Page 36 of Sun-Kissed Fangs
Nell looked like she was about to protest. Then she sighed and accepted the glass.
Maya had gotten friendly with most of the Penny staff, but Nell was an exception. Not on purpose, from either of them, but simply because she was so quiet that you often forgot she was present. Maya would have described her as shy if she hadn’t seen how confidently she handled her plentiful regulars.
But it wasn’tNelldoing that, granted. Venus was a different person than the tired-looking woman currently leaning against the bar.
“Thanks,” Nell mumbled. “There was a change of plans. Figured I would be of more use here than at home.” She looked towards Harper’s booth, shoulders falling. “Doesn’t feel like it’s doing much, to be honest.”
Maya followed her line of sight. Most of the other dancers were looking Harper’s way, too. Some were even glaring.
“Why is she sitting by herself?” Maya asked. Nell sipped on her drink.
“You know why. You must have heard the stories by now.”
She’d only heard enough to know not to pay attention to them. Making small talk at the bar was a fast way of getting information, but in this case, the sources were questionable.
“I don’t pay attention to rumors,” Maya said. “They don’t match what I’ve experienced myself. Harper may have teeth, but to me, it doesn’t seem like she uses them without reason.”
Nell’s gaze turned curious, head tilting as she looked Maya over. Then a smile tugged at her lips.
“It’s a shame that you work here. But I guess it would have been too perfect if you didn’t.”
She looked towards the front door, where a few people had just walked in. Taking a deep breath, she dialed her smile into a more charming version and left the bar.
Venus was back. And ready to talk someone out of a sizeable amount of money, by the look of it.
Harper looked their way, too, tracking Nell as she walked up to one of the men. She tugged at his tie, laughed, and then led him towards the back, leaving the other new arrival alone. Harper did the same, looking away from him.
Just like the first night Maya had seen her, she wanted nothing more than to go over there and help her. But Harper didn’t want company. Otherwise, Nell would have been sitting withher, and the young man who’d just arrived would have already been cornered.
Though… no one else had approached him either.
Maya inspected him in more detail. He stood out from his surroundings, wearing expensive clothes and a cocky grin. It faded as he scanned the groups of women sitting around the room, getting actively ignored by the lot of them.
Odd. A guy like that had money to burn. The dancers should have flocked him like piranhas did a chunk of meat.
Then his eyes stopped, settling on Harper. His grin returned, and he ran a hand through his greasy hair before sauntering towards the booth.
Something dark and fiery formed in Maya’s chest. A flicker rather than a blaze, but it still burned through her body with such speed that she had to grab the bar to keep from immediately pouncing on the guy.
Where didthatfeeling come from? These past few weeks, she’d had a front-row seat to Harper dragging off dozens of strangers, like a lioness would a slain gazelle, and she’d never been even slightly upset about it. Which she should have been, frankly. This crush was serious enough thatsomejealousy was expected.
It might be because she literally couldn’t read into what she was seeing. Harper was good at her job, and her alluring act was convincing, but it was still an act. The only desire Maya sensed came from the men she made salivate. If anything, seeing Harper pull them along as though her voice was a leash only made it harder not to stare at her.
But this was different. This was wrong. Every cell in Maya’s body screamed that this waswrong.
Wrenching her eyes away from the man, she scanned the room, looking for the person being paid to handle situations like this.When she found him, she nearly rolled her eyes. Colton was leaning against the wall right next to the bar and, as usual, his attention was elsewhere than on his responsibilities.
“Hey,” she snapped. The man flinched. “Are you going to handle that?”
She gestured at Harper’s booth, which the young man was now leaning over. Going by Harper’s sneering expression and the guy’s triumphant smile as he sat next to her, only one of them was enjoying the conversation.
Colton shrugged. “They’re just talking. No need to get involved.”
Maya’s fingers dug into the bar top. They might even have left indentations.
“Really earning your paychecks, huh?”
Colton had the audacity to look confused. The only person who could somewhat keep him in line was Trish, and since she wasn’t working that night, Colton was slacking his way through his shift.
