The bell boy entered the room with a large silver trolley. Dishes covered with silver caps were lifted onto the table. The smell of the food made my mouth water and it was then my stomach grumbled. It was one of the most unladylike sounds I could have made and colour suffused my cheeks.
David shot me a look that I couldn't read but then I didn't need to. "I told you, you need to look after yourself and eat. Passing out from dehydration and lack of food is pointless. I want to enjoy you, not spend my time trying to scrape you up off the floor."
The bellhop glanced at my body wrapped up in the fluffy bathrobe. I could see it in his eyes. He couldn't hide his feelings, not the way David could. To me his look said, 'You’re too fat to pass out from lack of food.'
He caught me watching him and immediately looked away. When the last tray hit the table David handed the young man a rolled up note. I had always thought that only happened in the movies. But if you were super rich it probably made sense to tip everyone.
"What are you waiting for? Dig in." David lifted the lid from the first tray, revealing the most mouth-watering platter of chopped-up fresh fruit.
I plucked a strawberry from the top and popped it in my mouth. The moment it hit my tongue my mouth immediately filled with water. The fruit was perfect, ripe and juicy, its sweetness coating my tongue.
I lifted some of the other lids to find fresh croissants and other types of freshly baked bread. Under another was crispy bacon, eggs cooked in every style. There was a type of Mediterranean pasta dish filled with tomatoes that exploded with flavour in my mouth with each bite. The food, like the place, was exquisite.
I took a long gulp of the iced water that David had poured out for me along with the cup of black coffee. Slowly the headache was subsiding and for that I was grateful. At least it meant I didn't have to go in search of pain killers.
David sat in the chair opposite me. He barely touched the food, which made me feel a little guilty but each time I slowed in my eating he shot me a stern look. It was as though he knew I was trying to be dainty about my eating and not appear as famished as I truly was.
Another knock on the door had me looking from David to the closed white door. He smiled and lifted his hand as though to calm me. "Are you going to be this jumpy every time someone knocks on the door?"
I let the tension seep out of my shoulders and sat back in the chair. "No, I guess it's a little silly." He grinned at me and popped a piece of croissant into his mouth before standing and heading for the door.
I chewed the piece of bacon I had picked up carefully as I listened to David answer the door. His voice grew quieter as though trying to stop me from picking up on what he was saying. Eventually I heard him blowing out a large breath of air and he stepped back into the room.
Another man followed him. He was tall with dark hair that was greying around the temples in a sort of Richard Gere-esque style. He was extremely handsome and he carried himself with an air of importance. But that wasn't what really drew my attention. What caught my eye as he moved into the centre of the room was the large gun I could see in a shoulder holster under his suit jacket.
Menace seemed to roll off this man in waves and I shrank back against the chair in an attempt to go unnoticed. His eyes raked over the room, taking in every aspect of it before they came to rest on me.
His eyes were the colour of cold steel and I shivered involuntarily. This was the type of man that you didn't mess with. If he asked me anything I would immediately be compelled to answer truthfully. Fear did wonders for getting the truth out of people.
"And you are?" His voice was deep but not gruff as I had expected it to be. Instead it was smooth and flowed over the words easily. It was the type of accent that could have come from anywhere and nowhere in particular. The perfect serial killer voice, I thought, shocking even myself.
"Carrie... I'm Carrie, David's secretary." I stumbled over my words in an attempt to get them out fast enough. David had disappeared from the room into one of the many rooms off the main area. I was completely alone with this stranger.
"Secretary." He echoed my word and managed to sound entirely unconvinced by it. "You seem to be a little comfortable to be a secretary... If you were my secretary I wouldn't allow you..."
David re-entered the room cutting off the man. "Carrie, take no notice of Aaron. He likes to pretend he's a bully when really he's a complete softie." David emphasised his point by walking up behind the man and ruffling his dark hair.
Aaron ducked out of David's touch and spun around in an attempt to catch David's hand. He missed him by mere centimetres, David dodging out of the taller man's grasping attempts.
I watched them, bemused as they continued to tussle for a few minutes more before stopping. They were both breathing a little heavier but their smiles were wide and very genuine. The smile on Aaron's face transformed him completely. Suddenly he wasn't so intimidating.
"Carrie, this is my brother, Aaron. Older brother and certainly neither wiser nor more handsome." David grinned and once again I caught a glimpse of the man beneath the facade he enjoyed putting in place.
I stood and pulled the robe more tightly around my body before extending my hand towards him. He grinned and gripped my hand firmly. His hand was large enough to wrap around my much smaller one twice if he so wished it.
"Sorry about earlier. I can't help teasing. It's just my way of having a little fun. This one here is always so serious," he said, jerking his thumb back towards David.
I couldn't help but smile at that description, it was perfectly accurate. It seemed Aaron knew his brother very well.
"It's fine. I'm just a little overwhelmed by everything here..."
Aaron smiled sympathetically at me. "Is this one treating you properly? I know what he is like sometimes. All business and he forgets about life's real pleasures."
David moved up beside his brother and punched him playfully in the arm. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yeah, but honestly would you be here if Robert wasn't?" Aaron's voice had lost its teasing tone and I watched the exchange between the brothers with interest.
"I'd have come to bring Carrie here. She needs to see this sort of place. The club was a bit of a bust..."
"Oh?" Aaron returned his teasing gaze to me and I felt my cheeks heating up.
"Not that it's any of your business, Aaron," David warned. "I want Carrie to relax and enjoy herself. She deserves it." David smiled at me then. It was one that lifted my heart and sped up my pulse. I couldn't help myself and I smiled back. I was sure I looked like an idiot standing there in a fluffy bathrobe grinning from ear to ear.