Just One Taste (Topped #2)(7)

Jenni shrugged. “Chef yelled at me for a long time and I cried and then everything was all right. And it needed salt.”

Now there was a girl who would get her ass spanked if she ever tried to take a training class. “Yeah, well, he should be scary when you do that.”

“Oh, he’s kind of always scary,” Jenni said. “The scar freaks me out. That is one ugly dude.”

She got in the twenty-year-old, never had a real problem in the world until Daddy made her get a job’s face. “Don’t you dare call him that, you shallow bitch.”

Jenni’s eyes were huge in her face and she took a step back. “Okay, now you’re scary. I’m going to go and set up for dinner.”

She rushed back out.

“Hey, we all know Jenni’s got issues. There’s no need to start a fight,” Tiffany said, her voice calm.

“She’s a mean girl and I don’t like mean girls.” She couldn’t stand bullies.

“Don’t be so hard on her. She’s young and this is her first real experience outside a prep school.” Ally frowned and looked over at the door.

“I can make it her last.” She had no right to call Eric ugly. It was false in the first place. That scar made him heroic, manly. There was nothing wrong with that man’s face. Absolutely nothing.

“Please don’t.” Ally put a hand on her shoulder. “She’s the daughter of one of Ian Taggart’s biggest clients. He got her the job and she’s usually all right at it. Since they moved her to the hostess station, she’s been okay.”

“She spends all her time flirting.”

“She’s also excellent at table management and she’s good at making sure we all get customers,” Tiffany said with finality. “That girl can smell a good tipper from a mile away and she spreads out the wealth. It’s a thing that brings harmony to all of us, so let’s ignore the fact that she’s not interested in your honey.”

“He’s not my honey.” After tonight she wouldn’t have to worry about it. “And he’s not interested in me. We’re friends and coworkers.”

And that was the way it was going to stay.





CHAPTER TWO



Eric watched her as she moved out onto the main stage. Deena walked in with the other subs, two women he didn’t know and Tiffany. Work was about to get very interesting. He wasn’t sure what Deena and Tiffany would do when they realized he and Javier were here, too.

His lips had started to curl up when he realized she wasn’t dressed like the other women. Tiffany and the two others were in full fet wear, complete with beautiful corsets, frilly thongs or boy shorts, and stunning heels. Deena had on a leather miniskirt and a tight tank top that had likely come straight from the same place her everyday clothes came from. Her feet were bare, making her inches shorter than the rest of the girls. She smiled, but when she thought no one was looking, she would smooth out her clothes as though attempting to make up for their lack of flair.

“Those are some fine women.” Javier stepped up next to him. Like Eric, he was wearing leathers—pants and a vest, no shirt. Javi had cowboy boots on while Eric preferred the combat boots he’d worn for years. You can take the SEAL out of the Navy, but try to take his f*cking boots and he would shoot you. That was his motto anyway.

“They certainly are.” Though she was dressed more modestly than the other women, she was the one who held his attention. Her hair was pulled back in a sweet braid that was simply going to have to go. He wanted to see her with her hair around her shoulders, her head bent and waiting for his command.

Damn, he was already hard. He started naming all the ingredients he would need for tomorrow night’s Proven?al chicken dish. Chicken thighs, kosher salt, cracked black pepper…

“Are you doing that thing where you prepare a dish in your head so your dick will go down?” Javi asked.

“Yes.” There was no point in denying it. Herbes de Provence. Flour. Lemon.

“You know most of us think about baseball,” Javi pointed out. “Damn, Tiffany’s got a fine ass on her. If I didn’t think of that like a sister, I would be praying she’s my partner.” Javi stopped. “Shit, what if she’s my partner? I don’t think I can spank her.”

“That was all up to the big guy and Kai.” He seemed to have his dick under control for the moment. “It’s only six weeks.”

Six weeks where they would practice and train and be partners. Six weeks where Deena would be forced to lean on him and he could prove to her that he could take care of her.

Damn. There it went again. She was talking to a tall, severe-looking woman who couldn’t possibly be a sub and Deena’s eyes lit up.

“Come on,” Javi said. “We’re wanted on the stage.”

It was time. He hoped she didn’t run the minute she saw him. The other two men he’d met earlier in the locker room moved by him. Gage Jensen was an ER doc and Harrison Keen was one of Dallas’s top-rated criminal attorneys.

So who was the obvious baby Domme for? That was interesting. Eric was looking forward to the evening. He walked with Javi to the main stage.

Stage was just a name, but it could be meaningful on certain nights. Tonight was not one of those nights. Tonight was merely a training night.