“Ah, come on! Just one dance. I’ve been watching you tonight, baby.” He leaned down to my ear, and I could smell cigarettes and booze on his skin.
“There you are, you ready to go, babe?” Max’s familiar voice called to me from the end of the hall. His eyes were locked on the man’s grip on my hips as he made his way to me. “You can take your hands off her now.”
“Ah, man, we were just gonna dance,” the man’s voice slurred.
“I said take your hands off her. Now.” Max’s voice was crystal clear in comparison to this stranger’s, and it shocked both of them. The man finally released me, raising his hands in defense. He muttered something under his breath about “crazy bitches” as he staggered away.
I released my breath, thankful for Max’s presence.
“Are you okay?” He turned to me, eyes locked on my face.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine, just ready to get out of here.”
“I brought your slippers,” Max said as he raised my Uggs in his hands. The ones I kept in my work locker to change into after a shift. “I went out to my car to grab them for you.”
I threw my head back and laughed, “Wow, you have, like, a whole different kind of obsession with my feet.”
“I do not,” Max said.
My eyebrows lifted. “Whatever you say, Boss.”
Max let me lean on him as I slipped off one heel and slid on the Ugg. There was no way I was going to put my bare foot down on this sticky club floor. I teetered a bit as I tried to swap out my other shoe, but Max had a grip on my shoulders that kept me from falling.
Finally, I held my sweaty heels in one hand and stood three inches shorter in front of Max. My Uggs felt like heaven on my feet as I shuffled my way to the exit.
Max took my purse and heels from me as I struggled to hold on to everything and then followed him out, slippers on my feet and a smile on my face. My handbag looked tiny in his hands as he made his way through the crowd, parting it so I could walk through.
The cool night air felt refreshing on my face as I walked through the doors of the club. My ears still rang as the music shut off behind us once the door snapped shut.
Max’s car was waiting for us at the curb, flashers on. I smiled up at him as he opened my door, and I slid inside. He was taking care of me. Again.
Max opened his door but didn’t get in. Instead, he leaned in and said, “You need carbs. I’m going to grab us some pretzels. Stay right here.”
I gave him a salute. “Yes, Boss.”
Max shook his head as he jogged across the street to the food cart parked outside. The lines of drunk people hadn’t gotten bad yet since bars were still open. That was a perk of leaving early, I guessed. Although, I’d stayed longer than everyone but Jules and Emma.
I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped my mouth as the smell of a warm, salty pretzel filled the car when Max slid back in. I tore into the warm bread as he drove us back to my parents’ house and parked on the curb so we could finish eating.
Max held out a container of cheese dip for me, his eyes reflecting the soft light from the car’s interior. As I took a bite, we sat in comfortable silence, the car enveloping us in a cozy bubble amid the night’s chill.
“Thank you for rescuing me earlier,” I said between a bite of cheese-dipped pretzel. “And for the other thing.”
“You mean when I teased your pussy while we danced?” he asked.
I nearly choked on my pretzel. “Well, when you put it like that.”
“You know you can’t keep stealing my panties,” I said as I got back to chewing. “I’ll run out one day.”
His eyes had a glimmer in them as he watched me. “I’ll buy you more.”
“Oh,” I said excitedly, “I got to see inside the Mirage Guild yesterday. The space is truly beautiful.”
“Is it true that you’re going to be running events there?” Max asked.
“Is it okay that I do?” I asked.
“I couldn’t think of a better place for you to be, Isabella,” he replied.
