by Jane Jamison
“One, that wouldn’t happen. We know our members by name and by their face. Assigning them a locker is just a precaution against the receptionist leaving or taking a break. Besides, we trust people, too. Max screwed up the other night, but his mistake made Paul skittish.”
She’d had a few run-ins with Max Bolger. He had no problem breaking rules, especially the one about “don’t touch unless the waitress says yes.” She’d put him in his place and hadn’t had any problem with him since.
Jewel fought to keep from squirming. “Then why make such a big deal out of it? Why can’t everyone just forget about it?”
He stared at her, a little too intently. “He’s being cautious, is all. I’d think you’d be all for it after what he tried to do. Or at least, what we thought he was trying to do.”
She wasn’t about to go there. Other than wondering what might’ve happened if they hadn’t gotten interrupted, she just wanted to put it out of her mind.
“What if a member doesn’t want to hand over his phone?” If she kept going, she’d make him wonder why she was having such a difficult time accepting the new policy. But she had to know.
“Paul asked around and most people thought it was a good idea. After all, it protects their privacy, too. And they always have the option of leaving their phone in their car.”
Could she stop Paul from going through with it? Then again, keeping quiet was safer. For now. “What if someone gets an emergency call? Some people have kids and need to stay in touch.”
“We thought about that, too. As part of their new member agreement, they give the receptionist permission to retrieve their phone if it rings, or more to the point, vibrates. Plus, all the members and staff have the club’s main number as well as Paul’s and Destin’s private numbers. As the owners, they’ll still have their phones on them.”
“But there’s no way she’ll be able to tell which phone it is. What’s she supposed to do? Open each locker to locate the phone that’s ringing or vibrating?” If she could find a problem with the system, maybe Paul and Destin would rethink the idea.
“Ah, but we have it covered.” He handed Lindsey, the pretty young receptionist, his phone. “Put my phone in one of the member boxes and show her how it works. I’ll put my phone on vibrate.”
Lindsey did as he asked, jotted down the box number, then took his phone and slid it into the nearest box. “Okay. All set.”
Using the land line phone on the reception desk, Owen dialed his phone number. At once, the monitor resting on the long table behind the desk lit up. Numbered rectangles filled the screen, but only one lit up, showing it as the one with the vibrating phone.
“See?” Owen took his phone out, then nodded at Lindsey who shut down the notification.
As much as it might make her secret job a problem, she had to admit it was a cool system. “But what if they don’t remember to put their phone on vibrate? Or if they just forget and walk into the club?”
“I’ll remind them,” offered Lindsey.
“I get where you’re going and it’ll take a while for everyone to get used to the new rule. Remember, no system is foolproof.”
That’s what she’d have to count on. Until then, she’d follow the plan, putting her real phone in the locker along with the other employees, then sneaking in her secret second phone. She’d be sure to get all the pictures off her phone and downloaded to her computer, then delete them.
“Okay. Then I guess I’d better put this in right now, huh?” She made a show of retrieving her purse from the small closet next to the receptionist’s desk and pulling out her phone with the butterfly case. “One more question. Why couldn’t the employees just keep their phone in their purses?”
He laughed, his sexy smile pulling at that place in her stomach that was connected to her pussy. “Because some of us don’t carry purses.”
“Yes, but women do. And we often get our purses when we go to break and then to the ladies room,” added Lindsey.
“Which is why it’s better to keep them separated. You can get your purse anytime you like, just like always.” He stared at her. “You really don’t like this idea, do you?”
She couldn’t risk standing out from the rest. “I didn’t say that.”
“Naw, you didn’t say it, but you sure act like it. Besides, it’s not mandatory until tomorrow.”
“I’m just curious. I guess I should get back to work.” She’d better get going and stop asking questions.
He caught her just inside the main room. “Jewel, I need to say it again.”
Her breath, hell, her heart, caught in her throat as he turned her around so hard that she fell against him. She sucked back a small cry, then gave into temptation and leaned against his strong, virile chest. Gazing up at him, she was ready to say yes if he asked her to play again.
When had she become so easily turned on? Yet the answer was clear enough. When she’d met the Killian brothers.
“Ryce and I want you more than we’ve ever wanted anyone before. We screwed up, but you’ve got to know we’re going to do everything we can to make it up to you.”
She couldn’t speak. If she did, he might stop talking, and if he stopped talking, it would end her fascination with his hard, yet kissable lips.
“As your Doms, we’re supposed to help you learn how to be a submissive. We’re supposed to give you pleasure just like you give it to us. Pain’s a part of it, if that’s what you want, and even humiliation. But not like last time.” He let out a hard breath. “Shit. I don’t think I’m making sense right now. That’s what you do to me, you know. You scramble my brain.”
That was a good way to put it. She felt the same way. As though her thoughts were rolling around inside a clothes dryer.
“Just know this. When you’re ready, we’re going to show you what it means to be our sub. What and how we do it doesn’t matter as much as the trust we need to have between us.”
Oh, shit. Trust.
Guilt swamped her and she had to divert her gaze. She was ashamed to know he couldn’t trust her. But if she could’ve told him the truth then and there, she would have. To do so, however, would mean letting her sister down.
What about the other way round? Could she trust them?
The answer tore at her. During sex? Yes. But with her secret? She’d love nothing more, but she couldn’t. No, her trust didn’t extend that far.
“Owen, please, I need to get back to work.”
His grip on her arms tightened. “Tell me you trust us.”
She tried to avoid looking at him again, but the slight shake he gave her forced her to look up. Hope, pain, and even a touch of anger was in his eyes.
“Jewel? Tell me what you really believe. You trust us, don’t you?”
It would hurt her to tell him, but that didn’t matter. Hurting him was much worse. “Owen, I…don’t.” She’d started to say can’t, then changed it at the last minute.
The disappointment on his face was like a knife piercing its way into her heart. When he turned her loose, she rocked back, both from his release and from the force of his agony.
“I’m sorry.” She reached out, but he stepped back, shaking his head.
“No, it’s all right.” His expression grew stoic, devoid of the emotions she’d seen before. “I understand. After what happened, I don’t blame you.”
“It’s not that.” She slammed her mouth closed.
“Then what? Tell me what it is so I can fix it.”
“I mean, it is, but— I’m sorry, but I just can’t. Please. For your sake as well as mine, let it go.” For now. But if she had her way, after her sister was all right, she’d come back and try to make it right.
“Damn it, Jewel. I can see it on your face. You’re in trouble, aren’t you?”
More than ever before, she ached to tell him. But what if she did? How could he help? Wilburt was no physical match for Owen or Ryce, but he had a slew of lawyers that would have their asses in jail before they made it into his offic
e. That scumbag had all the angles covered.
“No, I’m not.” How could he know? Yet even if he’d sensed she was in trouble, he couldn’t know the details.
“The fuck you’re not. Please, darlin’, tell me. Trust me enough to let me help you.”
“Owen, no.” She started to turn away, but he kept her to him.
“It’s why you don’t want to get involved, isn’t it? Why you don’t socialize with the rest of us. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Just because I don’t want to hang out, doesn’t mean I’m hiding anything.” She’d refused many offers from her fellow coworkers to go out to lunch or go to a bar for drinks. Before the trouble with her sister, she would’ve jumped at the chance to make friends. But friends, especially those who worked at the club, were complications she couldn’t risk having.
“Is that why you made such a big deal out of locking up the phones?”
Alarm hit her, sending a tremble through her. He was getting too suspicious for her safety.
“Jewel?” He studied her. “You don’t know anything about pictures being taken at the club? Do you?”
He was getting way too close. But how? None of the photos had been put online yet. “Of course not. I told you. I’m just curious.” Did her voice shake?
He kept staring at her like a she was a bug under a microscope. “Okay, okay. I believe you.”
Saying so hurt her as much as his questioning her.
“Give us another chance. I swear we’ll make it up to you.” His voice sang with determination. “You’ll learn to trust us, Jewel. You will because we’ll earn that trust from you.”
“That sounds great, but I just don’t know if I can do that.” It was awful to give him hope, but the selfish part of her didn’t want to let her own hope die.
“Then you’re not giving up? You’ll give us another chance?” He was eager, but she could still see the pain lingering beneath the hope. “Let us earn your trust.”
“Trust is a hard thing for me.” She’d give him something of the truth, but not all of it. “It’s been just me and my sister for a long time.”
“You sort of raised her, didn’t you?”
“How’d you know?”
He smiled, one of those rare, soft smiles he did. “This is a small town and an even smaller club. Word has it that your parents died and even though you were barely more than a teen at the time, you put yourself through college while taking care of your younger sister.”
Again with the understanding smile. “Look, Jewel. I get it. It was just the two of you for a while. You had to get tough. You had to question people’s motives to keep from getting taken advantage of. It was kind of the same way for Ryce and me. We lit out from home right after high school and got jobs on different ranches. I’m his older brother and we’re friends, but I’m also the one who had to take charge and look after him. You know Ryce. Sometimes that was easier said than done. I can’t count the number of times one of his jokes or pranks got his ass into trouble. But he was my responsibility then and he’s my responsibility now.” His smile widened. “Just don’t go tell him I said so.”
He caressed her cheek, showing her the softer side of him. Most of the time he seemed in control, stoic and tough. “Jewel, give us another chance.”
What else could she do? She had to get away from him. All the blame rested on her shoulders. She could trust them to the extent of becoming their sub. Since their time on the stage, she’d thought about having them as her Doms, of learning how to be a good sub. She’d gone over it, wondering how good it would feel to let go, to let them give her a real release of her feelings and reactions. Turning over her problem to men like Ryce and Owen would be wonderful, but it was her sister and her problem to deal with. She yearned to tell them about herself, about her sister, but giving in even a little could bring her world crashing down around her. Or worse, around her sister.
“I can’t do this anymore. Please. Just let me go.”
She backed away, then spun on her heel, and hurried toward the back of the room. Her vision blurred and she heard other’s call her name, but she kept going, afraid she wouldn’t make it to the ladies room before the tears fell.
Chapter Five
“This is pure bullshit. We’re supposed to be earning her trust, not violating it.”
Ryce was right, but that didn’t mean they weren’t going through with the plan. Owen checked one last time to make sure no one was about to enter the lobby. “Shut the hell up and help me get this done.”
Ryce clicked the keyboard, checking through the files listed on the monitor. He skimmed the list, looking for the file listing the key number for the employee’s locker. “Got it.”
Owen looked over his shoulder, saw the number, and opened the desk drawer that held all the locker keys. “You weren’t there. She’s hiding something. I could see it plain as day on her face.”
“So that gives us the right to sneak her phone out and check it? Again, I’m calling bullshit.”
“I don’t know what else to do. She’s in trouble, but she’s not talking. Hell, I can almost smell the panic on her.”
“Then why don’t we just ask her?” Ryce snagged the key before he could. “Isn’t that how we can build trust with her? By asking her outright instead of invading her privacy?”
“You’re right and I’m not denying this is wrong. But if she won’t open up, then we don’t have a lot of options left.”
“This is going screw up any chance we have with her.”
“She’s already blown me off. Besides, she’ll forgive us once we get her out of whatever jam she’s in. Now give me the damn key, bro.” If he could’ve wrestled it away from Ryce without causing a commotion, he would’ve. Instead, he had to hope his brother would trust him enough to go along with his plan. Even when that plan was making him feel like a Grade-A jerk.
Trust. There it was again. They needed to convince Jewel that she could trust them. Instead, they were violating her privacy. But it was for her own safety. The argument sounded fine, but it left a sick feeling in his stomach.
Jewel didn’t trust them, and if she found out that they’d checked her phone, he doubted she ever would. But even if it meant losing her, he was determined to keep her safe.
“Look, if she’s the one taking the pictures, then we can talk her out of it and not have to go to Paul or Destin. She’ll stop and we’ll say we couldn’t figure out who was doing it. Eventually, it’ll all blow over.”
“Blow over? Do you really think Paul’s going to let it go? The man’s like a bulldog when it comes to finding out what he wants to know.”
“Like I said, if we get her to quit, then who’s going to tell? You? It sure as hell won’t be me.”
“Of course not.” Ryce’s frown grew. “So you’re willing to lie to one of our best friends, not to mention our employer? What next? Screwing someone’s permanent sub?”
Again, Ryce was right, but all that paled in comparison to helping Jewel. “I’ll do anything to help her out. Question is. Will you?”
“Damn. You know I would. But fuck, man. You’re playing with fire. If we don’t watch it, you’re going to get us both burned.”
Owen held out his hand. “We want her as our sub, right? Then as her Doms, we should be hell-bent on keeping her safe. That’s all I’m trying to do. If it’s her, we can stop her from sending the pics out.” If they weren’t already too late. “If it’s not her, then we’ve proven her innocence.”
“I still say this sucks.” Ryce dropped the keys into Owen’s hands. “You’d damn sure better be right.”
“I am.” He could say he was, but it felt so far from the truth. He paused, a moment longer than they had, then opened the locker. Several phones were stacked inside.
“How do you know which one’s hers?”
“I saw her give it to Lindsey. It’s the one with the butterfly cover.” Squatting down and hoping the receptionist desk would block anyone’s view that might come in, he snatch
ed her phone, then, staying in a squatted position, leaned against the counter.
“Will you hurry the hell up?”
“Just keep an eye out.” Swiping his finger across the screen didn’t get him anywhere. “Shit. She’s got it locked.”
“Too damn bad. Well, we tried. Now put it back.”
“We need to get it unlocked.” He tried several passwords, guessing at using her name, then shooting in the dark by trying anything that came to mind.
Pleasure? Nope.
Girl? Nope.
Men. Nope.
Killian. Nope. That one was a long shot anyway.
Butterflies? Nope.
“Owen, you’re getting nowhere. You could guess for years and never hit on the right word. Give it up and put it back before we get our asses caught.”
“Damn it.” What was the name of her sister? She’d mentioned her once when talking to Wilson. At the time, he’d thought it strange that she’d started a conversation about her sister, then had abruptly changed the subject.
It was something starting with the letter J like Jewel. Julie? It definitely had an e sound on the end of it. Jackie? That felt closer, but not quite right.
His gaze drifted to the sheet of paper taped behind the desk. It was the list of employee’s names along with the days and times of their work schedule. But it wasn’t until he caught the name of a waiter that it hit him. J.C. was scheduled to work tomorrow’s shift.
Jacee. That’s it.
He typed in the name and almost shouted when her phone unlocked. “Got it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” He scrolled through the apps on the phone, found the gallery storing her photos, and brought them up on the screen.
“Anything?”
She had various photos including those of a pretty blonde girl who was a younger version of her. The girl had to be her sister. Her sister’s photo and other unrelated shots were all he’d found. Better yet, there wasn’t a single photo of her with a man. “Nothing.”
“Damn it, man, I hear someone coming. Put it up.”
Owen set the phone back into the locker, shut the door, and locked it. He handed the key to Ryce who put it back into the drawer, then stood up a moment before Lindsey came back to her position.