Disclaimer: See #1 for it.

#10

Temptation

It was the end of the work day, and for once Jervis wasn't staying after to work on his project.

Somehow he'd been convinced to join Arianna, Ezekiel, and Alice for dinner at a small diner they'd discovered down the street from the building.

The two women were going to pop into the restroom and then meet the two men in the lobby.

Jervis swallowed thickly as he watched Alice walk down the hall with Arianna, or more specifically, watched the sway of the blond woman's hips –why did she insist on torturing him this way?

"I don't think she knows she does it, really. She doesn't know what she does to a man." Zeek stated from Jervis' right side.

Jervis turned his head to look at him. "Did I speak that thought out loud?"

Zeek chuckled and put a hand on Jervis' shoulder. "No. You just had the same look on your face that I've seen plenty of times on my own when in connection with Ari before we got together."

"Look?"

"It's a bit of a mixture between the 'that woman is going to be the death of me' look and the 'I love what I see' look. It eventually evolves into the 'this is sweet torture I'd love to die by' look when you get together, or so Ari tells me." Zeek replied.

Jervis's eyebrows rose.

"Oh really?"

Zeek nodded. "Alice and Ari are a lot alike in many ways, but have two main differences."

"Such as?" Jervis questioned as they descended the stairs.

"Well Alice is shy about what she wants. Ari, not so much. She'll go after what she wants like a cat on the hunt while Alice only hopes she'll get what she wants. But the main difference is that Ari knows what she does to men and will use it if necessary. Alice is utterly innocent and doesn't understand what it is that makes men look at her they way they do. Ari's tried to explain it to her, but Alice denies it."

The two men took up a position near the doors to wait for the women.

"What should I do about what she does to me?" Jervis asked a minute later.

Zeek shot him a smile as the girls appeared and started to make their way over to them. "Enjoy it. Because if Alice ever realizes Ari's right, you can be sure she'll find a way to stop doing it." He stepped forward to meet the girls and offered Ari his arm.

She took it with a bright smile.

Jervis smiled softly at Alice and offered her his arm. "My dear."

She smiled back and slipped her arm through his.

Jervis forced himself to keep his breathing even. He did enjoy the sweet torture Alice unknowingly put him through and he never wanted it to end.