Page 6 of Relentless Pursuit

“We’re fine.” Kayla smiled. “I was just telling your partner that if he doesn’t back off and let me stay here, I’m going to have channel five launch an investigation into this club. I work there.”

“Julian?” Blake smacked his hand on the bar. “Knock it off. We don’t need that kind of exposure.”

“She’s bluffing.” Julian glared into Kayla’s eyes, challenging her to defy him. “Let her stay. Let’s see how much she can really handle.”

“I won’t be your concern,” she said. “You won’t even know I’m here.” She hoped that wasn’t true. She wanted to be his only focus. “Blake, I’m ready to set something up whenever you are. I like it here. I think I’ll be quite comfortable.” She glanced at Julian. “And very satisfied.”

He stood from the high stool and stormed toward the staircase behind the bar. Kayla sighed in relief. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if he had called her ridiculous bluff. She had no pull at the station. She was one step up from an intern, and not even a full step.

“Don’t worry about him,” Blake said. “He can get a bit controlling, but that’s what makes him so popular around here.”

Connie came back and sat next to Kayla. “What was that all about?” She placed her drink on the bar. “Mr. Anders didn’t look very happy.”

“He’ll be fine.” Blake came from around the bar. “Have a drink and get to know the place,” he told Kayla as he walked to the staircase. “I’ll handle my cousin.”

“I take it you know Julian Anders?” Connie sipped her martini. “I wouldn’t have thought the two of you traveled in the same circles.”

“He’s a good friend of my brother. I had no idea he’d be here. I wouldn’t have guessed this would be a place he’d invest in.”

“Invest?” Connie laughed. “He’s in high demand around here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t tell you this if you weren’t inside this club, but you did sign the confidentiality agreement, so I guess it’s okay.”

“I would never say anything.” It was true, Kayla did work at the news station, but as an assistant to a producer. Her Princeton degree hadn’t carried much weight in a flooded market. If it wasn’t for her father, she couldn’t afford to live in the city. He only agreed to let her live there if she got a job in her field. The station was the closest thing she could find in journalism.

“Well...” Connie twirled her long, blonde hair around her finger. “Remember when I told you there were powerful men here who had no interest in long-term relationships?”

“Yeah.”

Sapphire catered to all types. The plan she had signed up for promised to match her with a man who wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, and that was fine with her. She was there to have a good time and gain some sexual experience.

“Any girl who wants to surrender in the bedroom and find total pleasure wants Mr. Anders. He’s very good at what he does. Women beg for repeat sessions with him, but he’s selective and doesn’t stay with one woman for very long. He can go months without a partner. Rumor has it, he’s back in the game and looking for a match. Women who haven’t been here in weeks are suddenly lining up and submitting their applications.”

“Are you interested in him?” Kayla recalled the way Connie had jumped when Julian approached them. How she did exactly what he told her to. Was she trying to pass a test?

“He’s easy on the eyes, rich, sexy, and treats women really well, but I don’t think I can handle him. I wouldn’t be able to do what he requires.”

“What does he require?” Kayla shifted in her seat, wondering what type of man he was. She’d created the perfect image in her head. In her eyes, he could do no wrong, but now that she was an adult, she knew there was no such thing as perfection, especially when it came to the opposite sex.

“Don’t get any ideas.”

“I’m not, but why?” She had always been determined, and she was certain she could fill any of his requirements.

“There’s a long list of candidates in front of you, and he deals with experienced women only. He’s relentless in the bedroom and doesn’t have time to train anyone. When a woman steps into his world, she has to know what to do for him.” Connie handed Kayla the drink menu. “There are several women just like us trying to learn to be what he needs. Hoping that one day he’ll want to give one of us a try.”

Is he really all that?

Kayla thought back to that almost kiss four years ago. How it had left her aching for something more.

Yeah, he is.

* * *

Damn that woman!No one had ever spoken to Julian the way Kayla had, especially not in his club. Threatening him! Challenging him! Arousing him!Fuck, no!

“Julian.” Blake chased after him, catching up once they reached Blake’s office.

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