Chapter 4
Chapter Four
L ater that night, Nyla leaned against the bar and glanced around Moody Days Jazz Club, feeling proud of herself. As the manager, she’d been trying to come up with ways of generating more income into the business. Not only that, but she also wanted to double the number of customers they averaged every night, and she was making progress.
Now all she had to do was double her savings in the next few months, and then the club would be hers. Well, maybe not double, but she needed a little more money.
No pressure.
Not only was she concerned about the money, doubts of whether she could actually run a business on her own had been creeping in lately. Sure, she was a great manager, but when she became the owner, all the responsibilities, including the financials, would be on her.
Which was why she was trying to prove to herself that she could make her dream come true. She could be a successful business owner even if she only had a high school education.
I can do this. I can make the club a success.
Smooth jazz flowed from the stage where a trio played a familiar song, and Nyla glanced around. Most of the after-work crowd appeared to be enjoying the music, while other customers talked amongst themselves in small groups.
The place wasn’t huge, but it was large enough to hold events, which was something Nyla had started doing more often. Like tonight. Tonight, Wednesday, was their first open mic night, and so far, it was a success. Thanks to advertising around the neighborhood and on social media, the response had been amazing. So much so, they’d had to limit the number of performers. She now had a waiting list for the following two Wednesdays.
Thursdays were lady’s night, and Friday and Saturdays were the days they hired entertainment—local groups—to perform. Despite that expense, over the last three months, she had increased the jazz club’s profits by twenty percent.
This is good , she thought, but immediately, her mind shifted to her own finances. She didn’t know how or when, but she was determined to get the rest of the money needed. She had to.
“Are you going to stand there staring out into space all night, or are you going to actually do some work?”
Nyla smiled at her best friend Jamie’s words and turned to face him. “It looks like you have things under control,” she said just loud enough to be heard over the music.
“Of course I do,” Jamie said, a bit of arrogance in his tone as he filled two drink orders at the same time. He made it look so easy. Once done, he set them on the tray, and the server carried them away. He turned back to Nyla. “What’s on your mind tonight?”
Considering it was mid-January and freezing outside, Jamie sported a T-shirt that stretched across his wide chest and hugged his muscular pecks. He had played football in college over ten years ago, and he still managed to stay in tip-top shape.
Nyla knew for a fact that the man’s good looks and charming ways were the reason they attracted so many women into the club. He was ruggedly handsome, with shoulder-length dreadlocks that added to his masculine appeal.
They first met ten years ago when her mother was going through her match-making phase and thought it a good idea to set them up on a blind date. The date didn’t go well, but a great friendship came out of it, and they’d been besties ever since.
“ Sooo , what’s on your mind?” Jamie asked again, then leaned slightly across the bar, bringing them closer. “Let me guess. You’re still trying to figure out how you can buy the club. I know it’s been weighing heavily on you. Maybe you can just—”
“You don’t think I can do it, do you?” she snapped, unable to stop the words from flying out of her mouth. No one thought she could do it, and if she was honest, there were moments she feared they might be right. “I expect doubt from my family, but you? You know how much this means to me.”
“Nyla.”
“No, I have been saving, sacrificing, and putting all my energy into making this a place to call my own. I don’t care what anyone says, even if I only have a high school diploma, I’m smart enough to run a business, dammit!” she spat as emotion swirled inside of her. “I’ve been doing it for years, and I’ve been doing a damn good job. The numbers speak for themselves.”
Breathing hard, she glared at him as he stared at her with his left eyebrow lifted questioningly. When he didn’t respond, she huffed out a breath.
Crap. She’d overreacted. What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly letting doubts plague her mind? Jamie nor her family could say anything as it related to buying the club without her snapping on them.
“Are you done?” he asked, and she felt like a fool.
Jamie was her biggest supporter, and he never talked about her lack of education. Actually, neither had her family. It was just that she felt inferior to all of them, including Jamie. Everyone had a college degree except for her.
Nyla had had plenty of opportunities to continue her education, but college had been too confining. She was a creative, a free spirit, artsy type woman who typically did her own thing her own way.
Still, every now and then, she wished she would’ve done more than just take a couple of college courses. And the main reason she’d taken a small business management class, as well as accounting for beginners, was because Gordon, the owner of Moody Days, insisted she do that before giving her the manager position.
Nyla had been working at the jazz club in some capacity since graduating from high school. She had wanted to be a professional pianist when she grew up. Though she was good after years of lessons, there were so many people better than her. So instead of continuing her education, she hung around the club and musicians.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said, feeling silly for being so sensitive, and she knew it stemmed from the conversation with Cree earlier that day. Cree might’ve been supportive of her choices, but she still thought Nyla was wasting her talents hanging out in the club. At least that’s how she made her feel sometimes.
“What I was going to say is maybe you can ask Gordon to give you more time to get the funds together.”
She could, but he’d been adamant that this spring he’d be retiring. Her parents had offered to loan her the rest of the money, but Nyla didn’t want their financial help. Nor did she want her siblings to chip in. If they did, they’d expect to have a say in how she ran the business, and that’s not what she wanted.
“Remember that guy I wanted you to meet?” Jamie asked, abruptly changing the subject. “The one you said ‘no’ to before I could even list his qualities?”
Nyla shook her head. “Jamie, you’re getting as bad as my mother. I’m not going on a blind date. I don’t care if he is a good friend of yours or how awesome he is. I’m not interested. Besides, I have enough going on. I don’t need to add a man to the mix.”
“Well, you’re going to meet him anyway. I think if you get to know him, you’ll understand why I think you two are perfect for each other.” He glanced behind her. “And he’s right on time.”
Nyla looked over her shoulder, and it was as if all the air was sucked out of the room. “You gotta be kidding me.”
Harrison Grant strolled in.
Heat flooded Nyla’s body, and she swallowed hard as her heart rate amped up. Wiping her suddenly damp palms down the front of her pants, she tried to look away. No sense of getting caught staring, but she couldn’t help it. He looked larger than life as he entered.
He was wearing a wool cap pulled low on his forehead and a scarf around his neck. The tan peacoat looked stylish and expensive, and like everything he wore, the outerwear didn’t hide his muscular body.
Detailed memories of how good it felt to be cradled in his strong arms rushed to the forefront of her mind. The intensity with which he’d looked at her. His scent. His mouth. All of it had every cell in her body sparking to attention. While desire ping-ponged within her and had her squeezing her thighs together.
This is not good.
Nyla swallowed hard as Harrison’s long, sexy gait carried him farther into the building, but a man he was about to walk past stopped him. When they shook hands and started talking, Nyla released a long breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Get it together, woman.
Wait.
She turned back to Jamie who was grinning.
“By the way you were licking your lips, I’d say I chose well for you.”
“He’s my boss,” she whisper shouted, and Jamie frowned. “He’s the guy I report to at my temp job.” Jamie had no way of knowing that since she rarely discussed her temp jobs with him.
“Get the heck out of here,” he said, and then he burst out laughing. “Fate. It’s gotta be fate, and the way you were just drooling over him—”
“I wasn’t drooling,” she grumbled under her breath. “I was just surprised.” She took another peek over her shoulder, and Harrison was still talking to the other guy. “Quick. What’s Harrison’s story? He seems like a nice guy, but—”
“He’s cool,” Jamie interrupted as he wiped down the bar. “One of the best men I know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be trying to hook you two up. I’m not sure how he is at work, but he’s funny, dependable, and there’d been a time when he’d do anything for anybody. Unfortunately, a few years ago…”
When his voice trailed off, and he glanced away, Nyla followed his gaze that landed on Harrison.
“What happened a few years ago?” she asked.
After a slight hesitation, Jamie huffed. “Let’s just say he’s been through some things. Things that shook him to the point of not trusting people anymore, but I think you can help him with that. You’re just what he needs. You interested?”
“Nope, just curious,” Nyla lied, her words spilling out a little too quickly.
She was interested, but she was serious when she said she didn’t have time for a relationship. Especially a relationship with someone with baggage, and Harrison came with a lot of it.
She knew all about trust issues and bad relationships. Her ex, John, had seen to that. One minute, she thought he was a great guy who really cared about her. The next, he’d made her feel like the lowest form of human life when he told her he was no longer interested in her. He’d wanted someone more of his equal.
Nyla took that to mean he wanted someone who worked in corporate America like he did. Or someone who was well educated, smart, and business savvy. Whatever he’d been looking for, clearly, she hadn’t been it. But he’d found it a few weeks later. Nyla had run into him and a mystery woman at the theater when she and one of her sisters had gone to see Wicked. The couple looked extremely cozy, and she had a feeling they’d been seeing each other for a while.
Nyla stood straighter when Harrison headed toward the bar, and she noticed the moment he spotted her. He slowed, narrowed his beautiful, almond-shaped eyes, and then his gaze bounced between her and Jamie.
Behind her, Jamie was chuckling. “This is too funny,” he said.
“This is not funny at all,” Nyla deadpanned.
“Nyla? What are you doing here?” Harrison asked when he made it to the bar.
“I’m the manager of Moody Days,” she said.
“Funny thing,” Jamie said, giving his friend a fist bump, “Nyla is the woman I’ve been trying to get you to meet.” Jamie glanced at her. “I don’t know who’s more stubborn, you or him. I received the same brush off from both of you, and one thing is clear—you two like each other.”
Nyla rolled her eyes at her friend. Maybe she should’ve listened when he’d said he had someone he wanted her to meet. Then she would’ve known it was Harrison and could’ve said, no thanks . But at that time, all she could think about was how often her mother tried to play matchmaker for her and her siblings. It was getting old.
“Manager?” Harrison said, ignoring Jamie as he glanced around the club before returning his attention to Nyla. “I didn’t realize you had another job.”
“Yeah, the temp jobs are my side hustle,” she said absently, distracted by the way he was shrugging out of his overcoat.
He was still wearing what he’d worn to work earlier, but somehow his shoulders seemed broader. His chest wider. And his flat abs were more defined despite the dark fabric of his turtleneck.
Gawd, this man !
He was a tech guru. He was supposed to look geeky, bookish, and intelligent. Not sexy and sophisticated.
And another thought pinged in her mind. He was the opposite of her. Probably in every way possible, and she needed to squash whatever fascination this was between them. Besides being opposites, anyone could look at them and know Harrison was way out of her league.
“It’s a small world,” Jamie said, reminding Nyla that he was still standing there.
He set a beer bottle in front of Harrison just as he sat at the bar. “I’m glad you guys have already met. Now you can get to know each other better.”
Harrison didn’t respond as he sipped his beer. Maybe he was thinking what she was thinking—them together was a bad idea. Not just because they worked together, though, that would change in a few days. Even if it was clear there was an attraction between them, they’d never make it as a couple. Yes, he was intelligent, kindhearted, and he had a body that her hands and mouth yearned to explore. But he was also grumpy, standoffish, and he didn’t smile enough.
What she didn’t know was if he could kiss. Or if he wore boxers or briefs. Or what his favorite sexual position was, and yeah, at one time or another she’d wondered. She’d always been curious by nature, and Harrison ignited her curiosity to the ninth degree.
“Nyla?”
Her head jerked to Jamie who looked as if he’d called her name more than once. “Yeah?”
“Terry is trying to get your attention,” he said, nodding his head toward the stairs that led to the stage. Terry was a new hire who was currently helping with open mic night.
“Ah, I’d better go see what’s up.”
Nyla started to walk away but stopped and placed her hand on Harrison’s forearm. He stared at her hand before meeting her eyes.
“Don’t leave before I get back,” she said, knowing what she was thinking was probably a bad idea. But it wouldn’t be her first one and probably not her last one.
Without waiting for a response, she strolled away, and a grin kicked up the corners of her lips. She wasn’t looking for anything serious, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t explore whatever was vibing between them.
She’d been sacrificing a lot lately. She needed a little fun in her life, and maybe Harrison could help her out with that. At least physically.