Page 41 of Rum & Coke

Sebastian turned his head toward me, and I looked down into his dark blue eyes. “Are you sure?”

I stood and stepped back. “I think so.”

“Okay, I’ll tell all my bouncers to keep an eye out for this car, and I’ll talk to Honey so she can talk to all the girls.”

“Thank you, Mr. Delarosa.” My gaze moved to his desk, and I noticed there was a stack of money on the wood top and several small empty plastic bags with a red diamond printed on it. I had no idea what they were for because I’d never seen them before.

“Please, call me Sebastian.”

My hand rested on the credenza as I turned my head and smiled slightly. “Okay.”

He reached out and placed his hand on top of mine. “If you ever need anything else, please don’t hesitate to come to me.”

A feeling of uneasiness washed over me, and I wanted to pull my hand away, but I resisted so that I wasn’t rude to my boss. “Thank you. I will.”

Sebastian removed his hand and turned his chair back to his desk, looking at a desk calendar. I started to turn to leave, but he spoke again, and I stopped. “Remind me again what days you work.”

“Wednesday and Thursday days, and Friday and Saturday nights.”

“That’s right. Are you up for making extra money?” He looked up at me.

My stomach dropped into the pit of my stomach. “Um—”

“It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“It’s not?” I asked, my brows furrowed in confusion. I wasn’t sure if he remembered that I’d seen him getting his dick sucked a few months ago.

He leaned back in his chair. “Monday, I’m going to the fight at the arena, and I want you on my arm.”

I balked. “What?”

He grinned. “This town is small, Tessa, and if I show up alone, I won’t hear the end of it from my friends.”

“Really?” He nodded. “Why me?”

“Why not you?”

I leaned my hip on the credenza, needing something to hold me up because he was talking about being one on one. One on one with my boss. Alone. “Because …” I hesitated, not sure if I should bring up the Sommer situation or not.

“Do you want me to invite someone else?”

Yes.“I—”

He stood and moved in front of me, touching my hand again. I stared up into his eyes. He wasn’t a bad looking guy, but he was my boss. Wasn’t there a law or something? Probably not, but it was still weird to me.

“I’ll pay you a grand.”

My mouth fell open. “A grand?”

“Plus your ticket for the fight, of course.”

An extra thousand dollars was tempting. I could put it away for a rainy day. “Why me?” I asked again. I didn’t understand why he was asking me and not Sommer.

“Are you not grateful for the extra money?”

“It’s not that. I’m just confused why you’d choose me and not one of the other girls.”

He grinned and leaned a hip on the credenza, matching me, except he crossed his arms over his chest as though to get comfortable. “I’m going to be honest with you, Tessa. My friends are ruthless. They’ll flirt and try to get in your pants.”