by Abbi Glines
Standing in front of the desk, I surveyed the pile of papers with a smile of satisfaction. I slipped my shoes back on and walked out into Jasper’s office. He was standing with his hands tucked in his pockets, talking on the speaker phone. I paused, hoping he saw me. The call sounded like business with someone in his Chicago office from the brief snippet of conversation I heard.
He turned before I heard too much and gave me a slight nod.
“I have an appointment, John. We’ll talk later. Just go ahead and use Samantha for that area,” he said, then walked over and ended the call.
“You ready to leave?”
“Yes, please. I need to finish at the house before I leave for work tonight.”
Jasper frowned. “This is going to be a long day for you.”
“Or productive,” I replied.
He grinned then. “That’s putting a positive spin on things.”
The door to his office opened, grabbing our attention. Stone wasn’t dressed like he belonged here. His clothes weren’t surprising though because the jeans and T-shirt combo was all I ever saw him in.
Stone’s eyes went from Jasper to me, then back to Jasper. “You ready for lunch?”
It was almost three o’clock.
“I forgot. I need to get Beulah home first. Let’s take her on our way.”
“Why is she here?” Stone asked, sounding more annoyed than anything.
“She’s organizing that shit back there for me,” Jasper said. “Stop acting like an ass.”
Stone didn’t look my way again. “Then let’s go. I’m starving.”
“As always, a charmer.” Jasper was clearly amused by his friend’s scowl.
I wondered if Jasper was the only friend he had and that was why he was always around. With a personality like that I didn’t imagine anyone could like him much.
“How many jobs does she need?” Stone asked finally, flicking his gaze my way but only for a moment.
“Not your business,” Jasper told him then winked at me.
“No, but it’s your fucking business so I hope you’re thinking clearly.” The way he said it made it sound like I was somehow using Jasper. It was insulting.
“I can handle some things on my own, Stone.” This time he didn’t sound as amused.
I wondered about his choice of words though. “Some things” was an odd way of explaining our situation. What was it he couldn’t handle on his own?
“Sure, let’s get going so I can eat.”
I wanted to point out he didn’t do anything all day and could eat whenever he wanted, but I kept my mouth shut.
Jasper started talking about a party he wanted to have next weekend for Tate’s birthday At least that kept them busy and their top of conversation off me until I was dropped at home.
I would make sure that I wasn’t scheduled to work Saturday night at the club. I had a party to serve it would seem.
THE FIRST THING I SAW when I walked into the employees only room at the club was the back of Shauna’s red head as she knelt in front of Neil who was holding the back of her head as he groaned with pleasure. I stopped dead in my tracks. They didn’t seem to notice me. Neil’s eyes were closed and his other hand was on the wall for support I assumed.
“Fuck, Shauna, fuck that’s good, baby,” he said just as his eyes opened to look down at her, but he caught sight of me and locked his sex-hungered gaze on me instead. I expected him to stop her or . . . something. I didn’t expect a slow smile to appear on his face as he continued to let her go at it.
“I’m gonna come,” he said as he kept looking at me.
My face heated. I wanted to run from the room but my feet seemed to be cemented to the floor. I was in shock.
“Uh,” he said his eyes slightly closing. “Ohhyeah! Oh, fuck. Here it comes,” he said leaning heavily on the wall now as he let out a long low groan of satisfaction.
I spun around and ran from the room.
I hadn’t been prepared to witness that. I wish I’d been able to move sooner. Run faster. Jeez! They didn’t even lock the door.
“Going the wrong way, aren’t you?” Carey said as he stepped out of his office. “You need to get dressed in your uniform first.”
I opened my mouth to say something when Shauna spoke. “Show’s over. You can use the room to get dressed now.”
I couldn’t look at her.
Carey chuckled like he knew exactly what had just happened. “Breaking in the new girl early, I see.”
I needed to talk to Carey about my hours, but at this moment, I just wanted to find a closet or quiet space to compose myself. My pink cheeks made me look like an innocent school girl—the entire staff would make fun of me now.
I didn’t wait around for more laughter and comments. I hurried back to the room forgetting that Neil hadn’t exited yet. However, when I came face to face with him as I opened the door, I remembered. Dang it.
Neil’s lips curled up at the edges. “Sorry about that.”
He didn’t look sorry at all.
“There’s a lock on the door,” I pointed out.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But what’s the fun in locking it? Takes away from the thrill of someone walking in and watching.”
I didn’t say anything to that crude comment. I started to step around him when his hand touched my arm. “I’m sorry. I’d say that was a moment of lust and I needed some relief, but honestly, you’ll need to adjust to seeing things like that around here. It’s kind of an open thing with the others.” He paused as if he were thinking about his next words. “And Shauna gives one hell of a blow job.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said tugging my arm free as I hurried past him inside.
“You’ll warm up to it. And I look forward to when you do,” he said and left the room.
I let out a sigh of relief as he shut the door, and I allowed myself a second to compose myself. Changing in here now seemed more vulnerable than before. I didn’t want someone walking in when I was alone, thinking I was interested in . . . something else. I’d come to work dressed from now on. If the employees and owner wanted to share all the STD’s they were likely to get screwing around like they were, I didn’t have to be a part of it.
Getting through this first official night and finding time to talk to Carey about my work hours was all I should have been focused on. Unfortunately, it got busy early and I never found the chance to talk to him.
At the end of my shift, I counted my money, and I did get over one hundred dollars in tips. Monday must be a good night at the club, and now I felt like it was worth the lack of sleep I’d be feeling tomorrow.
Neil and a blonde waitress flirted most of the evening. He even gave me a suggestive grin more than once. That guy had serious issues. I’d decided he was a manwhore, until his wife came in for a drink after her work shift ended. Then I realized he was a manwhore adulterer. Yuck.
When I finally walked into the house at three in the morning, I found Stone sitting in the great room with the gas fire going, even though it was only sixty degrees outside. He looked up from the book in his lap and didn’t smile. Not that I expected him to. He never smiled.
“Why are you working three jobs?” he asked.
I was too tired for this. For him. “Why are you sitting in Jasper’s house at three in the morning drinking his whiskey?”
His only change of expression was an almost unnoticeable quirk of his brow as he said, “Because he has a stripper he brought home from the club in the pool house. She’s currently calling him ‘God’ and begging him to fuck her up the ass harder. Now answer my question.”
I was sleepy. No, I was exhausted, but his words woke me up. Jasper brought a stripper home?
“Uh,” I started to explain. A second later, I forgot what I was going to say. I looked up to find Stone’s quirky brow had turned into a cold glare, and that snapped me out of my lost thoughts. “I need money. I’m saving it for nursing school. Any more questions? I’m tired.”
He stud
ied me a moment, then returned his focus to his book. “No.”
I continued walking through the room and his voice stopped me just before I walked out. “I didn’t expect you to have ambition or goals.”
Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or maybe I had just met my quota with Stone’s crap that caused my next words to spew out unfiltered. “Of course you didn’t. You’re too busy glaring at me down that long nose of yours.”
Then I fled, because I had been rude and the words I’d said were partially untrue. First of all, Stone had a nice nose. It wasn’t long at all. And second, I had just snapped at my boss’s friend. To add to my mortification, I had a sneaking suspicion Stone was Jasper’s best friend because he never left the house.
I didn’t stop until I was in my room in the basement.
I undressed quickly, and after a quick shower, I collapsed in bed. I decided I would worry about apologizing to Stone tomorrow.
Unfortunately, when I closed my eyes, my mind wandered back to Stone’s words. I saw Jasper and some unknown stripper doing things I’d never done. And deep down I had to admit I didn’t like that Jasper was with someone else. That wasn’t a good thing. I had to suppress my unwanted jealousy because being attracted to my boss was not okay. I needed my job here and at the office desperately. Jasper was going to sleep with a lot of women and I needed to get right with watching them come and go. Still, I had to admit I was a little disappointed in him. The guy I was getting to know was somewhat likable.
I tried hard to push his face out of my head and thoughts. It wasn’t possible.
When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of him.
That was the beginning.
MY DREAMS HAD BEEN VIVID last night. So much so that when I walked into the kitchen with pancakes and sausage for Jasper, I blushed. I’d wondered if he’d bring the girl with him to breakfast, but he hadn’t. He was alone.
“This smells amazing,” he said to me as I sat his plate in front of him. His phone was in his hand and he was texting, but he stopped to look at me.
“Thanks,” I said. My cheeks still felt warm. I quickly turned away hoping he wouldn’t notice.
“You okay this morning?” he asked me before I could leave the room.
“Yes.”
“Late night at work?”
“Yes.”
He chuckled. “Okay. Well, I won’t keep you.”
I nodded and hurried out. I felt silly. I looked silly. When I got to the kitchen, I sighed in frustration as I leaned against the bar. This wasn’t going to work. I had to get over last night’s dream, and over my attraction to Jasper. He was helping me. I didn’t receive help from many people, especially not from someone who looked like him. I had to keep my feelings straight. I was grateful to him for my job here and for the additional work he’d offered me at his office. That did not mean I was attracted to him.
I rolled my eyes at myself. I sounded ridiculous. A day experiencing Jasper’s charm, and then my erotic dream probably inspired by what I’d witnessed at work had me all a mess.
Jasper cleared his throat behind me, causing me to jump before I spun around.
“I was wondering if you’d like to have breakfast with me. It’s lonely in there.” He was carrying his plate in one hand and his coffee in the other. He sat both down on the bar.
Bad idea. “Where’s Stone?” I asked.
“Gone already. He went running before going into the office.”
Office? “Stone works?”
Jasper nodded. “Yeah. He does. For me. Now, why don’t you eat the food you made for him and let me enjoy your company. Please,” he added.
The way he tilted his head and his eyes reflected the morning sunlight coming in the windows made it hard to say no.
I nodded and joined him. Even though he’d spent last night with a stripper, I liked him. I could never do more than like him. It was bad for me to like him.
I was going to work on that.
“Okay. Can I get you more coffee?”
“No. I just require your company.”
He just requires my company. Ugh. That damn dream.
I went to the cabinet, pulled out a plate and put half of the portion I’d made for Stone on the plate. Jasper watched me and feeling his gaze on me made me nervous.
“What time did you get in last night?” he asked.
“Three,” I told him as I put my plate down beside him and took a seat on the stool.
“I hope you’re taking tonight off. That’s two nights in a row. You need rest.”
I’d never spoken to Carey last night. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to the manager last night.”
“Call him, Beulah.”
I could call him. That made sense. “Okay. I’ll probably have to because it’s busy when I get there at night making it hard to find time to talk to him about it.”
He didn’t say much the next few minutes as he ate and drank his coffee. I took that time to plan what I’d say to Carey over the phone.
“Portia left last night. Said she was going to stay with a friend of hers in the Hamptons for the rest of the summer. You won’t have as much work to do in the house now. If you can get in more hours at the office that’s okay with me.”
I stopped with my fork midway to my mouth. Portia was gone? “She left?”
“We don’t exactly get along,” he said.
“That’s why she left?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. Less bullshit for me to deal with.”
Would he leave too? How long would the filing job last and then what? What if my being here was no longer needed?
“I want you to stay here. Hell, I need you to stay here. I don’t have time to find someone dependable and trustworthy to live in this house and take care of it.”
He was reading my mind again.
I nodded. “You’re good at that,” I finally said.
“I’m good at a lot of things. You need to be more specific.” His tone was teasing but I wondered what things he was referring to.
“Knowing what I’m thinking.”
“You’ve got very expressive eyes.”
I’d never been told that before. Guys had complimented me, telling me my eyes were beautiful but never that they were expressive. Maybe he just paid closer attention.
He was being kind again. Making it hard to remember I shouldn’t lean close to smell his cologne, or study the way his smiles were all different, or admire the way he looked in his clothing. If he caught me doing those things, I was sure to be kicked out after he fired me from both my jobs.
I took one last bite and stood up. Making myself indispensable around here was the way to make sure the jobs didn’t end. Crushing on Jasper was not. “I’ll get to work upstairs and then I’ll be at the office by eleven, if that is okay.”
“Yeah. That’s good.”
“I’ll make sure to do a deep cleaning in the pool house this morning too.”
He didn’t respond immediately.
He finally said, “Yeah, that’s good. I’ll be moving into my room upstairs today. While Stone is here working for me, he’ll stay in the pool house. You don’t have to stock the kitchen for him though.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure your room and bathroom are ready for you then.”
He smirked. “Why are you so nervous today, Beulah?”
That was the million dollar question wasn’t it? One he was not ever getting the answer to.
I shrugged to buy time to answer him. “I’m not. I just need more coffee to get fully awake.”
He didn’t look like he believed me. He kept smirking. “I like it. I think it’s cute.”
Why, oh why, was he doing this? It was embarrassing enough. I kept my eyes averted from his view so he couldn’t magically read my thoughts and see last night’s dream in them.
I heard his stool push across the tile floor as he stood, and I knew he was getting ready to leave. Thank God.
“I’ll see you at work,” he said.
&n
bsp; “Yeah, see you then,” I replied but didn’t turn around. I lifted a hand as if to wave which was stupid. It seemed all I could manage to do today was stupid stuff.
FINDING SOMETHING TO WEAR TO the office a second day wasn’t easy. I decided on a pair of white shorts that were nicer than my other shorts and a black top. My flats and a necklace helped dress it up a bit. I didn’t know if it mattered what I wore. I was in a back room alone with paperwork. I put some effort into how I looked anyway.
Brandy Jo wasn’t all smiles for me when I walked in—not the way she was for Jasper—but I greeted her with a friendly smile anyway. Her response was a cold stare. I wasn’t her competition, the world was. She needed to understand how Jasper worked. I almost felt sorry for her.
The card that Jasper had given me to enter the protected area of the building was tucked in my purse. I reached for it and slipped it out while the elevator took me to his floor. My job with Van Allen Industries was only filing papers but it felt important. Like I had fancy responsibilities in a position that you could only get with a degree. I didn’t want to work in an office like this forever. Being a nurse had been my dream since I was a little girl. For now, I would enjoy this experience and I was thankful to Jasper for giving it to me.
When the elevators opened, I walked into the waiting area that was beautiful and just as empty as it had been yesterday. I doubted many people actually waited in this area. Which was a shame. It was such a nice place to wait.
The door clicked as it unlocked easily with a wave of my key card. I knocked lightly before pushing it open in case Jasper was busy. There was no response, so I went in. His office was empty as I made my way to the back room where I filed.
For the next hour, I opened envelopes and made piles according to the subject matter all around me.
The smell of food caught my attention and I looked up from my work just as Jasper walked into the filing room holding two paper bags.