4. Eighty-five-fifteen
FOUR
EIGHTY-FIVE-FIFTEEN
Rylee
“Son of a bitch!” Jake’s booming voice sounds from his office, almost rattling the liquor bottles off the shelves.
Nora and I glance at each other. Her eyes are wide, but this isn’t anything new from Jake, especially since he passed on some of his responsibilities to Chad.
“Don’t worry about him. He may seem big and scary, but he’s more like a giant teddy bear... mostly.” An alive, feral teddy bear. I keep that to myself though, so I don’t scare off the new hire. I pull two beer bottles from a cardboard case and set them in a cooler. “Finish stocking these. I’ll see what the problem is.” I dry my hands on a towel before spinning around and strolling down the length of the bar until I reach the hallway. Low grumbles and the slamming of a fist into a file cabinet flows through the open doorway. I peek my head through the opening to ensure the coast is clear before fully committing myself. Jake’s sitting behind his desk. Stacks of papers are scattered in front of him as he rubs his temples.
Moving a step inside, I lean against the doorframe. “I would ask if everything was alright, but the raging Hulk sounds coming out of your office tells me otherwise. So, what’s up?”
Jake’s hardened eyes meet mine as deep frown lines etch into his forehead. “How hard is it to count? One. Two. Three. Four. Write it on a piece of fucking paper.”
I slink through the doorway now that it's evident the anger isn’t directed toward me and take a seat in the pleather armchair across from him. “Let me guess, Chad messed up the ordering again.”
“For the third week in a row. I can't explain it. He was a model employee, then after I gave him a promotion, that he asked for, everything goes to shit. I can’t keep double checking his work because I might as well just do it myself.” He scrubs his hand down his face. “Wait. Didn’t you say you went to college for business?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t graduate.” I was in my third year and then life threw me into a tailspin, and I’ve never been able to fully recover. Before he can ask any more questions, I hold out my hand. “Here, let me see.”
He passes me the paperwork of what was ordered and what was delivered. From a quick glance everything between the two papers appears correct, so that’s not the issue. Then I see it. I don’t even need to go look. “He’s over ordering all the bar garnishes. We don’t go through two cases of limes in a week. Over half of this is getting thrown out.” With the papers in hand, I storm out of his office and into the storage room. By the brief inspection, I can tell he’s not even paying attention to anything he’s ordering.
Jake steps up next to me and I pass him the papers. “There are already eight bottles of this brand of vodka. Why is he ordering more? Rail vodka, sure, but not the top shelf stuff.”
“More importantly, where is he putting it?”
Both of us dig through the entire shelf to count all the bottles until we find the extra sitting on the whiskey shelf, which threw off the count for the entire second shelf. After some rearranging, Jake and I were able to gather the accurate tally of everything.
“Thanks Rylee. I was five seconds away from losing my shit.”
“Lose it? Based on the yelling earlier, it’s long gone.” I flash him a smile. He gives me a half nod, half shrug, which is practically a smile in Jake’s book. “I’m surprised Nora didn’t hightail it out the front door. I’m going to see if they’re finished stocking up front.”
I exit the storage room and as soon as I’m behind the bar, a familiar face is staring back at me. His smile is somewhat charming. Okay, a lot charming. Half devilish. Half boyish. It’s devoyish. I stride toward him. His piercing gaze locks onto mine. The way he’s looking at me right now sends a bolt of lightning straight between my thighs. I can’t control it. And I can’t deny it. But he can’t know it either.
I come to a stop in front of him and rest my palms on the bar top. “Another boy scout meeting today?”
A hearty laugh escapes him, but then he leans in and whispers, “I assure you, there’s nothing boy about me.”
“So, man scouts?” I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
He lets out another boisterous laugh. “Actually, it’s our weekly Single Bros. Life meeting.” He leans back, resting an elbow on the backrest.
“Oh. Well then. Does the bro need a beer?”
“Yes, please.”
“At least you have manners.”
He flashes me a dimpled grin and there goes the lightning bolt to the lady bits again. I shake the thought away and reach next to me to grab a glass. While pouring his beer, I glance at him from the corner of my eye and our gazes connect. Quickly, I look away, warmth spreading over my cheeks as I pray he didn’t catch me. When the beer reaches the rim, I set it down. Reaching over, I snatch a straw, drop it in the pint glass, and push it toward him. “I’m fresh out of sippy cups.”
My snark doesn’t even phase him. Instead of giving me some snappy come back, he leans over, wraps his lips around the straw, and sucks. I'm fixated at the way his Adam's apple bobs up and down as he swallows. When he's finished he rests an elbow on the bar leaning in so only I can hear. “Are you flirting with me?”
I swallow down the rock in my throat. An Adam's apple should not turn me on right now. “How do you get flirting from that?”
“The tucking the hair behind your ear, ogling from the corner of your eye like I’m a fresh cut ribeye ready to be served up for your enjoyment.”
I roll my eyes and bite the inside of my cheek to hide my smile. “I wasn’t ogling you.”
“I’m pretty sure you drooled a little.”
I whirl around and as nonchalantly as I can, I brush the corner of my lips with my finger.
“You know, it would work better if there wasn’t a mirror right there.”
I glance up and sure enough, Trey’s smug smirk is peering back at me. A rush of heat floods my face. Spinning around, I inhale a deep breath and slowly blow it out. “Fine. You caught me. I was staring. But mostly I wanted to see if your head could get any bigger.” I lean in, his leather and spice scent tantalizing my senses, almost distracting me from my thoughts. “Just so you know, it did.”
“Have dinner with me.” Confidence oozes from his tone.
Hypnotized by his full lips, I nearly forget he asked me a question. “Excuse me? Do you randomly ask women who you’ve had a five-minute conversation with to dinner?’
“Sometimes.” He shrugs.
“And it works?”
“I’m batting about ninety-ten. But also, between us it’s been more like two five-minute conversations. So, I’d consider it one ten-minute conversation and you can get to know a lot about a person in ten minutes. What do you say?”
I’m flabbergasted. So much so, I’m surprised my jaw doesn’t hit the bar top. He’s so cocky and sure of himself. Plus, he reminds me too much of someone else, which dampens my entire mood. “I don’t think so.”
“So now it’s eighty-five-fifteen,” he mumbles. “I get it. You want to get to know each other more—”
“No. Not really,” I say but he ignores me.
“I’ll go first. My full name is Trey Alexander Wilson. My favorite beer is IPA. I like spooning and baseball. Not always together but sometimes. And I really want to take you to dinner. Now it’s your turn.”
I stare at him, mostly curious if he’s being serious but his bright steely gray eyes and raised eyebrows indicates he is. “Okay, my name is Rylee. That’s all you’re going to get because I don’t date guys in suits so that’s a no on dinner.”
“Come on. Give me a full name, at least. If you don’t tell me, I have ways I can find out.” He leans back on his stool.
I lift a shoulder and let it drop. “Oddly enough, I don’t doubt that so I guess you’ll have to work for it.”
“Dessa. What’s Rylee’s last name?”
She steps up next to me, brushing her raven locks over her shoulder. “I’m team Rylee.” She extends her arm, fist in the air. My bestie always has my side.
Dessa has worked at Porter’s for as long as I have. She’s our resident mixologist and is always creating new weekly drink specials for Lach to add to the chalkboard with his phenomenal artistic skills.
“Nora?” he asks.
“Seeing I’m new here. It’s best I take their side.” She raises her fist in solidarity.
“Lach, twenty bucks.” He pulls a black leather wallet from the inside pocket of his suit and holds out a crisp twenty-dollar bill.
He yanks it out of his grasp. “Hart.”
Out of all of us, Lach has worked here the longest. He’s also Jake’s best friend and clearly doesn’t have my back. I guess that’s one less Christmas card I need to send this year. Who am I kidding? I don’t have time to send cards.
“Hey, you never offered me twenty bucks.” Dessa clasps her waist.
“You wouldn’t have given it up for twenty bucks.” Lach tucks the bill into his pocket.
“No. You’re right. I would have asked for fifty.” She smirks.
“Thanks guys. Glad to know you can all be bought.” My attention jumps back to Trey. “You got your info. Can I get you anything else?”
“Yes. Dinner?”
Before I can respond, a woman with long, perfectly styled, blonde hair and runway ready, airbrushed makeup strolls up to the bar. “Hey, Trey.” His name rolls off her tongue as she brushes her hand over his bicep. “A few friends and I have a spot in the corner with an extra seat if you want to join us.”
He glances over his shoulder at the table before shifting his concentration back to the woman on his left. “Maybe next time.”
“The invitation is always open,” she purrs, dragging her flame red fingernail down his arm.
I choke down the bile that rises in my throat. “Desperate isn’t a good look on anyone,” I mutter under my breath. The woman doesn’t pay attention to me, but Trey's gaze lifts to meet mine. I offer him a snarky smile and shrug. His throat resonates with a low laugh as he shakes his head and he sends the woman on her way.
Trey swings his focus to me and rests his elbows on the bar, a full-fledged smirk on his face. “Jealous?”
I scoff. “Of what? Her? If anything, I’m embarrassed for her.”
"If you say so."
The way his gaze bores into me sends a rush of heat coursing through my entire body. It’s like he’s trying to read every dirty thought floating through my mind right now and that would be terrible. I need him out of my space before I grab his tie and haul him over the bar to slam my lips to his. “You better not keep your fan club waiting.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
His lips tip up into a half-smile. “I’ll talk to you later, Rylee.” He taps the bar before sauntering away and into the backroom.
My gaze never wavers from his retreating frame. When he’s in a room, he commands attention and people give it to him. How could you not? He’s tall, broad shouldered with a tapered waist, and an ass that fills out a pair of slacks perfectly. Mentally, I slap myself across the cheek. No dirty thoughts about Trey.
“Did I hear you correctly?” Nora’s voice startles me, causing my heart to jump to my throat. “You turned down dinner with that Greek God. Do you think I can take your place?”
“Go right ahead. I’ve been with guys just like him. It’s nothing but a rollercoaster and by the end you’re left sad, empty, and disappointed.” I walk away, mostly because I need to clear my head and Nora going on and on about Trey isn’t helping.
“But the ride is at least fun, right?” she yells.
It’s always fun until you end up pregnant and dropping out of college, only to wind up as a single mom. Been there, done that, and I have the daughter to prove it.