by Ellie Danes
“We didn’t know.”
“I told Pops not to tell you all. My pride, my fear. I haven’t told Eric yet.” Dalton put his hands on my arm. “I didn’t want any secrets from you.”
He opened his arms, and I stepped into his embrace. His hands wrapped around me as he drew me in closer. As his head lowered to mine, my heart began to pound. I could feel he needed this. He needed me to help reshape him. My heart beat so hard, I was sure it was going to burst through my chest. Once his lips touched mine, I opened my mouth to him. His tongue tasted me, pulled back, and plunged into my mouth. I sucked his tongue back, and he moaned into my mouth.
My knees weakened and, if his arms hadn’t tightened on me, I felt sure I would have ended on the floor.
He pulled back. “Are you telling me you don’t remember that?”
I lifted my suddenly heavy-lidded eyes to his. “I remember. I remember every night when I dream of that kiss in my kitchen. I’ve never stopped thinking about you or what it would have meant.”
He touched his forehead to mine. “Can we start again? Can we at least try?”
I swallowed my fear and pride. Though it went down hard, it went away. I looked into his searching eyes and nodded. Hell, you only live once.
He smiled at me and lowered his mouth to mine again as he picked me up and took to the table on the back wall of the cooler. I wrapped my legs around him and gently chewed on his lips.
“Damn it, woman.”
Dalton kissed me back. His stubble scrapped across my face, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It aroused me even more. I breathed in his musk and felt myself dampen and flower open. I put my hands up under his shirt and felt his core beating against my hand.
He put his hands on both sides of my face and pulled me to him. I felt like my soul was being pulled out of my body to become one with the man I had dreamed about since before I had left for college. Being with Joe had never matched this. Never would. The idea of where we could be now, and the lost time, made me run my hands around his back, gently scratching him.
His hands were on a trip of their own. They made their way from behind my shirt in the back to the front to my breasts and pulled them free of my bra. As his kisses waged war with me, his fingers strummed a tune on my nipples that left me panting and almost in pain.
He leaned me over the table, and I pulled him with me until we were almost laying on it. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him into me, feeling his need rubbing against mine and stoking the flame. I ran my hands down the front of him, to his waist, and I unbuttoned his pants, wanting him free in my hands.
He was rigid and long through the fabric. I ached to feel more of him. His lips were on my neck, and he pulled my shirt up, lowering his head to my freed nipples. He tasted one gently and sucked and pulled at me, like a thread through the most essential part of my body. I leaned backward and pulled his head toward mine.
The kiss I shared with him was not one of a timid teenager. It was a lover’s kiss, and he trembled with me. I took, and he gave, and we swapped a decade’s worth of loss in minutes.
We were so involved, neither of us heard the door open.
“Holy shit!”
Chapter Eight
Dalton
At the sound of the dulcet female voice who interrupted us, I pulled out of the kiss from Taylor. I noticed the scared-annoyed look on her face until she pushed me slightly away from her and looked around my shoulders. I quickly buttoned my pants and took a deep breath to try to regain some composure. Taylor looked slightly relieved but not much. I turned and covered Taylor while she got herself a tad bit more presentable and found myself staring into Kris’ laughing face.
“Kris, what are you doing here?” Taylor mumbled against my back.
“Eric asked me to come down and see what was taking so long with the Pilsner keg.”
Kris leaned back against the door, and Taylor stood up next to me.
“Taylor, if a man had ever kissed me the way that Dalton and you were going at it, I would have had dreams about him forever, too!”
Taylor walked over and pushed Kris out of the room.
I walked over to them. “Kris, it isn’t what it looked like.”
Taylor turned to me, incredulous.
Kris smirked. “Dear Mr. Dobbins, it was exactly what I think it is and I couldn’t be happier for her.”
We both looked at Taylor’s very red face and pink ears, then Kris turned toward me. “However, Dalton, how I personally feel about you is still up in the air.”
With that, she proceeded back up the stairs.
Taylor smacked me on the arm. “Go talk to her or she will tell Eric. I still need to get the keg tapped.”
I leaned down and kissed her reddened lips and man, it warmed me all the way to my curling toes. I ran up the stairs and out the door. Kris was still a few feet in front of me.
“Kris. Kris!” I stage yelled to her.
She stopped and walked back to me with her arms folded over her chest. “What?”
“Please, you can’t let Eric know.”
I could tell how conflicted she was about that.
“What I do or don’t tell Eric is between Taylor and Eric and me. He deserves to know his sister is hooking up with the guy who broke his heart.”
She turned to walk away from me.
“Kris, it’s not for me. It’s for Taylor.”
She turned back, staring at me with those molten brown eyes. “Go on.”
I stood there for a moment, and she looked like a mythical vengeance goddess about to bestow either a horrible resolution or my wish. What I said now would mean everything.
“I’m worried about her.”
She laughed harshly. “You’re worried about Taylor. Right. You’ve seemed real worried about her since you left.”
“Of course, I’m worried about her. I’ve been worried about her for nine years, wondering what I was going to find when, or if, I came back.”
“What are you talking about? What do mean ‘if you came back’?”
“Pops asked me not to come back until he was ready for me to come home. He said he wanted me to do some growing up to be the man he knew was in there before he wanted me to see Taylor again.”
“What?”
I nodded. “A week ago, Peggy called me and told me Pops wanted me to come home. She also told me it was too late for Pops, but it was not too late for Taylor and Eric, and he had wanted me to do whatever I could to protect them and help them.”
“So, you’re telling me that’s your job and the reason you’re here is to help them with what?”
“I have nightclubs expanding all over the world. I never could have done what I’m doing without Pops’ help over the years. I owe everything to that man. When Peggy asked me to please come home and help them, I didn’t even look back. I knew what I had to do, even if it is going to put a hole in the plans I had laid out for the future of D&E.”
We looked at each other, standing off.
Kris finally bobbed her head. “Okay, okay. If that’s what you’re actually here for, then I can go with that, but I’m not going to be silent forever, Dalton. Whatever is going on with Taylor and you...” She poked me in the chest. “You need to figure it out pretty quick because I will damn well kick your ass if you break her heart again.”
Kris turned on her heels and walked into the bar.
Taylor came up behind me, wrapping her arms around me. I learned over and kissed her head.
“Everything okay?”
“You don’t have anything to worry about. I think Kris and I came to an understanding. It was the toughest negotiation I’ve ever been in, and I think I may have lost.”
Taylor smiled up at me and stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. It just melted my heart, and I walked back into the bar. I grabbed a bar rag and started testing out the Pilsner.
“Man, you were gone so long I thought I would have to come down and do it myself,” Eric complained.
“You forgot
to tell me that you were the big man on campus, and Taylor showed me the new set up you have. Pretty impressive,” I said.
Eric smiled at me while he was getting drinks and then waived another woman over to take care of the bar. I wasn’t needed at the moment and did want to socialize a bit. Get my bearings and slow down my beating heart as I watched Taylor walk around talking to everyone.
Peggy was cleaning up tables and talking. I walked over to her.
She glanced up at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here, boyo.”
I took her aside. “How bad is it?”
She shook her head and glanced at Eric giving instructions to the girl. “Pretty bad. Don’t know what is happening but Pops did something or didn’t do something last year and if we don’t find out what is going on, they may lose the bar.”
I stepped back. “What?”
Peggy waggled her head. “I didn’t want to believe it either, but I’ve noticed out-of-towners in here gawking and looking around, and I know Pops did not put the bar up for sale.”
I caught sight of Eric walking back over to me.
“We’ll talk some more later.”
“I’ll be here.”
Eric smiled at me and continued where we left off. “I convinced Pops to go ahead and give the okay to build the whole refrigerated chiller down there. We have so little room up here and all we had downstairs was storage.”
He pointed over to a seat, and I sat down across from him. Taylor looked over and smiled at me. and I nodded to her. She lifted an eyebrow.
Eric continued, oblivious to the flirtation going on around him, “I told him we couldn’t even try new craft beers because the system we had currently really sucked, and we had an empty cellar, so we should make use of it.”
I grabbed his shoulder. “What a great idea!”
“Mr. Big Man Dalton Dobbins is impressed with what I did while he was gone,” Eric joked loudly.
The bar laughed. I don’t know what was going on, but it was felt good being able to talk back and forth with him. I never knew how much I had missed that camaraderie and friendship, the joking, the slaps on the back.
Basically, at D&E, I was the head honcho. I did everything from the general manager to wheeling and dealing. Negotiations, real estate, hiring, firing. Even plumbing if the need called for it. I got the bars up and running, hired a general manager, and I was on to the next one.
I had a decent secretary, sixty-five-year-old Mabel Andrews, sharp as a whip. She handled all my scheduling, prioritized the clients, and dealt with what I couldn’t at that moment. I didn’t know what I would do without her.
Now that Eric and I were going forward instead of backward, it surprised me that I hadn’t factored that into the equation of how I thought this day would go. What I had thought would happen was no communication whatsoever. I didn't expect anything from them. I was going to pay my respects to Pops, do my business, go to the will reading, and leave. Get on with my life. Or the half-life I was living. All work and no play did not make me very fun. I did social events for the networking but not from the joy of being around other people. Because the people I wanted to be around were far away from me.
Now, I was with my best friend and my Taylor. We continued for a few more hours. Everyone toasted Pops and gave him a great send off. As we closed down, I saw Eric talking with Taylor. She looked over at me, and they both walked over.
“Need your number in case we need to get in touch with you,” she said.
“What a great idea,” Eric said and pulled his out.
We all swapped numbers and a few minutes later, she left the bar.
“I let Taylor go home. Long day for her.” Eric looked around as I was putting the chairs up and the staff was clocking out. “Listen, if you have a few minutes, would you mind taking a look at the books?”
I finished putting the chair on the table and considered his question.
“I could use another set of eyes,” he said. “Pops’ handwriting is like chicken scratch, and I can’t make head or tails out of the accounting.”
I was about to tease him, but Eric beat me to it and cut me off with a laugh and a grin. “Yes, I did take accounting with you and got a better grade than you, I remember, but whatever system Pops used, I have no idea. I’ve talked with the accountant and he said everything is fine, but I don't know what I don’t know.”
We went back into the office. Paperwork was scattered everywhere.
“Oh, my God, Eric, is this your idea of organizing the office?”
On top of the desk was picture of us in our cap and gowns when we graduated. Comrades in arms. I picked it up and looked over at him. He glanced over at it as well.
“Those were some pretty awesome times,” he said.
I sat on the edge of the desk and gauged what I was going to say next. “You know, Eric. You’re right. Those were some pretty awesome times. Pops helped me out so much.”
Eric nodded.
“If it wasn't for him, I never would have gone to college.”
“What are you talking about?” Eric asked.
“Pops paid for my college. He helped me get my bachelors and masters.”
Eric plopped down in his office chair in amazement.
I got up and walked a little bit with Eric staring out me. It freaked me out.
“Pops paid, and I had to work two years at the bar to pay him back. Not free but at a low wage.”
Eric sat in the chair. “Are you joking? I never knew he did that.”
I shrugged. “I mean, I didn’t want to tell my best friend I had no money. Taking care of my mom while she was battling cancer my senior year of high school left no funds for school. She wanted so bad for me to go to school. More than anything, she wanted me to be able have the education that she didn't. All those years she worked with Pops here and both of us running under their feet, she wanted to make that happen for me. He swore to her he would do right and that I would make it up to him at a later date.”
Eric’s face dropped. “I didn't even know all that. I know, of course, about your mom. Pops always seemed to be helping others.”
“I couldn’t let anybody know that here I was Dalton Dobbins, kick ass bartender and fledgling entrepreneur from Asheville, North Carolina, and I had no funds and was eating Spaghetti-O’s out of the can. I wanted you to think well of me, too.”
He looked at me for a moment and smiled. “That was Pops for you.”
Then the grin turned wicked, and he pushed a whole stack of papers toward me. “Let me see the Dalton Dobbins’ magic at work because I've been looking at these statements for the last week. I went from working the bar to having him pass so quickly. I have no clue. Looking at them day and night. Well, when I can, as I’m also running the bar now, too.”
I glanced at the handful of papers. “Number one, you can’t be both the owner and running the bar without burning out. Things start to get confusing and you have a decision to make—be a bartender or an owner. Number two is we need to get these on QuickBooks or something to make it a lot easier. Either for you, if you need a loan, or if you sell the bar. Either way, you’re going to need to have investors look at the numbers and…”
Eric came back from his space out moment when I started talking about numbers. “What do you mean sell? This is my dad’s bar, his business, livelihood for the last fifty years. His legacy to Taylor and me…”
I waved my hands in the air. “Whoa, hold on. All I'm saying is that we need to have all the books together so if we decide, excuse me, if you decide that you would like to expand or if you have other ideas that you want to do, lenders are going to want to take a look at your books, so let’s make sure they’re in order. And by order, I mean in a way that people can understand.”
Eric stared blankly at the handwritten ledger and then back at me. “Do you have anything going on right now?”
I want to spend time with your sister. Having her underneath me in the next hours would be nice. Swallowing m
y tongue, I shook my head.
“Well, then let’s get to this!”
I finished looking over the books at about four o'clock in the morning. Just the last year. I sure as hell was not going to get into the last fifty years of Pops’ books because his chicken scratch was hurting my eyes. At the very least, we got through the last year and got them ready to go on QuickBooks.
“It’s just a double entry system that he was using. Having it online will make it easier, and I’ll come back again tomorrow and start putting the books on QuickBooks Online so that way you can access anywhere. If you go to a conference, out-of-town, sick, somebody can take a look at and help you.”
Eric raised his sleepy head from the pile of papers. “That was intense. How much do I…”
I waved my hands. “Hey, man, nothing. Nothing. This is just a small something I can help you with to get it in order. You know I’m here for a couple of weeks so there’s no reason I can’t give you a hand around here.”
“What are you here for?”
I glanced at my Rolex. “Just getting a new nightclub going and looking at properties. It’s getting kind of late, and I need to go back to my room and get some sleep. It’s been a long day.” Not quite a fib.
Eric smiled as he stood up and slapped me on the shoulder. “You're telling me. The longest day of my life and the realization that my dad isn’t going to be here anymore. It’s daunting.” He stopped and rubbed his eyes with his hands. “I’m just glad you’re here, man.”
“Yeah, me, too,” I replied, touched.
He grabbed his bike keys from the middle drawer of the office desk. “Do you need a lift? Better than calling for the ego-stoking limo or an Uber.”
I laughed. “Sure.”
He gave me a man hug. “Thanks, Dalton. I mean it.”
We headed outside, and he gave me a lift back to the hotel. Along the way, I wondered how long I actually could keep Taylor and me from Eric. Especially if we are working together. He dropped me off, and I headed upstairs to the penthouse.
The first thing I did was text Taylor from the hotel and remember her sweet lips. I’m sure I was still smiling as I fell asleep.