“I have to go.” She slid her sweater over her head.
She walked to the coffee table, keeping her distance from me and warily reaching for the box of sex toys. I clicked my tongue and her eyes snapped up at me.
“Those stay here.”
“B-but…” she stammered.
“If you want to use them again, you know where to find them.” I smirked at her as I laid back on the couch with my hands behind my head. She swallowed hard, her eyes staying high and not wandering to my now-obvious erection. There was no missing it. Her face turned a fierce shade of pink as she slowly backed away. Without a word, she walked to the front door.
I called after her, “Use the front door next time.”
When the door closed after her, I chuckled to myself. Last night had been an unexpected surprise, but just the release I needed. The work week had been rough, and wouldn’t get any better from here as I take on a new CEO position. I already knew I wouldn’t be well received, after practically overthrowing the old boss. But that wasn’t my problem. If people didn’t like me, I could easily get rid of them. They had the choice to get on board or get out. I intended to conquer this new company, just as I had conquered my new little plaything. I smiled at the box I now kept hostage, wondering if she would be back.
Chapter 5
Sadie
Iput the backings on my pearl earrings, multi-tasking as I was carefully balancing to put on my black pumps. I stumbled to the side, but caught myself on the frame of the gold floor-length mirror.
“Phew,” I said breathlessly as I caught my reflection.
My hair was still damp from this morning’s shower and pulled into a low bun at the nape of my neck. The gray skirt and white blouse I chose both needed to be pressed, but they were the best I had. I hoped the pearl earrings my mother had given me would bring in a little sophistication, and they did. A pop of white against my red hair, but I needed something else.
Lipstick. I needed lipstick. I rummaged through the makeup sprawled out on top of the dresser and plucked up my favorite nude pink color. With a shaky hand, I smoothed it on my lipsbefore carefully replacing the gold lid. I shrugged at the woman looking back at me. This was as good as it was going to get, and today of all days… Today needed to be perfect. This was what I got for sleeping in, something I never did.
Add it to the list after my night with Mr. Penthouse upstairs. It had been two days, and I hadn’t seen him around the building. Granted, I was too mortified to leave my apartment after our night together, opting for heating up leftovers and holing up in the corner of the couch with bad movies the rest of the weekend. But still I couldn’t get him out of my head, and I was too scared to do anything about it. Even if I wanted to see him again, I didn’t have his number. Hell, I didn’t even know his name. I wasn’t about to have the bellman take me up there. The nerve I had that night had withered away, and I was back to being predictable Sadie.
I pushed away the memories that stained my cheeks pink and rushed from my bedroom and out to the living room, where I gathered my purse from the small wooden table by the door. Before I left, I double-checked the window to make sure it was locked. After seeing how easy it was to break in to someone’s apartment firsthand, I now made it a point to make sure everything was secure. Once I was certain the window wouldn’t budge, I headed out the door, locking up behind me.
The coffee shop was only a few blocks away. I would have gotten a cab, but seeing as I had next to no money, my only option was to walk, which would only make me later. I swore the recklessness of sleeping with a stranger was trickling down into other areas of my life. I pulled open the glass door to Charlotte Café and looked around breathlessly. I spotted Erica at a cornertable with her laptop open, the glow of the screen lighting up her face as she typed. She looked up then and gave me a small wave.
I breathed a sigh of relief to see she wasn’t annoyed by me being ten minutes late and weaved my way through the small wooden tables to her.
“I’m so sorry,” I said as I plopped down on the chair across from her.
“Don’t worry about it.” She waved me off. “I did already get a cappuccino though,” she said, holding up a wide-rimmed white mug of coffee that was already half empty.
“No worries. I already had coffee anyway,” I lied. I didn’t have time, and I couldn’t exactly afford to buy one here.
When I checked my bank account this morning, I halfheartedly expected there to be some magical increase of funds in my checking account. Of course, there wasn’t. It was tiptoeing on the edge of being in the negatives and I couldn’t afford an auto draft from my credit card, which already was racking up a ton of interest. Damn me for putting up the money for my ex, Oliver. On top of not calling him out on cheating, I also let him use my credit card to rack up a ton of debt. Work clothes. Car payments. His portion of the rent of the apartment he kicked me out of.
I only had enough in my account to pay for the Airbnb I was in. It was expensive, but it was the only thing I could find on such short notice. Even though I knew Erica would help me out, I just couldn’t face telling her. I was too embarrassed.
Thankfully, she didn’t call me out on not ordering coffee and instead her green eyes looked mischievous as she looked across the table at me.
“What?” I asked, raising a brow.
“Did your package come this weekend?” she asked, her voice near a whisper.
“Oh, my God.” I laughed. “You and Gabriella are obsessed with my…” I dropped my voice to a whisper, “Sex life.”
“Oh, come on! You deserve some fun. That Oliver guy was such a tool.”
She hadnoidea the extent of his tool-ness that now had me in debt. Fifteen thousand dollars’ worth.
“I know.” I sighed.
“Well? Did they arrive?” She wiggled her dark eyebrows.
