Vanilla and Vice (Empire Sevens Book 1) Read online

  “Good morning, Mr. Hale,” Joey, a member of our morning shift security detail, said as I passed him.

  I nodded to him, before pushing open my office door and disappearing inside.

  Sitting at my desk, I went about my morning routine, which meant checking the hundreds of emails I received between leaving my office last night and getting here this morning.

  I opened one from Kennedy that read urgent in the subject line. As always, they were quick and to the point, which was exactly how I liked them. It made my life easier.

  “Shit,” I cursed after reading over the first few sentences of her email.

  I pushed away from my desk and made my way toward the men’s locker room where, according to Kennedy, there was a leak in the bathrooms that connected. She had already called maintenance to come out and look at it, but apparently, it wasn’t something they could fix.

  Pushing open the door, the room was silent and empty since the morning crew and night crew had already switched shifts. Passing the row of lockers, I glanced down each aisle out of habit, and that was when I saw her.

  I skidded to a stop and stood there, unable to take my eyes off her almost bare ass. Aside from the thin string of fabric that nestled between her ass cheeks, she was all soft skin and temptation.

  She held her back to me as she pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it onto the bench next to her.

  I lost track of how many minutes passed as I stood there frozen and unable to look away from the perfect curves of her ass. I thought about turning around and leaving before she realized I was watching, but before I could, she turned and faced me.

  She froze with her shirt midway over her head, and her eyes went wide.

  “What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.

  My eyes rushed over her half-naked body before landing on the overflowing cleavage above her bra. It was apparently too small for her.

  “Can I help you with something?” she asked, trying to cover as much as she could with her arms and hands.

  “I should be asking you both of those questions. You are aware that this is the men’s locker room, right?”

  Her eyes went wide before she turned her head from side to side to take in her surroundings.

  “Oh, my god. I’m so sorry, Mr. Hale. I had no idea—”

  “I told you not to call me that,” I snapped, cutting her off midsentence.

  She stiffened, drawing my attention to her tense posture. My eyes dipped over her folded arms on her chest before taking in her flat stomach and small, adorable belly button.

  I wanted to lick it, before kissing my way down and sucking in her sweetness.

  “Sorry, sir,” she said sarcastically, making my hard cock throb inside my slacks. “Is that better?”

  She lifted a brow in question while still attempting to cover herself.

  She wasn’t doing an outstanding job of it, and I was able to see every succulent piece of her flesh except for whatever was hiding behind her thin white panties and folded arms.

  The words I wanted to say weighed heavily on my tongue, but I didn’t speak them out loud no matter how much I wanted to see the sweet blush tint her cheeks.

  That’s right.

  Call me sir, angel.

  Call me sir before you suck my hard throbbing cock between your sweet lips.

  “Just forget it,” I snapped. “Put your fucking clothes on and get out of the men’s locker room.”

  And then I fled, turning on my heels and leaving her beautiful face with a look of confusion and frustration. This would not work.

  I had overestimated my patience and abilities.

  I wanted Eden.

  I wanted her so fucking badly my body was burning for her.

  I knew next to nothing about her minus the fact that she could hardly afford a decent pair of shoes and she had one of the best asses I had ever laid eyes on, but I wanted her so badly my blood boiled.

  I was scorched from the inside out for her, my brain frying and leaving my thoughts screaming and scattering like a wounded animal.

  My focus was on all things her, leaving important things like work and numbers sitting in the back untouched. My job and the numbers were always the most important things to me, but I left the locker room without even checking or thinking about the leak in there again.

  It wasn’t until a security member came into my office later in the day and informed that the room had a bit of flooding that I remembered the reason I had even gone into the locker room in the first place.

  No.

  She had to go.

  But firing her was out the question.

  The last thing I needed was Kennedy on my ass. She was ballsy and, honestly, scary as fuck. I didn’t want her on my bad side for the next few months. I had pissed her off once, and she made my life a living hell for two months. I had a feeling fucking with her family would get me at least six.

  Eden needed to quit.

  End of subject.

  I was the only one who could make that happen, and I knew exactly how to do it.

  11

  EDEN

  ZANDER SAW ME mostly naked.

  In fact, he was the only person in the world who had seen that much of me.

  My own mother hadn’t seen me naked since I was sixteen, yet Zander Hale, owner of Empire Sevens, and also the most intimidating man I had ever met, had walked in and saw me in my bra and panties.

  It was my fault.

  How the heck did I end up in the men’s locker room?

  And why did it look exactly like the women’s locker room?

  You would think there would be some defining decoration differences, or at least they wouldn’t be the same freaking colors.

  I wasn’t sexist.

  I didn’t believe women needed pink rooms and men required blue, but two different colors would be nice.

  Any two freaking colors would do.

  The strangest part was my reaction to him seeing my nakedness.

  Yes, I had covered myself.

  It was the reasonable thing to do when someone walked in while you were changing, but instead of pure mortification and panic, I felt something entirely different.

  It was the way he looked at me. There was a sense of devastation in his eyes. As if looking at me was shifting his universe somehow.

  No one had ever looked me that way.

  His eyes had moved over my face before dropping and very slowly and deliberately taking in my body. It was as if every part his eyes touched, his fingertips were caressing, as well.

  Goose bumps covered my skin, and I shivered, feeling as though he was somehow making the temperature in the room warmer. My skin flushed. I didn’t need to see myself in the mirror to know I was blushing everywhere. The heat of the blush devoured me like a hot tidal wave.

  When he left, I quickly dressed and left the locker room before anyone else saw me naked. Once I was on the floor and starting my shift, I felt much better. Still, I continuously scanned the room, looking for Zander and wondering if he was looking for me.

  My new shoes were a godsend, making maneuvering through the tables and the room so much easier. I was proud of myself for not taking Zander’s money, but I had to admit I was shocked he had even offered it.

  “It’s about time you got some new shoes, girl. I don’t know how you worked in those things,” Jena said.

  She stood next to me at the bar and helped me load my tray with the drinks she had just mixed.

  I laughed. “Says the girl wearing the six-inch heels.”

  “It’s all for the money, honey. When the big spenders come in and see the illusion of long legs, they tip better.”

  I groaned. “Great. So to make more tips, I need to kill my feet one toe at a time?”

  “You, Ms. Thing, don’t need to worry about that. Your sweet angel face gives you all the tips. Men would do anything for you if it meant getting a little taste of heaven.”

  I blushed to the roots of my hair. “That’s not t
rue,” I insisted.

  She picked up the final drink on the bar top and set it on my tray. Before she began to walk away, she said, “I promise you, it is. Tell her, Luke.”

  Luke, the bar back I’d met when I first started, had been coming toward us as Jena walked away. She turned, winking at me.

  “What’s she talking about?” Luke asked me, confused.

  I felt the heat in my cheeks intensified. “Nothing. She’s crazy.”

  He laughed. “So I was wondering, since you’re new to Vegas, if you’d like me to show you around?”

  “Oh.” His question caught me off guard, and I was at a loss for words.

  I’d been asked out lots of times, but this was the first time I’d ever been tempted to say yes.

  “That sounds nice, Luke, but I’m trying to work as many hours as I can so I can move out of my aunt’s place. Maybe once things slow down?”

  He smiled, and I hoped that I hadn’t hurt his feelings. “Sounds like a plan.”

  “You’re up, Eden,” Jena said, pointing toward the pissed-off customers waiting for the tray of drinks I was holding.

  “I need to get back to work,” I told Luke.

  He nodded and grinned down at me. “Just don’t work too hard.”

  I giggled. “Never.”

  Although, that was a lie.

  I was working my ass off.

  Already I had lost three pounds since moving to Vegas, and the shorts I brought with me were starting to get too loose around my waist.

  Walking away, I felt like everyone was staring at me. Hearing Jena’s words about looking innocent and it turning the customers on suddenly made me very self-conscious as I moved around the room.

  I spent the rest of the night being careful and making sure my skirt didn’t rise too high on my thighs. I made sure not to flirt with the customers, and I tried not to smile too much.

  Somehow, imagining them getting turned on by me made me feel a little sick to my stomach. Especially since most of the customers were older, unattractive men.

  By the time I finished my shift, I was exhausted and ready for bed. Thankfully, Aunt Kennedy was leaving at the same time, which meant I wouldn’t need to call her for a ride.

  The car thing was really getting on my nerves, and I thought maybe it was time I rectified that situation.

  With the money to get the car out of impound in my pocket, I climbed into Aunt Kennedy’s sleek black sports car and smiled.

  It wasn’t new, and it was the biggest piece of trash ever, but at least once I got the Oldsmobile out, it would be mine.

  THE FOLLOWING DAY, we got up early, and Aunt Kennedy took me to the tow truck’s impound yard.

  It was a shady place, and I hated to go there, but getting the car back was important.

  “Thank you so much for bringing me down here, Aunt Kennedy.”

  “Well, there was no way I would let you come here alone. This part of Las Vegas isn’t exactly the nicest area.”

  We stood in line as we waited for the person in front of us to finish.

  “Are you sure you want this car back? From what you said, you’d probably be better off getting something new.”

  I probably would have, but I didn’t have the money to get a new car, and I wasn’t ready to start making payments on something.

  Allen’s car would suffice for now.

  It definitely wasn’t easy on the eyes, but it got from point A to point B.

  “Yes, I’m sure. It’s just for a little while, and then I can sell it and get something nicer.”

  She sighed. “Okay.”

  “Next,” the man at the counter called, and we stepped up to take the place of the last customer.

  “What can I do for you?”

  I smiled at the man even though he didn’t he return it. “My car was towed, and I’d like to get it out, please.”

  “I’ll need to see your registration and driver’s license.”

  I swallowed and leaned forward. “I talked to a Dave on the phone, and he said as long as I brought cash, I could get my car out without the registration.”

  He stared at me for a long minute and then gave my aunt Kennedy a once-over. Finally, he asked, “What’s the make and model of the vehicle?”

  I gave him all the info and then paid the four hundred dollars cash that I needed to get the car back without the registration.

  I hated giving up so much of the money I’d saved—and on this piece of crap—but this needed to be done.

  Thirty minutes later, I followed Aunt Kennedy out of the impound parking lot.

  While I hated that I still held a part of my past, it felt good knowing that I was free to come and go. I couldn’t wait to drive into work tomorrow.

  After the tow company, we had lunch at a swanky restaurant with fish tank walls. I sat closest to the wall as I nibbled on my flounder and watched the fish float up and down at my side.

  I hadn’t felt so at ease in years.

  “Eden.” Aunt Kennedy got my attention.

  I turned to face her with a smile. “Yeah?”

  “I told myself I would let it go and allow you come to me, but I need to know. Is she okay?”

  My smile slipped, and I picked up my drink, taking a long pull from the straw. Setting it down, I shook my head in sadness.

  “She’s not great.”

  I wasn’t sure how else to say it.

  I didn’t want to drop a truth bomb on her and tell her that her older sister was into drugs pretty hard and had all but given up on me. It felt insensitive, yet not telling her felt wrong, as well.

  “Please tell me everything.”

  How did you start a conversation like that?

  I had no idea what I was going to say, but I opened my mouth and the right words came out.

  “She started dating a new guy a couple of years ago. He’s a drug dealer and a jerk. He beat us. Refused to let us work. You name it. She takes the drugs to escape. I didn’t. Instead, I ran here.”

  Tears flooded her eyes, but instead of responding, she turned away, sipped her drink, and blinked away her tears like the hardass that she was.

  When she looked back over at me, she was completely composed. A grin tugged at her lips.

  “How about we go do some shopping? You up for it?”

  I giggled, shaking my head at her quick emotional turnaround. “Let’s do it.”

  A sad fog followed us around for the rest of our day out. I knew what I told Aunt Kennedy was going to weigh on her for a long time, and I hated making her feel guilty when there was nothing she could have done.

  Shopping with Aunt Kennedy was easily one of the best things I had done in a long time.

  She had excellent taste, and everything she picked out was going to look amazing on her. While she continued browsing, I looked through dresses. I found a yellow summer dress and held it up to me, turning toward the mirror on the wall and admiring my reflection.

  “You’d look gorgeous in that,” my aunt said, coming up behind me and speaking over my shoulder.

  “It would be all the dress.”

  “Nonsense. Here.” She took it from my hand and added it to the armful of clothes. “Excuse me,” she called to one the sales associates. “Could you please hold these for me up at the front? And if you could start ringing me up, that would be perfect.”

  “Of course, ma’am.” They smiled, and the associate made a joke about needing an army to carry out her bags.

  “Aunt Kennedy,” I warned. “You don’t have to buy that for me. I want to be able to pay for things.”

  She shook her head, pride beaming in her eyes.

  “I know I don’t have to, but it makes me happy. Please, let me be happy, Eden.”

  She gave me the best puppy dog face, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t need Aunt Kennedy buying me things, she had no idea how happy I was just to be there with her.

  “I promise to let you pay me back later,” she vowed, but I knew she was full of it.

&n
bsp; I groaned, and she grinned, knowing full well she had won.

  “Fine!” I threw my hands in the air.

  She pulled me in for a hug. “The Vaughns and their ridiculous pride.”

  I laughed. “You would know.”

  The Vaughns.

  She said it like there were a lot of us, but there weren’t.

  Me.

  Mom.

  Aunt Kennedy.

  We were all that were left.

  And the more time I spent with Aunt Kennedy, the more I realized I was a lot like her.

  I had spent the past two years worrying that I would become like my mother. I loved her, but I never wanted to be dependent on any man.

  Seeing Aunt Kennedy in her element proved it was possible for me.

  By the time we left the final store, I could tell she was exhausted. She worked a ton, and when she wasn’t at Empire taking care of things there, she was home still being busy and taking care of things.

  I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I hadn’t been in Vegas long, but I still felt like there was plenty to see, which was why I was thrilled when we ran into Luke just outside the last shop we visited.

  “Hey, Luke!” I called out, stopping him before he could cross the street.

  He turned, his face lighting up with a smile, before he started toward us.

  “Hey, Eden,” he said, before turning toward Kennedy. His posture stiffened, and he nodded. “Ms. Vaughn.”

  She laughed and shook her head.

  “Luke.” She nodded before turning to me. “Eden, do you think you’ll be okay out here on your own?”

  Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Good, then I’m going to go home. Luke, can you make sure Eden makes it home okay? I mean, if you’re not busy. I can tell she wants to stay out and sightsee a bit more, but I’m exhausted.”

  His eyes moved to mine, and a tiny grin tugged at the side of his mouth. “Sure.”

  “Perfect. I’ll see you later tonight,” she said, leaning in and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  Once Kennedy left us, I turned toward Luke. “Well, that wasn’t obvious at all.”

  He laughed. “Actually, my mom could learn a few pointers from your aunt.”