Page 9 of Devoted (Love and Burlesque #2)

CHAPTER NINE

KNIGHT

Not my type.

E rnest, my head of security, picked me up from the airport not even an hour ago, and I’m already rushing off to the private event at The Garden of Eden.

Thankfully, it’s a small-scale affair with several of my and Harriett’s business associates in attendance, the ones who can easily afford a huge charitable donation to get into the Adlers’ good graces.

Because of the event, most of the staff at the club are left with a rare Friday night off. Including a certain costume designer I haven’t dared to see since our last encounter that fueled my sky-high fantasies earlier today.

A slow sigh of relief leaves my lips as I walk through the entrance of the club and confirm only a select few staff members are behind the bar or readying the audience area for our mixer.

Even Alek has the night off, and I’m already assuming he’ll need the whole weekend after he and Ezekiel have a serious conversation.

It’s funny how both he and my cousin had come to me with similar concerns, but neither one of the men was ready to give up the deep connection they shared in such a short time.

My bet is they’ll be married and living together within months.

If it weren’t for how I feel for Vivian, I would have told them both they were insane for being so infatuated with each other already. But now I understand, wholly and devastatingly.

But my infatuation is off-limits.

Peering at the stage, I see a large shadow, which I can only assume belongs to the head of entertainment for tonight, moving around backstage. Moving in his direction, I climb up the side steps to check in with him.

“Benny, is that you, or should I call animal control to get the beast backstage?” I ask, turning the corner to the barely lit wing of the stage.

“Very funny. How about ya use those muscles I know ya got under that stuffy suit to help me with this?” Benny replies, peeking over his shoulder from where he is attempting to move a large prop.

Scoffing, I remove my dinner jacket before walking over and helping him lift the prop onto a rolling platform.

“The dancers are all set for tonight, then?” Looking around, I see it’s less crowded than it usually is backstage, with fewer costumes and performance materials.

“Yeah, I think we’re good,” Benny replies, running his fingers through the short buzz of his hair.

He’s not in costume yet, just in his normal gym attire, but the giant man commands attention as if he were wearing the most tantalizing costume. I recently learned that this will be the first show he’ll head as second creative director, having trained under Alek for a few months.

Every time I learn new things, whether they are happenings at the club or a tidbit of information about my employees, it opens my eyes to how much I wasn’t involved before. I’ve always strove for the next new thing, whether it was in business or in my love life.

Now—well, now I feel like I want to slow down and take enjoyment of my successes.

I might be growing soft or plain lonely, but I can’t shake off the feeling of belonging I get every time I step into The Garden of Eden.

I even like being here without Vivian, and she was the reason I first started spending more time at the club.

“You got a hot date for tonight?” Benny asks, distracting me from my thoughts.

“No, actually.” My reply is curt as I shrug my jacket back on, dusting off the shoulders of the velvet fabric.

“Huh…”

Looking over, I see Benny staring at me intently, his arms crossed, as if I’ve done something wrong.

His confusion causes me to raise an eyebrow in similar suspicion. “What do you mean by ‘huh?’” I mimic his tone.

“Used to seeing you with a new pretty girl on your arm at these things.” Benny cocks his head as he waits for my reply.

The man before me is a good friend, but there isn’t a way in hell I’m going to tell him how I’ve only had one pretty girl on my mind for two agonizing months.

A deep sigh leaves my lips as I make my way over to the towering man. Raising a hand, I firmly pat his shoulder and lean my face closer to his ear to speak. Old reliable deflection is my way out of this conversation.

“If you’re interrogating me intending to ask you to be my date, I’m afraid you aren’t my type, Benjamin,” I whisper, adding a tsk at the end.

I’m startled slightly when he leans even further into our shared space with a devious smirk lining his glossed lips.

“I’m too big for you to carry in your arms anyway. I’ll make sure not to trip down the stairs, only to have you pull something trying to pick me up.” He winks at me, and I stand there, frozen, as he says his goodbye and makes his way to the stairwell.

Lesson learned. Anything that happens here is up for gossip. I’m only hoping the story of my incident with Vivian didn’t make its way to Alek. I’m not sure how he’d react to me playing the shining knight in armor for his younger sister.

Twenty minutes later, I find myself still irritated by the conversation with Benny. If he knows there’s… something going on between Vivian and me, who else from the club knows?

My frustrated groan echoes in the room holding costume after costume. It should be concerning how often I find myself in Vivian’s office when she’s gone, but I try not to think about it. There’s no rationalizing it.

Just as there’s no rationalizing why I am scrolling through her profile with an unused account of my own. The account is an old one I used to post art to, but I lost motivation years ago. That is, until recently.

Vivian has been my muse as much as she’s been my queen, the passion behind my art as well as the beauty that commands it.

And it looks like my queen is stuffing her face full of fries at The Burger Shop, a gastropub only down the street from here.

Looking at the time stamp, it seems she posted the story not too long ago, and I’m tempted to sneak out before this event starts to catch sight of her.

A week has passed since I last saw her, since I last felt her in my arms and caught myself becoming addicted to the feeling of her.

It’s why I lashed out and practically ran out of the back room.

I can’t grow attached to someone I shouldn’t have.

The phone still in hand, I lean back in Vivian’s chair, intending to keep scrolling through her feed as I’ve done countless times before, when a loud crack startles me. I only have a moment to steady myself before I fall backward onto the concrete ground.

“What the hell?” I ask out loud to the empty room.

Looking down, I see the tiny office chair broken into even tinier pieces.

I hope she had no attachment to the damn thing.

I only tolerated sitting in it for so long because I didn’t want any signs of me in her office, but now—she’s getting a new one.

Pocketing my phone, I squat down to pick up the pieces of cheap plastic and rush out the door. Buying her a replacement chair has already moved to the top of my to-do list.