Chapter 17 A Bold Fuck Me Written On My Forehead
A BOLD FUCK ME WRITTEN ON MY FOREHEAD
CLAIRE
I was not any calmer when I woke up. All I wanted was to be home. Away from the pressure. Away from these confusing feelings I was having.
Away from the temptation.
Declan knocked this morning, but I pretended to be asleep when he poked his head into my room. He left a coffee on my nightstand, and lingered for a second as if he was going to wake me up before he retreated and softly shut the door behind him, thinking better of it.
I couldn't imagine what he thought of me right now, mauling him like that. How was I supposed to look him in the eye now?
I groaned and covered my face with a pillow. This was a disaster and I was not equipped to deal with it alone.
This was exactly why I liked control. I liked having plans and executing those plans perfectly. Nothing messy ever happened when you had a well thought out plan.
But no. I wanted to be fun. I wanted to let loose.
Well, look where that got me.
I needed Warner—I wasn’t the sister who was good at this. She was a dumpster fire on a good day and would know exactly what to do. She lived for chaos and it followed her wherever she went.
Warner was what you would describe as the bold type. Growing up, I was the older sister but she was the one who took charge. She was never afraid to be herself and she was always the one I went to for advice.
Since she met Alec so young, she never really had that phase where you sleep around. She married him basically out of high school and he was the only man she’d ever been with, so going to her for dating or sex guidance probably wasn’t effective. At the same time, she was all I had.
I picked up my phone and glanced at the time. My lips tipped up at one side as I debated if it was too early to call her and tell her about dry humping my boss until he came in his pants.
Well, no time like the present.
Good morning to us.
I dialed her number and put it on speaker, placing the phone on the pillow next to my head.
“Do you know what time it is?” Warner croaked when she answered.
“I don’t want to do the math,” I said in a much more chipper tone.
“Are you dead or were you kidnapped?” Her tone was flat, not at all seeming to be concerned for either situation.
“Would I call you in either of those scenarios?” I asked.
“I just can’t think of another reason you’d call me at five a.m.,” she snapped.
“I wanted to talk about sex,” I said confidently.
Warner gasped. I could hear her blankets rustling, assuming she was getting out of bed so as to not wake Alec up with her screams. The moment I heard her bedroom door close behind her, she let out a squeal that had me pushing the phone further away.
“Did you sleep with Hot Boss?”
“Not exactly.” I winced even though she couldn't see me. “He has a name, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah. What happened?” She sounded much more awake now. On the other end of the line, I could hear her pressing buttons on the coffee machine until it whirled to life.
I took a deep breath and told her about our kiss outside of the restaurant, and then in the bathroom, and then in front of the restaurant again. Then, I told her about the cable car. Warner was uncharacteristically quiet and did not interrupt me once.
“Are you still there?” I asked, tapping the phone to make sure it was still connected.
“I’m so fucking proud of you, Cee.”
I laughed. “For what?”
“Just putting yourself out there and living a little. This is very unlike you in the best way.”
“Well, now I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean?”
I sat up and brought my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. “I want to sleep with him.”
It was the one consistent thought in all of my overthinking last night. Every scenario I painted in my head brought me back to one need—I wanted Declan Alexander.
As stupid as that was.
“So sleep with him, babe. What’s the problem?”
I let out a breath. “The problem, dear sister, is that he will still be my boss when we get back to Texas. I’ll have to see him every day.”
“So? You’re both consenting adults. Be clear with him that this is just two people having fun under the influence of the Swiss Alps. He probably doesn’t want anything more, so I’m sure he’ll agree.”
I wasn’t sure why it hurt that Warner agreed with me that Declan wouldn’t want more once we got home, but it did. Like him wanting more than sex with me was so far out of the picture it was laughable.
She also had no idea about the whole pretending to be his fiancé thing.
Sleeping together basically just fit the plot that we were an item. Once we got back to Texas, it would all stop because I’d give the ring back and go back to being single.
Makes perfect sense.
Right?
“You’re being silent. Why are you being silent?” Warner asked.
“Because I’m freaking out,” I whined, falling back onto the bed.
“There is no need to freak out. Let’s think about this logically. What is the easiest way for you to seduce him?”
“Lay on the kitchen island naked when he comes home,” I deadpanned.
“Love the enthusiasm, but maybe something a little less… direct.” Warner sighed.
“There’s a hot tub?” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.
“Yes! That’s perfect!” She was a little too excited about this. “Just hang out there when he gets home. Put your flirt on and if he is feeling it then you’ll know. I feel like this is a lot easier than you’re making it seem.”
“Says the girl who’s only slept with her childhood sweetheart,” I scoffed. “What do I do? Just sit there with a bold ‘fuck me’ written on my forehead?”
Warner was silent again before letting out a nervous laugh. “Do you have a sharpie?” Her tone had humor in it but something shifted, like she was feeling uncomfortable.
I snorted. “Okay, I’m going to go. But thanks for answering, War.”
“I’ll always answer, Cee.”
I hung up the call, feeling slightly better than I did thirty minutes ago. Warner was right, we were both adults. This didn’t have to be complicated if we didn’t want it to be.
After all, this was why I came on this trip. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. I wanted to be someone else.
Switzerland Claire sleeps with Hot Boss––jeez, that sounded eerily similar to the start of a bad porno.
Determined, I got out of bed and slipped into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I flinched. My hair was all over the place and last night’s makeup was still on my face since I was too much of a wimp to walk into the hall after my lovely blurt and exit.
My signature move.
I washed my face and started the shower. Every inch of my body needed to be shaved and exfoliated. This man was used to rich women. Rich women waxed and were probably free of razor burn.
By the time I stepped out from under the water into the steamy bathroom, my skin was smooth and I smelled like spicy vanilla.
I poked my head out into the hallway but I didn’t hear any hints that Declan had gotten home so I bolted for my room.
Declan must have known there would be a hot tub because a bathing suit was on the packing list he provided me. I almost skipped it, but Warner bullied me into packing the red triangle two-piece that I always refused to wear at the beach because it was too revealing.
I fished it out of my suitcase and put it on. I brushed my hair, threw on some mascara and lip gloss, and headed upstairs.
I wasn’t sure how this was going to end, but I wasn’t going back to Texas a coward. I was living in the moment, and in this particular moment I wanted to climb my boss like a tree.