Her eyes flickered, showing the uncertainty, the doubt. “You don’t control me,” she whispered.
“I’m not stupid enough to think that any force in this world could control you, Samantha. But I will remind you that in the last three weeks I have caught you off the kitchen counter and pulled you off a bar. That stage doesn’t scare me.” If she got anywhere close to it, I’d burn the damn thing to the ground without a second thought.
She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “God, why is this so important to you?”
Because the thought of you taking your clothes off for money makes me want to rip every man in here to shreds for making it possible. “Because you’re in freefall, Sam. You can’t see it because you’re the one in mid-air. But you’re spiraling in the wrong direction.”
The manager waved his hands at Sam.
“I have to go.”
She hopped off the barstool, raised her chin, and headed for the stage. She didn’t make it two steps before I swung her over my shoulder. My fingers spread on the warm, bare skin of the back of her thighs to keep her still, and I tugged her skirt down to cover more of it. Then I grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “Grayson!”
“Hey, you can’t—” The bouncer stood in front of the door.
I glared at him, letting all of my fury show that a place like this even existed, and he stepped back. I pushed open the door and squinted as the dying sun hit me in the face.
“Fucking put me down, Grayson!” Sam shouted. Damn, she was loud. She braced her hands on my back, trying to get upright.
Her waist was tiny in my hands as I lowered her to my eye level. She was furious, her lips pursed and her eyes on fire. I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d take the fire over the defeat I’d seen in there any day.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she shouted in my face, uncaring that we were inches apart.
The girl didn’t back down, I’d give her that much. Now if she’d realize that I didn’t, either.
“Well?”
“Catching you.”
Chapter Six
Sam
“What the hell are we doing here?” I asked as we pulled up in front of Anytime Fitness. He hadn’t even trusted me to drive, and I’d gotten perverse satisfaction at his grunt when he tried to fold himself behind the wheel again. “And what’s the point of a twenty-four-hour gym? Who honestly works out at three o’clock in the morning?”
“I do.” He killed the engine.
“Because you aspire to vampirism? Or maybe you can’t get enough of those bulging muscles in your dreams, so you need to see them in the mirror for yourself?”
“Sometimes I can’t sleep. I end up here.”
“And why are we here now?”
“You need a job. Maggie is hiring.” He got out and walked around to my side, then opened my door. “And I know she needs some help with her books, and you’re good with math.”
“How would you know that?”
“Ember.” He made no apologies for prying into my life, just waited for me to get out.
I made a mental note to give my best friend a call. “And someone I’ve never met is going to hire me because you say so?” I asked as I reluctantly climbed out.
“Actually, you’ve already met her,” he answered, opening the glass door to the gym.
The air conditioning was heavenly. “What? When? I know every application I’ve put in.”
“Hi, Flyboy!” a smiley red-headed girl in an Anytime Fitness polo called out, pushing her glasses up her nose.
“Hey, Avery. This is Samantha. Is your mom around?”
I gave the girl a small wave, which she returned. “She’s in the back. I’ll grab her.” She ran off in jeans that were easily two sizes too big for her frame.
Grayson leaned over the counter and brought an application back with a pen. “I spend a lot of time here,” he explained with a shrug. “Now fill it out.”
“How do I know her?”
He fidgeted with the pen attached to the sign-in sheet. “She owns Oscars, too.”