Twisted Perfection (4 page)

Della

    
I pulled over at the service station where I’d met Woods only four months ago. It had been the start to my journey. How ironic that the directions Tripp had given me led me right back here.  I wasn’t even sure whether Woods lived in this town. He’d taken me a town over to eat and find a hotel. Maybe he’d just been driving through that day too. Or maybe I might see him again.

    
What if he’s married?

    
No, I wasn’t going to think that. I wasn’t going to judge all men by Jeffery. That was unfair. Take Tripp for example. He was nothing like Jeffery. He had given me the keys to his condo to stay in free of charge as long as I kept it clean. He’d also gotten me a job.

    
I glanced down at the paper in my hand. Tripp had given me Jace’s phone number and told me to call him once I was settled in. He’d get me an appointment with Mr. Kerrington.

    
I pulled back out onto the road and followed the last two turns before pulling up to a condo unit that faced the ocean. I glanced down to check the address Tripp had given me. Surely this wasn’t his condo. This town was high end and these condos had to all cost a fortune. How did Tripp own one?

    
The nagging suspicion that Tripp didn’t belong working as a bartender and driving a Harley-Davidson came back to me. He was something more than he was letting people in Dallas know.

    
I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and dialed Tripp’s number. No answer.

I then dialed
Jace’s number. It rang three times and a girl answered.
     “Hello,” she drawled.

     “Um, yes, I’
m, uh, Della Sloane. A friend of—”

    
“Tripp’s!” she squealed into the phone. “We’ve been expecting you. I’m so glad you made it safely. Are you settled into Tripp’s apartment yet?”

    
I was pretty sure he had said Jace was a guy.

    
“Um, no, not exactly. I just arrived and this place is really nice. I’m afraid I’m at the wrong condo.”

    
The girl laughed into the phone. “No, you’re at the right place. I’m assuming you don’t know that much about Tripp. Trust me honey, he can afford that place and more. Oh, I’m Bethy by the way. Jace’s girlfriend. He’s outside.”

     I liked her
. She was super friendly.

    
“If you’re sure I’m at the right place I’ll go find his unit and unpack my bags. I need Jace to contact Mr. Kerrington about meeting me.”

    
“Oh there’s no reason to call him. He told Jace to send you to him as soon as you’re ready. He needs some new servers. Do you have a pen and paper handy? You need to jot down these directions.”

    
This was quite possibly the nicest place I’d ever stayed. Tripp made it sound run down like he needed me to come stay here and fix things up. Someone obviously cleaned this place regularly. It was in pristine condition. I unpacked my bags and then went to stand out on the balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It was beautiful out here. Tripp had been right. This was an experience I needed. I could work and enjoy staying here in his condo. It would be the beach vacation I’d never gotten growing up. I’d always watched television and wondered if the sand was that white and the water was that blue.

   
It was.

    
Smiling, I sank down onto the lounge chair and stretched my legs out in front of me. This was nice.  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Braden’s number.

    
“It’s about time! Where are you? Still in Dallas?” Braden’s chipper voice made me miss home a little. Maybe I just missed her. It wasn’t like I’d left a lot behind there. Except for people who would always whisper about me and wonder.

    
“Nope. Not in Dallas anymore. Turns out Jeffery is married.”

    
I heard her sharp intake of air as she let that sink in. “Oh, no,” she breathed. “Della that’s awful! I’m so sorry. Where are you now? Do you want me to come get you? You’re doing okay, aren’t you? Not having strange thoughts…” Her voice trailed off at the last bit. I knew she hated to ask me that but honestly, if Braden couldn’t check on me that way then who could? She knew it all or most of it. No one knew all of it. I just couldn’t share everything with the world. Some things were meant to be kept a secret.

    
“I’m fine. I’m actually back in Florida staying in a condo that belongs to Tripp, he’s the weekend bartender I told you about. Anyway he hooked me up with a job in his hometown and gave me a place to stay. It’s gulf front. I’m sitting on the balcony looking at the pretty white beach now.”

    
“Ooooooh! That sounds wonderful. Lucky you! I would love to visit the gulf again sometime. And this Tripp guy sounds really nice. Maybe once you’ve gotten the traveling bug again you could head back to Dallas and thank him,” she teased.

    
“Tripp is just a friend. Not happening. I mean I’ll thank him but I’ll be sending a card and some money or something via the mail.”

    
“You’re right. I pushed you to start dating and look what happened. This is your chance to live life. No reason to get attached to one guy. You have the world to explore.”

    
“That’s right. And I intend to do that right after I enjoy the sunshine and sand for a little while.”

    
“What’s the new job like?”

    
“I’m not sure yet. I need to go meet the boss. He’s expecting me. It’s at a country club so that should be a fun experience. Much different from the bar,” I told her.

    
“Very. Go get that job then call me and tell me all about it. I can’t wait.”

    
We said our goodbyes and ended the call. Braden was always my way of touching base. Remembering things. Everything I had been through and everything I had overcome.

    
The night I met Braden had changed my life. The only person I’d ever known was my mom. She wouldn’t let me answer the door to receive packages or our groceries. I’d had to hide in my closet and be quiet until the person at the door was gone.  Braden had been as fascinated with me as I was with her. She’d asked me questions that I hadn’t been able to answer for a long time. I couldn’t tell anyone about my mom. Even as a kid I understood that.

    
Shaking away memories I didn’t want to think about right now I stood up and headed for the bedroom I’d claimed as mine. There were two bedrooms but one had a king size canopy bed and a fabulous hot tub. I took that room. I pulled out my newest skirt. A short pink chevron print and a white sleeveless knit top I’d bought to go with it. After brushing my hair and applying some makeup, I slipped into a pair of backless pink heels and headed for the door. I had a job to claim.

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 hips 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 fuck 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 fuck 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 fucking my brains out.

    
Della sat up straight and my eyes drifted down to her tits. The outline of her pebbled up nipples sent my already hardening cock 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 fucking 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 fuck 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 pussy 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.