Chapter 21
Their vacation was far too short, and Karter was not ready to be back at work.
She’d enjoyed having those four days away and alone with Creed.
They’d gone to several attractions and had taken walks on the beach each night, which led to them rolling around in the sheets for a couple of hours afterward each time.
Karter had been sore in the best way possible, and while most of it had subsided, she still felt light remnants of it.
Placing the three beers down on the table in front of the women who occupied it, Karter questioned if they needed anything else before telling them their food would be out shortly.
She went over to the bar and leaned against it, watching Ilia make a couple of drinks before placing them in front of a couple at the bar.
They weren’t particularly busy, and Karter had already checked on her tables. So, she figured she would hang out at the bar with Ilia until the two orders she’d put in with the kitchen were finished.
“You are marked to hell,” Ilia said, walking over to Karter with a smirk.
“I know. I thought they’d be less noticeable by now,” Karter replied. Creed had sucked so many bruises into her collarbone and neck. She’d been hiding them when she first arrived with her hair, but had pulled it up when they opened.
“Looks like you had a lot of fun while the two of you were away.”
“We definitely did. I got to watch the sun rise and set over the water as well.”
“I need a baecation like that, but I’m lacking the ‘bae’ part,” Ilia said with a shake of her head.
Karter refrained from rolling her eyes at the other woman.
Ilia was only lacking that part because she chose not to date.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t have men and women flirting with her throughout her shifts.
Her friend simply chose not to date, or maybe she was waiting for the right person to give it a go with.
“I’m sure many of the people who flirt with you would take you on a vacation,” Karter responded.
“Nah, I don’t enjoy mixing business with pleasure. So, anyone I meet here is a no-go.”
Karter could understand that. She’d made it a point not to even give the wrong idea to any of the patrons that came in, or any of the other employees, because dating someone that you worked with, or frequented where you worked could get messy.
However, that entire viewpoint seemed to have gone out of the window when she started dating Creed, because dating her boss would cause the most issues if things went left.
Speaking of which, Karter had only seen him once since she’d made it to work.
When they’d gotten home the previous night, he dropped her off at home at her request because she had errands she needed to get done before work that day, and knew going home with him would have her sleeping in.
Karter had seen him when she arrived, but knew that he was now likely in his office catching up on things.
Pushing off the bar, Karter went into the kitchen to grab both of the orders she’d put in. She took them to their respective tables before checking on her other ones. Satisfied that everyone was content, she headed down the hall to Creed’s office, knocking on the closed door.
“Come in, Kaere.”
Karter pushed the door open, walked in, and closed it behind her. She found Creed sitting at his desk, eyes on his computer screen. She walked around the desk, leaning her hip against it.
“Is everything okay out there?”
“It is,” Karter responded. “I was just coming in to check on you.”
Creed turned his attention to her. “I’m placing a few orders and inputting inventory tracking. Ilia was kind enough to update the paper copy for me.” He held his hand out to her, and she took it, allowing him to pull her onto his lap.
She looked over the screen where he’d been tracking inventory and changed two of his reorder numbers. Increasing them each by one since they were down to their last two. Karter knew that when those particular items were reordered, they took longer than the others to come in.
“So, I got a text from Abe a couple of hours ago,” Creed told her.
“He was one of the guys who held the beer-making contest, right?”
“Yeah, he was. He wanted to know if I wanted to go out for drinks.”
“You should go,” Karter told him. “You need friends other than my dad,” she teased.
Creed tickled her sides briefly, causing her to squirm as she giggled. “First of all, whoever told you that you were funny lied. Second, I have friends outside of Demetri.”
Karter shrugged. “I wouldn’t have guessed it, and just so you know, I don’t count.” Though she knew he did, she simply enjoyed messing with him. Especially since she knew her father was more than likely his best friend and vice versa. Even with the age gap between the two. “Anyway, are you going?”
“Probably. It’ll be a good way to network as well, since they put on quite a few contests like the one they had here.”
She stood from his lap. “I’m going to go back out on the floor. I’ll come back in a little while.”
“I’m about to come out there in a few minutes. I need to get from behind these doors.”
Nodding, Karter exited the office and went back into the main area of the bar. She checked on her table that came in first. Taking orders for the two within the party of five who wanted refills. She then checked in on the other tables before going to the bar.
Karter put in the drink order with Ilia and stood next to the bar as her friend fixed them.
Once she’d delivered them to the table, she headed towards the kitchen to speak to Logan for a bit, since he liked to isolate himself in there with the other kitchen staff.
She saw the woman from a couple of weeks ago, Denise, looking around as she walked in.
Karter was going to continue on her way to the kitchen when Denise saw her and waved at her, heading in her direction.
“Hey, Karter, right?” Denise questioned.
“Hey, yeah,” she responded.
“Can you tell me where Creed is?”
Karter felt her eyebrow twitch. “You mean Ravage?”
“You call him that too?” Denise inquired.
“No, I don’t, but everyone else does, which is why you should as well.”
“I like Creed better. Besides, who wants to be like everyone else?” Denise smiled at her, and she could tell that she wasn’t being malicious. However, she wasn’t picking up what Karter was putting down either.
“Look, I’m the only person who gets to call him Creed. Having other women do it makes me uncomfortable,” Karter told her honestly. “So, I would appreciate it if you didn’t do that.”
“Calling him Ravage makes me uncomfortable.”
“It’s his last name,” she countered.
“It still makes me uncomfortable. You can deal with one other person calling him Creed, right?”
“No.” Karter heard Creed’s voice filter over her shoulder. “And she doesn’t have to, because you won’t be calling me that.”
“We’ve already had this conversation, and I—”
“It doesn’t matter. It makes her uncomfortable. So, you’ll call me Ravage,” Creed informed her, cutting her off.
“I will not call you that.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about,” he responded, taking Karter’s hand and pulling her past Denise and to the other end of the bar. “Are you okay, baby?
“Yeah, I’m fine, but she may not want to work with you anymore,” Karter said, her attention moving from Denise, who didn’t seem too happy with Creed.
“I don’t care. If she can’t respect you not wanting her calling me Creed, then she isn’t someone I need to have any type of affiliation with.
” He leaned down and kissed her, his hand cupping her cheek.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, or what it is.
If you don’t like it, they don’t need to stick around,” he said when they pulled apart, and Karter could see the honesty in his eyes.
She nodded before telling him she was going to check on Logan and the others in the kitchen.
Ravage was behind the bar. It wasn’t busy, so he wasn’t helping much.
More so, just keeping Ilia company and keeping an eye out for trouble.
He’d been standing in the same spot for a few minutes, and the entire time, he felt eyes on him.
He knew it was Denise, and he mildly wondered why she hadn’t left after he and Karter walked away from her.
He supposed she could have come to have a drink, but he doubted that was the only reason.
He knew that she was trying to get her beer into several of the bars and clubs in the surrounding areas, but so far, she’d had no luck. She would now have no luck with him either.
He’d heard the conversation she and Karter were having before he made his presence known.
Ravage was going to let Karter handle it because he knew her well enough to know that she would get the most satisfaction from resolving it herself.
However, when Denise pushed the issue and disregarded what his girlfriend was saying to her, he stepped in.
It was only a couple of minutes later when Denise came down to the end of the bar where he was standing and sat on a vacant stool.
“I owe you an apology,” she started. “I understand that Ravage is what you prefer to be called, but it doesn’t feel or sound right to me.”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s the name I’m requesting you call me, just like everyone else.”
“Not everyone,” Denise responded.
He shrugged. He didn’t see a need to explain to her why Karter didn’t call him Ravage. It was painfully obvious because the night he’d introduced her to Karter, he told Denise beforehand that she was his girlfriend.
“You were fine with me calling you Creed when we first spoke about it, but now you aren’t?” she asked.
“Not that I owe you an explanation, but this isn’t about me. It makes Karter uncomfortable, and that’s all that matters.”
“So, you would have me uncomfortable.”
“Yes,” Ravage responded simply. “But you don’t have to be, because you don’t have to talk to me at all.” He pushed himself off the back of the bar where he was leaning, heading from behind it. He looked over his shoulder at her. “And it isn’t me you owe an apology to. It’s Karter.”
He walked over to where Karter was coming across the floor, her tray loaded down with plates and glasses. He reached out, taking it from her, and the two of them went to the back together. Placing the tray down beside the industrial sinks, Karter unloaded it as Ravage walked to the back door.
Sticking his head out, he found all three men who worked in his kitchen sitting out there.
Ravage knew they liked to escape outside when it wasn’t busy.
When he’d decided to have food on the menu, he kept it simple.
He preferred to have a few items that were made exceptionally well rather than a large menu that was mediocre.
So, he never saw the need for anything over three.
“You have an order, boss?” Logan asked.
“No, I was just checking on you, since I haven’t all night. There are some dishes, but you’ve got time.”
Ravage felt hands on his waist, and Karter poked her head out to speak to the three men. “All my tables are good. So, I don’t expect any food orders from them unless I get a few others.” She then turned her attention to Ravage. “Eva is going to watch my tables for me while I go on break.”
“Okay, Kaere. You want me to make you something?” he questioned.
Karter shook her head. “No, I’m not hungry, Ravage,” she told him.
He slowly looked her up and down before smirking. “You want to take your break in my office, baby?” he asked with a raised brow, because he recalled her telling him she wouldn’t be able to be quiet enough for anyone not to hear her before when he’d tried.
She nodded. “Yes, I’m going to try to.”
“Okay,” he responded, and Karter released his waist and went back inside.
He gave her a couple of minutes, staying out to talk to his employees before going to his office.
He unlocked the door, walking in to find Karter seated on the couch, her legs curled beneath her.
Closing and locking the door back, he approached the couch, sitting down beside her. Ravage pulled her to straddle him.
“They’re going to hear you, baby,” he teased. Though he knew the music playing in the main area might help drown her out.
She shrugged. “Then they’ll know exactly how good you make me feel,” she responded, leaning in to nip his lower lip.
Ravage smirked at her, understanding completely. She didn’t care if they heard her, because she wanted them to, or rather, she wanted a specific person to. He had no problem helping her make sure that happened.