But I didn’t want to be merely that anymore. I wanted to look into those eyes and see desire instead of last year’s numbers and next year’s projections. Each moment his gaze stayed away from me another chance to get to know him slipped away. My mind spun with how to get him back to where he’d been before Stefan had intruded on us. I didn’t know him well enough to make small talk, but I wanted to say something.
Anything to bring back the man who’d shown himself for that brief moment tonight.
Unsure I should mention the top floor, I leaned toward him and blurted out, “I’d love to see the rest of the club. Can you give me a tour?”
If the music hadn’t been so loud, the pounding of my heart would have been thundering in my ears as I waited for his response. The idea of seeing a fantasy room was exhilarating and frightening at the same time. My curiosity had been piqued the moment Cash mentioned the fantasy area of the club, and even if Kane’s part in it was a little daunting, I still couldn’t help myself from wanting to know more about it.
Cash turned back to look at me, surprised by my suggestion. “You want to see the rest of the club?”
Nodding, I smiled, hoping to see that man from just a few moments ago return. “Sure. I wouldn’t be much of an assistant if I didn’t know all about it, although not knowing gives me plausible deniability just in case any more reporters come sniffing around. It’s not technically lying if I don’t know.”
A slow smile spread across his mouth. “I like that. Okay, let’s go visit the other parts of the club.”
He stood and held out his hand. Looking up at him, I placed my hand in his palm and felt my stomach flutter when he closed his fingers it. His touch was light even though his hand was strong. I didn’t know how I knew it, but whatever this was, it wasn’t about a simple tour around a business.
We walked up the stairs past the third and fourth floors that seemed to function as private areas for club patrons to enjoy drinks and conversation outside the fantasy rooms. The sound of the music still filtered up to those floors, but it was far quieter than on the first two.
Each step we took hand in hand toward the top floor and those fantasy rooms was another step toward something new and exciting. I wanted to see more of Cash and more of the business he owned. As we stepped onto the stairs that would take us to the top floor, I wondered if he visited this part of Club X much. He hadn’t seemed to be someone who would before, but now I could envision him making his fantasies come true in one of those rooms I’d only imagined until this moment.
Thinking about it made me jealous. It was irrational and silly, but I felt jealous. Would I see a room he always used or did he have a private room all to himself? Had he led many women up these very stairs to that room? Silently, I chastised myself for being so stupid. What did it matter if he did? As a grown man who owned a club dedicated to making fantasies come true, of course he’d been to this floor and lived out many fantasies.
My mental tug of war made me pull my hand away as we reached the last step, and Cash turned his head to find my hand again. With a smile, he took it and looked up at me. “We’re almost there. You ready?”
His voice was deep, but it held a hint of mystery in it, like he wasn’t sure what lay ahead for us. I simply smiled and followed him, preparing myself for Kane’s part of Club X. The ruler of this fantasy kingdom stood with his arms crossed leaning against a far wall. Taller and more imposing than Cash, he looked like he belonged here, like being downstairs would have been wrong for someone like him.
The noise from below barely made it to this top floor, and the muffled sound of the music seemed so far away now. The look of this area of the club was different too. No neon lights flashed here. Instead, dim sconces lit the way.
We stopped in front of Kane, who seemed surprised to see us there, and Cash gave him a quick nod. “Everything good?”
Kane nodded in return and gave us a small smile. “Get sick of the madness downstairs?”
I had the feeling he was speaking to Cash more than me. Cash chuckled. “I’m going to show Olivia the floor. I’m assuming most of the rooms are still empty.”
“For now, yeah,” Kane said in his usual raspy voice as he pointed toward the far end of the floor. “I have one room at the end busy now, though.”
“Okay, we’ll stay away from that one.”
Kane narrowed his eyes and grinned. “They like to be watched, so feel free. And there’s always the dancers, if you like.”
I couldn’t imagine where any dancers could be on this floor. The entire area seemed more like a suite of offices than a nightclub. As Cash led me away, my curiosity got the best of me. “What dancers? Where are they?”
“Kane handles this floor, which includes dancers in booths connected to each room.”
“Like a strip club?”
“Not exactly. More like a private show for each room.”
“Can I see?” The words tumbled out of my mouth, and I didn’t care that I sounded almost childish in my enthusiasm.
“Absolutely.” Cash continued walking and stopped at a door. With a smile, he said, “I guess you’ve decided against plausible deniability.”
“I’ve always been a fan of knowledge over ignorance, so yes, I’m afraid from now on I’ll have to actually lie about everything here.”
“That’s the spirit.” The sexy smile slid from his face, and he winked at me. “Time for your education, Olivia.”
A sparkle in his eye unnerved me for a moment, but I was ready. I wanted to see everything here. He opened the second to last door and escorted me in. It was dimly lit, even darker than outside the room, but I saw a couch and coffee table like would be found in a hotel living room. Was this it? It all looked very run-of-the-mill.
“Take a seat and I’ll show you what happens when someone reserves a room like this one.”
I continued to look around at the beige walls and average looking furniture as I sat down and waited for Cash to begin explaining how everything on this floor worked. Instead, he dimmed the lights even more and sat down beside me. The air crackled with excitement as the moments ticked by, but still he remained silent.
Turning toward him, I studied him as he sat with his arms spread across the back of the sofa and his legs open, the picture of confidence. This Cash was everything Josie claimed he was—sexy and sensual. And entirely fuckable.
As every erotic thought I could think of ran through my mind, I could have sworn the room began to close in around me. My heart pounded against my ribs, and the feel of his muscular thigh pressing against the outside of my leg made me want to know what the rest of him would feel like against me.