by T. L Smith
I shake my head. “No, I’m watching to the end, he can sit out front and wait for me.”
She turns back to watch the movie. I try to control my bouncing leg but all of a sudden, those lips and that mouth pop into my head and I can’t contain myself.
The movie comes to an end and I try not to walk too fast to the front, to see where he is. The minute we leave the cinema, I spot him leaning up against his car, dressed in a flawless black suit with his hair tossed back in what looks like perfectly fingered hair.
“Shit, he’s even better close up,” Tracey whispers next to me. She’s right, he is. He only gets better and better every time I see him. He nods to Tracey then holds open the car door for me as he looks me up and down. I hug Tracey and she walks off to her car. Getting in, he shuts the door behind me. The leather seats are like nothing I’ve ever sat in before. They even feel warm. I touch them with my hand and sure enough, they have definite warmth to them. When he gets in he’s watching me.
“Was someone sitting here?” I ask still touching the seat. He looks down at it then back to me.
“It’s heated.”
Holy shit! Who has heated car seats? Is that a thing now? I really need to buy a car soon. He pulls out when I’m buckled in and starts driving to my apartment. “Were you going out after?” he asks me. His voice is strained like it’s painful for him to ask.
My forehead scrunches, trying to think why, then he briefly looks down at my dress and I remember what I’m wearing. My cheeks go bright red and I have to look away.
“I like it.” He coughs and I turn to look at him. He’s now concentrating on where he’s going.
I study him while he isn’t watching, from the way his muscles contract as his hands squeeze the steering wheel to the shape of his face. He’s like no one I’ve ever met before. He’s a mystery that intrigues me.
“Are you this accommodating to all your staff?” I ask as he comes to a stop outside of my place. I grab the handle but wait to hear what he has to say. I really want to know.
Turning off the engine, he gets out and is at my door before I can move, pulling it open and waiting for me to slide out. As I do, my white heels hit the concrete and his eyes travel down to them, then the length back up until our eyes hit each other.
Those eyes.
Those fucking eyes fuck me over every time.
I’ve never seen eyes that hold so much, yet so little at the same time. Mystery is all I see in them.
“Only those my lips take a liking to.”
My head drops as the smile touches my own lips, remembering how he tasted and the way he made me feel. Alive. Vivacious. Energetic.
“Don’t tell me you kiss many of your girls?”
He knows I’m referring to all the girls which I found out from Johnny he hires. Johnny explained that it’s what he’s good at. Girls have an issue, it’s Creed they go to. I’m still trying to work out why, because not once have I seen him be affectionate to any of them, or even caring. He does what he needs, no issues, just gets it done. Maybe that’s his trick, he doesn’t get involved in anything else—only the work.
Creed doesn’t answer me, so I grab my key from my bag and walk to my door, stepping inside. He pushes me through, shutting the door behind me, then slams my back into the wall. My breath leaves me so fast at his action, and all I can do is cry out as his hands touch my waist. They burn, in the best way humanly possible. My skin prickles in goosebumps everywhere and he’s not even touching my skin yet, only through my dress which I might add is fabulous. His breathing becomes harder as his eyes lock onto mine. Then ever so slowly he pushes himself to me, our bodies now touching. Not flush, but I can feel him, almost everywhere. I ache to lean forward to feel all his ridges and curves, but I restrain myself and hold back.
“My lips.” He breathes into me. Like he was made for me, that the air he’s about to supply me with is my next hit to live. I need it, want it. He pauses, leans forward. His breath tickles my lips and all I can smell is mint. I lick my lips, his eyes following my action. He looks back up to me, then quickly back to my lips.
“Only touch yours.” His answer is fast. Then he does it. He leans forward, my eyes close and I start counting. Not out of nervousness but to control myself from climbing him like he’s my own personal tree. When I get to ten and his lips haven’t touched mine, but I can still feel his breath hard and steady on me, my eyes spring open to see him watching me thoughtfully. The hard gaze that usually travels is gone. There’s curiosity and maybe something else, I’m not really sure. Then, like a brick wall coming down between us, it’s gone, and I’m left with his hard eyes that once again hold mystery.
“If you aren’t going to—” I look down at his lips, and he licks them, distracting me. But only for a second before I look back up to him. I can feel his erection between my legs, so I know he wants me, that much is obvious. He also seems to have more restraint than any other men I’ve been with. He draws it out, making me wither where I stand.
“Aren’t going to what?” he asks me, not moving an inch.
I start to fidget on the spot. He groans as I do and immediately I stop, realizing I’m just pushing myself into him. More into his very hard erection.
My mouth opens. Then closes. Then opens again. Just as I think he’s about to lean forward and kiss me for real this time, his cell starts ringing. He ignores it, staring at me until it rings again. I take a deep breath realizing I can breathe again.
Was I holding my breath?
No, I couldn’t have been.
So why is my heart pumping so hard in my chest like I’ve deprived it of oxygen?
“I’m just going to—” I hook a thumb over my shoulder and he pulls the cell away, looking at me. His eyes roam me as he covers the speaker and stares.
“Work. We’re going to work.” He doesn’t need to tell me I need to change. I know I do, so I back up, watching him as I make my way to my room, hitting my door as I go in. His eyes watch me as he speaks low into his cell while scrunching his nose up only a few times before his eyes train back on me. Nodding my head, I duck into my room then quickly strip the dress off, pulling my clothes from my drawer as I try to find my work outfit. I pull out a simple black shirt and skirt which I will match with some boots. The outfit is nice and clean, but sides on the tip of being sexy which is what the club wants.
I read the agreement.
And I’m trying very hard to be a well-educated employee, even if it takes all my restraint not to do the things I want to do to that man standing at my front door. Because believe me, I want to do things to him, starting with removing all his clothes from his body and running my hands underneath.
“We gotta—” He stops mid-sentence, looking at me, but his eyes aren’t trained on my face. No, they’re trained on my body which only has white lingerie on thanks to my perfect, white Marilyn dress. It takes him a moment to compose himself before he looks at my face, it makes me stand taller knowing that this man, who sees naked woman all the time is stopped in his tracks staring at me.
I like it.
A little too much.
He walks away not finishing his sentence as I slide the shirt and skirt on, followed by my boots.
11
Creed
I’ve never needed as much restraint in my life as I do with her. Never. I want to touch every bit of her body until I’ve had my fill, and even then, I don’t think it would be enough. Trying not to kiss her was harder than I thought, way fucking harder. But I wasn’t lying, she does need to work tonight as there’s a late clientele party happening. Regulars spoil the girls, and the girls, well, the girls spoil them back for a good hour.
I offered to pick her up because I know what she’s been through recently, and to be honest, I don’t like the idea of her walking the streets alone. And if she happened to walk across what she witnessed that other night, I wouldn’t be able to help her.
She walks out as I stand next to my car waiting for her. I couldn’t stay
in that tiny space a second longer. Every inch of it smells of her, possibly because it’s so fucking small, or just because I had her body on mine and it sent me into fucking overdrive to want to bend her over and smack her fucking ass to show her who’s boss. Her bag is in her hand, and seeing her out of that white dress, which clung to her so fucking perfectly, had me going insane.
Now? Now I’m just fucked as I see her exposed stomach and her legs that go on for days as she stands there looking at me. She holds my stare, she isn’t one to look away. I like that about her.
“I can walk.” She looks toward the club as I push off the car. I hold open her door and she looks to it, then back to me. “Tell me something?” She steps forward and I wait for her to ask. “Do you offer lifts to all the girls?”
“You want me to tell you you’re special?” I ask her. Her lip twitches and she can’t help but smile as she nods her head. “You’re special. Now get in the car—” I pause as she watches me. “Please,” I finish.
She does as I say, careful not to open her legs to me, then looks at me from her seat. “Your momma would be proud.” She reaches for the door, shutting it. Her comment knocks me back. It was obviously a joke, but she’s also right. My mother taught me to open doors for women, to respect them. Even in my line of work the women have to be respected, because if they aren’t, they walk. Just because most think I’m an unfeeling prick doesn’t mean they don’t trust me. They do.
Walking around the car, my cell starts buzzing again. Swearing, I look down to see it’s Echo, still pretending to be away and currently at my Ma’s house. Opening my car door and sliding in, I answer it. It goes through the car system so Elicea will hear everything he’s about to say.
“Company,” I state before he says one word.
“Where?” he asks, knowing better.
“In my car.”
He coughs, then fixes himself. “A girl?” he asks, confused.
He knows I don’t let anyone in my car, I don’t let anyone drive it either. It’s mine.
“Yes,” I answer then start driving the short distance to the club.
“Well, fuck! Never thought I’d see the day. Asshole meet lady. Tell me, lady, how is my asshole treating you? Well, I hope?”
I breathe out a heavy breath knowing exactly how Echo is. He may be more serious than Falcon, but he can also be fucking annoying as well.
“Good, thank you,” she replies as the car slows down when the club comes in sight. Well, a massive warehouse which is technically the club. Mine.
“I can’t believe you let her in your car. Sorry, lady, but my feelings are seriously hurt right now. Does she smell better than me?” he asks.
Elicea giggles next to me and I stop the car to turn to look at her.
“She does.”
Her giggle stops and she looks up. Beautiful eyes stare back at me. What’s behind them? I want to know.
“You sound sick, Creed. You sure you’re okay?”
“Goodbye, Echo,” I reply, but before I can hang up he screams through the car, “I bet her pussy tastes better—” That’s all we hear before I press end, knowing exactly what he’s doing—he’s being a dick.
“My pussy, huh?” she asks smiling at me.
My cock pushes hard against my trousers at her words, my eyes finding their way down to her short skirt. She closes her legs tighter, then I hear the click of my door followed by her perfectly tanned legs getting out of the car and walking away.
I bang my head against the car headrest and call Echo back.
He answers straight away. “Pussy, pussy, pussy.” He huffs then stops. “She still there?”
“No, dickhead.”
I hear him blow out a heavy breath, more than likely he’s smoking.
“D won’t stop calling, it’s getting worse.”
I shake my head. “Of course, it is, you idiot. You run a business, you’re needed.”
“I can’t handle being there right now, or anywhere,” he says with a heavy breath through the cell.
“Why?” I ask him. Yes, she fucked him over but he’s also not telling me something. And he tells me everything.
“Not now.” Then he hangs up on me.
Getting out and walking straight past where Elicea is at the bar, I don’t even glance her way as I make my way to Darby. He’s at his desk like always, he looks up at me then back to whatever he’s writing as I walk in.
“Echo’s back.”
His head shoots up and he sits back in his chair. “Of course, he came to you.” He shakes his head then stands, pushing the seat back. “Where the fuck is he?”
“He needs time.”
“Why?” is all he asks as he comes around the desk, standing in front of me, his hands crossing over his chest. He’s bigger than me, but not by much.
“Fucked if I know, it would have something to do with her.”
He sighs loudly. “This is why we don’t do relationships. It fucks with us. Fucks with our career,” he says dropping his hands from his chest. I don’t say anything back, because even if I did believe what he just said, right now my head’s down the stairs on a very sexy brunette, one I wouldn’t mind getting in trouble for.
“Tell him he has one day, one more fucking day, then I don’t care what his issues are. If he isn’t here, he can sign his part of the business over to me. I’m sick of him always fucking being gone.”
Darby has every right to be mad, I get it. He does more than us and takes on some of the heavier stuff. We all do our part lately, but the last few years, Echo’s been—well, he’s been distracted. Walking out, I text Echo, telling him what D just told me. His response is to send me a ‘fuck you’ emoji. Smart.
“Don’t sit at the bar all fucking night either, the girls are starting to notice.” It’s my turn to flip him off as I make my way down. When I do, I see Falcon already there leaning over the bar making Elicea laugh, and it makes me pause in my pursuit of her. Falcon though, he notices straight away, looks up to me, winks then turns back to her, which in turn makes her eyes come my way. I don’t stare for long. Instead, I walk over to Bethany. She’s watching me.
Maybe D was right? The girls are starting to watch.
Bethany’s first words to me are, “Sabrina’s not showing up.”
Sabrina’s someone I hired not even a year ago. She was my last recruit.
“How long for, Bethany?”
She looks down then back up to me. Bethany protects the girls. Apart from me she’s in charge of them. What they don’t come to me for, they go to her.
“This week.”
I groan loudly, she’s been covering for her all this week.
“Why didn’t you tell me after the second time?”
Bethany shrugs but I know she has a soft spot for her. I found Sabrina through one of the girls. She had just left her abusive boyfriend and needed work, she was the perfect fit for what I needed. She’s good, until recently. The contracts for the girls are different to the contracts the clients sign, we are more flexible with the girls.
“I was afraid for her.” Bethany says, and I shake my head. “I think she’s gone back to him.”
“Fuck.” She promised me when we hired her that she wouldn’t go back, it was part of the reason I hired her. Controlling men are what we don’t want, especially around our women.
“The minute she comes back in, you call me.”
Bethany nods then looks over my shoulder then back to me. “What’s with the bartender?”
I look to where she’s watching Elicea, still standing in the same spot speaking with Falcon.
Answering her, I don’t look back to Bethany. My eyes are solely trained on them both. “What about her?”
Her sharp words make me turn back to her. “Well, she needs to go.” Her eyes are hard, her hands crossed over her chest.
“You tell me why you think she needs to go, since you seem to believe you have the power over who I hire?”
Bethany’s hands drop from her chest a
t the tone of my voice. Her eyes snap to mine and she quickly averts her gaze downward. “She doesn’t fit.”
I laugh at her words and walk off.
Just before I pass them, Falcon’s voice stops me. “You don’t care, do you, Creed? If I take Elicea here out and show her a good time?”
Elicea’s eyes flick back to me then to Falcon like she doesn’t believe what he’s just said. You give a dog a bone, he’ll bite. That’s Falcon. Ignoring him, I walk straight past them, listening to Falcon laugh as I head back to my office.
12
Elicea
I’m staring, I know I am. I can’t help it. But I know how those lips feel on me, I know how they make me feel. They are my new craving, one I didn’t even want or ask for. Yet, somehow, it’s all I seem to want.
I’m closing up the bar and it’s been two days since that day he picked me up, two days of seeing him every day but no words have been spoken. Falcon does more speaking than Creed, and even if Falcon is handsome as all fuck to stare at, I always find my eyes wandering to Creed. And right now, he’s sitting at the end of the bar, his cell in hand as he does some paperwork. He hasn’t caught me looking yet. Johnny though, he has. He nudges me again as the music turns off and the lights come on while everyone’s leaving.
“You need a lift?” Johnny asks.
I look to Creed who still hasn’t looked up to me. Then back to Johnny, nodding my head.
I want those lips.
But I don’t.
The struggle is real.
Do I want to keep this job, or do I want to taste him? I know damn well what he tastes like and I want to dip my tongue in every chance I fucking get.
We start to walk out the same way we come in, and I try my best not to look back to see if he even noticed me leaving. He hasn’t stopped by to see me all night, it’s like he’s forgotten all about me. I’m not even sure if that hurts my feelings since I should know better. I should keep everything strictly business, since I want to work here for as long as possible. I’m earning decent money here, more so than I could have ever earned at my other job.