My courage had just gone out the window. Who was I kidding? This guy would eaten me for breakfast.
“The pay’s really high but not standard. Come on, get undressed. Show me.” He invited me to do this casually, as if this was a normal job interview.
“No, I was actually wondering about working at Tropical as a server, not here. That place is still yours, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but my brother manages it. I don’t deal with hiring fucking servers.”
I had a strange feeling. His voice wasn’t gloomy, and he didn’t look revolting, but he looked at me so weirdly that it made me feel uneasy.
How many minutes had it been?
“Even though, now that I’m getting a better look at you, you’d be too small to work here,” he muttered without taking his eyes off me.
“I know, but my mom lost her job and we need money.” I tried to play that card without really knowing where it would lead me. He didn’t pay any attention to my desperate lost-little-girl act. Austin opened a rickety locker resting on an equally run-down wall. The place was luxurious, but his office looked like an old, abandoned garage.
“This was Eleanor’s. She ran off last week after stealing a client’s wallet.”
“Ah.”
“This should be your size. Put it on.”
All my swagger went up in smoke when the guy came closer to hand me the piece of silver fabric.
“Um, but you said . . . I mean, I said—”
“Go on, get changed. You can’t be embarrassed here because if you work here you’ll be spending most of your time half naked anyway. And not just in front of me.”
There was something vaguely cruel about the sneer he gave me. I was suddenly frozen. I couldn’t move a single muscle. I was paralyzed by fear. I’d really thought I could help the guys, but my armor of self-assuredness had just collapsed.
“Otherwise you already know that this job isn’t for you. There’s the door,” he finished as he went back to lock the locker.
I took advantage of the momentary distraction to pull my phone out of my jeans pocket. A text.
Hunter:Snap out of it. Have him give you a vape pen and ask him to come with you outside.
I looked up and noticed Ethan Austin was in front of me again. I struggled to meet his gaze.
Concentrate, June.
“Okay, you know what? I’d need to smoke first.”
I put the minidress under my arm as he shrugged, as if what I’d just said was totally normal.
“Let’s go.” We headed outside.
I texted Will:We just got to the main entrance.
“That’s where I’ve seen you. You’re Hunter’s girlfriend.”
“No.”
He squinted at me. The sun seemed to bother him too. He handed me a vape pen that I reluctantly accepted.
“I’m sure I saw you with him one night.”
This time he confirmed it decisively, then came closer to me, forcing me to back toward the wall. I was disoriented. I didn’t know his intentions, but what made me even more uneasy was the taste of the vape pen on my tongue.
“Did he tell you to come here?” he drawled as he stared at me.
