Pole Dance by J. A. Hornbuckle Read Free Book Online

the remaining whipped cream that lingered in the bottom of the cup.
But I was very aware that Jake's hot eyes were watching me as I licked the cream off of the straw and then sucked the remaining liquid from the end. I paused, mid-motion as our eyes snagged and, that electricity we had shared in his office, again arced between us.
As if without thought, Jake moved directly to me, his steps firm and sure. My heartbeat sped up watching him walk to me, our gaze never breaking, as he moved closer and closer. He stopped directly in front of me before he seemed to realize we were not alone.
There were a couple of beats of silence as we both dropped our eyes.
"I'll have Dale call you, Jean," Jake rumbled over his shoulder but his eyes came back to mine and I could see that there was something moving in their depths although I couldn't tell you what it was.
Jake again used pressure on the small of my back to propel me forward, to guide me towards the top of the stairs. We exited the building and I was carefully placed back in the passenger seat of his car, both of us silent. But the air was filled with unspoken things.
"Uhm, Jake? I can catch a bus from here. I mean, you don't have to drive me home. I'm sure you're…ah….busy and need to get back."
"Seein' you home, Darlin'," he said as he buckled himself into the car and hit the ignition.
"Uh, actually…" I mumbled keeping my eyes firmly forward. "If we could…I mean, if you could…ah…".
"Spit it out, Cait," I heard him rumble.
"Would it be okay to swing by the Mini Mart just off Grant and First? Mr. Mahmood has my paycheck." The paycheck that the creep was supposed to give me on Tuesday. But I've noticed that I had to chase him down to get it each week. And each week I had to avoid his hands in order to get said paycheck.
"No problem."
Jake parked the car in one of the spaces in front of the convenience store and before I could even turn to tell him I would only be a few minutes, he was out his door and opening mine. His hand went to my lower back and steered me inside the store.
"Hey, Khalid. Mr. Mahmood here?" I asked, conscious of Jake standing behind my left shoulder. I watched as Khalid picked up the phone and pushed two buttons before speaking a language I didn't know into the phone. There were a couple of 'yeahs' said, which were the only words I could understand in what Khalid had muttered into the phone.
"Mahmood said to go on back," Khalid said with a smirk. My heart sunk. I knew what the smirk meant and I did not, did not , want to go into the back room to meet with Mahmood. But I needed my check.
I turned Jake's direction. "Uh, I'll be just a--" but didn't get a chance to finish as Jake grabbed my bicep and walked me to the back of the store, to the hallway that led to the back room.
"Whatever I say, just go with it, yeah?" Jake whispered against my ear. I just had time to nod before Jake pounded on the door.
There was a muffled 'come in' and Jake opened and went through the door first.
"Jesus, Mahmood!" I heard Jake yell but he had placed a hand in the middle of my chest to push me back from the doorway and used his other hand to pull me behind him.
"What the fuck, Stanton?" I heard Mr. Mahmood yell back but there was a clinking metal sound that sounded suspiciously like a belt buckle coming from the room. My heart stuttered as I put two-and-two together to get 'Ewww'. Without thinking I put my hands on Jake's back and rested my forehead there as well.
"Came with my girl to get her paycheck," Jake growled. I noticed that his body was locked up as tight as his voice was sharp. "Was with her when your boy called you to let her know she was here. Was fuckin' there , Mahmood, when your fuckin' boy told her to come the fuck back here to get her fuckin' check from you."
There was quiet for a couple of beats but not a calm quiet. An eerie, tense quiet.
"Wanna tell me why the fuck you were waiting for my girl with your dick out, Mahmood?"
"It's not how it looks,