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And beggars couldn’t be choosy.
When my shift was finally over, my feet were throbbing, my back was stiff and sore, and I had a headache the size of Nevada.
All I wanted to do was go to the locker room, change my clothes, and go home, but that would not happen. As soon as I rounded the corner on my way to the locker room, I ran into Zander once again.
The hallway outside the locker room was quiet, which was strange since it was rare to find a silent moment at Empire Sevens.
“Your shift is over?” he asked, shocking me.
Zander hadn’t said many things to me, but when he did, it wasn’t usually very civil, and it was always bossy.
I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest since I was acutely aware that my vest had shifted a bit while I helped clean the bar.
“Yeah. I’m just headed to get changed, and then I’m going home.”
His emerald eyes moved over my face as if he was assessing me, and then they dipped, landing on my crossed arms and staying there as if he was able to see through my arms and straight through my vest.
“The new uniform,” he started as his eyes finally moved away from my chest and back to my face. “Do you like it?”
I huffed. “Do you want to hear the truth, or do you want to hear whatever will let me keep my job?”
At that, he chuckled, yet again shocking me.
“I’ve always been fond of the truth.”
I swallowed, shifting on my sore feet to take the weight off my right and put it on my left.
“Honestly, I don’t like wearing it.”
His brow lifted. “And why is that?”
“I don’t like the way it makes me feel.”
He moved closer, the scent of his cologne swirling around me. “And how does it make you feel?”
My eyes flickered to his, holding his green gems with mine. “It makes me feel cheap. The men, they …”
An angry flash moved over his expression. “The men what? Did they touch you?”
I looked away again, tightening my arms in front of me. “No, but they look at me like I’m nothing. They look at me like I’m just a body for them to stare at. It makes me feel small and disgusting.”
“Yet you continued to work all night and wear the uniform feeling that way?”
I shrugged, my eyes finding a spot other than his face to concentrate on. “It’s not like I had a choice.”
Again, he moved closer, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he breathed me in just a bit. “You always have a choice.”
“Not always.”
He continued to inch closer, his chest brushing against mine and sending my senses into overdrive.
“Sir?” I queried. “What’s happening right now?”
I kept my eyes on his ample chest, not sure what else to look at and utterly unsure of what was happening.
A whispered growl sounded from above me—manly and aggressive—and something inside me began to melt toward him.
“Eden,” he whispered.
