“Oh, I actually wondered if I could speak to the person who does the hiring.”
“We don’t have any openings,” the man behind her growled as he moved up behind the woman. “Especially not for someone who’s been fired.”
Sarah was shocked; how did he know she’d been fired? “Um, may I ask how you know that?”
“Sure. We were warned. Feller came in here yesterday telling us that we shouldn’t hire anyone fitting your description cause she was fired for rudeness and dumping stuff on people. We don’t want none of that here, missy. Now have a sit and eat or get out,” the man growled glaring at her.
Sarah was shocked because this must be the work of that asshole that she’d insulted last night. The man was trying to prevent her from getting another job. How dare he! He’d come in here and told these people she might come in and request a job. She was pissed.
Leaving the diner, she drove to the restaurant only to get told the same thing. She was livid but at least she still had the interview for this afternoon. She glanced at her watch. She’d have just enough time to go to the last place on her list, a cleaning company that took in laundry.
Sarah was beyond mad when she discovered that the man had also come to the cleaners with the same story and she wondered if there was a single place in this town that the man hadn’t gone to and bad-mouthed her. She was about to head to her interview when her phone rang. Not knowing the number, she answered hesitantly.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Miss Banner?”
“Yes, this is Miss Banner.”
“Perfect. I hope I caught you before you left to come to your interview with us at Sunshine Day School. If not, I am sorry. I’m calling to let you know that we actually just hired the last applicant who showed up and won’t be needing you to interview. We appreciate your interest,” the woman said and Sarah wanted to cry. She’d been counting on the interview, hoping that he hadn’t gone to the daycares too. Only now it looked like she wasn’t even going to get a chance.
“Oh, well, um, do you want me to interview anyway in case this person doesn’t work out?” she asked, hoping they’d say yes.
“No, thank you for offering but that’s not necessary. We will keep you on the call list and if another position opens up, you’ll be on the list for us to call first. Thanks again, Miss Banner, and we will call you if we have an opening.”
Sarah woodenly thanked the woman and smacked her head against the steering wheel. Damn, now what was she going to do?
That was when a sign across the street caught her eye. It read Blue Bird Strip Club and Sarah stared at it for a long moment. She closed her eyes. This was crazy but she was sure that asshole wouldn’t have walked into a strip club and bad mouthed her. Then again he’d said he was soon to be a prospect with the Blue Bandits and everyone around here knew that they ran the Blue Bird.
She knew that she could pack up Josh and just drive away when her paid weeks at the motel were up, go to another town and get a job, but she’d miss Sammy, and she’d never had somewhere to call home and she wanted that. Being here with Sammy over the last three years had kept her strong. When Cody had handed her the credits and told her to get the abortion, she hadn’t known what to do. She was alone with a baby on the way and she’d known damned good and well that she wasn’t going to kill her baby.
She had already started working for Hal a few weeks before she found out about Josh. Sarah had already started to create the bonds of friendship and it didn’t take Sammy long to figure out she was pregnant. She’d been Sarah’s rock from the moment she found out and she still was. They’d been friends for a long time and Josh loved his Auntie Sam almost as much as she did.
Sarah knew her friend would help her, but she’d promised never to be her mother and she’d do what she had to do to keep that promise. A hard determination filling her, she started the car. She drove across the street and parked next to about twenty bikes and a few cars. Seemed it was early for the crowds, which was good for her. She gripped the wheel, looking out the window at the two men leaning against the wall near the door.
Was she really going to do this? She must be losing her mind. She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes on the two men wearing leather vests. One had a nose ring, with a chain hanging from his waist and wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. The other wasn’t wearing a shirt but wore a leather vest too; his upper body was covered in tattoos.
She wasn’t frightened by the tattoos; they were beautiful. She’d always thought tattoos were sexy. He had a butterfly across his chest that was coming from the mouth of a skull. It wasn’t a traditional girly butterfly; it was made up of jagged edges and fire and it was a work of art. Breathtaking in a way and frightening in another. Sarah could see that the man with the tattoos had a scar that ran along his left cheek from beneath his eye all the way up to his hairline.
She was debating driving away and forgetting about her promise to not be her mother when she realized she couldn’t do that. She just wasn’t able to live off her best friend no matter what, not when there was a chance that she’d be able to get a job.
Steeling herself for walking into the club, she got out of her car. Pulling her purse onto her shoulder, she began moving towards the door. The man with the nose ring tapped the other and pointed at her. The other man laughed at whatever he’d said and Sarah wanted to run back to her car and get the hell out of here, but she didn’t. She kept walking towards them with determination.
“Are you lost, sweetcheeks?” asked the tatted man.
“No,” she replied flatly, refusing to allow them to frighten her away. She was doing this for Josh. The flyer had said they paid five hundred credits plus tips and that was better than anywhere else in town. She should have come here first but she’d wanted somewhere men wouldn’t be jerk-offs and this didn’t seem like that place to her.
“This is a strip club you know,” the second man snickered.
“I know,” Sarah said between her teeth, not willing to back off this idea now that she’d had it. She was determined to talk to whoever did the hiring here, even if she had to get past these two buffoons to do it.
“And you decided to come here wearing that?” he asked, his brows rising to his hairline in amazement.
“Yes,” Sarah said flatly.
“Sweetcheeks, I think you should get back in your car and leave. This isn’t the place for a lady,” nose ring guy told her, looking at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“I’m here to apply for the waitress job. Now let me through.”
“Uh, yeah. I don’t think you’d be a good fit for that job. So why don’t you just get back into your car and leave,” tattoo said, gesturing to her car.
Sarah wanted to scream at them that she wasn’t a child, she was twenty-seven years old and she could damned well decide for herself if she wanted to walk into a damned strip club. She was about to tell them just that when a woman came out of a door nearby. She was wearing a green skirt that reached just above mid thigh and a white top that ended at the top of her rib cage displaying her flat stomach. She also had a rather large rack.
“What’s going on here?” the woman asked.
“She wants to apply for the waitress job. We think she should leave,” nose ring said.
“Huh, seems to me she’s old enough to know what she wants. Let her in, Rebel.”
Sarah was glad the woman was on her side and she didn’t have to scream at these men. She nodded to the other woman in thanks.
“Candy, look at her, she isn’t really the type to be in a strip club.”
“Look, she didn’t ask you if it was okay, Iron. She’s an adult and seems to be in her right mind as far as I can tell. Let her in. It’s her life and if she wants to become a waitress at a strip club it’s her business, not yours. Let the boss handle it.”
“Fine, but if Reaper gets pissed off, I’m selling your ass out, Candy,” the one called Rebel told her.
“Whatever.” Candy rolled her eyes.
> “Thanks,” Sarah said to her as she turned to leave.
Candy glanced back at her saying, “Don’t thank me yet, sugar. They aren’t kidding about Reaper and let’s just say that he likes his women hot and naked, not prim and proper. Good luck. You’re going to need it.” Then she walked to her car and left. Sarah wasn’t sure if she liked the woman or not but she’d gotten her in the door at least.
Chapter 6
“Nice ink,” she told Iron as she opened the door and entered the club.
“What the fuck just happened?” she heard Rebel ask Iron.
“I have no fucking idea, but Candy’s ass is going to be in a sling I bet,” she heard the reply as the door shut behind her, drowning out anything else they might have said. Sarah stood in the doorway for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dim interior. Her hands trembled and she felt a little queasy. She looked towards the front, seeing about seven men who were focused on the stripper who was sliding around the pole naked.
Sarah felt her cheeks heat and she again questioned her choice to walk in here. What the hell was she thinking? This was crazy. She might have walked out then if a man wearing a leather vest with brownish blond hair and green eyes hadn’t come forward.
“What the hell? Those two buffoons let you come in here? Idiots. Miss, you need to leave, this is not the place for you,” he grumbled.
Sarah felt her back straighten and her determination to prove these men wrong became stronger than her need to get the hell away from this place. She needed this job and the credits in order to give Josh a better life. She wasn’t leaving.
“I’m here to apply for the waitress job,” she told him firmly, even as her insides shook with fear.
“What? Wait, you came to get a job here?” He looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Yes,” Sarah said through her teeth.
“Wearing that?” His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open a bit.
Sarah sighed. What the hell did they have against kakis and a freaking cardigan? She met the man’s eyes with her own. “Look, can I just talk to whoever does the hiring around here?”
“I think maybe you should leave. You’re a little out of your depth here, aren’t you? There are other places a lady like you can work around here.”
“Look. I didn’t ask you to tell me what you think I should do! I said I want to fucking talk to whoever does the hiring. Now let me talk to them damn it!” Sarah felt anger course through her, eliminating the lingering fear. The man looked startled for a moment by her demand. Then his face darkened and he motioned for her to follow him.
“It’s your funeral then. Cause the boss isn’t going to like this much. You’re not really the type we hire and this is going to be a waste of his time. That’s going to piss him off, but again, not my problem.” He turned, leading her down a long hallway with lots of doors. One to the left opened and a man stepped out, but she could see over his shoulder two naked women on a table and three other men watching.
Sarah realized that the rooms were for lap dances and private parties. Feeling fear rise up inside her again, she followed the man down the hallway. She didn’t know where he was taking her and for all she knew, this man could rape or even kill her and then what would become of Josh. He led her to the end of the hallway and opened a door on the right and gestured impatiently for her to go inside.
She was relieved to see that it was an office, not one of the private rooms. She entered the room and turned back to face him.
“Have a seat, Reaper will be here in a second.”
Sarah nodded and watched as he closed the door. She looked around the office while she waited. The room was definitely a man’s office. There were statues of naked women and two large paintings of them on the walls. The one surprise was that beside the desk along one wall was a bookshelf. She approached it a bit in awe. It was filled with books. She ran a reverent finger over the title of one.
She’d never seen so many books in one place. Not many of them had survived the destruction of the world sixty years ago. The ones that had were extremely expensive and rare. Very, very rare. Yet she was amazed to see there were about a hundred on the bookshelf.
Reaper was watching Bambi strip in the private room two doors down from his office. He’d been in an odd mood today and he needed a distraction. His head had started hurting about an hour ago and he thought maybe sex might help, but for some reason he wasn’t really into Bambi’s show. He figured it was the throbbing behind his eyes that was putting a damper on his fun.
The door opened and Reaper glared at Lock who stood in the opening.
“What?” he demanded.
“Sorry to interrupt, boss, but there’s a situation you need to handle.”
“I’m fucking busy. Can’t you handle it? Isn’t that why I have you around?” Reaper demanded.
“Yeah, but this isn’t something I can handle. It’s ah…a situation you need to see,” Lock said, stumbling over his words and looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable. Lock was normally unflappable so this must be an odd situation. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead, leaning back into the booth he was sitting in.
“I really am not in the mood for any bullshit, Lock,” he growled, glancing at him.
“I know. It’s just an unusual problem that I think you need to handle. Because I have no fucking idea what to do with her,” Lock grumbled, looking both shocked and confused.
It wasn’t a look that he could ever remember seeing on Lock’s face before. It must be some crazy bitch if Lock was looking like that. He wasn’t in the mood for dealing with crazy bitches tonight. “Throw her out. I’m not in the mood,” he told him, looking at him after lifting his arm off his eyes.
“I can’t throw her out.” Lock looked horrified at the thought and Reaper wondered what the fuck had the man so rattled. Deciding that he was going to have to handle whatever the fuck was going on because Lock was acting odd, he stood.
“Lock, why did you ruin my fun? Reaper, make him take care of it. I was just about to give you a blowjob,” Bambi whined. Reaper ignored her. He hadn’t even been hard from her show. He stood, walking towards the door, not bothering to speak to Bambi.
“Fine. Where the fuck is this woman I need to get rid of?” Reaper asked Lock as he exited the room.
“Your office.” Reaper nodded, walking down the hall to the door at the end, which was two doors away from the Bandits’ private room he’d been in with Bambi. His hand was on the knob when Lock stopped him.
“Reaper, it’s not a joke. So don’t be too hard on her. She’s different.” Reaper stared at the other man for a long moment wondering what the hell he was walking into. Shaking his head at the look on Lock’s face, he turned the knob and pushed the door open, stepping inside.
A woman had her back to him and was reverently running her hand over his book collection. He stared in shock at the woman’s back, anger beginning to spring up inside him. What the fuck? The woman was wearing a freaking cardigan and cargo pants. He suddenly realized why Lock had such a hard time dealing with this woman. He’d always been a sucker for a lady.
Reaper didn’t have such problems. This woman didn’t belong here and he had no problem telling her to get the fuck out of his club. He shut the door with a loud snap. She jumped and spun around.
Reaper’s breath caught and for a second he didn’t breathe. His dick jumped to attention and he was unable to speak. He stared into the woman’s amber eyes that seemed to pierce into him, framed by dark lashes and set in a face that was truly a work of art. Her hair was thick and flowed across her shoulders in raven colored waves; her lips were full and looked like they’d be soft, kissable. She moved her hand nervously to push her hair out of her eyes and the spell she’d cast over him was broken.
“I’m Reaper. What the fuck are you doing in my club?” he asked in a cold steely voice, uncomfortable with the way she’d captivated him for a moment when she’d turned to look at him with those haunting amber eyes that seem to see into
his soul.
She was trembling, he could tell by the way her hands shook, but she seemed to pull herself together suddenly. Her eyes darkened and she stood straighter. She still only came to about chest height but it surprised him that she was able to stiffen her spine enough when she was obviously frightened by him. Impressive. Grown men had turned tail and run from him when he turned that voice on them.
“I’m here to interview for the waitress job,” she replied. He was impressed again by the strength of her response. She didn’t flinch when he glared at her, crossing his arms to watch her.
“I don’t think that you interviewing will be necessary. I can already tell by what you have on that you aren’t capable of working here.” He figured that blatant dismissal would do the trick, that she’d turn tail and run from him and his club. He just wasn’t sure yet if he’d let her and that frightened him more than anything ever had.
“I’m quite sure, Mr. Reaper, that my clothing has nothing to do with whether or not I am qualified for a position as a waitress,” she said, glaring back at him coldly.
“Just Reaper.”
“What?” she said, a confused look spreading across her face.
“My name. It’s just Reaper. Not Mr.”
“Oh.” She scrutinized him and he stood to his full height, watching her much like a lion watches an elk.
“It does have to do with your qualifications,” he told her, wondering how far she’d take this farce. Was this a game to her? Was she seeing how far she could press him?
“What?” she asked again, looking confused by his words. Reaper shook his head, glaring at her again.
Sarah stared at the man who seemed to suck all the air from the room with his presence. She’d been startled from her awe by his shutting the door with a loud snap. She turned and her eyes had met his and for a moment as she’d stared into their pale grey depths she’d felt strangely safe in a way she hadn’t in years.
That sensation had quickly been banished when he’d snapped at her, and fear had flooded her, making her hands tremble. Unwilling to allow circumstances to force her to live in her car with her son, she’d braced her spine and spoken firmly to the man. She needed to show him that she wasn’t a weakling and that she could handle the element of men who came into this place. Including him.
Reaper Unleashed Page 5
