Page 14 of Seeking Vengeance
No, she reasoned, this had to have something to do with tonight. Nicki didn’t believe in coincidences. She wondered what, if anything, had happened after she went backstage. Had Sean done something? The look in his eyes had been intense. His warning echoed through her once again. Maybe some asshole had made a snide remark or commented on her performance, and Sean had reacted.
She suppressed a shiver. Between what her instincts told her about Sean, and Jason’s comments about what might have happened, Sean’s warnings were not to be taken lightly. He had this dark aura around him—this sense of intensity, of danger—that threatened to draw her in like a moth to flame. All the more reason she had to stay the hell away from him.
Dare she ask? No, she decided. She’d only be asking for trouble, and it might suggest an interest she didn’t have. She had enough problems without making more for herself. She was overreacting—that was all. Too much excitement, not enough sleep, post-climax lethargy, and a reduction of brain function. It all amounted to the same thing.
Jason had to be referring to her behavior specifically. If there had been trouble on the floor, she wouldn’t be sitting here now, in his office, with a brandy in her hand. Nobody called you to their office and gave you a drink to tell you thatsomeoneelsehad fucked up.
“So, Iamfired.”
“I want you off the floor for a while.”
She dropped her eyes and looked at the hands clenched in her lap.Shit.Thiswas what happened when she forgot herself, when she allowed her own selfish thoughts to take over, even for a few minutes. And to what end? It hadn’t even been real.
Oh, she’d thought it was at the time, but now that some of the fog had left her mind, she could see it for what it was. Sean had sought her out, waved that bill around, knowing she wouldn’t pass it up. And she took the bait—hook, line, and sinker. It had been nothing but payback for her little “handshake” in the garage—and no less than she’d deserved. Mess with a man like that, and there were bound to be consequences.
Now, she had to try to salvage what she could. There was too much at stake to bail out now, no matter how much she might want to. She was too damn close.
“It won’t happen again.”
“No,” Jason agreed, “it won’t.”
Nicki had a choice to make. Stand up and walk the hell out of his office or swallow some of her pride and stay. If she walked out now, without having achieved what she had come for, then the past few weeks of PDH—public displays of humiliation—would be for naught. It chafed, but there really was no other choice.
“I need this job, Mr. Michaels.”
His eyes widened slightly, as if he hadn’t expected that. She was kind of surprised too. Her voice hadn’t held an inkling of the defiant tone she had been trying so hard to squelch.
“I’m not firing you,” he said finally. “Yet.”
“But you just said—”
Jason held up his hand. “I said, I don’t want you on the floor for a while. In the meantime, perhaps there is something else you could do.”
Nicki’s eyes widened further and then narrowed angrily as his words registered. She stood up so quickly that he was visibly startled. There were limits, and then there were hard limits.
“Shove it up your ass, Mr. Michaels. I’ll scrape gum off the sidewalks before I whore for anyone.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She turned and was at the door before he stood and took three long strides across the room.
“Hold it right there.” His voice was deep and angry.
She ignored him and twisted the knob, opening the door.
He shoved the door closed before she had a chance to slip through and looked down into her face. She glared right back up at him, giving him her fiercestfuck off and diestare.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” she warned in a low growl. Her mind was already playing through the series of moves that would most efficiently take him down.
“Istronglysuggest you don’t try.”
Her eyes flashed, but she refrained from inflicting any damage just yet.
“Pull that self-righteous stick out of your ass and just listen for a moment, will you?” he said. “I’m not asking you to do any such thing. That part of the business is strictly a matter of mutual consent, understand?”
What?She blinked. “Then, what are you talking about?”
“I was thinking you could work the bar. Can you tend?”
