Masters at Arms - By Kallypso Masters Page 0,70

her head and upper back against the armrest and pillows there. Kneeling beside her, her framed her face with his hands, hoping to infuse some of his warmth into her. Her face was so cold.

He reached for an aftercare subbie blanket from the basket beside the loveseat and wrapped her in it. Her body began to tremble.

“Adam? How did you know I would be here?”

“I didn’t.” When she looked even more confused, he added. “You’re in my club.”

Her eyes widened and skittered from the chaining post in the center of the room to the manacled ottomans. Good thing she couldn’t see the theme rooms. She shouldn’t be in a place like this. Damn. Shifting from horny perv to paternalistic thoughts did nothing to shrink the raging hard-on in his jeans.

“So, I gather you two have met.”

Adam had forgotten about Damián. When he turned to look up, his surrogate son held out a bottle of water. Adam noted a bit of disappointment in the younger man’s face, but didn’t want to think about Damián taking Karla under his thumb.

Mine.

Where the hell had that thought come from? Karla was just a kid. Hell, he was old enough to be her father, as he’d told her all those years ago when she’d professed her love. Adam took the bottle, then opened and handed it to Karla. “Yes. A very long time ago.”

“He was my knight in shining armor.” Adam didn’t appreciate the look of hero-worship on her face. He’d never been anybody’s hero and didn’t plan to start now.

“I did what anyone would have done.” She quirked the corner of her mouth, as if to say “bullshit.” No, she wouldn’t use language like that.

When her full lips wrapped around the bottle, he tried not to think about them wrapped around anything other than the lip of that damned bottle. Still, his other head ignored his paternal censors. What in the hell was he going to do? No way could he hire her and have her so near while he entertained perverted thoughts about her.

“When can you start, Miss Paxton?” Damián’s words felt like a sucker punch to his solar plexus.

Shit.

“Wait here,” Adam said to Karla. Then he stood and turned to Damián. “I need to have a word with you.” He knew Damián followed him to the bar without having to look, then turned to face him. “She’s not working here.”

“What?”

“She doesn’t belong in a place like this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? This is a decent club compared to most. Besides, she has a great voice. We need her. The other acts were crap. She’s the last one on my list.” Adam remained silent and Damián rattled off the list of reasons they should hire her. The younger man then pulled out his trump card. “You gave me hiring authority. I’m hiring Karla.”

What the fuck am I going to do now?

“Who the hell is she?”

Adam shook his head, then ran his hand through his hair. He wouldn’t go back on his word to Damián. Maybe he could just make himself scarce and avoid her. Just how the fuck do you plan to do that? This is your god-damned club.

Adam sighed. “Forget what I said. Make sure she’s okay. Then send her to my office to fill out the paperwork.” He needed to get his dick under control, even if he couldn’t control anything else anymore. Not trusting himself to go anywhere near her, he escaped to his office.

Good God, what the hell are You doing sending her here?

Then again, maybe it wasn’t God’s fault. Maybe he was being punished for all the things he’d done wrong in his life.

* * *

Adam doesn’t want you here.

Karla couldn’t mistake how quickly Adam had run away from her. She’d made a royal mistake coming to Denver. Tears stung her eyes as she sat up on the loveseat, swinging her legs to the floor and pushing the blanket away. At the back of her mind she wondered why you would have blankets in a nightclub. Well, she was in Denver. Maybe it got cold here at night.

She wiped her eyes, trying to compose herself before having to face either of them again. A facial tissue dangled in front of her field of vision. She looked up to find Master Damián holding the tissue out to her. For someone who looked like a sadist, he sure had a gentle side to him. Somehow gentle sadist just didn’t go together.

She accepted the tissue and dabbed at her eyes. Good