Woods

I hated management. This was how my father was wearing me down. He knew I hated this part of the job and he also knew I didn’t deserve to be doing it. He was using this torture to get me to marry Angelina. And it was working, dammit.

I shoved open the kitchen doors to deal with the latest drama to find my head server, Jimmy, with his hands on his h*ps glaring down at the newest server, Jackie or Frankie or something I couldn’t remember. She was crossing her arms over her chest and glaring right back at Jimmy.

“What the f**k is going on? I need you out there serving guests and I hear you in here fighting as I walk by. Someone want to explain or do I just fire all your sorry asses?” I demanded in a tone I knew couldn’t be heard outside the walls.

“I can tell you what’s wrong. Her. You hired a lazy one. She takes a smoke break every ten minutes and if I have to serve another one of her tables because she’s left the order sitting there for more than five minutes I’m gonna go apeshit on her ass. You hear me? Either she goes or I go.”

I wasn’t firing Jimmy. He ran the kitchen for me. He was also a favorite of the female members. They had no idea he preferred the male members. It was a secret we kept so that he got the big nice tips.

I turned my attention to the new girl. “I thought I made it very clear when I hired you that there were no smoke breaks. Jimmy says when anyone takes a break. He is the boss in here.”

The girl let out a sigh and then jerked her apron off and slung it on the ground. “I can’t work with these kind of slave conditions. A girl needs a break and just because I’m not as fast as he is he gets mad. Well screw him. I’m out of here.” She spun around and stalked out of the kitchen.

Good. I didn’t have to fire her or deal with female tears. Only problem was that I needed another server. Now.

“Glad she’s gone but we need to call in backup,” Jimmy stated the obvious.

“Try to manage until I can get someone in here to help.” I headed out the door and was making my way to the office when the click of high heels alerted me that I was being followed. Please God, not Angelina now. I wasn’t in the mood. Unless she wanted to go serve customers, she needed to leave me the hell alone. I turned around to tell her so when the words froze on my tongue.

It wasn’t Angelina. It was Della. She was even more mouthwatering than I remembered and I remembered a lot. Almost every damn day I remembered her really well. Normally, while I was in the shower.

Her dark hair looked longer and it was pulled to one side and laid loosely over her shoulder. She was wearing a snug fitting white top that didn’t leave a lot to the imagination with that chest of hers. Then a short skirt and a pair of heels that made her tanned slender legs look even sexier. What was she doing here?

“Woods?” she asked and I raised my eyes from taking in every detail of her body to meet her surprised and confused gaze.

“Della,” I replied. Did she not come here looking for me? Why did she seem so surprised?

“What are you doing here?” she asked as a pleased smile started to form on her lips. I’d never told her my last name. On purpose. I didn’t want the one-night-stand to turn into anything more. Although over the past four months I’d kicked myself for not giving her my number. I’d wondered where she was and if she was going to come back this way anytime soon. Now, here she stood. In my club.

“My father owns the place,” I replied and watched her face. Her eyes went wide and she glanced around at her surroundings as if taking them in for the first time.

“Are you Mr. Kerrington?” she asked.

“Depends. My dad is also Mr. Kerrington. I typically go by Woods.”

Della let out a soft laugh. “I can’t believe this. I think I’m supposed to be meeting with you about a job. Tripp sent me.”

Tripp. This was the girl? The one he was helping out? Shit! What had Jace said had happened to her? She had gotten messed up with the boss or something. Hell, I couldn’t remember. I hadn’t paid that much attention.

“Yeah, that would be me.” I replied. There were plenty reasons why this was a really bad idea. I didn’t need this kind of distraction. I had to find a way to deal with my dad and Angelina. Seeing Della everyday was going to f**k with my head.

“I hope this is okay? I mean, he never said ‘Woods.’ He always referred to you as Kerrington.” The nervous tone in her voice snapped me out of my internal battle.

“Uh, yeah, uh, just come on back to my office and you can fill out paperwork and we can discuss where you would fit best.”

Far away from me. Far, far away. I needed to put her sexy ass on another continent. But I was about to give her a job. Here at my club. So I could be tortured with the memory of our night of amazing, mind-blowing sex. Ah, hell.

I didn’t wait for her to catch up to me and walk beside me. I was afraid I would be able to smell her and I’d have her pressed up against a wall with my hands all over her in minutes. Instead, I stalked ahead of her and didn’t look back. The only reason I knew she was following me was from the click of her heels.

Once I finally got to my office door I opened it and stood back so she could step inside. I held my breath until I was safely away from her.

“Woods, you seem really unhappy about this. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t even know this was the town Tripp was sending me to. He gave me directions and sent me this way. I was desperate to leave so I did. I can get a job somewhere else if this is weird for you.”

The worried little frown scrunching up her nose made me crumble. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t be hard or cold with her. I was going to give her the damn job, any job she wanted, and I was going to stay the hell away from her. Maybe I should propose to Angelina. That would keep me from making the mistake of hunting Della down every chance I got.

“I’m sorry. This is fine. I’ve just had some issues with employees and drama in the kitchen to deal with. You surprised me. But you have a job here if you want it. Just tell me what you’re good at.” Other than f**king my brains out.

Della sat up straight and my eyes drifted down to her tits. The outline of her pebbled up ni**les sent my already hardening c**k to complete attention. Fuck, she was turned on. She was remembering too.

“I’ve been working at a bar in Dallas as a waitress. That’s normally the kind of jobs I get. They’re easy and the tips are good so I don’t have to stay around too long.”

I nodded. That’s right. She was traveling the world. She wasn’t putting down roots in Rosemary. She didn’t want a relationship. She wanted an adventure.

“You want a server job here? It’s an easier crowd than a bar and I just lost a server right before you walked in.”

I wasn’t putting her far away from me. No, I was putting her right here under my damn nose. I was a f**king idiot.

“Thank you. That would be perfect. Do you need me to start right away since you just lost a server? I’m a quick learner,” she assured me.

No, I needed her to go back to Tripp’s condo and let me calm the f**k down.

A knock on the door interrupted me before I could respond and Jimmy stuck his head in. “It’s getting out of control.” His eyes found Della and he flashed her a smile. “Well, aren’t you all kinds of sexy. Please tell me you’re here for a job.”

Della smiled at him brightly and nodded.

“Perfect. Can I have her?” Jimmy asked, opening the door wider.

I wanted to tell him no that I wasn’t done with her yet. I was still considering laying her over my desk and pushing that skirt up to see what she had on underneath.

“Sure. Go ahead and take her. She has experience so it shouldn’t be hard to get her going.”

Della stood up and smiled back at me one more time. “Thank you for this.” Then she went to Jimmy who closed the door behind them.

I laid my head back against the leather seat and let out a defeated sigh.

I needed to remember that Della would be leaving soon. She wasn’t one to stick around. I couldn’t lose everything I’d worked for because I wanted to be buried in her tight little pu**y again. It was time I focused on Angelina. Maybe having that buffer between us would keep me from making a mistake. Because Della Sloane could cause me to lose it all. Then she’d walk away.

As sweet as she tasted and as perfect as she felt, I couldn’t let my desire for her change my life. Angelina would make my dad happy. I’d be vice president and this management shit would be behind me. It was my only choice. It had to be.