Southern Seduction (13 page)

Penn nods accordingly as he strides towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. Locked and intense, his blue orbs penetrate through every facet of her being. He holds out his hand and proceeds to act like this is their first meeting.

“Nice to meet you,
Roxie
.” Venom spews from his mouth as he pronounces the name with pure distain.

She takes his hand timidly, her eyes still wide, her pupils smaller than the needle of a pin. Anxiety and a slight edge of fear dominate her body’s reaction. Nervousness spurs a thin sheen of sweat to spread across her body. Ice-cold awareness. She is in so much trouble. Trouble with a capital T.

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Wilder,” she replies quietly.

“Please follow me, Roxie. I’d like to have a quick chat with you before you start your night.” The tone of his voice has a strong edge and undeniable demanding tone.

Grant glances at him with a questioning look in his eyes but doesn’t pry. He can tell by his boss’s demeanor that something is off, but it is very apparent that Penn Wilder is in no mood to neither discuss nor elaborate.

“Follow me,” he commands with hardened eyes and clenched teeth. He advances out of the dressing room and down a long, dark hallway towards his office.

He can’t believe this is happening.
Is this really fucking happening?!
He has the urge to punch his fist through something. Anything. His brain fills with the irrational urge to kick the living shit out of Grant for hiring her.

Daniella follows his lead, her head down and slightly dejected. She has no idea what is about to be said, but she knows it is not going to be good.

He stands at the threshold of his office and gestures for her to walk inside. Her long legs step past him with unsure movements. The door slams behind her with a loud bang and her body startles immediately. She feels like she is about to crawl out of her skin. Silence impregnates the room as tension hovers over them in a thick fog.

“Sit down.”

Her ass unceremoniously hits the leather chair across from his desk at his insistent words. Her eyes stay downcast on the hands that are tangling in awkward movements over her bare thighs. His black boots come into her view and her eyes make a slow descent towards his face. She takes in every inch of him. His strong thighs, the slight bulge prominent underneath his zipper.
Is he turned on right now?
No, there’s no way. She pushes that irrational thought aside and finally finds the courage to meet his hard-edged stare. His thick muscular arms are crossed in front of his noticeable chest. If she wasn’t so god damn worried about his reaction to her being at his clubs, she’d probably be highly aroused at the sight of him.

She squirms in her seat from the persistent ache between her thighs and realizes that she actually
is
aroused. Undeniably turned on by him. The anger etched on his face only seems to make her magnetism towards him even stronger. She finds herself fantasizing about him throwing her down on his desk and ravaging every inch of her. The scruff on his face brushing across her thighs as his mouth licks and sucks at her pussy. His large hands wrapping around her wrists and holding them hostage above her head as he thrusts his thick, rigid cock inside of her…

Penn stares down at her and notices the faint blush rising across her cheeks. Her pupils dilate and her eyes appear…
lustful
? That can’t be what he’s seeing. He is obviously misinterpreting her expression. A deep, cavernous breath forces her chest to heave up and down, emphasizing the lush curve of her breasts. Her tight, immovable corset nearly reveals the edges of her perfect nipples to his greedy eyes. His cock twitches in anticipation beneath his dress slacks. He can’t seem to help himself whenever she’s around, his mind constantly heading towards thoughts…fantasies…
memories
. He still hasn’t forgotten what it felt like to be sheathed inside of her tight, perfect pussy. Nor has he forgotten how she tastes. His tongue compulsorily runs across his top lip as his taste buds strive to remember.

Fuck, get it together.

Penn clears his throat and regains his clarity, pushing all thoughts of Daniella and her perfect little body out of his mind. “I need an explanation,” he commands with purpose.

She bites her bottom lip in apprehension, her eyes moving back towards her nervous hands.

“Daniella,”
he demands. “This isn’t a fucking game, darlin’. You need to tell me why you are here,
at my club
, and why my general manager is introducing you to me as our newest stripper named Roxie.” His eyebrow rises questioningly.

A heavy gust of air whooshes out of her lungs and she grasps that there is no getting out of this. “I need this job, Penn. I
really need
this job.”

“You
really need
a job as a stripper? I don’t understand. Explain your reasoning.”

She sighs heavily, her eyes hesitantly meeting his insistent stare. He gestures with an impatient hand for her to continue. He isn’t going to let her out of his office until she brings him up to speed on her reasoning for this ridiculous situation.

“Okay… Okay…” She holds both of her hands up in relinquishment. And with that, she explains everything to him. The tuition bill, her desperation, the refusal to place her responsibilities on her family, and the fact that she was ineligible for financial aid. She lays it all out in the open and he listens with careful consideration, his brain taking in every detail of her dilemma, his eyes turning empathetic.

“So that’s it? That’s why you sought out work as an exotic dancer?” he asks with a surprised tone laced over his Southern drawl.

She nods her head in two timid movements.

“
Darlin’,
you should have told me,” he says with a sympathetic tone. “I’ll pay for your tuition and then you can focus on your classes instead of
dancing
. See? Problem solved.” His lips crease into a confident smile.

Penn’s cocky smirk and idea of an easy solution push her over the edge. She doesn’t want him to feel sorry for her and she most definitely does not want him to lend her money. She just wants him to accept her reasons and let her make her own decisions, let her work at Wild Nights for as long as it takes her to save up enough money to pay the rest of the year’s tuition.

She points an irritated finger in his direction, her feisty personality shining through. “You’re not paying for my tuition! I’m not a fucking child! I don’t need your god damn sympathy or your money, Penn. I’m an adult! Stop treating me like I’m Bobby’s little sister!” She jumps to her feet, her emotions getting the best of her. She pushes an irate finger into his chest.

Penn begins to chuckle at her abrupt change in emotions. His laughter only making her madder, she pokes another petite finger into his hard chest.

“Stop,” he manages through laughter as he blocks her insistent, pushy fingers from violently touching his body.

“Stop laughing at me!” Her hands rest on her hips as she eyes him with scrutiny. “What is so fucking funny?”

“Such a dirty mouth,” he admonishes with a joking tone. He can’t believe she has the power to turn his emotions from pure rage to utter amusement in mere seconds. But nothing about Daniella has ever made sense to him.

“I think we’re done here,” she voices as she starts to turn on her stilettos and head for the door.

Penn reaches out and grabs her elbow with a strong hand, his fingers wrapping all the way around her arm without difficulty. His strong arm pulls her body back towards his, nearly bringing her back flush against his chest.

“We’re not done. If you think you’re going out there to strip in front of a crowd of men, you’ve obviously lost your mind. That ain’t happening, darlin’. No fucking way. This is my club. I make the rules. And you’re not dancing tonight.” His anger is beginning to make reappearance.

She turns towards him and removes his hand from her arm with a harsh jolt. Her eyes seething, she gazes into his piercing cerulean eyes. “So that’s it? You’re going to fire me because you can’t get over the fact that I’m your best friend’s little sister.”

He takes in every inch of her. Her sassy stance, her sharp russet eyes, and the tempting little body donned in indiscreet attire. His refusal to allow her to dance has absolutely nothing to do with her being Bobby’s little sister. Yeah, that should be the reason, but it isn’t.

Daniella is the reason. She brings out some sort of cavemen response from within him. He doesn’t want her to dance because he refuses to allow any other man to see her naked. There is only one man who should see her naked—
him
. Maybe this thought process makes him an asshole, but he doesn’t care. He makes an in-the-moment decision. He won’t fire her; he will let her be a cocktailer under the pretense that she will eventually be able to strip at Wild Nights.

Little does she know, his decision is already made.

She will never strip.
Ever
.

He’d have to be dead and his body cold and buried in the ground for that to occur.

“I’m not firing you. I’m a businessman, Daniella. I think you’ll be a great addition to the club…” He pauses mid-sentence as he fights the urge to choke over his words. “But you’re not ready. I know you’ve danced before, but you’ve never danced like this. You need to practice before I allow you to step onto that stage. You can cocktail at the club until I determine when you’re ready.” He watches her face as she processes his words, his temporary job offer, and his little white lie of eventually allowing her to dance.

“Really?” she questions.

“Yeah, really,” he nods as relief fills his gut that she is actually buying the bullshit he just spouted off. “So I suggest you change out of your current outfit and put on something a little more appropriate to cocktail the main floor. I’ll have Grant get you a uniform.” he informs her as he grabs the phone on his desk and places a quick call to his general manager. “Grant, change of plans,” he speaks into the phone as his eyes stay locked on Daniella. “Roxie isn’t ready to dance. Get her a cocktailer uniform.”

And with that, he hangs up the phone and motions for her to head back to the dressing room to change out of the ridiculously revealing outfit she is currently wearing. His gesture comes off as dismissive, but it actually stems from his body’s primal response to her. The thoughts, the fantasies, the things he wants to do to her… The things he is dying to do to her… That’s why he hurries her out of his office. He can’t tolerate staring at her dressed like that for another second without doing something he might regret.

Daniella strides back to the dressing room unsure, slightly confused, and maybe a little…
disappointed
? Yeah, she is definitely disappointed with the flippant reaction she received from Penn after he made the arrangements for her to cocktail instead of dance for the night. The man couldn’t have gotten her out of his office any faster if he tried. She’s surprised he didn’t actually push her out.
What in the hell is with him?

Her mind traces over their conversation. The anger and rage that had set him off. The expression on his face when he saw her for the first time in his club. She thought Penn was going to drag her out of the room by her hair the moment his eyes locked with hers, but mercifully, he didn’t. He managed to maintain his fury and speak with her behind closed doors. She should probably be thankful that he didn’t send her packing. He is actually letting her stay at Wild Nights and plans to let her dance once he deems her ready.
Whatever that means
.

“Where were you all weekend, Danny?” Eliza asks with a curious raise of her perfectly manicured brow. Her fingers tap along the leather armrest in rhythmic movements.

Daniella sits beside her on the worn-down leather sofa in their small living. Eliza adjusts her body on the couch, her eyes now facing her friend. She’s really interested in Daniella’s whereabouts. It’s completely out of character for her to be gone the entire weekend. The last time Eliza or Sarah saw her was Friday morning, and now it’s Monday afternoon.

She hesitates to tell Eliza the full truth. She’s uncertain of how her friend will take her new job opportunity. “Uh…I got a new job.” She strives to hide the hint of nerves spilling from her belly.

“A new job?
What?!
Seriously? That’s amazing! Tell me everything!”

Eliza’s excited tone makes her wince. She has a feeling the enthusiasm will be deflated like a pin to a helium balloon once she comprehends what Daniella’s new job entails. “Well, it’s definitely a new avenue for me. I’m taking a shot at a job that’s not involved in the restaurant business—”

Eliza stops her mid-sentence and slaps her thigh. “Stop pullin’ my leg and spill the beans, Danny!”

Daniella takes a heavy sigh. She pushes the breath up past her eyes, loose strands of her hair blowing away from her face in disarray. “It’s a club. I got a job at a night club.”

Eliza claps her hands excitedly. “That’s fantastic! Sarah is going to be thrilled we’ve got a new connection at a night club in Houston.”

“I doubt you and Sarah will want to go to this club. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ve already been,” Daniella mutters under her breath, but Eliza doesn’t miss a beat.