“I’m Mason. This is my place.”
She nodded earnestly and I felt my insides twist. I was already trying to figure out a way to let her down easy. I needed a waitress badly, but this girl was trouble. Not only was she too fragile looking for the rough crowd we got sometimes, but she would be a constant distraction to everyone who worked here.
Especially me.
Then again… Cass had handled it. She was a beautiful girl, too. And even a little younger when she worked here. Maybe it wasn’t fair to discount her, just because the girl seemed so shy.
“Have you waited tables before?”
Again, she nodded. Not one for talking then. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
“What kinds of places?”
“A couple of diners, a sports bar, and a chain place. You know, endless bread bowls”
I smiled at that.
“Are they really endless?”
She bit her lip and shrugged. Obviously, my jokes were not landing. I felt like a damn fool, truth be told.
I leaned back in my chair, feeling like my insides were all twisted up. I had to get rid of her. I’d scare her off, then I wouldn’t have to be mean. That would be best for everyone.
“This place can get pretty rough sometimes. Especially late at night. Think you can handle it?”
She nodded. This time I raised my eyebrows, encouraging her to answer me. She was making me nervous. I needed to know she could speak.
Plus, I wanted to hear her voice again.
“I can. Handle it, I mean.”
She held up her keychain. Pepper spray. I looked at her eyes quickly, seeing something there I didn’t like.
She had seen trouble before, without a doubt.
“You run into a problem out there? Somebody messing with you?”
She shrugged.
“No. Just working late shifts. I’ve had a few close calls.”
It chilled my blood, the thought of someone trying to hurt this beautiful girl. It really did.
“I hope you don’t think that’s enough to protect you if someone really wants to hurt you.”
I sounded like her father. Or a cop, for God’s sake. I was seriously fucking furious that someone had bothered this beautiful, delicate looking girl.
She smiled and I inhaled, holding my breath. It felt like the sun came out. My office wasn’t dark anymore. The day wasn’t overcast anymore outside the window behind me.
Or at least, it felt that way.
“I know. I always ran. But I had this ready just in case.”
“Good.”
I made the decision without thinking. I just opened my mouth and the words came out.
“Pay is eight bucks an hour, plus tips. You keep all of those. We are short staffed so you can work as much as you want. We’ll feed you, one meal per shift. And you can take a fifteen minute break every couple of hours, as long as it’s not super busy. Sound good?”
“Yes. Sounds great.”
“You just need to fill out some paperwork and we’ll get you in the payroll system. Do you have photo ID?”
She nodded eagerly and fished in her bag for her wallet. I felt my gut turn over when she pulled it out. A popular cartoon character was printed on the front.
She was a kid. Just a kid.
So why was I fantasizing about pulling her onto the desk and having my way with her?
She was holding her ID out to me expectantly, I realized. I glanced at the card, clocking her age. Mid-twenties, thank God.
I might be acting like a lech, but at least I wasn’t a dirty old man.
“I just need to make a copy of this.”
She nodded, looking so relieved that I almost cried. She must be in dire straights. I glanced at her shoes on the way out of the office to the copy machine in the hallway.
Yep. Just as I thought. They were lace up booties, scuffed up like crazy. The girl was on hard times. But she had pulled herself together nicely, all the same.
I made a photocopy of her ID for her file, then hit the button and made another. This one I folded up and put in my pocket. I couldn’t have told you why I did that though.
“Here you go.”
I handed her back her ID, then pulled a t-shirt from a box in the corner.
“Is small okay?”
She nodded, clutching the t-shirt against her like it was a baby. I frowned again, deciding I was going to get to the bottom of who this girl was, and what was going on with her.
“So, when can you start?”
A huge smile lit up her face. It hit me like a punch to the gut. My chest felt like it cracked open, but it didn’t hurt. It felt fucking amazing.
Her beauty literally overwhelmed me.
I realized in that moment I had made a very big mistake. Huge. Monumental.
“Right now, if that’s okay. I just need to run out to my car.”
I nodded and she was off like a shot. I blinked a few times once she was gone. Then I reached for the bottle of bourbon I kept on my desk and poured myself a drink. I had a feeling I was going to need it.