Chapter Nine
Emelise
Emelise was at the club first thing in the morning. Her first interview was set for nine am which gave her time to hang the photo her cousins and grandmother had given her and finish her cup of coffee. She knew it was going to be a long day, between interviewing wait staff, putting away stock, and finishing up last minute details like making sure the linens were where they needed to be, she had her hands full. She wasn’t complaining though because she was looking forward to it all. Her dream had finally come to fruition.
By two that afternoon, Emelise was getting tired. She’d had several interviews and was waiting to hear back on references from all of them, and she had one last interview to give. She was also getting hungry but since her last interview was due any minute, that would have to wait.
“Hey girl, how’s it going so far?” Lily asked as she stepped into Scarlet Flux. “I was on my way to work and decided to stop by t to see how the interviews were going.” In one hand she carried a take out bag from one of the local diners.
Emelise eyed the bag and arched a brow. “Please tell me there’s food in that for me.”
“Of course. I know how you can be, you get all distracted and forget to eat,” Lily replied with a laugh.
“Damn, girl, you know me too well,” Eme said with a laugh of her own. “Thanks. It’s going okay. I’m waiting to hear back on the references from the people I interviewed earlier, and I have one final interview to give, then I’m done for the day.”
“The other interviews went okay then?”
“Yeah, they did. They have experience and they’re available immediately. I just need to fill the last three server positions and one drink mixologist, and it’s done.”
“I still love that title It’s fucking awesome,” Lily said. She pulled out a burger and fries and set them in front of Eme then pulled her own burger from the bag as well.
“I had to go with something quirky, you know that.”
Yeah, I know.” She watched Emelise a moment. “Okay, so I have to ask, how are things with Caine?”
Eme sighed. “I don’t know, to be honest.”
“What do you mean?” She slid onto one of the stools at the bar and dug into her lunch while they talked.
“Don’t get me wrong, girl, the sex with him is phenomenal. I mean, I had no fucking idea sex could feel like that, it was always so boring before. But you keep talking about this deep connection you and Declan have and...it makes me wonder if Caine and I really are mates because he doesn’t seem to have the same feelings for me that I have for him. Sure he asks me to spend the night with him so we can have mind-blowing sex, but a relationship isn’t just sex. There’s no hint of any kind of commitment from him. And you wonder why I don’t think a man can be trusted to be there when he’s needed?”
Lily winced. “Oh, Eme, I’m sure he does feel the same way. Maybe he’s reluctant to push you for anything, worried you’ll push back and put those walls up again or something.”
Emelise shook her head. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s just sex for him. He doesn’t want me to spend the night so we can just curl up and watch a movie or something, He wants me to spend the night so we can fuck.”
“He’s an ass, then,” Lily said and gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “Don’t give up on that commitment though, Eme, because you deserve it.”
Eme shrugged. “I’m used to men not being dependable.” She tried to ignore the hurt she felt at thinking she meant so little to him.
Before Lily could say anything else the last interviewee arrived. “That’s my cue to head out,” she said and stuffed her trash into the bag she’d brought their food in. “We need to have a girl’s night out soon; you, me, and Shelli.”
“That sounds good, just let me know when you two have a free night,” Eme replied and turned her attention to the guy who was applying for the drink mixologist position for the VIP section.
Caine
“Caine Bordeaux, you are an asshole.”
Caine looked up from his desk to frown at the she- wolf standing in his study doorway. “And why is dat, cher?”
“Why is that? He asks why when he should know damn well why,” Lily growled. “Emelise. That’s why.”
His frown deepened. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talkin’ about.”
Lily stalked into the room and stopped when she reached his desk. She leaned forward and propped her hands on top of it so she could look him in the eye. “I’m talking about the fact you keep asking her to stay the night so you can fuck while leaving the impression that the only thing you want from her is sex.”
“What are you talkin’ about? Dat couldn’t be further from da truth.”
“Oh really? Then why did she tell me that the only thing you two do when you invite her to stay the night is fuck? There’s no cuddling in front of the television, just food then fucking, which you could get from any tramp in the city. As far as she’s concerned, you two can’t really be mates because you obviously don’t have any feelings for her beyond your leopard wanting to fuck it’s chosen female. Do you have any idea what your insensitive attitude is doing to her? She already believed men only wanted one thing from a woman and when they got tired of it they moved on, so what do you do? You reinforce that belief by not showing her any kind of commitment!”
Caine’s eyes narrowed at her. “I’ve asked her to move to da compound, even asked her to move into my home, more den once, and she always says no.”
“And have you told her how you feel about her? Beyond the whole ‘I want to fuck you’ thing?” Lily countered. “Caine, she didn’t grow up with other shifters, she doesn’t know the first damn thing about mates and how intense the connection is between them. You haven’t given her any reason to believe you want her close for more than just easy access to a good fuck.”
Caine stared at Lily for several minutes while his brain processed what she was saying. “Fuck,” he hissed. “I’ve been givin’ her space, lettin’ her decide when to take tings to a deeper level. I didn’t want to scare her off or make her pull away.” He rubbed his brow. “You’re tellin’ me dat all I’ve done is make tings worse?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. She’s afraid to let a man close because her only experiences with them has taught her they can’t be counted on, and you not committing to her isn’t helping her to change her mind. She thinks you only want her for sex, which means that eventually the newness will wear off and you’ll move on to someone else.”
He wanted to snarl at Lily for pointing out the stupidity of his actions but he didn’t because he’d needed the wake up call. “Thank you, cher, for not bein’ afraid to point out I’m bein’ stupid.”
“Don’t thank me, Caine; just make things right with Eme. She loves you, you know. Oh, she might not be willing to admit it out loud, just yet, because she thinks it’s one-sided, but she does love you. And that scares the shit out of her because it makes her vulnerable. It puts her heart at risk of being broken.”
“I’ll make dis right,” he assured Lily. He had a lot of work to do before Emelise came over for dinner. How had he not realized she would take his reluctance to push for something deeper to mean he didn’t have feelings for her?
“Good. I’ve got to get out of here before I’m late for work,” Lily said and left.