She reached the door at the end of the hall and took a pause. She smoothed her hair, pushing the loose strands back into her ponytail and tightening it, then checked down her clothes to make sure she was all tucked in and everything was clinging where it should.

Cassie was on the other side of that door, and Nina didn’t want to look anything but her best. She had no idea if her crush was reciprocated, but she planned to do something about finding out soon. Thoughts of Cassie kept her awake at night, especially on Fridays and Saturdays after working in Red during the evening. The action here fuelled her imagination. What she wouldn’t give to have Cassie to play with for the night—or many nights. That woman was so fucking gorgeous it left Nina breathless. And Cassie had no idea how lovely she was. Her innocence was so attractive to Nina; it had her in a complete spin.

Satisfied with her appearance finally, she reached for the handle and opened the door.

* * *

Mandy chuckled, as Nina preened before entering Green. It was sweet, really, watching the two of them. They’d clearly been attracted to each other from the minute they met, but so far it looked like neither one of them had done anything about it. Somehow she didn’t think that would last much longer. There was no way Cassie would make the first move, and Mandy hoped Nina didn’t go in too hard, too fast. Cassie needed careful handling—she wasn’t fragile, but she was vanilla. Nina was definitely not vanilla.

She smiled to herself, hearing Rebecca’s voice in her mind.

Here you go again, mother hen to your little chicks.

She sighed. Yes, she was at it again. She couldn’t help it; she’d always cared about her staff—the ones that mattered anyway—as if they were her little flock. Not her children; it wasn’t a maternal thing. More like a big sister.

She pictured Rebecca laughing gently at her, shaking her head. The image was so powerful it left her breathless for a moment, and her heart lurched.

The ringing of her mobile phone broke her reverie, and she turned quickly towards the office to answer it.

* * *

Cassie smiled as she flipped the lights up and did her quick check for cleanliness and order. Satisfied, she dimmed the main lights and turned up the bar lights.