Give Me a Reason (Redemption Hills 1)

I took it with a scoff, taking a sip of the scotch and letting it soothe the disorder I couldn’t keep from raging inside. Way it always did. Begging to break loose.

“You gonna write me up for being late?” I razzed, quirking a brow.

Asshole loved acting the boss.

Considering he kept this place running when I wasn’t around, he might as well be.

Sage laughed a sound that was pure pity. “That would be a hard pass. Hard enough cleaning up your messes around here. You really gonna ask me to take on more?”

I tipped my glass his direction. “Only one I trust to do it.”

“Guess I need to start slacking then, yeah?” he taunted with a grin.

“Hell, no. Place would be in shambles without you. How is it looking tonight, anyway?”

He dried his hands on a towel. Sage was my general manager, but the dude loved playing bartender. It put him front and center. Where he could always keep an eye and an ear open. Be in the middle of the mix. Blending in so the rest of the staff thought of him as one of their own and let down their guard.

He always knew when something shady was going down before anyone else.

Plus, he actually fuckin’ liked people, so that was a thing.

“All’s good. Deliveries are complete and accounted for. Safes are full. Numbers are on your desk. Band is in the back ready to roll. All staff showed except for Laila. Shocker. Speaking of, there is someone waiting on you for an interview. She refused to leave until she saw you, if you want to know what you’re up against.”

His brown eyes played as he cracked a smirk and gestured toward one of the booths running the left wall.

I let my attention wander there, to the blonde who was sitting tucked in the booth sipping a Coke, looking so out of place I could actually feel her discomfort all the way from where I was sitting.

Frown taking hold, I swiveled my attention back to Sage. “Are you kidding me? Who let her in?”

Fighting laughter, he shrugged. “I did.”

Annoyance left me on a sigh. “Should only take a glance from you to know she doesn’t belong.”

Hell, she looked like raw meat set out for wolves to devour. Weak and ripe for the kill. Girl would get torn to shreds in a place like this.

Fact my dick jumped at the sight of her was evidence enough.

“Besides, interviews are by appointment only,” I added like he didn’t know the routine.

Sage lifted his hands to the side. “Hey, man, don’t blame me. She sat there all pretty like in that booth and ordered herself a drink. Paying customer and all. Of course, she’s been sitting there since three, refusing to leave until she got to talk to the one in charge, you know, since the bossman didn’t show for her interview that had been scheduled for that time.”

“Shit,” I grumbled, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Totally let it slip.”

Sage arched a sarcastic brow. “Really?”

“You could have handled it.”

“Went out there, and she flashed me a winning smile and said please. What’s a gentleman to do? Besides, don’t want that position, remember?”

Gentleman?

I scoffed and stood. “Fine. I’ll get rid of her.”

I swiped my drink from the bar and started her direction.

Girl sat facing out, her attention flitting all over the place. Anxiety ripped from her and sent little shockwaves pulsating through the air.

This tingly, nervous energy that blistered and blew.

Inhaling deep, I pinned on my most indifferent expression because fuck…I could scent it like prey.

Goodness.

Vulnerability.

I should send Kult over to toss her because I had the sense that I should tuck tail and head the other direction. Stay as fucking far away from this girl as possible.

Knew better than getting twisted in something like that. When a bad idea presented itself? I usually found myself standing in front of it like I was on the goddamn welcome committee.

And there I was. Hit with an urge that had me itching to take a closer look. A feeling I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

To dip my dirty fingers into something pure. Like maybe it could offer a second’s reprieve from who I was.

But did I stop?

Nah.

I was drawn.

Moving closer.

Thing was, didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone so uniquely plain or indecently stunning before.

Her nose was probably a little too big and the contours of her face a little too sharp for her to fit into that perfect formula for beauty. Thick, blonde hair was parted in the middle, and it was curled in these fat waves that rolled over her shoulders, like the style hailed from another day.

Her chin was shaped like a heart and her mouth was a tiny pink bow written in an innocence so sweet I had to think there was a chance it’d never been devoured before.