Dark Love (Sweet Atonement #1)

Find The Scariest Man

Dahlia

Why did I do this to myself?

Because everyone needs a job, and this one makes a difference in the world. You made it through the first week. You can do this.

Can I really? I place my headset down on my desk and log out of the system before I get another call.

Mindy leans back in her chair. “Wanna get drinks with us?”

Um. I don’t drink, but I don’t mind holding a pretty cup in my hand. Getting to know my coworkers would be a good thing. “Sure. I’d love to.”

“Good. We’re all meeting downstairs in fifteen minutes.” Mindy grabs her bag, which is almost as big as my suitcase, out of her desk and hurries away.

“Ms. Fleur, would you come to my office?” Mr. Drake stands in the doorway to his glass-walled space.

Why am I giddy about being called to his office? I hated going to the principal’s office when I was a kid, and it wasn’t like I was ever in trouble.

Because that man is sexy .

Adonis Drake’s parents picked an exceedingly fitting name for him. He’s tall, but not too tall with an athletic build, honey-brown hair, a chiseled jaw, and a lopsided smile that just emphasizes the sharp line of his jaw.

Why did I take a job where I have to work for a sexy single man that makes me want to stutter and drool? I’m skilled enough at embarrassing myself without adding those to my repertoire.

Like a gentleman, he steps back so that I can move into his office without feeling crowded by his size, and then he closes the door behind me. “Take a seat.”

I stumble into the chair across from his desk.

Does he take a seat like most bosses do? No… instead, he leans against the desk. “How are you settling in, Ms. Fleur?”

“Fine.” Brilliant answer. You’re such a wordsmith.

His laughter is deep but somehow gentle, which is probably a skill he developed during his time working here. Or is it innate? “Most people have a hard time settling into such a high-stress job, but you seem to be handling the stress well.”

“I can only do my best.”

“That’s a wonderful philosophy, but if work starts taking a toll on you, I want you to come to me before it burns you out. We want this job to be a solution, not a problem.”

“I will.” Not. There’s no way I could admit my problems to him. I’d die from embarrassment before I uttered the first word.

“Good. A bunch of us go out to dinner after shift on Fridays. We’d love it if you’d join us.”

Dinner sounds good. Way better than drinks, but I already said yes. “Mindy already invited me to join her and a few other girls to go for drinks.”

His smile fades a bit. “See, that’s great. You’re making friends already. You can join us another time.”

“I’d like that.” I smile at him and notice the clock on the wall. If I want to use the restroom before we go, I need to hurry. “Actually, we’re leaving soon… ”

“Go have fun. And enjoy your weekend.” He shoos me out of his office, and I rush to get everything done so that I’m not late.

***

Being late wasn’t something I should have worried about. They aren’t here yet, and it’s ten minutes after the time we agreed on. In five minutes, I’m leaving.

Yeah right, you’ll probably sit here all night waiting for them.

The elevator dings and out steps two women in sparkly dresses that are better suited to Las Vegas than an office building.

“Oh good, you’re ready.” One of them steps over to me.

Mindy? Is that really Mindy under all that makeup and big hair? She looks nothing like the girl in the ponytail and slacks that invited me out for drinks.

They can’t expect me to go for drinks with them when I look like this, and they look like…a blend of supermodels and Vegas dancers. “Um. I think I’m underdressed.” Though, I should think a black calf-length pencil skirt and a simple silk blouse are perfectly acceptable in almost any bar on a Friday night.

Mindy loops an arm through mine. “Don’t worry. Diane is sleeping with the bouncer.”

Bars don’t have bouncers?!? Do they? I’ve only been to one in my life.

She pulls me into the cab that’s waiting outside, and we’re off before I get up the nerve to ask anything more about where we’re going.

“Tell us all about your guy.” Mindy wedges her body into the corner of the cab so that she’s facing us rather than the road.

“Tac is the sexiest man I’ve ever met. He’s got muscles on his muscles, and all these luscious tattoos.”

What kind of name is Tac?

“Is that his street name?” Mindy asks the question I was thinking .

Diane nods. “He stepped on a tack when he was a kid and screamed down the neighborhood, and it kind of stuck. Now he has a tack tattooed on his foot to remind him to watch where he steps. Isn’t that so smart?”

Um. Does he really need a tattoo to remind him of that? Though who am I to ask, I trip over my own two feet without any assistance. If there was a tack on the floor, I’d probably end up with it in my hand or my elbow.

Diane keeps talking a mile a minute about Tac.

The cab comes to a stop long after I learned more about Tac and his numerous tattoos than I ever wanted to know.

We slide out of the car, well I semi-tumble, but manage not to land on the ground, in front of a glass and metal building with a huge line of people wrapping around it.

This doesn’t look like a bar.

“Tac.” Diane runs up to a man—he’s more like a wall of muscle than a regular man—standing next to a crimson velvet rope.

He envelopes her in his arms, lifting her up off the ground for a hug.

It seems the line won’t be an issue like Mindy said just based on the kiss he’s giving Diane now. I blush for her since she seems to have forgotten there are people all around.

A few steamy seconds later, Tac sets her down on her feet and unhooks the velvet rope. “Have fun in there.”

“We will.” Diane practically hops onto the carpet leading inside.

“That’s us.” Mindy takes my arm and pulls me along behind them.

“Wait.” Tac sets his arm down in front of me.

“Tacy Baby, she’s with me.” Diane rubs a hand across his forearm.

Tacy Baby?!? That has got to be the worst nickname I’ve ever heard.

The frown causing his forehead tattoos to wrinkle leads me to question if her technique is going to work. His eyes run up and down my body. “She’s with you?”

“Yeah, Prue is new, but she’s really nice.” She switches from a whole hand to a single finger and a pout. It seems she’s pulling out the big guns for me .

“She works with you?”

“Yeah, Tacy Baby. She’s a sweetheart.”

“Fine. But don’t let her get in trouble.” He lifts his arm with a glare at me.

Do I really look like the type to get in trouble?

He certainly seems to think so. I should take that as a compliment…right?

Diane and Mindy pull me through the doorway into a glittery but somehow still sexy lobby. There’s a loud pounding bass coming through the thick doors in front of us. This doesn’t look or sound like any bar I’ve been to before.

“Ready?” Mindy almost shouts.

Why do I need to be ready to get drin—

Diane pulls the door open, and a wall of noise practically knocks me over. If they both hadn’t been holding on to me, I’d be on the ground staring up at the world, looking as stupefied as I feel.

This isn’t a bar!

They brought me to a club!?! I wore a pencil skirt and flats to a club.

I, Dahlia Prudence Fleur, am in a club for the very first time in my longish life, and I’m wearing a pencil skirt.

“The new girl gets the shots!” Diane screams over the noise pollution. This screeching and banging can hardly be considered music.

“You heard her. Go buy us some shots while we find a table.” Mindy pushes me towards the massive bar at the side of the room.

Shots? I need to buy shots. “Okay.” How do you buy shots? It can’t be that hard because people seem to be getting them without an issue.

You can do this. You can go to a club. And buy shots. You can be one of the cool kids at work.

Why didn’t I go to dinner with Adonis and everyone else?

People strangely seem to move out of my way as I walk right up to the bar. Were those people not waiting for drinks? Why did they move out of my way?

Don’t ask questions. Just get your shots and find your friends before your head explodes .

“What can I get you?” A pretty blonde woman in a black tee shirt and slacks stops across from me at the bar.

“Shots. I’d like two shots, please.”

“What kind of shots?” She seems to be doing seven things while trying to get my order.

“Um… Drink shots?”

The woman freezes and actually looks at me for the first time. “You’re new around here.”

That’s pretty obvious. I nod.

“Have you ever had a shot?”

“I don’t drink. I’m just ordering them for my friends.”

“You’re at a club for the first time, and you don’t drink, but you want to buy shots for your friends.”

“Yeah.” I shrug. “It’s my first week on the job and they invited me.”

“Ahhh,” she says that like any of my life makes sense right now. “Do you want a drink to hold on to while they’re drinking so they don’t pressure you to take a shot?”

They’d do that? Based on the bartender’s serious face, I guess they would. “Yes, please.”

“The shots and one virgin drink coming right up.” She gives me a reassuring smile and hurries away.

I guess now I wait. There’s enough to look at that I’d never get bored. People move in a current around me, kind of like the ocean moving around a boulder.

“Well, hello there. What’s a pretty little thing like you doing here?” The man slurs his words as he pushes up to the bar next to me, earning nasty looks from the couple that was standing there.

What do I do? I certainly don’t want to engage in a conversation with him. I pretend to look away and hope he’ll forget I’m even here. There’s so much chaos around it’s not hard to focus on a couple that is currently making out in the middle of the dance floor. Is that really allowed in here? It can’t be legal .

Two men wearing t-shirts that proclaim them as bouncers converge on the couple before they can take their little exhibition to an X-rated level.

“That sure is a pretty skirt you’re wearing.”

The scent of alcohol and rotting flesh wafts over my face as those words are whispered in my ear.

A normal person would jump and scream, but I freeze up.

“But it would look better in a puddle on the floor of my bedroom.”

Does he really think women want to hear things like that? He’s obviously not thinking about anything. “Um. Thank you for the kind offer, but I’m here with my friends.” Hopefully, that’s enough to get him to go away.

“Ditch them and we can have some fun.” The vile man moves even closer.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.” There, that should be enough. He can’t mistake my intent.

“That’s okay. I like girls that play hard to get.” He runs a finger down my arm and my blood runs cold.

This guy isn’t going to take no for an answer.

What should I do?

Mindy or Diane would know exactly what to do. But there’s no way I want to lead this creep over to them.

Where is a bouncer when you need one? What would I even say… Please help me. This guy is creepy and trying to proposition me. That’s what you would say.

But there aren’t any bouncers.

What should I do?

“Are you this shy in the bedroom?”

What should I do?

My only point of reference for things like this is television and books. The woman either decks the guy—something I’m not going to do—or they find someone else to make the guy back down…

Hmm…

Someone scary enough that this creep would back down right away. I don’t want to cause a bar fight… club fight.

I scan the crowd. Who could I ask? Most guys are dancing with someone, or not scary looking at all.

Jackpot! The guy in the corner booth looks like he chews nails for fun while crushing people between his fingers. A sane person would run away from him. I’m normally a very sane and reasonable person. There’s got to be someone else.

“I can’t wait to beat the shy out of you.”

Those words scare the last shred of sanity out of me. I dash away from him winding my way through the crowd. For the first time since I stepped in here, I’m thankful for the boring ballet flats on my feet. They allow me to run like I wouldn’t be able to even in the lowest of heels.

Be a good guy.

This has got to work like it does on the television.

With grace that I’ve never felt before in my life, I slip into the booth next to a man capable of crushing bones with his bare hands. “Hello, darling.” My voice barely sounds breathless even though I’m about to hyperventilate or faint.

Fainting would be bad. Very bad!

Muscles tense as the bone crusher turns towards me. He has to help me. He just has to.

In the movies, they always kiss the guy or hug him, but there is no way I’m going to sexually assault a person to avoid being assaulted myself.

What should I do?

There’s no way the creep didn’t follow me. His eyes burned into my back the entire time I ran.

What should I do? Ask for help. Give the bone-crushing man in the beautiful suit a chance to say yes. I lean forward allowing my hair to cover my face as I whisper in his ear, “Please help me.” Three little words could save me a world of hurt.

“Come back here, you little—”

The creep is here! It’s the moment of truth .

Will the bone-crushing man save me or throw me to the wolf? I lean back to see what’s going to happen, but don’t get very far before a strong arm wraps around my shoulders.

“Mr.…Vex…Um. I didn’t…I thought…She didn’t—”

“Go now.” The bone crusher’s sharp words send the creep running.

“Thank you so much. I didn’t know what to do. I can’t believe it worked. Things on television shows never really work. It worked. I can’t believe you saved me. You saved me.” I lift my gaze up and freeze.

The glittering emerald eyes staring back at me are like none I’ve ever seen before. Do eyes naturally come in that shade of green? His pierce my soul, making me forget everything. Even the mind-numbing noise disappears.

What is he thinking as he stares back into my boring brown eyes? Mine aren’t dark enough to be considered pools of velvety chocolate or bright enough to remind you of umber stones. Dirt. My eyes resemble plain, boring old dirt, yet his gaze remains locked on mine for the longest moment.

Will he remember me, the woman he saved, after tonight? This memory will stay with me until the day I leave this world. He will stay with me.

Why does that thought settle my soul?

Because I haven’t felt this safe since the last time my father held me in his arms when I was a child. Nothing bad in the world could touch me then. And nothing bad would dare to touch me with this man watching over me. “Thank you,” I whisper the words. If I was living back home, Mom would tell me to make him cookies to show my appreciation. “What kind of cookies do you like?”

His head tips to the side. “Are you crazy?”

“Sometimes. But I think I’m the good kind of crazy.”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Oh, I figured that out the hard way.

“I have your drinks.” The friendly bartender walks up with a tray balanced on one hand. “Two white gummy bear shots. And one glass of champagne.” She sets the last glass down with a smile and a wink and then rushes away from the table .

Without a word, Bone Crusher reaches out with his free hand and lifts the ‘champagne’ glass to his lips.

Why did he do that? Did he forget to get a drink?

He sets down the glass, and his eyes move back to mine. There’s an edge in them that I don’t want to even try to understand. “Who let you into my club? My bouncers know better than to let trouble inside.”

Trouble!?! Is everyone inside this place crazy? “I am not trouble. I’ll have you know I’ve never gotten so much as a speeding ticket or detention in school. My parents never needed to ground me once.” My brother, on the other hand, got grounded every other week and suspended several times from school. “I’ve never cheated on a test or paid my taxes late. Trouble isn’t even in my vocabulary.”

Bone crusher shakes his head again. “Who let you in?”

I fold my arms across my chest. There’s no way I want him glaring at someone else. Tac seems like he can protect himself, but Bone Crusher… he’s on a completely different playing field. “I have just as much right as anyone else to be in here. After the week I’ve had, I deserve to have some fun.” Not that I’d consider any of this fun.

“What kind of week did you have?” His eyes develop a dangerous glimmer.

“It was my first week at a new job. Well, not my first week since I had to go in for training before this, but it was my first week actually work working, you know what I mean? I want my coworkers to like me, but this is a hard job with lots of burnout and people seem a little bit wacky. Nice.” I don’t want to give him the wrong impression. “But completely nutty. A few girls from work asked me to join them for drinks after work, and I thought it would be the perfect way to get to know them. But I was wrong. I should have gone with Adonis’ group to eat dinner. Dinner was safer. It doesn’t involve drunk creeps or sexy guys that can crush bones with their bare hands, but think I’m trouble, which I’m not.”

His frown turns into a small smile.

“Do you think this is funny? Because let me assure you, it isn’t.” Why did I say that to a scary— except he doesn’t feel scary to be around—guy ?

“Definitely trouble.” He nods like that makes his words facts. “Who is Adonis?”

“My boss. That’s his name, Adonis.” I tip my head to the side.

“Don’t have dinner with him.” Bone Crusher lifts up a finger in the direction of the bar.

“Why not? How else am I going to get to know my coworkers?”

“Because dating your boss is a dumb idea. Those things never work out. If you like the job, avoid the boss.”

“Dating my boss? He didn’t ask me out on a date. He asked me to go with the work group to eat dinner.”

“It’s a precursor to asking you out. He’s seeing if you’re worth the effort first.”

“Excuse me? First, you tell me that I’m trouble. Then, you drink my drink. Now, you’re telling me that my hot boss wants to ask me out.”

He nods.

“My boss isn’t interested in me at all.”

Bone Crusher shakes his head. “You’re wrong.”

“Am not.” Now I feel like a five-year-old fighting with my brother.

“Fifty bucks says he asks you out within a month.”

“I don’t gamble.”

“You don’t gamble, and you don’t drink.” His eyes move to the champagne glass. “What do you do?”

Um… I can’t tell him the truth…but a lie just won’t come out of my mouth.

A man in a suit sets down a drink in front of Bone Crusher and walks away.

Bone Crusher takes a long swallow of the amber liquid. “You should leave.”

His words hurt. It’s not like we were going to end up being friends, but he didn’t need to be so blunt about it. “Fine, I’ll go, but you need to answer one question first.”

“What?” he barks out.

“What kind of cookies do you like?”

“Chocolate chip.”

“With or without nuts? ”

Bone Crusher raises an eyebrow. “That’s not one question.”

“Fine. But you’ll be stuck with whatever I pick.” I move to stand up, but can’t because his arm is still wrapped around me. “Um…” My eyes move to the thick muscles of his arm that his suit is doing nothing to hide.

It slips off of me, leaving a whisper of cool air in its wake.

“Thank you again.” I stand up and walk away without tripping over my own two feet.