Irresistible Temptation (Baby Confessions #7)

Chapter 1

Juliet

His hazel eyes drifted toward my lips. They were already pouted in anticipation as I looked up at the handsome stranger who had just saved me from being splattered across the subway tracks.

He bit his lip slightly, as if holding himself back.

I slowly batted my lashes in silent invitation.

He hadn’t let go of me since he had pulled me from the edge of the platform, his calloused palms still gripping my hips as I caught my breath and tried to still my beating heart.

Was it from a near-death experience, or the pull I had to a man I had never met before?

Suddenly, a blaring beeping sounded in my ears, breaking my gaze as I looked around the station.

No one else seemed to notice this loud, intruding trill, but the sound grew louder, deafening even.

I looked back up at the dark-haired man, only to see him fading from view and my own bedroom coming into view in place of New York’s underground.

I tried to hold on to the dream, willing my alarm to shut the hell up and let me get some, even if it was in my sleep.

But the dream was gone, and I was left staring up at the ceiling through squinted eyes as they tried to adjust to the dark of the early morning when the sun hadn’t made its appearance yet.

I sleepily rubbed my eyes and groaned, rolling over to turn off my phone’s alarm, its glare harsh.

Of the twenty or so alarms I had set the night before, it had already gone off twice.

It was the third time it ripped me away from making out with that hot, dark-haired actor everyone was obsessed with, even though the movie he was in sucked.

It didn’t matter, though. No one was watching it for the plot.

As much as I wanted to go back to sleep and try to find my way back to that dream, to my dark-haired savior, I knew I had to get up.

I was starting my new job today and I needed everything to be perfect, which meant I needed to be at the office early, looking put together, and with an exorbitant amount of caffeine in my system, since it was only 4 a.m. First impressions were everything, and I intended to make a good one, hence the obscenely early wakeup call.

“Okay, okay,” I muttered to no one in particular. “I’m up.”

I pulled the white linen sheets from my body and swung my legs around until my feet met the shaggy rug beneath me.

I stretched my arms up in the air, my tangled blonde hair tickling my lower back as if reminding me it was in need of a wash.

My striped cotton pajamas had bunched up from sleep, so I tugged at them as I walked to my bathroom.

Flipping on the switch, the bathroom lighting seemed to attack me mercilessly with its three bulbs above the mirror.

I put my hand up to combat it, but it was no use.

With a yawn, I strode for the shower, turning the handle until the spray of water sent droplets sprinkling over my forearm.

I peeled my pajamas off and tossed them in a crumpled, pink-striped pile on the floor.

I stepped into the shower before the water had fully warmed up, wincing at the chilliness that I knew would wake me up.

A minute or two passed and I was feeling more awake, and the water settled into the sweet spot between warm and hot.

I let out a comfortable moan underneath the spray of water, wishing I had someone to share it with.

Wishing it was that hot actor from my dream.

I sighed, knowing my shower would be spent alone, like every other mundane thing in my life lately.

Reaching for the soap and a loofah, and having a good two hours before I had to leave, I figured I would make the most of it and take an “everything” shower.

You know, the kind where you lather and scrub and shave and deep condition.

Once I was exfoliated, I massaged a hair mask into my hair and tied it into a braid that fell down my back to let it sit for the next ten minutes or so.

I reached for my lilac razor that sat on the upper shelf of the shower.

With time to spare with the hair mask, I figured I would do a full shave-down.

Legs. Armpits. Down there. It wasn’t like I was going to get lucky or have a man’s hands rove up the smoothest parts of my body, though I would love that, but it would be a good confidence booster.

Sleek and sexy and confident. The best way to feel at the start of a new job.

It had been a while though, so I reached for a towel and quickly dried my hands before grabbing my phone from the nearby countertop just outside the shower.

I positioned it on the towel rack, balancing it between the two plush cream towels, and turned the camera on so that the screen was facing me.

It was my make-shift mirror to make sure I didn’t miss a spot.

Balancing on one leg, with my foot on the lip of the shower’s edge, I got to work.

As I ran the razor up my thigh and further on, through the lavender-scented suds, I began playing out different scenarios in my head.

I figured it couldn’t hurt to practice my conversational skills, starting with the CEO who would also be having his first day today.

“I’m Juliet,” I said, practicing a few different smiles.

Teeth. No teeth. Slight smirk. Open-mouthed. They all felt wrong.

“Your first day too, huh?” I laughed softly.

“Are you as nervous as me?” I tried out.

“We can be the newbies together.” I grinned.

I shook my head. Stupid. This was so stupid.

I highly doubted I would even meet the new CEO, let alone chum it up with him about how we were both starting our new jobs.

He probably wouldn’t have the time of day for a mere accountant like me.

I only knew that he was starting that day because I googled the company’s name and it was all over the news that there was a huge merger with some flashy billionaire CEO.

I didn’t read too much into the articles, as I was just trying to grasp the basics behind the nonprofit, which was what drew me to the job in the first place.

I had worked at nonprofits out of college and through my twenties.

I believed in the work they were doing in trying to better people, the planet, and education.

Whatever. I just wanted to be a part of something that gave back.

This new job was just that, as it was one of the largest nonprofits in New York City.

I didn’t know how I had even landed it. Whether it was luck or timing, I was proud of myself, and also scared shitless, which was why I was still going through imaginary scenarios in my head during my shower.

As I switched legs, careful not to slip on the wet surface of the white shower floor, I glanced at my phone to make sure I hadn’t missed a spot.

I jerked my head back in surprise before I peered closer at the screen.

That was strange. There were little red hearts floating on the right side of the screen.

I leaned in and looked closer. Among the hearts were a few emojis with hearts for eyes.

What the hell?

That was when I saw it. A little water droplet at the screen’s base of my phone. If a water droplet could smile mischievously, this one would be doing just that as I realized what was happening.

I was livestreaming.

From my shower.

Completely naked.

With my legs spread for all the internet to see.

I screamed and reached for my phone, only to knock it from the towel rack.

It clattered to the floor, screen side up with more hearts and emojis and what looked like a number of viewers too astronomical to comprehend.

I quickly crouched down and leaned over the lip of the shower, careful to cover my bare breasts, as if everyone hadn’t already seen that and more.

I jabbed at the screen until the camera shut off and the livestream shut down.

Just to be safe, I threw a towel over my phone, cursing out loud as I quickly rinsed off.

I pulled several towels from the towel rack and covered myself head-to-toe before stepping out of the shower, as if they were blankets of security and the internet was still watching.

I slid to the floor and put my face in my hands, the warmth of my cheeks burning through my palms. I couldn’t believe I had just shown the worldwide web what was between my worldwide legs.

From under the towel, I could hear the notification bells dinging, one after the other.

I groaned in mortification, wondering what sorts of messages and comments I was receiving after that show I put on.

I reached under the towel and grabbed my phone, peering at it cautiously as if it might spring to life and begin recording again.

Thankfully, I didn’t see my face staring back at me, but instead saw several texts from my best friends.

Five from Gabriella:

OMG.

JULIET!

You’re livestreaming!

Shut off your phone.

NOW.

Four from Sadie:

TURN YOUR PHONE OFF!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

JULIET! YOU’RE ONLINE!

CALL ME

I grimaced slightly. My best friends had seen me bear it all, along with what I believed to be around 270,000 other online viewers based on the number I saw on my screen before I shut it down.

If I hadn’t been awake before, I was now, but I was desperately wanting to climb into bed and never see the sunrise again.

My phone rang, startling me. It was Gabriella. I tightened the towel around my body and secured the one strewn over my head of sopping wet hair.

“Hello?” I answered with a croak of a whisper.

“Juliet?” asked Gabriella, her voice shrill.

“Yep. It’s me. Your mortified best friend who will never recover from what just happened.”

“What the hell happened?” she asked with concern in her voice.

“I don’t know!” I groaned. “I was doing the whole ‘everything shower’ before my first day of work and thought I would use my phone as a mirror to shave. A real genius decision, I know. And somehow it livestreamed…”

“Okay. Okay…” Gabriella took a deep breath. I could tell she was trying to calm down on the other line. I could imagine her pacing her bedroom, trying to find a positive to this situation. Unless I was pursuing a career as a cam girl, I wasn’t sure there was one.

“Maybe it’s not so bad…” she suggested, her voice raising an octave.

“Maybe I didn’t just show my goods to the entire world.”

“It wasn’t the entire world.”

“Just close to three hundred thousand…”

“Shit…”

“Yeah.” I sighed, running my hands down my face defeatedly. I pulled my phone away from my ear to check the time. I had to get going. As much as I wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear, I still had to go to work. “I have to go. My new job awaits.”

“We’ll figure this mess out, okay?” said Gabriella. “Just brush it off and focus on your new job.”

I nodded in response, even though she couldn’t hear me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to brush this off.

“Juliet?” she asked worriedly.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Thanks, Gabriella. Will you call Sadie for me?” I asked, not wanting to face another mortifying conversation like this.

“Of course.”

“Thanks. Bye, Gabs.” I hung up and pulled myself from the plush bath rug. I walked toward the mirror and removed the towel over my head. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and shook my head.

“You couldn’t have just had a chill, calm morning, could you?” I asked myself.

I would have laughed, if I didn’t feel like I was going to erupt into tears.

Instead, I took a deep breath and tried to do what Gabriella said.

Brush it off. I opened the bottom drawer of the bathroom counter and pulled out my blow dryer and round brush.

I began drying my hair and trying to ignore the images of myself on my phone screen that kept popping in my head.

Maybe it was a grainy livestream and no one could tell it was me.

270,000 people isn’t that many in comparison to how many people populate the planet.

Aside from people who I’m friends with, it was just a bunch of strangers who would probably get a laugh out of it and forget about it.

These were all things I kept telling myself as I worked the round brush through my hair, holding the blow dryer with the other hand.

Once my hair was dry and looked half decent, I applied a coat of mascara, a pop of blush, and some clear gloss on my lips.

I brushed the shine from the small mole above the right side of my lip, trying to take away any emphasis on the one of many insecurities I had.

Then I quickly dressed in the cream skirt suit I had steamed the night before that was neatly hanging in my closet.

I studied myself in the mirror, feeling mostly mortified, and only somewhat professional.

Lifting my shoulders in a shrug, I let out a deep breath.

This was as good as it was going to get.