“I didn’t want to hurt her.”
“No, I’m sure she walked away from your rejection on cloud nine. Did you explain any of this to her or did you just show her the door?”
He’d beaten himself up about this enough; he didn’t need it from Roarke as well.
“This is my life, Roarke. It has nothing to do with you,” he said in a low voice.
“It does when it spills over into your behavior in my club. This isn’t like you, Alex. I can always rely on you to keep your head.”
“I’ve apologized,” Alex said stiffly. “If you want me to quit you just have to say so.”
Roarke sighed. “When did you get so sensitive? Of course I don’t want you to quit. But if you truly don’t want her then you can’t scare off the other Doms who want to play with her.”
Alex nodded stiffly as his stomach clenched into a knot. He knew Roarke was right. He didn’t intend to do anything about his feelings for Tara, but he didn’t want anyone else touching her. It wasn’t fair.
“Fine,” Alex said shortly. “If that’s all…”
Roarke nodded, looking tired. He held out his hand. “We still good?”
“I know you’re just looking out for Tara. I’d think less of you if you weren’t.” Alex walked out into the corridor, making his way toward the main play room. He frowned when he saw Carin in the corridor.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice harsher than he’d intended. She looked a little frazzled, which was unusual for the normally over-confident sub.
“I came to see if you wanted me to start my shift earlier?” she asked.
He watched her suspiciously. Carin was one of the new waitresses they’d taken on. He didn’t know her well, but there was something about her he didn’t trust.
“No,” he told her.
“Oh, it’s just that Tara looks so tired. I thought she might like to finish early and go home to rest.”
“Tara will be fine. If she’s not, I will let you know. Aren’t you supposed to be doing a scene with Mitch?”
Mitch was one of the younger Doms. Carin wrinkled her nose, but moved away quickly without another word.
Alex put Carin from his mind as the entered the play room. He spent the next few hours talking to other Doms, watching over the wait and bar staff as well as helping a couple of the more inexperienced Doms with their technique.
He barely had time to think about Tara. Maybe this would be easier than he thought; he just had to keep himself busy.
He headed towards the bar, glad the night was growing quieter.
“Red! Hey, help. Over here!”
He turned at the loud voice and raced over, dodging people who didn’t get out of the way quick enough.
His heart nearly stopped as he saw Tara, looking pale and lifeless, slumped in Sloan’s arms. He moved toward them, wanting to snatch her out of the other man’s arms but worried that he might hurt her. Instead he reached out and cupped her face. She was freezing.
“What did you do?” he snapped at Sloan.
“Nothing,” Sloan snapped back, tension evident in his stiff body. “We were just warming up when she slumped over, unconscious.”
People were huddled around them, watching as Sloan carried Tara to a sofa and gently laid her down.
Alex crouched beside her. “Somebody bring me a blanket and some water. And find Nate.” Nate worked as an ambulance officer.
A blanket was quickly handed to him and he tucked it around her as Sloan crouched down beside him. He barely refrained from pushing the other man away.
Around him people murmured quietly.