Page 12 of The Reluctant Siren
“Not my man.” But the words did scratch along her spine,making it straight.
“You finally going after Niall?” Her cousin stood on theother side of her. Gigi Dawson was stunning though modest in her skin-tightleggings and a bodice-style shirt that clung to all of her curves. She was afew years younger than Harlow, but they’d always been close. Like her mom, Gigistudied to be a nurse and had recently started working in a downtown hospitalin an emergency department. “You should know Leah looks sweet, but she’s gotsome teeth on her. I should know. She works with me. Can’t stand her, but theguys all love her. One of the Doms was in for a broken finger and he startedflirting and invited her to training class. I hate her.”
“I hate her, too,” Harlow proclaimed. Because if Gigi, whowas literally the sweetest woman in the world, hated someone, she was probablyevil. Yeah, she looked like she would kick a puppy to get to a pair of designershoes.
Leah laughed, the sound cackling Harlow’s mind, and put ahand on Niall’s chest.
“Too bad he’s a softie,” Gigi said with a sigh. “If shetried that shit with Gabe, she would get the staring of a lifetime. I swearthat man can freeze water.”
“Yeah, he comes by it honestly. His dad is scary. All theLodge-Taylor kiddos learned how to stare at a young age. I think they took akindergarten class,” Ruby quipped. “And yes, Harlow is thinking of going in,but now she’s doing that thing where she totally lets the past keep her fromeven coming close to getting laid.”
Niall frowned and took a step back.
Leah looked horrified.
“No, I’m not.” She was going to go and see if she got abetter result. That was what she was going to do. Because he had never oncelooked at her like that. Like she was slightly distasteful.
“Oh, the huggy Dom is pissed,” Gigi said with a grin. “Ilike it. Actually, he’s way hotter now.”
Harlow turned on her cousin.
Gigi backed off with an apologetic grin. “I see you alsowent to Julian Lodge’s school for terrifying stares. Sorry, cos. He’s allyours. Honestly, I’m happy to see it. You go get that man.”
Harlow sighed. She should have been more private about this,but she wasn’t backing down. Shit. She was starting to come out of it. She wasstarting to heal because she was thinking more about the future in this momentthan she was fearing the past. “Damn it. I think I’m ready.”
Ruby stood in front of her. “You are, babes. So it’s up toyou if you want to hedge your bets. You can make him an offer he’s not going torefuse, or you can separate the relationship from work.”
“I kind of want both.” She wanted to see what he was like inthe field. It would tell her a lot.
“Then go for it, bestie,” Ruby said. “I’ll take Gigi, andwe’ll go watch her friend for a bit. See if we can get her kicked out of theclub.”
“I don’t…” Gigi shrugged. “I really do hate her. She callsme fat. Not in those words, but she always talks about how I must be anincredible cook. I am, but that’s not what she means. She also says I’m bravefor wearing the clothes I do.”
“Oh, we can fix this,” Ruby promised as she led her cousinaway. “This sounds so much better than playing tonight. It’s been a long timesince I took a mean girl down. Tell me something. Is she real clingy? Becausewe might be able to use Seth.”
Harlow took a deep breath. It was time. She was ready.
Ready to put Jensen Wiley behind her. Ready to forgiveherself for making mistakes. Ready to see if this gorgeous, funny, kind man wassomeone she might be able to care about.
Hell, she already cared about him.
Be brave. Say what you mean. Use the word.
Ready to see if she could love him.
Fuck. She was going to do this.
Harlow strode across the dungeon, ready to start again.
Chapter Three
Jensen glanced down at his phone and realized twohours had gone by. He’d broken up two fights, kicked out a dude who had toomuch, and called an Uber for a woman who had a trauma response to watching ascene. He’d tried to talk to her but she didn’t want to be near him.
They needed female tops. That woman might have talked to aDomme, but this place wasn’t a real club. It was a front for a criminalorganization, and management didn’t care about the mental health of itsclients. Phil had told him they were a more traditional establishment with whathe called stricter gender roles, i.e. men dominated women and not the other wayaround.
He took a long breath of cool night air, needing to beoutside for a moment. And then kind of wished he hadn’t since this part of thecity wasn’t the nicest and this was where everyone came to take their smokebreaks. It was right behind the back room of the club, and it was also wherethe trash bin was.
A good metaphor for his life.
