Chapter 30
Dream On
Once he swipes us in, I take off toward the VIP lounge, knowing I need to get my hair and make-up done as soon as possible.
I feel so bad I’m late. I’m never late. It’s a thing with me I can’t stand, but Jagger rotted my brain and for the night made me forget I had responsibilities.
Made me forget why I’m here in the first place.
Asher catches up with me, taking my hand so I can’t keep moving forward. “You’re not dancing tonight, princess?”
“What, why?” I pull out of his hold, still pissed at him for going along with Jagger and agreeing that I can’t go into the private suites anymore.
I had already decided on my own that it wasn’t something I wanted to do again.
Especially now that things are getting complicated with them.
I didn’t need him to be all controlling about it.
He’s such a contradiction. I mean, who even knows what the hell he’s up to in his club tonight.
Probably all sorts of depraved things he can’t do with me.
He wouldn’t stop if I demanded him to, so why should I have to?
“Sloane wants to see you in her office,” Asher explains, his expression slightly guilty.
My stomach churns instantly. Jagger promised me he had this sorted. “Is she going to fire me for being so late? It was Jagger’s fault,” I whimper, seeing my plans for the future disappear before my very eyes.
He laughs light-heartedly. “She’s not going to fire you, she just wants to talk to you about something.”
“What?” I ask, my voice filled with uncertainty.
“Let’s go find out.” He smiles all cheekily like he knows but he’s not going to tell me.
I sigh heavily. I really can’t afford to miss my shift tonight, but I won’t say no to Sloane either. “Can I go change first?”
“Worried about having a meeting with the boss with no panties on?” He grins way too cheekily.
I stare back at him. How the hell can he tell?
“I’m not having this conversation with you.
” He takes a step closer to me, but I hold my hand up to stop him.
“Just tell Sloane I will be five minutes.” I take off in the direction of the dressing rooms as fast as I can, but I can feel him still behind me, his eyes on me as I walk.
He’s taking Jagger’s words seriously and really is going to follow me around all night. Great.
When I make it to the rooms, I go straight for my locker and pull out the change of clothes I had stashed in there.
I slip on some panties and a fresh dress, then spray myself with some perfume so I don’t smell like sex, then tie my hair up in a low ponytail, trying to make myself look half presentable before I have to face Sloane and probably beg her not to fire me.
Becky catches my eye. She moves over beside me, leaning into the locker. “What is going on with you and Asher, girl? Don’t hold out on me.”
“Sorry, Becky, I don’t have time to chat, got a meeting with the boss.”
She raises a perfect eyebrow. “You better fill me in later. That boy sulked around like a lost little puppy after you left with his brother. The other girls said they had never seen him like it before, not with anyone. He’s got it bad for you, girl.
Like real bad. You know the chick who works behind the bar, Myriah, she even said she hopes you give him a taste of his own medicine, you know, leave him with a broken heart when you go back to Italy so he knows what it feels like. ”
I blink back at her, trying to process what on earth she’s telling me. “That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” I ask, shocked they were all talking about us after I left.
She shrugs. “From what I hear, he charms them into bed and then leaves them broken when he’s done having his fun. They all fall in love with him. Some of the other girls who work here have even had to skip town they are so broken. I guess I’m just saying, be careful.”
“Don’t worry about me, Becky, I don’t plan on falling in love with Asher.
” I slam my locker closed, even more irritated than I was when I walked in here.
Today can kiss my ass. I storm back for the door, done with that conversation and whatever that was Becky was trying to do.
Cause trouble for me? I’m not sure, but the girl sure is a gossip.
I find Asher leaning against the adjacent wall. His eyes run down my body leisurely, then he wolf whistles at me, looking all damn sexy while he does. Yeah, he’s trouble. That much is definitely true.
I slide right past him, trying not to let him get under my skin, even though I know it’s already too late. I hope he has it bad for me, because I can’t help the way my heart thumps and my lady parts thrum when he’s around.
He hurries to catch up with me again, leaning in closer. “The meeting would have been more fun if you had no panties on. For me, anyway,” he says, way too flirtatiously.
Oh God, he can’t say shit like that to me.
Now I’m imagining my meeting with his hand up my skirt.
My cheeks flush. “Well, I’m glad I changed then.
I need a barrier of protection from you,” I snip, knowing I sound way too bitchy, but something in what Becky just said has gotten to me.
I won’t be that girl who falls in love with Asher and leaves town with a broken heart.
I can’t be. So I have to keep him at a distance.
It’s harder now that I have already screwed him and my body knows how damn good it is, but I have to try.
He looks wounded, and I feel bad instantly.
How is it this big bad biker can give me one little sad look and I want to fall at his feet and give him everything I know he wants, even if it’s dangerous for me?
It’s his charm, his way of manipulating women—he’s just way too good at it.
“Maybe you will hate me less after this meeting.” He flicks his card on the lock to let us into Sloane’s office.
“I doubt it,” I say just to dig the knife in a little deeper. Yeah, that’s it, Daisy, you can keep this up. Just be immune to his charm. Easy.
Cruz is sitting on the jade-green velvet sofa, his boots propped up on the coffee table and a menacing grin twisting his lips, while Sloane is perched in the armchair drinking a juice. She waves us in when she sees it’s us.
“What are you doing here?” I snap at Cruz, the churning in my stomach intensifying. If he’s here as well, then what is this? An intervention? Have they talked their sister into firing me so they can keep me locked up in their apartment?
Cruz stands and moves across the room to kiss my cheek. “Nice to see you as well, little darlin’. So glad you could finally join us.” His lips lower to my ear. “Where the fuck have you been?” he growls, his voice low so only I can hear.
I don’t answer him. I can’t. I’m way too on edge to deal with him right now. I glance at Sloane, hoping to find some idea of what I’m walking into. “What’s going on?” I ask nervously.
“Don’t look so worried, Daisy, come and take a seat.” She smiles at me, looking relaxed and not like she’s about to fire me.
I sit tentatively. Cruz crashes down beside me, plonking his feet up on the coffee table again. He’s so close his jeans press into the side of my leg, and I know that’s what he wants, to make sure I know he’s here.
Asher comes to my other side, the two of them trapping me between them. What we must look like to Sloane. I try to block the thought from my head, even though I see the way she assesses us, that smirk like she knows way too much.
“I had a chat with Jagger this morning, and he tells me you’re only able to stay in the country for three months on your tourist visa, is that right?” she asks.
“Yes,” I respond, wondering where she’s going with this and why Jagger was talking to her about what I told him in private.
She nods. “Do you want to stay longer?”
“I would love to if it were possible, but it’s not.”
Asher’s hand settles on my thigh, and he brushes his fingers lightly over my bare skin. “There is always a workaround, little princess. Sometimes you just have to know the right people to make it happen,” he says, sounding way too excited for my liking.
I keep my focus on Sloane. “What are you talking about?”
“We did a little research this morning, and I think you’re going to like what Cruz came up with.”
I glance at him, and he smiles like a Cheshire cat. “You want to dance, right?” he asks, already knowing the answer.
I sigh heavily. “Not this again Cruz, I’m not quitting my job here.”
“You won’t have to, Daisy,” Sloane cuts in, a look of determination in her eyes I don’t quite understand.
It’s then I panic because I think I know where they’re going with this by Cruz’s crazy happy expression.
“I’m not marrying one of these assholes.
” I don’t know where it comes from, maybe the way the boys are both grinning at me or just the tension in the air.
Or the fact that my family has only ever seen me as useful as someone’s wife, nothing more.
Sloane bursts out laughing, slapping her thigh as she loses it. “I wouldn’t either,” she agrees.
Asher looks wounded for the second time today, and I really hope that wasn’t their grand idea. “Harsh, princess.”
Cruz rests his arm on my shoulder, kissing my cheek as if totally unaffected by my insult toward him or his sister sitting right across from us. “You know you want to take my last name, baby.”
Sloane collects a cushion and tosses it in his direction.
“Stop playing around, you’re scaring her.
No girl wants your last name,” she teases.
“Cruz found something better. There is a college just one town over that has a performing arts academy. They take mature-age students, and we might just be able to get you an F-1 student visa so you can stay in the country. You can keep working for me if you want, but it will just have to be on the down-low, as the visa doesn’t let you work here. ”
My mouth pops open, and I gape back at her. I think I’m in shock. I thought I was too old to ever study dance. I had given up on this dream the day I was forced to marry Valentine. Could this really be a possibility?
“You don’t need to work at all, little darlin’. We will cover all your living expenses,” Cruz adds, making me glare at him. “What? We will.”
“I don’t need you covering anything for me,” I say, a little bitchier than I should since he was the genius who came up with this plan. But I need to make it crystal clear right now, I don’t want to owe any of them anything.
Asher’s hand brushes over my thigh, bringing my attention to him. “What do you think, little princess? Is this what you want?” His eyes are filled with hope in a way that makes me not want to disappoint him.
“I want to dance.”
“Then I’m a genius.” Cruz laughs.
I nibble my bottom lip, a small slither of excitement seeping under my skin. “Isn’t there a full enrolment process? I will need references from past dance schools and proof of prior education. I don’t have any of that.”
“Normally yes, but we know someone who will vouch for you and, luckily for you, she’s a good friend of one of the founding members of the school.
They’re taking enrolments now for next semester.
You will have to perform an audition to prove you can dance, but we all know you will ace that.
” Sloane grins, her pretty face lighting up with excitement for me.
My heart kicks up a beat at the possibilities this could open up for me. I know I told Cruz to stay out of it, and part of me is annoyed he didn’t listen to me. The other part wants to throw my arms around him and kiss his stupid face because this could change my life.
“I’ll take that smile as a yes.” Sloane grins back at me.
“What do I have to do?” I almost squeal with excitement as the reality of what they are all telling me sinks in.
“Paige is next door; she has three hours this afternoon to help you choreograph your routine for the audition. You have a month to perfect it, but you will need to fill in the paperwork today before applications close, so when you’re done with her class, come back here and I will help you.”
“You also owe me a kiss for working it out.” Cruz grins at me, motioning with his finger for me to come closer.
I kiss him quickly, jumping up, all excited to get started with Paige.
Before I take off for the door, I turn back to them all.
“Thank you so much for this, you don’t know what it means to me.
” I take off before I cry in front of them.
This is a dream come true, and I know I haven’t made it into the school yet, but it’s a chance, an opportunity I never would have had if I hadn’t come here and met them all.
I have to give it my all, because this could change the trajectory of my life.