Alpha King of the Underworld

Hi I'm Roman

I was doing well with not looking in the direction of where I saw Julian sit when he was done greeting people. It’s the same place he sat last night, and it didn’t take long for the booth to fill up with women and other guests.

A woman touched him, getting closer and closer. Julian looked a little excited.

That’s when I decided looking that way would only make the ache in my chest hurt more.

He really saw me as nothing more than some random girl he had s*x with. For a second, when I was in his office, I thought…

It doesn't matter what I thought, because last night was a mistake. One I don’t plan to make again.

“Hello there, beautiful.” Someone says as I’m fixing up a drink.

My head lifts to get a quick glance at the guy with a retort on my tongue, but it died on my tongue when I saw the man in front of me. The sight of him took me so much by surprise that I end up spilling the drink I had been working on.

“s**t, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He says with a sympathetic smile.

I wave him off, but I can feel my face heating. “You didn’t. I wasn’t paying attention. What can I get for you?”

He makes a sound of consideration. “I’m not sure. What do you recommend? I’m sure anything you make will taste good.”

I can’t help but smile at his attempt at giving me a compliment. “That’s sweet of you, but yes, everything I make tastes good.”

My eyes widen at the reply that just tumbled out of my mouth. His face breaks out in a wide smile and I let out a nervous laugh.

“Well, in that case, I’ll take a vodka soda with a twist.” He says.

I nod and finish the drink I was making before starting on his. His eyes are still on me as I worked, and my focus is on not blushing from embarrassment at what I said. Once his drink is done, I set a napkin down on the counter and place the neatly made drink on top. Only then did I look at him again.

He whistled. “Wow, this thing looks too pretty to drink.”

Great, here comes the heat again. Why am I blushing so much at his simple compliments? Maybe because the last boyfriend I had was an asshole that only contacts me to say horrible things to me and Julian, who ditched after s*x. So having a nice guy talk to me and throw compliments at me like it's natural is something I’m not used to.

“Thanks.”

“Tips are welcome!” Brandy calls out before sliding the tips jar our way.

The guy laughs and reaches into his coat pocket to pull out his wallet. “Hint taken.” He pulled out a few twenties and dropped them in the jar.

Brandy grabs it before his hand is barely out of the jar. She winks at me as she puts the jar next to the register behind her. I have a feeling she’ll be sneaking that to me when we close up tonight.

“Thanks and sorry about her.” I say shyly.

He shakes his head. “No worries. I get it. She wants to make sure all my attention isn’t me trying to get out of tipping. Not that I would! I always try to tip well.”

I nod and try to act unimpressed. “Good for you. I’m sure the working-class people appreciate your generosity.”

What the hell? Why am I being snarky with this guy?

He doesn’t seem offended, though. No, he laughs.

“Wow, you’re a little spitfire. I like that. Well, thanks for the drink beautiful. Maybe I’ll see you later.” He knocks on the bar counter and turns to leave.

He weaves his way through the crowd and ends up at one of the VIP booths at the other end of the club from Julian. I had seen them talking and, by the look on Julian’s face; it wasn’t pleasant. It made me wonder who this guy was, but then I reminded myself that I was a blip in Julian’s life and that it was none of my business.

Why did his rejection bother me so much? It shouldn’t. I knew what we were doing last night, and that it was a spur-of-the-moment thing and nothing more. I just…

No!

I need to forget about his dumb handsome face and get through this shift without drawing too much attention to myself. Brandy and I get slammed with a rush of orders when the dance number on the stage ended. If you want to call it that, it was more like a strip tease but who am I to judge these people’s choice of entertainment? As long as I wasn’t forced to get on that stage, I didn’t care one bit what happened up there.

When the same guy comes up to the bar again, I’m too busy to stop and talk, but that doesn’t stop him.

“So I’ve been trying to come up with a reason we shouldn’t see each other again, maybe outside of this place.” He calls out as I hand a few beers off to a server.

“Oh yeah? What did you come up with?” I say back.

“Nothing. As far as I can tell, there is no reason you shouldn’t give me your number. I’ll try to play it cool by not calling you right away, but then end up texting you instead asking if I can see you tomorrow. You’ll smile at my desperate need to see again and agree. We’ll go out and have a great time, and I’ll ask for another date to which you will wholeheartedly agree.” He says, and I hear a few people snort and chuckle at him.

“You have the whole thing planned out, I see. So, is this your way of asking me on a date?” I ask, raising a brow at him.

He smiles widely. “Defiantly. So what do you say? Can I have your number?”

I don’t know what makes me glance in Julian’s direction but when I see one of the girls next to him rubbing her hand down his leg and whispering in his ear…I don’t hesitate to reply to the charming guy in front of me.

What the hell. He doesn’t seem to know about the mess with my ex and he seems genuine in his interest without seeming creepy.

“Okay.” I say and grab a napkin and the pen in my apron.

I jot down my number and pass it over to him. He looks down at it and smirks.

“Mila, huh?” I nod.

“That’s pretty. I’m Roman.” He holds his hand out to me and I accept it, expecting him to shake it, but he surprises me by kissing my hand instead. “I look forward to calling you tonight. Thanks for the drink.”

He winks and walks away, leaving me a blushing mess.

“s**t girl, you are one lucky bitch.” She smacks me with a towel, making me squeak in surprise.

We both laughed and I couldn’t help but smile for the rest of the night. All thoughts of Julian had faded away, I guess and, for once, I felt genuinely excited about something. It’s been way too long.

When the end of my shift finally came, I clocked out and headed to the employee locker room. As I suspected, Brandy slipped the tip Roman had given into my locker and I quickly pocket it. I’ll have to hide it before I get home or my stepmom will find it. I’ll need it to cover books for this coming semester so I can’t afford to have her take it.

I quickly grab my stuff and head for the door. Before I step into the hallway, I hear a female giggling and someone with a low voice talking to her. My skin prickles with awareness and without understanding why, I somehow knew it was Julian. I stepped into the hallway and sure enough; I spot a similar sized figure pinned against the wall by a leggy blonde woman. The lights above their head makes it easy to see that it was Julian, and a pain flared up in my chest.

This had nothing to do with me! We were nothing but boss and employee to each other, so I couldn’t be upset about this. It made no sense, and it wasn’t fair for me to think he was mine to be upset over.

So I held my head high and walked past them like I didn’t see them. I hear him call after me, but I pretend not to hear him and continue walking until I’m inside my car and on my way home. That’s when I deflated and let out a shaky sigh. This was so dumb. I need to let this go and focus on something like the guy who claimed would call me tonight.

I grab my purse and pull my phone out and smile when I see a message waiting. A message from Roman.