by Amber Malloy
Moe chuckled. “Something like that. We weren’t anything serious—or at least not on my end.”
“Where you laid your hat was your home?” Hawk quoted The Temptations’ Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.
“How did you know that song was made for me?” They laughed. Moe’s cat-daddy existence chipped away at the irritation that had jump-started his mood moments ago. The blues singer always had that effect on him, and that’s why it had hurt when he’d found out about Lexi. Evidently, they weren’t as close as he’d believed.
“After the gold-digging monster popped up pregnant, I wasn’t at the top of my game anymore, but I was still riding a good wave. Outside of music, not too many things got my attention. Anyway, she ended up using the kid for an ATM, but after a while, I finally got tired of her yoyo antics. Lexi’s the reason I settled down and bought the bar—to gain full custody, I needed the appearance of a stable household.”
“Hmmm, and here I thought you were a playboy for life.” A prodigy at a young age, Moe had played with the best of them. His career spanned the late sixties to the eighties, with the occasional resurgence. Hawk had assumed the lull in his career was due to his music category and not a secret daughter.
“For a long, long time I was… But then I started to hear things.”
“What are we talking about here? Abuse?” Hawk reached over and grabbed a handful of stale bread.
“More neglectful than anything. I tried to get custody after I found out the kid was pretty much taking care of herself, but her mom didn’t want those checks to stop.”
“A story for the ages.” Hawk threw his crumbs toward the squirrels. Since the fuzzy rats were far more entertaining than the feathered swimmers, he permitted them a handout.
“Yeah, I didn’t invent that shit.” Moe grabbed his cane that he’d rested against the bench and stood up. “She sent Lexi off to some genius school the kid didn’t even want to go to—and the rest is history.” He hobbled closer to the pond’s edge and dumped the rest of the bread into the water. “Look… I don’t want to talk ill of the dead, but Satan got himself a new bride when that woman kicked the bucket.”
As Hawk laughed at his macabre joke, Moe pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at his forehead. The humidity was probably doing a number on the old man’s blood pressure. The oppressive air was thick enough for a good backstroke.
“Lexi is independent, unbelievably smart and most of all private. My career always felt like it was embarrassing to her. Anyway, I gave the kid some space. I guess I didn’t want to harsh her mellow?”
“Nobody says that. Who says that?” Hawk rolled his eyes at Moe’s hippie-dippy slang.
“There’s more, but I’m tired and hot—”
Hawk stood to leave. “No prob, we’ll rain check the rest of that story and I’ll walk you home.” It was still early. After he dropped Moe off, he would check out what his boys were up to for the night. Too many things had changed in a short amount of time, and he found himself miles away from clean ice to glide on.
“Be nice to her. Lexington is a lot like glass—easy to break but can still kill you.”
“What are you talking about? I’m nice to everyone.” Hawk snorted. He wasn’t the one who had a whole freaking kid and hadn’t told anybody.
“Uh-huh.” Moe took off at a super-speedy negative five miles per hour clip across the park. “However nice you think you are, ratchet it up by ten, then we’ll at least have a jumping off point.”
“Fine, but if you don’t limp faster, old man, it’ll take me until next week to work on being that insincere mofo you want me to be.”
* * * *
The day had gone by in one big blur. A server on the afternoon shift had called off, and one of Simone’s kids had come down with symptoms that had eerily resembled the bubonic plague. After she’d downed several cups of coffee, Lexi had managed to pump enough gas in her tank to close the bar.
“Goodnight, boss.”
She waved at one of the last kitchen servers to leave before she knelt down and scrounged around for wood polish.
As she grabbed the towel and clean can from underneath the counter, her phone went crazy above her head. Bells chimed, which shouldn’t have been possible since she had put it on silent hours ago.
A knot of dread yanked inside her gut.
Lexi straightened and stared at the face of her cell and 00:00:00 ran across her screen. Josh had already taken pretty much everything—her money, intellectual property—and if he had his way, her entire business. What’s left? Snatching the phone off the back counter, she pressed her thumb onto the home button.
Assaulted by naked images of herself, a suffocating burn of acid inched its way into her throat.
While her breasts swung to a melodic beat in the video, Lexi’s eyelids fluttered closed. It was a perfect HD shot of her naked body. Without a shadow of a doubt Lexi knew she would be the one and only star in this porno. Text froze in front of her underwhelmed expression.
Want to see the rest?
A sonic boom seemed to radiate inside her head. On the surface, the video barely computed. Intense pain surged through her system, causing a sensory overload. Lexi gripped the phone. Conflicted by the wealth of emotions that raged inside of her, she sank to the floor.
Swiping at the hot tears that streamed down her cheeks, she choked back a sob. She hated crying, but even she had her limits. Josh wanted her share of the firm. The video violated the morality clause in the company’s contract. Of course, he would never admit that the other star in the film was him.
After five minutes, she would get up. No wallowing allowed. Unfortunately, her legs didn’t get the memo, and her whole body went jellyfish. No longer able to outrun the weight of the world, she was paralyzed by her circumstances and stayed planted on the bar-room floor.
“Hey, it’s Hawk. I’m just going to take a load off next to you for a minute,” he said softly.
Lexi didn’t know where he’d come from or how long he’d been there, since she couldn’t see past the wealth of tears that streamed down her face. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered. She could pick the big guy’s scent out of a dark room full of people—sandalwood, musk and something sweet she couldn’t identify. The man smelled deliciously different every time she encountered him, which she super wished wasn’t at this devastating moment.
“I’m not vain enough to think the little disagreement we had earlier has sent someone as perfect as you into a soppy puddle on a barroom floor—”
Against her will, she chuckled at his assessment of the situation. She would have to be half out of her mind to sit on the place patrons pretty much considered their own personal toilet.
Sniffling, she tried to use the back of her hand to wipe her nose, but he stopped her.
“Hold on a sec. It looks like you should have been playing ball alongside Knox and Andre.” He gently took her hand and covered it with a cloth napkin.
When did I start bleeding?
“Your father mentioned you’re into tech stuff. I don’t know how good you are, but I think this phone is done for.” He placed her shattered cell onto her lap.
The instant reminder of her shitshow of a life had caused another wave of tears. Her heart slammed hard into her chest, shattering into a million pieces. Hawk gathered her close with his strong arms and held her.
A perfect stranger comforted her better than the man she had spent the last ten years of her life with. That realization made her sob even harder.
Chapter Five
After he’d won several rounds of pool at Murphy’s Pub, Hawk called it a night. He usually spent his weekends at Moe’s, but unforeseen forces of the type-A variety had put a damper on those plans. He stepped out of the flashy sports bar that had steadily filled up with patrons.
“Hey, Hawk.” Penny Lane—he’d almost called her by the wrong name—sucked on her vape. The guys in the bar had coined her by the famous groupie moniker. It was dickish of them, to say the l
east, but she never knew when to call it a night. She blew out a stream of smoke. “Checking out early?”
He offered her a soft smile. “Yeah, it’s getting kind of full in there.”
“Need some company?” She pushed off the side of the bar to play with the collar of his jean shirt.
“No, I’m good. Do you need a cab?”
Her blue eyes didn’t sparkle in mirth. Instead, they seemed dull.
“For a big, bad dude, you’ve always been the sweetest. No, I’ll wait and see if the night takes a turn for the better.”
“Sure.” Hawk gave her a brotherly pat on the shoulder before he stepped away. “Take care of yourself.” He never wanted to be the last guy hanging around way past closing time. Hawk seriously hoped that wasn’t him in any aspect of his life—but mainly his career.
A little foggy in the head from the annoying techno music that Murphy’s played all night made him appreciate the sweet music from Moe’s. The blues bar vibe had always been easy for him to settle into. His regulars enjoyed reliving the good old days—or even the music nerds who swarmed the place on weekends. Total respect from both sides had been the glue that held their rag-tag little gang together. That’s why he’d always hung out at Moe’s, but since everything in his life was rolling toward change, this had become one more thing for him to reconsider.
Used to a daily routine, Hawk would take the heavy crap out of his pockets and leave it under the bar. That’s how he’d found himself heading back to Moe’s, hoping Simone hadn’t left for the night. Sleeping on the park bench held zero appeal for him.
Hawk had tried to call the bar but got no answer. Thankfully, when he arrived, the door wasn’t locked.
Before he walked in the dark room, a bone-chilling wail had forced a momentary stutter in his step. Frightened into motion, he headed straight for the source.
He had moved passed the chairs that were already stacked on the tables toward a soft whimper. Taking tentative steps, he peered over the mahogany wood of the bar. Huddled on the floor in a pitiful ball was the woman who had been on his mind all day—and not in a good way.
“Lexi?” he called her name. Afraid she was in shock, he stepped around the bar and knelt close. “Hey, Lex.” She was too far gone in pain and her shoulders shook while the tears streamed down her angelic face.
For the briefest of moments, he managed to snap her out of her misery, but that ended the minute he stupidly placed her phone onto her lap. Unprepared for this fresh onslaught of tears, Hawk wrapped his arms around her dainty frame, pulling her close. Not well equipped to deal with this, he did the first thing that came to mind and talked.
“This is new territory for me. Usually I’m to blame if tears are falling or tires are being slashed, so allow me to freeball it here. I’ll blabber about myself until you feel better and want to kick me out.” Thinking that would receive some sort of response, he didn’t expect more crying. “I’m not big on change, and in a short amount of time a lot has…changed. Those people in the picture are my family—and well, Moe was supposed to be in it but he was sick at the time—”
Word vomit tumbled out of his mouth. He didn’t know where it came from, but he continued to blather in hopes she would stop crying. Hawk smashed grown men’s heads for a living but holding this broken princess in his arms made him feel helpless.
“Next year will be up in the air for me. While everyone’s life is progressing at a natural pace, mine is at a standstill. Then there’s this place… A few years back, Moe’s became my home away from home.”
At some point the tears had dried up but she remained quietly tucked against his side. Here and there he heard her take little puffs of breath. From the way she’d squared off against him earlier, he didn’t get the impression she was easily reduced to tears. Whatever had knocked her down must have been one hell of a doozy.
“The team I was on back then crapped out of the playoffs in the first rounds, and who knows where Knox was back then. It was a fluke that I stumbled into this place. Perfect food, great music and no one recognized me—”
“Hockey and blues don’t mix.” Lexi sniffed after repeating her words from earlier.
Surprised she was even listening, he smiled.
“Apparently, but I kept coming back anyway. Moe must have figured since I was around so much, he might as well put me to work. I’ve been playing bartender in the off seasons. It helps keeps my mind busy. Plus, I love this place.”
She pulled away from him and sat up, and he instantly missed her warmth. “The renovations became one more thing to catch me off guard. I took it out on you, and I apologize for that.” He tilted his head in her direction, which granted him a good whiff of her hair. Apricots, peaches and sunshine filled his nose. Hawk cleared his throat, not wanting to skeeve her out. She had already been through enough.
“So I propose we start over. My name is Hawthorne Maze, and I promise not to be a dick to you anymore.” He put out his hand for her to take.
After a moment, she put her soft palm into his. “My name is Lexington Waters, and I promise not to let you be a dick to me anymore.”
He shook her dainty hand with a chuckle.
Chapter Six
Moe’s was packed to the gills. Word about the teen performers had spread. The afternoon rush had lingered well after the three-p.m. cool-down period. Lexi enjoyed the crush of people, but the servers needed a break.
Everyone’s favorite little neo-soul singer took the stage to rapt applause as she grabbed the mic and belted out Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit. A tiny girl dressed in baggy clothes playing an upright bass held everyone’s attention in the bar.
“No more TV, pretty lady?”
Lexi cleared the table and replaced Al’s drink with a fresh one. Moe’s regulars usually hung out in the game room until the crowd thinned out.
“Do you want to watch the news, Big Al?” Lexi searched for the remote. The servers never put the stupid thing back in the holder.
“Naw.” He shook his head. “Curious is all. You were glued to it when you got here.”
Not too long after she’d had her off-the-rails meltdown, Lexi had officially given up. The one thing Josh had wanted and didn’t get was her shares in the company. Lexi owned fifty percent of SugarTech. The rest of the stock was split between Josh and the board. Even if the company’s bylaws allowed for her dismissal, they couldn’t do anything without her vote. Josh obviously wanted to change that and wasn’t above blackmail to make it happen.
“That stuff can rot your brain.” Lexi gathered trash off a freshly vacated table and placed it on her tray. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
SugarTech’s initial boom had allowed her to send Moe money once a month. Thankfully, he had lived off his music residuals and ended up saving the cash. After her divorce, Lexi didn’t have a dime to her name. Her dad’s stash had pretty much saved her, financially speaking. She’d covered the renovation cost with his rainy-day fund.
As Lexi walked into the main hall, the neo-soul singer strummed her bass. The whole bar was under this kid’s musical spell. At least one good thing had come out of the implosion of her life. Lexi traded her tray to a passing server and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Hawk’s championship picture that had come to life.
“Wow, the pretty people.” The front cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Edition turned in her direction. Lexi didn’t realize she’d spoken out loud.
“Says Moe’s beautiful daughter. Hi, I’m Remy.” The cinnamon-colored beauty waved. “I’m the wife of the big man’s best friend.”
Lexi stood dazzled by the group. They all seemed familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on why. In the past, she’d been too busy working to notice much more than coding. Head-in-the-sand syndrome is what Josh had called it. Obviously, it had worked in his favor.
“Hey, I’m Knox.” A beautiful White guy with sparkling blue eyes pushed out of the swinging kitchen door, holding a tray of chicken wings in his hand. “So
rry about raiding your kitchen, but Peaches is a little backed up and Andre gets pushy without his protein.” He took one of the baskets off the tray and slid it across the bar to a toffee-skinned, fine-ass man.
“Mmm-m, Peaches’ wings are the best. Thank God you kept my girl back there.” Andre shook the drumette toward the kitchen door. “Otherwise, I would have to ditch this place.” He rolled up the sleeves of his long-sleeved, designer shirt. “Nice reno by the way. I bet there was a ton of nineties dirt and smoke they had to scrape off the walls before they got started.”
“Watch your mouth!” Hawk barked. His bushy brows knitted together in one big, angry caterpillar line, while Andre smacked obnoxiously on his food.
“The whining Dirt McGirt must have done when he saw that you tore down his pig pen.”
“Ignore my husband. He gets crazy hangry in the afternoon and Hawk is an easy target.” An ebony version of Jessica Rabbit extended her multi-colored nails in her direction. “Lashonda.”
As Lexi took the woman’s Crayola-styled hand, she felt small in the presence of this gang of cool kids. Usually her mind was too busy trying to figure out products that would help monitor insulin, heart and blood pressure levels all at the same time. Even a makeup app that would put cosmetologists and the color-blind ignorant together had materialized in the limited-girl’s mind. Her biggest hit had been the program that matched clothing stylists with everyday people and their lackluster closets. However, her unwarranted dismissal from her own company and board, allowed strange insecurities to seep into her psyche and whisper hateful words of failure in her ear.
“This pixie cut.” Lashonda reached out and touched the tip of one of her short waves. “It’s updated Betty Boop à la Toni Braxton…amazing. Remy?”
“Love it.”
“Uh, I just…” Not used to such sweet, unsolicited compliments, she didn’t know if she could trust them or not. “Cut it. First time I ever went this short…” Thrown by Remy’s dazzling smile, Lexi petered off.