Page 2 of Allure
Syra’s fingers drummed against the table, trying to keep her focus. She wanted to be sharp for this meeting. Thinking about either ex wouldn’t do her any good.
“You want to switch places? Or I can go out and ask the receptionist for a bottle of water.” Kat pushed her seat back, but Syra stopped her with a shake of her head. Mr. Garrison and Mr. Jones would be here soon, and she didn’t want anything to stall the meeting.
“Don’t worry about it, Kat.” Syra’s gaze glanced at the clock. “They’re actually late.” Her voice cracked and she scrunched her face, annoyed that her nerves decided to come back at this very moment.
She was a mess. Her mind ping-ponging between one ex and the other and all the ways this meeting could possibly go wrong. She hoped the owners of Garrison Inc didn’t bring them here just to shut them down; an email would have sufficed for that.
“And you’re nervous,” Delilah commented. “They’re not late. We were early.”
Syra glanced at the clock on the wall, noticing the time. Delilah was right. They weren’t late, but wasn’t there some unwritten rule that said if you were on time you were already late?
“I’m not nervous,” Syra lied through her teeth, and when she saw Delilah’s eyes narrow, she knew her old friend didn’t believe her.
“I’m just anxious,” Syra amended. She felt her phone vibrating in her purse, and she flinched, already knowing who it was. She mentally cursed herself for not putting the thing on silent or shutting it off. It was bad enough she could feel the envelope she had in her purse with her name on it in Joel’s handwriting; she hadn’t opened it, unsure of what she’d find. He hadn’t stopped calling or texting her for the past month, and the messages he left weren’t kind.
The more she ignored him, the more aggressive his messages became, and it had gotten to the point she wondered if she needed to tell not only her lawyer but law enforcement as well. She didn’t think he’d outright hurt her. In fact, Syra assumed they were just his way of blowing off steam since he now understood that she wasn’t coming back this time.
“Is Joel still bothering you?” Delilah asked.
Syra shook her head only for Delilah to question her again. Katrina placed her hand over Syra’s nervous tapping. Her touch was gentle and meant to comfort, but Syra wanted none of it. This wasn’t the place to bring up exes who were supposed to be yesterday’s problems. They didn’t need to bring that negative energy into what should be a lucrative business deal.
“Let’s not focus on Joel right now. He’s a piece of paper away from being out of my life for good.” She hoped. “We have everything set up and ready for them?” Syra pulled her hand away from Katrina’s and grabbed hold of the folder in front of her. She tried to shift the conversation away from her ex and on to what was in front of her.
Delilah sucked her teeth before she responded. “Nice dodge, and yes, we have everything. They’ve seen everything. This is just a formality to go over any last-minute questions either of us has and for them to either say yes or no.”
As soon as Delilah finished her sentence, the door to the conference room opened and in came Evelyn Beck, the receptionist Syra met when she first came in. She had her tablet tucked under her arm and a bright smile on her face as she greeted them again.
Syra tried to smile back, but her jaw hit the conference table as she stared at the two men who came in behind Evelyn.
“No way,” Syra mumbled under her breath.
She was afraid to blink, unsure if they were really standing in the entrance way of the conference room or if her brain had conjured them up from her lustful memory while she was sitting here. She couldn’t breathe and couldn’t get her mind to wrap around who she saw waltzing into the room like they owned the world.
They were dressed in sharp, dark gray suits tailored to fit their bodies—bodies Syra had seen and been intimately acquainted with. She tried to block out the images her mind was all too happy to put on repeat. They were from that one night months ago where she gave her body over to Marco Cabrera while his neighbor, Asli, watched from his home in the next building over.
Syra’s body flushed as the temperature in the room skyrocketed to an uncomfortable level. She squirmed in her seat trying and failing to get comfortable. Her mouth was dry, and she suddenly wished she hadn’t declined the offer of water because she needed it for no other reason than to cool her overheated skin.
Asli and Marco both took all the air out of the room, and she couldn’t breathe in anything that wasn’t them. Their eyes roamed over her body, peeling away the suit jacket she wore to expose her skin to their touch. The knowing smiles that teased their lips made her core throb, and she curled her hand around the arm of the chair to keep herself from shifting her hips.
Are you shitting me? Of all the places to run into them again.
She could hear her heartbeat in the otherwise quiet room, and she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Out of all the situations she thought she would find herself in, she hadn’t anticipated trying to close a deal with an ex who she recently fucked and the man who had a front row seat to said fucking.
“I think Asli wants to see you cum, Syra. His gaze keeps bouncing between where the dildo is disappearing inside of you and the back of your head where he can tell I’m fucking this sweet mouth of yours.”
“Good morning, Ms. Santiago, Ms. Lopez, and Ms.—” Marco’s voice was gruff and raspy like he’d just rolled out of bed.
Why hasn’t the floor opened to swallow me yet?
She tried to steady her breathing as she watched both her friends rise to shake Marco’s and Asli’s hands. She wanted to call her friends traitors, but she didn’t think they picked up on who they were meeting with yet.
Syra remained in her seat. She didn’t trust her legs to keep her standing, and she was still processing her shock and the spark of anger she now felt while she stared at them.
What were the chances Marco had known about this little business venture before they ran into each other six months ago? He had to have known she was in this with Katrina and Delilah, her name was on all the paperwork and plans. As common as her last name was, her first name was not. He had to have known who he’d be dealing with today.
Had that night six months ago been a chance meeting, or had he planned it all as some sort of revenge for leaving him?
And if it had been planned, what does that mean for you and Marco?
