I think she’s going to laugh for a second, even though the question wasn’t meant as a joke, but then she gets a hold of her emotions. “No, it wasn’t his mother. But you see, Hunter used to date one of his employees. She started out as a waitress, and then she got involved in other parts of the business. Ultimately, she tried to extort him. It ended up being a huge mess that caused him a lot of trouble and heartache, so…that’s why he has this rule now. He doesn’t sleep with people who work for him.”
Her words flow into my mind, but they don’t quite settle, and I’m not sure I’m willing to accept them just yet. I’ll have to mull all of that over later, but at the moment, I am so mad that all I can say is, “Well, apparently he’s forgotten about that rule because he didn’t seem to have any problem sticking his dick in me.”
Leah looks like a fish out of water trying to suck in oxygen as her mouth moves—open and closed, open and closed—but no words come out. I figure we’ve had enough of this discussion anyway, and I plan to turn and leave, but then she says, “I’m so sorry, Meghan.”
“It’s not your fault,” I tell her. “Who knows? Maybe he’s forgotten lots of times.”
“No!” she says, her hand darting out to touch my arm. “No, he hasn’t. I know that for a fact. He hasn’t slept with another employee since she left.”
I have no idea how she would know that since she didn’t even know about me until I told her. It’s definitely possible that other women have slept with Hunter, and he never told her. If no one else in the club saw it happen, they wouldn’t know. “If you say so,” I tell her. Now I really want to go. I need to get back to my tables or someone else will swoop in and get the tips I’ve been working hard for all night.
“Well, if you think of it this way,” she says, still touching my arm, “since you’re the only worker he’s slept with since she left, that means you must be special to him, right?”
The laugh that escapes my lips sounds a bit maniacal, even to my own ear, but I can’t help it. “Uhm, okay,” I say. “Let’s go with that. I’m special—for one night. Then, after that night is over, and he comes to his senses, not only am I not special anymore. I’m just amistake.”
Leah’s eyes widen yet again as she asks, “Did he say that? To you?”
“Fuck yeah, he did,” I tell her. “It was the first thing he said to me when we woke up. So… I have a little bit of trouble believing he could possibly think I am special in any way if that’s his initial reaction to fucking me.”
She chomps down on her bottom lip, and I can see her thinking over everything. I don’t have time for this. I know she’ll say something to him, but I don’t need to wait around for it.
The door behind me opens, and Lexi comes out. “Meghan, one of your tables needs a refill.”
“Coming,” I tell her and then look back at Leah. “Sorry to have bothered you, Leah. Maybe this conversation was another mistake.”
I turn to go, and Lexi can see I’m upset. She reaches for my arm. “What happened?” she asks.
I shrink away from her. “Nothing, babe. I’m fine,” I tell her, finding a smile, but on the inside, I don’t know if I should cry or scream.
Club Limelight was beginning to feel like a home, but I need to keep my head on straight. I’m here to work—not to find a family.
Family doesn’t treat each other the way that Hunter has treated me…
CHAPTER23
HUNTER
Ineed a new place to live, but I also need new offices. I can’t have all of my businesses continue to run out of this small space in the back of my club. While I am continuing to consider where I should make my home away from the club, I’m also scrolling through office buildings that are currently for sale. I see a few that catch my eye and do a bit more investigating of them.
One of them is in the downtown area, and it’s just about perfect. The space is ample for what I need. The building is relatively new, so I wouldn’t need to do much to it, but it’s very expensive, and I’m not sure I’m ready to make that kind of an investment after I just gave Silver Towers away for pretty much nothing and bought the apartment building next to it—Meg’s apartment building.
Another space I find is really nice on the inside and certainly big enough. But it’s a fucking strip mall, and those places just seem cheap to me. I’d rather have a skyscraper. But then again, this area of town is on the brink of booming, and if I could get the current building relatively inexpensively, I could do whatever I want with the property later.
“Busy?”
Leah’s voice seems to come from nowhere. I didn’t even hear her come in, but she is standing in my doorway now, one of our ledgers in her arms, the look on her face telling me that even though I’m not that busy, I should lie and say that I am so that I don’t have to hear about whatever it is she’s about to tear my head off over.
“Uhm—”
I hardly get a syllable out before she’s interrupting me. “You fucked a waitress?”
My mouth is still agape as I stare at her, not sure how to answer. I mean, obviously, I did fuck a waitress. There’s no disputing that. I’m shocked she hadn’t heard about it before. I’m curious as to how she found out about it now…and I’m embarrassed that I don’t have any sort of an excuse for what I did.
Leah walks over and leans against my desk. She’s standing in the exact same spot I was standing when I lapped up Meg’s sweet juices as she sat on my desk in nothing but her skirt wrapped around her waist.
“I may have had sex with a waitress,” I say, closing my laptop.
“In your office?” Leah asks, suddenly looking around.