Teased (The VIP Room, #1) (4 page)

Vida searched through the appointment book.
“I have an opening in twenty minutes if you want to wait?”

“
Sounds good.”

“
What’s your name?”

“
Seth Redman.” Vida wrote his name
down in the appointment book.

Giving her a friendly grin, he leaned on the
counter. “You into computers?” he asked, motioning toward her
laptop.

“
Yes, I’m almost finished with my
degree in computer science,” Vida replied.

“
I do I.T. for the local
hospital.”

“
That sounds interesting.” Vida
thought any job out in the workforce sounded interesting. She was
tired of schoolwork and was eager to put what she had learned in
school to use.

He made a face. “Nope, boring as hell.
Wanted to design computer games, but those jobs are hard to come
by, and I like to eat and get tattoos. Both cost money.”

Vida laughed.

“
I’m working on a game app. I don’t
suppose you have any free time to help me out with a few glitches?”
Vida studied his face, seeing his hesitance in asking. He seemed
like an awkwardly sweet guy. It was a nice change from her morose
roommate.

“
I think it sounds like fun, but I’m
afraid I don’t have much free time.” Vida tore a piece of paper
from her notebook and wrote down her phone number. Before she could
change her mind, she handed it to him. As she handed Seth her
number, Colton walked into the room with his eyes going straight to
the slip of paper.

“
He’s waiting for either you or
Reverend to give him a tattoo,” Vida told him.

Colton nodded. “Have you decided what tattoo
you want?”

Seth reached into his pocket, pulling out a
piece of paper and handing it to Colton. They left the room,
talking about the design. Vida returned to studying, relieved to
have the lobby to herself once again.

Several more clients came in and Vida wrote
down their names to work them into a rotation with the tattoo
artists. Tessa came out once, taking a client that wanted a tattoo
of a rose. She ignored Vida, merely checking off her name next to
the client.

It didn’t bother Vida that Tessa was being
rude to her. It was obvious Tessa and Colton had a history as well
as that her presence obviously had been sprung on Tessa without any
warning or explanation.

Vida had no intention of becoming friendly
with Colton. Maybe when Tessa realized she had no intentions
towards him, her frosty demeanor would thaw.

Her mother had shown her the futility of
trying to have a relationship with a man like Colton. The
relationship would be intense at first then gradually his attention
would wander to other available women. Vida wondered if that was
what had happened between the two of them.

Vida stared blindly out the window, missing
Sawyer, wishing she could call her and complain about everyone
being assholes to her for no reason. It wasn’t the first time in
her life she had to adjust to losing a friend. She only hoped that
she would be able to help Sawyer, unlike Callie.

She swallowed down the lump in her throat at
the thought of Callie, relieved when a man covered in tattoos
appeared from the back of the shop to divert her thoughts. When he
leaned against the counter with a flirtatious smile on his
good-looking face, Vida couldn’t help but to return the smile he
was throwing her way.

“
Who are you, sweet thing?” He
crooned.

Vida blushed at his accomplished flirting.
“I’m Vida.”

“
I’m Reverend, but you can call me
Rev,” he said with soulful, chocolate eyes. “Where did you come
from?”

“
Colton hired me temporarily.” Vida
wasn’t quite sure how to explain her presence behind the counter,
so she stuck with the same explanation that Colton had given
Tessa.

Rev’s smile widened. “I was looking forward
to having Colton back. Now I have him to thank for the prettiest
woman to walk through that door in a while.”

Tessa slammed a folder down in front of
Vida, causing her to jump unexpectedly. She hadn’t even been aware
the woman had entered the room.

“
Don’t you have a client waiting?” she
asked Reverend snidely, motioning to the man sitting quietly in the
waiting room.

“
Nope, he’s all yours. I’m waiting on
an appointment, and Colton is finishing up with his
client.”

Vida watched Tessa’s lips tighten before she
motioned to the waiting man to follow her into the back.

“
It gets better and better. Anyone
that pisses off that bitch is a friend of mine.”

Vida hid her smile. Truthfully, Tessa’s
attitude didn’t bother her. She had dealt with women with far worse
attitudes than hers.

Rev’s client came in and with a wave, he
escorted him to his room. After that, the rest of the day passed
quickly. Colton barely paid any attention to her as he came out for
his clients, which meant that, other than Tessa’s unfriendly
attitude, it hadn’t been a bad experience.

Vida yawned, closing her book and turning
off her computer. Her eyes were burning with tiredness. The late
nights at the club and the hours of studying were beginning to wear
her down. Tonight was her off night from the club and she simply
wanted to sink into the soft couch at Colton’s apartment and catch
up on her sleep.

Colton came into the room, carrying an extra
helmet. “You ready?”

Vida nodded, putting her books and laptop
into her backpack before rising to follow him out the door.
Outside, he handed her the helmet before climbing on. Vida put on
the helmet then shrugged into her backpack. Scrambling onto the
bike, she gripped Colton’s waist as he started the motor and pulled
out of the parking lot.

As they entered the door to the apartment,
Vida couldn’t help eyeing the couch longingly.

“
You know how to cook?” Vida was about
to sit down on the couch when his question stopped her.

“
A little,” Vida confessed
reluctantly.

“
Good, find us something to eat while
I grab a shower.” He walked away before she could tell him she
wasn’t hungry.

Her shoulders slumped as she took off her
backpack then headed into the kitchen to find them something to
eat. Colton didn’t look back, going to his room to shower. It made
Vida seriously tempted to stick out her tongue at his
departure.

She opened the cabinets, searching through
the contents before going to the refrigerator to see what was
inside. Vida came to a decision quickly, opening a can of soup and
making them a couple of sandwiches once she saw the bread on the
counter.

She was pouring the soup into bowls when
Colton returned to the small kitchen. “Smells good,” he
complimented.

“
It’s just sandwiches and soup.” Vida
hadn’t lied; she wasn’t much of a cook. She had never had an
overabundance of food, and when money was scarce, you tended to buy
only the basics.

Colton picked up his bowl and sandwich,
carrying them to the table before going to the refrigerator to grab
himself a beer.

“
What do you want to drink?” He
paused, waiting for her answer.

“
A bottled water, thanks,” Vida said
as he put the bottle on the table. Reluctantly, Vida carried her
food to the table, sitting down across from him. They ate quietly;
Vida thinking about her classes for the next day while also trying
to divert herself from thoughts of having to work at the strip
club.

“
Do you work tonight?” Vida’s eyes
rose from her half eaten sandwich.

“
No, I’m off tonight. I work tomorrow
from eight until two.”

Colton took a drink of his beer, studying
the young woman. He’d noticed the shadows in her clear green eyes
when he had mentioned work. He had already begun to be aware that
she was embarrassed to be working at the club. She blushed bright
red anytime it was mentioned.

“
How long have you been working for
King?”

“
A couple of weeks.” Colton noticed
her fingers begin to play with the soup spoon.

He attempted to mind his own business,
however he couldn’t prevent himself from speaking. “You could get
out of town until King gets your friend back...”

Vida was already shaking her head. “I can’t
leave knowing Sawyer is in trouble and I could have helped her. I
won’t bury another friend of mine.” She got up from the table and
took their dishes to the sink. She found a sandwich bag in one of
the drawers, placed her half eaten sandwich inside and then put it
in the refrigerator.

“
What are you doing?”

Looking at Colton, she saw his incredulous
eyes on her. Not knowing what he meant, she paused. “What?”

“
Why did you save that sandwich when
there were only a couple of bites left?”

“
I don’t like to waste food. Later,
when I get hungry, I’ll finish it.” Vida refused to be embarrassed
about not wasting food.

“
You could also have made yourself
another one,” Colton said through gritted teeth. “I think I can
afford to feed you a couple of sandwiches. I might not have a lot
of groceries, but I haven’t been to the store myself. What food is
in the cabinets was just put in there so I would have enough until
I went to the grocery store myself.”

Vida stared at him uncomprehending. “Why do
you need to go to the store? Your cabinets and refrigerator are
full.”

Colton stopped what he had been about to say
when realization hit him. Turning away, he took a long drink of his
beer. Telling himself over and over in his mind he needed to mind
his own fucking business. The more he learned about Vida, the more
he would draw closer to her and he had no intentions of that
happening.

She was too young, too sweet and in too much
fucking trouble. Her mother would turn over in her grave to see the
predicament that Vida was in. She had worked her ass off to make
sure Vida didn’t end up in the same situation as her, determined
for a better life for her child.

Colton had known Goldie, hell, he had even
partied with her a couple times after her sets, but they had only
been friends. Even though she was a beautiful woman, the desire for
her just hadn’t been there, probably because she was so nice.

Dumb fuck that he was, he had always
preferred women with a bitchy temperament. It had been his
downfall, too; there was no bigger bitch than Tessa. He had also
been well aware Goldie had a kid at home. He had damn sure not
wanted to become entangled in a relationship where anything might
be expected of him.

Colton had always been about covering his
own ass. He had even thought that his relationship with Tessa had
been under his control. The sneaky bitch had proven him wrong and
the three-year prison term he had just finished proved he needed to
take what he wanted from women and leave the emotional crap out of
it.

The doorbell rang as Colton watched Vida
wash the dishes. Glancing at his watch, it was exactly eight
o’clock. She was right on time.

Vida paused in her chore of washing the
dishes as Colton answered the door. A pretty, curvy blond entered
the room as he held open the door. Then a loud squeal filled the
room as the blond flung herself into Colton’s arms.

“
Colton, I missed you so bad.” Vida
couldn’t help watching as the woman jumped up with the aid of
Colton’s hands on her ass to wrap her legs around his waist.
Burying her hands in his long hair, the woman jerked his head down
to give him a voracious kiss.

They kissed for several minutes before
Colton pulled his head back. “It’s good to see you again, too,
Tracy.” The woman turned towards the sound of the running water
and, seeing Vida by the sink, surprise lit her eyes.

“
You didn’t tell me when you called it
was going to be a party.” Tracy’s eyes glided over Vida’s body and
had her taking a step back. “I’m glad to see prison didn’t dampen
the fire in that cock of yours.”

Laughing, Colton playfully smacked her ass
while she was still wrapped around his waist. “No party, it’s just
the two of us. Go on in the bedroom, I’ll be there in a
minute.”

Vida tried to appear inconspicuous as
Tracy’s legs loosened from around his waist and, giving her a last,
lustful look, she left Colton and Vida alone in the room
together.

Dragging a hand through his tumbled hair,
Colton appeared to hesitate a second, trying to find the
appropriate words. Vida decided to cut to the quick of the
matter.

“
It’s cool. After I finish the dishes
I’m going to sleep. I have a long day tomorrow.”

Colton’s eyes bore into her. “I would have
gone to her place, but King doesn’t think it’s safe for you to be
left alone.” It was the closest to an apology she was going to
get.

Vida shrugged. “I don’t want to disrupt your
life anymore than I have, so it’s no big deal. I had a male
roommate my freshman year in college.” Vida didn’t tell him that Ty
was gay; afterall, he had still been her roommate.

She saw the relief in his face. “Cool. We’ll
try not to bother you. See you in the morning.”

“
Goodnight.” Vida turned back to the
dishes, hearing another loud squeal when the bedroom door
opened.

She finished the dishes and wiped down
the counters before gathering her clothes to take a shower.
Ignoring the female moans from the bedroom as she entered the
bathroom, Vida turned on the shower, deciding to wash her hair
before washing her body
;
it
would briefly drown out those moans she was hearing through the
thin walls.