Chapter Twenty-Six

Bryn

Two weeks into our new arrangement, Cullen and I were adjusted. It was working out better than I’d hoped. The first night I’d left Cullen in a new place, he had seemed nervous even though we had talked it through and he knew I would be there when he woke up. However, he had soon grown very comfortable with Mrs. Henry, as had I. She was an excellent sitter.

I felt as if I should be paying her more than twelve dollars an hour, but she’d insisted that was all she would accept. She told me that Cullen was more help than he was work, and after the first week, Mrs. Henry had said she felt guilty for taking twelve dollars an hour from me. However, I wasn’t going to give her less. She was a widower, from what Marley had told me, and never remarried or had children of her own. She was making it possible for me to work, and I knew she needed the money.

Marley had left early tonight, and I had to work until closing. Trix had Covid and was out for two weeks. I was going to have to close for her since she normally did that. Marley had said she would put Cullen to bed in the main house tonight and send Mrs. Henry home.

My feet were killing me, and when I slipped off my heels, I groaned in relief. I stretched my legs out in front of me and wiggled my toes. I still needed to help Saint close up, but he was locking up after the last customer left. I had this time to change into some clothing.

My oversize T-shirt and shorts were also a relief after work. I put on a pair of soft, fluffy pink slippers. I just couldn’t bring myself to put on shoes after nine hours in those heels. Pulling my hair up in a bun on top of my head, I turned to look in the mirror and took off my false lashes, then wiped off the red lipstick and makeup.

Feeling like myself again, I headed back to the main part of the club to restock the bar while Saint put the chairs on the tables, so the floor could be swept and mopped by the morning cleaning crew who would come in and handle the floor after we left. Saint looked over at me when the door closed behind me, signaling my return. His gaze swept from my feet up, and then I caught him smile as he shook his head and went back to putting a chair on the table.

I headed over to the kitchen entrance to get the cart of clean glasses and roll it to the bar to restock it. I could feel Saint’s eyes following me as I went. He didn’t make me uncomfortable, but I wished his interest in me would fade. It had become more obvious, and the other girls had started to notice. Trix had been my buffer from a few of the jealous ones who wanted me gone. With her gone, I had to deal with them myself.

After I’d arrived today, I had been late getting onto the floor because my heels had been taken, as had my bottoms. By the time I got out there, the other girls had all the tables covered, and I was put at the bar with Saint for an hour.

He made me take the tips from that hour, but I felt bad, doing it. Those should have all been his. Working that close to him with my breasts on display had been unnerving. I didn’t think that was what the others had had in mind when they hid my things. I doubted they’d try that again. If it was Saint’s attention they wanted, it hadn’t played out well for them.

“Why the hell you gotta be so damn sexy, covered up and with the makeup gone?” Saint said as he put another chair on the table.

I stopped and looked over at him. I didn’t know what to say to that. We normally talked very little when we closed up together. He was a quiet guy, and I liked that. Talking about me wasn’t something I wanted to do with him.

“It’s the lighting in here,” I said.

He smirked. “Sure it is.”

I began putting the glasses back on the shelves, happy to have my back to him. Maybe he was done with the talking. I hoped so.

“Are you ever going to loosen up with me? We worked side by side tonight. You’d think after that, you would feel at ease with me.”

I glanced back over my shoulder. “I am at ease with you,” I replied, although part of me never was.

He was an attractive man who regularly saw me almost naked and was interested in me. What did he expect?

“No, Angel, you’re not.”

I sighed and set down the glass that was in my hand, then turned to look at him. It was much easier to do with my shirt on. I shrugged. “You’re my boss. Every female here wants you. I know you’ve slept with a few of them. They talk. But I guess knowing you want to …”

What did he want to do? Sleep with me too? Or date me? I wasn’t sure. I never let him get far enough to explain it. He was interested in me, but last week, he’d had sex with Blush in his office. On his desk.

His eyebrows drew together in a frown. “I’m a man, and I have only fucked a few of them. It’s not something I’m proud of, but after a night of watching you, I get worked up. I need a release, and when a naked woman offers it up, sometimes, I take it.”

My face heated, and I turned back to the glasses.

“Did Blush tell you I bent her over my desk and fucked her from behind in her uniform? Did she tell you it was your name I shouted when I shot my load into the condom? I didn’t want to see her face, Angel, because I wanted to think it was you. I had watched you all night, and I wanted you so damn bad that I was crazed for it.”

I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard Saint say that many words at once. My body was a mix of emotions. I didn’t want to hear he had imagined me while he was screwing Blush. Even if she was nasty to me most of the time, she hadn’t deserved that. I respected Saint, and I didn’t want him to change my image of him.

“Most nights, I relieve myself while thinking about touching you, being inside you. But there are nights when I have a woman begging me to fuck her, so I use her instead.”

I closed my eyes tightly. I wanted him to stop talking about it. Why did he insist on telling me all this?

“Why me?” I asked then, wanting to understand it. Was it because I was the only female here who wasn’t begging him for it? Did he like the challenge?

He didn’t respond, but I heard him move, and I knew he was walking closer to me. I hoped he left the bar between us and didn’t come too close. I wasn’t afraid of him, but his words had made me nervous. I didn’t know this side of Saint, yet it fit his appearance more so than the image in my head did.

There would be no barrier between us. He was behind me. I felt the warmth of his body, and I shivered, more nervous now than I had been. He ran a finger over my bare neck and down my back, causing me to tremble. I knew Saint wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, but I was still uncomfortable with this.

“I wish it weren’t you,” he said in a low voice. “It would be a hell of a lot easier if it was someone like Blush. But since the day you walked into this bar, I’ve wanted you. In the beginning, it was just to fuck the sweet innocence from your hot little body, but then I got to know you. It became more, and I never expected more.” His voice dropped even lower, and I felt his breath on my neck. “All I can think about right now is stripping off your clothes and burying my face between your legs. God, I bet you taste like heaven. Sweet as an angel.”

I shivered again. I’d never had sex with a man, but I knew all about it from movies and books. The idea of having someone lick me where he was talking about was exciting and terrifying. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to allow myself to be so vulnerable. Yet it had to feel so much better than my own fingers.

His lips pressed against my neck, and I closed my eyes and inhaled sharply. His hands grabbed my waist, and his teeth gently bit my ear. “If you don’t tell me to move away now, Angel, I’ll be eating your pussy in less than a minute. You smell so fucking good, and, baby, you make me crazy.”

No! He was not going to be doing that.

I stepped away from him and shook my head while trying to take a deep, calming breath. I didn’t want to be turned on by his words or feel anything, but part of me did. There was a tingle down low, my nipples were hard from something other than the cold, and I was curious.

His eyes were locked on my breasts, and I knew he saw my obvious arousal. I crossed my arms over them.

Slowly, he lifted his eyes to mine. “I’ll get on my knees and beg.” His voice was rough now.

I shook my head.

“Angel, we don’t have to fuck. Just let me taste you. Let me hear you come while you’re on my mouth,” he said, taking a step toward me.

I backed up again. Oh, I wished he’d stop saying things like that. This wasn’t right. I didn’t love him or have feelings for him, but my body wanted to do bad things with him. Things that would ruin our relationship and my job.

I licked my lips and swallowed hard. His eyes darted to my mouth, and a dark expression came over his face.

“I’m a virgin,” I spat out in a panic.

His eyes shot back up to mine, and the dark expression was now one of shock.

“What?” he asked.

I nodded my head. “I am. I’ve never been with a man.”

He stepped back this time and ran a hand over his face as he looked away from me. “Fuck,” he muttered. “How the hell …”

I didn’t think he was truly asking me for an answer, but I gave him one. “I just … I’ve never been in love. I told you I was broken.” My voice was barely above a whisper now.

“In love?” He repeated it as if it were a foreign word that he didn’t understand. “You’ve never had sex because you’ve never been in love?”

I nodded.

He laughed then, but it was a hard laugh of disbelief.

“Okay,” he said, then closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to turn his head back toward me. “I’ll finish up here. You can go on.”

Panic set in. Was he going to fire me because I wouldn’t sleep with him? I didn’t believe Saint would do something like that, but he was telling me to leave. Would Marley let him fire me?

“Are you—” I stopped, not sure what to say, but knowing I had to fix this. We had to get back to a working relationship. “Are you mad at me?” I finished. Although I saw no reason he should be.

He shook his head. “No. I just can’t focus with you here. Wanting you like I’ve never wanted anything before and knowing you’re untouched. My head is fucked up. I’ll see you on Sunday night,” he said.

I had no response to that, so I nodded and headed for the back door.

“Wait,” he called out, and I stopped, wishing he would just let me leave. “Let me walk you out. It’s late and not safe for you.”

“I’ll be fine,” I told him.

He was already almost to me. “I’m walking you to your car.”

Instead of arguing, I just let him follow me. I headed for the dressing room to grab my bag and put on flip-flops. He stood outside the room and didn’t follow me inside. I was thankful for that. I needed some space.

When I finished, he walked behind me until I reached my car and climbed inside.

“Good night, Saint,” I said, looking up at him.

“Night, Angel,” he replied, then closed my door and stepped back.

I pulled out of the parking lot and glanced in my rearview mirror. He was standing at the door, watching me leave with his arms crossed over his chest. I wondered how I was going to work around him now, knowing how he felt. Being topless in front of him was going to be difficult.

“Why can’t it be Rio who feels this way about me?” I asked myself aloud as I drove to Marley’s.

If it had been Rio confessing all that, would I have let him kiss me … there? Or would I have had sex with him?