Page 15 of Mountain Daddy

And he’s staring right at me.

Dark hair, expensive watch, the kind of eyes that make knees hit the floor.

He’s with a man. But it’s Nikolai who beckons, who shines, who devours the world around me.

“Lilly.” Trish snaps her fingers in front of my face. “You're drooling.”

I'm not drooling. I'm having a small stroke.

I glance at her, silently begging for mercy.

She gives me a look like shedaresme to flinch.

She saw me leave that night. She handed me back the napkin. Gave me the evening off.

But the other girls?

Jealous.

Asking why I left early. Why I glowed the next morning. What I spoke to Nikolai Petrov about.

They whisper behind their hands. Give me side-eyes and tight-lipped smirks. Around here, Bratva attention is currency. And I had all of it for one night.

If I go over there again and so much as blink wrong, I’m fucked. If word gets back to management that I'm sleeping with customers...

“Move, now!” Trish's voice is flat. Final. “He's not the kind of man you say no to twice.”

Right. Like I neededthatreminder.

I have no safety net. Parents—gone. Car crash when I was twenty-two. No siblings. No trust fund. No soft place to land.

Just rent. Bills. And Trish, who looks one wrong answer away from firing me.

So I square my shoulders, grab my tray, and head toward the lion’s den.

Towardhim.

I spent the last week trying to convince myself it was just sex. The kind that ruins you for every other man alive, sure.

But still—just sex.

Except every time I close my eyes, it’s his hands I feel. Rough. Sure. Everywhere.

And all I can think about is how he made me come three times in one night without even breaking a sweat.

I’m screwed. Completely, utterly screwed. And not in the good way.

I check my reflection in the wall mirror as I pass.

Hair's decent.

Makeup's still intact.

Skirt's the right length.

But my hands are shaking. My heart kicks. My stomach flips. My skin burns with memory.

Get it together, Lilly. You're a professional. You can serve two men drinks without having a mental breakdown.

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