Page 5 of Miss Trust

Chapter Three

Tory

Ididn’t believe in love at first sight. Hate, on the other hand. Oh, yes. As of this moment, I fully believed in instant hate.

The sting of the morning’s interview fueled a deep loathing I already harbored for assholes. I despised men on power trips who arrogantly assumed I was desperate enough to do absolutely anything they wanted for money. It was true his offered hundred-dollar bill would’ve gone a long way. But what would he require for it? What would the price be?

I returned to the club floor without a backward glance at the unexpected asshole in room three.

What the actual fuck? I could say I’d never been so insulted, but the truth was I could wallpaper a room with all of the slights I’d received over the years. Men who thought I was worth less because I took off my clothes. Women who thought I must be a shitty mother if this was the way I put food on my table. Potential employers who thought they could prey upon my desperation by taking advantage.

Chance? Was that his name? Brother to Reid, Teagan’s new boyfriend. It didn’t make any sense for the brother to visit me. My younger sister, Teagan, was in Dubai, and judging by the text message she’d sent me yesterday, she’d reconciled with Reid after what she referred to as a giant misunderstanding. So why was her boyfriend’s brother here to offer me a job? There was only one way to find out which didn’t require asking the condescending prick in room three. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to call my sister until I got off work.

The adrenaline was already wearing off by the time I made my way back up to the stage. I wasn’t normally self-conscious of my body. I’d been stripping long enough to discern the men liked what they saw. But Chance’s comment about my not making it in his club and his unnerving stare once he returned to the floor and leaned against the bar made me feel insecure.

Asshole.

He sipped his liquor with an arrogant air. If I wasn’t busy projecting my animosity on him, I might have to admit he was attractive. Not classically handsome, like most suits who came in, with clean shaves and Hollywood, I’m-an-aspiring-actor haircuts, but rather in a dangerous, alpha kind of way. He was a man in power, there was no question.

So I did my best to ignore the man in the expensive suit. I was finally able to take a deep breath of relief when he tossed some bills on the bar, fired one last glance in my direction, and left out the front door.