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“No.” He lifts a hand. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He lowers his voice. “If anything, if you accept this position, I don’t thinkthatshould happen again.”
I’m genuinely surprised by this. “You don’t?”
“I mean, well, it’s not like it wasn’t great…” His voice trails off and he wipes his forehead. Is he blushing? “It’s just business and sex. It can get complicated, you know?”
Idoknow. It’s the exact reason I’ve never slept with any of my bosses before. Well, that, and because none of them have ever looked like Jamie.
For a while back in high school, I actually looked up to him. He wastheJameson Scott Albrechtthe Second. Captain of the football team, a literal god on Earth in the halls of Sawyer High. Teenage me had braces and frizzy hair that looked like I’d been electrocuted as a child, while Jamie had biceps, status. Money.Respect. He’d been way out of my league back then. We hadn’t even existed on the same planet. IfthatLara could see me now––She’d slap me in the fucking face. Jamie is still Jamie, the shadow of my past that tarnished my soul with indelible ink. I can’t work with him.
I regain some of my confidence at the thought. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
His expression and body language say it all. “Oh, okay. I wasn’t expecting that reaction. I thought you’d prefer it over the bar.”
“Oh, I would, and you’re right, I like numbers.” Stop talking. “But, you know, I wasn’t planning on working here longer than the weekend.” Why am I explaining myself? “I mean, it’s not like I have another job to go back to, but it’s just–” just that you crushed my spirit nine years ago, “—complicated.”
He shrugs. “Hey, I get it. Life is complicated. And last night made it more so. But I really think you can help me out around here. And if you like it, it could become something long-term.”
Long-term. That’s a concept I have little experience with.
“Can I think about it?” Did I just ask that? What the hell is wrong with me? This is a terrible idea. I should sayno, absolutely not, and yet, I keep my mouth shut.
“Of course. As long as you can work the bar the rest of the weekend.” His smile returns, and the image of his lips parting as he kissed me last night flashes in my mind. Butterflies stir in my abdomen.It’s just a physiological response, the hormones and adrenaline of intimacy, nothing more. Not ‘feelings’.
“Yeah, sure.” I clench my hands together, pressing my fingertips to my lips as I back away from the bar. “I need to get ready.”
As soon as I reach the hallway, I head straight for the bathroom.
Sex. It was just sex.
I turn on the faucet to freezing cold and splash water across my face to clear my head.
Sex with him happened with the intention of reeling him in so I can fuck him over. And reel him in I did.
I jump as the door opens behind me. Shelly and another dancer, Marci, are mid-conversation.
“—could have seen that coming from–” Shelly glances up, spots me, and stops mid-sentence.
Marci shuffles to a stop and snorts into her palm. Pressing her lips together, she shuffles past Shelly, stealing a side glance at me as she disappears into the far stall.
Shelly cocks her head. “Lara. You’re back.”
I turn off the faucet, unsure what she means. “Yeah. I’m working through the weekend.”
“Right.”
Instead of going into a stall, Shelly strides over to me, her heels tapping on the tile. “How’d closing go last night?” She flashes a wide grin.
A lump of nerves forms in my throat.
“I-it was fine.”
Shelly leans her hip against the sink. “Really? I always dread closing with Jamie. He’s such a bore. Didn’t you think so?”
“Think what?”
Shelly licks her bright red lips. “Did you think he was boring?”
From the far stall, Marci chuckles.
