Beautiful Rose (Beautiful Rose 1)

"You have no experience," I said, commented. Like that matters. You knew you were going to hire her the moment she walked in the room.

"I'm a fast learner. Anything you want me to do, I'll do it." She spoke confidently, and though there was nothing sexual about her statement, my mind filled with all the wonderful dirty things I wanted this girl to do to me.

Oh god, this isn't going to work.

"Won’t this interfere with your classes?" I said, almost desperately, like I wanted her to realize this was a bad idea.

She blushed, looking down at the table. "I had to defer after my . . ." her voice trailed off.

Shit. God, I was an idiot sometimes. The girl had just gotten out of a psych facility, and I was asking her about her classes? Way to make her feel like a loony.

"I'm sorry, I forgot you, uh, where you were," I said, fumbling my words. "We open tomorrow night," I said finally, as her face broke into a smile. "The other staff should be here soon, if you're able to stick around to meet them. We will be having a few drinks, and running over some things. Is that okay?"

She nodded. "Thanks so much for giving me a chance." She smiled, her eyes twinkling as she wet her lips, an innocent action that sent my body into overdrive. I stifled a groan as my now hard cock pressed impatiently against my boxers. Those lips. Those fucking lips . . .

"Sure," I replied, not meeting her eyes. "Why don't you go and wait over with Alex? I gotta do a few last minute things before the other guys get here." She nodded, giving me another smile. My cock throbbed even harder.

I grabbed a stack of papers and began shuffling through them, unable to move, and sure as hell not brave enough to stand up. My hands were shaking as I leafed through her resume. It was like I needed more—I had to know everything I could about her. Who was she? Why was she in a psych facility? Why did my body ache with every look she threw my way?

Fuck. What the hell was I doing?

What I needed to do was focus. Focus on what was important in this moment. This bar and the following night. Everything else right now needed to fuck off out of my head before I lost it. I'd needed a waitress and now I had one, problem solved. That's all there was to it. She was a means to an

end and nothing else. I laughed. I couldn't even convince myself of that.

Slamming my palm down on the papers, I leaned across the bar and grabbed an employee form and a pen. Alex was eyeing me strangely as I made my way over to them, which made me nervous. My brother knew me better than anyone, and if he thought something was up, he'd grind me down until he got what he wanted.

"Here" I handed her the form. "You'll need to fill these out, and a tax form. Do you want a drink or something?" She shook her head and took the pen from my fingers. I jumped as her fingers brushed against mine, her gaze burning right through me. My heart began to pound. Shit, now I was repeating myself.

Go on Jack. Ask her again if she wants a drink, and make yourself look even more fucking ridiculous.

"Thanks." She propped the papers on top of a magazine that lay on a nearby table and began to fill them out, running her fingers through her thick, beautiful hair. I still couldn't decide if it was red, or brown—or something else entirely. Whatever it was, it was beautiful. Just like the rest of her. I sighed softly.

She glanced up at me, awkwardly. "Was there something else?"

Fuck. I'd been standing there like a dickhead, just staring at her. Even Alex was giving me a weird look. His expression had gone from concerned to suspicious.

"Sorry." I turned and walked back over to the bar, feeling like a tool. I felt like the creepy guy hanging around the women’s underwear department at Bloomingdales. Digging out my phone, I texted Harmony.

Come over if you want. Having a meeting, then a few drinks.

Having Harmony around was an invitation for trouble, but it was a better option than me making an idiot of myself in front of Rose. Wasn’t it?

* * *

I busied myself over at the bar until I saw the guys walking in. Relief flooded through me. Why the hell was I so nervous? So I was attracted to some chick it didn't mean I was going to fuck her. My eyes widened. Why had my mind gone straight there? Did I want to fuck her? I eyed her, sitting on the couch with one leg crossed over the other, that beautiful hair that I just wanted to run my fingers through. I bet it was soft and silky . . . I dragged my mind away from her. I focused on the guys—Ash, Darcy and Benj—as they walked over to the bar.

"’Sup, Jackie?" Ash said, looking around. "Looking good." He nodded enthusiastically. His gaze fell on Rose as she walked over with Alex.

"Hello," he said, in a tone I recognized well. He was like a shark onto the scent of blood. I mean, I know I used to be a player, but I was never that bad.

"Ash." I raised my eyebrows when he looked my way. "This is Rose, our new waitress."

Ash nodded and took a step back, grinning like he understood. He understood shit.

"Rose, this is Ash; our bar manager, Darcy; one of our other waitresses, and Benj. He will be heading up our security." Benj and Darcy both smiled at Rose.

"No Harmony, then?" Ash grinned, his eyes twinkling. He was goading me. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my forehead. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. My fingers still tingled from her touch earlier.