“Harper!” I can feel my cheeks warming from her words. “Gross.”
She sits quietly. Too silent for her. When she finally speaks, I want to roll my eyes. “You know it wouldn’t be a bad thing for you to date, right?” Her voice is soft as she pulls me out of my daydream. “I mean, if you’re in the right headspace. What can it hurt?”
I glance up at her and notice her eyebrows creased as she takes me in. Strange. The way she says it almost sounds as though she’s inquiring if I’m in the right headspace.
“He’s not your sponsor, is he?”
And there it is. If he’s not my boyfriend, he must be a recovering addict because that’s the only type of person I attract.
“Come on, Harper, I learned my lesson. Things have changed. Can’t you give me the benefit of the doubt?”
“I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “I didn’t mean to say that. Of course, I know you’re different. You wouldn’t be in this city if you weren’t.”
I flick on the small television, needing something besides the silence we’ve settled into. A local news station featuring a brunette with high cheekbones is standing outside of Silver. I turn the volume up, curious as to what’s going on.
“Local club owner, Drew Lawson, is apparently shopping for commercial real estate.” A photo of Drew in a tux with a stunning blonde on his arm appears in the top right corner of the screen.
His piercing eyes seem to stare right through me. “No word on what he’s planning on opening, but I’m sure it will be nothing short of spectacular. This is Ava Porter. Back to you, John.” The screen goes back to a middle-aged man with a widow’s peak. I turn it off and whistle.
“Gross. Don’t fawn over that man,” Harper jeers.
“Why not? He’s pretty good-looking,” I retort, wondering where her hostility for Drew comes from.
“Because I’ve known about Drew for a while, and I can tell you, you do not want to crush on the likes of him. He’s a womanizer of epic proportions.” Each word is said slow and pointedly, but her words have me curious. What has Drew Lawson done to get on my sister’s do-not-ever-touch-him-or-else side?
“How do you know Drew?” I ask curiously.
“Ugh, his family is friends with Cal’s. Drew runs in the same circles, but they aren’t close. Acquaintances really.” She shrugs.
I find it interesting that she’s so adamant he’s no good. The guy is hot. I’m sure he can pull tons of women, and he sounds just like Cal was pre-Harper. Besides, Drew Lawson is so far out of my league, it’s sad. She has nothing to worry about, aside from the fact that I work for him.
“Listen, I know I screwed up in the past—a few times. But I’m not looking for another asshole, even if he’s a Greek god.” Shit. Did I just say that out loud?
“Bailey!”
Yep, she heard me. I’m going to need to work on putting a filter on my mouth. “Seriously, Harper, I like it in New York. I appreciate your concern, but you don’t need to worry about me. I’m not going to go screw things up. Okay?”
“Okay.” She nods, and with that, my past and all talk of Drew is dropped.
The day flies by super-fast. Harper stayed to chat for another hour or so before I headed over to the laundromat down the block to do a load. My closet was slim pickings for an outfit to wear tonight to work, so I was forced to wash my clothes. I had considered buying a new outfit in my laziness, but who was I kidding? I could barely afford food, let alone new threads.
Hours later, I can hear my heels clicking against the pavement as I adjust my skirt before pulling open the door to the club. As I walk in, I see Carter waving at me with enthusiasm. After only a few days, I already love him.
“Hey, love. How was your day?”
“Oh . . . just great, if you enjoy being woken up at the butt crack of dawn in the morning.”
“Well, I would flip that frown upside down and put on your biggest smile. Boss man wants to see you in his office.” His lip turns up as he winks.
Shit.
“Do you have any idea what he wants?” I ask, while internally freaking out.
“Nope, and even if I do . . .” He trails off, adding a wink for emphasis. “I’m not at liberty to disclose. He gives the orders, and I don’t question him.”
I watch Carter closely, but he gives nothing away. “Does he do that often?”
“Nope.”
“I’m not getting any more than that from you, am I?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head slowly.
“Ugh. You’re a pain in my ass,” I say, throwing my head back in exasperation.
“Yes, and you’ll have a bigger pain in your ass when my size twelve shoe meets it if you don’t get moving. Go,” he says, shooing me with his hands.
Carter unknowingly has my nerves calmed and my mind off what is waiting for me in that office. If nothing else good comes from working here at Silver, meeting Carter made it all worth it. I smile and head toward Drew, ready to get this meeting or whatever it is over with.
9
Drew
“Why, Drew? I just don’t get it! We could be good together,” Monica whines in her most annoying valley girl voice. And she wonders why I don’t take her seriously.
I groan, running my hands down my face.
“Monica, can’t you see I’m a little busy here?” I shuffle the invoices I was attempting to pay, hoping she’ll get the point that this conversation is done. “Get out.”
No such luck.
“You—”
She’s cut off by a knock on the door. “Come in,” I call out.
Bailey walks in, looking a bit awkward. It’s cute. “Um, Carter said you wanted to see me?” She rocks back and forth on her toes, looking very uncomfortable.
“Yes, come in, Bailey. We were just finishing up here.”
“This talk is just getting started,” Monica says in her most saccharine voice. She looks at Bailey, offering a small smile laced with venom before she stalks out. She probably thinks Bailey is my new conquest. That’s what I get for fucking with the help.
I have to start having a bouncer monitor who’s allowed up here.
Bailey stands just inside the door, wringing her hands together. She actually looks a bit annoyed, which is funny to me. “Am I keeping you from something, Miss . . .” I let that hang out there. Of course, I know her name.
“Jameson. My last name is Jameson, Mr. Lawson.” Her tiny voice belies the strength she tries to exude, and I decide to have a little fun at Miss Jameson’s expense.
“Drew. There is no ‘Mr. Lawson’ here.”
She doesn’t say a word, only nods in answer.
“Bailey? Do you understand? Use your words.” I’m a condescending asshole.
“Yeah . . . Yes, I understand,” she says, clearly confused and utterly petrified.
“How is Carter doing with your training?”
She tilts her head to the side, studying me. “How’s my training?”
“That’s what I asked.” Her eyes are narrowed, not answering me. “Back to the reason you’re here. I’ll be shadowing you tonight, and I wanted to give you a heads-up. I’m trying to get a better feel for our current training program and how my employees interact with our guests. I’ve recently noticed some issues with blurring the lines between flirting and inappropriateness.”