Chapter 11

Grant

Luscious was coming along nicely. The store wasn’t even close to being fully stocked or operational yet, and already, I could tell that the place was going to be a hit. Bigger than that even. I was so confident that I had already begun talking to Jack about his club idea and how the two could tie in together. Every time I thought about that I got excited. Too excited. I always had to stop and remind myself that the first store hadn’t even opened yet.

It was Wednesday morning, and I was at the store, supervising the set-up. The place was packed. Teams of electricians stormed through the rooms, ensuring that everything would be ready for the opening. Carpenters worked tirelessly in the back rooms, finishing off the shelves and furniture. I had dozens of workers from my other stores there, too, unpacking boxes and putting all the candy out on display. The store needed to be ready for opening day, and I would do whatever it took.

Kendra was also at the store. True to her word, she had turned up on time, despite how late I knew she was up the previous night. And despite that, she looked radiant. If I hadn’t known otherwise, I would have guessed her to be coming off a full night’s sleep.

Even better than that, when she arrived, I demanded that she put on her new uniform. It was a red corset, paired with a tight black pencil skirt, black garters, and stockings. The corset came in tight at the waist, pushing her breasts up to her chin and making her butt look extra big and round.

As she waded across the store, swinging her hips as she walked, it was all I could do to not stare at her. Every time she bent over or turned around, I had images of the other night and how she looked bent over in front of me. If it weren’t for the other people around, I would have grabbed her, then and there, dragged her into the store room, and had my way with her.

But there were other people around. Lots of them. That morning, I had the pleasure of meeting the other workers that Kendra had hired. One of them, Selena, seemed like a good pick. Her dark features and lithe body stood in perfect contrast to Kendra and would do well to satisfy the clientele who weren’t as into curves as most were. But the male hire? I wasn’t so sure about him.

His name was Brody, and he was younger than Kendra and Selena by at least five years. He may have only turned twenty if his baby face was anything to go by. But even if he was a little young, I had to admit that he was annoyingly handsome. He had a great smile and a big set of white teeth that paired perfectly with his dark green eyes and dirty blonde hair. What was more, he was the type of guy that knew he was good looking, too.

Right from the get go, he was flirty with Kendra. Outrageously so. He in no way tried to hide it as he told her how good she looked in her new outfit and how hard it would be to work with her looking like that. It was non-stop, and Kendra seemed to love it too. Like really love it. Every time he commented on her sexy appearance, she giggled like a school girl and slapped him playfully on the arm.

And every time she did, the anger burning inside me got hotter and hotter. I wanted to grab the kid by the scruff of the neck and throw him outside. Tell him to never come back in the store again. But I couldn’t. And not because it would have been bad form or anything like that, but because it would have proven to Kendra that I had feelings for her. That, I could not allow.

In fact, too many times already, I had come close to revealing my true feelings for Kendra. Even showing up at her apartment the previous night had been risky. At first, I got the sense that she thought I was doing it because I cared for her. In truth, I was worried when she didn’t call me. I wanted to make sure she was okay, but I could never let her know that.

As luck would have it, the perfect distraction walked through the door at Luscious just after midday. Not only was it a distraction, but it was also the perfect way to play with Kendra and confuse her even more.

The distraction was an old acquaintance of mine, Loren Pratt. The two of us used to date, albeit briefly. But she also did some interior design work for me, and we still kept in touch. There was never that spark between the two of us to keep me invested in the relationship, but I always sensed that she still wanted me.

“Grant, darling,” she cooed as she walked through the front door, making a beeline towards me. “The place looks amazing!”

“Loren!” I exclaimed, acting equally as excited to see her. “What are you doing here, you gorgeous thing?” I pulled her into a hug as she reached me.

Loren was, of course, very good looking. Like Kendra, she had long blonde hair and pretty features. But her body was the complete opposite. She was petite yet muscular, sporting strong legs and a firm ass from what she claimed was years of ballet dancing.

“I was in the area and wanted to see the new place. I’ve heard some pretty amazing things and needed to see for myself.”

“Heard? From who?” I loved hearing that Luscious was being spoken about. I also knew that Loren catered to a very expensive clientele. It delighted me to know they were gossiping about the store. We hadn’t even opened yet, and the buzz had started.

“I’ll never tell,” she said, winking at me. She then took my hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “Come. Show me around.”

As she took my hand, I dared a glance out the corner of my eye to where Kendra was standing. She had, without a doubt, been watching the exchange, and I delighted in the way it must have looked. In fact, seeing her watch us, gave me a wicked idea.

“Here,” I said. “I’ll introduce you to the manager.”

When she saw us coming, Kendra pretended to look busy, quickly shuffling through some boxes that were on the counter. It wasn’t fooling me though. Her insistence on not noticing as we pulled up at the counter spoke volumes.

“Kendra,” I said, getting her attention. “I want you to meet Loren Pratt. Loren and I are... what would you say, Loren? Friends seems a bit casual.” I made sure to give Loren’s hand an obvious squeeze.

“Oh, stop,” Loren giggled, slapping me on the arm. “You know what we are.”

“Do I?” I said, giving her a wink.

“Nice to meet you,” Kendra said curtly. She didn’t offer her hand to shake, instead, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on whatever was inside the box in front of her.

Enjoying how uncomfortable Kendra clearly was, I decided to push a little harder. “What have you got here?” I reached into the box, pulling out a cotton candy feather duster. It was a part of our French Maid Ensemble and could be used to both inflict punishment and, of course, be eaten.

“What is that?” Loren exclaimed.

“What do you think?” I joked, prodding her in the nose with the cotton candy duster before taking a bite out of it. I then offered Loren a bite, which she took gleefully. “Here, let me show you the back room.”

“Darn, I’m afraid I can’t,” Loren said, looking genuinely upset. “I’ve got a meeting down the street in five. That’s why I’m—Say. Are you free any night this week?”

“I’m sure I am,” I said, making sure to catch Kendra’s eyes as I did. She was resolutely not looking at me, doing all she could to keep her eyes on the box and off of me.

“How about we have dinner? We can catch up on old times.”

Not even bothering to look at Loren, I kept my eyes on Kendra, burning a hole through the side of her head. “I don’t see what could possibly stop me.”

“Perfect!” Loren exclaimed. As she turned to go, I grabbed her by the arm, pulled her to me, and planted a kiss on her lips. It wasn’t anything sexual, just a peck. But I knew it would have the desired effect. And sure enough, the moment our lips touched, Kendra slammed down whatever she had in her hands and stormed from behind the counter and into the back room.

“I’ll call you,” I said to a dazed looking Loren, who nodded as she stumbled from the store.

Once she was gone, I decided it was time to check up on Kendra and ensure that my play had the desired effect. Watching her squirm as I flirted with Loren gave me an unbridled amount of pleasure and was, quite frankly, a bit of a turn on. I loved to imagine what was going on in Kendra’s head, and even more, what I would do about it when I finally had her alone.

Kendra was in the stockroom when I found her, on her knees as she unpacked a series of boxes. At least that was what it was supposed to look like. I was quite sure that she was doing nothing more than attempting to look busy.

“Make sure that you get all of these out by the end of the day,” I said as I stepped into the room. I didn’t say hi or ask how she was. I was all business. “This store needs to be ready to open on time.”

“Why don’t you just get Loren to help? I’m sure she’d be delighted.” Kendra’s voice was curt, and she refused to look at me.

“What did you say?” I asked in a stern tone.

“What is she, your girlfriend or something?”

“That’s hardly any of your business,” I responded, smiling to myself. I loved how upset she was over somebody as trivial as Loren. “And besides, I’m free to date anyone I want. I didn’t know I needed to run it by you?”

“You don’t. But how do you think she’ll feel if she found out about us the other night?”

My smile faded instantly. “That sounds like a threat,” I said, serious this time. “Don’t forget, I’m still your boss.”

“Oops, I forgot,” she snapped. She then stood up and made to walk past me through the door.

“And where are you going?” I asked, grabbing her by the arm again. As I did, I could feel her body tense up. She looked down at my hand, wrapped around her arm, with an expression of loathing.

“Brody,” she said. She then paused before letting a mischievous smile spread over her face. “He said he needed help in one of the VIP rooms. I’m going to go and make sure he has a handle on everything.” She pulled her arm from my grip, stepping out of the stock room and into the main part of the store.

I felt the blood run to my face as she walked away. And it wasn’t because she disrespected me. It was the mention of Brody and the way she spoke about him. Him wanting to fuck her, I could handle, but her flirting with him? There was no way I could let that take place. Not in my store.

“Hey,” I said, chasing after her. “Just so you know, there’s a new rule. No dating anyone from work. Starting today.”

She gave me a quizzical look before smirking to herself, turning back, and disappearing into the VIP room. Alone, I suddenly became aware of how stupid I had just made myself look. Any power that I may have asserted with Loren was instantly lost the moment I showed jealousy over Brody.

If she didn’t know how I felt before, she had to know now. How could I have been so stupid?