In the Zone by Sierra Cartwright Read Free Book Online Page B

professional. He guarded the club as if it were his own, making sure the employees and guests alike were kept safe. He was quiet and unobtrusive, and so were the state-of-the-art security measures he had put into place.
    “Please see Ms. Dane to her car.”
    “Certainly, Sir.”
    Master Nathaniel stepped to one side, arms folded, looking every bit like the powerful dom he was.
    She didn’t look at him as she preceded Jaron from the suite of offices and into the reception area.
    Master Marcus nodded toward her. Willow lifted her hand in greeting and flashed a quick smile of solidarity.
    Alani felt as if she were walking a gauntlet. Everyone knew about her failure with Master Richard, and they likely knew Master Nathaniel had opted to make her stay home tomorrow. She had never felt more off balance in her life than she did right now.
    “I took the liberty of having your car brought round,” Jaron said.
    All the employees kept an extra key at the front desk. When it snowed, the security team scraped the windows and made sure the car was started at the end of the shift. Just another way the owners made sure it was a good place to work. “Thank you.”
    He held open the door, and she slipped inside. The seat’s nubby material abraded the welts behind her knees.
    Despite the fact it was springtime in the Rockies, the early evening was unseasonably cool, and Jaron had turned on the heat, making the driver’s compartment warm.
    “See you soon,” Jaron said.
    She wondered.
    He tipped an imaginary cap and closed the door after she was settled.
    In the rearview mirror, she watched Zones fade away. She couldn’t feel worse if she’d been fired.
    * * * *
    “Thank you,” Nathaniel told Jaron when the man joined him outside the club’s entrance.
    “Yes, sir. Anything else?”
    Nathaniel shook his head. When he, AJ, and Marcus had decided to open a club, AJ had insisted on state-of-the-art security to protect the patrons and their privacy. Jaron had come highly recommended by an army officer Nathaniel worked with. The tall black man had been an excellent choice.
    Jaron went back inside the club.
    Nathaniel continued to stand where he was, despite the fact her taillights had already blended in with the heavy Lower Downtown traffic. Since it was after six on a Friday, everyone was heading home after a long workweek. People from the suburbs hadn’t started arriving at Zones yet, and it would be another couple of hours before the club was really happening.
    He told himself he was enjoying the sight of the Rocky Mountains in the distance and that he wasn’t thinking about Alani. But that was a lie.
    Nathaniel Stratton, a skilled combatant who’d braved some of the harshest conditions on the planet, was unsettled.
    He’d survived sandstorms and a hail of bullets without losing his focus, and yet a young woman, so petite the top of her head barely reached the middle of his chest, left him second-guessing himself. It was a new feeling and a goddamn uncomfortable one at that.
    “Buy you a drink?” Marcus offered, joining him outside.
    “You’ll never go on vacation if I handle all the club problems like this.”
    “Managing people is the most difficult part of running Zones,” Marcus said.
    Jaron came back outside to set up the velvet rope line. Nathaniel had checked the reservation list and knew they were expecting a big turnout for the evening. It wasn’t the best time for him to have given Alani the night off. “Do you ever wonder if you’ve made the right decision?” Nathaniel asked Marcus.
    “Rarely. By the time a situation reaches me, I need to do something about it. I don’t terminate employment without cause, and I’m slow to hire, fast to fire if I see reason for concern. With longtime employees, it’s not unusual to work with the situation, clarify expectations. Sometimes a long talk helps.”
    He didn’t know whether the words were reassuring or not.
    They moved inside to the all but empty bar. They pulled