by Rachel Lacey
“Oh yeah?” Adam said, perking up. “What’s that?”
“I have a few questions that you two might be uniquely qualified to answer for me.”
An unusual sight greeted Josie when she made it back downstairs after feeding the kittens. Eve, Kaia, and Adam sat together at the end of the bar, deep in conversation. Well, it didn’t quite look like they were new best friends. It looked more like Eve was interviewing them without her camera crew—or Josie—around.
“Should my ears be ringing?” she asked as she slid behind the bar, noting the half-empty beers in front of Adam and Kaia.
Kaia’s face said “yes,” but Eve spoke first. “Your friends were just helping me with a few details in my market research.”
“Details?” Josie echoed.
“Yes.” Eve rose and walked back to the stool at the other end of the bar where she’d left her laptop, her body language—as usual—indicating she had no intention of elaborating.
And it hit Josie all over again how much trust she’d placed in this woman, how much control she’d given her. Right now, Eve was deciding what she was going to do with Swanson’s, without giving Josie even the slightest inkling of what she had in mind. What had she been thinking to get herself into this?
Eve caught her eye, one brow raised ever so slightly, as if she could hear every thought racing through Josie’s head. “Is there a problem?”
“No.” Yes. But it was too late for second thoughts. She’d signed a contract, and there was no backing out now. She had to trust that Eve would do what Josie hadn’t been able to—bring in new customers and save the bar. Luckily, a boisterous group of men entered the bar, distracting her from her spiraling thoughts. By the time she’d finished serving their beer, Eve was absorbed in whatever she was doing on her laptop.
Market research.
Josie made her way over to Kaia and Adam. “What did she want with you guys?”
Kaia shrugged. “She was asking about your friends, mostly.”
“My friends?” Josie asked. That was not even in the ballpark of anything she’d imagined Eve talking to them about. “What about you?”
“Like, how many people who come into the bar are your friends versus random customers,” Adam told her.
“Hm, she asked me that too,” Josie said.
“She also wanted to know how many of us are queer,” Kaia added.
“What?” If Josie had been holding anything, she would have dropped it. What in the world?
“I’m not sure if that had anything to do with the bar or just, you know, personal interest.” Kaia’s lips twisted in a smirk.
“Personal interest?” Josie snuck a look at Eve, who was still engrossed in her laptop, completely ignoring their conversation.
“In case you didn’t notice, she’s totally hot for you,” Adam clarified with a grin.
Josie’s cheeks heated. “I noticed.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Kaia asked.
“Nothing, probably. Yeah, I’m ridiculously attracted to her, but I’m not entirely sure I like her.” Although, that was a lie. She liked Eve. Maybe she shouldn’t, but she did. In fact, she had a feeling that icy exterior was armor, protecting her more tender parts. Or maybe that was wishful thinking on Josie’s part.
Over the next few hours, she kept herself busy, chatting with Adam and Kaia between customers. Eve had grown very quiet at her end of the bar, working on her laptop. Around ten, Josie made her way down to check on her, to see if she wanted a beer or even some water. Eve had one elbow propped on the bar, head in her hand, facing away from Josie.
“Hey,” Josie said, loud enough to be heard over the noise of the bar.
Eve jumped, looking up at her with bleary, unfocused eyes.
“Oh my God, were you asleep?” Josie asked, irrationally delighted by the sleep-drugged, disoriented version of Eve currently blinking at her, obviously trying to gather her wits.
“What?” Eve brushed at a flyaway strand of hair. “No.”
Josie rested her elbows on the bar, leaning toward her. “Yeah, pretty sure you were.”
Eve straightened on her stool, wincing as she stretched her back. “Might have dozed off for a moment.”
“You should go home,” Josie told her. “In fact, leave the kittens here tonight. The bar’s almost empty, and Adam can watch it for me while I feed them. I’ll probably close early.”
“Are you sure?” Eve asked.
She nodded. “Go get a good night’s sleep.”
Eve hesitated—surprising for a woman who’d spent the past week hassling Josie to find someone to take the kittens for her—before nodding. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Josie watched as she shut down her laptop, packed it into her briefcase, and stood.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Yep.”
And then Eve lingered for another moment, just staring at Josie, before she turned on her heel and walked out the door.
9
Eve breezed through Swanson’s front door at five o’clock on Thursday looking as poised and impenetrable as she had when Josie first met her a week ago. Maybe she’d needed the sleep even more than Josie realized. She was feeling the effects of a night on kitten duty herself, although after years of it, she didn’t really mind. She’d also become an expert at maximizing her sleep between feedings, something she didn’t think Eve had been nearly as successful at.
“Hi,” Josie said.
“Hello.” Eve settled herself on her usual stool and set up her laptop. She was dressed all in black today, pants and a matching blouse. “How are they?”
“Fine,” Josie told her. “You missed them, didn’t you?”
“Not even a little bit.” Eve powered on her laptop, keeping her eyes on the screen.
“They never crossed your mind,” Josie teased. “Certainly, they weren’t the first thing you asked about when you walked through my door.”
Eve huffed in annoyance. “Forget I asked.”
“Why can’t you just admit you like them?”
Eve gave her a harsh look before returning her attention to her laptop.
“They’re getting bigger,” Josie said.
“I noticed.”
“They’re going to outgrow that box soon. Also…I named them.” She dangled the bait, waiting for Eve to bite.
After a moment, she glanced up from her laptop. “And?”
“Our winning bidder is a Broadway aficionado. So we have Phantom the black kitten, Pippin the gray tabby, the gray-and-white kitten is Hamilton, and our little girl, the white one, is Blanche.”
Eve’s lips pursed, twisting slightly to one side, and then she smiled, a real smile that seemed to light up her whole face. “Blanche Dubois. I love A Streetcar Named Desire. Those are all great names, actually. Did you raise a lot of money?”
“About three hundred dollars. It should cover their first round of vaccines.”
“Good.”
“You’re late today,” Josie said, trying not to let on that she’d been watching the door for Eve’s arrival all afternoon.
“I went to the office to check in with some of my other clients and start typing up my marketing plan for you. I really only stopped by to go over the schedule for the next week with you and pick up the kittens.”
“Oh.” Josie tapped her fingers against the bar. “You’re finished observing me, then?”
Eve’s gaze dropped to Josie’s hands. “Yes.”
“So what’s next?”
“I’ll bring the camera crew with me tomorrow afternoon before you open, and we’ll shoot our meeting where I present my makeover plan for Swanson’s to you. You’ll remain open for business as usual through the weekend, and on Monday we’ll begin our reno work. We’ll shoot the makeover reveal on Thursday, and you’ll have your grand reopening on Friday.” As Eve rattled off this information, her gaze returned to the laptop in front of her.
“Wow, that’s…a lot. And so soon.�
� Josie had seen all these dates when she signed the contract, but it felt a lot more real now that she realized how quickly it was all going to happen. Eve would present her plan tomorrow. Josie’s palms began to sweat.
“That’s how the show works,” Eve said.
“And you can’t give me even the slightest idea of what you’re going to do?”
“Sorry.” Eve glanced up, and then she sighed. “But you have my word that everything I’ve done is with your best interest at heart, and Swanson’s.”
“Your idea of what’s best may be very different from mine.”
Eve’s expression cooled, lips drawing into a slight frown. “You asked for this, Josie. You begged for it, as I recall.”
“I did.” She blew out a breath. “And I’m so grateful to you for taking me on. I’m sorry for being so neurotic about it. I just…this bar means a lot to me, that’s all.”
“I know that,” Eve said. “You may find my ideas rather unexpected, at least at first, but I don’t think you’ll dislike them.”
“Okay.” Josie moved down to greet a couple who’d just taken seats at the bar. The next time she glanced in Eve’s direction, her seat was empty.
She’s gone upstairs to check on the kittens…the kittens she secretly cares about.
Josie grinned at the thought. A few minutes later, though, Eve was back…with the box of kittens. She set them on the bar as she packed up her laptop. Wow, she really had just stopped in to go over the schedule with Josie. And she was more than a little disappointed Eve was heading out already. Apparently, she’d gotten pretty used to her company over the last few days.
“Leaving so soon?”
Eve nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Josie. “It’ll be easier to finish typing up my report at home. The hair-and-makeup team will be here tomorrow at one to get you ready, and I’ll see you around two to shoot our segment.”
Josie swallowed. The big reveal. “See you then.”
Josie woke just past eight on Friday morning, still desperately tired after a late night in the bar, but too wired to sleep. She tossed and turned as her brain spun out of control, imagining all the potential scenarios that could go down later, from décor she hated to a rebranding of the bar that she wanted nothing to do with.
But, as Eve had so eloquently reminded her, she’d asked for this. Begged for it. And she would do her best to accept and be grateful for whatever Eve gave her. Eve was good at this, after all. The businesses she helped on Do Over almost always went on to achieve success…as long as their owners didn’t screw up after she’d left.
Giving up on sleep, Josie climbed out of bed and fixed herself a cup of coffee, which she brought with her to the rooftop patio. It was peaceful up here, especially at this hour. She found a chair that was relatively clean and sat, closing her eyes. She used to come up here all the time with her dad. The rooftop had only been open to customers on the weekend, so on weekday afternoons, she would sometimes bring her homework and sit in the sunshine.
Her dad would sit with her and read a book or help with her homework. Sometimes, they’d put their feet up on the railing and just talk. They’d shared so many great conversations. In fact, she’d been sitting right here when she came out to him. He’d sat in silence long enough for her to start to panic before he’d crushed her against him in a massive hug and told her he’d always love her, no matter what.
She swallowed past the tears that threatened at the memory, taking a hearty sip of her coffee. It was so unfair that he’d been taken from her so soon, that she’d lost both of her parents so young. Sometimes, life was just cruel.
“I’m doing this for you, Dad,” she whispered, looking around at the wasteland of discarded furniture around her, so different from the pristine rooftop in her memory. “To bring Swanson’s back to what it was when you were here.”
She kept that thought at the forefront of her mind as she got ready for her day. And she was still holding on to it when Eve arrived that afternoon with her camera crew in tow. She stood in the doorway, dressed in a pale pink silk shirt and white pants, looking so chic, so hot, Josie all but forgot how to speak.
“Ready?” Eve asked, setting a folder on the bar between them.
Josie glanced at it and then back at Eve. “Yeah, I…I guess.”
Eve’s gaze searched her face. “I see you’ve already sat with hair and makeup.”
Josie scoffed, trying to stifle the nervous laughter that threatened to bubble out of her. The combination of her lack of sleep, the camera crew currently assembling in the bar, the folder resting in front of her, and her attraction to Eve was getting to her. “Should I be offended by that observation?”
She expected Eve to have little patience for her fragile ego, to come back with a curt response, but to her surprise, Eve very pointedly dropped her gaze to Josie’s black tee and lilac pants before returning to her face. “Not at all. You always look good. I merely meant that you’re obviously already wearing camera-ready makeup.”
“Oh.”
Eve’s blouse strained slightly over her breasts, revealing enough cleavage to completely scramble Josie’s brain. So much so that it took her entirely too long to realize she was staring. She yanked her gaze back to Eve’s face, but the intensity in her eyes made it clear she’d seen Josie staring…and she liked it.
“You look good too,” Josie said, sounding slightly breathless. They were flirting, definitely flirting, and her heart was about to beat its way out of her chest.
“I…” Eve looked down at her hands, which were clenched around the edges of the folder. She drew in a deep breath, uncharacteristically flustered.
“Where are the kittens?” Josie blurted.
“At the office with my intern.”
“Oh.” Josie gulped as the camera crew moved in, adjusting their positions and calling out instructions.
Eve opened her mouth, then seemed to falter, glancing down at the folder again and back at Josie. “I need to speak to you for a minute in private.”
“What?” Josie’s head was starting to spin. What was happening? Was Eve about to throw caution to the wind and kiss her? Of all possible moments, right now all Josie wanted was to find out what she’d planned for Swanson’s.
“We’ll be right back,” Eve called to her crew as she led Josie down the hall to her office. Once they were both inside, Eve shut the door, turning to face Josie. “I asked my producer to let me give you a heads-up about this, and she…well, she wants your reaction on camera, but I can’t do it. I have to follow my conscience. Which means…” She drifted off, giving Josie a somewhat desperate look.
“What?” Why did her voice sound so squeaky? What was Eve trying to say? Josie had never seen her look so rattled, and it was unnerving.
Eve pressed a hand to her brow, pacing from one end of the office to the other. “I think I need to start at the beginning.”
Josie gulped, pulse skyrocketing from the situation and her proximity to Eve. “You’re starting to freak me out.”
Eve turned to face her, calm veneer back in place. “Okay, to make a long story short, my research showed something you probably already know. You’ve lost the majority of your customers to several newer, trendier bars that have opened in the neighborhood, most notably the gastropub down the street.”
“Yes,” Josie confirmed. “I suspected as much.”
“Swanson’s has become somewhat of a dinosaur. Your aesthetic is dated, you’re one of the only bars in the area that doesn’t also serve food, and you’re suffering for it.”
Josie winced. It hurt to hear, but she’d expected this. So why was Eve breaking protocol to tell it to her in private? “Okay.”
“I also noticed something else,” Eve said, and the hesitance in her eyes made it clear she was about to answer Josie’s question. “And it has to do with your identity, so I’m breaking the rules here and giving you the chance to tell me to fuck off if you feel like I’ve overstepped.”
“Okay.” Josie gripped t
he back of the chair in front of her. What in the world…
“New York City has one of the most prominent LGBT communities in the world,” Eve said, and the bottom dropped out of Josie’s stomach. “On any given night, approximately half of your customers belong to that community, largely because you’ve created such an inclusive space here.”
“Eve…” Josie was already shaking her head. How dare she…
“Let me finish,” Eve interrupted. “There isn’t a gay bar within a ten-block radius. You have a unique opportunity to reposition yourself, to cater to a different demographic, a demographic you’re already serving on a smaller scale. This is your niche, Josie. I can make you shine.”
“No,” she gasped, tears swimming across her vision. A gay bar? It was too much. She straightened, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I can’t say no, can I? Because I signed your stupid contract. I gave you permission to do this to me, to do anything you want.”
Eve’s chin went up, brown eyes flashing. “I just told you I was giving you the chance to say no. I’ve come up with a detailed plan for renaming, remodeling, and rebranding the bar. We can proceed with my plans, minus the gay-bar aspect, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s not what my dad would have wanted.”
“Oh.” Some of the fight went out of Eve’s stance. “I’m sorry he wasn’t supportive.”
“No, he was,” Josie said. “He was totally supportive.”
Eve’s eyebrows lifted. “Then I don’t understand the problem.”
“His parents—my grandparents—opened Swanson’s forty years ago. This is their legacy. Swanson’s is named after them, Eve. To change that, and to make it a gay bar? It just…it feels like you’re undoing everything they worked so hard for.”
“To be frank, you need to make drastic changes if you want to stay in business,” Eve said, tone edged in steel.
Josie looked down at her desk, eyes blurring. “I guess I just wanted you to give me a pretty makeover and some business tips, and everything would go back to normal.”