Page 12 of The Single Dads Club
I need to leave before I do something stupid like beg her to quit.
And what would she do then, Alexei?
Come home with me again, my brain says, answering the unspoken question.
Not a good idea, and I know it. Yet, I still wish there was something I could do to fix this.
I find her lingering by the bar, where she’s waiting as the bartender fills a drink order. I’d forgotten how much taller I am, but standing beside her emphasizes how petite she really is.
She spins to face me. “Your food come out okay?”
I nod and shove a piece of paper at her. “Here’s my number. Please text me if you need anything. You or Ella. Okay?”
Ryleigh looks surprised, her big blue eyes peering up at mine as she accepts the scrap of paper. “Okay. But I won’t need it.”
Without a backward glance, I walk out with a hollow feeling inside my chest. A feeling of loss for something that was never really mine to lose.
Chapter Four
Ryleigh
“He’s a freaking pro football player, Ry!” Desiree squeals, grabbing my upper arms as she jumps up and down.
“I know,” I say, shrugging out of her grip to collect the money he left at the table, and count it.Dear God...
I’m still shaking from my exchange with Alexei. The last place I expected him to show up today was my work. Let’s face it, I wasn’t expecting him to show up anywhere in my world. I figured he’d run as fast as his athletic legs would carry him after he fulfilled his obligations from last night.
“Ry, I don’t think you understand. That wasAlex Freaking Ivan. And he asked to sit inyoursection,” she says, still grinning at me like this is the best news she’s ever heard in her entire life.
I’m a little surprised she recognized him, but then again, it’s possible Desiree follows sports more than I do. Scratch that—if there are attractive men involved, of course she follows.
“Why don’t you seem excited? He’s one of the most talked-about players in the league right now. He got into some huge scuffle with a reporter at the end of the last season, and got suspended. He almost lost his contract. But then he signed a new and even better contract for thirty million dollars ... as long as he can behave himself.”
Thirty million dollars.I feel light-headed and have to press one hand to the sticky table and take several deep, slow breaths. I can’t even imagine making thirty-thousand dollars right now.
I guess that explains why he throws money around like it’s nothing. What does one single man do with that much money? And why does theI can get my dick sucked anytime I wantdiscussion we had flicker in my mind in response to that answer? There’s no way that Alexei pays for sex, not a chance. I quickly try to get that thought out of my head. Alexei’s muscular body naked, his hips pumping ...
Stop, Ry.
“We’ve met once before,” I say offhandedly to Desiree as I clear the rest of Alexei’s uneaten lunch. I don’t dare tell her that I stayed the night in his guest room last night. She’d probably drop dead from a heart attack on the spot.
“He’s fucking hot. Tell me you’re going to call him. Please, God, I’ll call him if you don’t and pretend I’m you!”
I roll my eyes and lift the tray. Not one to be easily dissuaded, Desiree follows me into the kitchen.
She’s right. Alexei is hot. He’s tall and muscular and gorgeous. But given the circumstances of how we met ... the circumstances of my life right now? Yeah, the last thing I need is another complication, even a gorgeous and generous one.
“I don’t know,” I admit, and Desiree lets out a frustrated groan.
She pinches her lips together as she thinks this over. “Yeah, I guess it might not be good for him to be seen in public with someone who works at a topless bar. The media frenzy alone would be crazy.”
She has an interesting point, and one I haven’t considered. I’m trouble for a guy like him.
At first, I was horrified to have him see me here with my tits hanging out for God and everyone to see. But the way he looked at me? Like I was some lost puppy he needed to save? That felt like a punch to my gut. I won’t be someone’s pet project. Not ever. No fucking thank you.
So, I didn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to me. I just marched over to his table and treated him like any other customer. I put on my game face like I do for every other XY-chromosome who walks into the club, and pretended his look of pity didn’t make me feel like the dirt on the bottom of his football cleats.
Yes, of course I’d love to meet a man as handsome and generous as Alexei someday, but not because I can’t pay my rent and he wants to fix it for me. I want someone who wants me forme, who likes what I have to say, who thinks I’m funny and smart and beautiful. Not someone who sees a hot mess he needs to fix when he looks at me.
