Chapter 15
Fifteen
Eloise
I sat in Grant’s office on the small couch while Kingston held my hand.
We were waiting for Grant to finish with an unexpected meeting.
King had become an incredibly supportive force to me since we started dating.
I wouldn’t have picked him to be someone special in my life from a lineup.
King had a snobbish demeanor to people he didn’t know well but he proved my initial judgement wrong.
“Sorry about that.” Grant cleared his throat and leaned forward in his chair.
As the general manager, I figured my involvement should have been requested. It stung a bit that he hadn’t included me in the process. “Are you still thinking about opening another bar in Cheyenne? Or have things changed?”
“It’s a big undertaking. There’s a lot of moving pieces, but I’ll let you know.
I’m not hiding things from you, it’s a lot more involved than I previously believed.
Since it wasn’t difficult to purchase this piece of crap shack and turn it into something else, I thought it would be easy. Let me worry about it for now.”
“Fine. Not like my opinions matter, or that I haven’t navigated similar circumstances before. Not a bar obviously.” I resigned to sit back against the sofa. Kingston squeezed my hand giving me something solid to hang on to.
“You’ve been running yourself ragged, Eli,” Grant stated simply.
He sprinkled in his ‘Daddy Dom’ voice like when he growled at Kendall. No, I didn’t like it one bit. Instead of listening to what he was about to say, I stood up.
“Sit, babygirl,” Kingston said softly.
Releasing King’s hand, I shook my head. “I don’t need an intervention.”
“This isn’t quite an intervention, but you are burnt out. Now, sit.”
“Ugh!” I plopped myself back into the cushions while trying to keep my face neutral. “I have stuff to do.”
Grant pinched the bridge of his nose and then slowly dropped his hand. “Answer a question for me, Eli. If Karsyn was working the sort of hours you are, pushing herself, not taking breaks and the like… would you sit by idly and watch her self-destruct?”
I liked his question even less than his tone. No, he had a point that I didn’t want to think about. “I need to stay busy. Karsyn has a very balanced support system. At least now she does.”
Grant waited for me to catch up as the realization hit. I had all of those things too. Kingston and Reed brought additional support. Support I kept balking at instead of accepting. Hadn’t I learned anything last night at my brother’s house?
“I need this job!”
“I’m not firing you, Eli. But I’d like you to take some time away from the bar. Two weeks.”
“I don’t get paid time off, Grant. Coming here is something I need. I’ll go crazy if you ban me from the bar!”
Kingston kissed my temple and his strong but gentle presence eased some of the pinching tension.
“You aren’t banned from the bar. It’s two weeks without working,” Grant repeated.
“I still get to bartend on the weekends.”
“After two weeks, you can bartend Friday night only.”
“Friday and Saturday.”
Grant shot a look at Kingston. Suddenly I realized that he might have had something to do with all of this. Shifting on the couch, I glared at Kingston.
“Was this your idea? Are you forcing me to stop working? What then? You want me in your fucking kitchen barefoot and pregnant?”
It was a terribly untrue and gross accusation.
My mother used to scream it at my father.
I knew it wasn’t right. They were awful parents.
Not that I needed memories to remind me.
The thought of being pregnant brought an incredible sense of warmth over me.
I’d be a much better parent than either of mine ever could have been.
My boyfriends, if they wanted, could also be solid parental figures. Leaps and bounds better than my own.
“Don’t throw accusations at me, princess,” he chastised. “I called Grant and we discussed it. I’d never push you to do something you didn’t want to do, unless it was vital for your health.”
“I don’t need a fucking timeout,” I spat.
“Watch your language.”
His calm demeanor kept me from spiraling further.
Directing my anger at him when he had been so incredibly wonderful wasn’t productive anyway.
One small kiss against my forehead had my body melting into his.
His gentle touches brought a huge wave of emotions to churn through my body.
Tears poured down my cheeks. I’d been holding in a lot of feelings, and even though my Daddies had been getting me to release a lot of bullshit, it wasn’t all of it. No, it wasn’t even half of it.
Kingston wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed into his chest. “I’m sorry, Sir. I’m sorry, Grant. I’m really really sorry!”
Grant got up from his desk and handed me tissues and a bottle of water.
“Everyone is rooting for you, Eli,” he said plainly. “Do you know that? When you first started working here, you brightened up the entire bar. People are always happy to see you. Your skills had this place running smoothly in under a week!”
“So, lately I’ve been bringing down the mood?”
“No, Eli. It’s not like that. You’re different when you’re bartending. People make an extra point to come in. But you have a tendency to spend extra time doing that instead of the managerial side of things. It’s pushing your working hours into burnout mode.”
I glanced at Kingston who nodded his agreement.
“Grant hired you because he was burning himself out. There’s no reason why you can’t manage the operations at around fifty hours. From what he told me, you’ve already whipped this place into shape.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I did an assessment and hired another bartender,” Grant added.
“Lane Wilde has more flexibility and can work almost full time. We’re busy enough to still need you and the other two as backup occasionally.
Plus, I’m offering you Friday night which is our busiest. I can stagger the shift so you’re balancing instead of being stressed out. ”
“Okay, Grant. I’ll dial back the hours. Add Saturday evening for bartending. I have my clutch of older women who come in for their book club.”
“How long is their meeting?”
“Two hours.”
“Agreed. Friday night and two hours on Saturday.”
I shot a look at Kingston who cocked an eyebrow.
Sweeping my gaze back to Grant, I tried to pinpoint what my issue was.
He was offering less hours plus the additional bartending.
Who was I kidding? I didn’t need this job.
I didn’t need any job. I’d been desperately seeking ways to stay busy.
I loved working here because it gave me a sense of purpose.
Bartending had me connecting with our community.
Nobody at the bar saw me as some goody-two-shoes rich bitch who grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth.
Or if they did, no one said anything. Because I fought hard to outgrow that assessment of me.
The tears started again and I hung my head.
Kingston rubbed my back and shoulders, whispering encouragement and comfort.
“No one is attempting to take you away from the bar, sweetheart. Grant is happy to allow you time off to recharge. And then you’ll come back feeling better, rested, rejuvenated.”
Ice pitted in my stomach. I didn’t like the sound of that. “What did you do?”
“I booked us a trip.”
“Why would you do that?”
Grant rubbed his hand across his mouth. “I’m starting to see why Drew calls you spitfire.”
I shook my head. “Not funny! I don’t want to go on a trip.”
Kingston got to his feet and held out his hand. “We will discuss it privately. Thanks for taking the time to meet with us, Grant.”
“No problem, King. Enjoy your vacation, Eli,” Grant said casually.
“Thanks, Grant.” I barely kept the sarcasm out of my tone. Standing, I took my Daddy’s hand and followed him out of the office.
“Do you trust me, babygirl?” Kingston asked quietly.
I mimicked his tone under my breath, fully in brat mode. A solid smack bounced off my dress slacks. I expected such a response but spun around grabbing my butt with both hands. “We are in public, Sir!”
Kingston faced me toward the exit and led us out of the bar. “Do you trust me, Eli? Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll do as you are told. I have your best interests at heart.”
“I will not.”
“If I have to keep your grumpy little behind red and hot for the foreseeable future to get you to comply, I will.”
That did it. I stomped my foot twice. “You will not! I won’t go anywhere with you! I’m not doing anything!”
Kingston flicked his eyes up and down observing. “Are you done throwing a tantrum?”
Apparently I was not done. Not even close. “No. You can’t make me go! I am a grown-ass woman.”
“You’re right, but having a meltdown in a parking lot because I’ve planned a trip tells me I’m on the right track.”
“I am not packing.”
“Then I’ll pack for you.”
“I won’t let you near my stuff.”
“Then I’ll buy you new outfits.”
“I will not enjoy myself!”
“That’s entirely up to you, princess.”
I burst into tears again and sat down on the ground. I hated feeling so helplessly out of control. Kingston scooped me up into his arms and brought us to his car. He opened the passenger side door and sat me on the cushion.
He stroked my hair, allowing me time to calm down. “You’re stressed and burnt out, babygirl. You’re having a hard time regulating your emotions because your body has depleted itself. Let me take care of you.”
“You don’t have the time, energy, resources–”
‘I have everything you just listed. You’ve been letting your needs slack for a long time. It stops now.”
He buckled me in and I stayed quiet staring at the window for the ride to my house. If Reed surrendered to King after knowing him his whole life, I could do the same. I valued how important the two of them had become in a short amount of time. I owed it to myself.