“Hi Mase. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Amber.”
The girl beside him cut in, breaking our eye contact and giving me a moment to collect myself. “She knows who you are, Mase. Fuck, everyone knows who you are.” His holy hotness caught me off guard, but I needed this job. I couldn’t keep sleeping on Ellis’s couch, and I needed to get my stuff from Henry’s. He’d text me last night, telling me that if I didn’t get it out by the end of the week, he was binning it.
“So Amber, what experience do you have looking after kids?” His voice was calm, but there was a fire raging in his eyes. I swallowed against the urge to reach over and touch his face. What the hell was wrong with me? I never acted like this and I’d met some seriously hot guys. But within moments of meeting him, I wanted to drop to my knees and suck him off. Get a fucking grip, Amber.
“I worked as a nanny during my time at university and have worked at camp for three of the last four summers.” My voice was a little shaky. He made me nervous as hell as he smiled at me.
“Why do you want a job as an au pair?” His tone was gentle, yet I stuttered as I thought about my answer. I could lie to him, but I had a feeling he’d see right through it. Any bullshit excuse I fed him would cost me my job.
“I… um.” I swallowed and took a breath before trying again, “I lost my job last week, so my dad froze my trust fund and cut me off. My fiancé dumped me when he found out I couldn’t afford my half of the rent and kicked me out. And I’ve been blacklisted from all the jobs in my field that I’ve trained in, because my boss was a…” I stopped myself before I said that my boss was a creep who told me if I didn’t give him oral, he was booting me from my job. I refused, reported him and still ended up sacked.
“Go on,” he encouraged. His eyes burned into mine as he moved closer to me, leaning across the table. I glanced down, breaking his stare for a second before glancing back up and meeting his gaze with an intensity which surprised me.
“I need a live-in position and something different, out of my field, that I’m good at, would be great.”
He looked a little disappointed in my answer and nodded once. His fingers, which had been edging closer, pulled back and were placed firmly on his lap before he muttered in a slow, sexy drawl, “Well, have you ever looked after a new born?”
At this point I could see he was only humouring me. I could feel my eyes brimming. If Lexa couldn’t get me a job, it would mean I’d need to try and work in McDonalds or something.
“Yeah. I was with the Montague’s for three years and in my final year of college, Eleanor had a baby. I helped to look after him four days a week, while she returned to work.” I smiled at the memory. I spoke through the lump in my throat, my eyes filling with tears at the thought of having to tell Ellis that I’d screwed up another interview. Her boyfriend, Kurt, hated me sleeping on their couch and made his displeasure known, barging by me and slamming doors whenever I was in the house.
“Why don’t you ask them for a job?” His eyes burrowed into me. It was as though he could see right into my soul. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my waist. “I did, but they already have a new full-time nanny and don’t need another one. I think my daddy has had a word in their ear, telling them not to bother hiring me back.”
He nodded and reached for his coffee. My eyes instinctively dropped from the heat in his gaze as he scrutinised me. I noticed the tats on his knuckles. He had roman numerals tattooed there and a guitar pick on the back of his hand. I looked back up into his eyes and met them for a moment, before the bitch beside him jumped in again as he opened his mouth to say something. “Mase, we need to hurry. It’s almost five and John will be down with the new layout for the tour.” She stood and pushed passed me, glaring at me the whole time.
Mase nodded at her, his eyes never leaving my face as he moved to the edge of the booth. “Amber, it was lovely to meet you, but I’m sorry, I don’t think you’ll be right for the position. It means touring and keeping the kids occupied while I’m recording, doing interviews and press releases.” I nodded at him and he moved towards me. He picked up my hand and brushed his lips across my knuckles, sending fire through me as his touch burned me. He stepped back, dropped my hand and moved towards the exit, taking my last hope with him.
Lexa stood and rushed after him, surprising me. I sat there numbly contemplating how I was going to survive. Devastation threatened to crush me. I stared at my hands as I realised what a failure I had become. I could go to daddy. He would probably let me live there. But after what he’d said to me when I lost my job, I didn’t know if I could face him. And mom would be on another bender. Probably screwing the neighbour again.
A tear rolled from my eye and a rough finger swiped it away. I looked up and saw Mase standing there, looking scandalised. “Hey kid, nothing’s as bad as it seems.” He shook his head and turned away from me, before turning back with a sigh. “Fine, you can have a trial, but if you don’t prove yourself by the end of the week, you’re gone. I can’t deal with the complication. Come by the office tomorrow. Lexa will give you the details. Don’t tell anyone who you are going to work for. That’s a deal breaker there. If anyone finds out, I’ll personally take it out on your ass.”
Take it out on my ass? Did he mean that he go all alpha on me and spank me? Surely not. Surely, he just meant that he’d sue me for everything I was worth. The thought of him spanking me turned me on a little. When Lexa came back she smiled at me and dragged me for cocktails to celebrate.
“Come on, Amber. Do you know how many women he’s turned down this week? The fact that he’s given you a trial is fucking excellent.” Her cheer was infectious. A few hours later we were sitting in our favourite Chinese takeout, giggling like school girls when my cell rang. It was a number I didn’t recognise. Feeling brave, I answered it.
“Amber Davis speaking. Who’s calling please?”
I heard a groan and realised I must have slurred a little. Lexa was standing, pissing herself with laughter, at the confused look on my face. “It’s Mase. Have you been drinking Amber?” His tone was sharp, and I laughed a little, wondering what on earth was going on?
“Why yes, I have been drinking. I had a job interview today with a ridiculously hot rock star and somehow managed to get a trial. So, I’ve been celebrating with Lexa.”
“Is she with you now?” I could hear the smile in his voice, but he also sounded angry. This confused me in my drunken state. I glanced her way before answering him and almost laughed as she dribbled a little sauce on her chin.
“Yeah, she’s beside me eating honey chicken and rice. You want her?”
“No, but put her on anyway.”
I passed her the cell and she looked at me in complete confusion as she put it to her ear. “Hello,” she muttered around a mouthful of food.
I couldn’t hear what he was saying to her, but she sobered up almost immediately. After a few moments, she spoke again, “of course sir, we’ll be right down.”
She handed me my cell back and sat back in her chair, watching me. I looked at her, waiting on her to explain what was going on.
“Get your stuff together Amber. We’ve got to go to Mercy Industries. Like right now. His Holy Hotness…” God, I regretted telling her my nickname for Mason Michaels. I knew she’d never let me live it down. “…Wants to see you now. He can’t see you in the morning anymore and he requested that we go down now to sign all the paperwork.”
I nodded at her. I gathered my bag and looked longingly at my plate of chicken and black bean sauce, gutted that I had to leave it. But I needed this job. We walked outside, and I went to hail a cab, but Lexa stopped me. She dragged me into a coffee shop, where she ordered four espressos. We needed to sober up. Fast.
After scalding ourselves with them, we rushed outside and into a cab. As we made our way to Mercy Industries, I began to get a nervous fluttery feeling in the pit of my stomach. We arrived at ten past nine at night. We were met by the girl from the interview, whose name I now knew
was Kitty, and an older man. He introduced himself as Gregory.
We walked inside, and my jaw hit the floor. The place was floored in a dark marble, with splashes of gold intercepting the polished stone. It ran all the way over to the security desks and around all the walls. There was the Mercy insignia on the floor. In cream. A perfect contrast with the gorgeousness of the room. Around the walls were the platinum and gold albums of Mercy and some of the other bands signed to the label. Instability, Ten Park Avenue and Crescendo were the most visible ones to me.
We made our way to the elevator and my eyes darted around, taking it all in. I wondered what on earth he was going to say when I appeared in his office three sheets to the wind? I took in my reflection in the floor to ceiling mirror that covered the surfaces of the elevator. For a moment I allowed my thoughts to drift to the image of him fucking me, pressed up against the mirror as I watched him. I squirmed a little and tried to tidy up my appearance. But the damage was done. I looked flushed, drunk and my dress was a little off centre.
We rode the elevator up fourteen floors in complete silence. Kitty rushed off to a room on the right as Gregory led myself and Lexa to a set of chairs. They sat outside a glass conference room. I could see in. The table was oval and black, with around twenty chairs settled around it. My heart raced at the thought of letting Mase fuck me on it. Then I chastised myself, shaking away the thought with the excitement and dread of seeing him again.
I glanced around again and noticed that a door at the opposite side of the corridor was open. There was a girl on her knees in there, with her hands tied to her ankles. As I watched the door closed over and I wondered who was in there and what they were doing. I wondered for a moment if it was Mase, but as soon as I thought of him, another door sprung open, directly across from the conference room. Mase stood in the doorway. He was wearing a charcoal suit and his hair was spiked. He had the suit jacket open and was loosening a tie as I watched him.
His eyes met mine and he smirked at me, knowing full well he had caught me checking him out. I smiled slowly, and he raised his eyebrow at me. I dropped my gaze, staring at the floor as he walked towards us.
“Ladies, follow me.” He turned and walked back into his office, holding the door as both myself and Lexa rushed to obey. He stared at me as I brushed past him, but I misjudged the distance in my drunken state and my arm ran along his body, which tensed up. His eyes narrowed on me and I gulped before glancing down. I moved as quickly as I could away from him.
He moved around us as we stood in a huge office. Dominated by a stunning mahogany desk, with a drinks cabinet to the left of the chair behind it, and a book case to the right. My fingers itched to explore the bookcase, but my eyes darted around, taking in the rest of the room. There were two chairs, plain mahogany on one side of the desk and a black leather swivel chair behind it. Near the floor to ceiling windows on the right was a pair of couches, a glass topped coffee table and another mahogany cabinet.
Mase cleared his throat and I looked over at him guiltily. He motioned to the seats across from him and sat down, surveying me as I moved towards the chair opposite. I was worried I was going to fall flat on my ass. I wasn’t the most sophisticated person and generally was more than a little clumsy. Especially when I was inebriated.
As I sat he smirked over at me. I squirmed in my seat. “Well ladies, thank you for getting here so quickly.” I nodded at him, because what else could I do? He was an enigma. His dazzling smile at me was panty wetting and almost set my insides on fire. My pulse quickened as we stared at each other. Neither of us speaking and neither of us willing to look away. After a few uncomfortable moments Lexa cleared her throat. Mason glanced at her, which let me suck in a much needed breath. He was so intense that it was nice to have a break from his intriguing piercing blue eyes.
“We need to go over your contract Amber, but before we begin…” he broke off and glared at me, making me shrink back in my seat. His glare was fearsome, and I shivered slightly, but tried not to show it. “I need to know how often you drink, because I won’t tolerate any kind of drinking around the children. At all! Ever! If you have my children, or even the day after and I smell alcohol on your breath, I will dismiss you instantly. Do you understand me?”
I nodded, my mouth agape, because I was completely stunned. I sat up and squared my shoulders at him. “I don’t drink often, and I would never drink with children under my care. You don’t need to worry about that.”
He relaxed back in his seat and surveyed me while leaning on his fingers. He seemed to be having some kind of internal battle, until he finally shrugged and turned to a file with my name on it. “Your contract will be initially for six months. With a view to extending it. Provided, of course, that you pass the one-week probation period. You will be on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I’ll be there most nights and most mornings, but I’ll still need you there to look after the children. Do you accept?”
I nodded at him and glanced down at my shaking hands. I joined them together on my lap and wondered if I’d ever get time off again? He seemed to be in tune with my thoughts because his next words were gentler. Which alleviated some, but not all my worries.
“If you need time off for anything, let me know at least one week in advance and we can arrange it. If I’m not available, my mother will take the babies to let you do whatever you need to. Since the post will be more than full time your basic salary will be five thousand dollars a month. A car will be provided and a credit card for any shopping required for the children. You may not use the card to buy anything for yourself unless it’s an emergency. Whatever you use will need to be paid back. This doesn’t include food or soft drinks, or things that you buy when with the children. It means clothes, food for yourself and any personal products. Is this acceptable to you?”
I swallowed as my head spun, five thousand a month and a car. “Yes,” I squeaked out and nodded.
“You cannot ever tell anyone whose children you are looking after. If you do, not only will you be instantly dismissed, but I’ll sue you for breach of contract. It is vital that the children are protected at all times and kept at a safe distance from the press. If you are approached by the press, plead ignorance and get my children away from them. This is non-negotiable.”
I watched him and could see how concerned he was about someone leaking his babies’ details to the press. I opened my mouth to speak but he forestalled me, “for this reason I need to ask if you use Facebook or any other social media sites?” His blue eyes met my green ones, and I nodded at him. “I have them, but I don’t use them.”
“Okay. I need to ask you not to use them around my children.”
I nodded again and he smiled at me, but his eyes said he was angry about something. “I won’t. I haven’t used any of them in a while.” He nodded at me and pushed the paper across the desk towards me.
“Then sign. Any breaches of contract and I’ll dismiss you on the spot, regardless of where we are. Furthermore, you need to sign this; it’s my non-disclosure agreement. And fill in your tax paperwork.”
I picked up the pen and signed both with a flourish, before filling out my information. When I finished I pushed all the sheets back towards him. He shook his head at me as he accepted them. “You could have read them first to make sure you agreed with all the terms of the contract.”
I stared into his eyes, a smile playing on my lips as I answered him. “It’s okay, I trust you.”
His answering smile was dazzling. When he spoke again, I could see the bad boy of rock shining through. “Ah, but you agreed to naked Wednesday and fucking Friday.”
My face must have paled because he laughed loudly as I blushed. “It’s okay, Amber. I’m only joking.” His laugh was sweet like honey. It made him seem less intense and more approachable, but he also seemed aloof and distant. He stood and his gray shirt rose up, giving me a glance of his happy trail. After a moment he led us to the door. He leaned close to me and I sucked in a breath. “C
an you start Friday?” I nodded, and he smiled. “Excellent. I’ll text the details over tomorrow.”
As he closed the door over, I groaned and turned to Lexa, who’d been stoically quiet during that whole encounter.
“What have I got myself into?” I asked her in a whisper.
She smirked at me. Her blue eyes danced with excitement. “Nothing you can’t handle.” She grabbed my arm and led me towards the Elevators. As the door closed on us I glanced back at Mase’s office and saw Kitty slide between the doors.
Mase
I hadn’t really needed to call Amber in tonight, but I hadn’t been able to get her out of my head. I wanted to see her again. She walked in a little tipsy. It made me want to bend her over my table and spank her ass until it was pink. Then slip my hand up to play with her as she writhed on the desk.
I had to shake my head and bring myself back to the conversation at hand as we discussed her contract with me. She didn’t even read it over, so she missed the clause that I had added in; stating that if we ever went beyond employer and employee, she would be fired on the spot. I didn’t know if I could do that to her, but I couldn’t fuck this up. I needed her.
I wanted her full plump lips wrapped around the head of my cock as I thrust in and out of her mouth. My cock twitched at the thought as I walked her out. All I wanted was to shove Lexa out and fuck Amber against my door. My hand twitched, but I pulled it back, shoving it in my pocket.
I closed the door with my hip and walked back to my desk, buzzing Kitty. I needed to fuck, and badly. Kitty swaggered into my office a few moments late. Her wide eyes found me in the back conference room. It was hidden from view. Disguised against the wall because I’d wanted a private room where the band could have meetings without being disturbed.
It had a small wooden table, with four chairs around it. The room was all dark panelled with no windows. Kitty moved towards me, licking her lips as I watched her. She paused at the door, swallowing hard.
Black Mercy (San Francisco Rock Romance Book 1) Page 2