Enraptured(17)

I bristled. He made me sound like a gold digging slut. "I need be able to make my bills, Dace."

"Where do you live?"

"In an apartment." I replied smartly.

He clenched his teeth. "I figured. But where."

"About a block from the university." I elaborated without supplying him any minor details. He was my boss. He didn't need to know where I lived.

"What do you pay for rent?"

"Too much." I folded my arms over my chest. "What's with all the personal questions?"

"I'm trying to figure out how much you're looking to make here." He replied casually.

"Oh," I took in a deep breath. "So long as I can afford my rent, buy my groceries and make enough for next years tuition then I really don't care."

He nodded. "What do you want from life?"

"Happiness." I replied honestly.

He nodded. "What does happiness entail?"

"I don't know." He was awfully personal and it was all so one-sided. It wasn't fair.

"What are you in school for?"

I felt my cheeks turn red. "I want to work with books. I'm aiming to be a literary agent."

"You read?"

"All the time."

"You really don't fit the typical bartender profile."

I frowned. "What is the typical and how don't I fit?"

"Slutty and undecided…you're neither."

"That's a bit of a harsh judgment, don't you think?" I asked. "Not all bar tenders are slutty."

"The ones who work here are."

"And I'm sure you would know." The instant the words were out of my mouth I felt my face turn a cherry red. My hand covered my mouth and I gasped. "Sorry."

"All good." He said darkly. "My reputation exceeds me."

All I could do was nod. Despite the words I'd heard about him, I didn't believe them. I didn't want to believe them. Dace was dangerous, of that I had no doubt. He was dark and mysterious and judging by his looks, he had the definite potential to be a womanizer, but I didn't want to believe he was everything he was known to be.

I knew why I couldn't accept him for what he was known to be - but it was still hard to admit to myself. As wrong as it was for me to want anything more than a job from Dace, I knew I did. And my reasons for that were, in short, ridiculous. Dace made me feel. The me I had always known and treasured had just found someone who affected me on more than a physical level, but a mental and emotional level. Dace made me feel with my heart in a way no other had done before. He set butterflies loose in my stomach and excitement to flames. I knew this was why he both terrified me and calmed me. Just the thought of him sent my heart racing in fear - and yet his nearness conquered all my worries and in their place, safety thrived. I knew I could never be more to him because I simply refused to be another notch on his headboard. I wasn't that kind of girl. I had never been the quick loving and leaving kind. That just wasn't me and from the stories I'd heard, that was exactly the kind of girl Dace wanted.

***

Dace spent the next three hours showing me around the club. It was huge and I was certain if left alone for any length of time I would get myself lost.

"You've been quiet." He stated matter of fact as he set a box of liquor on the bar. He'd shown me the overstock room and explained it was dayshifts responsibility to ensure the bar was fully stocked for the night.

"Just trying to remember everything." I pulled a bottle of vodka from the box and placed it on the shelf in the vodka section.

"You seem to be remembering just fine." He nodded to the vodka.

"It's more trying to remember my way around this place. It's like a freaking maze."

He smirked. "You'll get used to it."

"If you sent me on a hunt for a room, I would get lost." I predicted.

"You'd be fine." He assured and I blinked at him disbelievingly.

"You have a lot of faith in me for just meeting me." I teased.

The smile disintegrated and I felt my brows pull together as he glanced down at the bottles left in the box. "I've seen you around."

"We've met." I reminded him. "When I plowed into you in the parking lot."

"You mean when I kept you from becoming part of the road?"

"Whatever," I brushed off my graceful introduction into his life by pulling a bottle of rye from the box.

He smiled at my obvious humiliation, but had the grace not to poke at it. I was thankful for that. I didn't think my nerves could handle another assault for the day. Dace had used up their stimulation capacity before 10:00am. He was good at eliciting a blush from me and I wished I could do the same to him. Sadly, I barely seemed to affect him at all.