I raise my eyebrow. “You don’t have to go just yet. It’s hours before we open.”
She’s standing up and looking for her clothes now. I watch her lithe figure move around the couch, then to the corner wall where her yoga pants fell. I sit up, a slice of genuine concern filling me. “Is something wrong?”
“No, no,” she says immediately. She steps into them as she talks. “This was great. It was…” She trails off. For a few seconds, she’s just standing there topless, looking everywhere but at me.
“Ember?”
“This shouldn’t have happened,” she says. She sees her shirt and walks over to it. It’s all the way on the other side of the couch. “It was wrong on every level. Having sex was a big fucking mistake.”
“If you think this is a mistake…” I laugh. “Well, I’d hate to see what you do on purpose.” She doesn’t respond. She just turns her tank top around and around in her hands, then realizing it’s inside out, starts turning it the right way around.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it,” I say.
“That’s just it,” she says. She stops and looks at me for the first time. “Roman… I didn’t come here to do this, okay? I don’t know what came over me, but I didn’t want to barter my body for this job. I’m not that kind of person.”
She finally gets the top together and puts it on, pulling it over her head. “I’m not for sale, Roman.”
“Good. Neither am I.” I stand and walk over to her. Her eyes dart down to my cock before she turns away, her face reddening. “Did you want to fuck me?” I ask her.
“What kind of question is that?”
“An honest one. Did you want this?”
She sighs, still doing her best not to look at me. “Can you put some clothes on, for fuck’s sake?”
“Answer me, Ember.” I close the gap between us, getting close enough to take in the scent of sex and flowers mingling in the air between us. She looks at me, the ice in her eyes melting.
“Of course I did,” she says softly. “Maybe in another life…” She looks away and takes a step back from me. “I’m still going to quit. It’s the right call. Morally. Ethically. I can’t be your manager anymore.”
I nod slowly. I guess post-nut clarity is a bitch for some people. “I understand. You can’t leave just yet, though.”
“Roman—”
“You just hired on new staff and the security is still getting its bearings. I bring somebody new in here now and they change it all up, this place will tank faster than it rose. It’s too soon.” She stares at me with genuinely saddened eyes as I talk. The way her sorrow seems to tug at my heart…
“Thought you didn’t care about this place,” she said. “Last I heard, you were as fine with setting it on fire as you were with keeping it open.”
I shrug. “Changed my mind. Stay, Ember.” She holds herself, crossing her arms over her waist. “Three months,” I tell her. “Give it three more months. By then, everything will be in place around here and I’ll accept your resignation without question.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” She doesn’t answer. She just stands there, staring at me with those eyes. “This place will crash without you if you don’t build an infrastructure first and you know it. All things considered, I’d rather not do that.”
She studies me, arctic blue eyes tracing my face. “All right,” she says. “Three months… on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“Keep your boys in line. I don’t want to have any more disagreements about who should disciplining them when they step out of line.”
“All right.”
“And I need you to keep your… business out of the club. Nothing illegal on the premises.”
“Can’t promise that.”
She scoffs. “There aren’t any other places you and your miscreants can do business? Look, I don’t think it’s outrageous to ask that this place be legitimate despite the Bratva presence. It’ll benefit you and your people, too, I’ll bet. If anybody comes around here asking questions?—”
“Who would come around asking anything?”
