Текст книги "Addiction"

Автор книги: Shantel Tessier

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

TAYLOR

Two hours later, I’m sitting on the floor in my room in front of my floor-length mirror drying my hair thinking about what happened earlier with Case. He looked at me as if he wanted me. His hands felt so hot on my skin that I wonder what the rest of him would feel like on top of me. I almost begged him to kiss me. I’m pretty sure I voiced that out loud. I almost threw my arms around his neck and begged him. This is bad. So bad! I can’t be around him anymore. I can’t do this to myself. My stomach has been in knots since he left. Not because he almost kissed me, but because he didn’t. I would have rather he kissed me than made me look like an idiot. Then he had the nerve to laugh.

I turn off the hair dryer and lay it on the floor next to me.

I jump when I hear my cell phone ringing. I reach over to see it’s my brother calling.

“Yes?” I ask with a sigh. He left with Case right after I gave him the free show. I’m hoping Case didn’t tell him what really happened.

“Hey, sis,” he says, and I can hear music blaring in the background. He must be up at Seven Deadly Sins with Case.

“You need to get ready and get up to Seven Deadly Sins,” he informs me.

I allow my head to fall forward and let out a heavy sigh. No doubt this was Case’s doing. He’s trying to screw with me. “Pass. I don’t want any part of your drug deals,” I half growl.

He chuckles, and I frown. How was that funny? “I promise this has nothing to do with drugs. Just fun. Drugs don’t control my life,” he adds seriously.

“That’s nice,” I reply dryly, not believing him, but then add, “I’m staying here.” I’ve had enough humiliation today.

He sighs heavily. “Case reserved us our own private room. And I have other friends coming. Dillon and Lance will be here in a matter of minutes. So finish getting ready.”

“How could you invite Dillon?” I demand. “You know he gives me the creeps.”

“He swears it was a misunderstanding.”

“How is kissing me a misunderstanding?”

I hear a door open and close on his side of the line and then he speaks. “He’s been my friend for years, Taylor,” he says softly. “He knows not to touch you. Can’t you for once relax and have some fun?” he snaps.

Whoa. What’s up with the mood change so quickly? What is wrong with him tonight? I wonder if Case told him the truth once they left the house. That I have the hots for his drug dealer. I should be ashamed, but that’s what makes him hot, right? The fact he’s what Savannah calls a bad boy.

Savannah chooses this time to walk into my bedroom wearing a black mini dress and red high heels. “Get dressed. I’m not gonna be the only girl with all the guys tonight.”

I guess my brother had called her before he called me. “We’ll be right there,” I inform him then I hang up. If Case wants to play a game, then a game we shall play.

Thankfully, Dillon and Lance were meeting us at the club, which was a silver lining of my day considering how bad it has been so far.

I quickly finish getting ready and then Savannah drives us over to Seven Deadly Sins. As soon as we walk into the club, she goes in search of the private room Case reserved for us. I find myself going straight to the bar. I have just ordered a Peach Bellini when a hand lands on my shoulder.

I jump as I turn my head to look over my shoulder. Case is standing behind me looking down at me. “Have you thought about my offer?” he asks with a smirk on his face. My first thought is I hate that he’s seen me naked. I hate how he can act as if it didn’t affect him like it did me.

“It’s not gonna happen,” I reply flatly. Don’t let him see that it bothers you. He’s like a bully. If he knows it bothers you, then he will continue to use it against you.

“I beg you to reconsider.” This time, when he speaks, his mouth is right by my ear, and my body breaks out in goosebumps.

I spin around and place a finger on his hard chest. I feel his muscles flex underneath it, and I bite the inside of my lip. “Let’s talk about what this is really about, shall we?”

He arches his right eyebrow, the one that has the scar above it, and I find myself fascinated by it. I wonder how he got it. It adds to his mystery and makes him seem much more interesting. He then crosses his arms over his chest. I can’t help but look at his dark blue tattoos that cover his forearms. The skull looks even brighter against the sleeves of his rolled up button-down white shirt. It’s hot, and he looks mouthwatering good. The muscles pull against the fabric as if it’s screaming to the point it will explode under the tension. I know how it feels. “Okay.” His smirk grows to a full-on grin as he catches me staring. “What do we need to discuss?”

“The fact you saw me naked,” I say loud enough so he can hear me over the screaming music.

The older man standing beside me at the bar turns to look at us with wide eyes but allows himself to look me up and down before returning his attention back to the bar. Of course, I would say that loud enough for someone to hear in here.

“I did,” he says as his blue eyes darken. “And you’re not fooling anyone.” He uncrosses his arms from his chest and reaches out to tug on my overly large shirt. I slap his hand away as I push my back into the bar. “Trying to hide that amazing body under those baggy clothes.”

Did he say amazing body? My face heats up. No, stay on topic. I only dressed this way half because of him. The other fifty percent was for Dillon’s benefit. I don’t want any man to approach me tonight. I only came to prove a point to my brother. I’ll show him that I’m not a stuck-up bitch and I know how to have fun. “If you think inviting us here tonight will get you somewhere with me, it won’t happen …” I pause when his dark brows raise to his forehead. What did you just say, Taylor? And why does he look so amused about it? Maybe I am overthinking this. So what if he saw me naked? I’m sure he has seen tons of women naked. He’ll forget it by tomorrow. “Why did you invite us out here tonight?” I decide to settle on.

Thankfully, he moves on from my previous train of thought. “To recruit you, of course.”

Uh … “What do you mean?” I ask stupidly.

He looks around the already busy club. “I need another waitress. And you need a job.” He shrugs.

“I can’t work for you,” I say shaking my head.

“Is that because you wanna sleep with me?”

My knees almost buckle at that question. Dammit. “Are you crazy?” I gasp. “Me sleep with you?” I laugh but only to cover up my uneasiness. Please kiss me!

He smiles. A beautiful smile that makes my already weak knees start to buckle. Don’t embarrass yourself more than you already have today, Taylor. Have some dignity. I look into his dark blue eyes as the club lights bounce off them, and I imagine what they would like look while he made love to me. Would they still look so dark? Would they lighten as my hands ran up and down his back, pulling him into me ...?

“No worries. If that is the issue,” he hollers, pulling me out of my thoughts. My body stiffens as he reaches up and places a hand in my hair. I start to breathe heavily as he leans down and places his lips next to my ear. Closing my eyes, I inhale his spicy scent as his body presses into mine. I should pull away, but I can’t. My back is already up against the bar, but even if it wasn’t, I’m not sure I could. “That won’t happen,” he whispers, and I suck in a deep breath as I try to control my thought of his body being on top of mine. “I don’t fuck women who are related to my friends,” he says matter-of-factly. Even though he speaks the words softly, I hear them loud and clear over the music.

I bite my inner cheek. Fuck? Did he just say fuck? Legs buckling and heart pounding now! “I wouldn’t ... fuck you,” I say back quickly, and he pulls away from me. I open my eyes. “Because you sell drugs,” I add trying to think of another reason why I wouldn’t touch him. But is that even really an issue at the moment? I don’t see why it is. It would just be sex. I don’t have to do what he does.

He just smirks as he reaches up and runs a hand over the scruff that covers his jawline. I’ve never been a woman who likes facial hair on a man, but it looks so good on him. It’s not too much. Just enough to lightly cover his face as if he just forgot to shave this morning. I like it. What would it feel like between my thighs while he …?

I am just about to walk away and get myself out of a situation that can only end badly for me when a waitress with bright red hair walks up to the counter beside us. I watch her as she orders a handful of drinks and a bottle of something that sounded expensive. I can’t help but look wide-eyed as she pulls a wad of cash out of the back pocket of her white shorts. There are a couple of hundred-dollar bills along with a ton of twenties. Then some fives and ones.

I want to ask her if she has made all that tonight. And if so, what does she make on an average weekend? If it was as much as I just saw, then I could work all summer and go to weekends when schools starts and still have the free time to get my studies done.

I look back up at Case as the waitress takes off with a full tray of drinks, and I sigh heavily when he gives me a knowing smirk. He can see my mind working, and I hate that. But it’s just a try, right? It’s not as if it’s anything permanent. Nothing I can’t just quit if I don’t like. And he already informed me that he wouldn’t be having sex with me. It will be strictly business.

He holds out his right hand to me. “Deal?”

I chew on my bottom lip. I mean how bad can it get? The man has already seen me naked. I need a job, and I gotta pay to have my car fixed.

“Deal.” I sigh heavily. Did I just make a deal with the devil? And if I did, what is it gonna cost me?

CASE

I watch as Taylor walks into the crowd of people to make her way back to their private room, and I smile. I knew she would come around. It happened a lot quicker than I thought it would, but that just makes this even sweeter.

I can’t help but allow my eyes to rake over her; I still can’t get the fact out of my mind that I saw her naked earlier. The fact that her brother was there wasn’t a mood killer. I know exactly how she felt at that very moment; that’s also why I just told her that I couldn’t touch her. I want her to feel safe around me. Even if I do feel the tension rolling off both of us, I want her to understand it can’t happen.

But fuck, it’s gonna be hard. I wanted her skin to be slick with sweat from my body being on top of hers. I wanted her body to quiver from my cock thrusting into her. Even in this club, with sweaty people dancing, I can still smell the fresh scent of vanilla from when she ran into me after her shower. Fuck, I’ve been hard ever since. Too bad, she won’t be the one who relieves me tonight.

I immediately look around for another woman who may catch my eye. I can’t fuck her. She’s off-limits. Not only is she Blane’s sister, but I also have rules. Rules with major consequences if I overstep them. Forget the fact that she just accepted a job at my club. If my boss found out that I did that, he’d kill me. And he will find out, eventually. But it’s easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.

Bright red hair catches my attention as Rachel comes bouncing to the bar to place another order. I take the opportunity and lean over, placing my hand on her lower back as I speak loud enough into her ear for her to hear me over the music. “You’re training tomorrow night,” I inform her.

Her head spins around as I pull back. “I’m not working tomorrow night,” she protests loudly.

“You are now. Oh, and you’re staying late tonight.” Might as well use her to get rid of this hard-on I have.

An hour later, I find myself up in my office, arms crossed over my chest as I stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window looking down over the club. It’s in full swing, and the club is packed. The drunks are starting to feel their buzz, and the druggies are probably going to the bathroom to get their hits. The ones hoping to get lucky are seeking out that special someone who, come tomorrow, won’t even remember their name. And what am I doing? Searching for Taylor in the crowd. Of course, I can’t find her. She’s probably in the private room I gave them for the night. How stupid of me to place her where I can’t watch her.

Making up my mind, I turn on my heels and make my way down to the club level. Once I hit the bottom of the stairs, Miller gives me a head nod, letting me know that everything is going well tonight. I don’t usually come down to the club level unless I have business to take care of. The other times, I stay up in my office.

I round the bar and make my way down the hallway until I come to the door LUST. I smile as I open it up and walk in.

When I decided to make these separate rooms, I wanted then to give off the club feel yet still make them enjoyable for the people. I wanted them to have their own space to dance if they wanted yet not have music blaring in their ears while they tried to visit or talk business.

As soon as I close the door behind me, Taylor looks up from her spot on the couch. She looks away just as quickly. I guess she’s still embarrassed about what happened at her house. I wish I could tell her she has no reason to be embarrassed. She looks just as beautiful naked as she does with clothes on. Her tits look better than I could have imagined. My hands begged me to touch her in ways that would have had her calling out my name. Off-limits!

“Case.” Blane calls out my name as he stands from the couch to my right. He walks up to me and gives me one of those handshake-one handed hugs. “Thanks for inviting us out tonight, man.” I have a feeling he is still high from earlier.

“No problem.” The only reason I did it was to see her tonight. To get her on my side and to come and work for me. And it worked. Although it’s also torture to be around her, knowing that I can’t have her. But I have some self-control. Since when?

Blane starts to speak to me, but I don’t pay any attention to him. A man in the back of the room, who I’ve never seen before, gets up from his chair and walks over to the couch where Taylor sits. He plops down beside her and leans over, whispering something in her ear. She lets out a soft laugh. But it’s one of those uncomfortable laughs; the fact that she scoots farther away from him confirms it. He scoots closer to her. I fist my hands down by my side as I watch her sink further into the couch. It’s obvious she doesn’t like the guy, but he isn’t getting the hint.

He places his hand on her leg, and she jerks away. When he tries it the second time, she shoves it away. He grabs her hand and pulls on it, jerking it forward. She tries to pull away as she shakes her head. He just laughs as he leans down to her face. He is about to kiss her when she looks away. At her rejection, he lets her go, but she looks up at me. Her eyes land on mine, and I can almost hear her silent plea to help her. I shouldn’t have let it go this far. When a woman says no, she means no.

Without thought, I walk over to the couch. I ignore the gasp that comes out of Taylor as I approach. Keeping my eyes on the little fucker, I grab his shirt and pull him to his feet.

“Whoa. What the fuck, man …?”

I slam his back up against the closest wall. His dark green eyes widen as I hold him tightly against the wall. “She doesn’t want you touching her,” I inform him. “What part of that did you not understand?”

“I … I was just … talking to her.” He stumbles through his words.

“Bullshit,” I say calmly, but voice hard. “I watched you put your hands on her even after she clearly told you to stop.” Just that thought has me wanting to beat the shit out of him, but that would make me look too obvious. Right now, I just look like a guy saving a woman from an uncomfortable situation. I don’t wanna call attention to myself.

“You what?”

I finally look away from the guy I’m holding to see Blane standing next to us. He looks the guy in the eyes, and I can see them start to cloud over. “I’ve told you before, Dillon. She is off-limits to you,” he spits out.

Dillon tries to shove me away, but I don’t budge. So the guy has a thing for her? That was obvious, but Blane just confirmed my suspicion. He’s tried to get with her. Or, the other thought that makes me want to kick him in the balls, they have a past.

I feel a growl come from his chest as he narrows his eyes on Blane. “In case you’ve missed it, Blane, she’s an adult and can do whatever she wants,” he snaps.

“She doesn’t want you,” I remind him.

He looks back at me. “Just who the hell are you?” he demands. “Her boyfriend?” he snaps.

I snort. ‘Cause I wouldn’t be any better for her than he would. Just for different reasons. “I’m her boss,” I say simply. “And you are now banned from my club.” With that, I toss him over to Miller, who stands at the entrance of the room. He hauls him out just as Blane turns to Taylor and lets out a few curses.

CHAPTER TWELVE

 

CASE

I sit behind my desk up in my office as I watch Blane and Taylor argue back and forth. I knew Blane wouldn’t like her working here at the club, but it’s for her benefit. I can’t tell her that, and he wouldn’t understand it.

“May I say something?” I ask, standing from my chair. They both turn to face me; their argument paused at the moment.

“How come you didn’t come to me about this first?” Blane demands. “You know I would have told you that I didn’t want her working at this club,” he shouts at me, ignoring my question.

“Excuse me?” Taylor snaps as she pulls on his shirt making him turn to face her. “Don’t get mad at Case. All he has done is help me out today. Where the hell have you been?”

He looks over at me, ignoring her question. I know exactly where he’s been. Working for me. “What have you been helping her with?” he asks narrowing his eyes at me. Of course, he’s mad at me. I spent time with him tonight and made him smoke weed, yet I never mentioned spending the day with his sister. I can see where he could be mad.

Taylor huffs. “I tried calling you like three times this morning. My car broke down on the way to work, and it kept going straight to voicemail.”

His eyes soften, and he takes a deep, calming breath. “I’m sorry, sis.” He reaches out and rubs her arm.

She pulls away, obviously still mad at him. “Savannah didn’t answer her phone either, so I called Case. He came and picked me up.”

His head spins to look at me. “You what?”

I almost roll my eyes, but she continues to yell at him, so I give him a smug smile instead. “Then once I arrived at work, Mr. Binsen fired me for being late.”

“He can’t do that. Can he?” he asks her.

“He did.” She turns her body to face me. The smile she gives me pulls at my gut. I’m not the good guy here. It’s a soft smile, and two dimples appear on her cheeks. My dick hardens wondering what it would feel like for her to look up at me like that from her knees as if I was her savior. “Then Case offered me a job. And I accepted it.” Her voice is full of appreciation, and I actually feel sorry for her. She thinks she owes me. And in all honesty, I wanna make her pay up. I’m not that good of a man to let an opportunity like that go. You have to, Case!

“Give us a minute,” Blane tells her, but he doesn’t bother looking away from me.

“Blane …”

“I said give us a minute,” he snaps.

She pulls her shoulders back pushing out her chest in defiance. I hide my smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Case.”

Yes, you will. “Looking forward to it.”

She slams the door shut behind her just as Blane turns to me. “This is not part of our deal,” he growls.

I plop down in my chair and shrug. “The deal has changed,” I say simply. “Or did you forget that?”

He bangs his fists on my desks. “Dammit, Case! She’s not like me. You should not punish her for my fuck-ups.”

I tilt my head to the side in confusion. “You think I’m punishing her?”

“Well … yeah,” he says sounding confused.

I shake my head. “There is no safer place for her to work,” I inform him.

“You don’t know Taylor like I do. She doesn’t like the bars or clubs. She doesn’t even like to drink alcohol. She won’t make it through one night here.”

I snort. “Give the girl some credit.”

He looks at me with hate in his eyes. “You know I can’t stop you. And she sure as hell isn’t gonna let me tell her no.” He sighs in defeat. But he looks up at me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it looks like tears are in his eyes. It hurts to see how much he loves her. To know that this may not turn out how I promised him. This game has a new player with Taylor. Can I get them both out of this alive? I sure hope so. “You have to keep her safe. She is all I have left. I’ve already failed her before.” He hangs his head in shame. “Please tell me that you’ll protect her.”

I nod my head. After all, that is why I made sure she took this job. My mind may have other things in mind for her as well, but I did have her safety in mind first. “You have my word.”