Shyla tossed her hair from her face and put the groceries on the desk. “Nothing happened.”
“Why the fuck is he talking about your tits?”
Had he reserved his rage for her? That was probably better than him unloading on the guy who’d just lost his job.
“It was a misunderstanding,” she said, setting a hand on her hip.
He lunged toward her, his mouth open, but stopped within a breath of her. Controlling himself, he sealed his lips to silently seethe.
He didn’t speak again, she guessed, until he trusted himself not to overreact. “A… how the fuck are your tits a misunderstanding?”
Not sure quite how to take his anger, Shyla touched his tee-shirt. “Are you really mad at me?”
Some of his anger ebbed. “I’m mad he talked about you like that.”
Tipping her head back, she licked her lips. “Will kissing me calm you down?”
“No, kissing you never calms me down,” he said and walked away from her finger to go around the desk. “Is that why you came?”
“For kisses? No, I came to talk to Beeks.” Turning toward the wall, she couldn’t see into the club because the blinds were down. “There are a lot of girls out there.”
“Auditions.”
“I got that,” she said, creeping around the desk. “I think you should call your next club Shy’s.”
“Do you?”
She propped herself against the desk at his side. What she really wanted to do was sink into his lap, but she didn’t have the courage for that yet.
“Mm hmm,” she said, nodding.
“Let’s see how this one does before you start auditioning guys to get their shit off for you.”
“I don’t want male strippers,” she said, leaning back.
Although she hadn’t really been looking, he turned over the paper on his desk to hide it from her. Until he’d done that, she hadn’t cared about his paperwork.
“This isn’t a strip joint. They’re dancers.” Who dance wearing very little, she got that. “You prefer I work with women?”
“Yes,” she said. “Those women out there are professionals, here to earn a wage. If there are semi-naked male dancers, that means drunk, panting female customers. And let’s be honest, you put every other guy on the planet to shame. Every night, you’d have different women pawing at you, seducing you… I don’t want them treating you like a piece of meat.” She grinned and ducked down. “That’s my job.”
He didn’t smile. “Why are you here, Lamb?”
She was sure she’d already answered that. “To talk to Beeks.”
“I’m here. Talk to me.”
Peeking over her shoulder, she checked that the door was still closed and ventured to be daring. “The door’s closed…”
“If this is what you’re like before sex, I’ll need to put you on a sedative after,” he said.
Score didn’t make jokes, not in any direct way, but she smiled anyway. “I’m sorry. I’m sure if we just did it I’d calm down.”
One of his brows rose at a deliberate, slow pace. “You think after we have sex, you won’t want sex?”
She shrugged. “Won’t I?”
Score pulled his chair closer to the desk and opened a laptop. “Got a lot to learn, Lamb.”
On a sigh, she gripped the edge of the desk to slide her butt onto it. “I wish I knew how.”
“You’ll do what I tell you.”
That much was obvious. Shyla was eager to receive his orders; Score wasn’t as impatient.
“I didn’t mean that,” she said, slithering off the desk to sink down on her knees at his side. “I wish I knew how to make you feel like I feel when we’re together… I wish I knew how to seduce you.”
Without turning the chair, Score pushed back to look down at her. On an exhale, he reached for her face. When his fingers caressed her jaw, she closed her eyes and moved to appreciate his touch.
“Why do you need Beeks?”
He’d said he wanted all of her and was proving he wouldn’t forget his purpose.
“I got an alert, Stan’s funeral is the day after tomorrow. I need the day off.”
“You came to ask Beeks?”
“I was in the neighborhood.”
“Are you sure you want to be there?”
Shyla hadn’t considered not going. “He was my family, the last of my family.”
“Your brother is alive,” he said. “You shouldn’t go—”
“I won’t let Mick drive me away,” Shyla said, wearing a frown. “I’m amazed that you’d be scared of—”
His fingertips met her lips. “You shouldn’t go alone.”
Oops, she’d jumped in early. “If I’m not working, you shouldn’t have to give up Fish too.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Stunned, she hadn’t expected he’d want to join her. “But you don’t want anyone to know we’re together. How will you—”
“We’ll go together.”
That was his decision; she wouldn’t question it. In truth, having him at her side would be an honor. The idea of being anywhere with him excited her. The more she thought about it, the more overwhelmed she became. Mick sure wouldn’t try any of his shit with Score in her vicinity.
“Sometimes I can’t get over how incredible you are,” she said, sliding her hand beneath the arm of his chair onto his thigh.
“That’s a minority opinion,” he said, taking his hand from her face to type something into the laptop.
Shyla couldn’t drag her focus from him for long enough to check out the screen. “Do you talk to them?”
“Who?” he asked, preoccupied with the laptop.
“Your family.”
His fingers stopped. “You don’t need to think about my family. The further away you can stay from them, the better.”
“I’d like to meet them one day. What would they think about me? About us?”
“I don’t need my family’s permission for squat.”
The tension in his voice was growing with each new
