Chapter 12 #2
“It makes no difference to me, but I do need to know where you see yourself in five, ten and fifteen years from now.”
“Right.” I twist my fingers on my lap, unsure if I want to be here anymore.
Mentoring me for business is one thing, opening up about where I want my future to be is going too far.
He takes out a notepad and pen from his top drawer. “Let’s break it down. This is always daunting for people when we start this process.”
“You’ve done this before?”
“I’ve mentored many people,” he says as he rules lines on his notepad. “I really enjoy it.”
This is not so special then.
“Let’s do a list, where do you want to be personally in twelve months?” he asks.
“Happy.”
His eyes rise to meet mine as if taken off guard by my answer. “Are you happy now?”
“Yes.”
“Why do I feel like….”
“Like what?” I cut him off.
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re not happy?”
“I don’t know, because I am,” I snap.
He writes something down and underlines it. “Where do you want to be in five years?”
“I would like to be settled down and happily married.”
He continues taking notes. “Seven years from now?”
“Perhaps starting a family.”
He nods and keeps writing. “And in what capacity do you want to keep working if you have children?”
I think for a moment before I reply, “I would like to be active in the business but not tied down working nine-to-five full days.”
“Right.” He takes more notes. “Do you currently have an online presence for your business?”
“Yes and no. I do a daily product post on socials but my website and marketing skills could definitely be a lot sharper.”
Over the next two hours Edward leads me through a series of questions, things I’ve never considered or given any real thought to about my life before now. I’m beginning to see the value in him mentoring me, he really does have a deeper understanding of the principles of business.
The yacht is turned around and we are heading back to shore. “Surely you can have a glass of wine now?” he asks me.
“I guess I can.” I smile, I’m confident that this isn’t a sleazy pickup attempt and I now feel the confidence to let my guard down a little.
“What are you doing this weekend?” he asks.
“I’m going to New York to see my brother graduate.”
“Ahh…I’d offer you my jet but I’m going to be using it myself.”
“Where are you going?” I ask.
“Home to London for the week. It’s my sister Charlotte’s birthday. You know, your best friend.” He winks.
“Oh, yes.” I laugh. “Give her my love.”
He goes to the bar and pours me a glass of wine and himself another glass of whatever he’s drinking and I smile as I take it from him. He holds his glass up as I touch mine to it.
I take a sip and frown as I stare at the glass. “Well, this is delicious.”
“It is.”
I look around our luxurious surroundings. “I can’t actually believe that this is your life.”
He looks around as if trying to see it through my eyes. “Me too, some days.”
“I’m…” I shrug, “…gobsmacked.”
He chuckles. “Do you want the tour?”
“Sure.”
He leads me out of the office and past the boardroom. “There’s a gym on this floor and three bedrooms.” We walk down and see a state-of-the-art gymnasium.
“Jeez.” I smile.
“An infrared sauna.” He opens a door at the back of the gym to reveal a timber sauna complete with steam.
“Wow.” I giggle. “This is unbelievable.”
He opens the doors of the bedrooms and shows me them, all huge and beautiful with their own bathrooms.
“How much time do you spend on this yacht?”
“Quite a bit, actually.” He leads me up the stairs. “This is the master level.” We get to the top and the air leaves my lungs. A huge, beautiful bedroom with glass walls and beautiful modern furnishings. “What size is this bed?” I gasp.
“Big.” He laughs with a shrug. “I don’t know, more than a king, not sure what comes after that.”
“So your sheets and linen are all custom?” I frown.
He shrugs again. “I’m guessing.”
I laugh. “Do you know how spoiled you sound right now?”
His eyebrows flick up. “I hate to think.” He opens up double doors to reveal a huge bathroom with a round sunken bathtub in the center.
“My god.” I gasp. “This is…just beautiful.”
He opens up the doors to a giant-sized walk-in wardrobe, his clothes are all lined up neatly. Row after perfect row of suits and swanky shoes.
“Do you wear suits every day?”
He scrunches his nose up as if embarrassed. “Possibly.”
“Well…. Wow.” I shake my head in disbelief. “This is incredible.” I look around the bedroom and a thought comes to me. “What does your girlfriend have to say about you having women on this yacht?”
“Like you?”
“Yeah, like me. If I were her, I would not want you to have women in your bedroom. I’d be furious actually.”
“I’m friends with most of my ex-girlfriends.”
“But I’m not an ex-girlfriend.”
“You would have been if I could have found you back then.”
Oh…I think on that for a moment as I look around and turn back to him. “Why couldn’t you find me?” I ask. “With this kind of money I would have thought you could have found anyone.”
“Not at that club. Believe me, I tried to bribe them and all.” He smiles wistfully. “I eventually assumed it wasn’t meant to be.”
“True.” I nod as I continue to look around. “How often do you sleep on here?”
“Probably sixty to seventy percent of the time I’m in Monaco.”
“You don’t like your home?”
“I do.” He shrugs. “I don’t know why I spend so much time here, I haven’t really thought of it before.”
“It’s beautiful.” I walk to the window and look out over the ocean and he sits on the bed behind me. “And for the record, I think she’s utterly crazy letting you entertain women here,” I add. “Screw that.”
“She feels secure with my work colleagues, I guess.” He smirks. “Although I’m thinking that would change if she knew you were my surefire.”
“Surefire?” My eyes flick back to him. “What’s a surefire?”
“You know, someone who always gets the job done.”
Huh?
“You’ve lost me.”
He smiles in surprise. “You don’t have a surefire?”
“What the hell is a surefire?” I frown.
“You know this….” His smile is full of mischief. “All men have a surefire.”
“They do?”
The yacht begins to pull into the marina and we turn around and begin to reverse.
“Please explain this.” I laugh. “I’m completely lost.”
“You know…. When you’re alone and you want to…
.” His eyes hold mine. “Touch yourself. You have someone that you think of while you do it. Or if you’re with someone and it’s not happening…
. You think of that certain someone, mentally begin to fuck your surefire, and it instantly gets you over the line. ”
My eyes search his and I begin to hear my heartbeat in my ears. “I’m your surefire?”
“Yes.”
We stare at each other, the air crackles with electricity and the sexual energy between us is like nothing I’ve ever felt.
You could cut it with a knife.
“You think of me when you touch yourself?” I whisper.
“I have.” His tongue darts out and swipes over his bottom lip and I feel it all the way to my toes. “Remember the spa bath in Switzerland?”
“Maybe,” I lie.
Ha, remember it, it rewired my fucking brain.
“Maybe.” He repeats my answer and taps the bed beside him. “You in that spa bath was the single hottest sexual experience of my life.”
I remain standing as my eyes drop to his lips, the magical chemistry swirls between us.
“I should go,” I whisper.
“You should.” He stands and we come face-to-face, millimeters away.
“Who’s your surefire, Alora?” he murmurs, he’s so close that I feel his breath tickle my skin.
“I’ve never needed one,” I lie again, I basically couldn’t lie straight in bed now.
Compulsive.
They keep coming, one after the other.
“I….”
I suddenly feel tight chested and I know if I stay here I am one hundred percent committing adultery and I’m going to break that big fuck-off bed of his.
“I have to go.” I turn and rush down the stairs and down to the next level and I feel him coming after me and I walk faster and faster.
I get to the ground floor and head for the door.
“Alora. Stop,” he demands.
I stop on the spot as I face the door, my breath hitching as I try to gain some much-needed control over my traitorous body.
“Let me walk you out,” he says calmly from behind.
I nod and he walks past me and opens the door. The security are waiting on the end of the gangplank. “Give us a moment please,” he says as we walk past them and they stay where they are.
We walk in silence back to the Bentley and he opens the back door and I pause before I get in. “When?”
His eyes hold mine.
“When was the last time you used me as a surefire?”
“Yesterday.” His tongue swipes over his bottom lip as he stares at me. “I fucked your mouth and I blew so fucking hard.”
I audibly gasp, my heart races.
He leans in and puts his mouth to my ear. “Then I needed more, so I fucked your ass.” His breath on my ear sends shivers up my spine. “And you loved every fucking inch of it.”
I get a vision of him pulling himself as he pictured us together, the image heats my blood to boiling point. I pull away from him, my scared eyes search his. The hold this man has over me is terrifying.
“Goodbye, Edward.”
A trace of a smile crosses his face. “Goodbye, Alora.”
I get into the car and he closes the door, and then as if nothing happened he casually turns and walks back to his yacht. I slump back into the seat as if I have just run a marathon.
Dear God.