Page 36 of Whips and Chains
My shoulders fell. “I didn’t realize that.”
Bliss smiled sympathetically at me. “You don’t really have to stick around if you want to come back when she’s on shift. We don’t actually make all our friends volunteer here.”
But I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I’m happy to help. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
Bliss jerked her head toward the hallway that led down to the private rooms Violet and I had cleaned the other day. “We just had a huge delivery come in this afternoon. We got the boxes back to the storeroom, but we desperately need to unpack them because we need a lot of the stuff to stock the private rooms for tonight. The front doors open soon, but we can’t open the private rooms until we restock them. They all need condoms, lube, new toys. I know it’s really unsexy, but there is actually a checklist on the back of the storeroom door that will tell you what needs to go where.”
I put my box down on the bar top for her so it was easy for her to unpack. “Sounds easy enough. I’ll get on it.”
She blew me a kiss and disappeared beneath the countertop, presumably putting drinks in fridges or maybe ice buckets.
I didn’t concern myself with what sort of cooling system they had, my brain was too full of everything I needed to talk to Violet about tonight. The fact she wasn’t here yet was probably a good thing. It gave me more time to calm my stupid nerves and think about what I was actually going to say.
Trying to talk to her outside Clean Sweep this afternoon hadn’t gone well at all. I had doubts that trying to talk to her during a different shift was going to go any better, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just sit around at the clubhouse, waiting for her to forgive me.
I wanted her.
I wasn’t going to get her by sitting around at home, whining about how she was the one who got away like some of the older guys liked to do. They were full of heartbreak stories now that they were too old to be fucking around with the club women.
I didn’t want to be a sixty-year-old biker with nothing to his name but the fucking Harley he rode. I loved my brothers at the club, and hell, I even loved my bike, but I loved Violet a hell of a lot more than either of them.
And the fact she didn’t know that was killing me.
Everything I’d done was because I loved her so damn much.
And because I knew I didn’t deserve her.
But God, I fucking wanted to. And I would do whatever it took for her to see that.
I easily found the storeroom Bliss had mentioned, right at the very end of the hallway, and clearly marked as staff only. I ignored the sign and turned the doorknob.
On the other side, the room was fully lit up with ugly fluorescent overhead lights that had none of the vibe the club had. I blinked in the brightness, and then again at the man standing on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Whip. And then squinted at his hand. “And what are you holding?”
Whip held up the combination of leather and latex. “I think it’s a ball gag with a dildo attachment? Not entirely sure. Which is a bit of a shock because I thought I’d seen it all.”
We both cocked our heads, staring at it.
I agreed his assumption did seem to be correct. “That doesn’t explain why you’re here though. Are you working with one of your clients?”
“No. I came to see Violet.”
My mouth flattened into a line. “Same. And she’s not here so Bliss put you to work?”
He put the ball gag/dildo contraption back on a shelf. “You too?”
I nodded.
He shrugged. “We’re going to need to unpack all these boxes before we can distribute them anywhere. Seems like they were really low on stock until this stuff came in.”
I shrugged out of my jacket, dropping it onto an empty shelf.
I turned around, only to catch Whip’s gaze wandering all over my chest, clad in a tight white T-shirt that clung to my pecs and abs, with sleeves that curved with my biceps.
I didn’t miss the flush of heat his gaze sent through my body.
Fuck. Why did he have to look at me like that? Or more to the point, why did he have to look the way he did in a suit? He was always in those fucking things, all damn fancy and completely out of place in a town like Saint View.
