Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Chelsea

“You found it,” Frost said, like he was surprised. It was a cafeteria, not a clit.

I held up my phone and waved it from side to side. “And I'm not even late.”

“Punctuality is so hot.” He jumped up from his chair and pulled out mine for me.

“It really is.” I gave him a look before I sat and placed my lunch and coffee on the table in front of me. I didn't need him opening doors and pulling out chairs, but his doing so was sweet. “I'd never undersell the importance of being on time.”

“I'll bear that in mind.” He sat back in his own chair and started to open his lunch. Salad and chicken breast. Healthy, if not exciting.

I made a show of unwrapping my ham, cheese and mayonnaise sandwich and placing my chocolate cupcake beside it. I worked out so I could eat shit like that. Not enough to lose all of my curves, but some. Whatever. Unlike him, I had no one counting my calories for me. If they tried, I'd tell them to fuck all the way off. Life was too short not to enjoy a cupcake once in a while.

“How was the rest of your morning?” he asked before pushing some lettuce into his mouth. “I presume it went downhill after I left.”

I snorted softly and bit into my sandwich. “Absolutely.” I chewed carefully and swallowed. “All of those hard bodies. Such a stressful morning.”

The couple of players after him were more reserved, answering questions and doing as they were told before hurrying out of the infirmary. All very businesslike. All guys I recognised from past games and media interviews, not from the club. One was married and, from what I heard, the other was happily engaged. Not the kind of guys to bother with strip clubs.

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” Frost asked.

“You want to touch those hard bodies too?” I asked, slightly teasing, but mostly curious.

His face turned slightly pink. “It's not… I don't… I don't know,” he said finally. “Kinda. But I want to touch you too. I mean, women.”

I nodded. “Figuring out preferences can be confusing. Especially when you're surrounded by so much testosterone.” The pressure to be one of the guys must be immense. Looking at the wrong one, the wrong way could get you punched in the head. It would be easier to go with the flow, as they say. Not as satisfying, but safer.

“Yeah.” He stuffed a large piece of chicken into his mouth, punctuating his unease.

“Just so you know, I won't judge you,” I said. “You don't judge me for doing what I do.”

He cracked open a bottle of water and took a gulp. “Nope, why would I? Before I was contracted to play for the Smashers, I delivered pizza at night and couriered parcels during the day. You do whatever you have to, y'know?”

“I do know,” I agreed.

I had a feeling I knew a lot more than he did. This was Dusk Bay, a perfectly ordinary looking city run by organised crime bosses like Reuben Brantley. Frost could have been delivering severed heads without knowing. I wouldn't have even been slightly surprised. Did he know about that side of the city? I had a feeling he didn't, and I wouldn't be the one to fill him in. Not now anyway.

“Were you one of those naked pizza delivery guys?” I teased.

He chuckled. “I don't think that's a thing, but I totally would have. Remind me to deliver pizza to your place one day.” He winked and went on eating.

“It could be a thing,” I said. “Whoever starts a business like that would probably rake in the cash.”

“Especially if you're doing the delivering,” he said. “I'd pay to see that. Or better yet—” He leaned forward and whispered, “I'd pay to eat pizza off you. You'd be delicious. I'd lick you clean.”

“I'm sure you would,” I said. “But body shots are better.”

He grimaced. “I'm really hard right now.” He shifted in his seat and adjusted himself.

I leaned over and patted his bicep. “That's what you get for talking dirty to me.”

“I did bring this on myself, didn't I?” he said.

“Yes. Yes you did.” I opened my cupcake and bit into the icing.

“It would be inappropriate of me to suggest I lick icing off your chin, wouldn't it?” he asked.

“Given we both work here, yes it would,” I agreed.

“If we weren't here, would it be appropriate then?” He cocked his head at me.

“It would depend on where we were,” I said. “It might be inappropriate at Flirts too, but if we were, say, out on a date, then it would probably be appropriate.”

He absorbed my response and nodded. “Then we better do that. Go out on a date. If you want to, I mean. I like you and I think you like me. I wouldn't mind finding out where this could go.”

I glanced around to make sure no one was listening before I asked, “It doesn't bother you that half of Dusk Bay has seen me naked?” Not to mention the percentage of the male population of the city who paid to fuck me. Having sex with someone like me was one thing. Being involved in a relationship, even a friendship, was another. Some guys couldn't look past their own jealousy.

“I don't care.” He shook his head. “It doesn't bother me if they've all seen you naked. I have endorsements for underwear, and I did an ad once where they photographed my naked ass and put it in the pages of a magazine.” He pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen and turned around to show me.

“Your ass is adorable,” I said. And now I wanted to bite it. Or lick tequila off his ass cheeks.

“It's okay.” He shrugged and put his phone back down on the table. “Not as nice as yours.” He hesitated for a moment. “Are you going to keep…you know?”

“Working at Flirts? Only until I have a permanent job, hopefully here with the Smashers.”

“Right,” he said slowly. “Good. Like I said, I like you. I don't want to have to go there every night and punch out every guy who looks at you the wrong way.”

“That's sweet,” I said, “But the bouncers would throw you out at the first swing.”

“Then I'd have to follow them out and beat the crap out of them outside,” he said unapologetically.

“I think you like your job too much to risk it,” I said.

“It's only at risk if I get caught,” he pointed out. “So, dinner on Monday night?”

“I might have to check my schedule,” I said.

He picked up my phone and tapped on the screen. “You should put a passcode on this. Anyone could look at your stuff.” He opened the calendar and pressed on Monday. Squinting, he tapped in 'dinner with Daniel Frost' for six PM. He closed the calendar and opened the contacts app to tap in his phone number. With a sly grin, he pressed on his number to call himself.

“There, we have each other's phone number and a time.”

“You're right, I should put in a passcode,” I said dryly. “Fine, dinner at six. Text me where and I'll meet you there.”

“I don't mind picking you up.” He looked as though he was ready to argue. Like he should insist on being chivalrous, because it was the manly thing to do. Or something similar.

“And I don't mind meeting you there,” I said. I'd learned long ago not to be trusting, no matter how sweet a guy seemed to be. One minute they were asking you out and giving you flowers, and the next they were turning up at your place expecting a fuck. Or taking photos of you through the curtains. Or threatening your life because of who you happened to be related to.

“I want to punch whoever made you feel like you can't trust me,” he said. His expression darkened with annoyance.

“It's no big deal,” I said lightly.

He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “It is a big deal. I'll do whatever I have to do to earn your trust. If I do anything to break it, I'll punch myself.” He raised his fist and mimed driving it into his own face.

“Don't make promises you might not be able to keep,” I told him. “Shit happens, whether you want it to or not. Besides, you don't know if you can trust me.”

“Of course I do,” he said easily. “What is it they say? 'Trust me, I'm a doctor.' If I can't trust you, who can I trust?”

I supposed he had a point. Doctors were supposed to be dependable and reliable. I strove to be both of those things. On the other hand, blind faith sometimes led to disappointment. If he was going to jump into anything with me, I needed him to have his eyes wide open. He needed to understand who the real Chelsea Miller was, not just Doctor Chelsea, or Chelsea the sex worker. Rose coloured glasses weren't good for anyone.

“I'm starting to think you're too sweet for your own good,” I said.

The best thing I could do for him would be to walk away. Especially given my last conversation with Storm Keller. Would he give Frost a hard time for going out with me? Probably, and that would create tension the team didn't need.

Admittedly, while I didn't want them at odds with each other, Storm didn't control me, or who I went out with. Having dinner with Frost might remind him of that.

Or it might make the situation worse.

“I'm not as sweet as I look,” Frost said. “If you could see inside my brain right now, you wouldn't think I'm even a tiny bit sweet. Most of my thoughts involve you naked, lying on your back while I stick my cock in your pussy. The other ones involve you on your knees, sucking my cock.”

“That's better,” I said approvingly. “I prefer not to think I'm corrupting you.” I wasn't na?ve enough to think I was leading him astray in any way. He'd had plenty of women to do that before he met me.

“If you did, I'd be there for it,” he said. “I lost my virginity to my mother's best friend. I should say, former best friend. My mother wasn't impressed when she found out. Although, she took my best friend's virginity, so I think we're even. In case you're wondering, yes, my best friend was the son of her best friend. It was all very incestuous and shit.” He grinned.

“That sounds like the…mother of all complications,” I said, unable to resist the pun.

“It was,” he agreed. “But I wouldn't have my little brother if it hadn't happened.”

“And I thought my family was interesting,” I said, half to myself. “Are you still friends with your best friend?”

“Yeah. I wouldn't let a little thing like knocking up my mother get between us,” he said. “She's with some other guy now. My friend is married to a nice girl, living in the suburbs. They share custody of my little brother. He's an absolute terror, just like me.” He grinned. “He's so cute he gets away with everything. All he has to do is smile and we give him whatever he wants.”

“I bet you were like that when you were a kid,” I observed.

“Exactly,” he agreed. “I've always been good at using my charm and good looks to get my way.”

He gave me a look that sent shivers of anticipation through me. He'd be a difficult one to say no to, that was for sure. Monday night was looking that much more enticing.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

I started as Storm stomped over to the table and stood beside us, glaring.