Page 11 of Compelled Obedience

Then I realized I was perhaps the biggest fraud of all.

CHAPTER 4

Kerri

What a complete fraud. A loser in my mind. Pompous and arrogant.

Talk about a grumpy asshole. He took the cake.

Yeah, but you egged him on.

Okay, so that was true enough. I’d been furious the night before. Then he’d acted like… an arrogant ass!

Sadly, Grant Wilde was also the sexiest man I’d ever laid my eyes on. Tall and built with broad shoulders and long, muscular legs. I could imagine his six-pack abs, the kind I’d want to trace with my tongue.

Get a grip. He’s off limits.

True enough. He was also my boss. Self-righteous prick.

I couldn’t believe karma hated me so much. To realize he was my boss after I’d insulted him inside his own club, then run into him at a charity event was abominable. I had to have the worst luck in the entire world.

I’d heard even worse things about him from both news reports as well as scuttlebutt tossed around in the changing room at the club. Supposedly, he was a dangerous man who’d crossed many a line over the years, including killing several men. One inside the club. Granted, the victims hadn’t been innocent, all bad dudes with even worse reputations, but taking a life wasn’t his to decide.

Mr. Wilde was also a notable ladies’ man, even if he was supposedly dating the blonde chick in the dress with a slit up to her crotch. What a womanizing piece of garbage.

One woman after another and the blonde sitting at his table didn’t have enough self-respect to kick him in the balls. If he were my man, I’d lock him in a cage.

At this moment, I prayed to God that he hadn’t recognized me from the night before. If he had, I’d be toast. That couldn’t happen. Hopefully, the mask, garish makeup, my bright pink hair, the godawful costume, and my accent had been enough to throw him off. This gig was entirely different, an extension of who I wanted to be, if only for a little while. Music was everything to me but couldn’t pay the bills.

It was funny that the job at Blackout almost equaled what I made teaching even after five years on the job and a college education. I adored dancing, the cages a unique idea that allowed me freedom from being pawed, at least most of the time. However, what I wanted was to shift to Carnal Sins, the very kinky club catering to the upper echelon of male society.

I’d heard girls who worked there serving drinks and nothing else made three times what I did dancing my little ass off. Maybe then I could acquire the eye of one of the wealthy men, even if I had to submit to his kinky shit, which I knew nothing about. At this point, I could handle almost anything. If only I’d managed to prove that I was eager to learn more than what I’d read. It chuffed me that I’d been shut down completely.

I sat back as Grant made his fabulous speech, realizing that the stunning obsidian tuxedo he was wearing cost more than I made in six months, maybe more. The glorious attire was certainly no rental.

The sound of his voice was deep, rich, and alluring. My heart raced as I studied him, a trickle of desire keeping my panties damp, which was disgusting since he had a girlfriend. I paid attention to the news. I knew he was dating the hottest and baddest bitch in all of LA. Candace Cane was everything I wasn’t. Tall, blonde, and insanely gorgeous. By the standards of Hollywood, I was short, dumpy, and had the wrong color hair.

At least I wasn’t plastic. I couldn’t afford a plastic surgeon under any circumstances.

I tried to pry my eyes off Grant’s chiseled face, allowing my gaze to fall down the length of his rock-hard body. The tux was obviously made for him, but the expensive material and perfect cut couldn’t hide his carved physique or the way his arm muscles pushed against the tight confines of his sleeves.

He was everything fantasies were filled with, and I would ultimately go to hell for lusting after another woman’s man. I’d been raised a good girl, even if my stepfather had tried to beat it out of me. Disgusted with myself, I closed my eyes, concentrating on his words. I couldn’t help but wonder if a man like him had ever been inside an inner-city school. I doubted it. He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, now worth billions according to Fortune Magazine.

That made me angry, enraged that he’d picked up an award and had no idea what the kids really needed or how difficult their lives were on a day-to-day basis. The more he talked, the angrier I became, finding it almost impossible to keep my mouth shut.

I abruptly got up without thinking about it, suddenly feeling the eyes of at least four dozen people in the room tearing me a new one.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I wasn’t always known for my grace under pressure, but it was better for me to get a glass of water instead of throwing hateful barbs in Grant’s direction. That wouldn’t bode well for keeping my nighttime job.

Just before I walked away, Grant turned his head in my direction. Instead of seeing fury in his gorgeous blue eyes, the color reminding me of a sparkling sapphire under the perfect light, I noticed something akin to raging desire.

Was he kidding me?

On top of being a fraud, he was a narcissistic pig who thought he could have his cake and eat it too. My stomach was ready to revolt. I refused to honor his behavior with anything but scorn, taking my time leaving the room, holding my breath until I found the restrooms.

Even the slick marble inside the room screamed of money, a woman hired to do nothing more than hand out soft terry towels and offer perfume and mints. The entire scene left a bad taste in my mouth.

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