Chapter 8 #2
There were plenty of restaurants around that covered the romantic angle. The Brothers Three Taproom would be a good first date place. The safety of a lot of people with some finger food or appetizers was far less pressure than a full-on dinner date.
I dug out my phone to make a few notes when I felt the buzz signaling my table or bar-top was available.
With Kira on my mind again, I decided to walk through the restaurant to see if I could spot her. It was a longshot in the busy establishment, but I was nothing if not persistent when it came to this woman.
I’d let her walk earlier.
But it had been at least five hours since I’d seen her. That was enough time to think for even the most stubborn of people.
I checked in at the hostess stand and the trio of ladies who were poring over seating charts and an overfull basket of buzzers. I added mine to the pile. All three of them gave me winning smiles. One with dark hair and flat shark eyes zeroed in on me.
A younger Ronan would have been intrigued. She had danger and drama written all over her. Now that kind of woman just gave me indigestion.
“Parrish.”
The blond who had given me the heads up about the patio slipped out from behind the stand. “Hi.”
The other two women practically growled. Especially the dark-haired one.
I beefed up the wattage on the blond to deter the shark. “Find a corner for me?”
“I sure did. Hope a bar-top is okay.”
“Just fine.” I held out an arm for her to go ahead.
I glanced around the cavernous room. It had three levels.
The ground floor had two fireplaces that flanked the space with tables in all different sizes.
Intimate ones pushed into corners where there was a view of the water or a patron could bask in firelight.
Still other areas on the second level were designed for large parties or families, with easily converted tables that could be stuck together to cover a large group or broken apart for busier date nights.
The large bar on the third level was two deep with people grabbing drinks to go out on the upper patio for some air.
The blond might be tiny, but she was quick and her ponytail bounced as she walked. She was a cute thing, but where the shark was scary, this one was benign. Ten days earlier she would have been infinitely interesting.
After Kira…
Unfortunately, the blond was more of a sweet rabbit who needed protecting. A flash of Kira shoving me in that Adirondack chair this afternoon proved she was no meek bunny.
It also proved to me that I wasn’t made for the meek. A strong woman had always fired my blood more than one who played games or pretended to be flirty and coy. Darcy, my ex, had cured me of that for sure.
She led me out French doors off the first floor where a sprawling deck framed out the crown of the property—the vast Crescent Lake, gently lapping at the dock and shoreline. A few picnic tables dotted the grass, placed nearer to the water for more of a party or picnic situation.
They were empty at the moment as was a large barge-style boat moored at the dock. Since it was a weekday evening, it was empty, but I imagined they did a good business on the water through the weekends.
The hum of people, many more than a few beers or cocktails into the night, drifted over me.
A large U-shaped bar took center stage and two male bartenders in jet black were efficiently serving up well drinks while a female bartender flipped bottles with practiced ease as she smiled brilliantly.
Golden skin was on display with flashes of gold at her neck.
Large hoops dangled from her ears. She wore a high-necked black tank that showed off her toned arms and shoulders with each flick of her wrist.
The bottle of tequila sailed through the air, flipped twice before landing top down into the steel cup.
A huddle of guys and girls whooped and hollered as she built whatever line of shots she had going in front of her.
“Kira.”
The hostess glanced up at me. “You know Kira?”
“What?” I blinked and tore my gaze away from the scene before me.
“Kira? Or are you one of her groupies?” Her smile was indulgent and didn’t hold any of the catty flavor some women could release like a breath.
“Groupies?”
“Yeah. People come here specifically to see her at the bar. Did you know she was a champion at one of those bartender expo things? You know, like the ones on TV based in Vegas?”
“I definitely did not know that.”
“Yeah, Mason put televisions out here so we could watch it after shift last summer.” The girl’s smile lit up her face. “Mason is the owner.”
“I figured.”
She blushed. “Anyway, she’s really good. Sometimes people just come in when she’s working to watch her.”
I knew I fucking would, if I’d known. There was some of that playful Kira I’d seen today in the way she tossed smiles around and laughed with the customers.
Especially the devilish grin when she’d aimed that hose at me.
But what was she doing working here when she’d quit Lucky’s? I understood needing some extra scratch, but running the Taproom had to come with a decent salary. Beckett was a fair boss from what I could tell.
Based on the loyalty I saw from his people, there had to be some money behind it. Not everyone wanted to be best friends with the owners. I knew that my situation was a little different—the Mannings were paying for my knowledge.
But if I remembered correctly, Kira had only done waitressing at the bar as well.
More things didn’t add up there either. I was sure the tips were better out here than with the blue-collar types in Turnbull. Lucky’s had been my usual after work haunt lately and from what I’d seen, the owner would have been utilizing Kira’s talents behind the bar at least on the weekends.
Instead, Kira worked out here—at least twenty minutes or more outside of Turnbull.
Not that far in the grand scheme of things, but after a full day at the Taproom or orchard, it just didn’t make sense.
The hostess smiled. “Well, the bar-top table I have for you has a perfect view of Kira.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude or that obvious.”
“It’s okay. Kira has that effect on people. Not that anyone has had a chance with her. She likes to keep things all business.”
That part I knew. However, I’d had her in my lap today, so I still had hope.
The drunk idiots leaning in on her at the bar did not.
The hostess handed me a menu as we stopped beside my bar-top. “Stef will be your waiter. He’ll be around soon.”
“Thanks.”
I felt mildly pathetic about how focused I was on Kira, but she was so different here than the woman I’d been used to for the last two weeks.
The Kira I knew was definitely all business—until today. Until she’d hit me with the hose, then melted over me.
Thankful for the shadows, and the table hiding the bottom half of me for that matter, I was able to take a second to get my brain back in gear.
My hands fisted on the table as the guys crowding around Kira at the bar got rowdier.
I noticed a tall man with windswept blond hair hover at the threshold of the patio. He was wearing a collared shirt and holding a clipboard. Probably a manager type.
Kira gave the manager a subtle shake of her head. Evidently she was used to dealing with idiots.
The blond crossed his arms, but he didn’t leave his post at first. Until the vampy dark-haired woman from the hostess station came up to him with what looked to be a problem. He seemed to be torn to leave the patio, but whatever the server said to him convinced him to follow.
Before I could get a look at what was happening at the bar, my own server was standing in front of me with a polite smile.
He looked like he belonged on the party boat with curling sunny blond hair and a tan that said he probably wore board shorts when he wasn’t at work.
“Hi, I’m Stef. I’ll be taking care of you tonight.
Can I get you started with a drink from the bar? ”
“Yeah. Whatever local brew you have on tap works.” I didn’t bother looking at the menu. “T-bone medium with a loaded baked potato.”
Stef typed on his handheld. “Grilled vegetables okay?”
“Works for me.”
“Cool. I’ll just go get your brew.”
“Thanks.”
Just as my server turned to go, the crash of glassware and the tinny thunk of a steel shaker hitting the patio tile had both of us swiveling our heads toward the bar.
“Idiot,” came the whispered growl from the server.
I pushed the table out of my way to get to Kira.