“I’m sorry if you didn’t realize, Hattie. It’s a force of habit at this point when people ask what I do.” I sigh and really play it up by looking away from her, pulling on those easy heartstrings of hers. “I’ve been judged so many times for what I do that I guess I just got used to being vague.”
She places her hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t judging you. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Let’s go in, and you can show me around.”
Way too fucking easy.
I meet her gaze and smile. “Thank you. You have no idea what it means to me that you’ll give this a chance.”
She nods and steps inside.
When the door shuts behind us, I fight the feeling of being a predator who’s cornered his prey. I tell myself that I’m not like Russell back in Wisconsin.
“The place is empty right now. The dancers won’t come in for a couple of hours. I wanted to be able to show you around before you’re bombarded with having to meet everyone else. When the lights are all on and the music is pumping, it can get a little intense.”
Hattie stops and looks around, turning in place. “I’ve never been to a strip club before.”
“That’s okay, you don’t have to be an expert in them to help me out day to day.”
“Where will I be working?”
The way she says it makes me think she’s afraid I’ll plop a desk down in the middle of the stage and make her work naked.
“Follow me.”
I lead her to the door beside the stage and down the hallway that passes the room where the dancers get ready, the employee kitchen, the stockroom, and finally to my office at the very end.
“You and I will be working in here.” I unlock the door and push it open, waiting for her to walk in first.
My desk is where it always is, and I’ve set up a desk for her on the far wall. Coincidentally, my desk looks onto hers.
She looks around the space, not saying anything.
“I took the liberty of setting you up here and bought you a laptop, but if there’s anything else you need, you just have to say the word.”
When she still doesn’t say anything, I take her hand. It’s only now that I notice the scent of her perfume—a light floral scent with a trace of vanilla. It’s… fuck… it’s her. If I paid someone a shit ton of money to come up with a fragrance that would define Hattie, that would be it.
“Are you going to be able to do this job? Again, I’m sorry. I probably should have mentioned the working environment, given that your faith is such a strong part of your life. I just thought with what this job pays and the situation you’re in…” I allow her to fill in the blanks.
“It’s fine. It will take some… adjusting, I’m sure, but you’re right. This job allows me to help my parents out significantly morethan I could at my old job. I’m sorry if I’m coming off ungrateful. I just wasn’t expecting this.”
“I understand.” I drop her hand and walk over to sit at my desk. “Shall we get started? I can walk you through where everything is in the cloud and what you can start with.”
She nods. “Yes, of course.”
After she grabs a pen and notebook from her desk, she brings them and her computer and sits on the other side of my desk. Damn, we’re way too far away from one another.
“On second thought, why don’t I come sit beside you so we can both look at the screen on your computer?” I stand and drag my chair closer to hers so that when I sit down, our legs are almost touching. In fact, I intentionally brush my leg against hers under the guise of stretching several times as I show her what she needs to know.
Hattie picks everything up quickly, asking intelligent questions. The one truthful thing I did tell her was I knew she was smart and could do this job efficiently.
I’m not sure how long we’ve been at it when there’s a knock on the door. My office door is open, but no one would dare walk in without announcing themselves.
The two of us shift in our seats to see who it is, her leg bumping mine this time. Ray stands in the doorway, his hulking body almost filling up the space.
“Hey, boss.” He glances at Hattie.
“Hattie, this is Ray. Ray, Hattie. She’s the one I told you about who’s going to make my life a whole lot easier, right?”
She gives me a shy smile and stands, walking across the room and extending her hand toward Ray. “Nice to meet you, Ray.”
