His Absolute Assignment - Elise's Love Story: The Billionaire's Continuum (#1) (A Contemporary Romance Novel) (9 page)

"I know it's sort of dumb," I continued, "and I know I don't actually want this, but sometimes I wonder what it'd be like if we were trapped in the library forever.  What if we had plenty of food for it, and it was just us, together.  We'd have so many books.  We'd never need more, because I don't think we can even read all of these books in our entire lifetime.  And we could cuddle.  Do you remember when we watched a movie while sitting on bean bags from the children's section?  And the other time when we were cuddling and you read
The Epic of Gilgamesh
and I read
Tristan and Iseult
?  I love that story.  And we played cards.  And..."  I trailed off, dreaming.

"I remember," Lucent said.

"What was your favorite part?" I asked.

"The beginning," he said.

"Which part?"

"When I found you sleeping.  I think you're the only person in the world who could look entirely content while sleeping on a bean bag chair in a library in the middle of the worst recorded blizzard in history."

"Yes, well..."  I shrugged.

"I truly look forward to reading your story once it's finished," Lucent said.  "I think it sounds magnificent."

"Do you?" I asked.  "I... I'm going to write the sex parts, too, though.  Is that alright?"

He nodded.  "Of course."

"Maybe I might need help sometime, though.  You know, with remembering?"

"A demonstration, perhaps?"

"I think that would be best."  I nodded.

"As I stated previously, Miss Tanner, I shall support you in your endeavors.  I meant that to the fullest extent possible, so if you need my assistance, I will gladly offer it."

"Good," I said, nodding more.  "I'm talking about you having sex with me, just so we're both on the same page there.  I don't know if you thought I meant anything else or not."

"I understand," he said.

"I know it didn't happen back then, but if you wanted to toss me off your lap, pin me to the floor, rip off my pantyhose, stuff them in my mouth, and do the belt thing you said before, I wouldn't be opposed to it.  Right now, I mean.  You could do it later, too, I guess, but seeing as we're in the library currently, the setting is appropriate."

"I would like nothing more than to do that," Lucent said, his grin nigh predatory.  "I believe it may be more appropriate if we abstain for the time being, though."

"You might be correct."

"I might be.  I might not.  I'm entirely unsure."

Someone knocked on the door.  "Elise?" Rob said from outside it.  "Sorry to interrupt you, but we need to close early today.  Someone called in sick and there's no one around to cover the shift.  I'd let you stay, but it's against regulations.  I'm really sorry about that."

"I think you were correct," I whispered to Lucent.  Louder, to Rob outside the door, I said, "It's fine!  Thank you so much for letting me do this, though.  It was a really big help.  I appreciate it, Rob."

"You're welcome back any time you like," Rob said through the door.  "Just let me know when your book is done.  I'll get one for the library.  Wouldn't that be neat?"

I laughed.  That would be neat.  Even if I never sold another copy, I thought I'd be completely happy with just one book existing, sitting on a shelf in this library.

"Shall we go, then?" Lucent asked.

I nodded.  "I just need to go home really quick to get clothes to wear for tonight's party, but then can I come to your apartment and get ready there?"

"I'll let the doorman know," Lucent said.  "I'll see you soon."

He kissed me lightly and we disentangled from each other, rising from our seat in front of the empty fireplace.  Lucent opened the door and Rob came in, smiling.  We all chatted for a moment, friendly and nice.  It was so perfect to me.  Maybe no one else would like it, but to me it was perfect.

I actually went home this time, to my apartment instead of the library.  I thought of both places as homes in a different kind of way, but unfortunately Rob would never let me leave clothes in one of the library closets.  How neat would that be, though?  It would probably be the best thing ever.

But, no, that wasn't possible.  So, I drove home, parked, went inside, opened my door, and Vanessa was sitting on the couch in our small apartment living room, which was also kind of a part of the kitchen.  We didn't have the most grandiose apartment ever, unfortunately.  She looked over her shoulder at me, peeling her eyes away from watching some reality show on TV.

"Hey, roomie!" she said.  "Want to make dinner?  Or go out?  There's half-off burgers at that bar you like.  You know, the one with the books?"

I did like that bar.  It was quieter than most, but still decently popular, and they had shelves built into the walls with books that you could borrow and read while you ate if you wanted.

"Um, I can't," I said.  "I just needed to stop in quick to get something to wear for tonight.  I have to go to an event."

"An event?" Vanessa asked, treating the word like a foreign and exotic object.  "You go to events?"

"I do go to events on occasion," I replied.  "I don't just stay home all the time."

"You do actually stay home most of the time.  Unless you're going out with Lucent, in which case you don't.  So this is a Lucent thing, huh?" she asked.

I didn't bother answering.  Instead, I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Got it!" she said, far too pleased with herself.  "Lucent, you, event.  Makes sense.  What is it?  Some book thing?  Or one of his rope tying spanking things?"

"Vanessa!" I said.  "We don't do rope tying spanking things."  Or, we didn't at events, anyways.  What kind of person would I be if I just let people watch me get rope-tied-spanked?  Kind of a weird one.

"Oh," she said.  "Well, what's the event?"

"I don't know.  Want to help me pick an outfit?" I asked; she shrugged and nodded.  "It's this party, I guess.  For Landseer Enterprises.  Jessika and Asher are doing a wedding vow renewal ceremony thing, too.  Then it's a celebration about some foreign rights agreement.  I'm not sure why I was invited."

"You were invited because you're awesome!" Vanessa said, chipper.  She hopped off the couch and followed me into my bedroom.

"Please don't say that," I said.  I went to my closet while Vanessa tossed herself onto my bed, bouncing up and down.

"What?  I think you're awesome.  What's wrong with that?"

"Well, first off, you don't think I'm awesome.  You just told me I sit around at home all the time like some old lady."

"Hey, no.  I didn't say that.  Also, old ladies don't always sit at home.  My mom goes out and plays pool with my dad all the time.  My grandma plays bingo at the rec center on Fridays and she sees a movie with my grandfather every Tuesday.  It's cute."

"So I'm worse than an old lady?" I said.  "Great..."

"You're..."  Vanessa paused to gather her thoughts.  I ignored her and searched through the clothes in my closet.

"What about this?" I asked.  I held up a plain, light blue dress for her to see.

"It's... well, it's kind of frumpy looking.  Not your greatest."

"What do you mean it's frumpy looking?  I think it's cute.  What's wrong with it?"

"Look, Elise," Vanessa said, sighing.  "I don't mean to be the one to tell you this, but you do this a lot.  You're really pretty, alright?  You can pull off cute like nobody's business, too!  You've got the sweatshirt and sweatpants look down pat.  But..."

"But what?"

"You can't go to something important wearing a dress like that.  It's got no shape.  You've got a body, you know?  It's kind of hot.  I mean, that should be obvious, but I don't know if you know it or not.  Yeah, yeah, I'm sure Lucent likes you for a lot of reasons, but I'm pretty sure he thinks you're sexy, too."

"Um..."  I tossed the dress back into my closet.  "This isn't that kind of event, Vanessa.  It's just for work.  Some work event, right?  Why should I look sexy for it?  Also, I don't think you're right.  I don't even know how to do that."

"You do this a lot, too.  I don't get it.  I don't know what to say to you except that you and Lucent seem to have a whole lot of sex, and I'm positive there's a reason for it, and I'm jealous."

"We don't have that much sex," I said.

"You do," she said.  "Once a day is a lot.  Even once every other day is kind of a lot.  And you've told me that sometimes it's more than once a day?  That's just crazy.  That's not normal.  People don't..."

"I told you those things privately!" I snapped.

"Yeah, so?  No one's here.  It's still private, roomie."

Yes, well... she had a point, I supposed.  "Fine.  What do you suggest?"

"I'll let you borrow one of my dresses.  Sound good?"

"I guess," I muttered.

"I'm just looking out for you."

"Looking out for me for what?  I'm going to a company event.  I don't think I need to look sexy for that."

"Elise, Elise, Elise."  Vanessa shook her head sadly and sighed.  "It's not about what you look like during the event, it's about what's going to happen afterwards.  You need to build anticipation.  Make Lucent practically begging you to come home with him.  And then when you're at his place..."  She winked at me, then did it another time, and a third because I kept rolling my eyes at her.

"I was already planning to go home with him," I said.

"Wow," Vanessa said, shaking her head.  "Wow.  Alright, just come with me.  I'll find you a sexy dress."

"Vanessa, I'm going to be there on my own mainly.  Lucent's going to be busy.  I don't want to wear anything too sexy."

"What, why?"

"I don't want people to stare at me.  It makes me uncomfortable."

"No one's going to stare at you," she said.  Grabbing my hand, she pulled me away from my closet, dragged me out of my room, and led me towards hers.  "They might stare a little, but that's a good thing.  You can flirt with someone in front of Lucent.  Not, like, right in front of him, but so that he can see you doing it."

"I'm not going to do that," I said.  I wanted to sound stern and indignant, but it was difficult with Vanessa dragging me around like some dress-up doll.

"I'm not saying to..."  She gave up, and pushed me towards her bed.  "Just sit.  I don't know what I'm saying.  I doubt you could flirt with anyone anyways.  How did you meet Lucent again?"

"The library," I answered.

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Oh."  It didn't sound rhetorical.  What did she even mean by that?  She asked how I met him, and I said I met him in the library; it seemed rather obvious to me.

Vanessa stepped towards her closet, flung open the door, and immediately grabbed one of her dresses, barely bothering to look at it or scan her other options.  She held the hanger high overhead, showing it off to me.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"It's a dress?" I said.

"Whatever.  I don't know why I asked you.  You're the one who picked out that frumpy smock in your closet.  Just try this one on.  It's good, I promise."  For good measure, she added, "It's not too sexy.  It's classy and sophisticated.  Simple, yet elegant.  Refined and—"

I heard my phone beeping, letting me know I had a text message.  Purse, where was my purse?  Oh!  The kitchen.  I must have left it on the counter when I came in; it was where I always left my purse when I came in.  I rushed out to get it, to check my message, because there were only a handful of people that ever texted me and one of them was in my apartment right now, showing me the dress she wanted me to wear, trying to transform me into classy, sophisticated, simple, elegant, refined sex kitten.

Vanessa stomped after me, standing in her bedroom doorway, glaring at me and shaking the dress at me angrily.

"Hold on a second!" I said.  Finding my phone, I checked through the messages.

I had one from Lucent.  It read:
I left the door unlocked, Miss Tanner.  Please feel free to let yourself in.  I shall be exercising in the workout room.

I smiled, giddy.  It sounded dumb, but this meant a lot to me.  Lucent hated leaving his door unlocked, even though he lived in a respectable and high-class skyrise apartment.  Not only was it probably one of the safest buildings in the city, but it had a doorman guarding the main lobby to keep random trespassers out, too.  Plus, Lucent practically had his own private elevator, anyways.  Not actually, but there weren't a lot of people that lived on the upper floors, and they were sectioned off as mostly private residences without a lot of connecting hallways between them, so it was just a quick walk from the elevator to his door, and that was that.  No one else would ever use that exact same hallway, because it only led to Lucent's apartment.

"Are you going to try on this dress or what?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't have time," I said.  "I'll bring it, though.  I bet it's fine.  I'll wear it, I promise, alright?"

I rushed back to my room, ignoring Vanessa's searing gaze.  She followed me, still holding the dress aloft.  Once she reached my room, she threw it onto my bed.

"So...?" she asked.

"Lucent's exercising, so I thought I would exercise with him," I said.  "Yoga pants and a t-shirt?"  Grabbing both from my dresser, I showed them to Vanessa.

"As long as you don't wear that to the party, it's fine."

"Why would I wear yoga pants and a t-shirt to the party?" I asked.

"I don't know.  I feel like it's something you'd do."

I scrunched up my nose and stuck my tongue out at her.  "I would not.  Not to a work party, at least.  Maybe some other kind of party."

"See!" she said, pointing an accusing finger at me.  "This is what I mean!"

"I don't know what you mean!  Get out of my room, and close the door behind you.  I need to change.  I've got to go, Vanessa!  I'm in a rush!"

"Is 'exercise' a code word for something?" she asked, stepping out of my room and mostly closing my door.  She peeked at me through a small sliver of open space.

I started unbuttoning my blouse and kicked off my heels.  "Code word for what?"

"I don't know.  Some sex thing?"

"What the heck?  Why would 'exercise' be a code for a sex thing?"