Addiction (14 page)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TAYLOR

“Good evening Taylor,” the other owner, Brecken, says as he opens the front door for me. He sounds friendly but the hard look on his face says otherwise. The man knows I don’t belong here. That I can’t do what the club requires of me.

“Good evening. Thank you,” I say softly as I walk into
Seven Deadly Sins
for my second night of work. I walk down the long hallway and let out a deep breath. I’m more nervous than I was last night. Case is literally throwing me to the wolves. A table all by myself? He wants me to fail. I just know it. It’s probably a game to him. He is up in his office looking down at me and laughing his ass off. I begged him not to fire me, and he actually laughed at one point in time. The bastard even stared at me with a smirk on his face. Well, here I am, you bastard. And I’m gonna prove you wrong, so sit back and watch me work.

“Evening, Taylor,” Miller shouts from where he stands by the stairs as I come to the main opening of the club.

I turn to face him. It’s the first time he’s ever spoken directly to me. He looks surprised to see me facing him, but I need to feel confident tonight and I’m gonna start with Miller. “Thanks, Miller.” Then I turn and push my way through the club with my head held high and my shoulders pulled back. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

I make my way to the back where the locker room is. It’s nothing fancy or overly large. It has a few floor-length mirrors and ten lockers. It’s enough for us to place our purse in and make sure we look okay. I smile when I see Rachel in there. “Hey,” I say happily.

She turns to face me. She has her usual bitchface on. Shadow heavily blackens her brown eyes. Those dark brown eyes that always look so angry look me up and down. They linger a few long seconds on my hair and then she lets out a snort. She slams her locker shut and walks past me shaking her head.

I turn to look at myself in the mirror and smile. I think it turned out great. It’s a pretty dark blue. It actually reminds me of the ink on Case’s arm. I lean over, mess it up with my hands, and then whip it back as I stand. Nothing can put me in a bad mood tonight.
Repeat that over and over, Taylor,
I say to myself.

Savannah did my makeup. I swear the woman is talented beyond belief when it comes to hair and makeup, and of course, fashion. She went with natural eyeshadows with black liner on top and bottom with just a shimmer of lip-gloss.

I fix my black corset as I try to push my boobs down inside of it. I was surprised it came clean after all the alcohol it had soaked up last night. I need to ask Case about the bigger size tonight. With one last look at myself, I turn around and head to the bar.

CASE

“Things went well tonight,” Brecken informs me as he sits across from my desk.

“That’s good,” I say as I work on my computer. I haven’t had the chance to even get up from it once tonight to walk the club.

“Well, Rachel had a problem with a customer, but I took care of it.”

I look over to him at that. “What was the issue?”

“Guess some guy came on to her who had his wife with him. He flirted with Rachel, and she flirted back.” He shrugs carelessly. “Then things got ugly. I thought she was gonna rip the wife’s head off.”

I sigh heavily. “She’s starting to cause more trouble.”

He shrugs again, but I know it bothers him. He is in love with her, after all. Well, as much in love as a guy like him or I can be. “She can’t keep it up, Brecken.”

“I know …”

“No, she knows she can’t keep doing this.” I lean back in my chair. “Send her up here. I need to have a talk with her.”

“I sent her home after the ordeal,” he says softly.

I raise an eyebrow at that. “Who took over her section?”

“I gave it to Taylor.”

My eyes widen. “And how did that go?”

He stands from his chair. “I’m not sure. I was pretty busy. I told Mindy to help her if she needed it.” Mindy is who I should have put her with in the first place, but I felt like Rachel was a better fit at the time. Rachel is a good waitress even if she is a bitch.

I nod. “Go ahead and send her up.” I made the decision to fire her this afternoon anyway. It’s time to get that over with. After I had spoken with Blane, all I could think about was sleeping with her. And it can’t happen. I may be many things, but I am not a man who puts my dick before my job. It’s just come down to the point I have to let her go.

“Okay.” He gets up from the chair and leaves my room.

I close down my computer as my phone rings. “Cason,” I say as I answer it.

“Hey, Case. I just wanted to let you know the car I picked up for your friend the other day is done,” my friend, Frank, says on the other end of the line.

I frown. “And you’re calling me at two thirty in the morning to tell me this?” I ask with a chuckle.

“I just finished it. You said you needed it back as soon as possible. I wanted to let you know I’ll be at the shop for another thirty minutes if you wanna come get it.”

I would, but I doubt Taylor is up for going to get it this late, especially if she had a bad night. I’m just gonna make it worse by letting her go. “Thanks for getting it fixed so quickly, but I’ll come pick it up later this afternoon.”

We settle on a time when my door opens. “Thanks again,” I say as I hang up the phone.

“You wanted to see me?” I hear Taylor ask. I place my phone down on my desk and look up at her. Words escape me as I stare at her. Her hair now has blue in it. Not completely blue, but just small streaks here and there. It takes any look of innocence away from her, and I like it. It makes her appear even sexier, and even a bit slutty, and it has my mouth watering. The way it falls down over her shoulders and sits on her large tits has my mind going straight to the gutter as usual.

“Did I do something wrong?” she questions.

I shake my head. “Not at all,” I say, clearing my throat a couple of times. “Brecken told me he gave you Rachel’s section. I just wanted to see how it went.” Dear God, I don’t think I can fire her. I’ll never see her again if I do. She’ll really hate me after that.

She takes a step toward my desk, smiling widely. “It went great,” she says excitedly, and I can’t help but smile. I’ve never seen her look this happy with this big of a smile on her beautiful face. “I only spilled five beers,” she announces proudly.

I let out a laugh at that. “Well, that is some good news,” I assure her.

She lowers her eyes to the floor and wipes the big smile from her face. “I can see how that may not sound good to you, but I actually enjoyed it.”

I stand from my chair. “I wasn’t making fun of you,” I say softly. She sighs and looks back up at me through her long, thick lashes. “I’m truly glad that you enjoyed it,” I say again. “A few more nights and you will have everything down.” Shit! Thought I was planning to fire her? Too late now.

“So …” She draws out the word. “I’m not fired?”

“No!” I say immediately, shaking my head quickly as if that thought is crazy. “Did you think that was why I called you up here?” Could she tell just by walking in here that I had planned on it?

She nods. “I did terrible last night.”

“I didn’t expect you to figure it out on your first night,” I say truthfully.
I was just gonna fire you because I can’t quit imagining you naked and under me.
And your new hair makes it even harder.

“Well, Rachel said if I look bad, it makes your club look bad. And I’d hate for you to lose customers over me.” I go to speak, but she continues. “I tried to do better for you tonight.” Those words make my dick harden. She tried to do better for me? The only thing that would be better than that would be if she were undressing while saying those words.

“I would say you accomplished that.”
Stay professional, Case
. “And just ignore everything that Rachel says,” I add.

“She hates me,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Rachel hates everyone,” I inform her.

She just nods her head. “That was my second guess.” She chuckles.

“Do you need a lift home?” I’m not sure how she’s getting to and from work, but I do know that her brother is out of town on work. And I’d love to spend a little more time with her tonight.

She smiles up at me. “No. Thanks, though. I’m driving Savannah’s car. Thankfully, she works days so I can use it at night.”

I turn around to walk back over to my chair and sit behind my desk. “Well, after tonight, you won’t have to do that anymore.”

Her blue eyes light up with excitement. “My car’s done?”

I nod. “I just got the call. Frank told me we could come and get it tonight, but I wasn’t … sure how your night had gone, so I wanted to let you go home and get some rest. We’ll go get it later this afternoon,” I inform her.

“Thank you,” she says as her shoulders slump. It’s as if she just realized how tired she really is. Waitressing in my club can be exhausting. Having to wait on grown men and women who drink like fish, I’m sure her feet hurt. And I’m sure her back is sore. She needs to go home and get some sleep. I would offer her a bed here so she doesn’t have to drive home, but if I did that, there is no way she would be sleeping.

I clear my throat. “Perfect. I’ll be over around eleven in the morning.” That gives her plenty of time to sleep. I’ve never been much of a person who needs a lot of sleep. I can function on just a few hours of sleep.

She thanks me once again and turns around to walk out of my office. I sit there like a drooling puppy as my eyes run up and down the back of her legs and the curve of her bubble ass. Those shorts look fucking amazing on her.

“Taylor …?” It comes out more of a whisper than I intended it to.

But if she notices it, she doesn’t let on. “Yes?” she asks looking over her shoulder.

A few strands of her blue hair shade half of her face, only allowing me to see one of her blue eyes. The hair makes them look even bluer. I imagine her looking over her shoulder at me while on her knees as I kneel behind her. My hands gripping her hair while her mouth is open in a gasp. Fuck, my hard cock twitches. Thank God, I’m sitting behind my desk. I clear my throat. “I’m glad tonight was better for you.”
But I could make it even better.
All I need is you naked …

“Me too.” A wide smile spreads across her face. “Thanks for everything, Case. I owe you.” And with those words, she opens the door and walks out.

I sigh as I lean back in my chair. You had your chance, and you choked. When it all blows up in your face, you have no one to blame but yourself.

***

Fifteen minutes shy of eleven, I pull up to Blane’s house and knock on the door. A smiling Savannah answers, looking like she just fell out of bed. Blond hair a mess and puffy green eyes.

“Good morning.” She sounds much more cheerful than she looks.

“Morning.” I reach out and hand her the black coffee from my right hand then take the free hand to push my sunglasses to the top of my head. “Not sure what you liked, so I just got you black.” A man cannot show up at a house with women and not bring something. I thought about chocolate, but I know how women are when it comes to their diets. I don’t wanna get off on the wrong foot with Savannah. She hasn’t voiced her opinion that she hates me … yet!

Her smile brightens. “That’s perfect. Thanks so much. Please, come in.”

She moves out of my way and allows me to enter the house. I follow her to the kitchen and place the cup holder on the counter that holds the other two coffees I got. Taylor’s and mine. “Is she ready?” I ask noticing how quiet their house is.

She points to the hallway. “She’s in her room.”

I stand there for a few seconds to see if she comes out. But frown when Savannah walks down the hallway and enters the last door on the right. I know for a fact that’s not Taylor’s room. I remember her coming out of the bathroom and going straight across the hall that day. Plus, I’ve been back in the room Savannah and Blane share.

I sit down at the kitchen table and take a drink of my coffee as I look down at my clock on my phone. I am early after all. I’ll give her fifteen minutes.

Twenty-five minutes later, I tap my finger on the kitchen table—it’s the only sound in this house. I’m pretty sure Savannah went back to bed. And I’m almost positive that Taylor is still in bed.

With a sigh, I get up from the kitchen table and make my way over to her bedroom door. I press my ear against it, and it squeaks as it opens. “Shit!” I hiss softly. I didn’t know it wasn’t shut all the way.

“Taylor,” I call out as I open her door all the way, looking inside her room. I tighten my grip on the doorknob when I see her lying in bed just as I had expected. But I can’t be mad at her, all I can do is stare at her. She has all the covers thrown off her as she lies on her stomach. She has a pair of white panties on that, against her skin, makes her look tanner than usual. Her white t-shirt has ridden up on her back from her moving in her sleep. I should leave. I should quit acting like a Peeping Tom and turn around.