She could see his rising eagerness. He was like a shark that’d just smelled a hint of blood in the water. If she couldn’t recover fast, he’d get much more information out of her than was safe for either herself or Alex.
* * *
Taylor was ready to kill that bitch.
Audrey made a show of getting along with everyone, but she screwed most of the girls in the store one way or another. She’d replaced the old manager a year ago, tossed out a schedule that had been made to accommodate everyone, gave out crappy evaluations…
…and was now almost certainly screwing the sweetest guy Taylor knew.
Okay, that may have been an exaggeration. But Alex had always been unfailingly nice to her. He was easily one of her best friends not two years ago-maybe not the closest, but he was always solid. She knew how much he liked her, knew he wanted to be more than friends. She couldn’t not know. That was why she’d never let him in closer. He was cute and all. Smart. Funny. Not as sexy as he was now, though-and when the hell did that happen?
Good God, he was hot. She was getting jittery just thinking about it. But in high school, there was Alex, and there were other guys, and then there was Gabriel…
…Gabriel. There was a thought. She’d been so thrilled when he got the basketball scholarship that got him into UW and kept them together. Taylor wondered what her high school sweetheart was up to now, and with whom. He had a habit of being stupid while she was at work.
Work used to be more fun. Then Audrey showed up. Two minutes with Alex was all Taylor would need to explain that Audrey wasn’t someone he wanted to fool around with. He would believe her. He deserved better than that bitch. He could do much better now, apparently.
Fuck this. And fuck her.
“Guys, I’m gonna be off the floor for a few minutes,” Taylor said over the headset. She strode back past the dressing rooms-pausing only to confirm the soft but highly incriminating noises from #3, and thank God nobody was using the other two-and then retrieved her iPhone from her purse in the break room. She adjusted the settings on the phone and then walked back out into the dressing room hallway.
No one else was there. The music kept bumping. So, it appeared, did the occupants of dressing room three.
She hesitated, but only for a moment. This was Alex. He would forgive her.
Taylor held her camera over the top of the door, snapped a picture, and then another one. Then she did the same from the bottom edge. Then she checked the pictures. Best to make sure she had some evidence before she committed to the rest-and wow, was that evidence.
She never thought she’d be jealous to see Alex clutching another woman’s ass.
The dressing room doors were taller than most, and locked from the inside. But if someone had a partially misspent youth, as Taylor had, popping the locks open with a credit card wasn’t too much of a trick.
Grinning evilly, Taylor leaned up against the doorframe and took a nice, casual picture of the dirty action in front of her. This time, she used the flash.
“Huh?” Alex grunted.
“What the-?!” Audrey yelped. She turned, still straddling Alex, and blurted out, “Taylor?!”
Taylor snapped another picture. She caught enough of Audrey’s face to provide solid evidence.
“Audrey, your lunch break is over,” Taylor said confidently, “and you’re needed on the floor. I can take over helping with this customer before I clock out for the night.”
“You-what the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Audrey got off of her shocked, mortified partner and grabbed her skirt off the floor.
“I think I’m filing my request for a shift change so you and I don’t have to work together anymore. At least until one of us gets a transfer to another store.”
Audrey wasted no time in getting her skirt back on. “You think this is a good idea? You can’t do anything with those pictures. They’ll fire both of us!”
“Oh noes. I might get fired from my part-time retail job while I’m going to college.” The two stared at one another for a moment, and then Taylor gestured toward the hallway. “Shut up and get the fuck out, Audrey.” Taylor watched as her store manager fled, leaving her panties and Alex behind, and then closed and locked the door.
“Wow,” she leered at Alex, “when did you go all pimp daddy?”
Alex stayed in the chair, his pants pulled back up but not fastened. He kept his crotch covered mainly with his hands and the bottom of his shirt. “Taylor, um, I can…uh…”
She bit the corner of her lip, still grinning at him.
“Okay, I totally can’t explain this.”
Taylor stepped closer. “You don’t owe me an explanation,” she said, her voice dropping, “but I should probably thank you for giving me the chance to deal with that bitch.” She tossed the phone aside on a corner shelf, then ran her hand through Alex’s hair.
Alex’s heart threatened to beat its way right through his sternum. Taylor’s eyes projected nothing but hunger. “Oh my God,” he mumbled.
“God’s not here,” Taylor whispered, “but I am. Still friends, right?”
His mouth parted as if to say something, but no words came out. She kissed it.
“I should’ve done this a long time ago,” she said, reaching down to pull his shirt and hands away from his groin.
* * *
“It’s always nice to talk shop with a colleague,” Rob smiled. The flat firmness in his tone fell subtly out of place with his wording. He looked at her with a masterful blend of casual conversation and intimidating glare.
He might as well have said it from behind a sand blaster. The invisible, insubstantial fear and fury that he projected threatened to overwhelm her. Demons like Rob weren’t built for bullying; they were creatures of manipulation, not raw power. Where Lorelei worked with flesh and lust, Rob’s kind dealt in money and greed. But in the face of a weak target, there was no reason not to be direct.
“So tell me,” Rob went on, “what happened to you?”
Lorelei wanted to get up and run. She considered it, fighting rising panic, but knew that would only make things worse. If she ran, he’d have every reason to pursue. That would lead to bigger trouble. Blood was in the water. All she could do was maneuver.
“I-well, think it over, Rob,” Lorelei said. “Your sort is always better-connected than mine. Who else is in this city?”
“A few people I could name. It’s not as big as some other cities, but it’s busy. Kind of an important place these days, lots of influential people. I knew you were here. You’ve got a name. One of the best, they always said. Like I mentioned, I’m kind of disappointed that you can’t deal.”
“I can bargain,” Lorelei offered calmly.
“Sure, but not the way I’d like. New restrictions, you said.”
“Y-yes.”
“That’s a tragedy. Who’d want to tie your hands like that? Keep you from using your best assets? You are what you are, right? That’s gotta just drive you insane.”
Suddenly Lorelei’s eyes went wide. The kiss Alex had dreamt of for three years fell upon his lips. It hit her like a wave, directly counter to the blazing fury before her. The urge to run diminished. Alex was not having some random fling with a convenient, random partner anymore.
She closed her eyes for two seconds, three at the most. Intimacy and excitement grew. Youthful longing and passion were being fulfilled, flooding her as surely as if she lay with Alex herself. A deeper kiss followed, with affectionate, groping hands. Teenage fantasy became adult reality. Naughty, physical, but compellingly beautiful.
Lorelei’s eyes opened. A corruptor sat in front of her, thinking he could just intimidate her. She could likely just pitch the little bastard through the window out into the street below. The change in his expression told her that he knew it, too.