The conversation must have gone better than I thought it would because I didn’t notice much change in Rodrigo that day until it came time to close up the shop. He approached me where I was working and had just a half smile on his face instead of his usual beaming mouthful of sparkling teeth.
“Hey, Tay,” he said sounding a little forlorn.
“Hey, Rodrigo,” I responded, offering him a smile.
“Guess you know?” He asked with a hint of uncertainty.
“Dad told me. I’m really sorry, Rodrigo. I wish I had another job prospect so I could just step aside and let you stay.”
He shook his head. “Are you kidding? This is yours. It’s your dad's place; of course, you’re going to stay. This is going to be yours someday. You’ve got to keep working until you finally know a little bit about cars. Maybe you’ll be a good mechanic eventually.”
I grinned at his sarcasm, happy he could make a joke. I wiped my hands off and leaned in to give him a tight hug.
“I’m going to miss you,” I said, surprised at how much I meant it.
“I’ll miss you, too.” He said as he pulled back and looked at my face with an intensity I wasn’t anticipating. “But hey, now that I’m not working for your dad…”
I shook my head. “You’re ridiculous. And you have two more weeks.”
It was his turn to shake his head. “Nah, I told him I’d let today be my last day here. Need to find something else as soon as I can.”
“I understand,” I said with a nod. “Just don’t be a stranger, okay?”
He smiled. “Promise. See you later, Tay.”
I waved as I watched him get into his pickup truck and drive away then went inside to check on my dad in his office.
“That was simpler than I thought it would be,” I said the words as I entered the office and caught my dad off guard as he was leafing through some documents. He still looked worried, but I assumed it was from the stress of having to let one of his best employees go.
“What? Oh, yeah. He took it really well. I’m happy about that. I hope he’s able to find something soon.”
I watched my dad as he looked through some papers on his desk, appearing pretty distracted.
“Are you looking for something, Dad?”
He looked up at me then and tried to smile. “Oh, no. Just…this place is a mess, isn’t it? Maybe I should get around to organizing things someday.”
“Do I need to check your temperature? That’s some crazy talk coming from you.”
He laughed. “Oh well, you know people change sometimes.”
I nodded. Sometimes they did, but most of the time they didn’t.
“I’m going to head out then and go pick up Sam. See you tomorrow.”
“See you later, Tay.”
Same as the previous night, I spent some time on my appearance before heading further into the city to pick up Samantha from work—only this time I did it with Jake Mesa in mind, as much as I hated to admit it to myself. The guy had caught my eye and even if I thought there wasn’t a chance that anything was going to happen there, I might as well show up looking my best. I could make him wish he had a chance with me and make it clear that it was never going to happen, something I figured Mr. Mesa rarely if ever, experienced.
I entered the bar from the staff entrance again, this time in a red bodycon dress that hugged every contour of my body in a way that left little to the imagination. It would take everything I could muster plus Celeste’s help to keep the guys away from me tonight.
“Good evening,” I said as I took a seat at the bar.
Celeste did a double take. “Jesus, not that you didn’t look great last night, but shit girl. Pretend you’re with someone otherwise the group that is here tonight isn’t going to leave you alone.”
I smiled at her. “Can I just get a glass of white wine? Pinot grigio if you have it.”
She nodded. “Not a problem.”
I glanced around the main floor of Club V. Being a weeknight didn’t usually stop it from being filled with club members, but it did seem particularly tame tonight. And by that, I was basically noting that there was no one openly fucking on the floor.
“Here’s your wine,” Celeste said as she placed the thin glassware in front of me. “Our very best. I hope you like it.”
I swirled the wine in the glass and took a sip. “You know, I honestly don’t know much about wine, but I do like the taste and this is phenomenal. Thank you.”
“Sure thing. Seriously, you look great tonight. Any reason to put yourself together so nicely? That dress is going to draw some serious attention.”
I shrugged. “No reason really. Just felt like making myself feel like a woman for once. I spend all day in dirty jeans and covered in grease. Sometimes I forget what it feels like to be clean and in a dress with my makeup done and hair not pulled back in a bun or ponytail.”
“I can’t say that I personally know what that’s like, but I do sympathize. However, your day look sounds like a lot of lesbians’ dream girl.” She punctuated the statement with a laugh. “I’m allowed to say that.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes. “How is Amber doing?”
Celeste brightened more at the thought of her wife. “Incredible. I mean, I didn’t think I could love the woman more, but she is more beautiful every day. And the fact that she is growing that child inside her…it’s kind of mind blowing, you know?”
I nodded. I really hadn’t thought about children, figuring I was much too young and that it wasn’t the right time for me to consider the possibility. The idea of growing a human inside me was beyond anything I could imagine.
“How much longer?”
“Two more months,” she said as she pulled her phone from her pocket and opened the photo gallery. “This is her most recent ‘bump’ photo. You know, those used to disgust me when I would see people sharing them on social media, but now that it’s my baby—totally different story. And here—” she swiped to another photo. “Here’s the last sonogram. We’re having a girl!”
I smiled as I looked at the 3D image. It was a baby, that was certain, but my untrained eye couldn’t tell much more than that.
“I’m so happy for you. Have you guys picked out a name yet?”
She sighed at that. “Well, I’ve got a few ideas. My mom’s name was Anita and I’d really like to do something to honor her memory. Amber is really into the name Bryn. We’ll work something out, but I have no idea what it’ll be yet.”
Just then, a man in a finely tailored suit took a seat two barstools away and smiled in my direction, ignoring the fact that I was in conversation with Celeste.
“Would the lady like another drink?” He asked, interrupting us.
“And here is contestant number one, ladies and gentleman,” Celeste whispered with a smile as she moved down the bar to take the man’s order.
Chapter 6
“So, tell me a little about yourself?”
The guy at the bar had moved down to sit next to me, once he realized that there was no one coming to meet me, in spite of my insistence otherwise. And he was no longer just some random guy sitting beside me at the bar, he was Chadwick Fontaine, heir to some kind of soap fortune. I might have been young, but I had been around long enough to know that when a guy wants you to know what he’s worth right out of the gate, he doesn’t have much else going for him.
“Well, I work for my father and I’m set to inherit the family business some day. Only child, you know.” I said with a grin as I drained the rest of the wine from my glass and gestured for Celeste to refill my glass. It was already that kind of night. I had decided that if I was going to be stuck at the bar talking to this guy, I was going to have a little fun.
“Oh really? What business are you in?” He asked with genuine interest. These types always wanted to know what they were marrying into. Best to check the horse’s teeth before buying.
“Autos,” I said, adding a slightly more New England affect to my voice.
&
nbsp; “Importing?”
I nodded as I took another sip from my refilled glass of wine. “Most of our work is with imports, yes.”
“Fascinating. That is just so wonderful that you’ve been able to learn from your father all these years. Do you have a timeline set for when you’ll be taking over?”
I looked him dead in the eye with a smile on my face. “Well, considering I’m barely 21 and my father is barely out of his 40s, I’d imagine that’s pretty far in the future.”
The man was taken aback, clearly shocked that I was only 21. That was a lie, of course. I was only 19 but I didn’t want that guy knowing this and getting Celeste in trouble for serving someone underage. It was enough to get the club shut down if the wrong person found out. I knew that I looked older than my age. It was the body and the fact that I carried myself with a little more confidence than most young women my age.
Whatever shock registered on his face quickly disappeared when he considered the other perks of talking to a 21 year old at a bar. Feeling bold, he put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder. I tried to shrug it off, but he pulled me closer, tight against him.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting closer to you, sweetheart.” He leaned to whisper in my ear. “I’m here to do what everyone else is here to do—and I’m going to do it with you. I just had no idea I was going to get lucky enough to fuck a college girl. Why don’t we head to a private room? Would you like to have another girl join us? Or another man? Maybe someone who likes to watch?”
I pulled myself out of his grasp and hopped down from my barstool.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Hey now, what’s this all about?” He asked, throwing his hands up in mock surrender.
I looked for Celeste to back me up, but she was stuck at the other end of the bar running a blender and couldn’t hear me over the noise from that and the music.
Chadwick reached for me again and I jerked away, turning to head around the corner when I ran smack into the solid chest of none other than Jake Mesa.
“Problem?” He asked. His tone was so even, so measured and sure, that I was certain if there had been a problem there was no longer one.
He steered me back toward the bar and Chadwick, who was looking at Jake with disdain. Still holding his hands in the air, he tried to laugh it all off.
“Hey buddy, there’s no problem here. My friend and I were just talking.”
Jake looked down at me. “Is this your friend, Taylor?”
“No, he is not,” I said as I shot Chadwick a dirty look.
“Sir, can I see your card?” Jake asked the man and Chadwick fumbled to find it in his wallet. When he handed it over Jake took it without giving it a second glance. “You do understand that when you sign the contract to join the club you agree to a certain set of rules, correct?”
The man nodded.
“You seem to be struggling with one of them—one of the rules which, in my opinion, is the most important of all. That rule is about consent and making sure that your companion is just as interested in the activities as you are. The lady doesn’t appear to want your company, and yet you continue to pursue her.”
Jake held the card between two fingers and studied it.
“This is a warning. We don’t generally give those, but I’m feeling friendly tonight. If I see you step one toe out of line in this establishment again, you’ll wish you never stepped a foot inside the door. Do you understand?”
Chadwick looked genuinely frightened as he nodded. Jake flicked the card back at him and the man scrambled to find it on the floor.
“I think it’s best that you leave for the night. Come back another time when you’re feeling more congenial.” With a simple nod of his head, Jake had two security guards beside us and escorting Chadwick Fontaine out of the building.
I looked up at him, realizing how flustered I really was by the man’s advances, but unwilling to admit it.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make sure that Mr. Fontaine understands exactly what isn’t allowed in this club.”
Jake saw himself out behind the security guards and I turned to Celeste who was now done mixing the drink she had been working on and stood near the end of the bar.
“I would not want to be that guy,” she muttered.
“Do you know him?”
She shook her head. “His membership card indicated this isn’t his home location. Probably in town for business. I just wouldn’t want to rile up Jake. He takes the rules very seriously, as you heard him say. And the consent thing…well, it’s one of the main tenets of this place. If people aren’t treating others with respect then the whole thing falls apart. None of the owners will put up with that kind of behavior. It is the quickest way to get you banned. Not just from one location, but from the entire club. He might not be back here again.”
I sat back down at the bar, somewhat shaken. I didn’t know when Samantha would be off work, but I hoped that it would be soon. All I wanted was to be back home in my cozy bed and away from here.
A few minutes later I sensed some motion out of the corner of my eye and saw that Jake had returned. He was straightening his jacket and looking around the club floor before his eyes landed on me there at the bar.
“You’re still here,” he said, looking a little surprised.
I nodded. “I’m waiting to pick up my friend.”
He offered a kind smile. “I wanted to say I’m very sorry that you were treated that way here at Club V. That’s not what we’re about and I hope you won’t let that one person’s behavior spoil your opinion of the place.”
I shook my head. “Of course not.” God, how was this guy still so hot even in a situation like this.
“Could I interest you in joining me for a drink in my office? Consider it my way of making it up to you for that man trying to ruin your evening.”
I didn’t know what came over me. I did know that if Samantha were there she would be steering me in the other direction, but I found myself nodding and getting up from my place at the bar.
“I’d love that,” I said with a smile as I followed him out of the bar and down the hallway—the same hallway I had been down just the night before when I had stumbled into his office by accident.
He opened the door to his office and ushered me in. The lighting was different this time. Not nearly as dim, but still with more of a feel of mood lighting rather than being illuminated for the purposes of doing work in an office.
“Bourbon?” He asked as he moved to the bar in the corner of the office.
“That’s fine. On the rocks.”
“Coming right up.” He was a deft hand behind the bar and I wondered if he had done that kind of work before.
“Thanks,” I said as he handed me the drink and headed over to his desk with nothing in his hand for himself. “Are you not having one?”
He shook his head. “Not tonight. I’m heading to the gym later.”
I sipped the bourbon. It was nice, but I wasn’t sure I knew enough about the stuff to truly appreciate whatever he had poured for me.
“Isn’t it a little late for the gym?” I asked.
“Haven’t you ever heard of a 24 hour gym, Taylor?”
“I have…I just, well, I would have thought that after a long night of working here that you would want to go home and relax for the evening.”
He nodded. “Yeah, sometimes I do. But tonight isn’t one of those nights. How is the bourbon?”
“Good,” I answered with a smile, taking another sip.
“Sorry I didn’t offer you one last night. If I had known you were in my office I would have gladly poured you a drink.” He said in a deep husky voice.
I almost spit the bourbon across the room, choosing instead to hold it in and almost choking in the process.
“Excuse me?” I asked once I could speak again.
“You know when you were in my office last night while I was entertaining a guest.”
“I
…I don’t know what to say.” I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say or where to begin, or how to convince this man that I wasn’t intentionally trying to spy on him having sex with a woman in his office.
“Well, I’m not expecting you to apologize really. I mean, that doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of Club V, does it? People come here to watch. Did you know that? We have people that are regular members who never touch another person in this place. I find that an odd choice, one that I wouldn’t make, but who I am to judge another person’s desires.” He grinned as he leaned back in his chair. “Would you like to tell me about some of yours?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and placed the glass down on his desk. I would be drinking no more of his bourbon tonight.
“First of all, tell me how you even knew I was in here. If you knew I was here why didn’t you say something?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t realize until later when I was checking security tapes. See, the girl who was in here with me…well, I don’t really want anyone else to know she was in here, so I was taking care of that footage. I’m telling you that because there is no way you can share that information with anyone without having to reveal that you were here, in my office, trespassing. I’ve got you on video entering the office and then leaving approximately five minutes later. That is an awfully long time to spend in the office of a stranger, don’t you think? Especially when you have no business being in there.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even and keep from giving away how shocked I was. I didn’t feel very safe in this situation. No one, except Celeste, knew where I was. This guy’s office was pretty far away from everything else in the club and he owned the place. Jake definitely had the upper hand here.
Undone (Club V Book 2) Page 5