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It wasn’t something I hadn’t seen before. Every night was the same bullshit, and I knew it was so they would leave her better tips. A waitress’s tips were her livelihood, something I was all too aware of. My family owned a bar back in Creswell Springs, California. And my aunt Quinn co-owned Aggie’s, the best restaurant in all of Trinity County. For the waitresses who worked for her, even though they were well paid, how much they earned in tips was sometimes the difference between making the difficult decision to pay rent that month or buy groceries for their families.
But the girls who worked at Aggie’s wore jeans and tops that covered everything. Lis, however, walked around with her tits about to pop out of the top of her shirt, exposing her flat stomach. Her shorts barely had enough material to cover her pussy in the front and a string up her perfect ass. Some of the other waitresses wore fishnets under their shorts, but Lis wasn’t one of them.
I could have called Adrian Volkov and requested he change the waitresses’ uniforms. He was a silent partner in the club, and if he made a suggestion about the work attire, it would happen. But I didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to my regular visits to Cherry Bomb. Volkov would start questioning why I was there so often, and then when he found out about my interest in Lis, he would gossip like an old lady with Ciro and Cristiano.
It would take less than a day for the news to get back to my folks, and I wasn’t ready to examine what I was feeling for the sexy little waitress, let alone field questions from my mother about the tiny goddess who had captured my attention so thoroughly.
The bartender placed the glass of Macallan beside Lis. Picking it up, she placed it on her tray and started back toward me. My gaze drifted up and down her body with each step she took. Without the heels, I figured she was about five-four. Her hair was down, which I loved. The glossy locks ended just above the small of her back in silky waves that I ached to run my fingers through.
As she neared, customers at one of her other tables stopped her. She put on that flirty smile she’d never once graced me with as she listened. Pulling out her order pad, she scribbled something down before winking at the fortysomething man and continuing on toward me.
Placing the tumbler in front of me, she gripped the tray with both hands so hard her knuckles turned white. “Your food should be out shortly.”
“Who hurt you, Lis?” I snapped, unable to take that she had become so nervous with me. She flinched at my harsh tone, and I groaned. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s just, the thought of someone putting their hands on you pisses me off.”
She huffed and took a step back. “I’ll make sure you get your ketchup too. But maybe tomorrow night, you should order a chicken entree or perhaps a salad. All that red meat is bad for you.”
I felt my lips twitch and fought a grin. “You worried about my heart, blue eyes?”
That earned me another sexy little huff, but I was happy to see that she eased her tight hold on the tray. “Whatever. Eat what you want. I’ll be back when your food is ready.”
As she walked away, the grin won, until she stopped at the high-top and started touching the thicker, dark-haired douchebag’s arm. Her laughter reached me, and I itched to pull my gun and pop the bastard between the eyes. But I’d promised Ciro and Cristiano I would do better. That I’d stop letting my anger get the best of me.
It had been a struggle, until I walked into Cherry Bomb one night and set eyes on Lis. Between her blue eyes that couldn’t quite hide the past that haunted her and those slight curves, I’d felt like I’d had reality slammed into me. I wanted her, but it was more than that.
I wasn’t the type of guy who was empathetic; I couldn’t sense what people needed the way my little sister could. And even if I could, I didn’t have much of an urge to fix the things I knew needed fixing for them. Yet with Lis, all I wanted to do was make whoever had hurt her to the point that she’d nearly had a panic attack when I’d grabbed her pay. That motherfucker needed to die, and I needed to be the one to take his life from him.
And still, that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and carry her out of that club. Drop her into my bed and keep her there so that I knew where she was and that she was safe. She would stay there until I built us a house, possibly beside the one Ryan wanted to build for my sister behind the mansion within the compound’s walls.
Nova was great with everyone. Sweet and gentle—to the point of annoyance at times—but she would get along just fine with Lis. My sister would welcome my girl into the family, make sure she was comfortable, and ensure that the others treated her with the affection and respect that she deserved.
Those thoughts gave me a moment of pause. They were gigantic ideas that I’d never considered before in my entire life. But for some reason, they didn’t scare the ever-loving fuck out of me like I would have expected them to. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was ready to settle down in general, or if Lis was simply that special.
Her laughter reached my ears again, causing my entire body to react, and I knew the answer in that instant.
It was Lis.
She flirted with the two men at the high-top for a few more moments before checking on her other customers. Once they were taken care of, she went to the kitchen to grab my food. I kept my eyes on her every move, and even when she was out of sight in the kitchen, my gaze didn’t leave the swinging doors until she reappeared. A feeling in the pit of my stomach told me if I didn’t keep my eyes on her every second, she would disappear and I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
The closer she got to my booth, the slower her steps became, and I had to clench my hands into fists beneath the table to keep from jumping up and snatching her out of this damn club. Anytime she wasn’t behind the closed doors of a bedroom—our bedroom—she needed to be covered from neck to ankle. Every inch of that alabaster skin was for my eyes only.
But instinct told me if I tried to do any of that shit, she might shank me, which only put another grin on my face.
Yeah, Lis would fit in just fine with my family. Both the one that I worked for here in New York, and the one back in California.
She placed the plate with the burger in front of me, then the basket of loaded cheese fries beside it, before dropping a bottle of ketchup within reach. “No tomatoes on the burger, yet you smother the thing in ketchup?”
I picked up a fry with cheese, bacon, spring onions, and sour cream all over it. “I like what I like,” I told her with a wink.
Heat filled her cheeks before she rolled her eyes at me. “I hope you have a cardiologist lined up for your thirties.”
“See? You are concerned about my heart, blue eyes.” I lifted another fry, but instead of stuffing it into my mouth, I brought it to her lips. To my delight, she didn’t even hesitate before taking a bite—and none too gently, nipping my finger in the process.
I groaned as her teeth sank into the backs of my index and thumb, my cock so hard, the tip started leaking. Her aggression was just as sexy as that sweet innocence I sensed right below the surface. “Ah, baby,” I murmured. “You just sealed our fate.”
Cali
Working from six in the evening until two in the morning, on my feet the entire time in heels, was enough to cause me agony.
