“This is my job, Vincent,” I say, staying firmly in my seat on John’s lap. “You know that.”
“But Velvet?—”
“But nothing. Leave us alone.”
Vincent’s eyes widen as he stands up straighter, both of his hands flexing at his sides. I think he wants to lay into my two clients with said fists, so I say, “You aren’t entitled to me. If you don’t like it, then leave.”
Already though, the second man who’d been groping me is paying his bill in cash and getting up. John scoots me off his lap and follows suit, neither of them wanting to get into a tussle with a seven-foot orc.
“Wait!” I call out to them.
“Sorry, we’re not here for competition.” John slaps his money on the table and doesn’t glance back at me when he leaves.
Now I’m alone, and my anger’s building. This could have been a really profitable night for me with two people to entertain, and now I have no one.
I glare at Vincent. “What are you doing?” I demand, rising to my feet. “You scared them off!”
“So? They weren’t worthy of you anyway.” His face doesn’t show a shred of regret.
“That’s not the point! They were paying customers.”
He frowns deeper. “I can pay you more.”
I grind my teeth together at how dense he’s acting. This isn’t just a job for me. It’sfunfor me, to be lusted after by so many people. And now he’s ruining it.
“What are you even doing here?” I ask miserably, falling back into a seat at the table. “I thought you weren’t going to come back.”
He furrows his brow, and he sits down in the chair beside me. “Why wouldn’t I come to see Velvet?”
“Because now you get everything you want from Rosette.”
That crease gets deeper. “Everything I want,” he echoes.
I sigh, putting my face in my hands. “If those guys complain to my boss, I could lose this job.”
“Then I’ll give you a raise,” Vincent says, putting a hand on my back.
I shake him off. “You don’t get it. I don’t do it for the money.”
It’s like I’ve spoken a foreign language to him, the way he searches my face for answers. “Then why do you do it?”
“Because Ienjoyit!” I want to stomp my foot. “Because I like being wanted by people. Being seen.”
“But I see you all day,” he says, leaning closer. “And you’re wanted. All day. By me.”
Now he’s sparking a fury in me. How can he act like this is something more than it is, when he’s made it clear where I stand?
“All this ‘mine’ bullshit?” I say, pushing him away. “Nobody owns me. Especially not you.”
Vincent recoils as if I’ve slapped him.
“You can’t deny it,” he says. “You rode my cock just a few hours ago.”
I can’t stand it anymore. Suddenly, I don’t care if he’s my boss. He’s intruded on my space and scared off my customers, on top of treating me like his own personal prostitute. Now he wants to control me outside of work, too?
“Get out,” I say in a low voice. “I want you to leave.”
He stares at me. “You don’t mean that.”
