Page 61 of Darling Obsession

“You were supposed to start there tonight,” he growls.

“I know.”

“But you blew off the job. Why?”

Seriously? That’s what he’s so riled up about?

“Because it’s at a sex club, Harlan!”

He clamps his mouth shut and fumes in silence, the computer upstairs working overtime.

“Yeah. Youshouldbe ashamed.”

“I’m not ashamed,” he says darkly.

Okay, now I’m annoyed.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. The situation you put me in wasembarrassing. Your assistant Brant put me in touch with this very nice woman named Monique, and I met her at a café downtown. She was so lovely, we chatted, she told me how highly recommended I came, and how happy she was to welcome me to the club. I signed the NDA she brought for me, and then she told me all about the job. Wherein I’d be serving cocktails to rich sex fiends in the fancy bar at asex clubcalled Bliss.”

“There is no way she said ‘sex fiends,’” is Harlan’s calm reply.

Oh,nowhe’s coolheaded?

“I’m paraphrasing!”

“It’s a completely safe work environment. The waitresses aren’t there for sex. Club members know that.”

I frown. “You seem to know a lot about it…”

He frowns back. “It’s my brother’s club.”

“Are you a member there?” It just slips out before I know it’s going to. Because I’ve been dying to know.

I can’t believe he actually answers. “No. But there are rules in place. You won’t be preyed upon. I wouldn’t have you work there if it wasn’t safe.”

“That god complex of yours is really shining through again.”

His eyebrows furl. “God complex?”

“I can’t work there, Harlan,” I say firmly. “It’s not who I am.”

“What? A waitress? The employment contract is clear. I read it. You’ll serve drinks, that’s all.”

God. He does not listen well.

“Even if I wanted to work there, I wouldn’t. It’s all the way over in West Vancouver. When you said you arranged a job for me at some private club, I assumed it was downtown.”

“What’s wrong with West Vancouver? The club is in a very exclusive, upper-class neighborhood, and has rigorous security. You’d be safer there than working anywhere else in town.”

“I’m sure it’s very posh. But I can’t afford the commute time or the expense. I have to rely on transit and Uber when my car breaks down, which is often.”

He considers that. “I can provide car service as part of the deal.”

Is he for real?

Yup. He seems deadly serious about all of this.

I still don’t understand why.

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