Page 79 of Shade

His phone hitting the table makes a thump, and he glances out the window with a dramatic roll of his head, his arms crossing over his chest. He’s quiet for a moment and then snorts, tipping his head to the ATM across the street where a woman is digging through her purse.

He nudges Willa. “Pretty sure that chick thinks her bag is twice as deep as it is. What the fuck is she looking for?” No sooner does he ask that the woman turns around. “Oh, damn. . . .” Shade’s lips press into a flat line, a subtle shake to his head and he reaches for his drink. “That’s a dude.”

Willa rolls her eyes at him and smiles at me. “Would you like something to drink?”

It takes me a moment to reply. I’m so nervous my lips barely work.

Hector approaches just then, or maybe he had been there all along, I’m not sure. “What’ll it be, Scar?”

I wink at him. “Can I get a Kamikaze?”

Shade raises his sunglasses, intense blue eyes fringed by dark lashes land on mine, studying me with unnerving intensity. “You’re at a job interview and you ordered a shot?”

Willa side-eyes him. “She can order a shot.” Then she motions to his drink. “You’re drinking.”

I gulp, literally fucking gulp like I’m swallowing a pill. “That was the wrong thing to do, wasn’t it?Fuuuuuck.” I slap my hand over my mouth. “Oh shit, crap, sorry. I know I shouldn’t have said that either. Crap. Mila told me to be cool and this is what I do?”

Pretty sure in the last ten seconds, I lost any chance at getting this job.

And then it happens. Shade laughs, an adorable chuckle falling from his beautiful lips. My eyes snap to his, our eyes meet. He’s smiling, areal, pearly white smile and my heart flutters because this kind of smile has to be earned. “You’re a little crazy, aren’t you?” I bask in the feeling of being on a roller coaster, one where smiles send you sailing into the blue of Shade’s eyes. Before I get too high, he sweeps his amused stare to Willa. “You’re going to leave me withher?”

You’re a little crazy? Why would he think that?

Oh, well maybe because one, you ordered a shot at a job interview and two, said fuck, not once, but twice now.

Willa ignores Shade and leans forward, her forearms pressing into the table. “Scarlet, tell us about yourself.”

Bad idea. Why anyone would ask that question at this point is beyond me. There’s no coming back from ordering a shot and cursing, so I’m honest from then on out. Might as well be, right? Wrong. This will come back to bite me in the ass like it always does. And not the good kind of bites Shade can deliver. These are the kind of bites a brown recluse death spider would deliver.

You know what else happens when I begin to speak? Look across the table.

Guess who placed his sunglasses on the table and is listening?

Shade.

“Well, as you already know, I’m a little bit fucked up,” I admit, being completely honest. “I’m twenty-six. I dropped out of college. Couldn’t afford it without a scholarship so I got a job here and have worked at the hotel with Mila for the last five years, and it’s something I’ve always enjoyed.”

“What was your major in college going to be?”

I’m ashamed to admit it. “I hadn’t declared one and even now, I wouldn’t know if I had to pick something.”

“Is your goal to be in management?” Willa asks, seeming genuinely interested.

“Fuck no.” Face palm.Jesus, stop cussing!“I feel that when you get to a management position, you lose touch with what you love about the job. You’re everything to everyone, and the personal relationship is gone. I enjoy people. In management, you’re directing everyone but you’re involved in nothing. I like more personal interactions.”

My stare snaps to Shade when I hear him chuckle under his breath.

“How personal?” Shade asks, that intensity returning, as does a defiant smirk he flashes. Despite a room full of people, my heart goes wild when his smirk curves into a smile, my blood racing through my veins. He’s giving me his full attention now.

Before I can say personal enough you wouldn’t pull out, Willa clears her throat, and I blink, looking away, my breathing secretly increasing.

We stand, because Willa does and I’m not sure what else to do, so I stand.

“Okay, thanks for meeting with us.” Reaching out, Willa shakes my hand, again, and guess who reaches for my hand this time?

Yep. Shade.

I’d like to think he feels a spark or even a memory of the time we shared when our hands touch, but truth be told, I doubt he does. His eyes aren’t on mine. They’re on my tits and then lower as they make a very erotic sweep over my five-foot-six frame.

I tingle. All over and I know he can see my nipples harden under the dress because I know I didn’t take my nipple rings out before changing. Helpless to his presence and the way it controls every part of my body, including the ability to function, my skin warms and my cheeks blush before I can step away.

He must like what he sees because he smiles, slyly, twirling a strand of my curls around his finger as he whispers, “I’ll put in a good word for you.”

Again. Gulp.

At least he didn’t ignore me this time.

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