I adjust in my seat uncomfortably. Great. Here it was. I thought we would actually do business instead of… whatever the fuck this is. He sees my instant discomfort and adds, “Don’t worry. I’m not coming onto you. Even if you were my type, I learned a long time ago never to shit where you eat when it comes to strip clubs.”
I tilt my head at him.Okay… ?
“I pointed it out because I know the job a little better than you do. Pretty woman like you? You’re going to have a hard time getting respect around here. Something happens to men whenever they walk into a strip club. They get it in their heads that within these walls, everything with a pussy is fair game. Like, the rules of common decency just don’t apply anymore.”
I straighten up a little, trying to show that this idea doesn’t bother me, even though it does. “That doesn’t scare me. I can take care of myself.”
“I sincerely hope so. I don’t want to bail you out every time some idiot decides to whip out his dick.”
That makes me smirk. He’s not a short man, nor particularly diminutive, but there’s nothing about him that suggests that he’s even been in a fight before. I’d have better luck calling the gargoyle at the door.
“I think I can handle it.”
He nods, still smirking at me slyly. “Guess we’ll find out, won’t we? When can you start?”
And just like that, I’m employed again. I smile and tell him, “When do you need me?”
“Tomorrow night. Be here around four so we can go over paperwork and all that.”
I shake his hand, thank him, and then leave. It’s all I can do not to skip all the way down these stairs.
When I walk back out to the club, Natasha’s there waiting for me at the employees’ entrance. “Well? How did it go?”
“Say hello to your new manager.”
She squeals with happiness and wraps her arms around me. “I knew it! I knew you’d be perfect for this job! This is the best news. We need to go out and celebrate. Want to meet up after I get off tonight?”
“Sure,” I say. I could use a few drinks. “Right now, I need to get home and look through my closet and see how many business suits I have. I want to look sharp for tomorrow night.”
We banter back and forth as she walks me to the door. I’m so far up on cloud nine that I don’t see him as I turn to walk out the door.
I run right into what feels like a wall of muscle and I’m knocked off my feet. I land on my backside hard, my feet flying up, billfold tumbling to the floor. Pain shoots up through my palms as I brace myself against the hard floor.
This is embarrassing. Shit, I hope I didn’t hurt anything…
I look up to see him standing over me. Wearing a sleeveless black shirt that clings to his muscular chest and arms covered from shoulders to the backs of his hands in tattoos. His dark hair is touched with gray at his temples and lightly through his beard. He looks down at me with eyes the color of the ocean and a menacing scowl.
It softens as soon as our eyes connect. He cocks his head and says, “Shit. Are you okay?”
2
ROMAN
It was like someone slapped my chest out of the blue. She ran right into me just as I was turning away from Ares, who had just said something about getting a drink before the meeting.
It all happened like a car accident. One minute, my head is filled with the conversation I’m about to have with Rodriguez and the next, I’m standing over this pretty thing on the floor before me.
Pretty actually doesn’t cover it. She isbeautiful. On the floor, her skirt slightly lifted above her knees, which are knocked together in an awkward and unconscious attempt to shield her undergarments from the world. The top button of her dress shirt has popped, and I catch a glimpse of the white lace in her bra. She looks up at me through her long, messy blonde hair, ice-cold blue eyes glaring up at me accusingly.
I ask if she’s alright and she sits up, the tanned skin of her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. I step forward and offer my hand to her.
She takes it and I help her to her feet. “Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t see you there.”
She’s straightening out her skirt, then she notices the missing button and she swears in frustration. To me, she says, “It’s all right. I should have watched where I was going.”
She’s looking around for something. We both spot the billfold on the floor, but she grabs it first.
Shit. She’s about to leave. I can see her about to step around me and my crew without so much as a thought. “A beautiful woman like you should never be in such a rush,” I say, and it makes her pause. “Maybe you can stick around and I can buy you a drink.”
