Page 10 of Loving Lex

Damn. That was a dead end. “Okay.”

As we moved back out front, I was preoccupied, wondering if these murders could’ve been connected with Stone’s death. Had he been caught up in that, or was my original instinct about Kane more on target?

Suddenly, there was the loud crash of something heavy and metallic, followed by glass shattering all over the marble floor. Shrieks and several muffled curse words followed.

Jarod chuckled under his breath next to me. “Looks like Bailey hired a newbie who doesn’t know her tits from a tray.”

I glanced over to see a brunette in barely-there, glittery silver boy shorts bent over several spilled drinks on the ground a few feet away.

Something in the curve of that ass seemed familiar... and those red-soled shoes...

She stood, tray now full of broken glass, her head down in embarrassment as she turned. She was topless, with the most gorgeous, perfectly proportioned, rosy-tipped breasts I’d ever seen in my life.

Holy. Mary. Mother. Of. God.

My mouth went dry as she moved in my direction, those breasts bouncing gently, and I felt like a fucking teenager again.

As she straightened her spine and raised her head, her cheeks aflame but her chin lifted with resolve, those heavily lined, feline green eyes lifted to mine. They were shiny with unshed tears and sent a kick straight to my gut.

What the fuck?

“Duchess?” I bit out, more than a little shell-shocked to be seeing her in this place. With no top on.

She stumbled, nearly tripping on those killer heels and almost toppling that tray of shattered glass all over again. She was not happy to see me, but she kept it in check as her gaze swept to Jarod then back to me.

“What the hell are you doing here, Johnny?” she managed to bite out finally, as she very strategically maneuvered that tray to try and cover herself.

“I could ask you the same thing.” It took all I had not to let my eyes drop to her tits.

She lifted a haughty brow. “I work here.”

“So do I.”

She huffed out a breath. “Lucky me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Guess so.”

A cute blonde came up behind her with a concerned frown. “You okay?”

Duchess glanced over at her and her expression softened. “Yeah. I guess I just got startled and tripped when—” She snapped her mouth shut and averted her eyes.

The blonde’s face fell. “Did Mr. Cuthbertson try to cop a feel?”

Duchess bit her lip. “I guess. Yes.” Her voice lowered. “God, I feel like an idiot. I just wasn’t expecting it on my first night.”

Blondie looked to Jarod with a raised brow.

“We’ll handle it,” he promised, then turned to Duchess. “Sorry about that, sweetheart. The clients are told they can look but not touch the waitresses. Sometimes they forget the rules, and old Mr. Cuthbertson... well, he forgets a lot. He’s harmless, but we’ll remind him of the rules again, and I’m sure before the night’s over, you’ll get an apology and a big, fat tip.”

Duchess smiled at Jarod. “Thank you, but there’s no need to say anything to him. I was being clumsy.”

“It’s my job,” Jarod said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, okay.” She didn’t seem convinced. “Thanks.” Her gaze flicked to me quickly before she turned and moved on.

I couldn’t help watching her until she was out of sight.

Jarod shot me a smirk. “Johnny?”

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