by Rachel Lacey
Eve nodded, leaning over to put her notes away. Across from her, Josie slumped against the bar, a silly grin on her face. “That was exhausting.”
“Well, we aren’t finished yet,” Eve told her.
“We aren’t?”
Eve shook her head, pulling a folder out of her briefcase. “I have some details to go over with you that didn’t need to be included in the taped segment.”
“Oh,” Josie said, resting her elbows against the bar. “Okay.”
“We’ve placed job listings for the new staff you’ll need to hire, and I’d like you to help me interview people later this week. I’ve got details here for you, and as soon as we’ve narrowed down the candidates, I’ll start setting up interviews.”
“Staff. Right.” Josie swallowed as she looked down at the paper Eve had slid toward her.
“Have you talked to Jason to see if he’d like to stay on at Dragonfly?”
Josie sighed. “Yes, and he doesn’t, so we’ll need to start from scratch with the bartending staff.”
“All right.” Eve jotted this down. “We’ll cover costs for the first two weeks to help get you on your feet, but I’d recommend that you use your time off this week to get that loan I mentioned.”
Josie nodded, her smile gone fragile.
“Remember, you have to spend money to earn it, okay?” Eve said. “We’re also advertising on Facebook and other local media outlets to generate interest in your relaunch on Friday, and we’ll continue to advertise through the end of the month to help you find your new audience.”
“Advertising,” Josie repeated, a wild look in her eye. “Eve, I don’t know how to do any of this. Should I have been advertising the bar these last few years? I don’t think my dad was doing that, but maybe he was.”
“I’ve written up a detailed marketing plan for you, and we’re going to go through it right now,” Eve told her. “I’ll be here to teach you everything you need to know, and remember, you can still call me after your relaunch. I work with all my clients for as long as they need me, and my services will still be free under our existing contract for two weeks after your relaunch. I want you to succeed, and I’m going to make sure you’ve got all the tools you need, okay?”
“Okay,” Josie said, looking a lot calmer.
Eve spent the next few hours going over every detail of the marketing plan with Josie and laying out a checklist of things Josie should be working on this week while the bar was closed. By the time they’d finished, the film crew had packed up and left, and the renovation team had arrived. All around Eve and Josie, plastic was being rolled out.
“You have to stop giving out so many free drinks,” Eve told her as they went over the budget.
Josie shook her head, turquoise curls bouncing. “I don’t feel right taking money from my friends.”
“This is a business, and you have to start running it like one.”
“But—”
“Do you pay when you buy something in Kaia’s store?” Eve countered.
“Well, she doesn’t own it. She just works there, so if I don’t pay…”
“She has to cover the cost for you, just like you do when you give her and Adam free drinks.”
Josie frowned. “I don’t want their money. I’m just happy to have their support.”
“They’re successful adults with full-time jobs. Take their money.”
Josie slumped in her seat. “I’ll think about it.”
“Do that,” Eve told her. “One last thing. I’ve noticed that you have a good relationship with several of the neighboring restaurants and often get takeout for yourself and your friends to eat here in the bar.”
“Yeah,” Josie said, brow wrinkling in confusion.
“As I mentioned once before, it was a significant disadvantage that Swanson’s didn’t serve food. So I propose that you approach your neighbors about creating an official arrangement. You would keep a list of approved restaurants’ takeout menus here in the bar that your customers can order from and have delivered to enjoy while they’re here. In return, you ask the restaurants to promote the deal on their end, maybe offer a discount if they send a customer your way.”
Josie pursed her lips, tapping her fingertips against the bar. “Yeah, you know what? I love that idea.”
“Perfect,” Eve said. “You can get it set up this week before the relaunch.”
“Okay.”
“And also, get your cocktail menu ready. I want at least one signature drink on there, but I’ll leave the particulars to you, as that’s more your area of expertise than mine. If you can get it to me by Thursday morning, I’ll have drink menus printed for the opening on Friday.”
“Got it.” Josie looked around at the crew already disassembling the bar. “Wow, this is all really happening, isn’t it?”
“It sure is.” Eve stood, resisting the urge to grimace at the pain in her back, not wanting to revisit her conversation with Josie on the roof the other night. “Get anything you want out of the bar now. I’ll have my team put everything else in storage during renovations.”
Josie nodded. She brought a crate out from the back room and began putting various liquor bottles inside it. “For creating signature drinks, not because I’m planning to go on a bender,” she explained.
Eve nodded before picking up her briefcase. She went down the hall to Josie’s office to keep herself out of the way while the crew worked. Today would mostly involve demolition. Swanson’s old tables and chairs were already gone, and now the team was starting to tear down the bar itself. Josie poked her head in a few minutes later with what looked like half of Swanson’s liquor supply in her arms before heading upstairs to her apartment.
Eve spent the rest of the day working quietly in Josie’s office. When five o’clock rolled around and the crew headed out, she hesitated. Part of her wanted to go upstairs and check in with Josie. In fact, every part of her wanted to walk up those stairs. Which was exactly why she wasn’t going to.
Because she didn’t have any more business to cover with Josie today. She didn’t even need to get the kittens, since Josie had offered to watch them for the week. Eve was free to go home, and that was exactly what she planned to do. She’d had precious little free time since pulling those kittens out of the trash a week and a half ago, and she was going to enjoy the hell out of a night to herself.
So she packed up and went out through the front door, locking it behind her. She rode the subway home, picking up a sandwich from the deli down the street on her way. In her apartment, she poured herself a glass of wine, put on some relaxing music, and settled on the couch to eat her dinner. Her mind kept calculating feeding schedules, wondering why the alarm on her phone hadn’t gone off yet. But tonight, there were no kittens to feed, and the alarm wouldn’t be going off until it was time to get up for work in the morning.
When she’d finished eating, she turned on her Kindle. She’d been trying to find time to finish reading this book for weeks. And if she caught her eyes wandering to the spot beside the couch where the box of kittens usually sat, it was only because she was a creature of habit. They had consumed so much of her life over the last ten days. It was only natural she’d feel somewhat off-balance tonight without them.
After successfully finishing her book, she did a few stretching exercises for her back. Then she poured herself a second glass of wine and went down the hall to take a bath. As she relaxed into the hot, scented water, her thoughts drifted to Josie. What was she doing on her night off? Was she feeding the kittens right now? Working on a signature drink for the bar? Taking advantage of the opportunity to go out with friends? A date, even?
Alone in her bathroom, Eve allowed herself to remember the heat of their kiss, the electric thrill of Josie’s fingers beneath her shirt, the way Josie’s tongue had painted an erotic landscape on her neck. Where else could she use that talented tongue? A warm ache spread between Eve’s thighs.
This was a problem. She didn’t make a habit of fantasizing ab
out her clients, but her attraction to Josie had been there from the moment they met, long before she’d agreed to work with her, and now that they’d kissed…
It was almost inevitable that they’d wind up in bed together after filming wrapped. She could only hope it would be enough to burn out the flames simmering between them, because Eve never allowed herself more than one night, not anymore. Even one night with Josie might be more than her heart could handle.
She cleansed the thought from her mind, soaking in her scented bath until the water had cooled. Then she got out and wrapped herself in a robe, noticing it was only a few minutes past eight. What was she going to do with the rest of her evening?
She opened her laptop, debating whether to work for another hour or two, but there wasn’t anything pressing waiting for her, and she’d vowed to enjoy this night off, after all. Self-care and all that. She checked her personal email and the social media accounts she never used, and then—refusing to let herself consider why—she opened YouTube.
Josie had uploaded three new videos since the night Eve first discovered her page. All three of them featured the theater kittens. The most recent video had been posted about an hour ago. She clicked Play. There was Josie, in the same outfit she’d worn for her Do Over segment that morning, a shimmery purple top and black jeans. She smiled for the camera, revealing her dimples, and Eve was so screwed where she was concerned. So fucking screwed.
“Hi guys! I wanted to give you an update on our theater kittens. Look how big they’re getting.” Josie held up Phantom, squirming and mewling loudly in her hands. “They’re staying with me for the week, and I set them up in a playpen so they’d have more room to move around.”
Josie turned the camera, showing the kittens in a clear-sided enclosure. They were crawling all over the place. Holy shit. They couldn’t have changed that much since Eve left them that morning, which meant she simply hadn’t been giving them the opportunity to move around like that. Her jaw clenched. They were better off with Josie. Eve had known this, had insisted on it from the start. Now, she had visual confirmation.
She closed her laptop and sat there for a long minute, disconcerted by the empty feeling in her chest. Once Dragonfly opened and Josie was running a fully staffed bar, she should be able to keep them. There was no reason for them to come back to Eve’s apartment. And there was no reason for her to feel disappointed about this. No reason at all.
Josie paced her apartment on Tuesday morning, desperately wanting to see what was happening downstairs but knowing she wasn’t supposed to interfere. Still, it was her bar, so maybe she should quit second-guessing herself and walk down there like she owned the place. No doubt, it was what Eve would do.
So she followed the sounds of power tools and the scent of fresh paint down the stairs. She found Eve seated at the desk in Josie’s office, working on her laptop. “Morning.”
Eve looked up, an almost-smile on her lips. “Couldn’t stay away, hm?”
“Nope.”
“Well, you’re welcome to have a look, but there’s really nothing to see yet.”
“Thanks.” Josie went down the hall and peered into the bar. The floor was covered with tarps, and several men on ladders were painting the walls with white primer. The area behind the counter had been stripped to its original exposed brick, which, as she’d seen on Eve’s mockups, would remain visible in the new bar.
It would be an adjustment to get used to something other than Swanson’s rich earth tones and heavy wood, but already the space felt lighter and brighter. She’d reserve judgment until she’d seen the finished product, but she was almost certain she was going to like it. She went down the hall to her office. “How are you surviving in here with all those paint fumes?”
Eve’s nose wrinkled. “Well, to be honest, I was about to do some shopping to escape it.”
“Okay.” Josie stepped back into the hall, irrationally disappointed Eve was leaving, even though she could hardly blame her. The fumes had to be giving her a headache.
“I have an appointment at a gallery uptown to pick out some prints for the walls.” Eve closed her laptop, glancing at Josie. “Would you like to come with me?”
Her stomach gave a funny swoop. “Yeah, I’d love to.”
“All right.” Eve stood, reaching for her purse.
“I should feed the kittens before I head out. Want to help?”
“Sure.” Eve followed her to the stairs, heels clicking against the hardwood floors, a sound Josie would forever associate with her. Today, she wore a gray blouse with black slacks and matching strappy heels.
Josie was developing a serious fetish for business attire, or maybe it was just the woman wearing it. She led the way into her apartment. “Wait until you see their new setup.”
“Oh?” Eve walked to the playpen, staring down at the kittens, and Josie watched her visibly soften at the sight of them, a warmth gleaming in her brown eyes that hadn’t been there before. Currently, they were in a pile against their stuffed animal “mother,” fast asleep.
“Did you miss them?” Josie asked as she went into the kitchen to start preparing bottles.
“Not nearly as much as I enjoyed a full night of uninterrupted sleep.”
It wasn’t the flat “no” Josie had expected, and she looked at Eve in surprise. “Nothing like a good night’s sleep.”
“Mm.” Eve joined her in the kitchen, prepping a bottle with practiced ease. “I didn’t know they could move around so much.”
“Amazing, isn’t it?” She looked over at the pile of sleeping kittens as realization dawned. “Wait, did you watch them on YouTube?”
Eve’s eyes widened slightly, as if she hadn’t intended to admit this fact, and Josie’s heart absolutely melted. “I was curious to see how they were doing,” Eve admitted.
“They were really active last night when I recorded them.”
Eve walked to the playpen and picked up Hamilton.
Josie lifted Phantom, gently waking him for his meal. “They grow up fast. In another month, they’ll be running all over the place.”
“It’s good that they have someone knowledgeable taking care of them now.”
There she went again, downplaying her role in their lives. “You nursed them through the most critical week of their lives. Not everyone would have done that for them.”
“Well, I couldn’t let them die.” Eve stroked Hamilton’s gray-and-white fur.
“You’d be surprised how many people would have taken them to the shelter, even knowing what you knew.”
Eve looked over at her, something heavy in her expression, before she stood to put Hamilton back in the playpen. She went to the kitchen for a fresh bottle and picked up Blanche. Josie replaced Phantom with Pippin, and together, they finished up their bottle-feeding session. Once the kittens were settled, they went to the kitchen to clean up and wash their hands.
“So, prints for the walls?” Josie asked.
Eve nodded. “The network has a decorator who’s handling most of the décor, but I know the guy who owns this gallery. I told him what we’re looking for, and he’s going to put together a selection of photographs to choose from.”
“Cool.” Josie felt a flutter of excitement at being involved in the process, as well as the chance to go shopping with Eve.
“Ready?”
Josie nodded, grabbing her purse and leading the way to the door. They went out the back, walking down the street together toward the subway. As she watched the breeze ruffle Eve’s hair and the confident way she navigated the street, it hit her that she’d never left the bar with Eve before. How was that possible?
Well, mostly it was possible because Josie herself had rarely left the bar over these last few months. She and Eve swiped their MetroCards and descended the steps to the platform, boarding a train to take them to the Upper West Side.
“I have bartender interviews scheduled tomorrow afternoon,” Eve told her as they stood together in the crowded car, holding on to the silver p
ole between them for balance. “I’d like you to sit in.”
“I might have fought you if you tried to keep me out,” Josie told her with a smile. The train slowed abruptly, and her shoulder bumped into Eve’s. Their eyes locked, and Josie felt it in the pit of her stomach. It had been so long since she’d been this attracted to anyone. Honestly, she’d struggled lately to form any kind of lasting connection with a woman and had almost given up on feeling anything like…this.
They stood in silence for the rest of the ride, occasionally bumping into each other as the train lurched beneath their feet. Eve made no effort to move away, and neither did Josie.
“This is our stop,” Eve announced, and together, they stepped through the doors and climbed the steps to the street above. They came out on West Ninety-sixth Street, and Eve led them briskly down the sidewalk, eventually stopping in front of a sleek building that reminded Josie of the one where Eve worked.
She held the front door open for Josie, following her inside. They stood in a white-walled room full of photographs, many of them shots of Manhattan. At the tinkling of the bell, an older man with dark brown skin and a neatly groomed beard walked out to greet them.
“Eve,” he exclaimed warmly, leaning in to air-kiss her cheeks.
“Michael,” she responded with a smile before gesturing to Josie. “This is my client, Josie Swanson. Josie, this is Michael Danvers.”
“Hi,” Josie said, extending her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Michael said, giving her hand a firm shake. “Eve and I go way back, and I’m thrilled for the chance to find some prints for your bar.”
“Are these your photos?” Josie asked, glancing around the studio.
“I’ve taken some of them, but I also work with several other local photographers. Come on back.” He gestured for them to follow him down the hall to a small room. “Can I offer you ladies anything to drink?”
“No, thank you,” Eve told him.
“I’m fine,” Josie said.
“All right, then.” He walked to a laptop on the desk and tapped it to life. Immediately, a black-and-white photo of a dragonfly filled the TV screen mounted to the wall above. “I’ve put together a gallery of images I think might suit what you’re looking for. Once you’ve decided which—if any—you’re interested in, we can discuss size and framing.”