Aroused (Taming Himself Book 1) Read online

  “Ohh, a date. What’s this one like?” she asked, leading me over to the bar.

  “Oi!” she suddenly yelled at some young men in the back. “You keep fucking around with that pool stick like that and I will shove it up your ass in a second. You will be replacing it as well.” The guys quickly dropped their gaze and placed the pool stick down. Yep, her fiery assertiveness certainly did give her a lot of power over the men who entered this bar. That was why I liked Brandy. Our relationship was simply what it was: some pleasure from one another and a great friendship.

  “College girl,” I smiled sheepishly.

  “Wow, a college girl. It’s been a while since you brought one of those in. What happened to that pretty one with short black hair,” she clicked her fingers together a few times. “I can’t recall her name.”

  “Naomi? Yea, didn’t work out. She called me about seven times the next day. I thought I would need to change my number.”

  “And how’s Amber from the office going, still no bite?”

  “I’m telling you that woman will destroy any man who tries it on with her. Even me.”

  “I’m telling you she’s a lesbian.” She threw ice into a glass and poured me some whisky before passing it over to me. Even when I told her I wasn’t drinking, she often fed me alcohol. I wouldn’t say she was the best influence, but we had a hell of a fun time. “I’m a lover of both men and women and I’m telling you, she’s a dyke.”

  “She’s not a lesbian,” I laughed, taking a sip of the whisky.

  The door opened and the afternoon sun pooled in, grabbing my attention. My date had arrived. Simone was her name if I remembered correctly. She was shorter and a little bit plumper than the last few college girls I had seen. But I preferred them to have a little more weight on them. I found it more womanly and attractive. I threw back the whisky and enjoyed how the burning taste rolled down my throat.

  “Good luck,” Brandy said with a smile, grabbing some menus for us.

  “Hi there, Mr. Zilch,” Simone said, looking around the bar with an expression which said she was less than impressed.

  “Please, call me Hayden,” I said with a smile. I gestured to a nearby table.

  I looked her up and down in approval as she took a seat at a booth. She was wearing a purple dress and was nervously fidgeting with her silver clutch. I guessed she was about six years younger than me. I was twenty-eight in four months. How time flies.

  “This isn’t exactly what I expected?” she said, glancing around.

  “What do you mean?” I smiled charismatically. I knew exactly what she meant. She wasn’t the first woman I had brought here, or the first to point her nose up because I didn’t take them to some fancy restaurant or another.

  “I just thought that someone like you, with all your wealth... No, wait, I don’t mean wealth, I meant, reputation… wouldn’t come to a place like this,” she stuttered.

  Brandy was walking towards our booth. “A place like this?” Brandy interrupted, her eyebrows arched above her striking eyes.

  “I don’t mean to offend,” Simone said, diverting her eyes to her lap.

  “No offence taken,” Brandy palmed her off. “It’s a shithole.” She gave me my menu with an expression that said, ‘Seriously, another one like this?’

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound rude,” Simone said, taking her phone from her clutch to read a text message, which I found to be even ruder. “Why did you bring me here though, out of curiosity?”

  “I like it here, the food is nice and the staff are friendly,” I said, calling for Brandy to bring me another glass of whiskey and something for Simone. Brandy had an amazing sense of guessing what people would drink just from looking at them. She was usually fairly accurate, but she looked Simone up and down from behind the bar then threw her arms up at me as if to say, ‘How should I know what the little princess wants?’

  She frowned at her message. It looked like it would be one of those dates when the girl would say, ‘Oh sorry, something personal has come up, I have to go.’

  “Do you know my friend Naomi?” Simone asked with accusing eyes. That drink couldn’t come any sooner because this date was going down fast.

  “I know a few Naomi’s, yes,” I said evenly.

  “Did you fuck my best friend and then ask me out on a date?” she said, suddenly aggressive.

  “I’m sorry? How would I know what your friend Naomi looks like?” I asked, playing dumb.

  She pushed the screen of her phone in my face, which showed her and Naomi together, laughing happily.

  “Oh, that Naomi!”

  “You’re nothing but a manwhore!”

  “Well, that escalated quickly,” I remarked, taking another sip of my drink.

  “Bringing me to a place like this, and after already having been with my best friend too! You’ll never be anything to any woman!”

  She stormed towards the door. I held a hand up to halt Brandy, who clearly wanted to give chase. Her expression was hard as she came over to my booth, carrying drinks. “Well, that was fun. Outright little bitch, ain’t she? Can’t have her coming in and stealing my thunder,” Brandy smiled. She held a glass of whisky and some fruity pink cocktail. I grabbed both out of her hands and gave her a very charismatic smile.

  “Keep these coming please, Brandy,” I said, knocking back the strong pink liquid. “Just keep ’em coming.”

  Chapter Four

  I had unbuttoned part of my shirt, but still it was so hot in here. My breath was staggered as I stared at the roof. I wish I had the energy to turn the aircon on, but I was too damn drunk to stand, let alone walk over to the control. I just sat in my leather chair, hammered. Whatever was in those pink cocktails just totally wasted me. What made it worse was that I kept thinking over and over about Simone’s words. I don’t even remember how I got to my office, but my blurry watch showed it was 1.08 a.m.

  Here I was, in my beautiful drunken mess, very alone.

  “Are you shitting me?” Amber’s voice seemed louder than usual, or maybe that’s because the room started to swirl and contort around me. “You know that you’re lucky you got the passcode on the third go for the security system or the police would’ve been alerted.” That made sense as to why she would be here right now. Only Amber, Gregory and I had access codes, so we were all alerted when it was opened at odd hours.

  “Get your damn muddy shoes off the table,” she said. She came over and pushed my feet off the desk. My whole body felt as if it swayed with the motion and I could imagine myself going green. Such an unkind woman. She plopped a small bin on my lap. “Hurl it, you got work tomorrow and I refuse to let you feel sorry for yourself all day long.”

  “I won’t throw up, I paid good money for those pink drinks,” I slurred. The room swayed from side to side as I said it.

  “Is that why you have a green cocktail umbrella tucked behind your ear?” she said, not quite as spiteful as she picked it out from behind my ear. She was right, there was a cocktail umbrella. “Give me that before you give yourself an ear piercing. Chug it, you have a light stomach. It’s only a matter of time.”

  I frowned at her familiarity with me. I did have a light stomach though. It often swirled at the sight of blood as well. I wasn’t a man at all. I hunched forward, hurling. The smell and taste of vomit made me feel even sicker. I practically sobbed into the bin. What a pathetic mess. I hadn’t felt like this for a very long time. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. Especially Amber, who would certainly use it against me in the future.

  Amber left the room for a moment and returned with a glass of water. She offered it to me. I looked at her pathetically. Damn pink cocktail drinks are potent, how do women survive these?

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked, surprised by her sudden kindness. She wasn’t paid for this.

  “Because you’re a pathetic lump right now who can’t look after himself. And I am going to make you pay me double rate for the amount of time I am babysitting your ass
right now,” she said, crossing her hands over her chest. She wore jeans and a black shirt; different attire to what I was used to seeing her in. It made me wonder what kind of person she was outside of work. I knew she didn’t have a husband or children, but other than that, I didn’t know much about her at all.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I asked, my words a drunken slur.

  “Of course, but don’t forget I charge by the minute,” she said as she took a seat at the edge of the desk. The room was still dark. I guess she didn’t hate me enough to turn the lights on and really damage my poor spinning eyes.

  “Do you think no woman would want to spend her life with me?” I asked. The words came out as a plea. I hadn’t realised how sensitive that topic might have been for me. I didn’t have the easiest childhood and ever since, I had aimed to please many women instead of just one. No one had ever really complained; I brought them thrills, excitement, and pleasure.

  “Hayden, you’re a manwhore through and through. You couldn’t go an hour without a woman’s attention.” It was silent for a while. I was a manwhore. I thought that women enjoyed my company. That they enjoyed when I pleased them. Women were beautiful; they varied in size and shape. They were all unique. How could men choose only one?

  “But no,” she continued. “I think you will be just fine if you truly attempted to stay in a stable relationship. Now go sleep on the sofa in the hallway. I will wake you up when I come back tomorrow. By then I hope to see you back to your usual self. That Hayden is far easier to swear at, you just look like a pathetic mess right now.”

  I smiled at her honesty. “So honest all the time, aren’t you, Amber? Have I ever told you how beautiful you can be when—”

  “Shut up and sleep,” she cut me off, walking out of the room with my bin of vomit. “I changed my mind: I want triple time for this. You smell rank.”

  Amber left me to my own thoughts as I walked through my office door. Between Amber’s and Gregory’s offices on my right was that oh-so-comfy sofa I needed. I dived into it face first, hoping that this sudden depression would be gone by morning. I wasn’t even twenty-eight.

  I cannot be going through a midlife crisis yet.

  Chapter Five

  Freezing water splashed over my face and soaked through my shirt. It woke me from my coma-like state. I gasped, shocked. On top of that, I was freezing. Amber stood over me with a malicious smile on her face and an empty glass in her hand.

  “Oh damn, you did make it through the night,” she joked. “Get in the shower. I’ve already put some fresh clothes in there for you.”

  I looked down at my clothes that clung to me. I was freezing. “You do realise I am your boss, don’t you?” I asked bitterly. As soon as I spoke, my world began to spin, and I was reminded of my not-so-great condition.

  “I know, which is why it gives me so much more pleasure to do this. Now quit complaining and hop in the shower.” She walked off with a triumphant bounce in her steps. I was freezing but very grateful my office did have a small bathroom with a cubical shower. The building was once a small colonial home. When I first started off I wasn’t the richest at the time. Now having built my business, I only wanted to renovate the original office instead of expanding or moving. I felt rather attached to the place. The hot water raced over my skin and cascaded through my hair and over my chiselled abs. My thoughts ventured to Sarah, the sales representative, my goldilocks, who I had bent over my office table. I remembered her smooth skin and her fine ass that walked away from me. Thinking of her body made me hard just at the thought. Hungover or not, the things I would do to that body. I rested my hand on the white tiling of the shower, enjoying the drizzle of hot water that went down my back and legs. I would have to help myself out if I continued getting excited over her in the shower.

  Maybe I should start thinking of finding one woman, just one that I could please and enjoy. One woman so delicately sweet that I only wanted her taste. But there were so many women right now I loved to experience, and they all had their parts to play in my life and career. I considered privately my own desires. Where did I see myself in ten years? Was a family in the future something I wanted?

  I turned the shower off, making my mind up. For this I needed Gregory and Amber’s help. I wrapped the towel around me and combed my hair. It would be a new me starting of today. I would find that one delicate woman. And I wanted her now.

  I could feel the eager bounce in my steps as I walked into Gregory’s office. There was coffee waiting for me already. Double bonus.

  “Amber, please come in here for a moment,” I said. I clasped my hands together and gratefully accepted the coffee that was awaiting me.

  Gregory sat in his leather chair and closed his laptop screen so he could look at me evenly. In the corner of his room was a white board with Gregory’s terrible writing on it. I began wiping it off.

  “Hey, I needed that,” he said, but with not much fire about it. Amber sat in one of the comfy guest chairs and looked at me with a gaze of pure boredom.

  “I have decided I want to be with only one woman,” I started.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me,” Amber said, crossing her legs in her pencil skirt as she placed both arms on the chair.

  “Sorry?” Gregory asked. He leant in, looking both intense and confused.

  “I have been thinking. For so long now I have loved pleasing women—”

  “You fuck women, that’s all you do,” Amber cut me off. I grabbed the whiteboard marker and pointed it at her, determined to finish my explanation. She was always so quick to cut me off.

  “Yes. I do. But I now want to only be with one woman. I don’t want to be lonely anymore. I want to find the real, forever kind of love.” It was a relief to say it.

  “Umm, I don’t want to seem negative and I am really happy for you, Hayden,” Gregory began as he took his glasses off to clean them. “But you have a lot of women you’re seeing right now, how are you going to decide on one?”

  “Exactly!” I said enthusiastically. “So basically we write a list on here of the finalists. Let’s find out who I would be most compatible with!”

  “What do you think this is, some kind of game show?” Amber squinted at me.

  “I vote head-job-Amy. Stick with her,” Gregory said. His smile quickly vanished at Amber’s effective look.

  “Right, Amy. So we write her on the board then,” I said, scribbling her name.

  “Amy is no good, Hayden. It’s so obvious she is around you for her own exposure through the events you take her to.” She paused for a moment as I wrote, Not good for you, Exposure, Events on the board. “Oh my god,” she exclaimed. “You only have one purpose for each woman you sleep with, don’t you? That’s if you see them more than once. So Amy, she’s like your little trophy item you take to events. That bartender chick, what’s her name? You go to that bar all the time?”

  “Brandy,” Gregory interjected with certainty.

  “Yea, that girl. You don’t take her on dates. You only get with her when you feel like you need to release a huge sexual build-up or something.”

  “Yea, Brandy,” I pointed the marker at her. “She can go on there too.” I scribbled her name down.

  “No, not Brandy. She has gotten you in trouble with the law three times now. She isn’t a good influence.”

  “Get you in trouble,” I said, repeating the words as I made a note next to her name.

  “Oh, what about Jenniva?” Gregory asked animatedly.

  “Oh yea, Jenniva, she’s clever and comes from a wealthy family. Surely you can’t argue with that, Amber?”

  “Jenniva, are you serious? She’s in her final year of studying psychology. She will pick your simple brain apart in seconds,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Too. Smart. For. Simple. Minded. Me., I wrote on the board. “This is great, I feel like we are getting somewhere here.”

  “Ohh, I know. What about that cougar of yours? The navy woman. What was her name?�
��

  “Ah, Narelle! I haven’t spoken to her in a while, but I could get back in touch with her. How could you fight against that, Amber? She is away for months and when she comes back she’s horny as all hell. We would enjoy our time together and then I get to have time to myself for months at a time. It’s perfect.” I turned my back on them to write her name down.

  “Is that the woman who is into all that bondage crap? No. Hell no! She is fifteen years older than you, to me that screams out mummy issues. Being whipped isn’t the answer.” I was agitated by her last remark. I didn’t tell people details of my past, especially my childhood. Gregory was probably the only one that knew of my darkest secrets and that was because of one very drunken night. My mother had abandoned me at four and left me with my alcoholic, abusive father.

  I perked myself up instantly so no one would notice. “Being whipped isn’t all that bad,” I said with a smile as I wrote on the board beside Narelle’s name, Mother issues. Closure.

  “I have to be quite honest: I would be disappointed if you didn’t add in that blondie from yesterday with the Swedish accent. She was very polite to me when she left yesterday,” Gregory said somewhat smugly. I agreed, but I looked at Amber for her judgement before writing the name.

  Slowly she said, “You fucked her over your desk within thirty minutes of meeting her. You know nothing about her. How can you add her to the list? I know you are screwing more women than that and I refuse to sit here all day while you list them all.”

  “Right,” I inhaled deeply. “Then Sarah will be the final candidate, you know, like a lucky pick. I will learn more about her as well.” I wrote Sarah’s name in bold with the word, Newcomer.

  “You realise you have basically reduced every woman you’ve written up there to one or two words, right?” Amber asked drily.

  “I know you might not want to believe it, Amber, but I really do want to settle down with someone and have a real relationship. I don’t know how to do that. I’ve never seriously tried to settle with a woman. I have only known how to have sex with them and please them. My cock has a mind of it’s own. So I really need your help.”