Love in the Mix Read online

  I don’t like complications in my life and she is one in the making. I’m here to work and have a successful business. I lead a pretty normal and boring life. People would actually be shocked how ordinary it is.

  “Yeah, crush.” Noah lets out a laugh. “More like she wants your last name.”

  I cringe at the thought.

  “I’m going to have a chat with her before I leave and I’m getting you a second real PA. I should have done it a few weeks ago but I’ll get it handled fast.” I start to talk but he beats me to it. “A male PA.”

  “Thanks.” I give him a nod as he heads out of my office. That is one thing I can mark off my list of things I need to get done. I read over the lists that Noah had prepared to update me on what's going on tonight.

  It looks like almost everyone made it in for their shifts tonight. No need to call for extra staff. God, that was a nightmare when I first started opening clubs. People come and go in the service industry. It feels as though we are always looking for someone new.

  Thank fuck I found an agency that vets and helps hire people for serving staff. Not only that, you can also call them in a pinch and they’ll have bodies for you to cover the night shifts. I heard our temporary positions are fought over because they make so much in cash tips here each night that everyone wants them.

  Once I see everything is fine for the night, I get lost in this week's numbers. I don’t know how our numbers keep on climbing, but they do. We are at max capacity every night. Based on these reports it seems as though people keep spending more and more money. I wait for my normal you need to open a new club thought to push forward but it doesn’t. The rush I get from having my next project on the horizon usually starts to take over at this point but it doesn’t come.

  I send out an email to my real estate guy about looking into new places anyway. It’s always good to have my feelers out. He can poke around while I wait for the urge to open another club to come. Maybe I’m just tired. This not sleeping shit is wearing me down. The hollow ache in my chest is getting worse.

  I should have told Noah to schedule me a doctor appointment. There has to be something to fix whatever this shit is that is happening to me.

  Restless. That’s what I am. My body is drained but when I hit the bed, sleep doesn’t come. Even now I’m bored looking over the numbers. There is nothing else to be done. I stand, stretching. I can always check on them downstairs.

  I flip on the cameras to see the place is already filling up. The ones on the outside show a line that wraps around the building. My eyes stop when they land on a blond, curly-haired girl.

  She’s talking to another girl, not noticing that the men around them are openly staring at them. I’m not sure if it’s because the blonde is the hottest little thing I’ve ever seen or the fact that they stand out. Either way, they have a lot of eyes on them. Especially my blond little cupcake, who looks good enough to eat.

  “Two of these things are not like the others,” I say as I grab my phone from out of my pocket. My eyes stay trained on the beautiful blonde. Something stirs inside of me and this time what I’m feeling is anything but hollow.

  4

  Alyssa

  “Are people staring at us?” I ask Neily, peeking over to a man that’s in line next to us. He immediately looks away from me.

  “No. Why would people stare at us? That’s rude.” She scrunches her nose. Okay, maybe people aren’t staring. Still it feels like someone’s eyes are on me.

  “I don’t know.” It’s probably me. I feel out of place and I’m being paranoid thinking that people are staring at us.

  I keep looking around to see if he’s here. I’m guessing he doesn’t have to stand in line with how often he comes.

  “Someone is coming over here. Maybe you were right,” Neily hisses. She stands up straight, putting her hands behind her back like she’s hiding something.

  “What are you doing?” I hiss back. She’s making us look suspicious. Oh God. Is he coming over here to kick us out of the line? I knew this was going to happen. We look so out of place.

  “I don’t know.” She pulls her hands out from behind her back, trying to play it cool. The man comes to a stop in front of us. The badge around his neck reads security. “It’s her shirt, isn’t it? It’s too crude. I told her not to wear it.”

  “She’s a liar. She told me to wear it.” I look down at my shirt. Getting ready for tonight was not easy. I had nothing sexy to wear so I went with a shirt that may insinuate something a little dirty.

  “Her mom bought it for her.” Neily says it like that should give us a pass on my shirt. My mom really had bought it. It was a gift when Neily and I opened our shop. It reads I always get a rise with a cupcake on it.

  “It’s only dirty because you’ve made it out to be. I’m a baker! It’s supposed to be funny. Not in a sexual kind of way either.” The man stands in silence as his head swings back and forth, taking in all of the craziness that’s going on between Neily and me. We’re turning into our moms.

  “We just came here to have a good time. You’re not kicking us out of line. In fact, you’re letting us in,” Neily demands as she pushes her glasses up her nose.

  “Follow me.” He turns, walking back toward the front. Neily and I stand there shocked.

  “Did he say to follow him?” I ask her to be sure.

  “It worked?” She’s as shocked as I am. The man stops to look back at us. He motions for us to follow him. We hurry along before he decides to change his mind.

  “What the hell! Why are you taking them back?” I turn to see a beautiful tall blonde in a tight shirt dress ask. She looks pissed. Beautiful but pissed nonetheless. The man leading us toward the front ignores the questions. He pulls open one of the doors, letting us in.

  We step inside to see a giant host desk. A dark-haired girl looks up from the tablet she has in her hand. Her eyes flick over Neily and me before going to the man who let us in.

  “What are you doing, Taylor?” she snips at the man.

  “My job,” he says dismissively to her. “This way, ladies.” He motions for us to step down the hallway. The sound of music gets louder as we move along it. I lock my arm with Neily’s as we enter the main part of the club.

  “This isn’t what I was expecting,” I say to her as we enter. Chandeliers hang from the tall ceilings. Light bounces off them, making the whole club look like it’s sparkling. The music is loud but not too loud that you can’t talk to anyone. I hadn’t expected it to look like this for some reason.

  “It’s classy.” Neily looks everywhere like I am. I think we were both thinking it would only be a mass of bodies with loud music. Don’t get me wrong, the place is hopping and the alcohol is flying, but like Neily said, the place still gives off a classy vibe. I bet all the high rollers hang out here. “I don’t want to know what a drink costs in here.”

  Neily shakes her head in agreement.

  “You have your own table here.” He motions yet again. I almost feel bad for the guy. We keep getting side-tracked like toddlers. We walk over in the direction he’d motioned to, where a low-hanging silk rope blocks the way. He unhooks it, letting us in. “Your table for the night, ladies.”

  “Thank you.” I give the man a warm smile, feeling lucky.

  “Why?” Neily narrows her gaze on the man, folding her arms over her chest.

  “Doing my job, ma’am.” I can tell he’s trying to fight a laugh. “I’ll send someone over to get your drink order. Like the table, they’re free.”

  “There it is! They give us a free drink, then know we’ll want another and another. Before we know it, we’ll have racked up a five hundred dollar bill,” Neily accuses. This time the man doesn’t fight his laugh. “That’s how they get you.” She narrows her eyes at the man who, continues to chuckle.

  “All the drinks are on the house, ma’am,” he informs Neily before turning to leave.

  “What is going on here?” Neily asks from beside me. I have no idea but my eyes s
earch the beautiful club for my mystery man. There are already a lot of people inside but not too many. People still have plenty of room to move around.

  “What can I get you to drink?” I look over to the woman who was standing at the host stand where we first entered. She isn't wearing what the other servers or bartenders are. Her outfit is a little different but still matches all the others in color. It's simple, sexy and black. Yeah, we so didn't dress right for this place.

  “That!” Neily points at a tray passing us with some pink martinis on it. They do look yummy. I nod in agreement. “We’ll take six.”

  “Six!” I half shout.

  “He said we can have all the drinks we want. It’s free.” That’s true. It is free.

  “We have to work tomorrow,” I remind her.

  “Fine. Two.” Her shoulders drop. “Each,” she throws out there, making me laugh. The woman rolls her eyes, walking off.

  “What’s her problem?”

  “No clue.” I watch the woman go.

  “You see him?” Neily draws me back to the reason we’re here to begin with. I go back to looking around the club.

  “I don’t see him. Maybe…” I trail off when my eyes land on his. He’s staring right at me across the bar.

  “He’s staring at you.” Neily tells me what I already know. “Now you’re staring at him.” I am. I can’t pull my eyes away from him. “Stop staring.” Neily nudges me but still I can’t break eye contact with the man. I don’t know what it is about him but he always has this pull on me. Even at a distance. “He’s coming this way.”

  “Oh shit.” I back up a step and then another. I hit the long booth seat at our table, making me drop down onto it. He keeps on coming. He looks determined.

  “He’s coming!” Neily shouts.

  “I know!” I shout back at her, finally pulling my eyes from his.

  “Do I like leave you alone or...” She throws her hands up in the air, not sure what to do.

  “I don’t know!” I hiss at her. This was a bad idea. I can feel my face start to heat already. We’re going to embarrass ourselves. I know it.

  “Cupcake.” His deep voice rumbles through me. It’s as sexy as him. Of course it is. I turn to look at him, my eyes meeting a wall of hard chest. I have to tilt my head all the way back to meet his gaze.

  “Cupcake?” Neily says. Wait. Is that what he called me? I don’t have a chance to ask before his mouth is on mine.

  5

  Sean

  I should take this slow. That’s what I told myself I was going to do once I got her little ass into the club. As soon as she was under my roof where I knew I would have some kind of control. I convinced myself that I could be patient and take my time. That was until I’d gotten close to her.

  The flush of her cheeks and her eager eyes that were looking around the club like she was searching for someone had sent me into a tiny bit of a panic. The thought of her being here to meet someone had lit something inside of me. I knew that I had to stake my claim before anyone else got to her.

  Her fingers dig into my shirt as I deepen the kiss. My hands go to her ass to bring her flush against me. Her lips are the softest thing I’ve ever felt in my life. I push my tongue past them, needing to taste more of her. She parts them, tentatively opening her mouth for me. She tastes as sweet as the name I gave her. She’s a delectable little morsel that I plan to eat up.

  Slowly her tongue slips into my mouth and she starts to kiss me back. She really is sweet. Her kiss is untrained and covered in innocence. I groan into her mouth, lifting her up off her feet. Needing her to be as close to me as possible.

  “Sir,” I hear someone call. I break from the kiss, not wanting to but remembering where I am. I’m in my club at my place of work. I’m sure all of my employees are staring in shock. Sure, over the years there has been gossip about who I was dating, but that's exactly what it was: gossip.

  People might have seen me partying with women and taking pictures, but they’ve never caught me actually doing something intimate with anyone. I haven’t had the time or interest until the moment I laid eyes on my cupcake. The ache in my chest doesn’t seem as unbearable now. The one in my cock is an entirely different story.

  It’s no shock to me when I see Amber standing there. She’s got four martinis on a tray.

  “Can I help you with something?” I ask, giving her a look that says I don’t want to be bothered right now.

  “I was wondering if I could get you something to drink?”

  “No.” I put my cupcake down onto her feet. Letting go of her ass, I take the drinks off Amber’s tray and set them on the table. “That is all,” I dismiss her. She turns, stomping off.

  The girl that is with my cupcake sits down, picking up one of the drinks and taking a sip. She stares at me while she does it. I pick up one of the drinks, handing it to my girl. She takes it from my hand. I swear her little hand shakes. She chugs the drink back.

  “I told you we should have ordered more.”

  “You were right.” She nods in agreement with her friend, but her eyes stay locked on me. I know tonight is the first time I’ve ever seen her. It has to be. I’d remember her. All that blond curly hair and those chocolate brown eyes are things that I’d never forget. Still, her stare feels familiar. Because she’s yours, my mind whispers.

  I take the glass from her hand, giving her another as I signal one of the passing servers to get another round.

  “Can I get your name, cupcake?” I’m likely not going to use it but I need to know it anyway. Hell, I need to know everything about her.

  “Alyssa.” Her friend answers for her. My girl nods her head in agreement. I smile over at her friend. “I’m Neily.” She holds her hand out for me to take. “Alyssa’s best friend since birth.”

  I take her hand. If they are best friends than I need this girl to like me, too. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I’m Sean.”

  “Sean,” my girl says as she sets the second empty martini glass down. She sways on her feet. “I never guessed Sean.”

  I wrap my arm around her. She leans into me as I sit us down together, keeping her tucked close to me. Fuck, she even smells like cupcakes. I wonder if her pussy tastes as sweet as she smells.

  “You were guessing my name?”

  She ducks her head, looking down and trying to cover the blush that lights up her cheeks. Is she really that shy? She stared right at me. Based on that kiss, I’d have to guess she is.

  “We usually don’t do this.” Her friend waves her hand around. She stops suddenly as something catches her attention somewhere in the distance. I follow her line of sight to another VIP area. I try to remember who's over there tonight but my mind isn't working at full capacity with Alyssa pushing her tits against my side.

  “What don’t you do?”

  Neily keeps staring off in the other direction. “Go to clubs.”

  I look down at my girl. “So you’re not meeting anyone tonight?”

  “You,” she answers. “I came to meet you.”

  There we go. She’s coming more out of her shell. Good. “I came down to meet you, too.”

  “Came down?” she asks. She has no idea who I am. I like the idea of her thinking of me as some normal guy. Most women only see the money when they look at me.

  “I was upstairs in the office.”

  “Oh.” She pauses and I can tell she’s thinking. Her eyebrows furrow together, making a small line in her forehead that I want to kiss. “You work here!” she shouts. “That’s why you’re always here.”

  I steady her for a moment. Again, if I’d seen her before I’d remember, but I’m starting to think she’s seen me before.

  “I work across the street. Neily and I own Love Bites bakery together.” I smile, thinking her name is even more fitting. I’d seen the cute little bakery go in a few months ago. I haven’t had a chance to stop in yet.

  I am kicking my own ass for that now. I could have found her months ago.

  “
Neily, did you hear that he works here?”

  Her friend finally pulls her eyes away from whatever it is she was staring at. “That makes sense.” She pushes her glasses up onto her nose before taking another sip of her drink. “Do you go home with him now?”

  “Neily!” Alyssa gasps from beside me. These two really don’t get out much. It makes sense seeing their outfits and how they seemed a little overwhelmed when they first walked in. I’d watched as Alyssa’s eyes had taken in the club.

  I’d felt pride when I saw how she reacted to it. I could tell immediately that she liked what she saw. I saw the same look in those warm brown eyes when I approached her.

  “What? You’ve been crushing on him for a while.” Her eyes go round, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.

  “Why you telling my secrets?” My cupcake turns a few shades of red.

  She’s been watching me. My already hard cock jerks at the idea that she’s been trying to steal peeks at me. That will make keeping her a whole lot easier.

  “I think it’s the drinks.” Neily stands. “I should go before I say more.”

  Yes, please go. I don’t think she’s trying to block me from Alyssa, but I would prefer to have her all alone.

  “You don’t have to leave,” Alyssa tells her.

  “No. I see something I want to check out. Text me.” I think she tries to wink at Alyssa but it looks more like she’s got something in her eye. “Do all the things I never do,” she adds before taking off. I have no idea what that even means. But I’m happy to have my cupcake all to myself.

  “You’ve been watching me?” I ask. One of the servers returns with another round of drinks. Alyssa snatches it up, taking a big drink of it.

  “You leave the club around the same time I’m getting into the bakery,” she finally admits. Could she be what I’ve been feeling these past few months? That’s when the weird sensation in my chest had started.

  The minute I laid eyes on my cupcake, it felt as though that emptiness in my chest had been filled for the first time in months. I’m experiencing something altogether different now in my chest that I can't put into words.