Page 18 of Riding Hard

I hum. “You new?” I ask, knowing the damn truth. It’s always been just Elodie and Alex, but I know that Wrath wanted them to hire some help, especially after they got the strip club contract.

“I am,” she murmurs. “Trial basis.”

My lips twitch into a smirk. Clearing my throat, I reach for the chair in front of me and tug it out, my eyes never leaving hers. I can’t look away. She is like a scared rabbit, and I’ve never felt more like a hungry lion in my entire life.

“Then I won’t bother you. I just needed space to spread out my work.”

My words come out in a murmur, my gaze never leaving hers, and I wonder if she’d let me set her on this table and fuck her. Probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to hope. Sinking down onto the chair, I open the computer and get to work, pretending to ignore her.

I don’t.

I watch her every fucking move. Every sway of her hips, every time she bends over. Every time she forgets I’m there and starts singing along to whatever the fuck she listens to… badly. So damn badly, but it’s so bad that it’s cute.

By the time she leaves the conference room, I’m already halfway in love with her, and I don’t even know her name… but I’m going to find out. I’m also going to find out what she tastes like, the noises she makes when she comes, and the way her cunt feels wrapped around my cock.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

JULIETTE

My heart.

I don’t think it could physically pump any faster than it is right now. That man was in that room, and he was just watching me. I had no idea that he was even there. He was watching me, his eyes focused on me and only me. I didn’t just feel like the only girl in the room. I felt like the only girl in the world.

I don’t know his name. I don’t know a single thing about him, but I felt. Boy, did I feel. Nope. I pinch my eyes closed and shake my head a couple of times. He was just handsome. That’s all.

Okay… he was beyond handsome. He had shaggy brown hair that begged for my fingers to run through the strands. He had dark eyes that were the color of coal and full lips that I couldn’t help but wonder what they tasted like.

That doesn’t even touch on the muscles. As he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, watching me, my breath hitched at the sight of his biceps. I don’t think I’ve ever seen muscles like that in the flesh before.

He looks like he was actually chiseled from stone. As I cleaned around the room, I couldn’t help but steal a few glances in his direction. Sexy doesn’t even begin to describe that man. And trouble is a close second.

Whoever he is, carved from stone or not, he is one hundred percent not for me.

Shaking off the moment, the feelings, and the thoughts, I force myself to get back to work. After the office, I have the bathrooms.

Alex already told me he’ll never touch a bathroom in this place ever again, which, judging by the things I’ve already seen by just being in the bar and the conference room, I can imagine is fairly traumatizing.

But I’m not easily scared. So I gather my cleaning supplies and head straight for the… well… head, for lack of a better word.

Hopefully, cleaning up urine stains and porcelain bowl skid marks will help me keep my mind off the man working in the conference room. Although I’m not sure there is anything that could actually keep my mind off him. He’s sexy. Beyond sexy.

I feel like I’m walking around in a daze. That is, until I step into the bathroom. The daze disappears, and reality crashes around me.

Ew and gross.

No wonder Alex said he’d never come in here again. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so gross in my life. And it was cleaned just last Friday. How the hell did it get this disgusting in just four short days?

Closing my eyes, I let out a heavy sigh, then open them again before I get to work. This is what I signed on for, and this is what I’ll do. Being here is safe, at least that’s what Elodie and Alex think.

So I’m going to keep this job. I’m going to make this grotesque bathroom sparkle. They’re going to want to keep me for this alone, if nothing else.

It doesn’t matter that, as safe as I am here, I don’t think I really am. I want that man working just a few feet away in that conference room. I have a feeling that he is dangerous to my heart.

I cannot think of another man. A couple of days ago, I promised myself, Alex, and Elodie that I was going to be single forever. Although they didn’t quite believe me, I was confident in my words. I’m pretty sure they knew what I was up against in this place.

When I’m finished with the bathrooms, I start to work on the bedrooms and hallway that attaches them. I’m not sure how long it takes me, but when I hear Alex call out my name, I straighten my back and turn to face him, tugging my earbuds out of my ears.