by Anna Lewis
She had confronted him, only to have him up and leave. She had been left with the cost of running a business, as well as the labor, and no extra help aside from the few people that she had on staff. Panicked and feeling like her business was going under, Charlie had phoned the only person she could think of—Janice.
Janice had recently finished her Master’s degree and was having a hard time getting a job, so when her sister had called, it had not taken much thought. Her sister needed her help and she wasn’t about to leave her stranded and alone in a mess like that. At the same time, she had no work anyway, and she could at least live and work at the bar until she got her own act together.
She had moved in a week after the phone call and things had been getting better ever since. Two people managing the bar was good news for Charlie, as it gave her more time to focus on other aspects of life and work, and she didn’t need to hire any new, expensive staff. With the bar getting more management in, the customer service levels went up. As a result, so did the customer satisfaction.
The money started coming in a little more reliably and Janice could see Charlie’s stress gradually seeping away. It left Janice with a warm, satisfied feeling and she was glad that she had come to help her sister out.
The other thing that was taking some getting used to for Janice, was the fact that this bar’s patrons were almost entirely bikers. They belonged to various motorcycle clubs in the area, or were passing through on the major highway.
Janice had no problem with them, but it was a different lifestyle that Janice didn’t quite understand. She was used to college lecture halls and suburbia. She was used to men in neat shirts instead of leather jackets and it was taking quite the adjustment.
She had always thought herself open-minded and now she found that, while that was true, she still felt a certain element of danger radiating from them, even though she knew that couldn’t possibly be the case for all of them. Liking a motorcycle didn’t make you a dangerous person just like that.
The bar was constantly filled with the low hum of bikers, the roar of their engines outside the bar, the smell of gas and exhaust, and the feel of the bar vibrating beneath her feet when many bikes pulled up at once.
The vibrations seemed to go right through Janice, sending shivers down her spine and through her body. It made her heart skip a beat each and every time, and the first time she had almost dropped the beer she was pouring.
“Janice, you ready?” Charlie’s voice floated through the walls and drew Janice out of her reverie. She checked her clothes, made sure her hair was pulled back and out of the way, and took a deep breath. She was as ready as she was ever going to be, although the thought of a cup of coffee called to her.
Anything to get her through tonight. “Yeah, be there in a minute,” she called back, and turned to head to the front.
Stepping into the bar was like stepping into another world. Murky with smoke, low lights and sawdust littering the floor, it seemed like something out of a movie. Janice stationed herself behind the bar, knowing that Charlie had the rest of the bar under control right now. Tonight, it was Janice’s job to tend the bar and make sure that the customers were happy.
Other than that, she was fine. She had waitresses that would ferry drinks around if it was necessary and Janice could rest assured knowing that they were good at what they did.
She smiled as the first customer came over to the bar, leaning against the polished surface. “Hello sir, what can I get for you?”
***
The night was starting to draw to a close around three o’clock in the morning. Janice felt dead on her feet, trying not to sway as she waved the last of the patrons out of the door and sighed at the mess that had been left behind. It was nothing new, if Janice was being completely honest. In fact, it hadn’t even been that bad tonight. There had been no fights and only a couple of broken glasses. Sales had been good and aside from the mess of cigarette butts and empty glasses, Janice couldn’t really complain.
She closed up the bar and made her way to each table, a tray on her arm as she gathered up the glasses. Charlie grinned at her from the other side of the room. “I’m on trash duty, huh?”
Janice smiled tiredly back. “You bet. I did that yesterday.”
Charlie laughed and made her own way to each of the tables, carefully gathering up any trash and sweeping it into a bag. They worked silently like this, making sure that the tables were clean and tidy and that the bar would be ready for tomorrow.
After a few moments, Charlie broke the silence, “No fights tonight.” Her voice was serious and Janice nodded.
It was always unpleasant when fights broke out and it had been getting worse and worse lately. Janice had overheard that there was a turf war going on between two of the bigger clubs in the nearby area, and that the fight was starting to turn fairly ugly.
Usually this didn’t involve Janice or Charlie, but different clubs tended to visit the bar. Neither club was about to boycott it because of the other and while that was great for business, it was not so great for the peaceful relations between the two.
Janice had to admire Charlie’s guts when a fight broke out. She knew just what to say and how to break them up. She wasn’t too scared to get in the middle of something and sort it out and Janice felt very lacking in that regard, especially compared to her sister, who was so good at it.
Janice sighed and looked over the bar. “Late night, though.” She added thoughtfully.
Charlie nodded. “Yeah, but that means more business so I’m not complaining.” She looked over at Janice. “Want to leave early?”
Janice shook her head. “Not happening. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
Charlie smiled gratefully and they continued to go about the process of shutting down the bar for the night. Dishes were put in the machine to be washed, countertops and tables were wiped down, and stale, soggy sawdust was swept away and replaced with fresh chips.
Janice was stocking the bar and packing the bottles up for the night, when the front door swung open. Janice frowned, knowing she had just put up a sign letting everyone know the bar was done for the night. Still, she didn’t want to be rude to any customers, so she put on her best smile and called out, “Sorry sir, but we’re closed for the night.”
“I know.” His voice carried easily across the room, even and level, and Janice felt something tingle within her core. “Is Charlie around?”
Janice frowned. “She’s in the back, but we really are closed.”
“Get her for me.”
Janice felt herself bristle at the sharp request. No manners. He was in their bar, after closing time, when she had told him repeatedly that they were closed, and yet he saw fit to demand to see Charlie? Janice hated these kinds of men—they thought they were in charge of everything and Janice was not about to take his crap.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you need to leave.” She fixed him with a hard gaze.
When Janice looked at him, she felt electricity flash through her, a hot sizzle through her core that jolted her away from her senses.
He was a big man. Big and imposing in a way that made Janice bite her lip. His leather jacket was slung over one arm, and a tight black t-shirt hugged his body. He was well built, defined muscles filling out the shirt and making Janice swallow. He was tall and tattoos wound up his arms in a snake-like pattern, stark and bold against his skin. His hair was dark and his eyes flashed and crackled with electricity. His walk was firm, predatory almost. It was the confident walk of a man who was used to being in charge of the situation and knew exactly who was boss.
Janice felt anger surge within her, but she couldn’t deny that there was something magnetic about him, something strong and dangerous and so very, very attractive. Janice narrowed her eyes and stared him down, challenging him to deny her again.
He smirked and Janice didn’t know a smile could look so threatening. “Thanks.”
Then he walked past her, pushing into the back of the bar without a
nother word, without her permission and certainly without waiting for an answer from Janice. Janice stared for a moment, her eyes wide, not sure how she was supposed to respond.
In her world, polite requests were adhered to, and she’d certainly never had someone be this bold, not even the patrons at the bar had dared to be so disrespectful to the owners of the establishment. Her blood boiling, thoughts of his well-defined body fleeing her mind, Janice stormed into the back after him.
Her sister didn’t need to take this man’s crap and neither did she. Like hell she was just going to let him walk around their bar like he owned the place.
One way or another, Janice was not going to stand for this.
***
“Can I help you?” Charlie sounded composed, considering a stranger had just burst into the back office. Not to mention that he was a big guy, a man who looked threatening and dangerous all at once. Janice found that she didn’t care about that one bit. All she cared about was getting this man out of the bar and away from her sister.
“I have a proposition.”
Janice didn’t let him continue, opening the door herself and stepping inside. “What do you think you are doing?” She glared at him and was pleased when he acknowledged her this time. “I asked you to leave. You’re trespassing.”
The man looked at her, a low sound building in his chest, a dark chuckle as he shook his head. “You have guts, sweetheart. Name’s Ajax.” He nodded by way of introduction. “And I’m here to talk business, so either you shut up and listen, or your business closes pretty damn quickly.”
He turned back to Charlie and Janice found her mouth opening and closing in surprise. Anger soon found its way into her words and she frowned. “What are you talking about—what has that got to do with anything?” She was bristling but Charlie looked at her with a serious expression.
“Janice, let’s hear him out.”
Janice couldn’t believe what she was hearing—her sister wanted to hear this maniac out and Janice didn’t know what she was meant to say to that. So she folded her arms and fixed Ajax with a glare, refusing to let him out of her sights for even a second.
Ajax seemed satisfied with that and looked back at Charlie. “The Black Dragons are close to winning the turf war.” Janice was surprised at how overt he was being—most people danced around the issues, but he was direct in a way that Janice hadn’t seen out here, or in the city.
For a moment, it stunned her, but Charlie was nodding slowly, “So what does that have to do with me and my bar?” There was worry written all over Charlie’s face, even though she was trying to hide it.
Ajax continued, “It means that I need you to help us finish the Reds once and for all.” He smirked, “Choke the life out of them.” He leaned forwards. “You refuse them patronage, and they don’t have the middle meeting ground that they need. You do that, you have guaranteed patronage from us, plus and additional payment. You gain money instead of losing it, and when we inevitably win, you’re already on our side.”
Janice was surprised. She hadn’t expected this, no matter what she had expected. She didn’t think the turf war was going to impact their business in this way. The fighting had been inconvenient and she knew that the result might slow business down a bit, but never had she expected this.
Charlie looked pale. “And what if you don’t win?”
Ajax laughed, and the sound was more menacing that any Janice had heard before. “Oh sweetheart. We don’t lose. So either you’re with us, or you’re against us. Which is it?”
Janice could see Charlie turning it over in her mind, trying to make an on the spot decision and she jumped in. “Are you guaranteeing our safety too?” she challenged.
“Sure.” He smirked. “We’ll station a couple of guys around and make sure none of the Reds get in and cause you problems.”
Janice couldn’t argue with that, but she could feel her heart racing none the less. She wasn’t used to this. This was a world that she didn’t quite fit into, didn’t quite understand. She didn’t like the idea of blocking anyone from the bar, but she also didn’t like the idea of the bar going under.
They had been working so hard to get it back in the black and they were just starting to make some serious progress. Now was not the time to back down and have it all go to waste? Janice swallowed, feeling sick at the thought. Her heart was racing and she suddenly realized how close Ajax was.
She could smell his aftershave and something else, something smoky and dark and exotic. She felt warmth flood her body and she chalked it up to adrenalin. After all, this was a dangerous situation all around, and she needed to make the right choices.
Charlie was nodding too and she could see that her sister had come to the same conclusion. They didn’t have much of a choice. Refusing him would probably end in the loss of the business and then they’d both have no income and nowhere to go.
Janice wasn’t about to let that happen, but she wasn’t going to give this man free rein either.
“Okay, we’ll do it.” Charlie’s voice sounded meek and Janice wasn’t used to that. Her sister was so confident when arguing with patrons, but Janice supposed that this was a whole different ballgame.
Janice turned to Ajax. “We’ll help, but there’s a condition.”
“Are you in any position to be adding conditions?” Ajax sounded amused as he looked her up and down.
Janice flushed with anger and it crackled between them. “Yes. You let me help you. I want to be a part of this to make sure that everything goes right.”
“How can you help me?” His eyes bored into her and she smiled.
“You’ll see. I won’t get in your way but I want to be a part of this. I want to make sure this business stays afloat. That’s the bottom line for me.”
Ajax surveyed her with a smirk. He didn’t believe that she could help, Janice knew that. She also didn’t care. She needed to keep an eye on him. She wasn’t letting everything her sister had worked for go up in smoke. She wasn’t going to let that happen, no matter what the cost.
“So, do we have a deal?”
Ajax chuckled, “Deal.”
***
The next week seemed to pass in a blur. Janice spent her time tagging along with Ajax, and he seemed to spend every spare moment antagonizing her or trying to leave her behind. She could tell that she was getting on his nerves and the feeling was mutual. He refused to take her car and she couldn’t keep up with his bike when she drove alone. That left Janice with one choice—ride his bike with him.
Janice had shuddered at the thought. She had never ridden a bike and her parents and friends back home would never have approved. Owning a bar was one thing, but risking your life on what they considered a death machine was something else entirely. It was stupidity, and Janice was inclined to agree with them.
But she had said she would make this work, no matter what the cost was, and she fully intended to keep that promise. Gripping onto Ajax’s jacket, she had straddled the seat and jammed a helmet over her head. Swallowing, her pulse racing, she had no problems clinging on for dear life as the engine had roared.
Janice could vividly remember the thrum of the engine through her body, the flush of heat that raced through her, the way Ajax’s leather had felt against her, in her hands, and the thrill that had burned through her as he revved his engine, laughed and took off through the streets. Janice had tried not to scream as he tore onto the highway, Janice holding on as tightly as she possibly could. The feelings raced through her at top speed, shuddering through her body and touching a place inside her that she had not known existed.
Gradually, the panic eased and gave way to something else, something thrilling and freeing. She had dared to lift her head, only to see the world rushing by at dizzying speeds. The ground rushed by beneath their feet, the road pounding along beside them as the scenery blurred into lines and lines of color, all lost to her in the thrill of the chase. It was everything that Janice could have asked for, and she didn’t want
to waste a single moment of it. She clung onto him with all of her strength, taking in a few deep breaths and savoring it.
It had been so freeing. For a moment, the stress of the bar seemed to fall away, the burning feeling of anger at Ajax had eased, the memories of stuffy classrooms and late nights seemed to be a distant memory at best, and Janice was thrilled to find that the heaviness in her chest had lifted and eased and left her with a feeling of being able to take on the world, take on anything.
After that first ride, Janice had not complained quite as loudly about travelling on his bike. She wasn’t about to admit that she had enjoyed it, but she suspected that Ajax knew anyway, and in an unusual display of tact, was deciding not to say anything about it.
Janice found herself being taken to meetings of all kinds. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about all of the time, but she listened out for mentions of the bar and considered it carefully. Her sister was refusing patrons who belonged to the Reds and there were Black Dragon bodyguards stationed at the bar at all times. Janice had continued to insist on help for her sister, who was exhausted with all the extra work.
At the same time, Janice continued to do everything in her power to make sure that no one double crossed them. As time passed, Janice realized that Ajax was not going to be double crossing them any time soon. He might have been harsh towards her, making it clear that he didn’t want her there, but he never did anything that even hinted at deceit. It brought relief to the surface of Janice’s heart and she sighed in quiet relief at the thought that maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out.
Her feelings towards Ajax started to soften. Sparks still flew, but she found that she didn’t loathe him like she first had. There was something else there, something quiet and considerate, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do with that information.