“In that case, take your pick.” She waved him to the trays on a rolling rack.
Ian grabbed a double chocolate and pulled out some dollar bills.
“No, no. I got it covered. Thanks again, Ian. I really appreciate everything.” I leaned in giving him a big hug. “I’ll call you later.”
He bent down and kissed my cheek. “You better.” He waved to Pyper and left out the back door.
“Oh my God!” Pyper exclaimed.
“What?”
“The schoolboy had a sleepover? Kane is going to freak.” Mischief danced in her eyes.
“What? Why will Kane freak?” I asked, clocking in.
“Because, silly, he’s the one who wants the sleepovers.”
“Since when?” It’s not like he’d asked me out or anything.
“Since the day he set eyes on you. How was it?” Curiosity and anticipation dominated Pyper’s energy.
“How was what?”
“’How was what?’” she parroted. “Your night with Ian. Come on, dish!”
“We didn’t have a sleepover in that way. My ghost paid me a brief visit yesterday, and I called Ian about it. He ended up coming over and stayed so I didn’t freak out. We just talked and slept. It was all rather boring actually.”
Her face fell. “The ghost?”
“Don’t worry, nothing happened. Just a minor apparition.”
“That is rather boring. At least Kane won’t have to worry.”
I laughed. “Well…he did see Ian leaving with me this morning.”
Pyper joined in my laughter. “Oh yeah, this is gonna get interesting.”
8
At nine o’clock I grabbed a muffin and headed to the back for a short break. Just as I took my first bite, the back door squeaked. Kane walked in, with a calm almost Zen-like energy.
“Good morning again. I thought you’d still be sleeping,” I said.
He shrugged.
“You’re not stoned, are you?” I asked before I could stop myself.
His expression implied I’d lost my mind. “Of course not. Let’s see what you look like after three hours of sleep.”
I gazed at him, taking in his dark, wavy, fresh-from-the-shower hair. He looked as if he’d just had a full night’s worth of sleep. “You look great. I was referring to your mood.”
Pleasure and a heavy dose of desire flowed from him as his lips turned up in a half grin. “Great, huh?”
I nodded. With full knowledge of his attraction to me, my bravado came out in full force. “Every woman’s dream.”
He paused, studying me. “Even yours?”
“Maybe.” I met his eyes. His energy remained steady, like a cool stream.
He moved closer, stopping just in front of me. “Who else do you dream about, Jade?”
My breath caught as my pulse sped up. I was outclassed and not experienced enough for this game. But that didn’t stop me. Smiling, I raised an eyebrow. “Unfair question, Kane.”
“Maybe, but you’re the star of my dreams these days. I’m just wondering if Ian has a role in yours, or is he a distraction?”
His mocha eyes transfixed mine. The breath left my lungs as I sat motionless, mesmerized.
“The star?” I asked when my breathing resumed. “Who are the supporting characters?”
“Unfair question.”
“Then you don’t need to know who else has roles in mine.” I smirked.
He narrowed his eyes, and a predatory grin broke out on his face. He leaned in close to mine and whispered, “I’ll find out.” Before I could respond he retreated out the back door.
“Wow.”
***
I slowed my steps as I entered the club, unsure if I wanted to see Kane or not. Okay, I wanted to see him. Who wouldn’t? But after the morning’s interlude I didn’t know what to say. I took a deep breath and knocked.
A muffled, “Come in,” answered.
I made my way inside.
“Jade, what can I do for you today?” Charlie asked from behind the desk as I flopped into a folding chair across from her.
“I was looking for Pyper.” Or Kane, but my stomach got jittery just thinking his name. “Have you seen her?”
She shook her head. “No, I think she actually went to get some sleep.”
“Really? I didn’t think she ever slept.” I fiddled with the notebook in my lap. “I’m glad to hear it. I was hoping to research some documents, but since she isn’t here I guess I’ll come back.” I stood up, but Charlie held her hand up in a stop motion.
“Hold on. I have access to records. What do you need?”
“Would it be all right if I take a look at who might have rented my apartment in the past? Do they have those records?” I filled her in on Ian’s suggestion to try to identify the ghost.
“It’s like a mystery.” Charlie got up and headed to the door. “Come on, the files are in the storage room.”
I followed her into the hallway. She fumbled with a ring of keys, outside the room where I’d gotten my used furniture.
“There are files in here as well?” I didn’t remember seeing any.
Charlie nodded. “There are now. They used to live in one of Pyper’s closets until you took some of that old furniture.”
We walked in, turned the light on and found a mound of bankers file boxes stacked next to the door, barricading us from the rest of the room.
“I guess she was in a hurry,” I said and coughed from the disturbed dust. “Thanks Charlie, I can take it from here.”
She sat in an old thread-worn chair and grabbed the box closest to her. “I can help.” Opening it up, she pulled a stack of papers out.
“You don’t have other work you need to do?” I didn’t want to get her into trouble.
She shrugged. “Sure, but helping you is a lot more entertaining, and I can hear the phone from here if anyone calls.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said, pleased to have some company.
I couldn’t get around the large pile of boxes to dig out another chair, so I flopped my butt right down on the floor. Charlie smirked. I shrugged as if to say, “oh, well” and pulled the nearest box to me. As I searched through the piles I said, “I didn’t know you worked in the office. Did you get promoted?”
“No. I just help out Pyper sometimes. She does way too much, as I’m sure you know. I don’t mind, and I get along with the girls. Or most of them, anyway,” she said sheepishly.
I raised my eyebrows.
“A few are exes.” She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Never date a coworker.”
“Okay, I won’t date you.” I smiled innocently.
“Damn.”
“It’s your rule.”
“I’m willing to break it.” Charlie leaned in and leered before chuckling.
“I’ll keep it in mind.” I giggled. The girls around here could do worse than Charlie. Glancing at the paper in my hand, I asked, “Do you have any others that date back a little farther? These are all from this year.”
Charlie shook her head. “I don’t know if Kane will have those records.”
“Really?” I said, surprised. “It looks like he keeps everything.” I waved to the mountain of boxes in front of us.
“He does. This is all from this year alone.”
“Where are the rest?”
Charlie glanced up, dusting her hands off. “These are it. Didn’t you know? Kane just bought this place last year.”
I stopped scanning the papers and gave her my full attention. “No. For some reason I just assumed he and Pyper have had this place for a while now. Have you been here longer than that?”
“Wow, Jade, you really don’t know the scoop, do you?”
I shook my head. “Apparently not.”
“Did you know Pyper’s been managing this place for about five years?”
I nodded.
“Pyper is very dedicated to the girls, and last year the owner started demanding some new services, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t know, but I could take a guess. So I nodded again, getting really curious.
“As you can imagine, Pyper didn’t take kindly to that suggestion, so she basically told him to shove it. He didn’t like that too much and one night, the two of them got into it. Pyper was giving him a piece of her mind. Roy, the former owner, got a little physical. Kane was here and laid the guy out flat.”
“Really?” My mind flashed back to the night Kane removed Dan from the club. Enjoying the mental image, I smiled to myself.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Charlie gave me a rueful smile.
I giggled nervously and felt my face flush. “What happened after Kane knocked the guy out?”
“Roy had Kane banned from the premises and threatened to press charges. He went to the police and everything. Pyper was a mess, threatening Roy daily. Can’t you just see her, that tiny body standing in the office doorway, telling Big Old Roy how she was going to remove his balls with her bare hands? He would stand there six feet, two inches tall, always with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. She shot daggers at him with her eyes, and he’d growl at her. But she never backed down. We use to joke that if Roy went missing, Pyper would be the prime suspect.” Her grin widened. “We used to pray for it, actually.”
“Why didn’t she just leave?” I couldn’t imagine staying in such a toxic environment.
She shrugged. “He was determined to turn this place into a whorehouse. Pyper was determined to protect the girls.”
I stared up at her, blinked, and asked the question I was dying to know. “This place has never been more than what it seems on the surface?”
Charlie tilted her head. “It depends on what you mean by ‘what it seems.’”
I shrugged. “Just a strip bar.”
She smiled a wide devilish grin. “You have no idea what goes on in a regular strip bar, do you?”
The heat burned my neck. I shifted my eyes away toward the back of the storage room. “No, not exactly. But I can imagine,” I said as she hooted with laughter.
“God, you are something else. How did you ever end up working here?”
Unashamed, I said, “Pyper asked me to.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Me too.”
My eyes widened. “You didn’t, I mean, uh, you don’t work here for the benefits…?” Shit. I’d probably just offended her. Convinced my head would burst into flames from embarrassment, I stared at the file in my hand.
There was silence for a few beats. When I glanced in Charlie’s direction she threw her head back and laughed until the tears streamed down her face. Gasping for breath, she said, “Christ.”
I raised my head and let out the breath I’d been holding. “I’m glad you find me so humorous.”
Finally pulling herself together, Charlie wiped her eyes with a tissue I handed her from my purse. Still smiling, she reached out and grabbed my hand. “I’m so glad Pyper found you.” Her touch was light and friendly. “And no, I didn’t take the job for the benefits,” she dragged out the word “benefits” for emphasis. “But it’s a nice perk.” A cat-like grin took over her face as her pale green eyes sparkled.
I sent her a tentative smile and squeezed her hand before letting go. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I can be a little bit blunt.”
“A little bit? That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. Don’t worry,” she added, seeing my frown. “When you spend your whole life surrounded by women, a little directness is a great thing.”
“Uh, thanks.” We fell silent as we shuffled through the piles in front of us. Then I remembered. “You were telling me how Kane came to own this place?”
“That’s right, you distracted me.” She set the papers in her hand to one side. “But I have got to get something to drink first. You want anything?”
Nodding, I gave her my standard chai tea order and grabbed the next box as she strode out the door. I spent ten minutes going through more employee files. I knew everyone in the stack except the last one. It read: Charlene Keller; Lead Server.
“Huh, I wonder who that is. Charlene, Charlene.” I pictured all four cocktail servers standing up against the bar. My mind locked in on Charlie leaning against the back counter, giving them instructions, and I started to laugh. Feeling slightly dense but amused, I put the file aside and spotted one more box a few feet away.
I stood, dusted off my rear and sat in Charlie’s chair. Out of nowhere, agitation coursed through my veins. Where was this coming from? Gritting my teeth, I tried fruitlessly to build my defenses back up. The poison completely took over, burning a trail as it filled my soul with gut-wrenching hate. I doubled over and slid out of the chair. As I lay on the floor shaking, the venomous emotions began to fade.
Mentally bruised, I forced myself to my feet, glanced at the last remaining box and ran. The storage door slammed behind me. I propped myself against the hallway wall and took deep calming breaths to collect myself. Whoa. That was creepy. I’d never come across a piece of furniture as emotionally charged as that one. It made me want to sage smudge myself. With a shudder, I headed to the café in search of some more uplifting emotional energy.
Charlie was standing at the counter, talking to Pyper when I entered The Grind. Charlie handed me my chai and after a long sip, I let out a loud, “Ahh.”
“Oops. I must have been longer than I thought,” Charlie said.
“No, not that long. I just needed a break.” I turned to Pyper. “How about you? I could help out here if you need me to.”
Her smile didn’t reach her dark, tired eyes. “No, you’ve worked enough today. I have it covered.”
“Isn’t Holly here?” I asked, craning my head to look in the back.
“Sure.” Pyper glanced toward the tables in the front. “She’s interviewing someone.”
I spotted her sitting with a pretty brunette.
“College girl?”
Charlie nodded and turned her head toward them. “Fresh potential.” Her term for possible lesbians.
Pyper laughed, and I rolled my eyes.
“Come on, Charlene.” I tugged her arm. “You were helping me with a project, if I recall.”
Pyper snickered as Charlie’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You shouldn’t have left me alone with the files for so long if you didn’t want me to find out your real name,” I said.
“Shit. Don’t ever breathe a word of this.” She fell into step beside me.
I laughed then nodded toward Pyper as we walked back into the club. “I thought she was sleeping.”
“Me too. I told her we’d take care of the café and she should go back up, but she said she couldn’t sleep, so she figured she should be useful.” Charlie raised her hands, palms up. “I don’t know what else to do, but she sure looks like she needs some rest. If I didn’t know better I’d say she was on speed. But that isn’t her style.”
“If I was Pyper, I’d have to take speed to keep up with what she does. I don’t know how she handles it all without having a psychotic episode.”
“Me either.”
“I’m done looking at those files for now,” I told Charlie as I dropped into the folding chair in front of the desk.
“Did you find anything useful?” She picked up the phone.
I shook my head and waited for her to retrieve the messages. After she hung up I said, “But I still want the scoop. How exactly did Kane end up owning this place?”
“More than just idle curiosity?” She eyed me with her eyebrows raised.
I gave a noncommittal head shake.
“You could do worse.”
“I don’t have anything going with Kane.”
“Not yet,” she said.
When I didn’t respond, she shrugged and told me the story. The police had shown up at Kane’s door with questions. He cooperated, and the DA decided it was frivolous and not worth his time to pursue the charges. Roy filed a civil suit and then promptly told Kane he would be willing to settle out of court and let the whole thin
g go, as long as the price was right. Considering there were more than a handful of witnesses who saw Kane pull the first punch, a civil suit wasn’t looking so good in Kane’s favor. No one saw Roy threaten and hit Pyper—that happened in the office. It was after Kane saw Pyper and the bruises that he went after him. So Kane offered to settle, apparently a very generous amount. The only stipulation on Kane’s part was Roy had to sell the place to him as part of the deal.
“Had Kane been trying to buy the place prior to that?” I asked.
Charlie shook her head. “I don’t think so. At the time he was still working for some financial company. He just turned all the reins over to Pyper. It’s the best thing that ever happened around here. She’s a great boss.”
I nodded.
“But then a few months later she opened The Grind. I didn’t know it at the time, but the building next door was part of the deal.”
I’d been focused on the bit of information pertaining to Kane and him not being the strip club lord I had imagined. I felt as if a weight had lifted off my heart, and I smiled.
“What?” Charlie asked
“Nothing. I’m just glad things worked out.”
***
The imprint of Kane’s kisses lingered on my swollen tender lips. I stretched, enjoying the ache of well-used muscles. What the hell? Talk about realistic. I must have acted out a majority of the dream in my sleep. My temperature spiked as a few memorable scenes reeled through my brain. Thank goodness I didn’t have a roommate. At least, not a live one.
I scanned the room for any intruding ghosts. All was quiet and apparition-free.
Lying back, I ran my hands the length of my naked body, still tingling with tiny aftershocks from the wicked ways it felt like Kane had touched me. Yep. Definitely the best, most realistic dream ever.
As intense as dreaming of Kane had become, what I found more surprising was how I felt at the beginning of my dreams when I was with Mr. Sexy. I felt safe, loved even. I knew it should have been creepy, considering the ghost factor, but it wasn’t. It was…comforting, until he vanished and Kane took over. Dreams of Kane were anything but comforting. Intense. Hot. Naughty. The mental image of Kane, bare in only his skin, sent new heat to all the right places.
Forbidden Lovers Boxed Set Page 9
