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Dropping my hands on the bar, Addy peers at me. “You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No, really. You look unwell. Shadows under your eyes, pale. You need to sleep.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” Both hands land on the bar. “Anyone with half a brain can see you’re running yourself dry.” She heaves a heavy, verging on annoyed, sigh. “Go. Home.”
My heart drops all the way into my feet. My lip quivers. “You’re firing me?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I want to. I should. But no.”
“I need the hours.” I hate the desperation in my voice. Why does life suck so much? Being a kid all cozy and safe at home doesn’t prepare you for the great big,cruel world. It’s harsh out here. Cold and unforgiving and so very exhausting.
“I’ll pay you the night.” Addy surprises me. “Just go to bed.”
My body begins to buckle, and I have to cling to the bar to keep myself upright. I don’t even have the energy to fight her to save face. I just murmur, “Thank you.”
Visions of my bed in Cash’s condo float through my mind like visions of food might taunt a starving person. I’m blinking in and out of awareness, my exhaustion is so extreme. Still, as soon as I see him, my nerves are hit with enough adrenaline that my mind sharpens.
Cash is leaning against the wall outside the staff room, looking like a dark devil in head-to-toe black. He has one lazy foot hooked behind the other, large arms folded over a broad chest.
My heart skips as dark eyes pin on me. “What are you doing here?”
“Better question is what are you doing here?”
I frown. “What?”
“Thought we talked about this?”
I blink. “About what?”
“About you quitting.”
Oh, that. I nod slowly, considering my response. “We did, but…”
“But what?”
“But I wasn’t sure after—I wasn’t sure you’d, um, keep me.”
Shadows cross through his eyes. “You thought I’d kick you out because I finger fucked you?”
I flinch, unable to look at him.The man is always so crass.
Folding my arms over my chest, I try not to sound as small as I feel. “I wasn’t sure.”
He kicks off the wall, moving into my space in that way he does. My breath snags in my lungs and I back up until I’m the one with my back against the wall and Cash is hovering over me, the scent of him invading my lungs.
When he grips my chin between finger and thumb, forcing my gaze to his, my entire body trembles.
He speaks for only me to hear. “We’re doing this, Kitten. If it makes you feel better, I’ll draw up a contract promising you’ll have a roof over your head for the next year.” My lips part, but his thumb slides up my chin to cover my mouth, shushing me without words. “But you walk that sweet ass back out there and tell Addy you’re done.”
“Cash…” Emotion clogs my throat and I slump back into the wall as his big hand moves to cup the side of my face. His thumb caresses me gently. The man is so hard, so rough hefeelslike violence, but every time he’s touched me it’s been gentle. It’s a breaking kind of contradiction, beautifully painful.
“Kitten.”
“I should fight this. I’m putting myself at risk for this—for you. I can’t afford to live if I lose this job.” I deflate, too exhausted to think rationally.
