5. Maryanne
FIVE
MARYANNE
I had just scolded myself that there wasn’t a man coming to sweep me off my feet to rescue me from the places life took me not an hour ago, and there I was! Swept off my feet, literally, by a man who looked like Prince Charming.
Well, at the very least a knight in shining armor.
Hollis, like he’d asked I call him instead of Mr. Porter, carried me straight to the dressing room and shouted at everyone to get out. No one even questioned him as they walked out wide-eyed.
“Hollis,” I whispered, trying to calm him down, but he shot me a look that made me rethink saying a single word.
Carefully, he set me down, treating me with care so tenderly, so gently, it took my breath away. No one, not ever in my life, had ever touched me so sweetly. My bare feet touched the plush carpet.
Bare feet. I glanced down at the sight of my neatly trimmed, painted pale pink toes.
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I had no shoes on.
I must have lost them somewhere between the stage and the dressing room.
Shit. My brain automatically went to dollar signs and how much it would cost me to replace said pair immediately since I had borrowed them from Jade.
Knowing her, they were probably expensive.
Something tightened in my gut, worried about spending money instead of saving churned, but a light graze on my calve snapped me back to where I was.
I blinked, trying to make sense of what I was looking at. Hollis was down on his knee in front of me, and my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my skull.
“What are you—“ I breathily started to ask, but he looked up and our eyes locked. Goodness gracious, he was beautiful. Those amber eyes and dark curly hair.
“Let me look at you.” His deep voice cut through the weird silence that sat between us.
Hollis slowly moved the suit jacket he’d placed over my shoulders out of the way, leaving me in nothing but sheer panties and a bra in front of him. After everything that had just happened with the drunk guy, I should have been scared. Trembling.
But I wasn’t.
I felt steadier than I had in a long time.
I’d done private dances before. Most men behaved themselves in there, but some had tried to push the boundaries of the club’s rules.
Usually, being in front of a man, especially one so big and obviously strong, would have made me a little more than uncomfortable.
But I wasn’t with Hollis.
It had nothing to do with him being my boss’ brother or technically my new boss. I had a feeling it had everything to do with the man himself. After living the life I had, the revolving door of men my mom used to bring around, I’d quickly developed a sixth sense when it came to men.
I couldn’t help but stare, or more like gawk, at the handsome man before me, cataloging every micro expression and clench of his square jaw.
The intensity of his gaze on my body made my heart rate pick up speed, but it was his touch, that barely-there graze of his rough, calloused fingertips as they glided up my legs, halting at my thighs, that made me feel like I was about to melt.
I was still wearing sheer pantyhose, but I swear his touch seared through me, making it feel like he’d somehow marked me.
“He bruised you,” he growled, the look on his face menacing.
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
“I should have hit him harder,” he mumbled but didn’t stop whatever exploration he was doing.
My stomach muscles trembled under his light caress. My teeth bit down on the inside of my lip to stop myself from making a sound that would somehow scare him away. I’d never been touched like this by a man, and god help me, I didn’t want him to stop.
His big hands moved up, and I winced when he touched the spot just above my belly button. It was where the drunk guy had thrown the coin the hardest.
“I really didn’t hit him hard enough, little flower,” he growled.
“I’m okay. I promise,” I said, but when he looked up at me, something funny happened in my chest. A warm glow washed through me. There was something about the way he watched me, touched me. A familiarity I wasn’t sure was possible, yet I couldn’t deny it.
“This is not okay.”
“He’s right,” Jonas’ voice cut through the silent dressing room, and the two of us looked behind Hollis to see my boss standing there. “I’m sorry that happened, Maryanne. You okay? Want us to take you to get looked at?”
“Oh no!” I gasped. I needed a medical bill like I needed a hole in the head. “I’m good. Bruises heal.” I shook my head.
Whatever little daydream of a bubble I’d been swept up in with Hollis had officially popped.
If I wasn’t on the floor or on the stage, I wasn’t making money, and after that whole thing with the drunk guy, my boss was probably pissed.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted. “I can get dressed and head out to the floor or—“
“Or,” Jonas cut me off, and that sick feeling of having done something wrong crept its way up my throat.
“But I’m on shift and—“
“I think you should go home tonight, Maryanne,” Jonas laid out, not much room left to argue.
“Oh.” Blood drained from my face, and I felt Hollis move up next to me.
“That was a lot tonight. You shouldn’t have had to deal with crap like that,” Hollis said softly.
“The bouncers were busy, but that doesn’t excuse it. I’m very sorry, Maryanne.” Jonas’ apology sounded genuine. “After tonight, I promise I will be hiring two more to make sure that never happens again.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said, trying to math in my head.
Logically, I knew missing today wouldn’t kill me financially. Missing a month wouldn’t hurt, either, with growing savings in my account, but I hated missing a day of work and falling behind on saving enough to not only get me out of that trailer park but my mom and sisters as well.
“It’s not yours, either,” Hollis reassured me.
“But I’m being punished for it,” I mumbled under my breath without thinking. Hollis’ hand pressed tighter against my lower back.
“You’re not being punished, baby girl.” I glanced up at him and blinked away tears.
“It feels like it. If I’m not on the floor, I’m not making money. And if I’m not making money—“ The panic was too much, and I had no idea how Hollis knew.
“I’m taking her home,” he announced.
“Hollis,” Jonas warned, but I could already tell the older Porter brother was as stubborn as they came. My boss sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Can you please text Kitty and let her know you got home safe?” Jonas asked gently. I nodded.
“Yeah, I can do that.” I smiled tightly. Jonas pulled his wallet out and took out a stack of bills.
“Here.” He extended his hand, offering the money.
“What?” I stared at the cash in his hands. Are those all hundreds?
“Might not cover everything you would have made tonight but—“
“I got her,” Hollis said, and before I could ask what that meant, he slowly turned me to face him and slipped my arms through the sleeves of his suit jacket. His hand rose like he was about to touch me, but he changed his mind, and it dropped next to him. I’d never ached for a touch more.
“Grab your things, baby,” he ordered softly.
I didn’t know this man, not really, yet I listened. Doing like I was told, I went to the locker that held my things and walked right back to him.
“I asked Blu to get your shoes and clothes. You can get them from my office tomorrow,” Jonas shared, and I swallowed as relief washed through me.
“Thank you.” At least that was one less thing I had to worry about.
“Ready?” Hollis asked. I was about to take a step forward after I nodded, but one second, I was standing next to this handsome, almost intimidating man, and the next, I was back in his arms.
Exactly the way he’d rushed off the stage and carried me like the end of my mom’s all-time favorite movie An Officer and a Gentleman.
I held on and stared at him as he walked through the darkened hall and right through the back exit of the Velvet Leopard.
The dry summer heat hit like a force to be reckoned with, but I ignored it.
“I can walk.”
“You could,” he agreed but carried me straight to a new, shiny, black SUV. Its lights turned on, and without missing a beat, Hollis managed to open the passenger door and slowly, with the gentle way he’d set me down earlier, deposited me on the passenger’s side.
He pulled away and stared at me. For a moment, all I could make out was our breathing and the sound of the torrential rushing of blood and heat inside my veins.
What is my problem? I saw good-looking guys all the time.
Met nice guys. But none of them had this kind of effect on me and my senses.
It felt like I was ready to throw every inhibition right out the window and lean right over and kiss him.
Almost like he could hear my thoughts, his amber gaze dropped to my lips. I wondered if his mouth tingled, too. If he felt this alarming increasing pull I felt towards him.
“Fuck,” he cursed the moment his eyes skated to my collarbone, and goose bumps flared to life. “Let me get something for you.” Get me something?
He reached over me, to the backseat, and I couldn’t help but shut my eyes to soak in the deep manly scent of him. He smelled like expensive cologne with hints of wood, mint, and citrus. And something else.
Something heady and dark. Full of promise.
Something Daddy would wear every day. Daddy?
I shook the thought away. This was not the time to let my dirty, unhinged thoughts get the better of me!
He was my boss now. He was my boss’ brother!
I reminded myself just as he pulled back, his eyes locking with mine almost immediately. Maybe he feels this, too?
But that’s when I noticed it.
A gray shirt and what looked like track pants.
“Here.” He handed the clothes over, and I stared at them in my hands. “They’re clean, I promise.”