Snails ran down the front of my shirt followed by the tray clattering loudly on the floor. I was too stunned to move or speak.
"Oh and look she's super clumsy. Woods should be pickier about his employees," the girl hissed hatefully.
"Ohmygod! Blaire, are you okay?" Bethy's voice came from behind me snapping me out of my shock.
I managed to shake off the snails still clinging to my clothing.
"Move," commanded a deep voice that I instantly recognized. My head shot up to find Rush pushing past the couple with the red head who seemed to be laughing at the mess I was in. He was angry. There was no mistaking that. Rush grabbed me by the waist and studied my face a moment. I wasn't sure what for. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.
I nodded, not sure how to react just yet.
The veins in his neck were once again straining against his skin as he swallowed hard. He barely turned his head to cut his eyes toward the red head. "Don't come near me or her again. Understood?" he said in a deadly calm.
The girl's eyes went wide. "What are you mad at me for? She's the clumsy one. She dumped the whole tray all over herself."
Rush's hands clenched tightly on my hips. "If you utter one more word I'll threaten to remove all my contributions from this club until you are escorted out. Permanently."
The girl gasped, "But I'm Nan's friend, Rush. Her oldest friend. You wouldn't do that to me. Especially for the hired help." The childish pout in her voice was odd coming from a Twenty-one year old woman.
"Test me," he replied.
He looked back down at me. "You're coming with me."
I didn't have time to respond before he turned his head to look over my shoulder. "I have her Bethy. She's okay. Go on back to Jace." Rush slipped his hand around my waist. "Watch out for the snails; they're slippery."
Two of the busboys were hurrying into the room with supplies to clean up the mess. The music hadn't stopped but the place had gone quiet. Slowly, people started to talk again. I kept my eyes on the door waiting until I could get outside of this ballroom and break away from Rush's arms.
If everyone in there hadn't known we were having sex, they did now. He'd just shown everyone that he cared about me to an extent but he didn't exactly want to walk around with me on his arm. My chest ached. I needed my distance from him. It was time I learned to crawl back in my own little world where I trusted me and me only. No one else. Once we were out of the ballroom and away from prying eyes I stepped free of Rush and put some distance between us. I crossed my arms over my chest and stared down at my feet. I wasn't sure if looking at him was such a good thing yet. I hadn't taken time to enjoy how gorgeous he looked in a black tux. I'd been doing my best not to look at him. Now that he stood right here in front of me dressed like he was while I was in my server dress covered in snail oil, the massive difference between our worlds was evident.
"Blaire, I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting something like that to happen. I didn't even know she had issues with you. I'm going to talk to Nan about this. I have a feeling she had something to do with it - "
"The redhead hates me because of Woods' interest in me. Nan had nothing to do with it and neither did you."
Rush didn't respond right away. I wondered if I should just turn and walk back to the kitchen.
"Is Woods still hitting on you?"
Had he really just asked me that? I was standing there covered in snails and butter and he was asking me if some other guy was hitting on me? I didn't even know if I still had a job. That was it. I'd had enough. I spun around and started for the kitchen. Rush didn't let me get far. His hand shot out and grabbed my arm.
"Blaire, wait. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. That isn't the issue right now. I wanted to make sure you were okay and help get you cleaned up." His voice was pained as he said the last part.
I sighed and turned back around and met his gaze this time. "I'm fine. I need to go to the kitchen and see if I even still have a job. I was warned by Woods this morning that something like this might happen and it would be my fault. So, right now I have bigger problems than you suddenly feeling the need to be possessive of me. Which is ridiculous. Because you were doing your best to ignore me until this incident happened. You either know me or you don't, Rush. Pick a team." The hurt in my voice hadn't been easy to mask. I jerked my arm free of his hand and stalked back toward the kitchen.
"You were working. What did you want me to do?" he called out and I stopped. "Acknowledging you would have given Nan reason to attack you. I was protecting you."
The fact he even admitted that told me so much. Nan came first. He was ignoring me to keep Nan happy. I'd expected this of course. I was just the booty call. Nan was the sister. He was right to choose her over me. How could he look at me as anything more when I'd gone so easily to his bed?
"You're right, Rush. You ignoring me would keep Nan from attacking me. I'm just the girl you f**ked the past two nights. All things considered I'm not that special. I'm one of many." I didn't wait for him to say anymore. I ran for the kitchen doors slamming into them before the tears welling up in my eyes broke free.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Whoa, girl," Jimmy said holding his arms out to catch me as I came barreling into the kitchen.
A hiccup escaped and I swallowed back the sob that followed it.
"That was brutal in there but it could have been worse. At least Rush came to the rescue." Jimmy patted my back and hugged me.
I didn't want Jimmy to know how incredibly cheap I was. I couldn't tell him these tears were because I'd become a rich guys dirty little secret. Not because some mean bitch had dumped food all over me in front of a room full of people.