Page 30 of Tempt Me
“Justasoda,”shesaid,herattention firmlyfixedon his daughter.
Maxlefttheofficeand madea beelineforoneof the bars. Hereached for a glassand bottleof Cokefromthefridgeand dropped themofftoGigi.
Lookingover hershoulderathim,shesmiled.“Thanks.”
Goddamn,her smilewasamazing. Hedidn’treturn itthough. Itwould ruin hisreputation for being an asshole. Instead,hepicked up hisphoneanda clipboard fromthedesk.“Textmeifyou need anything.”
And with that,heturned and left. Outsidein the hallway,hepulled up thedirectoryofall thestaff on hisphoneand started ringing tofind a replacementforJen. Withsuch shortnotice,hethought he’d havetocall atleastten peoplebeforehefound someonewilling tofill in. Hewaspleasantlysurprised when thesecond girl hecalled said she’d betheresoon.
In a quarter of an hour,theclubwould be opened,butMaxwasdetermined nottoletthisonesmall problemruin thewholenight. Whilehe’dbeentalkingtoGigi,theDJ andthehalfa dozensecurity guardshad shown up. Housemusicwasthumping through thespeakers,and thelightshad been dimmed. Walking overtotheheadof security,Maxpulled theguy aside.
“Howarewedoing,Rocco? Areyour boysreadytogo?”
“Max,”Roccosaid,thrusting outhishand.“I had a small issuewithoneof thecommssystems, butit’sall goodnow.”
“Here’sthe guestlistfor tonight.”Roccoheldouthishand totaketheclipboard,but Maxkepthis grip tight,meetingtheguy’seyes.“Noexceptions.Noletting friendsin. Nothing.You gotit?”
Theguynodded. “Yeah,Igotit.”
“Doorsopen in ten.”
Maxstrodeaway,hearingRoccobarking orderstohisguys. Tenminutesuntil showtime. Jeremy wasgiving hisbartenders thelastminute pep-talkacrosstheothersideof thebar,which left only thewaitresses.
“Staffmeeting,” heannounced loudly overthemusic.All thewomen started making their way over tohim. Nowthattheyweredressed in theTemptation uniform,Maxhad toadmittheyall looked good.Theylooked liketheycould lurein aman andcoaxhimoutof hismoney. That wasexactlywhathewanted themtodo.
“In lessthan ten minutes, thosedoorsand thisclub will be open. We’ve gota fulllisttonight, including some VIPs and celebrities. We will bebusy.LikeI said before,Iexpect you all togive one hundred percent of yourself. Ifyou don’t,you’ll belooking for another job.” Hepaced in frontof thegroup,facing themagain aftera fewseconds. “If youwork hard forme,I’llmakesureyou’retaken careof. Therearea few ground rulesthough. Number one: youcan flirtwith thecustomers,butunder nocircumstancesareyoutoexchangenumberswith them.Ruletwo:breakruleoneand Iwill findoutaboutit. Rulethree,” helookedeach of themin theeye,driving home hispoint,“lookoutfor each other.”He glanced at hiswatch. Oneminuteto six. “Getready,ladies.”
Making hiswaytothe door, Maxstepped outside,pulling up besideRoccoandone ofhisother bouncers. Therewasacrowd alreadyformed,thelinesnaking down theblock.Clearing his throat, hesaid loudly,“Ladiesandgentleman,Temptationisnowopen.”
*
ItwasnearlytwohoursbeforeMaxcouldgetbacktotheofficetocheckonGigi.Theclubwasat capacity,andtherehadn’tbeenanymajorincidents.Skirtingaroundagroupofwomenstanding directlyin front ofthedoorwayleading tothestaffroomand his office,hepushed into the hallway andtooka momenttoenjoythe mutedpulse of the beattearingthroughtheclub.Heopeneduphis office,finding Gigisitting inhischair.Shelooked upfromherbook,putafingertoherlipsand pointed.Hiseyesfollowed herfingertofindErinasleepintheport-a-cothe’dalsomanagedtobringdown totheclubearlier intheday.
“Howlong hasshebeen sleeping?”hemouthed.
Gigilookedatherphone lyingonthedesk.“Maybeanhour,”sherepliedina whisper.“How’sit going outthere?”
“Sofar,sogood.”Heapproachedthecotandstared downathisdaughter.Hecouldn’thelpbut smile. HeheardGigigetup,felther approach.
“She’sagood sleeper,”shesaid besidehim.
“Yeah,sheis.”
Gigi’sdeep green eyesmet his. “You can’tkeep doingthis, Max.”
Atfirst,hedidn’tunderstandwhatshewastalkingabout.Thenherealizedshe wasreferringto bringing Erin towork. “You’rethesolutiontothisproblem.”
Shefrownedathimandturnedaway.“Maybetemporarily,”sheadmitted.“But I’llhavetogeta realjobsoon.You’llstillhavetohiresomeonewho’s properlyqualifiedeventually.Whyputoffthe inevitable?”
Whywashe?Becausehewanted togettoknowheralittlebetter.Althoughhe’dsworn off womenaltogether,hecouldn’tseemtoshaketheneedtoclaimGigiashisownsomehow.Shewas achallengetohim. Maxhad alwaysgotten whathewanted in life. Nobodysaid notohim,butthis littlespitfireof awoman had and continuedto,and that intrigued him.
“I alwaysgetwhatIwantin the end,Gigi. Youshouldknowthat.”
Herchinjerkedupalittle,andhecouldseeherspinestraightening.“Well,youshouldknowthat I’mstubborn and don’tlike being toldwhatto do,”sheretorted in a hushed hiss.
His lipsflexed into a small smile,which hehid almostautomatically. “I’ve always liked a challenge.”
Shehuffed angrily.“Doyoualwaysdo businessthisway?”