Doll House: Book One

seventeen | pompadour

Dax never looked bad. Seriously, he never looked bad and that had to be the result an unbothered lifestyle.

Cecelia thought about this as she stared at him across the table with his hat turned back so that his great features could speak for themselves without the help of a perfectly coiffed pompadour.

She couldn't keep her eyes off of him but luckily, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Dana as she explained the details of the upcoming sexpo.

"...our time slot is eight thirty so make sure that you're both there by six. Hair and makeup..."

But Dax wasn't just eye candy and that's what made him a threat. Hodges wasn't threatened by Dax's exterior and Cecelia knew that for sure. He didn't approve of another man in her life that had the potential to serve as something more than a coworker. It not only complicated the Doll House structure, but also complicated their secret relationship. Hodges was just as surprised as Cecelia because for the first time in her career she actually liked someone, and it terrified her.

"Right Cecelia?"

"Huh?" She switched her eyes to Dana who repeated her question.

"Hodges has to approve your look before you attend the sexpo?"

"Uh-no, no we don't do that anymore."

"Anymore?" Dax asked, finally speaking after five minutes of silence.

Cecelia sighed, "Yes, 'anymore' Dax. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, beautiful."

"Anyway, the commercial went well, we sent you both an edited clip..."

Cecelia was distracted. She thought about Hodges' reaction when the commercial would premiere at the sexpo. Would he pick up on the subtle flirtation that seemed anything but forced? At the time it hadn't meant much but now Cecelia had Dax's touch burned into her flesh and his seductive words that were whispered into her ears rang prominently as a reminder that she was too weak to resist him.

"Cece, you ready?" Dax's voice snapped her out of her second daze of the afternoon.

The conference room was now empty with only Dax leaning on the table beside her.

"Ready for what?"

"We have to go live at your place. Remember? The cherry on top of the Sweet Tooth deal." He crossed his arms.

"I forgot." She admitted.

They were well overdue but it's not like Hodges was willing to remind her. The contract had entailed a live session that would air for those who attended the sexpo and subscribed to Doll House. They both had agreed that tonight would work best after the meeting.

"I mean, we can just not do-"

"We have to but I-" Cecelia paused to get her thoughts together. She had to stop acting like a frazzled idiot. It was throwing her off entirely.

"You okay?" Dax asked when Cecelia finally stood up.

"No, I'm not." She grabbed her jacket. "We can talk at the penthouse. The other girls should be winding down for the night so we'll have privacy."
• • • • • •
But the girls weren't winding down. In fact, every doll was wide awake the moment Dax and Cecelia entered.

Music played, laughter soared throughout the apartment, the voices of random guys echoed, and the blender mixed frozen margaritas.

The scene caused Cecelia to sigh since she already knew what to expect. It didn't matter what day of the week it was, when the dolls wanted to turn up, they did just that.

Ivy passed the two of them on her way to the kitchen.

"Dax, it's been a while." She smiled, toying with the silk ribbon on her black bath robe.

"Ivy." He greeted. "It really has been a while. I would ask what you've been up to but,-" Dax spread his arms out, "I watch every week."

"Oh, you watch my videos?" She asked with an odd innocence to her voice and expression.

Candy sauntered over, stepping between the two of them and evidently shifted Dax's focus from his conversation with Ivy.

She wore only a pink crop top and lace panties which was her usual attire but to the male gaze it became the most enticing sight.

Candy reached up and took the Sweet Tooth lollipop that stuck out of his back pocket, unwrapped it then popped the candy in her mouth.

"So sweet." She twisted the stick. "Do you like sweet things Dax?"

"Not now." Cecelia pleaded but Candy smirked at both of them giving the lollipop a final suck around her pouty lips.

"Fine, but now he has a hard dick and no one to take care of it."

"Who has a hard dick?" Chanel asked, entering with not much more clothing than Candy.

"It's not that hard." Dax defended but that only fueled Chanel.

"Candy's showing you her greatest skill." Chanel took the lollipop and pointed to Dax. "You're definitely hard." She teased. "But we can help relieve you. Together."

"Don't you have something else to do?" Cecelia cocked her head.

"Yeah, but this is more fun."

"C'mon Dax." She took his hand and led him down the hall to her room.

The girls were vultures tonight but she had something serious to share so she couldn't allow them to bait the man of the hour.

"What's going on with you Cece?" He asked without hesitation. He noticed the difference in her behavior so she turned away.

"Dax, for some reason, I like you."

"Some reason?" He scoffed. "If you like me then I'm sure you know the reason."

"I probably do but I can't articulate it. Actually, I can barely articulate anything at this point." She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "But regardless, Hodges knows. I don't know how, but he does and he talked to me about it. And-and I need to be here at Doll House."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means-I have to be realistic." Cecelia sat on her bed to keep herself from pacing. "After Sweet Tooth I can't-I can't-"

"You can't do what you want." Dax interjected with a sarcastic chuckle. "Sounds a lot like the situation you were in before Doll House."

"Shut up, you don't know why I came to Doll House."

"Of course I do Cece. It's obvious! Look at the way you are about all of this!" He exclaimed. "Maybe I don't know the intimate details and I'm sure Hodges has done great things but you're the only one he can control like this."

Cecelia looked up at Dax who looked as frustrated as she had been only minutes earlier.

She gulped, knowing that his words were true and it hurt to hear them from Dax. He was right, Hodges could control her because he had saved her from the horrible life she lived in California then used her as a form of relief. But she had to censor her feelings all the time. The truth was that she wanted to be around Dax not just for business but also for pleasure.

"I didn't know you would react like this."

"Because you're so consumed with yourself and your boss." He shook his head. "We can record another day." Dax said more tenderly than Cecelia expected. She stood up from her bed to approach him but he had already grabbed the door knob.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, mainly to herself as Dax exited the room and left the apartment.