Chapter 16 #3
Styx tilts his head as he looks me up and down.
“Too bad. I’d love to see it.” I frown and he laughs.
“You’re beautiful, and you have a very unique look.
It might be a little selfish desire, but you could clean up working in a place like this.
Especially one like ours. Our patrons would fall all over themselves if you got up on stage but since that isn’t your thing, I’ll just have to make you my responsibility. "
“Your responsibility?”
He nods. “You said in your email that you and your”—he glances down at the clipboard and grins—“friend would both feel more comfortable wearing a mask as part of your uniform and while I’m all for it, might even make a couple of theme nights based on it, you will become the even more forbidden fruit. ”
Is he flirting with me?
I can’t really tell, especially since what he’s saying isn’t a dead give away, but his tone sounds a little flirty.
He’s also putting emphasis on things that make me feel like he’s calling bullshit.
Like my alias. And my connection to Niko.
Styx is just doing it in a way that also seems like he’s flirting with me.
I can’t get a read on him, and I don’t really like it.
“Forbidden fruit?”
“Yes, love. Like I said, you’re beautiful and you have the petite, bite size little body with curves that so many of our patrons enjoy.
They can’t touch you on stage or behind the bar, but having a tall countertop as the barrier between them and the mysterious masked omega they’d love to fuck makes you forbidden fruit.
” Then Styx smiles wide. “And it makes you my number one priority while you’re on shift. ”
Well, I can safely say I am having the opposite reaction to everything he said.
Normally, all of that would piss me off.
It’s extremely blunt despite also being slightly complimentary, and he’s a complete stranger, so talking about my body and fucking and all that is pretty ballsy.
But I’m not mad.
I’m not even a little miffed.
No, my entire body is blushing, I’m hot from head to toe, and if he were to say anything else like that, I might actually start slicking even though I made sure to take the scent and alpha pheromone blockers.
Styx isn’t an alpha, though.
He said so in his email, and he made sure to tell me that there would be a couple alphas lurking around the club when I came in, which I appreciated since I was able to prepare.
I was not prepared to have an overwhelming attraction to the beta interviewing me, though. Frankly, I don’t need that. I have a scent match and soulmate causing enough damage to my heart and panties, I’d prefer not to throw a beta into the mix if I can help it.
I’m worried I can’t.
“How soon are you able to start?”
I blink a few times, trying to pull myself together so I can answer him then what he said sinks in. “You’re hiring me?”
Styx nods. “I am.”
“Without references? Or seeing what I can actually do?”
“Yes,” he says with a smirk. “References don’t mean shit, not to me, and I have no doubt you’ll show me what you can do later.”
Yep, I’m a lost cause.
This flirty, brazen, sexy beta has me seconds from slicking and I want to smack myself for it.
There is something seriously wrong with me.
Everywhere I go, I find myself stupidly attracted to someone.
A shelter for omegas? Sure, here’s my soulmate. An empty warehouse during an active torture session? Absolutely, there’s my scent match. Applying for a job for the first time in my life at a strip club fronting for something most likely dangerous? Why not, here’s a beta who will make you slick.
I should be feeling guilty and ashamed but I can’t because being attracted to Styx feels right. It feels normal. It feels like I’m supposed to be drawn to him, and I hate myself a little more for all of that.
I’m a horrible person, and a shitty omega who bonded with a pack a long time ago. Whether or not it’s the same kind of bond that I’ve been experiencing since leaving the shelter doesn’t matter, it shouldn’t be happening, none of it, but I’m too much of a selfish mess to stop it.
STYX
I tilt my head as I watch a gorgeous blush race up Sparrow’s neck, tinting her new tattoo pink as she clears her throat.
“I can start whenever you need me to.”
“Perfect.” I make a couple of notes on the printout of her email, things I know my brother will ask when it comes to her personality and demeanor. “I’ll let you know as soon as I interview your friends.”
She frowns a touch and I’ll be damned if that isn’t adorable. “Okay.”
“You’re hired, love. I promise. I was under the impression that you and your friends are a package deal, so it makes sense to get through their interviews first, then give you all a start date afterward. Given you all get hired.”
Which they probably will.
After Cole fired that alpha on security, he decided to go through a month’s worth of footage and weed out anyone else who could be a potential problem.
While it’s great to get rid of the trash, it left us down three bartenders and another alpha on security, and then we had a couple of dancers quit out of guilt.
Apparently they were doing a little extra work on the side for some of our patrons and figured they’d get canned anyway.
They would have if we knew about it, but it’s not terrible having them out themselves so we don’t need to worry about unemployment.
“Right.” Sparrow nods as she starts picking at the frayed edges of her shorts. “Is that a problem?”
“Is what a problem?” Those shorts? Yes. I want to crawl underneath them. My sense of smell isn’t as strong as an alpha or omega, but I can definitely smell Sparrow right now, and it is doing shit to me.
“My friends. The three of us working together.”
I shake my head. “No, not at all. We typically prefer word of mouth when it comes to hiring, it’s easier to vet people that way. If the three of you come in together, the same idea applies.”
I just have to hope I don’t have some stupidly strong reaction to them as well. Leon and his alpha prey was more than I bargained for and while I’m okay with it, Row and her mysterious sex appeal could complicate things on her own let alone bringing in two more people I suddenly want to fuck.
I swear my alpha kicked my libido in the teeth and now the fucker is off the charts.
All horrible thoughts to have during an interview but I never claimed to be a saint.
“Great.” Row reaches for a cocktail napkin and starts twisting it between her fingers. “So, I should hear back from you soon?”
”Absolutely. Probably tomorrow morning. My brother and I run this place together and he’ll want to look over your applications, my notes, and he’ll most likely pump me for interview details while he does it. After we duke it out, I’ll give you a call.”
She smiles a touch and damn, she really is beautiful. “You’re younger, I take it?”
“By seventeen months and you’d think it was decades.” I push a hand back through my hair and chuckle. “Ransom is a good guy, a smart business man, and he cares a fuck ton about this place, but all of that means—”
“It can be hard for you two to work together.”
“Exactly.” My brow furrows a bit as her smile turns a little sad. “You have siblings, I take it?”
Row nods. “I do. I’m not really close to any of them except my little brother but we were thick as thieves for a while. I understand the dynamic even if I was on the other side of it.”
Color me even more intrigued.
All of that implies past tense and I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t make me want to ask questions about why.
Something she must pick up on because Sparrow forces a smile and changes the subject. “Is there anything you need from me now, or will we do the paperwork or whatever when I come back?”
I watch as she slides off the stool. “When you come back. Bring your ID and social security card, all that shit for Salem to run, and I’ll go over policies and the like during that time as well. In the least boring way possible, anyway.”
She giggles and my heart flips in my chest. “Okay, but I don’t mind boring if it means I learn what I need to do in order to do a good job. I’m sure I’ve been through worse.”
For some reason, I believe that.
I stand as I shake her hand again, thanking Sparrow for coming in and letting her know to send whoever’s up next in about a half hour, then watch as she leaves through the front of the club.
“You hired her, right?” I feel hands slide over my sides then two strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling my back flush against a warm, hard body. “Please tell me you hired her.”
“I did,” I say with a smirk as Leon rests his chin on my shoulder. “She’s pretty, no?”
“Gorgeous,” he growls as he holds me tighter.
“I think so, too.”
“I know.”
I smile as I lean into him. “A little mysterious, maybe?”
Leon nods against my cheek. “Definitely.”
“You think she’s hiding something?” I do, and I can tell he does, but I want the confirmation.
“Absolutely. I think our girl is hiding several somethings.”
“Our girl?” I ask with a grin. “Isn’t that being a little presumptuous?”
“Not at all,” Leon says as he playfully nips the side of my neck. “She’s my goddamn scent match.”
Well, that explains a hell of a lot, and it sure as fuck complicates things even more.