Teacher - Voyeur

Alex bobbed her brows behind him, distracting me. “Yeah. Great. Thank you,” I stuttered, heat rising into my cheeks.

One side of his mouth kicked up, revealing a dimple I wanted to press my finger into just to see how deep it went. “I like your shirt today. It matches your eyes perfectly.”

“Oh, um…” My hand skimmed over the material as I tried to think of a response. “Thank you.”

Alex made sexual hand gestures behind his back, and I thought I’d overheat any moment.

“It was good to see you outside the office at the party. Maybe we can do it again some time.”

Alex nodded so aggressively I thought she’d fall out of the chair. I was surprised that Sean hadn’t turned around to see what my eyes kept flicking to.

“Yeah.” His eyes lit up, and the usual prick of panic forced me to establish an out. “Maybe,” I quickly added, dimming his excitement.

“Great. Just let me know when.”

Alex made sure the door closed this time after he left, and as soon as the door clicked in place, I sagged back in my chair like I’d just run a marathon.

“Daaaaaaamn. He looks even better in a suit than that polo last week. Not as good as Erik, but not bad.”

“Ew.” I cringed but laughed.

The truth was that Sean did look good in a suit.

The truth was that I did want to go out with him. Have a drink. Laugh. Dance…Kiss.

And maybe after working with Daniel, I’d actually be up for talking to him outside of work. Maybe more.

Maybe.

7

Hanna

The third night walking into Voyeur was a million times worse. No matter how much I tried to convince myself my fear was irrational, like the square root of two, it lingered. It more than lingered. It sank into my muscles, making them ache with each step I forced forward.

Jesus, Han-Han. Please, don’t make a math pun at a time like this.

“Shut up, Sof,” I muttered, looking around the parking lot.

The lights shined bright, leaving barely any dark spots people could hide in, but I still held my keys between my knuckles, holding my breath until I cleared the door into an empty lobby.

Taking advantage, I closed my eyes and inhaled through my nose, counting to ten, and slowly exhaling through my mouth for another ten.

“Better?”

Any calm I gathered through my breathing exercise vanished when my heart jumped so hard it almost leaped out of my throat.

“Daniel,” I breathed, slapping a hand to my heaving chest. “I didn’t see you.”

He casually leaned against the wall beside the door that led inside, arms crossed over his broad chest, his lips quirked up on one side. “I was waiting. I didn’t want to give you too much room to run.”

“Thanks.”

And I meant it. The ten steps between the door to check-in and entering the main lounge might as well have been ten miles. Plenty of time to convince my body it was sick. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to chicken out anymore.

“Come on,” he nodded toward the door. “Let’s get a drink and talk a bit.”

He took my coat and passed it to the attendant I hadn’t noticed, and I clasped my bracelet around my wrist.

“We can head to my office if you’re more comfortable there.”

“I think the lounge will be fine.”

Maybe I could warm myself up for the big performance if someone performed a small show in a corner I could view.

Voyeur was twice as busy as it had been last week. Daniel must have seen my wide-eyed shock at all the people because he explained, “Valentine’s weekend.”

“Shit. I didn’t even realize.”

“I’d probably forget it too if we didn’t decorate and host a fifty-percent off for a show.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “I guess it’s your business to know all the mushy holidays.”

“It sure is. Carina usually keeps us in line with our marketing.” When we reached the bar, we managed to find two stools. “What can I get you to drink?”

“Tequila. Neat.”

A beautiful blonde in hearts lingerie efficiently twirled a bottle and filled two glasses, sliding them our way.

Once I’d finished half my drink, I was finally calm enough to actually talk.

“I hear you just opened another club in New York.”

His smile stretched wide. “We did. Kent travels there enough, so it seemed like a good market.”

“Do you plan on opening any more?”

“I don’t think so. We have this club and the bar, Voy. I’m content with that. I don’t need an empire, just a successful business.”

I looked around pointedly. “I think you’re doing pretty well.”

He shrugged but winked before lifting the glass to his lips. I did my best to not stare at the way they curled around the edge of the glass.

“How’s work?” he asked

“Good. Busy. We’re actually talking about expanding.”

“To another city? You guys just set up in London, right?”

“Yeah, but I think we’ll stay here. We want to grow our home office. Hopefully, some of the floors below will open up.”