Page 5 of Captivated By You
“Done,” I lied. Anne was right. If I needed to set up a new image, some chick off the street —or sprawled on a marble floor—wasn’t the way to go.
The image of her though, brown, wavy hair just below her shoulders, pulled back, and those eyes, the thick long lashes I knew weren’t fake came to mind and I adjusted my hard dick, growling at myself in the mirror.
“Fuck my life,” I muttered.
Anne snorted. “No thanks.”
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“Mr. Allistor,” Karen Flores held out her hand to me as soon as Anne and I stepped off the elevator. “So lovely to meet you and have you here at Infidelity. Please, come inside, and have a seat in my office while we talk.”
“Liam, please. And thank you for meeting me,” I said, lying through my teeth and shaking her hand. While Anne and Karen said their hellos and Karen gestured for us to follow her into her office, my gaze caught on something on the receptionist’s desk and my steps stalled.
The brunette.
One simple picture frame sat on the receptionist’s desk. It was of the brunette wrapped in the arms of two adults. They were on a beach and holy shit I hadn’t been wrong earlier. She was wearing a bright, yellow and white striped one-piece suit, cut outs revealing the sides of her waist. Her hair blew in the wind behind her, and her smile almost blinded me.
Gorgeous.
“Liam?”
Anne’s voice grabbed my attention. I swung around to see both women in the doorway to Karen’s office.
“Yeah?”
She arched her perfectly manicured black brows into sharp points. “Meeting. Coming?”
I glanced back at the photo and tapped the top of the empty desk once. “Oh yeah, I’m ready.”
“Okay,” Karen said, once she was settled behind her desk and Anne and I were sitting in two chairs on the opposite side.
I decided to spare her the spiel and sell me on Infidelity. I was in. All in.
“If Anne wants me to do this, I want her.” I pointed my thumb in the direction outside her office.
Karen flinched and then frowned. “I’m sorry. Excuse me?”
“Her. The woman who works at that desk. If I have to do this shit for a year, I want that woman.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Allistor—”
“Liam.”
From Anne’s chair, the heat of her glare was searing. If she could set me on fire with her eyes alone, I’d already be a pile of ash.
It was rare I was this difficult, but this was also my life they were fucking with, and damn it, I should be able to decide something about this next year of ridiculousness.
“I’m sorry, Liam. Claudia is my assistant, she’s not an employee available for clients. So, if you don’t mind, let’s get started and I’ll explain what Infidelity can do for you.”
And now I had a name. Claudia. I rolled it around on my lips silently. A bit exotic, a bit classic, a bit sassy. It fit her perfectly.
I sat in my seat like the good little boy Karen and Anne expected me to be and pretended to listen. For the next hour, Karen gave the entire spiel of her company. We were only referred by former clients and the only reason Anne knew of the place was much to my jaw-dropping shock, she’d once been an employee. That was how she met her husband, Don.
“You fucking serious?” I said, unable to hide my surprise. “You did this?”
“I’ve been trying to tell you that Infidelity is the best choice for you here, Liam. You just never listen.”
Not true. I listened all the time. To my manager and my band and my songwriter and hell…all I did some days was listen to other people telling me how to live my life.
