Page 87 of Challenged by the Single Dad

Nobody wanted to leave and drive home in a proverbial monsoon, which meant the patrons got rowdy.

It wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle, but more than once she and Logan had to tell that group of twenty-something girls to get down off their table, and that tables were for plates, bowls, and cups, not for standing or dancing.

Chloe felt like she was a primary teacher again using that language, and by the time she got back to her cabin, she barely had enough energy to take off her eye makeup.

But that was a good thing. Being exhausted beyond the ability to move or think was a good thing. At first, she thought the fatigue and brain fog were from lack of water. She had a hard time remembering to drink anything when the pub was so busy. She asked Burke for a small glass of pickle juice to replenish her electrolytes, then set a timer on her phone for every twenty minutes so she remembered to drink. It seemed to help with the brain fog, but not with the exhaustion.

Maybe the incredible exhaustion was a good thing though, because had she had any remaining energy reserves, she probably would have used them to climb the hill, figure out which house was Dom’s, and knock for a booty call.

Which was all kinds of wrong, she knew that. Didn’t make her want him any less.

Seeing him in passing every day was enough to keep the embers of desire burning inside of her hot enough to roast a marshmallow. He hadn’t tried anything in a month though. Not since their two-time mistake in the cash room. She couldn’t go into that room without getting warm and tingly though. The memories were embedded into the walls, buried deep in her skin, and branded into her brain for eternity.

Dom definitely had a dominant side, and she was all over that.

Or at least she would be if they had any kind of a future.

Which they didn’t.

Totally depleted, she was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, which honestly felt like five minutes ago.

A quick check at the time said it was seven o’clock.

Growling again, she tossed the spare pillow from her face, peeled herself out of bed, and swung her legs over the side. She hadn’t even had enough energy to shower last night.

A quick sniff of her pits said she needed to shower before yoga. Deodorant wouldn’t cut it.

But first, coffee.

The elixir of the gods.

And the only reason she was able to even keep her eyes open as she drove down the quiet, wet roads of the island toward the yoga yurt.

Even though Brooke and Vica offered for her to ride with them, she was going to head straight to the hostel for her afternoon shift, so she declined.

Justine had to work all day Friday, so it was just Brooke, Vica, and Jordana that came into the pub the night before. They weren’t as rowdy as those younger women, but they knew how to let their hair down. Vica said she was “this close,” and made a pincher with her fingers, to convincing Dom to get a karaoke machine for the pub and holding karaoke nights.

Something told Chloe that Vica wasn’t as close as she thought she was.

Dom would never allow karaoke in his bar. The man was way too serious and grumpy for such benign shenanigans.

“There she is,” Brooke sung, coming out of a sitting forward fold, as Chloe entered the studio. “What time did the pub finally close down last night?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I didn’t leave until after midnight. There were so many glasses to clean, and some people—not you guys—eat like pigs. The amount of food on the floor …” She shook her head. “It was like toddlers were at the table.”

Jordana and Vica both snickered.

Chloe unrolled her mat beside Jordana and immediately went into child’s pose to stretch her lower back. All that standing last night, even on the fatigue mats, was wreaking havoc on her hips.

They chatted a bit more, the four of them, then Lotus walked in and asked them to turn their conversations inward for the next hour.

Bad idea.

Chloe’s brain couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Her vagina and clit were doing all the talking. And they were LOUD. And it was the same argument every day for the last month. They berated her for dismissing Dom—who was the best sex she’d ever had—and using the lame excuse of him being her boss as the reason they couldn’t be together.

But it wasn’t just that.

Yes, that was ahugepart of it. The power dynamic was messed up, and even though she would never accuse him of sexual harassment or misconduct, the other staff members could get resentful and say he was playing favorites or something. She didn’t want to lose the friends she was making, now that she’d finally decided to put down some shallow roots.

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