Beautiful Rose (Beautiful Rose 1)

My mind filtered back to yesterday, to the girl in the . . . at Alex's work. Fuck, she could sing. And it didn't hurt that she was hot to look at. I wondered if that really was why she was there—sex, drugs and alcohol.

The way her voice had worked that song had been incredible to listen to. Something about her had made my heart beat faster, and I didn't like that. By the time Alex had interrupted us, we’d been talking for over an hour, yet it had felt like five minutes.

Shit Jack, you need a break.

I'd been working non-stop for nearly five hours, and it wasn't even noon. I grabbed my phone and walked upstairs, texting all the staff members for a meeting tonight, followed by a few quiet drinks, on the way. It was my little way of thanking them for all the work they were going to be doing tomorrow night. Besides, it was a good way for the guys to get to know the new girl.

Fuck, Harmony was going to kill me when she found out she hadn't been invited.

* * *

I watched as Alex walked in, my arms crossed, leaning against the bar impatiently. "Where is she?"

"She's on her way, and is that any way to say hello? Didn't your mother teach you any manners?" He smirked.

"I learned all my manners from my father," I said dryly. Only Alex could understand the irony of that comment. He laughed and shook his head.

"If that's true, then you're fucked," he chuckled. He tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently. "Gimme a beer."

I reached over the bar, grabbed two glasses and placed one under the tap. Once it was full, I handed it to Alex and filled my own glass. Apart from the odd wisecrack, we rarely spoke about our parents. Our father hadn’t reached out to either of us in the past three years, and our mother, what was the point? She’d abandoned us when we were young and never attempted contact.

"Is it wise for the owner to drink right before an interview?" He shook his head and tsked, giving me the same attitude I'd given him the other day.

"Fuck off, Alex," I grumbled, taking a sip. He just laughed.

"Oh, here she is."

I looked in the direction of the door. My eyes widened as I took in her long auburn hair and tall slim figure, and that sexy little smirk.

"Alex," I began tersely. "Please tell me that's not Rose from yesterday."

"Well . . .” he began. I tuned him out as it hit me, like a bucket of ice cold water had been tipped over my head. It wasn't the song that I couldn't get out of my head, it was her. I had been thinking about her since yesterday. Her face had been branded into my memory; I wasn’t able to distinguish if I had really met her the day prior or if she was just the face of a fantasy that had warped and wired its way through my twisted thoughts. I'd convinced myself it was that fucking song that I couldn't get out of my head, but it had nothing to do with that. It was all about her.

"Alex . . .” I began, trying my damnedest to sound pissed. But it was useless. Even I could tell my voice was strained and unbelievable.

Quickly, I tried to think of any reason I could not to hire this beauty. Maybe it was because she made me feel . . . something yesterday; and something now. What, I'm not sure exactly, but it had been a long time since anyone had made me feel anything at all. Yesterday I had let my guard down, because she was someone I’d never be seeing again. Or so I’d thought.

"What? Look, she checked herself out," he sighed, his eyes pleading. "She needs help Jack, but I can't help her if she's not around. And she needs a job."

"So you want me to hire her so you can fix her?" I asked incredulously. "I'm running a bar, not a fucking charity!" I hissed. The worst thing was, she was still a better option than Harmony, even with my confused, warped, fucked up feelings. What the hell did that say about my relationship?

Alex shrugged. "Look, can we finish this later?" he whispered, as she approached the bar. She looked at me suspiciously, her dark eyes narrowing, recognizing, remembering. My pulse quickened, leaving me feeling like I do in that moment after a long hard run where you're gasping for breath. Maybe she hadn't felt the same connection I had? The scariest thing was I don't know what terrified me more—If she had or hadn't felt something.

"You didn't tell me it was with your brother," she said to Alex. My head pricked up. She sounded pissed off. How could she be pissed? She should be considering herself lucky I was even considering hiring her! I forced myself to calm down as I tried to block all the thoughts about this girl that were firing through my brain.

"What's the difference?" Alex asked, throwing his hands up in expiration. "You need a job, don't you?" She narrowed her eyes at him, then me, then finally nodded. "Okay. Interview her," Alex said, turning to me before grabbing his beer and walking over to the oversized armchairs near the stage.

I wondered how many codes of ethics he was breaking, bringing her here so he could “help” her. I snorted. He wanted to “help” himself to her, I was sure of it. Nobody goes to that much trouble without an agenda.

I turned my attention back to Rose. She stood next to the bar, looking uncomfortable.

"Maybe I should just go," she muttered. I didn’t blame her. I’d gone from relaxed happy Jack to a completely different person.

I sighed. "It's fine. You're here now, we might as well see what you have." I motioned to one of the tables. "Look, I’m sorry. Seeing you took me by surprise. Can we start over here?” I stuck out my hand. “Hi Rose, nice to meet you. Take a seat. Coffee or something? Beer?"

“Nice to meet you too.” Her shoulders relaxed as she took my hand, her soft skin grazing over mine. Instinctively, I pulled back, my fingers tingling from her touch. Had she felt that? I followed her over to the table. I tried not to think about how good her ass looked in those jeans. Or how striking her hair looked against the aqua shirt she was wearing. The shirt was just sheer enough that I could make out the outline of her bra . . . Dammit, Jack!

I sat down, her resume in my hand. I scanned it. No experience. Twenty-two. No address, and an incomplete college degree. Her lack of experience alone was enough for me not to hire her, but that didn't give me the rush of relief I was expecting to feel. Instead I felt nervous, like I wanted to hire her, like I wanted her around me every day. I had my out and I wasn't going to use it; where that left me, I had no fucking idea.