Little Black Book (4 page)

“What innocent thing?” I asked loudly over the music.

She turned and winked at me before disappearing into the crowed.

W
as I missing something completely obvious? I thought about this while I waited for the bartender to load me down with my order. The lights above were too bright—the music, too loud. I reached up and swiped at the sweat coating my forehead. I was exhausted.

The work shirt Vick had given me was two sizes to
o small and squished my boobs together. It didn’t help that I’d spilled several drinks down my front, giving everyone a view of my bra.

“She’s right. Your innocence works for you.”
A deep voice sounded from beside me, startling the crap out of me. He was so close, he didn’t have to scream over the music.

I could feel his body heat against my bare skin, and
it sent chills down my body. Peeking over at him, I caught a glimpse of a stylish black suit, before turning away and waiting for the bartender. I didn’t see his face, but it didn’t matter what he looked like. I needed to focus on my new job, not the men in the club.

It was obvious I was ignoring him and I heard his deep chuckle when the music paused before the next song started.

“Y
ou’re holding your tray wrong. That’s why you keep spilling your drinks.” This time I felt his warm breath against my neck. “Don’t use your palm, use your fingertips.”

Without him knowing, I adjusted my fingers
beneath the tray and instantly felt the extra control my fingertips provided. I turned to look at him and was met with the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on.

His soft blue eyes were a
deep contrast to his tanned skin and dark hair, which was styled in a strategic mess. He ran his fingers through it, pushing some strands out of his eyes. If that wasn’t enough, he grinned at me, showing off an adorable set of dimples. Perfect white teeth shined back at me, as he bit his bottom lip.

I almost swore out loud.
Quickly, I turned my eyes away from him, before I embarrassed myself.  “Thanks,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

He
was already gone. I didn’t see him leave, but I felt it. The side of my body cooled and the ear-splitting sounds of the music came back in full force.

Mike
swept by and set the drinks I needed on my tray. He winked at me like he was sure I was interested in him. His cockiness was in vain because he couldn’t have been more wrong.

I didn’t spill another drink that night. By the time I was cashing out my tips, I was exhausted and in
desperate need of a shower.

“So what do you think?” Trish asked
. She was picking up old beer bottles and empty glasses from one of her tables.

The room was empty
, except for a few workers who were cleaning up. No one was looking at me, but I couldn’t help but feel eyes all of over me. Something about being in Clive’s after it closed was unsettling.

“Earth to Roz…
What. Do. You. Think?” she asked louder, signing to me like I was deaf.

I wanted to say
I’d never come back, but after counting all the cash I had from tips that night, I knew I couldn’t turn the job down.

“
I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

Three

Sebastian

I stood at the two-way mirror, looking down into the empty club. A few of the workers, including the new girl, cleaned and chatted.

She bent over a table
with a wet cloth and wiped it down. Her shorts rode up and the bottom of her ass cheeks popped out. My cock grew hard just looking at her. I hadn’t reacted that way over a woman in a long time, and I wasn’t sure I could be the patient man I needed to be, in order to claim her as mine.

She was
different. I knew propositioning her right off the bat was going to be a bad idea, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to get to know her and I didn’t want her to get to know me.

First things first, I had to fire her
. I never mixed business with pleasure, and being between her creamy thighs was much more important to me than an extra waitress.

“The new girl worked out nicely, don’t you think?” Vick asked
while sorting paperwork.

“She di
d. Too bad I’m firing her,” I said, tilting my glass to my lips.

“
What? Why?” Vick spun to face me and papers flew from the desk. “She just started.”

I turned and found her bent
over, picking up her mess from the floor. “She’s my Jessica.”

Vick stopped and stared at me. “Are you sure? You just said the other night that Jessica
Rabbit was a myth. What makes you think this girl has it?”

I was glad she had the smarts to not tell me the girl’s name. If I found out her name
, all bets were off.

“I just
know
.”

She
batted a piece of sweaty hair from her face and rolled her eyes with a hefty sigh. “I guess I’ll fire her tomorrow then. I’ll start searching for her replacement.”

S
he was pissed off, but she knew me well. When I wanted something, I went after it. I didn’t care how I got it.

“Don’t bother. I want to fire her.”

“Fine,” she said tightly, but I ignored it.

“You can fire Mike
for me, though.” I didn’t like the way the little bastard was looking at
my
Jessica, and since I was never one to share, he had to go.

“Mike
, the bartender?” Vick asked confused. “Why?”

“Because he doesn’t know how to keep his eyes to himself.”

I didn’t need to say more. She didn’t need to know anything other than the fact I wanted him fired as soon as possible.

I could feel Vick staring at me
, before she finally headed for the door.

“I’ll look for his replacement as well.”

It wasn’t like she had to look very far. We had, literally, hundreds of applicants who wanted to work at Clive’s. I sat behind my desk and thought about Jessica. Her image alone was enough to make my dick throb painfully.

I undid my belt and unbuttoned my pants. Easing back into my chair
, I slipped my hand in my pants and palmed my cock, squeezing hard. I could have easily called on one of my girls to take care of my needs, but it was easier to imagine a certain redhead’s lips wrapped tightly around the head of my shaft.

Firing her was
the only way to go. I needed her desperate. A good girl like her wouldn’t be working at a place like Clive’s, unless she absolutely needed the money. Money was something I had in spades, so money would be what brought her to me. I wanted her to
need
me. I needed to feel it in her touch—in the way her body rocked against mine. I wanted it more than my next breath.

The following night, she was late to work. I could have fired her on the spot, but I wanted to spend the night watching her move. I sat tucked away at the bar, letting my eyes roam over her curvy body. The sway of her hips, as she slid through the room with her newfound tray holding skills, was almost too much to take. I thought about all the things I wanted to do to her—the noises she would make.

The bar
hid my raging hard-on, while I sat and sipped my drinks.  A few times our eyes locked and I was sure she was blushing. She was starting to sweat and the back of her tight shirt was clinging to her body. The strands of red hair close to her face, stuck to her cheeks. She looked incredibly sexy, exactly the way I imagined she would when I was done fucking her.

Once the door
s were locked, I downed the last of my drink and waited to make my move. Firing someone had never been hard for me, but knowing she needed the job made it a little difficult.

I didn’t want to hurt her, and
I knew when she walked out of my club, she’d have no idea how much money I was going to start paying her. She would probably be upset, until I made my proposition.

One minute she was there next to her friend
, cleaning tables, and the next she was gone. I stood from the bar and moved around the room, pretending I wasn’t searching for someone. Finally, I gave up and moved outside. I made my way into the alley beside the club and that’s where I found her.

She was leaning into the window of an Oldsmobile. It wasn’t the smartest place for a girl to be out alone, and I was about to walk over and bring her back inside when I heard her speak.

“I’m sorry, Kyle. I know it’s boring, but we don’t have any other choice until I make enough to get into an apartment.” She swiped at her cheek and I was sure she was crying. “I’m almost done. I just needed to come out here and check on you. Let me run in, finish cleaning my tables, and grab my tips. Don’t unlock these doors for anyone and stay low.”

And then she was coming toward me. I stepped into the shad
ows and watched as she passed on her way back into the bar. When the door shut behind her, I crept into the alley and peeked into the back window.

A boy. A young one at that, was curled up on the backseat reading a book with a tiny flash light.
My Jessica looked too young to have a son his age, but then again, what did I know about how women aged. I’d once slept with a forty-year-old I was sure was younger than me.

Going back inside, I went straight upstairs to my office.

“Vick, I have a job for you.”

She looked up from the night
’s paperwork and frowned at me. “Right now? Can’t it wait? I have work to do here.”

I knew she was still pissed off
about losing two people, but she could get the fuck over it. “Leave the paperwork, I’ll do it. There’s a car in the alley beside the bar. Follow it.” I didn’t give her time to answer, before I turned and left my office.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I went straight to Jessica and prepared myself to fire
her. I wasn’t about to let the fact that she possibly had a son get in the way of what I wanted. More mouths to feed meant she needed money. It was the perfect scenario.

“I need to speak with you
,” I said from behind her.

She turned around and gasped like she was surprised I was still inside the club. Obviously, she hadn’t figured out who I was yet.

“Excuse me?” she replied, looking around for help. “The club is closed. You’re not supposed to be…”

I laughed.
“Sweetheart, I own the fucking place. I assure you, I have every right to be here.”

I turned and walked toward the bar
, without waiting for her to follow.

Four

Rosslyn

Saturday nights were even busier than Friday nights. By the time we closed, my feet were aching and so was my lower back.

I’d been too busy to even go out and check on Kyle
during the night. He refused to stay at Trish’s house, and honestly, I knew I couldn’t keep depending on her. Instead, I parked our car in the abandoned alley beside the club, with plans to sneak out and check on him every thirty minutes.

He had books and a flashlight and I made sure he knew not to open the door for anyone, but still, I was a nervous wreck all night. As soon as I could, I left the bar and snuck out to the alley to check on him. I found him sitting there reading with an annoyed look on his face.
He obviously felt too old to be checked on.

When
I got back inside to finish up, I was met with the gorgeous guy from before. I’d noticed him staring at me earlier in the night. He was always staring, and a couple of times I thought he was going to approach me, but he never did.

Most of the men in the club had no problems with expressing their interest
. It wasn’t like I was surprised by their groping hands or fuck-me eyes. We were practically wearing nothing, so it was to be expected. That didn’t mean I liked it, in fact I
hated
it. It made me feel sleazy and dirty.

That wasn’t the case when tall, dark, blue eyes looked at me though. There was something dangerous about him. He encouraged the extra sway in my hips when I moved through the room, and as much as I wanted to be embarrassed by it, he was the reason I pulled my shirt down a few extra inches.

The way he watched me made me think he was interested in me, but apparently it was because he was the owner and I was obviously doing something wrong.

I followed him over to the bar
and he motioned for me to sit down on one of the stools. I sat and he moved to stand in front of me. He turned his baby blues on me and reached up to tuck a stray hair behind my ear.

His simple touch heated my skin and my breathing got harder. I felt embarrassed by my
reaction to him. Experienced girls didn’t fall apart at such an innocent gesture. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the motionless bodies of the staff and if I strained, I could hear their whispers.

It wasn’t normal for the owner of a club to tuck the wait staff’s hair behind their ears.

“Jessica,” he said with a seductive grin.

I almost didn’t realize he called me by the wrong name.
His voice was so dark and deep—hypnotic. I shook my head, my correction on the tip of my tongue. “No. My name is—”

H
e stopped me with a rough finger over my lips.

Sparks tickled my lips
, making me roll them together.

“No. When you’re with me, y
ou’re Jessica.”

And then it all made sense. The owner of Clive’s was certifiable.
It was a shame for such an attractive man to be totally crazy, but there you go.

“Sir, I’m not really sure what this is about, but…”

“My name’s Sebastian.” His words were rough and clipped.

“I’m sorry, Sebastian
…” I said slowly, not wanting to make any sudden movements. “Is there something I can do for you? I really need to get back to work so I can get out of here as soon as possible.” My eyes flew toward the club doors and I was ready to flee any minute. But
Sebastian
, a.k.a. my crazy boss, obviously had other plans.

He put his head down and chuckled softly to himself.
It was a deep, erotic sound that punctured all the right places.

“As a matter of fa
ct, there is something you can do for me. A lot of things actually, but we’ll get back to that later.”

The bartende
r slid him a drink across the bar, and he watched me over the rim of his glass as he took a quick sip.

“I hate to do this, but I have to let you go. We at Clive’s appreciate you applying for the job, but I d
on’t think this is the right position for you.”

He said the word
position
like it was the name of a dirty movie. Listening to his smooth voice and staring into his never-ending pools of blue, I almost missed the point behind his words.

And then
, his words sank in and gutted me.

This
couldn’t be happening.

Not with my brother
, outside parked in our home, waiting for me. I had to do something. I wasn’t certain I could find another job quick enough. Things were already sitting at rock bottom. I wasn’t sure I was going to come back after this hit.

“Sir…”
the word slipped from my lips. It sounded broken and afraid.

“Sebastian,” he corrected.

“Sebastian, I—”

He cut me off again.
“I love how you say my name.” He appeared to be thinking to himself.
“You’re actually the first one to know my name. It’s inconvenient, somewhat forbidden, but I kind of like it.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Of course people
knew his name. Before I knew who he was, I distinctively remember Trish talking about the owner who was named Sebastian Black.

I didn’t know how to respond to him, so ins
tead I chose to ignore what he said. “I can’t lose this job. Please, let me try again tomorrow night. I know I’m not perfect, but I didn’t drop anything tonight. I’ll be even better next time.
Please,
give me—”

Again, he sil
enced me with a single finger. What was with this guy?

“I have something else in mind
for you, my beautiful, perfect myth.”

I didn’t hate that he was flirting with m
e, and I already gave up trying to understand what the hell he was blathering about, but I sensed if I wanted to keep my job, it was best to not respond.

“A proposition of sorts.” He grinned before turning on his drink again.

I watched his smooth lips close around the edge of the glass and a strange tingle ran down the length of my spine. I wondered what
it would feel like to feel his lips against my skin.

My thoughts surprised me and I shifted them back to his last comment.
“Anything’s better than nothing. Tell me what it is, and I’ll do it.”

He made a soft noise resembling a growl. “I love the sound of that,
especially from those lips.”

I swallowed hard.

“Stay behind once everyone’s gone. We’ll talk about this privately. Understood?”

I no
dded, even though I knew leaving Kyle in the car any longer than needed was a bad idea. Still, I couldn’t lose my job, and if that meant staying an extra five or ten minutes, I was doing it.

“Okay,” I agreed.

I stood to go back to work, and he stopped me with a hand on my arm. My flesh prickled and that same, strange sensation from earlier worked its way up my arm.

“No, s
it until everyone’s gone,” he said before casually strolling away. His confidence filled the room like water.

I ended up sitting at the bar
, while the other waitresses stared holes into the back of my head. I couldn’t imagine what it looked like. The new girl, sitting on her butt, flirting with the owner in a remote corner of the bar.
Great.
Just perfect.

Once I convinced
Trish I was staying behind to ask some questions, and the last worker left, Sebastian made his way across the club in my direction. His walk was slow and deliberate, making me feel like prey.

I swallowed hard
, trying my best to keep my eyes off his tall frame and orgasmic eyes. Yes… orgasmic fit him nicely. I knew the meaning of the word, but I’d never actually experienced it. Either way, he was the equivalent of the definition.

“You stayed,” h
e commented after he sidled up to me. “Good girl.”

He was
too close again; Sebastian obviously didn’t care about personal space. It made me uncomfortable and tingly at the same time.

“It’s not
like I had a choice,” I oozed sarcasm.

I could hardly believe the way my words
sounded. I was never rude to people and I’d never had such a tone in my voice before. Instead of getting angry, he just smirked down at me, like he enjoyed being snapped at.

“A little bit of fire in heaven, I see. I like that. However, everyone has a choice. You could have left, but you didn’t.”

His words were true, so I didn’t respond.

He took the seat beside me and held out a glass. “Would you like a drink?”

“No, thank you. I’m not much of a drinker.” I responded.

“G
ood to know.”

Even the way his words rolled off of his tongue was sexual. He could be talking about politics or something equally
as boring and still get your panties wet.

“Y
ou mentioned a proposition earlier?” I asked.

I hadn’t even thought about the fact
he might be asking me to stay behind so he could rape and kill me. Desperation erases your mind of all fear, apparently. Then again, was it considered rape, if the other party is willing and ready?

Shaking my train of thought
, I tried to focus.
Willing and ready?
Did I really just think that?

“Yes.” He turned toward me and the side of his mouth lifted
, drawing my attention to his perfectly sculpted lips and the hint of a dimple that begged him to smile bigger. I wanted to finger it. I also wanted to run my fingers though his thick hair. “I’d like to buy you.”

And just like that,
my new found sexual fantasies went up in smoke. Surely I’d heard him wrong. I really needed to get out of my head and pay attention. I’d been around men before. What the heck was wrong with me?

“Excuse m
-me?” I stuttered.

“I said, I’d like to buy you,” he repeated.

I sat and gawked at him, positive he’d lost his marbles. For the life of me, I couldn’t speak. Part of me was mad at Trish for not telling me her boss was a total head case.

“I’ve shocked you. Okay let me finish.
I find you extremely attractive. If I was a man who enjoyed being in a relationship, I’d ask you to go on a date with me, but I’m not that kind of man.”

“I don’t like complications of any form, and I find that when emotions get involved
, things become problematic. So, I’d prefer to have the sex, without the relationship. Your company, without the hassle.”

I
looked around the room to find a hidden camera somewhere. This wasn’t actually happening to me for real. At any moment, a show host would pop out and the joke would be on me. But there were no cameras, and there was no host to relieve me from the awkward situation.

“Here’s what I’m offering you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black book. “I’ll put your number in my book
, and when I want you, I’ll call you.” He leaned in close and I could smell his cologne. It smelled like hot sex, and spice. At least, what I imagined hot sex smelled like. “And when I call you, you’ll come, in more ways than one. I promise, beautiful girl, it will be mutually pleasurable for both of us.”

My mouth dropped open and with a single finger
to my chin, he closed it.

“I only have two rules.
” I stiffened when he ran that same finger down the top of my breast that I had foolishly exposed for him earlier tonight. “Don’t ever deny me. And don’t fall in love. As I said before, emotions are messy and I’d prefer not to get involved.” He tucked his book back into his pocket. “If you break either of those rules, I’ll remove you from my book and payment stops.”

When I
found my voice again, I spoke. “Payment? You want to
pay
me for sex?” I sounded as shocked as I felt.

“Not just for sex,
your company as well, but that will be on my terms. And yes, at some point, I’m going to want to fuck you.”

He lifted his drink to
his lips, while keeping his eyes trained on mine. His throat worked up and down, swallowing the remnants of his glass. Then, there was his dimpled smile once more. “So what say you, Jessica? I can make it worth your while.” A single brow lifted in emphasis.

Oh
, I had no doubt in my mind he could “make it worth my while,” but hell would freeze over and the devil himself would ice skate on it, before I sold my virginity to him. I mean, for the love of all that’s holy, he
was
attractive... But I just couldn’t. It wasn’t in me to sell my body to some stranger, regardless of the amount of money.

I lifted my head
, even though I wanted to hang it low and disappear. I knew for sure I was walking out of the club without a job, which meant things were about to get a lot worse.