Naughty and Nice

by Sarah J. Brooks

  I knew better than to answer that question. I grinned. “Natalie might be.”

  Dean groaned. That just made me laugh.

  “She has hit on me every day since she was hired.” He sounded like he was confessing something to me. “I’m not sure how much longer I can take it, honestly.”

  That just made me laugh more, even though I knew it shouldn’t. “Why not just fire her?”

  “She’s a good worker; I don’t think it’s fair that I fire her just because I’m not interested in sleeping with her.”

  “She doesn’t seem to realize you’re not interested. It’s like she thinks you’re playing hard to get or something.”

  “She’s not really my type.” He shrugged.

  “What could you not like about her?” Sure she was super flirty, but she was pretty. Any guy would love to have her flirt with him.

  Dean turned to me. “Why do you think she wants to date me?”

  You’re hot?

  I didn’t dare say it out loud. “She didn’t say.”

  Dean laughed, though it sounded dry and a little bitter. “I own four casinos; I know the type. She wants to get on my good side so she can live some jet set life she thinks I lead.”

  “You mean you don’t?”

  “Live some jet set life? I’d say I live a pretty normal life, honestly, not the kind of life girls like her want. And there is nothing wrong with them wanting it—but I can’t provide it for them. Well, I can, but I won’t.”

  “You don’t like gold diggers.” I nodded. It made sense, but that didn’t answer the question I really wanted to know. Were him and Melina an item? The longer I didn’t know, the more I wanted to.

  “I’m guessing you don’t like men who take advantage of you, right?” I didn’t really need to answer his question. “It works for some people, not for me.” He shrugged. “Oh, looks like you’re saved.”

  I looked over to the entrance of the parking lot to see a tow truck coming towards us.

  As it came to a stop I pushed myself away from the car and made my way over to it.

  “Hi,” I held my hand out to shake his. He looked down at it for a couple seconds then shook. “I was hoping you could just take it to the shop.”

  “Alright.” He nodded. “We’ll include it in your bill. And we should call you in a few days to give you an idea of that, sound good miss?”

  “Sounds perfect.” I handed over my keys and felt something hot against the small of my back.

  My heart caught in my throat.

  “Ready to go?” Dean asked, standing beside me.

  “Uh, yea.”

  His hand was still on my back as we made our way to his car.

  My fingers ran over the sleek red paint as I walked around the front, stopped in the center of the car and dropped down to look at the horse on the grill. Not the kind of horse that’s on a Mustang. No. The kind that is on a Ferrari. I swallowed dryly.

  I was about to get into a Ferrari. My heart skipped a beat as I forced myself to stand up and walk to the passenger side door. Closing my eyes, I resisted the urge to squeal as I opened the door and stared at its gorgeous interior. Leather, wood, and shiny black. It was a dream. But it was the steering wheel I stared at. With the classic Ferrari symbol on the hood.

  Dean sat in the driver’s seat and gunned the engine. We sped out of the parking lot—or maybe we didn’t speed, and I just felt like we were because I was in a mother fucking Ferrari.

  “So, how are you enjoying work?” he asked as we made our way out to the street. “And uh, it would probably be best to tell me how to get there; otherwise, we’ll be driving all night.”

  I grinned. “Go left up here.” I pointed to the set of lights coming up. “And it’s good. You’ve got some great people there. Despite the fact, one of them seems to want nothing but to sleep with you.”

  “She works hard; I’ll give her that.”

  “You mean she works hard trying to sleep with you, or at her job?”

  Dean laughed softly. “Both.” He paused. “So, something I wanted to ask you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “I know you gave me that good line about why you wanted to work at the casino, but we all know the truth. Money.” I swallowed dryly. “What’s the real reason? What do you want to pay for?”

  I stared at him for a couple seconds. He didn’t sound angry or anything, just rational.

  “What gave it away? Was it too perfect?”

  “No.” He laughed. “I just know that’s the reason everyone wants to work there, it’s not like it’s a stepping stone job unless you’re hoping to get into the casino business.”

  “I’m not,” I said quickly. Honestly, that was the last thing I wanted to do. “College.”

  That was what I wanted.

  “Really?”

  “Yup. The reason everyone my age seems to need to work.” I stared out the window. Years of work to pay for college, but it would be worth it when I could finally work for myself, right?

  Of course.

  ***

  “Turn right. It’s the second house on the left.”

  I nodded as I took the turn, came to a stop in front of the apartment and looked it up and down; it was actually kind of nice. I’m sure the rent was a bitch on it, even though it wasn’t that nice. Although it looked a little outdated and small, the building looked well-kept and the lawn looked like it was taken care of. I was even sure I saw a small garden out front.

  I turned the engine off but left the keys in the car as I opened my door and stepped out. I circled around the back of the car and met her just as she was getting out. It was stupid, and I knew that, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. There was something about this girl that peaked my interest. Maybe it was that she didn’t hit on me—or that I wouldn’t mind if she did hit on me. Maybe it was that she found it amusing when Natalie hit on me, or that she hadn’t bashed Natalie for hitting on me.

  There was something about her that was different than most of the other girls. Now I understood why Melina liked her so much. I grinned as we headed back around the rear of my car. Rebecca stared at it as if trying to memorize every detail, and for the first time since I bought it, I was glad it was impressing someone.

  I let her lead the walkway up to the building. It looked like it was pretty new, maybe 2006-sh, a split and even had a porch.

  “Is that your garden?”

  “Yup, I like to eat veggies, and I love strawberries, but my money can go hella further if I don’t buy too many fruits, especially out of season. So I grow ’em and stock up.” She grinned a little. “Well, I try. I kinda suck at it.”

  I laughed. See, that was something I liked about her. A girl with a good sense of money. I gave myself a mental rebuke. She was one of my employees.

  I wasn’t flat out against dating employees, but I did try to avoid it. I’d seen how it affected relationships with workers.

  “I guess I shouldn’t swear in front of you, eh? You being my boss and all.”

  “I won’t give you trouble, as long as it’s not at anyone in the casino.”

  “I’ll try to behave. Promise.”

  “Melina says you’re going to be good at the job.”

  She paused as she reached into her purse. “I’ll try my best.” She smiled.

  I stepped towards Rebecca as she pulled the keys out of her purse, not realizing how close I was to her until her perfume caught my senses. She smelt like a blueberry muffin. I took a deep breath.

  “Do you, um need a ride tomorrow?” Oh, God, I hoped she said yes.

  “No! I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “It’s on my way, actually,” I lied.

  “Still, I can’t be more hassle to you.” She smiled. “Anyways, I wouldn’t want Natalie to think I’m trying to steal you from her.” She grinned.

  For the first time since meeting her, I looked her up and down carefully. She had dark brown eyes with small flakes of gold; her black hair was set in waves today, and she
wore bright red lipstick. I swallowed dryly, staring at her lips and resisted the urge to kiss her.

  “You mean you don’t want her to get jealous?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s for your safety, not mine.” She grinned. “If she’s like this now, can you begin to think what she will be like if she thinks she does actually have a shot at sleeping with you?”

  I managed not to groan thinking about it, but the idea was not fun. She looked away as my eyes trailed down her body.

  My uniform looked perfect on her. If I’d actually designed it around anyone, I would have sworn it was her, though maybe I was just being biased as I felt blood flow. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried not to focus on her. But with my eyes closed, I could think of things so much better-or worse than the way the uniform looked on her.

  “Anyways, thank you for the ride. It really would have sucked to have to take the bus.”

  I opened my eyes to see she was still standing close to me. Fuck it.

  I closed the distance without a word, my lips crashing against hers.

  Chapter Three

  I stood there as his fingers brushed my cheek gently. His warm, soft lips touched mine.

  Arousal pooled in the pit of my stomach. He’s my boss. I thought it. I knew I should pull away, but I didn’t.

  I hadn’t been kissed like that in a long time.

  I pulled him closer to me, a soft moan escaping as my fingers tangled into his hair. His left hand traced down the curves of my body. I knew I shouldn’t do it, but my teeth grazed his lower lip gently. Dean sighed as his hand touched the top of my butt but didn’t dare move lower. I swallowed back desire, nibbling his lower lip.

  He pulled away from me just enough so that he could nip my lip gently. I moaned, my fingers tangling in his hair, pulling gently for a fraction of a second. I have to see him tomorrow. At work. In front of everyone.

  I froze.

  The second my lips stopped moving, so did Dean’s. He pulled away from me, his eyes locked on mine.

  “I …” He trailed off.

  I stared at his lips, my lipstick smeared all over him, and swallowed dryly, forcing myself to focus.

  “Thank you for the ride,” I repeated myself, dug my spare house key out of my purse and unlocked the door. “I’ll … see you around.”

  “Yea, see you around Rebecca.” His voice sounded strained as he turned and headed down the walkway.

  I didn’t dare wait around to watch him, not being sure I could manage that. I ran up three flights of stairs as if that would keep my mind off the kiss we’d just shared. It didn’t, of course.

  I bit my lip as I came to the landing and decided what door to go for. I didn’t go for my own; I went for my best friend’s.

  “Katie,” I called as I knocked once and then opened her door.

  She looked up, her thick blonde hair tied in a messy bun and her reading glasses on. “What’s up buttercup?”

  I closed the door behind me, stepped into her apartment, kicked off my shoes and walked towards the brown, fluffy couch.

  I dropped down onto the couch with wide eyes.

  “Oh, no. What happened?”

  Katie jumped to her feet and hurried over to the couch. “You only get that look when something really crazy happens.”

  “I kissed my boss.”

  My hand raised to my lips as I heard the words come out. Oh no, no, no. This was bad. I didn’t kiss my bosses. That was wrong.

  I stared at Katie, waiting for her to say something.

  “Well … was he a good kisser?”

  “What?” I snapped.

  “It would be awkward if he wasn’t.”

  “Yes, because that is the issue here.” I frowned at my best friend. Why didn’t she see the issue here? If I kissed my boss, he’d think I wanted more, or he’d fire me to avoid having more, or just fire me before it was unprofessional. I groaned, my head hitting the back of the couch. “I’m screwed.”

  “Really?” She gave me a grin and wiggled her eyebrows. I glared. “Okay, okay. Just trying to lighten the mood.” She held her hands up in defense. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

  “Well, Jade wouldn’t start, so I called a tow truck and Dean—”

  “Your boss?”

  “Yes. My boss, he happened to be around when all this was happening so he offered to give me a ride. He drives a fucking Ferrari by the way, so yea I just came here in a mother fucking Ferrari.”

  Katie stared wide-eyed at me. “Damn, I wanna meet this boss of yours.”

  “I told you; he’s rich. Like super rich apparently. Anyways, this is off topic.” I shook my head, getting my story back to where it was going in the first place. “He drove me home, and we had a nice little ride where we chatted and all that crap, then we come to a stop here, and he walks me up to the door and … and I’m thanking him for the ride and all of a sudden, bam. He’s got his lips on me.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I kissed him back.” I felt my cheeks flush. “I know I shouldn’t have; I was so caught up in the moment that I just … I kissed him back and then when I realized what I was doing and how wrong it was I pulled away and …”

  “And then what?”

  “And then he left. I thanked him for the ride again, and he walked away.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “And now I have to see him again tomorrow. And for the rest of my career at the casino.”

  Okay, that was that. I was going to have to quit.

  Yup. Only answer. There was no way I was going to be able to deal with this.

  It took you three months to find that job; you can’t just give it up.

  So that was out. Great.

  That meant I was going to have to face Dean tomorrow morning.

  “It’s not that bad, at least you two didn’t have sex …” Katie stared at me. “You … you didn’t right?”

  “Of course not!” I glared at her. I wasn’t that stupid. Although I would have loved to invite him up to my apartment if I were going to be honest with myself. I sighed. “I’m just not sure how I’m going to face him tomorrow.”

  “Like nothing happened.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  It took Katie thirty seconds to say anything. “I’ve done it with my teachers before.”

  I stared at her. “Really?”

  “Yup. So don’t feel too bad; we’ve all been there.”

  “Thanks.” I pulled my best friend into a hug. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to face Dean tomorrow, but I did know that I was going to have to. I couldn’t leave the job. It was too important, so I’d face him, and I’d pretend it never happened. I’d just pretend that he’d never even given me a ride home. It might not be the healthiest thing to do, but it’s what I was going to do.

  ***

  I slammed the door as I made my way inside. How stupid had I been to do that? Dammit, Dean. She works for you. She probably thought I’d only given her a ride to try and get down her pants. I hadn’t meant to kiss her; I hadn’t intended to.

  “Too late,” I muttered. It didn’t matter what I had or hadn’t intended to do, what mattered was what she thought, and right now there was no way she didn’t think I was trying to get down her pants.

  I padded to my fridge, pulled out a beer and made my way into my bedroom. Dropping onto my bed, I pulled the blankets over me and reached for my laptop. I’d have loved to do anything other than work, but the fact was there was still a lot I needed to get done, and it wasn’t going to get done on its own. Still, I couldn’t take my mind off her. Going through my email, all I could think about was her pulling me closer—like she’d actually wanted to kiss me.

  I took a long swig of beer. Had she? Had she only pulled away from me because I was her boss, or had there been another reason for it?

  Her kiss had felt like she wanted more, much more. But she pulled away, and that’s what confused me. Why would she have pulled away if she’d wanted more from me?

  I sh
ook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as I focused on getting work done.

  ***

  “Dean wants us all in the lobby for a staff meeting.” Melina gave me a wide smile as she poked her head into the room.

  “Alright.” Laying the tray down on the counter, I followed her out of the room to the lobby. It looked like everyone was already gathered around, at least, a lot of people were already there. I swallowed dryly as they all talked to each other, not realizing just how many people were here. A couple people stared at me, and then whispered to a friend or two, but as soon as Dean cleared his throat everyone turned to look at him. Except me.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look at the man I’d kissed last night. What had I been thinking? It was stupid to even hug him. It was wrong. I wasn’t going to be that girl.

  “Sorry to take you all away from your hard work, but I wanted to get a word with everyone before we opened up. I know we’re still pretty new, but I just wanted to thank everyone for the hard work they’ve been putting forward.” Instead of looking at Dean, I focused on Melina; she was almost at the front of the group, but it almost looked like she separated herself from us as if there was something special about her. “I know the press has already been trying to get in here, but we’re going to hold them off for a couple days until we have our big welcoming event, which will also be our first fight night. I know it’s gotta be kinda scary working for a casino that just popped up, but I want to assure everyone that we’ve got a plan, and that plan has proven itself before. Part of that plan is clear communication with everyone, so if you ever have any questions or concerns, my door is always open.”

  Everyone nodded, their eyes all fixed on him. I forced myself to look quickly.

  His eye caught mine. Or maybe it didn’t? I wasn’t sure honestly, but it felt like he was staring at me like no one else was around us as he spoke. “I just wanted to let you know you’re doing a great job, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me you’re here helping.” He cleared his throat. “Now, that’s out of the way, I’ll let you all get back to work. Thank you!” He looked away from me as he turned to say something to a man in a suit I’d never seen before.

  Everyone started to go off in their own direction. I turned.