AMatterofLust by Lisa Fox Page A

personal fast food service, ready to be used whenever he felt like a
snack?
    The most galling part of it all was that she was actually
considering it. If she allowed herself to think it over in a certain way, it
wasn’t even all that bad. Lucid took a lot of her time and being with Trask the
way he proposed would fit nicely into her routine. She could see it now, Monday
for inventory, Tuesday night fuck-fest, laundry on Wednesday…
    Rena laughed bitterly at herself. Was she so desperate she
was actually willing to live like that? She sighed, her heart weary. The
problem was, this wasn’t idle desperation. If only it were that easy. Whatever
she had with Trask felt like something more. Something special. Or at least it
could be. He made her feel so good and when he looked at her, she went all
gooey and giggly inside. His smile made her pulse race. His scent made her wet.
    Rena propped her elbows on the desk and put her head in her
hands. Damn, she had it bad.
    And that was why his plan would never, ever, work for her.
No matter how much she wanted it to. With Trask, she would always want more.
She wanted a life with him outside of her bedroom. Being with him was not
something she could do halfway. She’d only be miserable if she tried.
    Which was why it had to end.
    Rena sucked in a sharp breath as pain stabbed her in the
chest. She had been coming to the same conclusion all afternoon and every time
she did, everything in her screamed in denial.
    “Enough,” she said aloud, demanding it from herself, but her
stomach still churned with longing and hope. There had to be a way.
    She exhaled heavily, clenched her jaw and purposefully
focused on her computer screen. She was going to enter orders now. Plug in the
numbers, balance the books, get the club stocked for the next month.
    She plowed through the task, then went downstairs to do her
final chore and put away all the stock that had been delivered earlier in the
day. The mindless, physical labor would be good. She hoped.
    She entered the storage room behind the bar and was
pleasantly surprised to find her manager and head bartender Josh there, halfway
done with the job. He smiled as he noticed her, that grin of his lighting up
the whole room. “Hey, boss lady.”
    “Hey,” she said, and knelt down to open up a crate of wine
he hadn’t gotten to yet. “What are you doing here? Don’t you know we’re closed
on Monday?”
    Josh chuckled. “I did hear that rumor. Thought you could use
the help. Get you back to that boyfriend of yours.”
    “Boyfriend?” she asked, laughing at what was surely some
kind of joke. Josh knew every unsordid detail of her usually dull life. He knew
she wasn’t seeing anybody. “What are you talking about?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t be coy,” he said, shaking a
finger at her. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. Mr. Tall, dark and
intensely brooding?”
    Rena let out a surprised snort. He could only be talking
about Trask. “How do you know about him?”
    “He’s hard to miss,” he said, and winked at her. “And he
came in here looking for you.”
    “Did he?” she asked, remembering that she found him outside
the club. She didn’t realize he’d been inside. A smile started to form on her
lips and her cheeks warmed. He had been looking for her. She jerked herself
away from those thoughts. That was precisely why she had to end it. “Well,
whatever.” She gave what she hoped was a nonchalant, dismissive wave of her
hand. “He’s not coming back.”
    “Isn’t he?” Josh said with surprise. He stopped unpacking
his crate and looked over at her. “I think you might be wrong about that.”
    “Oh yeah?” she asked dubiously. “How so?”
    “That was a man looking for you, Rena, and you alone. He’s
totally hooked.”
    Her heart swelled and she stomped it back down. She had to
stop doing this to herself. “And you know this because…?”
    Josh shrugged and gave her one of his trademark grins.
“Because