ROMANCING THE MOB BOSS (5 page)

Reno frowned. “What, are you deaf?

I’m not thinking about Vinnie, not right now. I

have . . .”

As soon as Reno looked up, beyond the

immediate world of his desk and those around

it, he froze. Even blinked. Was that her, he

wondered. Was that the one woman who had

haunted his dreams ever since that night they

spent together? That had been a week ago,

and he made it his business to avoid her, to

keep her safely away from his maddening

world, but she was here? In his office? In his

hotel?

Amos cleared his throat. Trina tried not

to expose her own staggering shock. “Excuse

us, Reno,” Amos said, “but she’s a short-lister

for one of the manager’s positions. But if you’re

too busy--”

“No, not at al .” Reno walked from

around his desk and moved over to Logan and

Trina. He extended his hand, his eyes fixed on

her. “Hel o there,” he said.

Why he had to extend his hand. Trina

didn’t want to shake his hand, she wanted to

disappear. Especial y when he never cal ed,

never even came around to Boyzie’s again.

Now he could be her boss, the owner of the

PaLargio of al places?

“Hel o,” she said, shaking that hand,

fighting with al she had to keep herself together.

“Her name’s Katrina Hathaway,” Amos

said.

“Katrina Hathaway,” Reno said. “So

you’re one of the hot shots that hope to manage

one of my clubs?”

“Yes.” Logan elbowed her. “Sir. Yes,

sir.”

Reno nodded. “Outstanding,” he said,

although his face said just the opposite. “Al

right, clear the room.” He looked around,

yel ed: “Everybody out! I’ve got business.”

This surprised Amos. Since when did

he clear the room just to speak with a short-

lister? There were times when Reno wouldn’t

even stop walking, but asked questions of the

applicant on the elevator, or walking down the

stairs. Now he was clearing the room?

But that was exactly what he had done.

Cleared everybody out. And then he asked

Amos to leave, too. “I wanna have a heart-to-

heart with Miss Hathaway. See what she’s

made of. I’l send her back down when I’m

done.”

“Yes, sir,” Amos said and left, the look of

confusion on his face priceless to Reno. He

even laughed.

“Amos is going, what’s up with this?”

Reno joked. Then he turned serious, as Trina

already was. “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing

toward his now-empty sofa.

Trina sat down, and he sat down beside

her. Her dress was short, and those legs he

knew so wel were showing magnificently. “You

want something to drink, something to eat?”

“No, I’m fine thank-you,” Trina said. Just

awkward as hel , she wanted to add.

“Okay, I don’t get it. You’re a waitress at

Boyzie’s, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And you figure you got the bal s to go

from waitress at a strip joint to manager at the

PaLargio?”

His bluntness surprised her. “I don’t

think of it that way.”

“You don’t?”

“No, not at al .”

“What way you think of it then?” He

looked down at her legs as he crossed his own

and unbuttoned his suit coat.

“I’m not just a waitress. I mean, I haven’t

always been. I was a club manager for five

years.”

years.”

This surprised Reno. “Oh, yeah?

Where?”

Trina hesitated. “Dale.”

Reno knew he heard incorrectly.

“Dale? As in Dale, Mississippi? As in your

hometown?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re f-ing kidding me, right?”

Trina didn’t know how to take his

harshness. He seemed like an entirely different

person. “Look, I didn’t cal myself to this

interview, Mr. Logan did. So he’s the one who’s

apparently kidding you. But if it’s that

unbelievable to you, I can certainly leave.” She,

in fact, stood to go, but Reno took her by the

arm and gently pul ed her back down.

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

“I don’t understand why you have to be

so harsh to me.”

“This is business, it don’t have nothing to

do with you. I don’t play when it comes to my

business, I don’t care if you was my

grandmother sitting over there.” Then he stared

into her eyes. And for the first time since she

entered his office, his look softened and he

looked like the Reno she remembered. “How

you been?” he asked her.

She tried to settle herself back down, to

keep her wounded pride from getting the best of

her. “I’ve been great,” she said, and she wasn’t

lying, either. She had hoped he would have

phoned her after that night, or at least came by

Boyzie’s to see her again, but she had no

il usions about it. She didn’t lose any sleep

worrying about it. Besides, she had yet to meet

a man who didn’t disappoint her in the end.

Why would this one be any different?

“You’re stil looking good, that’s for

sure,” Reno said, looking down the length of her,

remembering how wonderful it felt to be inside

of her, now tight she was. “I meant to give you a

cal .”

Trina looked at him. No he didn’t try that

lame line on her. “You
meant
to?” she said.

“Yeah, I meant to. But you know how

things happen, you get busy, we got this grand

opening of the new wing of our hotel coming up,

the new clubs in that wing, and time gets away.”

He had wanted to see her again, he

even got in his car and headed for Boyzie’s

more than once to see her again, but he couldn’t

do it. He couldn’t drag a sweet thing like her

into the madness of his world, into the merciless

harshness. But he knew he would have done it

without blinking an eye if he would have seen

her again. He wouldn’t have been able to walk

away from her twice.

That was why he was a little pissed now,

with her here in his office. Because he was

seeing her again, seeing that elegant face he

was actual y dreaming about at night, seeing

those big, expressive eyes he could stare into

for hours, seeing that body, that damn hot body

he wanted to hold right this very moment, and he

knew there was no turning back. He was no

saint. He wasn’t giving her up again.

“You look good,” he said, reaching out to

touch her on the arm, but she pul ed away and

stood to her feet.

“What’s the matter now,” he asked,

standing too.

What’s the matter?
Was he for real
? “I

don’t see the point of hanging around,

especial y since you’ve made it clear how you

feel about my experience.”

“I’m being honest. What, you want me to

lie?”

“No, but . . .” She then began rubbing

her forehead with three of her fingers, her

frustration getting the best of her.

His heart sank. “Look,” he said, placing

his big hands on her smal , narrow shoulders,

“you don’t have the kind of experience you’ve

got to have to run a club of mine, you just don’t.

Amos short-listed you because of your skin

color and gender, I’m just keeping it real. He’s

always said we need more color and femininity

around the place. I figured he gave us enough

of the latter himself, but hey, who am I?” Trina

actual y smiled. “But I agree with him. This

place needs to be more diverse, and I’ve got my

people working on it.”

“But I don’t fit the bil ?”

“Not by a mile, sweetheart.”

“But that club in Dale wasn’t as smal as

“But that club in Dale wasn’t as smal as

you think it was.”

“It’s not the size that matters, but the kind

of problems that come up. And Vegas

problems versus Dale, Mississippi problems

are not the same.”

“Okay,” she said, extending her hand.

“Thank Mr. Logan for the interview.”

“Not so fast,” Reno said, looking down

at her extended hand and then at her. “Where

you going? Have dinner with me tonight.”

Trina stared at Reno. Was he nuts?

He’d just crushed her, just told her in no

uncertain terms that she wasn’t big league

material, and now he expected her to just forget

al of that and have dinner with him? After him

not cal ing, not bothering to come by for a

week? She’d never be that desperate.

“Thanks, but no,” she said as she moved to

leave.

Reno began to panic. Was this it? “But

wait a minute,” he said, grabbing her by the

arm. She turned toward him. The pain in her

eyes, that pain of rejection, cut him to his core.

“You misunderstood me. I wasn’t saying there’s

nothing here for you.”

This interested Trina. “What do you

mean?”

“I mean, no way are you going back to

work in that strip joint, you kidding me? What

you need is experience, so that’s what I’m

offering you.”

Trina was immediately suspicious.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m talking

managerial experience, al right?”

Trina smiled. “I knew that was what you

meant.”

“No, you didn’t. You thought I was gonna

have you running up a pole in our pussycat

lounge, I saw that look.” Trina laughed. “But

that’s not what I mean. I can’t hire you as a

manager, but I can hire you as an apprentice, to

work under Amos, an old sour puss but a pro,

so you can learn from the best. Then, after you

get some real time experience under your

gorgeous belt, we can look at a promotion.”

Trina loved the idea. “That’s a great

idea, Reno,” she said and was so overcome by

just how great the idea was, that she hugged

him.

“Now we’re talking,” Reno said with a

smile of his own, and embraced her too, the feel

of her body against him making him horny

already. He pul ed her back only slightly, to see

her face. “I stil want you to have dinner with me

tonight.”

“I have to work tonight.”

“Work? Work where? At that

Boyzie’s? Not on your life. You’re with me

now.”

“I have to give notice, Reno. I’m not

gonna just quit.”

“I can talk to the owner.”

“No,” Trina said emphatical y. “I’l work

out my two weeks, give them a chance to find a

replacement.”

Reno rol ed his eyes. “Why do I always

fal for the moral ones?”

Trina smiled, stared into his eyes.

“Maybe because you’re moral yourself,” she

said.

This concerned Reno. He wanted to talk

with her, explain to her just what kind of man she

would real y be getting if they decided to go

down that relationship road, which, he felt,

seemed already decided by fate itself. “I have

to be in Jersey tomorrow, but I should be back

by Friday. Have dinner with me Friday night

then,” he asked her.

“I’m your employee now,” Trina said.

“You don’t date your employees.”

“Like hel I don’t,” Reno said truthful y.

Then he stared into Trina’s eyes, pul ed her

closer against him. “I’m no saint, Tree,” he

said. “I need you to understand that.” He put his

hand on the side of her face, stared at her

gorgeous, perfectly-sized lips. “But being

around you makes me wanna work on it.”

Trina smiled. Man did this guy have a

way with words! Then he kissed her on those

lips he’d been adoring, kissed her with a

passion that immediately took them back to that

night a week ago. And both knew that there’d

be no stopping them now, when it came to the

passion they pul ed out of each other. They had

no stopping sense.

no stopping sense.

He lifted her into his arms and carried

her through a door off from his office. He closed

the door and locked it. To Trina’s surprise it

was a bedroom, complete with a king-sized

bed, and he had her on it, and was on top of

her, stil kissing her, before she could even think

about looking around any room.

“I would take you upstairs to my home,”

he said as he kissed her, “but I don’t think I

could make it.”

And he couldn’t. He could barely hold

out now. That was why he unzipped and pul ed

it out. Trina was amazed at how thick and