The Lost Alpha Prince (Book 15 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 19

Creamy ranch chicken sounded absolutely delicious. John smiled at Andre and nodded before he left the kitchen, heading back down the hall. Cassandra was still behind the front desk, reading a book. She looked up and smiled at him. "Are you looking for my mom?"

"Yeah. Can you tell me where to find her?" He stopped in front of the desk, eyeing her quietly and wondering how old she was. Then he stopped himself. He really should not get involved with her. No matter how attractive she was or how much she reminded him of his dream girl. He had more important things to focus on. Like seeing Rita about a job so he had a place to stay for now.

"She's right inside that room right there." She pointed to a room off to the right. "That's her office."

"Thank you." He stopped to knock on the door frame, then walked inside. "Morning Rita."

She smiled up at him. "Morning John." Her gaze traveled over him again. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Um, sure?" He wondered what she wanted. Rita had to be the most aggressive woman he'd ever met. Not even Sarah had looked at him like Rita was and she'd seen him naked.

"Lift your shirt up for me," she said, eyeing him quietly.

He lifted an eyebrow instead. What was she playing at? "Why?"

"Just humor me," she said with a wave of her hand, and giving him a once over again.

John lifted his shirt up and saw her eyes light up. If she asked him to take off anything else, he was telling her no.

Her gaze traveled over his abs. "Thought so. Okay, you can have a seat. You're not completely covered in tattoos, are you?" she asked curiously.

She hadn't seen any on his abs, had she? "No, just my arms and some on my upper chest," he said. He dropped his shirt and sat down in front of her desk, wondering what she was about. He was starting to feel like a prize cow at an auction.

"You'll do nicely. I'm going to have you start out tonight bartending. Have you ever bartended before?" Rita asked him.

"Not that I remember," he responded. She should know that too. He'd been pretty straight forward with her. There were some things he'd left out because she didn't need to know, but she did know that he'd lost his memory about three months ago and spent most of that time on Paul's truck. When did he have time to bartend?

"I figured as much. I'll probably have Maddie teach you. She's good at it, and a good teacher. She'll have you going in no time. It'll also give you a feel for the atmosphere. You can see the dancers working as well," Rita said, folding her hands on her desk.

John nodded slowly, taking all of that in. "Okay."

"You need to wear jeans, and that cowboy hat." Rita pointed to a black hat sitting on her desk. "You can wear whatever you want on top, but less is more, John."

He studied her. "What do you mean?" Was she saying what he thought she was? Probably why she'd wanted to see his abs and was asking questions about his tattoos.

She chuckled. "You'll make better tips if you're not wearing many clothes. Especially with abs like that."

His eyebrows shot up. "You want me to bartend naked?"

She laughed. "No. We're not that kind of bar. Shirtless is a good start though. Those women will drool all over you. And they'll tip quite well. And if you want to, you can dance too. That's where you'll make really good money. But it's totally up to you and what you're comfortable with. I'm not going to force you to do anything you're not comfortable doing. I already know the women will be flocking in to get a good look at you. Especially when word spreads that we have a new bartender."

John sat back at that, thoughtful. Did he want to dance? One thing at a time though. He'd focus on learning to bartend first, then he'd think about the dancing part. "I'll think about it."

Rita nodded. "You'll see tonight. Also, John, there's a gym next door that you're more than welcome to take advantage of. Actually, I'd prefer you did. And so would the ladies. You can go in and tell them Rita sent you. I've already arranged it."

Now that was something he wouldn't mind taking advantage of. While wrangling a tarp was some exercise, it wasn't enough and he was craving the workout. "I'd appreciate that."

Rita nodded. "Show up at the front desk at six tonight and we'll get you going. Wear what I told you. Until then, you can do whatever. Laundry is at the end of the first floor of you need it."

John stood. "Thank you Rita. I truly mean that."

She nodded. "Of course. If you need anything else, go to the front desk. Either Cassandra, Madeline or I will be up there."

He smiled. "Alright." John left her office and headed back towards his own room. He found the laundry, making a mental note for later, then went to check on Susie.

He'd grabbed her litter box, food dishes and all of the food for her out of the truck, and he made sure she was settled. She was laying on his bed, napping. John ran a hand over her body and she purred. She did seem to really like him and she suddenly stood and rubbed up against him. John smiled at her, giving her his full attention for several long moments before he finally stood. He was going to go check out this gym.

He looked through the clothes he had, hanging them in the closet, and picked out some sweats and a t-shirt and quickly changed. Once he got some money, he needed to go get some more clothes and some shoes. Probably some jeans if that was going to be his work uniform. Maybe a duffel bag for when he did move on. He pulled his shoes back on, gave Susie a final pat, then left the room and headed outside.

The gym was easy to find and he walked inside and glanced around. It wasn't huge but there was still probably ten or fifteen people inside lifting weights, and on the treadmills. Some of them were gathered around a ring, while two men were fighting each other inside of it.

John walked over to the front desk, his eyes on the men in the ring for a long moment before he glanced at the man behind the desk.

The man was huge and sort of built like Andre. He had dark hair and large brown eyes. "You John?"

John lifted a brow at him. "I take it you don't get a lot of new people around here?"

The man smiled at him, showing off perfect white teeth. "No, but I just spoke to Rita about twenty minutes ago and she told me she thought you might be here in the next half hour."

He wasn't surprised, but apparently he was predictable. "Yeah I'm John."

"Well have at it," the man said, indicating the gym.

John turned, his gaze back on the ring. Maybe one day, but he needed to test his own limits and see what he could handle before he got into a match with a complete stranger. He walked over to a treadmill first to warm up.

Two hours later, John was realizing that he was much stronger than he'd thought he was. He felt good from everything he'd done so far and was glad Rita had suggested it. He'd spent some time watching the men in the ring. They were brutal, and he wondered how he'd fare against them.

John finally decided he needed to leave. He needed a shower and something to eat before his first night of his new job. He headed on towards the exit, but one of the men stopped him.

"Rhys. You're new around here," he said, smiling at John.

"I'm John. And yeah I am," he responded.

"Well, I watched you lift. You should join us in the ring one day," Rhys suggested.

"I'll think about it," John agree. "I gotta get back, but thank you for the invitation."

"See you around, John."