A Little Harmless Lie

by Melissa Schroeder

  Still, the dance floor was crowded, as was the lounge area where chairs and sofas were grouped together in conversation pits. He glanced up at the few rooms that were on the same level as the office. Five luxury suites built for the ultimate enjoyment. Two were being used. He knew the rooms on the floors below the main floor were full. Not bad for a Monday night.

  He should go find someone. There were more than a few willing subs out there, but as he looked them over, his gaze was drawn to the woman who had been driving him crazy for two years. She didn’t look like much, that was for sure. Five-four, petite, with silky blonde hair, she resembled a fairy. She had luminous blue eyes, a cute little nose that was sprinkled with freckles. She wore the uniform of his staff, dark black pants, and tailored shirt. It was almost boring in a way. But on Dee… He sighed. The woman had a body. For being short, sleek and petite, she didn’t lack feminine attributes. High breasts, slightly rounded hips…and her ass. Jesus the woman had an ass on her. He’d seen her a couple of times in jeans that molded to her rear end and almost passed out from blood loss to his brain.

  She laughed at something a customer said to her, patted his hand and moved on. The man, who had a death wish, watched her walk away, his attention on her ass. Jealousy, swift and hard, pounded through Micah. He turned to head downstairs ready to tear the man’s head from his shoulders before he caught himself.

  He paused at the door and noticed the man was already moving on somewhere else, to someone else. Dee wasn’t even paying attention to the loser. She was helping Keisha, one of his wait staff, fill an order. Before he knew what he was doing, he was walking down the stairs to the first level. To her. The moment he reached the bottom step, he frowned. Damn. Now that he was here, and some of his customers had seen him, he couldn’t turn around and walk back up. He would look like an idiot. So, with practiced ease, he walked through the crowd, smiling, stopping to talk and shaking hands. All the while, one part of his brain was focused on the woman behind the main bar.

  He was watching her again.

  Dee mixed a Colorado Bulldog as she rolled her shoulders, but it didn’t get rid of the feeling that Micah Ross was watching her. He’d been doing it most of the night and it was making her damned self-conscious.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  She looked up at Keisha and smiled. The tall black woman had become one of her few friends since moving to the islands two years earlier. “Nope. Just a feeling.”

  “Oh, you mean the boss?”

  She glanced up sharply and Keisha’s smile widened. “It’s kind of funny how he watches you all the time.”

  “Well, I don’t like it. Makes me think he doesn’t trust me.” And while she did lie about some things, she had always been trustworthy in her job.

  “Uh, honey, that’s not why he watches you.”

  She turned to pull a beer. “Yeah, why else would he do it?”

  Keisha said nothing and Dee looked up. Her friend rolled her eyes. “Are you that stupid?”

  No, she wasn’t. Most men were easy to read. They wanted one thing, and one thing only from her. Well, two things. First, their booze, then they wanted sex. She had avoided the second problem while making a good living off the first. Either way, she didn’t like deep men. Those men were dangerous. They could hide things from you. Things that could end up getting you killed.

  Micah Ross was deeper than any man she had met.

  “There’s a pool going,” Keisha said.

  That caused Dee to come to a dead stop. “A pool?”

  “Yeah, we want to know how long it will be before Ross can’t control himself. I have dibs on two weeks from Tuesday and I really want to go back to the mainland to see my mom.”

  “It’s that high?”

  Keisha laughed as she hoisted her tray up. “Honey, it’s been building the last six months.”

  With that, she turned and sashayed through the crowd. Dammit, Dee hated that. She didn’t need people speculating what was going on between her and Ross. She didn’t like gossip. It made her too interesting. That would cause her too many problems to count.

  She rubbed her forehead and tried to get her mind back on work. It was bad enough she’d dreamt of him more than once in the last few months. Who wouldn’t, she thought with irritation. He was gorgeous. Not the usual pretty boy, he was tall, over six feet, with long straight hair, a proud Native American nose and Jesus, his body. She’d seen him just about naked since he’d paired up with subs for the crowd a few times when she first started working there. Saying the man was built just didn’t do him justice. Sinewy muscles, golden skin, not to mention a world-class ass.

  Lord, she had to stop thinking about that. No men. That was her rule. She didn’t trust easily, but men especially. She couldn’t be sure that one of them wouldn’t offer her up on a silver platter for the price.

  And if that made her feel sad, she would just have to ignore it. Stupid girls got themselves killed. Falling for a guy like Micah Ross was definitely stupid.

  Business was starting to slow down, so she decided to start looking over the bar, starting cleaning up and doing inventory. Mondays weren’t that busy, but she never left her bar for the next worker without a good supply. In her position as head bartender, she didn’t have to stock the bar. She could make the next bartender on duty do it, but Dee held herself to higher standards than that.

  She picked up a bottle of Patron and made a note that she needed another one. Once done, she turned to put it back.

  “How’s it going?”

  Her heart jumped to her throat, every nerve going on alert and the bottle slipped from her grasp. The crash was barely heard over the roar of the pulsing music, but it did draw the attention of a few people sitting at the bar. Micah was behind her in an instant. He grabbed her by her upper arms and spun her around.

  “Are you okay?”

  She looked up at him, held immobile by his nearness. She had never been this close to him ever. She could see the concern in his eyes, feel his breath feather over her face. Even with all the people in the area, she could scent him. Bayberry…and Micah. It made her head spin and left her feeling vaguely aroused.

  “I-I’m fine, Micah. You can let me go.”

  He looked down at his hands on her arms as if he didn’t realize he still held her. He wanted to argue, she could see it when his gaze pierced hers again. After a moment’s hesitation, he released her.

  There was no reason for her heart to be beating the way it was. Her entire body simmered with heat. Good Lord, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been that close to a man before. She was acting like a teenager.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, his low, seductive voice easy enough for her to hear. He had moved closer, his lips within inches of her ear.

  She nodded and turned to grab the broom. Without saying anything she cleaned up the glass. He stayed there, watching her as if she were a child who needed supervision. By the time she was done, her nerves were jumping.

  “Was there something you wanted?”

  He didn’t say anything. She glanced up at him. His body was rigid, his gaze fastened on her mouth. A tremor of need shifted through her blood. Dammit. She cleared her throat.

  “Micah?”

  The heat in his eyes sent a shaft of need spiraling through her as she took a step back from him. From temptation.

  “No. Just wanted to make sure you were doing okay tonight.”

  She frowned. He watched her a lot but he rarely worried about her taking care of herself. “Everything’s fine. You know how Monday nights go.”

  He kept watching her mouth as she spoke. It was a bit disconcerting. A lick of heat raced up her spine. His gray eyes darkened, his pupils dilating. Every bit of moisture in her mouth evaporated. Her nipples pebbled, ached. It took all her control to lick her lips. The need to squeeze her thighs together to relieve the unbearable tension between her legs almost overwhelmed her.

  He took a step closer to her. The music, the people, everything fade
d to the background. Without a word, he dipped his head, but jerked back at the sound of Keisha’s voice.

  “Hey, I need another gin and tonic.”

  He shot Keisha a look of death before glancing back down at Dee. She couldn’t say anything. Hell, she could barely think at the moment. In that one second, she had wanted him with a need that was burning her up inside. Her entire body was pulsing, yearning. But the moment was over as he glanced around at the customers. He said nothing as he turned on his heel and stomped out from behind the bar. Dee pressed a hand to her chest, trying to calm her heart and then leaned against the bar.

  “Hey, Dee? Wake up, girl.”

  She looked up at Keisha and offered her a weary smile. “I’ll get it. Give me a second. And definitely, I owe you a thank you.”

  She cocked her head to the side, her chocolate brown eyes twinkling. “Why? Because the big bad bossman looked like he wanted to gobble you up?”

  Dee closed her eyes and shivered. “Yeah.”

  “Ohh.”

  Dee’s eyes shot open. “What?”

  “Well, I didn’t know you liked him that much.”

  Dee inwardly cursed. She had kept her attraction to him under wraps until that instant. “I don’t like him.”

  “Honey, you may not like him, but I could hear it in your voice. You want him.”

  “Show me a heterosexual woman who wouldn’t find him attractive, and I tell you the woman is an idiot.”

  Keisha laughed. “No. This is different. I have never seen that reaction to any man in the two years you’ve worked here.”

  Dee finished making the gin and tonic and placed it on Keisha’s tray.

  “You’re loco.”

  Keisha laughed. “Oh, you do. This is going to be good. Just don’t do anything until my day on the pool. I need that money.”

  Before Dee could say anything, Keisha turned and worked her way through the crowd again. Without looking, she knew Micah was there, knew he was pretending not to pay attention to her. The fairest whisper of his gaze would move over her from time to time. She could feel it as if his fingers moved over her flesh. Dammit, she didn’t need this.

  One way or another, she would have to ignore him and every enticement he represented. Keeping entanglements to a minimum made her a smart girl. Smart girls stayed alive.

  She glanced over and noticed he was talking to one of the regular subs…one that used to be his favorite. Her heart dropped to her stomach and she turned around. So what if it hurt? It was the way it had to be.

  She pushed aside her foolish yearnings and started to shut down for the night. She’d learned years ago not to regret what she’d lost. There was nothing to be gained from it.

  Chapter Two

  Micah grumbled as he let himself into his office. Three days. Three days since he’d dealt with being in Dee’s presence. He knew it had been a mistake to touch her. From the moment he’d hired her, he’d been attracted. That had never been a problem before. Even now, knowing she wasn’t into the life, or at least claiming she wasn’t, there would be no chance with her. She had been pretty emphatic about that. It didn’t matter that he’d been lusting after her, or that it was getting worse by the day. He needed to control, needed to be the Dom. It wasn’t something he merely desired in the bedroom, it was something he needed to be complete.

  He turned on his coffee maker, thankful that Freddy was a good assistant and had gotten it ready for him. It was early for Micah, just past noon, but he had an idea of getting work done and taking the night off. Evan had been right. He needed some time away and he would start with tonight. The night Dee was scheduled to work.

  With a sigh, he sat behind his desk and turned on his monitors without looking at them. He had some paperwork to get done and the schedule for the bouncers needed to be set up. Every section of his club, from the bartenders to the waitresses to the DJs had a supervisor. All of them except the bouncers. Charles was his head bouncer, but Micah couldn’t let him do the scheduling. He had tried that once, and it had blown up in his face. Thinking of the infighting he’d dealt with and all the work-related issues had him chuckling. Most people thought his job would be exciting and titillating. It was, to an extent. Working up schedules, dealing with taxes, publicity and safety codes dimmed some of the glow of being a Dom in his very own BDSM club.

  When he and Evan had decided to open the club five years earlier, Micah had been happy to take over the managing. Evan had a say in everything, but Micah ran the place for the most part. He had a mind for numbers and marketing, so it worked.

  His coffee beeped and he went to retrieve a cup. When he sat back down, he noticed someone was in the gym they had built for their employees. Most people didn’t show up until right before their shifts, and none of them were slated until seven that night. He zoomed in, but even before he saw her face, he knew who it was.

  She was boxing. He’d never seen her do it, but he had heard from others that she did a lot of it in the gym. Just as when she worked behind the bar, she was fluid in her movements. She lifted her leg for a kick and then punched the bag. Her muscles contracted, eased, contracted again.

  Damn, she was a thing of beauty. He’d fought in the ring and he knew he hadn’t been as good. Hell, he wasn’t sure with her moves that he could take her easily. He could tell from the way she pointed her toes that she had danced at one time. What woman trained to be a ballerina then turned to boxing and bartending?

  The clothing she wore clung to her, curved over that tight ass. The top was little more than a sports bra. The flesh rose above the fabric. He licked his lips. She pivoted on her foot for a roundhouse kick and he felt the arousal that had been simmering shoot to boiling. He would have never thought to be turned on by a woman sparring with a bag, but then, he wasn’t sure there was much the woman could do that wouldn’t turn him on.

  He didn’t even think when he rose from his chair, not really. The only thing on his mind was going to see her, watch her…touch her.

  Dee landed another right against the bag as she tried her damnedest to fight the images that kept coming to her from her dreams the night before. For two nights running, she had dreamt of Micah, what he could do to her in bed. She might be a virgin, but she knew what went on. Can’t work at a place like Rough ’n Ready and not know, she thought with a chuckle.

  Left, right, left.

  But then last night…her sexy dream had morphed into horrific memories. She’d been thrown back into that safe house, glass shattering on top of her, bullets flying around her. This time, though, she didn’t get away. She could still feel the piercing of her skin, the burn of the bullet.

  She turned and did another roundhouse kick.

  “You’re going to hurt yourself if you push too hard.”

  She started, her breath coming out in short, hard chops and looked at the doorway. Damn, the man had to be here today. He never showed up this early. It was one of the reasons she came early, worked out and went home. Plus, no one bothered her when she arrived first thing in the afternoon.

  “You have no idea what I can handle.”

  One eyebrow rose as he walked into the gym. Shit, he wasn’t going to go away. She wasn’t up to a verbal sparring match. Not today. Not after those dreams she’d had about him. She could still feel his hands moving over her, teasing her, taking her up and over that edge.

  She turned away and pulled off a glove to grab a bottle of water. She took a large swallow and faced him. “What are you doing here this early, Micah?”

  “I thought to get some work done.”

  Which was odd because Micah didn’t do work early in the day. It was one of things she envied about him. He had no problems living his hedonistic lifestyle. He intertwined it with being a very successful business man, but he seemed to revel in the fact that he slept until two in the afternoon every day.

  “Well, I’m trying to get my workout done so I can go home to shower, so…”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked ba
ck on his heels. “So, what?”

  She knew he wasn’t dense. He knew she wanted to be alone and he was taking pleasure in denying her wish.

  “I have a feeling you have better things to do than watch me work out.”

  He chuckled and the sound had every hormone in her body jumping to attention. Wet heat slipped through her body, over her nerve endings. “I doubt that. How long did you train in ballet?”

  “Jazz,” she said, and then silently cursed herself for allowing that information to slip out.

  “I knew you had some training in dance from the way you move behind the bar.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  He paused. “Well, there’s just something in the way you move that speaks of some kind of dance training.”

  Crap. She thought she kept that hidden away, had for years. “I didn’t know you paid that much attention to your employees.”

  His smile widened. “I don’t usually. But you intrigue me.”

  Just hearing him speak the words had her heart whacking against her ribs. She turned and grabbed her towel to wipe herself down. If he wasn’t going to leave, she would at least clean herself up.

  “So, you’re stalking my every move.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “It’s that obvious that I used to dance?”

  Her nerves were jumping and not just with arousal. Maybe she’d been here too long. She had grown comfortable in her surroundings and that was never a good thing. But she had fallen in love with Oahu, the people and her job.

  “No, not really. But since I used to fight, I pick up on things like that.”

  “Oh, I forgot you used to do those ultimate fight things.”

  “Things? I guess you could call it that. It definitely shouldn’t be considered anything but a means to an end.”

  “Did you get hurt?”

  He shrugged. “It was worth it. Helped me open Rough ’n Ready.”

  She nodded. “Well, I’m on my way home.”

  But when she tried to step around him, he moved into her path. Every nerve in her body sizzled.