Read Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2) Online

Authors: Katharine Sadler

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Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2)

BOOK: Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2)
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Pink Princess Fairytini

Fairy Files Book II

 

By

Katharine Sadler

 

 

 

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 by Katharine Sadler

All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

Some things you shouldn’t have to fight for
. – Chloe Frangipani

 

I have fought for everything I have
. –Althea Frangipani

 

 

I studied the man seated across from me in my small, hot office. I had the fan running, but the air conditioner was on the fritz again. We needed a new one, but the club couldn’t afford it. I wiped a rivulet of sweat from my temple and smiled at the latest candidate for a job at my martini bar, Ephemeral. After a string of fae applicants, only two of whom had actually worked out – why the gatekeeper had ever thought a dryad who preferred trees to people would have been a good pick, was beyond me – this guy appeared to be human. He was handsome enough in a too pretty to get his hands dirty kind of way, and he had an arrogance that usually spelled trouble for a fantasy provider in my club. Unfortunately, we were understaffed and with the hours I’d been forced to put in, training with my mother’s fighting instructor and with Vin who was teaching me to be a figurehead for a fae rebellion, I just didn’t have the time to fill in like I used to.

“What do you know about Ephemeral?” I asked my standard interview question and sent up a little prayer that the AC repairman would get us some cool air before we opened.

“Just that your club is really popular with the ladies, and you have an unusually good-looking staff.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was liars, or anyone who treated me like I was some delicate flower who couldn’t handle the truth. I wasn’t sure, yet, what category…I looked down at his resume to remind myself of his name, the heat was boiling my brain…Neil fell into. “You’ve been driving cab in Sarsaparilla for two years and that’s all you’ve heard about my club?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve heard you’ve had some great talent. A buddy of mine said he got his start here, and now he’s an actor in Hollywood.”

“Arnie Woods?” I’d only had one employee go on to Hollywood, but he wasn’t an actor, he was a make-up artist.

Neil shook his head. “No, Reggie Carson.”

I almost dropped my head into my hands and groaned. It wasn’t my place to tell the kid his friend made adult films in Nevada. “Okay, well, that’s a rare occurrence around here. He’s the only staff member of mine who’s gone on to a career in…acting. If you want the job because you think it will be a stepping stone—”

“No.” He widened his eyes, as though he was shocked by the accusation. “No. I just want a job in a club and yours seems like a good one.”

“Because you get to fuck the patrons?” I was intentionally crude to get a rise out of him. Shocking the hell out of someone is a good way to discover their true colors.

“No.” His cheeks pinked, but he didn’t meet my eyes. Strike two.

“Above all else, I expect honesty from my employees, Neil. I need you to tell me the truth. Is it your dream to be a prostitute in my club?”

His face paled and I knew I’d pushed a button. How he reacted could determine whether or not he’d be a good fit for Ephemeral. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I hadn’t really thought of it that way.”

I raised my eyebrows. He hadn’t thought of it that way? Having sex for money was having sex for money, but apparently in his mind only women could be prostitutes. The double standard for women when it came to sex was infuriating, but Neil’s allegiance to it didn’t make him a bad person, just an idiot.

“It’s just…” He sighed. “Look, I wouldn’t be opposed to having sex if the job required it, but mostly I’d like to help people. My best friend’s sister came here after a bad break-up and her girlfriends chipped in to get her a couple of hours in one of your back rooms. She told him it was the best night of her life and made her realize that she should expect more from the men she dates. She’s actually stopped dating losers. If I can do that for women, I think that would be more gratifying than driving cab.”

“That’s sweet,” I said, not hiding my sarcasm. “And you think a night of great sex changed her outlook on men?”

He looked confused, and I almost laughed aloud. “Um, yeah.”

“I don’t know what kind of sex you’ve been having, but the physical act alone is rarely life-changing, especially not sex with a stranger. My staff never, ever sleep with my patrons. If they do, they get fired. Do you understand?”

He nodded, and he didn’t look as disappointed as I’d expected. Point to him.

“What my staff does is listen. We study our patrons and listen to what they say. We tell them what they need to hear, we show them with our words and our actions that they are beautiful and deserving of attention and kind treatment. It’s weird how a stranger’s words can make such an impact, but your sister’s story is just one of many I’ve heard of women discovering a new-found confidence after visiting our club.”

He hesitated for just a moment. “I…I can do that.”

“Great,” I said, though I had little confidence that he would last as a fantasy provider. He had the looks, but I didn’t trust that his heart was in the right place, and our patrons could sniff out insincerity like bloodhounds. “When can you start? I’ll want you to train for two days before I put you on the schedule.”

“I can start today.”

I didn’t usually start people immediately, but it was Monday and it would be best to start him on a slower night when someone could take the time to train him. We were normally closed on Mondays, but I’d decided to celebrate October fest with extended hours all month. “That’s perfect.” I rose from my desk, not missing the way his eyes scanned my body. Such behavior, especially when he didn’t try to hide his assessing gaze was disrespectful. He would certainly never treat a male boss that way. I should have been angry, but if I got angry every time some guy disrespected me or treated me like a piece of meat, I’d be too angry to do anything but rage. Instead, I ignored his eyes, and marked him down another point in my mental tally. Checking out the boss definitely went in the con category. “Come with me and we’ll find someone to train you. Since you’ve never waited tables before, we’ll start you out as a busboy. You can prove yourself there.”

He frowned as he rose. “What can I prove? That I know how to pick up and carry dirty dishes?”

Tick, sassing his potential boss, another point lost. “Every single member of my staff is expected to make my patrons feel good. Your job is to support the wait staff by picking up the slack when they need to spend extra time with a patron. That will mean you often interact with the patrons just as much as the waiters and waitresses. You will learn all of this in your training tonight.” I made a mental review of who was working. “You’ll be shadowing Shelly. She’s been bussing tables with us for eight months and is ready to move up to a waitress position as soon as you’re trained to take over from her.” Plus, Shelly wouldn’t put up with his shit, and she’d be able to see, in one night, whether he had what it took to be a fantasy provider. She was almost as good at reading people as I was.

“Eight months?” He didn’t bother trying to hide the sneer in his voice.

“This way.” I ignored his words and led him downstairs. The club wasn’t packed, but most of the tables were filled and Pierson was slinging drinks at a pace that meant we’d make a profit. Pierson’s easy smile and confidence drew people to him as handily as his good looks. His chiseled features and styled hair made him almost too good-looking but the angry, red scar under his eye somehow made him even more attractive, more human and more approachable. A flaw to highlight his beauty. I handed Neil over to Shelly and headed toward Pierson when he waved me over. I saw our frequent police visitor as soon as I got close to the bar.

“Chloe, there’s an Officer Harvey here to see you,” Pierson said.

“Officer Harvey?” I said, scanning the bar area like I didn’t see the man in question right in front of me. Pierson and I enjoyed our little games.

“Jesus,” Harvey said. “Don’t you two ever get tired of this shtick?”

I smiled at Harvey. “Oh, there you are Officer.”

He didn’t smile back, but I saw his lips twitch. He looked good, sitting there, all rugged muscle and laugh lines. “Glad I’m so noticeable.” He stood and stepped close to me, so close that I could feel his warm breath on my neck. I held back a shiver and met his intense gaze. “We need to talk somewhere quiet.”

I led him up to my office, wondering if his eyes were on my ass, and sort of hoping they were. I knew Harvey respected me and my authority, so I didn’t mind if he also appreciated my body. “What’s up?” I asked, taking a seat behind my desk. Harvey sat where Neil had been sitting just moments before, and I couldn’t help but compare the two men. Where Neil had been pretty Harvey was rugged and rough, his body chiseled and muscled, his face hard, until he smiled and his green eyes lit up. Where Neil had been empty arrogance, Harvey was cool confidence, a man with nothing to prove. I’d always been drawn to him, but that day the pull felt magnetic. Maybe it was because I was living with Knuffington and Sapphire, who couldn’t keep their hands off each other and weren’t very quiet in their bedroom, or maybe it was because I hung out too much with Vin who was blissfully in love with Mercury. Maybe it had to do with the unfamiliar pangs of loneliness I’d had on occasion or the rare moments when I’d wished for someone to look at me the way Knuffington looked at Sapphire. Maybe it was a combination of all those things, but acknowledging any of them would be to admit I’d changed and I hadn’t. I was still the same fun-loving faun fairy who didn’t believe in true love or happily ever afters.

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t stop staring at his lips and imagining how they would feel, how he would taste. I shook my head to shake free those thoughts and noticed his lips curl up slightly, like he knew what I was thinking.

“You look…frustrated,” he said, his voice husky and full of innuendo. “Anything I can help you with?”

“No,” I said, too fast. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

He frowned and slid a folder across my desk. I opened it and saw one of my fantasy providers, one of the better ones, in bed with a much older woman. “Why are you showing me pictures of one of my employees having sex?” I asked. “Have you developed a taste for voyeurism?”

His eyes heated. “Only if it’s you I’m watching.” He swallowed hard, like his thoughts were also going places he hadn’t meant for them to go. “He’s in bed with the mayor’s wife.”

Those words were like an ice-cold shower to my libido. “Shit. Damn. Fuck. I don’t suppose the mayor hasn’t seen these, yet.”

He shook his head. “He got them from a Private investigator and brought them to us. He wants to press charges against your club for prostitution.”

“Can he do that?” I asked, my heart beating too hard. “This didn’t happen in my club, and I can’t control what happens outside it.”

“Yeah, that’s what’s saving your bacon. He claims his wife met your guy and arranged to have sex for money at Ephemeral, but he can’t prove it. He also can’t prove you were aware of the negotiation.”

“So why aren’t you questioning me? Why just show me the pictures?”

“I know you aren’t a fucking pimp, and I’m not going to treat you like a criminal just because one of your guys can’t keep his dick in his pants.”

Harvey’s faith in me and his willingness to risk his job to help me, warmed me in a whole different way. “I’ll talk to him.”

“You need to do more than that, Chloe. We’re going to have to bring him in for questioning and if we can prove he took money to sleep with the mayor’s wife, it will reflect on you. You need to fire him.”

I hated that he was right. Dale wasn’t a bad guy, he was sensitive and kind and, if I had my guess, he’d been led on by the mayor’s wife. If he took money from her, he had to be thinking it was the right thing to do to help her in some weird, stupid way. At the end of the day, though, it didn’t matter why he did what he did, he’d broken one of my cardinal rules. The mayor’s wife was a patron, a patron he served, and he’d gotten romantic with her. This lawsuit was exactly why that rule was so important. “Okay, I’ll fire him tonight.”

He nodded and stood. “I doubt anyone will ask, but if they do, I interrogated you and put the fear of god into you.”

“Got it. You terrified me into submission.” I stood and walked him to the door. It was only a few steps, but it was the least I could do after what he’d done for me. “Thank you.”

He spun to face me, leaning one shoulder into the door, his face inches from mine. I could have backed away, but I didn’t want to. “You don’t have to thank me,” he said. “You don’t ever have to thank me. I would do that and more for you, if you’d let me.”

“More? What more could you do?”

He gripped my waist, his thumbs rubbing my hip bones where they rose above my low-rise jeans. “You could let me take you out.” He asked me the same question he’d asked every time he’d seen me for the last two years. Every time he’d asked, I’d said no.

BOOK: Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2)
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