Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Leo

I've been skulking around my own damned club all week.

Normally, I spend at least half a day at each of our ten clubs, tallying books, checking ledgers, hiring staff etc.

But I'm nearly as obsessed with Kim as I am on revenge which is really saying something. I've got to have sex with this woman again. Soon.

I'm haunting Temptation and peeking from behind curtains to catch a glimpse of Kim dancing, like some lovesick teenager.

Or some creepy perve instead of the super-rich owner of some of Las Vegas premium real estate.

Tonight, my little dancer performs at the club for the first time.

Yesterday she did a rehearsal in the full suit I picked out for her myself. I wanted her skin covered.

But the way that leather fits her like a second skin, she looks even more like sex on a stick then she did in a leotard. I might be regretting my choice.

With the evening approaching, I can feel the anticipation building inside my stomach. She's going to rock this, and I'm going to have to try and not kill the men who make a pass at her. And there are going to be so many…

I know I'm not usually this possessive, and I get it's a problem. I don't know what makes her so different, but I can't turn it off.

Is it the fact that she's always running away from me, or the fact that she's amazingly gorgeous, talented, and still somehow sweet underneath her tough exterior? Is it the mind-blowing sex? Or is it that she seems to need me so damned much even if she doesn't want to admit it?

Whatever it is, I can't get enough of her, even when I'm not touching her. I blow a breath through my nose. This is one night I could use a drink.

I've been two months without having one, and honestly, after getting over the initial loss, I've liked not being altered.

My temper has always been a problem, and without alcohol, I'm way more in control.

But as my knee bounces, I wish I had something to take the edge off.

If not a drink, maybe a good solid session between the sheets.

I know Kim is in the back getting ready right now. She's so close I could just go collect her up and then take her to my office. I'd love to sink deep inside her.

But she had a point. Neither my family, nor the staff here, would take kindly to us obviously hooking up and so I've been keeping my distance.

But my patience is getting so thin.

I hear the doors open, and the club instantly fills with people. We're the sort of place that has a line, even at ten when all the other clubs are dead. I resist the urge to go back and check on her. I wait until I can hear the floor is packed and then the techno music sounds.

That's the cue that the dancers are about to start.

Only then, do I head out of my office and onto the floor.

I've got a spot at the corner of the bar that I can slip in and out, see everything and hardly be seen.

I take my place, Mike, the bartender, giving me a sparkling water as the strobes start up, the cages rising.

The crowd is already going nuts as the cages hit the top, the lights fading away.

And then they surge back on, illuminating the cages, the dancers in place.

I see Kim, striking a pose in the center cage, her long lean body making my balls ache.

But I'm not the only one who notices the new dancer.

The crowd lets out a roar as the first song begins and Kim starts to dance. I'm sure the other dancers move too, but who can watch them? My eyes are glued to her, and I lean forward, drinking in every second she's performing.

"Wow," Mike says from next to me. He's watching too and not serving drinks. "That new dancer is really something."

"Back to work," I bark out and push up from stool. I shouldn't do it, I never go upstairs at night, but I find myself stomping up the stairs to the upper landing.

The next set of dancers is already waiting. They won't go in the cages for another fifteen minutes, the girls getting changed out every half hour or so. But they know the drill. Everyone waits at the ready. The night moves seamlessly. This is why Temptation is a success.

I walk around the edge of the room until I'm at the corner of the rail where I can see all the cages floating up and down.

The crowd is going wild and several of the spotlights are trained on Kim. My arms cross, my hands are clenched into tight balls under my elbows.

Finally, the cages start up and I stomp toward hers.

Her operator stops her cage at the top and reaches his hand in to help her step out.

But he's not looking at her, not watching her steps. The crowd is pulsing and cheering for her and he's staring out at them grinning.

I pick up speed as Kim steps out of the cage, her first foot landing fine but her second doesn't. The ball of her foot is on the platform but the heel.

I see her wobble, her heel floating over thin air. She tightens her hand in the operator's but I'm there before he can even respond.

The fear in her eyes is enough to make my blood run cold as I yank her from his grasp and into my arms.

I feel her stuttering gasp, her eyes so wide and her lips parted in surprise, but I barely look at her before I'm snarling at the operator. "What the fuck?"

He's gone completely pale, not that I care, and I'm about to tear him open when Kim's hands slide down my biceps. "I should have been watching where I stepped."

That brings my gaze to hers. "It's his job to see to your safety."

"I know, but it's my job too. Yell at me for not watching where I put my feet."

Yell at her? Is she crazy? All I want to do is hug her to my chest and then kiss her senseless. And just like that, my anger evaporates as I pick her up and carry her toward the stairs.

"Leo," she gasps, hands tightening on my arms. "You can't just carry me. Everyone's watching…"

"Let them." All right, maybe I'm still not thinking completely clearly. But the idea of her falling has my blood pumping.

I stomp down the stairs and straight into my office, slamming the door behind me. It's barely closed before I press her back to the thick wood, our chests grinding together.

And then I kiss her.

Because I'd go insane if something had happened to her.

She kisses me back, her mouth as hungry as mine as our tongues tangle together. One of her legs wraps around my waist.

I'd like to feel this woman in a bed, I really would, but she feels so good against a wall or a door, her legs around me.

My fingers slide up the leather encasing her leg to grab her ass and hold it in my hands. But she doesn't feel as good in the suit as she normally does, and I'm suddenly pissed I bought this thing. It should have been a bikini.

"Leo," she says into my mouth. "Leo…we can't."

I pull back to stare at her. "Why not?"

"Because…"

I know that it's a bad idea. I've been through all the reasons myself. But in this moment, I've forgotten them. What I remember… I'm a man, she's a woman, neither of us is married. And the attraction between us is electric. What reason could she possibly have that trumps that?

"You're my boss."

I let out a curse. It's a good reason. "Every boss on the Las Vegas strip is fucking a dancer."

But I see the hurt in her eyes the moment the words leave my mouth and I know I shouldn't have said them.

She's pushing me away, her feet slide to the floor, her hands smooth the leather, before she opens the door and steps out without another word.

How can she not know that I never act like this? That what is happening between us is…different? I don't want to say special because the word makes me uncomfortable.

"Kim." I reach for her hand before she's completely out the door. "Don't go. Not yet."

She shakes her head and that's when I catch the wetness shining in them. Fuck me, did I make her cry? I pull her back into the room and close the door again, but this time I just hold her, one hand at her neck, the other around her back.

"I'm sorry. I think it was the near fall…I'm weirdly emotional."

"Don't apologize," I hum against her ear. "I'm the dick who said the words. And I didn't mean them like that, I only meant no one would think it's weird."

"I know how you meant it. It's my thing that I worry guys won't respect me."

I lean back to look in her eyes then. I don't know what's going on between us, but I know this woman needs to understand she is so far beyond any other that I've met. "If some D-bag doesn't see your worth, that's because he is an idiot, not because you're not special. Because you are, gorgeous."

The shy smile I get makes my chest swell. "Thank you."

I lean in to kiss her again, but she turns her face to the side, showing me her cheek. I kiss it, leaning my forehead on her temple. "I'm dying here, Kim."

I feel her smile. "Once I have tuition money and a little extra, I'll quit. Then I'll be in Vegas all fall while I retake that class."

Is she offering me a window? I've never allowed a woman to set parameters like that, but my pulse thrums with victory at the idea that she's willing to let me back in her bed at all. Not that we've actually been in a bed but my point stands.

"What happens after the fall?" Why do I even care? I've never been with one woman longer than a month. The attraction will burn itself out and I'll return to my Vendetti vendetta.

She shrugs. "My mom always wanted to be a professional ballet dancer and now I'm almost there. Maybe."

It's an odd thing to say…her mom wanted to be a ballet dancer. What does Kim want?

I slide my fingers down her spine. "Counter offer."

She looks at me, her brows rising. "What?"

"I won't pick you up in front of the other dancers and I'll mostly leave you alone at the club. In exchange…"

But her eyes are narrowing. "Leo."

I hear the tapping of heels outside my office and they stop in front of my door. No one knocks, but my gaze cuts to the clock. It's nearly time for Kim to go back on. With a sigh, I let her go, but as she opens the door, I deliver my parting comment.

"This conversation isn't over."