Sinful Pleasures

Chapter Sixteen

"I was just asking Blaire how she liked managing the hotel."

Damon had made his way to stand by the counter. I finished off my coffee and Brad took the empty cup to throw away. When he returned, he had two bottles in his hands. I noticed one was whiskey and the other was a red wine.

I picked up the whiskey. It was a bottle of Barrell Whiskey. It was an American Vatted Malt and 117 proof. It was a good whiskey. I had not had the chance to try it yet, but I would have to make it a point if we offered it here. I passed the whiskey to Damon and moved on to the wine.

It was an Antorini red wine. I am not much of a wine drinker, so I don't know much about it. It was a vintage 2010 Italian red. I could tell that it was a more expensive red. I handed it to Damon and noticed that Christine had joined us again.

"I take it these are the two new items you want to offer here? Tell me, why these two? Especially the wine, since it is $325 for just a 750 mL bottle."

Brad opened his mouth to answer, but it was Christine who stepped forward.

"Well, whiskey happens to be our best seller, especially among men. It never hurts to have a newer brand to offer. As for the red, we don't have many wines to offer. We get some high class guests through here. Even though this particular red is expensive, I think it would benefit us to have it on our shelf. Especially if we get the celebrity guests that you are wanting."

I had to admit, she made great points. I could see where she was coming from. She knew her customers and what they liked. She was a great asset. I nodded my head as I considered her words. I looked at Damon to see what he thought. He nodded his approval.

"Alright then, let's get it on the shelf. I can't wait to see the success it has. I will stop by this weekend to try them for myself."

I stood and made my way to the lobby. When I got to the elevator, I felt a presence behind me. I turned to see Brad standing behind me. One look into his eyes and I felt my body start to betray me. He let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. He moved a little closer to me.

"Look Blaire, I'm really sorry for what happened back there. I don't know what I was thinking. I just..."

I watched as he struggled with his words. He ran his hands over his face in aggravation. I smiled at him and placed my hand on his arm. He looked at my hand, but I could feel him relax. He slowly brought his eyes back to mine.

I was lost. Torn. Aggravated. I love Damon, but my body is completely betraying me around Brad. I have never had this happen. Even while I was away at Brown, my body never had this reaction to another guy. It has only ever reacted this way to Damon.

"Brad, it's okay. I didn't necessarily push you away at first. I don't know why, but I just have this pull to you. I can tell that you feel it too."

As the words left my mouth, I felt our bodies move closer together. He slowly wrapped his arm around my waist. As he pulled me closer to his body, the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Before I knew what was happening, our lips collided and we were stumbling into the open elevator. I hit the button to close the doors without looking.

My hands were gripping his biceps and his hands were tightly gripping my ass. I suddenly got the urge to be closer to him. I started to wrap my right leg around his waist when I felt his hands move under my thighs. He lifted me enough that I could wrap both legs around his waist.

When the elevator doors opened, he quickly made his way to the couch while never breaking our kiss. He gently laid me on the couch and removed his shirt. He had the most defined chest and abs that I had seen. Damon's body didn't even come close. When Brad finally hovered over me on the couch, I couldn't help but run my hands along his body. I could feel him shiver under my touch.

I slid my hands to his back and pulled him back down to me. He eyed me with a questioning look. Did I really want to go through with this? Was it really cheating on Damon? So many questions started to run through my mind with his one look.

"Blaire, we don't have to do this. I can see you fighting with yourself. I don't want to do this unless you are absolutely sure."

He looked so sincere. I pulled his face to mine and placed a soft kiss on his lips. He moved off of me and I sat up beside him. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and slipped it over his head. I couldn't deny that I was kind of sad to see his body covered up now. I just wanted to stare at it all night.

"I'm so sorry Brad. I feel like I am leading you on and I really don't mean to. It's just that I am kind of seeing someone, but I am not sure if it is really serious or not."

He let out a chuckle and ran his hand through his hair. I truly hated the conflicting feelings that I was having. I was perfectly happy with Damon. Wasn't I? All I had wanted for the last six years was for us to be together again. Now we basically are and here I am, getting all hot and heavy with Brad. I was jerked from my thoughts when I heard Brad sigh.

"Of course you aren't single. Any guy would be lucky to have you. You are gorgeous, smart and obviously successful if you took over a new hotel. Whoever the guy is, he better be thankful to have you."

As if on cue, the elevator dinged and out walked Damon. I was now thankful that Brad had put his shirt back on so that I wouldn't have to try and explain why he was shirtless. I watched as Brad looked from me to Damon and back to me. I watched as he started to put two and two together.

"So Damon is who you are seeing. I never would have guessed. You are a lucky guy. I hope you start to feel better Blaire. You should probably drink some water to offset all of that coffee you have had today."

He turned so that only I could see him wink. I realized that he just gave me an out on trying to explain why he was up here with me. I was thankful he thought of something. I smiled and waved as he made his way to the elevator.

I watched Damon walk to the kitchen and grab me a bottle of water. He sat beside me and I drank half the bottle at once. I didn't realize just how thirsty I was. The problem was, I didn't know if it was because of all the coffee I had consumed today, or because I was a little worked up thanks to Brad.

"Are you feeling okay Blaire? Why was Brad up here?"

He rested his hand on my knee and looked a little worried. I didn't want to lie to him, but there was no way I could tell him that we had a hot make out session in the elevator after he kissed me at the bar. I took another drink of water before lying.

"He happened to be walking by the elevator while I was waiting for it. I just out of the blue got dizzy and he wanted to make sure I got up here okay. I think it was just too much coffee and not enough food. I already feel better after that water."

I gave him a fake smile and he seemed to accept my answer. I finished off the water and sat the empty bottle on the coffee table. I noticed that he had a conflicted look on his face. Could he tell that something was going on? I tried to remain calm on the outside, while I internally panicked.

"Blaire, you know I love you. I have since we were kids. Even more so once we got older. I just feel like we are rushing back into this. You just got back two weeks ago, and I am already basically living with you. I'm not saying that I don't want to be with you, but maybe we should slow things down. I don't want you to feel rushed. I want you to enjoy being back before getting too committed."

Was this really happening? I know I should feel sad or hurt that he is basically saying that we should take a break. But maybe a break was exactly what I need right now. I need to figure out exactly what I want. I always thought Damon was what I wanted. Now I wasn't so sure.

"Damon, I think you are right. You know I love you too. I just have been feeling out of sorts and conflicted about things recently. We have moved fast since I came back home. Maybe we just need to take a step back for a little while."

"I'm glad you feel the same way. Henry and I are going out of town this weekend. It is a golf thing that he signed us up for. We are leaving tonight and won't be back until Tuesday morning. Are you up for handling the hotel alone for a few days?"

I rolled my eyes as he smirked at his own question. Of course I could handle it. And he knew it too. It had been such a whirlwind of a day that I realized I didn't even know what time it was. I glanced at my phone and saw that it was only 4 pm. I leaned back on the couch, thankful that I could say that this work day was over.

"Aside from going away this weekend, I am also going to just go back to my condo for a while when I get back. That way we can have some space, since we see other every day anyways with work."

I smiled as he got up from the couch. He went to the bedroom where I assumed he was packing his stuff. While he was busy, I text Lexi and asked her to come up. She quickly replied saying she was having dinner with Derek later, but could spare an hour or so. A few minutes later, Damon came back into the living room with his bags. I stood up and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"Have fun this weekend with Henry. I think for our sake, this break is exactly what we need. I'm going to miss sharing my bed with you every night though."

He tilted his head down and softly kissed my lips. For some reason, this kiss felt different. Maybe it was just me since I have been feeling conflicted. I returned the kiss and stepped back. I walked him to the elevator. When the doors opened, Lexi walked through.

"Have fun this weekend Damon. Don't beat Henry too bad this time."

Damon chuckled and waved goodbye to us. As soon as the doors closed, Lexi turned towards me. I knew she wanted to ask why he just left with all of his stuff. That was the easy part to tell her. But what I really wanted to do was ask her what to do about everything: the break with Damon and now whatever this was with Brad.

"Before you even start, I am going to need a drink. I have so much to tell you."

I didn't even give her the chance to respond as I made my way to the table that held my whiskey. I poured a glass and immediately downed it. I poured a second and finally looked back at Lexi. She was staring at me.

"This seems bad. What happened? And before you tell me what else is going on, why exactly did Damon leave here with all of his stuff?"

I took another small drink before starting with the easy part. "Damon and I have decided to take a little break. We both agreed that we moved back into this too quickly. We both love each other, but we need to figure out if this is really what we want. Especially since I have started to feel conflicted."

I quickly brought my glass back to my lips as I watched her process what I just said. She continued to watch me slowly drink my whiskey. I raised a brow as I waited for her to say something.

"I have to admit, I think the break is good for you two. Why are you feeling conflicted though? Or who is making you feel conflicted?"

I rolled my eyes. She had always been able to read me. I finished my drink and took my empty glass to the sink. I grabbed a bottle of water and made my way to the couch. Lexi grabbed a water and made herself comfortable beside me.

"It's the bartender downstairs, Brad."

"The one with the gorgeous blue eyes?"

I nodded as I took a drink of my water. Just the mention of his eyes took me back to our moment on this very couch.

"That's the one. I went down with Damon earlier when he decided to go over inventory. While he was in the back with Christine, the other bartender, it was just me and Brad at the counter. I don't really know how it happened, but we kissed. Then while I was waiting for the elevator to come back up here, he tried to apologize to me. But one thing led to another and we had a hot make out session in the elevator, which spilled into here."

I took another drink of my water while I tried to comprehend the look on Lexi's face. I couldn't tell if it was disbelief, shock, or a little bit of both. Then I watched as her lips curved up into a smile. I started to get a little nervous of what was going to come out of her mouth.

"Wow. I don't really know what to say right now. You know I will always ship you and Damon if that is what truly makes you happy. But I have to say, Brad is a total hottie. I could totally ship him too. But more than anything, I want you to be happy. You just need to figure yourself out right now. I support you no matter what."

She leaned over to give me a tight hug. I don't know what I would do without her. She was the sound of reason that I always ended up needing. She leaned back just as her phone started going off. She looked down at the screen and started smiling. I immediately knew that it had to be Derek.

"Go on. I won't keep you guys waiting for your date. I think I am going to shower, then go down to the bar. We are stocking a new whiskey and red wine that I want to try. Have fun with Derek. I love you Lex."

We made our way to the elevator and hugged one last time before the doors closed. I made my way to my bathroom and took a much needed hot shower. After I started to feel more relaxed, I got out and wrapped a towel around me. I decided to just let my hair air dry into my natural wave. I went to my closet to find something to throw on. I opted for a tight little black dress and black heels. It stopped mid thigh and made my boobs look incredible.

After one last look in the mirror, I decided that I looked good enough and got in the elevator. It was going on seven now, so I was sure that the bar would be getting busy. As I walked through the entrance, I noticed that there was already a good size crowd. I looked toward the bar and saw Brad already looking my way. I smiled and made my way toward him.

"Wow. Blaire, you look gorgeous. Where's Damon?"

"We decided that we needed time apart to figure out if we really wanted to be together. Plus, he is on a golf trip with one of our friends this weekend."

I smiled as he slid a glass of our newest whiskey in front of me. I swirled it around before bringing the glass to my lips. I closed my eyes and savored the way it easily slid down my throat. It was smooth and had a rich taste. It very well could become my favorite.

I sat at the bar and talked to Brad for what seemed like hours. I had two more glasses of the whiskey and could feel myself loosening up. I moved onto water to offset the whiskey, and then decided to try the wine. It was a smooth drink as well. Not bitter, but not sweet either. I noticed that it was going on 2 am. Where had the time gone?

As Brad and Christine finished closing up the bar, I stood and slowly made my way to the lobby. It was quiet, so I was able to hear Brad as he walked up behind me. I slowly turned towards him and grabbed one of his hands. I still had the wine in my system, so I was feeling pretty confident. I quickly pulled him towards me and our lips collided hard.