Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 199(@200wpm)___ 159(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Alejandro shakes his head and holds out his hand. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Not the club,” I warn him.
“You’re right. Not the club.”
Now I’m really curious.
Sliding into the sandals I keep by the door, I grab my purse and keys off the nearby table. “Will this ‘talk’ take long?”
He raises a dark brow. “Hot date tonight?”
I can hardly wrap my head around my interest in him, much less imagine being attracted to anyone else. “With my pillow, yes. I’m tired.”
“You work too hard. Let me cheer you up first.” He holds out his hand to me again.
This time, I take it and let myself out the door. “Where are we going?”
“The nature of a surprise is that you should be surprised.”
“So you won’t tell me?”
He sends me a dazzling, unrepentant smile as we walk toward the condo complex’s parking lot. “That would spoil it.”
“You know that annoys me.”
“I know you’re used to being in control and making all the decisions. A little relaxation will be good for you.”
People have said that to me for years. Generally, I ignore them. “That’s your opinion.”
“And you can’t change it.”
“Okay, but you’re wrong.”
“How about humoring me, then? Pretend.”
I roll my eyes and hold in a smile. He’s persistent, if nothing else. “Whatever.”
Alejandro shoots me a victorious grin but wisely says nothing more.
When we reach the parking lot, he lifts his key fob and presses a button. A sleek, black Mercedes convertible, so new it still bears the temporary plates, beeps and flashes its lights a few feet away.
How nice to be able to afford the luxurious place that houses their business and four-wheeled trinkets like this.
He assists me into the car, then rounds to the driver’s side, and eases in. “My father was a wealthy man.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“No, but I saw the way you looked at my car. I’ll bet you had similar thoughts about the club. I’m answering your unspoken question. My father was a wealthy man, and he left me his fortune.”
“Not your mother?”
He shrugs and starts the car. “I’m the only part of him my mother will have anything to do with.”
“They divorced?”
“In the Catholic church, no. They separated when I was twelve.” He backs out and steers into the gorgeous summer night.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You can’t like someone you don't know.”
Wait. He wants me to like him? Is this a…date?
“My father was a philandering bastard, if you’re curious why they split up. I remember my mother sobbing whenever my father didn’t come home. They became my tears, too. He acted as if his affairs were both common and acceptable. Maybe that was okay in his generation. Maybe it was even accepted in his native Argentina. But it was never okay with me.”
Alejandro is sharing something so shockingly private with me. Why?
“You run a sex club. And you believe in commitment?”
“Yes. If you speak vows, you should mean those words with your whole heart. Don't you agree?”
“I do.” Is he trying to tell me he’d be faithful? Why does he think his loyalty matters to me?
If I’m honest, his insistence thrills my treacherous soft side. Having a man like Alejandro in my life would be wonderful…but distracting. Indulging isn’t an option. Our search for this blackmailing bastard and my need to win the California Dance Star consume my every thought and waking moment. My commitment is to winning. Romance would only interfere.
“Take my friendship with Del,” he goes on. “Del and I met in college. We quickly became friends—both outcasts to some degree, being foreign-exchange students here in Los Angeles. We discovered we shared a lot of similar interests and passions.
“So after graduation, we decided to put our degrees to work on something mutually satisfying. Del used his marketing degree and social media skills to promote the club. I used my finance degree to secure the funding, run the back end, and reinvest our profits. We operate in the black, and each year is more profitable than the last. But two years ago, I had the opportunity to sell out my half for triple the amount.” He shrugs. “Long ago, I promised Del I would stay in until we were both ready for a change. I declined the opportunity.”
“That cost you a lot of money, no doubt.”
“Losing the friendship would have cost me more.”
“You can afford to say that; you have your father's money.”
“Not so much anymore. I put a fat chunk of it in a trust for my mother. She thinks I set it up with my money. But the bastard owed her more than he could ever repay. I thought this was fitting.”
I stare at Alejandro as if seeing him for the first time. In a way, I am. It’s hard not to like him when he's protecting his mother and defending his friendships.
A moment later, we stop in front of a local ice cream shop, quaint and somewhat old-fashioned. In a few hours, after dinner, this place will be crawling with families. But now, it’s nearly empty.