. Hell, who was she kidding, she barely had any experience with men, period. Her small hope of something becoming of her and Jack died.

"Alexis! Are you listening to me?"

"Um ..."

"I said, I want all the juicy details about Mr. Hottie. Please tell me, you let him fuck you."

"Of course, I didn't sleep with him. Are you insane? I was drugged remember? I passed out. I woke up this morningalone. Then I came home, alone. End of story. No juicy anything." Okay, so that was a tiny lie. There were a few juicy bits but seeing as she was never (never, never) going to see Jack again, there was really no reason to share anything. It would just give Steph fuel to flame a fire, that was in reality, only smoke.

"Wow, I think you're the only woman on the planet that he hasn't had sex with, and you had the perfect opportunity."

"And that, right there, is the reason why I would never sleep with him. Come on, you know me. I would never sleep with someone like that."

"Someone like that is exactly who youshouldsleep with."

"How do you figure that?"

"Just think about all the experience he has. He's got to be like a god in bed. Don't you want your first time to be with a god?"

Alexis couldn't help it, she laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Would you listen to yourself. Jackson Cole is not a god. He's a man. And no, I don't want my first time to be with someone like that. I want it to be with someone I care about and who cares about me. I don't need to know if the relationship is going to last forever, but I do want to know it's going to last more than just one night."

"You're a hopeless romantic, Alexis."

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