I stomped toward the bathroom she was hiding in and tried to soften my face so I didn’t terrify her. Seeing my former co-owners’ woman shrink away from me in fear earlier, was a stark reminder of how scary people found me. I was a giant of a manand my sour expression didn’t help—but it was just my face. Nothing I could do about it. Except, I did try for the scared woman hiding in my club.
I stopped outside of the room and gently knocked on the door. Her shriek from inside was a punch to the gut. I tried my best to soften my voice.
“Sutton? It’s Dominic Cruz. We were supposed to have an interview tonight but there was a fuck-up on our part. Come out and talk to me.”
She was shuffling around inside the bathroom but no sign of her coming to open the door. She was almost impossible to hear when she did speak.
“I’m just going to stay here until everyone leaves.”
I almost smiled. “That doesn’t work for me, Sutton. I have a club to run and I’m not going to leave you hiding in a bathroom. Come out.”
“No, thank you.” If anything, she’d moved farther away from the door. “I don’t want to be a bother. Just leave me here, please.”
I braced my hands on the door frame and sighed.
“Sutton. I need you to come out. Now.”
“I’m okay here. I won’t bother anyone, I promise.” Her voice sounded closer to the door.
“Angel, I’m not worried about you bothering anyone. You came to my club and got mistakenly taken into a place you clearly weren’t comfortable in. That’s unacceptable. Open the door so I can apologize and get you out of here, if that’s what you’d like.” I frowned at myself. Angel? Apologize? Who the fuck was I? It was so far out of my character to talk so gently to someone that it didn’t feel real. I almost thumped my head into the door to make sure I hadn’t passed out somewhere and was dreaming.
There was a soft whimper from the other side of the door that nearly took me to my knees. I couldn’t fucking stand the idea of her being scared enough to make that sound. She was close, though, so I gritted my teeth and waited for her to decide to come out.
“I’m really sorry. I promise I didn’t mean to snoop around your club. I won’t tell anyone about it.” Her voice was soft but there was a huskiness to it that had my dick reacting. The fucking asshole.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. And I don’t give a fuck if you tell anyone about it. It’s a legal operation, Angel. We’re solid. Just come out here so I can make sure you’re okay.” If Theo and Leon could’ve seen me begging like I was, I would never hear the end of it. My best friends, almost brothers, would’ve been as shocked as I felt by my sudden willingness to patiently wait and ask nicely for something I wanted. “I promise I’m going to fire everyone responsible for this misunderstanding tonight. It isn’t something we tolerate here. Consent is the most important part of this business and I take—”
When the door finally cracked open, I expected to see those big eyes filled with tears and fear. Instead, they stared up at me in confusion, with the slightest bit of panic tinging the edges. The color of Leon’s embarrassing coffee order, those eyes were a sucker punch. The thick black glasses did nothing to take away from the effect of them. Those light brown eyes were devastating.
“You’re going to fire people? Oh, no. I don’t want that.” She still only opened the door part way, still kept some semblance of distance between us. “It’s my fault. I got lost and when the leather guy grabbed me I should’ve told him why I was here but I…I froze. I really don’t want anyone to be fired over my mistakes, Mr. Cruz.”
Fuck if hearing her say my name like that didn’t send my dick into a frenzy. I was stronger than my base desires, but she presented a challenge like no other. Everything about her screamed innocence. Her hair was in a half ponytail with a fucking bow in it. She was wrapped up in a baggy cardigan, with a skirt that flowed loosely all the way down to her simple white tennis shoes. It was summer and she was dressed for the winter. Anything to hide what promised to be a beautiful body.
“Dominic. Or Sir.” Shit. I’d lost some of the softness in my voice and let my desire control me. It wasn’t appropriate for me to have her call me ‘Sir’, not when the very idea of it made me want to pick her up and pin her to the wall so I could feel every inch of what she was hiding under those oversized clothes.
Sutton didn’t run from the shift in my tone but her eyes did widen. Then I watched as her cheeks flushed so red that I was positive they’d be hot to the touch. She cleared her throat and looked down at the ground. A good little submissive with no clue just how tempting she was. She probably had no clue about any of the things I wanted to do to her. I was sure she’d heard the word submissive before, thanks to mainstream idealization of BDSM, but I was also sure she’d never linked the word to herself. She was as pure as a fresh winter snow, I’d bet.
“Are you still going to fire them, Sir?” She finally looked back up at me and I flexed my hands into fists at the sight of her full bottom lip turned down in a slight pout.
“Probably.” It was the best I’d give her. Even then, it was a lie. I was definitely going to fire the men who’d allowed her to be put in a position that sent her fleeing.
She let out a barely audible huff and pulled the door open all the way. “I’d like to leave now.”
I couldn’t just let her walk out. I told myself I wanted her settled before she got behind the wheel of a car but I’d never been good at lying to myself. I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“Come with me to my office. We still have an interview to complete.”
She ducked her head and all that black hair slid forward over her shoulders. The sweet scent of almond teased my senses.
“You won’t let me get lost again?”
Fuck me. The sweet little angel had just taken one of the most powerful men in the state by the balls and she had no idea.
“Never.”
CHAPTER 3
Sutton
