Ah, yes. I am officially on holiday from work for a whole wonderful, stress-free week. It's really a stay-cation though, which means I'll have plenty of time to spend here, sharing the joys of Sylvia Day with all of you. Whether I'll have the energy for such a task remains to be seen, but I'm feeling good just now so let's get into it.
When we left Eva and Gideon (is it just me or are these names not as good as Ana and Christian? Oh no - I've gotten attached), they were about to have sex in the middle of Gideon's office in the middle of a work day, even though Gideon had been super aggressive and predatory (I swear, if this book ends up being a bunch of rape-fantasy sex, I quit). They were startled out of their ardour by the voice of Gideon's receptionist who, thankfully, was not actually in the room (I mean *think* of the HR problems).
"'Cross stood at the far end of the sofa, flushed and scowling, his chest heaving. His tie was loosened and the fly of his slacks strained against a very impressive erection."
"'Christ.' He shoved both hands through his hair. 'It's the middle of the fucking day. In my goddamn fucking office!'" -- I know, right?
They adjust their clothes and attempt to look more like colleagues and less like the embarrassments they are. Eva reaches for her purse and Gideon takes her chin in his hand and asks if she's okay.
"I jerk my chin away. 'Do I look okay?'
'You look beautiful and fuckable. I want you so badly it hurts. (that's just your optical illusion straining against your slacks) I'm dangerously close to taking you back to the couch and making you come 'til you beg me to stop.'" -- Is this where I'm supposed to swoon?
Gideon tells her that he'll move what he has to around and come get her at 5, something she has not previously agreed to.
"'No, you won't. This doesn't change anything.'
'The hell it doesn't.'
'Don't be arrogant, Cross. I lost my head for a second, but I still don't want what you want.'
His fingers curled around the door handle. 'Yes, you do. You just don't want it the way I want to give it to you. So, we'll revisit and revise.'" -- Be still, my heart.
He's so romantic.
"He stood calmly and hit the call button. 'Five o'clock, Eva.'
I stared at the lighted button. 'I'm busy.'
'Tomorrow, then.'
'I'm busy all weekend.'
Stepping in front of me, he asked tightly, 'With whom?'
'That's none of your —'
His hand covered my mouth. 'Don't. Tell me when, then. And before you say never, take a good look at me and tell me if you see a man who's easily deterred.'
..........
Just before the doors closed, he said, 'We're going to happen, Eva.'
It sounded as much like a threat as a promise."
For perspective, I am on Day Four of trying to blog this one chapter. The goal is to finish it before I start work again. Here we go.
Eva gets back to work late, because her lunch/erotic rendezvous ran a little long. She feels bad but her boss tells her not to worry because he also had a late lunch. They get back to work, and before she knows it, it's 5pm and her stalker is probably lurking somewhere in the building waiting to ambush her before she goes home. And they say romance is dead.
The office phone rings and it's her mother, calling to inform her she left her cell phone at Stanton Richard's (Richard Stanton's?) office. She knows this, since she tracks it. Eva asks her mother what her therapist thinks about her tracking her phone, and it sort of seems like she hasn't told him. Surprising. Eva suggests a joint session, and her mother agrees. They exchange platitudes: how Eva really likes her job, how her boss is great, and absolutely nothing about the walking restraining order waiting to happen. They make a date to have a spa day, and Eva leaves for home. Not five minutes after she's hung up the phone, it rings again. Thinking it's her very distracted mother again, she answers.
"'I'm still thinking about you.'
The velvet rasp of Cross's voice flooded me with such relief that I realized I'd been hoping to hear it again. Today.
God. The craving was so acute I knew he'd become a drug to my body, the prime source of some very intense highs.
'I can still feel you, Eva. Still taste you. I've been hard since you left, through two meetings and one teleconference...'" -- You might want to see a doctor, dude. I'm pretty sure that isn't supposed to happen. Also, it sounds like you're not paying enough attention to running your business. Unless that really does it for you.
She tells him she still doesn't want to sleep with him (honestly I've lost track of how many times this poor woman has had to say 'no'), and suggests that instead he should "Go spend time with a woman who salivates at your feet and makes you feel like a god. Fuck her until neither of you can walk." The theory behind this is that the next time he sees her, he'll not be interested anymore. Which is not, I don't think, how sexual attraction works at all, but okay.
"The creak of leather sounded over the phone and I imagined him leaning back in his desk chair. 'That was your one free pass. The next time you insult my intelligence, I'll take you over my knee.'" -- WEALTHY MAN IN POSITION OF POWER THREATENS TO HIT SUBORDINATE: FULL STORY AT 9. Seriously, though, is there an HR department at this place or is that literally just Gideon and a whip?
Instead of telling him to fuck off, Eva says she needs to go because she has a date with her vibrator, which, if anything, will just encourage this behaviour. To prove my point, Gideon's next question is: "What will it take to talk you into a threesome with B.O.B.?" Now, perhaps due to my own ignorance, but more likely due to the fact that absolutely NO ONE calls a vibrator 'B.O.B.', my first thought at that question was not "Battery-Operated Boyfriend", but instead that Gideon was suggesting a threesome with a mediocre rap artist who hadn't even been consulted to gauge his interest.
And the thing - the really painful thing - is that her comeback is good! It is! But. ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I just can't take her seriously.
"'B.O.B. and I have a longtime understanding — when we're done with each other, we know exactly which one of us has been used, and it isn't me. Good night, Gideon.'" -- BAM! YES! That is how it's done! Is what I would say if I believed for a second it was going to make an ounce of difference.
Upon arriving home, Eva is so happy to be away from Gideon that she dances through the door and interrupts a private, though non-compromising, moment between Cary and his maybe boyfriend, Trey. Seeing them together makes Eva bitter about how clinical and impersonal Gideon wants their sexy time to be. Eva takes a bottle of wine out of the fridge and Parker (the Krav Maga guy) calls. Richard-Stanton has decided to fund some safety improvements to the studio, and Parker is super excited about it. Trey leaves for class and after complaining about Gideon and her mother, Eva and Cary decide to go to a club to get her mind off of things.
They bounce around from club to club until they come across some dude near a Walgreens promoting a lounge. It's very fancy and all they have to do is show the card he gives them and they get in free. They're just settling in and ordering drinks when surprise surprise, Gideon shows up and plants a domineering hand on Eva's shoulder. Cary abandons Eva, like a good friend, and goes to dance. Throughout the course of the painfully forced dialogue, we learn a few things about Gideon and the night Eva's been having that, honestly, are too ridiculous to even be fiction.
"'Do you come here often?'
Shit. Where did that cliched line come from?
His hand dropped to my lap and caught one of mine, his fingers curling into my palm. 'When necessary.'
......
Gideon's mouth curved into a genuine smile that hit me hard.
'When expensive decisions need to be made. I own this club, Eva.'
Of course he did. Jeez." -- Yes. Of course he does.
The waitress comes around with two vodka cranberries, which Gideon ordered, and which Eva has been drinking all night. Suspicious.
"'Not bad,' he murmured. 'Tell me if we made it right.'
He kissed me. He moved in fast, but I saw it coming and didn't turn away. His mouth was cold and flavored with alcohol-laced cranberry. ..... I shoved a hand in his glorious hair and clenched it tight, holding him still as I sucked on his tongue (ew?). His groan was the most erotic sound I'd ever heard, making the flesh between my legs tighten viciously.
Shocked by the fury of my reaction, I wrenched away, gasping.
Gideon followed, nuzzling the side of my face, his lips brushing over my ear. He was breathing hard, too, and the sound of the ice in his tumbler clinking against the glass skittered across my inflamed senses.
'I need to be inside you, Eva,' he whispered roughly. 'I'm aching for you.'"
Strained though her brain is at the moment, Eva manages to remember that he bought her the drink she'd been downing all night without asking her what she'd been drinking, and thinks it's weird. She asks him how he knew her drink and Cary's name (yeah he knew who he was too, I just didn't think it was important enough to write about), and the conversation just falls apart from there.
"'You visited another of my clubs earlier. Your credit card popped and your drinks were recorded. And Cary Taylor is listed on the rental agreement for your apartment.'
The room spun. No way . . . My cell phone. My credit card. My fucking apartment. I couldn't breath. Between my mother and Gideon, I felt claustrophobic.
'Eva. Jesus. You're white as a ghost.' He shoved a glass into my hand. 'Drink.'
It was the Stoli and cranberry. I pounded it, draining the tumbler. My stomach churned for a moment, then settled. 'You own the building I live in?' I gasped.
'Oddly enough, yes.'" -- fucking seriously?
"'Is that why you're here in this club right now? Because of me? And don't say what you think I want to hear.'
His gaze was clear and steady. 'I'm here for you, yes. I arranged it.'
Suddenly the threads the street hawker had been wearing made sense. We'd been hustled by someone on Cross Industries' payroll. 'Did you figure that getting me here would get you laid?'
His mouth twitched with suppressed amusement. 'There's always the hope, but I expected it would take more work than a chance meeting over drinks.'
'You're right. So why do it? Why not wait until Monday lunch?'
'Because you're out trolling. I can't do anything about B.O.B., but I can stop you from picking up some asshole in a bar. You want to score, Eva, I'm right here.'" -- Is this supposed to be endearing? Am I honestly supposed to swoon over a petulant manchild literally declaring IF I CAN'T HAVE SEX WITH YOU THEN YOU CAN'T HAVE SEX WITH ANYONE ELSE!
They spend the rest of the evening, believe it or not, literally negotiating the terms of their inevitable sexual adventures. She needs more than an 'emotionless transaction,' and he cannot even begin to understand why. They decide that, occasionally, when they're not having sex, they'll spend time together not having sex, and Eva promises she won't ever think it's a date, so I guess that's their sex life sorted for the foreseeable future.
"Duffy began begging for mercy, her voice drifting up from the dance floor below. An unwelcome ache developed in my chest and I rubbed at it.
I'd already had enough, but I heard myself saying, 'I need another drink.'" -- Don't we all, Eva.
