“You’re lucky I didn’t learn how to shank anybody on the inside, old man,” I quipped. He laughed, said goodbye and headed to his truck.
It wasn’t true though, he actually paid me a good wage and treated me well in spite of being fresh out of prison. I appreciated it, not a lot of guys like me had chances like this.
I hopped in my truck and headed back to Brady’s. It was Friday and he had the night off so we were going to rip it up a little. I’d do whatever it took to get him back to the Little Black Dress though, we were there on Wednesday and had found out that Kitty worked tonight.
I hadn’t seen her for a few days and already I craved the sight of her, she’d gotten under my skin in a short time and I had to find out what it meant. What she could mean to me.
Brady was waiting for me when I pulled into his driveway, his car shining and his grin wide on his face.
“All right, are you ready to tear shit up tonight?” he said as I got out.
“Damn, you’re in a mood and a half. Should we start at the LBD?”
He stopped, looked at me with a strange look in his eye and flashed me a crooked grin. “So are you horny or cheap?”
“What the hell do you mean?” I asked, but I knew what he meant. It was so fucking obvious I was obsessed with Kitty, but how could I ever admit it?
“You know, I mean you’ve barely looked at another woman since you met Kitty,” he said, “it’s more than a little pathetic, dude. You should make tonight’s goal to mix it up a little. Get out there and get laid.”
“What if I’m cheap? Drinks everywhere are pretty pricey and with your discount, LBD is the perfect place to start out.”
“Sure, I believe you but thousands wouldn’t,” he chuckled. “Come on, you horny bastard, let’s go see if your girl is there.”
Brady scanned the club like a bobble head the entire walk up to the bar. He swiveled back and forth, checking out the waitresses. He’d never managed to be with any of them, but he still tried every time we came in.
I was single minded and focused on one woman in particular, and she was busy behind the bar looking as magnificent as ever. She was wearing another tight black dress, this one silken but still clinging to her curves like it was a second skin.
I took a stool next to Brady, but he characteristically sat with his back to the bar so he could scan the room and tease himself mercilessly.
“We’ll go somewhere after this,” I leaned over to promise him, “I’ll be your wingman. I’ll help you tonight, but you have to promise you’ll lose the desperation.”
“I don’t know how you’re not desperate, at least I’ve had my dick wet in the last five years. How have your blue balls not fallen off?”
I laughed and leaned back onto the bar. “It’s a fucking miracle, that’s for sure.”
I watched Kitty mix and pour drinks, chat up the customers and even offer the occasional man a smile. That was tough to see, Kitty being nice to anybody else with a cock. I knew what they had on their minds, every one of them. They had Kitty in their imaginations, naked and spread for them.
And I could barely contain my rage.
I clenched my fist and waited for Brady to catch her attention. I didn’t want to seem too needy with Kitty, so I let him wave his hand and call her name.
“We should be sitting at a table,” he said, “then I could hit on the waitresses.”
“And they love that so much,” I replied and rolled my eyes.
He had the decency to look slightly embarrassed by his behavior which was a step ahead.
“Just the man I wanted to see,” Kitty said and sidled up to stand in front of us. She was radiant, her smile reaching her eyes tonight.
“Oh really?” Brady asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Not you,” she snapped and turned to me. “How do you feel about doing a job for me?
“What did you have in mind?” I asked, my cock hardening and my imagination racing into a million dirty places, all of them ending with me taking her and making her mine.
“We need a new bar top, custom woodwork of course. But we need it fast.”
I didn’t really have much time, but I could make time for her.
I looked into her eyes, gave her a lopsided grin, and said, “When do you need me to start?”
6
Kitty
I had him on the hook before I knew what was happening. Now I just had to explain to Uncle Max that I’d already taken a contract for the new bar top even though he’d only mentioned it that afternoon.
Normally I’m sure he would have told my father who would have sent it out to any number of his shady contracting companies and they would have used the entire project to wash some dirty money.
But there wasn’t time for me to wait, I wanted to get close to Hatch and make sure my father found out so he would eventually send me to Paris to the school of fashion I was determined to attend.
I kept an eye on Hatch for the time he was in the bar and was more than a little pleased that he never seemed to look at any other woman.
Other than me, that was. I did catch him following me with his eyes more than a few times, and I pretended not to notice just to encourage his attention, but also to drive him a little wild with the show I was giving him every time I bent down to pick up a glass or something I dropped on purpose.
I don’t know why I did it, sure he was unbelievably sexy, all man and more than enough to handle somebody like me, but it was more than that. I liked the way it felt, how powerful it was to command the interest of a man like Hatch.
He caught my eye one last time to let me know they were leaving. His pal Brady was chomping on the bit like a horny race horse, but Hatch was cool and composed. He wasn’t off to bang easy women at one of the many clubs in Vegas that catered to out of towners looking to have a good time. I didn’t know how I could tell, but it was obvious that he wasn’t a man like that.
“I’ll see ya tomorrow, bright and early,” I said. “Well, not too early. How about noon? We can go over what needs to be done and I’ll introduce you to the man who signs the paychecks around here.”
“Your Uncle Max?” Brady asked.
I shot him an annoyed look and said, “Yeah, Max.”
“I’ll be here with bells on,” Hatch said and then paused for a moment as if wanting to say something else, but he didn’t. He flashed me a quick smile that hit the pit of my stomach with a force like a fist, leaving me shaky and uncertain if my plan even made sense.
I waved him off and walked away to deal with a couple old guys from the insurance convention in town just to get over the strange feeling Hatch left behind.
It worked, nothing got rid of being all worked up over a hot guy like a few half dead boring out of towners. They talked my ear off about the ins and outs of insurance planning and I felt myself dry up like the desert.
I’d have to remember that feeling for when Hatch came back the next day. It wouldn’t do anybody any good to have me acting like a love struck fool in front of my uncle, or god forbid, my father.
I was dead tired by the time my shift was over, I headed upstairs to sleep soundly until I saw Hatch at noon.
As I drifted off, I couldn’t help but wonder where he was right then. What was a man like him doing out on the town at four in the morning?
As curious as I was, it was probably best I didn’t think about it too much. I’d been cheated on by my long term boyfriend, the son of a local millionaire casino owner and apparently a real playboy.
Not when I was with him though, at least not that I’d known. But yeah, he’d broken my heart and made a real fool out of me in front of my father and everyone I knew.
That had been over a year ago, and I’d sworn to never let myself fall in love again to protect my heart.
But man, with Hatch hanging around, that might be a tough thing to stick to. Then again it could be fun to fool around with Hatch until it was time to head off to school, once my father saw everything my way.
&
nbsp; “Right on time,” I said, watching the tall, muscled hunk cross the club towards the bar. We were never closed, but the day shift wasn’t exactly high excitement. A few girls stood around checking Hatch out as he passed, but there were only two customers seated at a table near the back.
“I’m a punctual man,” he replied, his voice rumbling deep in his chest. “Besides, this is a job and I never slack on a job.”
“Ah yes, a job,” I grinned and slid my hand along the pitted, grooved top of the bar. “This needs to be replaced, you can work on it in the back room and install it during one of our less busy times. That way we interrupt our customers as little as possible.”
“I could handle that. You got the material already?”
“We do. It’s a living edge custom cut from the Pacific Northwest. Max had it flown in last week, I think he won it in a bet.”
“Of course he did. Isn’t that the currency of Las Vegas?”
“Pretty much, but don’t worry, we’ll give you a check. No betting on whether or not you’ll get paid.”
“Good to know,” he grinned. “Although I could be talked into a friendly wager or two if the stakes were good enough.”
“Like what?”
“Oh I don’t know, like maybe something that might win me a date with you.” His smile softened and my heart fluttered like I was fifteen again and Bobby Taylor was asking me to the spring formal.
“What’s the bet?”
“How about if I can guess your favorite cocktail, you agree to dinner with me?”
I narrowed my eyes as if I was thinking carefully about it, weighing my options. In reality I was simply doing my best to not appear too eager.
Of course I wanted to take him up on the offer, and of course I wanted him to win. Not just for my father’s sake, but for my own if I was letting myself be honest. If I was admitting how I really felt.
But I would only admit it to myself, never out loud.
“I guess we could make a friendly wager. And what’s the worst thing that could happen if I lose, I get a free dinner, right?”
“So if you win and I can’t figure it out, what do you get?”
“I don’t know, how about you have to do this work for free?”
He gave me a slow smile that melted the last vestige of defense I had and he chuckled. “Well, kitten, it seems like I’ll have to win. I can’t afford to work for free, even if it is for somebody like you.”
“Welcome to Vegas, the house always wins,” I replied and pursed my lips to disguise the insane feelings of lust that were threatening to overwhelm me. I turned on my heel and walked away towards the back room. When I turned to look, he was standing and watching me with a confused expression. “Well, are you coming? You have work to do.”
I didn’t mean for it to be so snippy, but he had that effect on me. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the next few days without climbing him like a mountain and seeing him naked.
7
Hatch
She led me to the back room, pointed out the piece of wood I’d be turning into a custom bar, and ran out of there like her tail had caught fire.
I watched her leave, enjoying the view as usual, but had to laugh. She was a tough one, a real little firecracker, and I would enjoy breaking down her barriers until she opened herself to me willingly.
I took one look at the custom cedar piece the boss, Max, had brought in and whistled softly. It was crazy, before prison I was into running guns across the border into Mexico, collecting debts for my motorcycle club, and the occasional beat down of one of the minor drug dealers working for us. After prison, wood excited me.
I guess those years spent in the wood shop on the inside had gotten to me after all.
I walked to the slab that was set up on saw horses, and ran my hand along the rough edge, marveling at the natural beauty.
I think that’s what turned me on so much about Kitty, she might have dyed hair and tattoos, but she was naturally beautiful. Her beauty was beyond physical, it was all her, the wiggle in her walk and the way she carried herself.
It all drove me wild.
“You’re gonna get one hell of a splinter if you keep rubbing on it like that,” a man’s voice came from the doorway.
I turned to find the quintessential Vegas club owner standing in the doorway. He wasn’t tall, but he was wide. He was balding and I caught the flash of what might have been a gold tooth.
Kitty’s uncle Max, and he looked nothing like her.
“It’s a risk I’ll have to take,” I said and held my hand out to him.
He shook it and I almost recoiled at how limp and damp it was.
“I take it Kitty filled you in on the deal? You make it look good enough to put up front, I give you space to work back here, then you have about an hour for the install up front.”
“Seems reasonable.”
“And don’t bug the customers. Or the staff. If I catch you bothering the waitresses, I’ll run you out of here myself.”
He looked me up and down and stood in front of me, staring up. I towered over him by at least a foot and it would have been comical enough to laugh had he not seemed like such a serious and vain man.
“What about Kitty?”
He blurted out a snort that ended in a laugh. “That? I’d fucking pay to see you try and bother her, buddy. She’s way outta your league and can hold her own.”
“Well that’s settled, I’ll get to work right away.”
Max turned to walk out, paused and added, “You have until the end of the week. I need this done as soon as possible.”
“Will do.”
I grabbed my tools from the truck parked in behind the hotel, took the back hallway to the club to avoid letting any tourists actually see a worker and destroy the illusion of Las Vegas, and got to work.
As I ran the sander along the wood, I couldn’t help but think of Kitty, the beautiful woman who had taken over so much of my head and certain parts of my body.
Almost the entire time I ran the sander along the curving grain of the cedar slab, I ran a list of cocktail names through my head and tried to determine the first one I would guess.
I didn’t have to wait too long, I felt a light tap on my shoulder about forty minutes into it, and turned off the tool. I pulled my ear plugs off my head, turned and smiled at the kitten waiting eagerly to speak with me.
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
“What’s your guess?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your guess. What is it? I’m dying to know what you come up with.”
“Have you been standing out there behind the bar obsessing over what drink I’ll come up with?”
I chuckled and her cheeks bloomed two bright spots of red. I couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or angry at my mocking laugh.
“Maybe. But come on, it’s dead out there. I’m bored and I want to know what you think of me.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at her critically. “Manhattan.”
She made a negative buzzer sound and said, “Wrong. You lose. This job is free.”
She flashed me a smug grin and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Wrong,” I replied and made my own negative buzzing sound.
“No, I don’t even drink Manhattans, you’re wrong.”
“I believe you. My first guess is wrong.”
“First guess? Wait, no. You have one guess.”
“We never decided the limit on guesses, Kitty,” I drawled and offered a lazy smile. “So I get more. As many as I want.”
“Wait, that’s not fair! You’re cheating!”
“Not cheating, just beating the house. I might not be from Vegas, kitten, but I know how to flip the odds.”
She sputtered and threw her hands up, blurted a couple choice words not suited for a lady to speak, and stomped away.
And once again I enjoyed the view. Damn, that ass. It wiggled even harder when she was angry so I decided I’d have to make her angry
more often.
But with a woman like Kitty, I didn’t think that would be too difficult.
I was finishing up for the day when I saw her again. She’d been avoiding me since our encounter earlier on, but I didn’t mind. I’d really gotten into the cedar and had done some extremely excellent work. Work I could be really proud of.
Speaking of work, I had to go meet Jorge in the morning for a new job with his company. I would have to balance him and this job for the week it took me to customize the cedar in front of me.
I peeked out the door and saw Kitty sitting at a table by herself. She had books spread out in front of her and was busy entering sums into a calculator.
I brushed wood dust off my hands and pants and shook my shirt to get the remains from my collar. I strode across the club and slipped into the seat across the table from Kitty and waited for her to acknowledge me.
“Do you need something?” she asked at last, raising a single eyebrow as she looked at me. Her gaze was icy, but I could sense her passion simmering just underneath.
“Moscow Mule.”
Irritation flickered across her features. “What?”
“Moscow Mule.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your favorite drink. Is it a Moscow Mule?”
“You’re seriously going to keep guessing?”
“Yup. Until I get that dinner I’m after.”
She sighed, blew a stray strand of hair off her forehead and said, “No. Not even close.”
I winked at her and grinned. “Well I’ll try again tomorrow.”
I stood and watched as she pursed her lips and glared at me. “I’m not working until late tomorrow so our paths probably won’t cross.”
“We’ll see about that.”
And as I walked away I could feel her eyes following me and wondered briefly if she was enjoying the view as much as I enjoyed watching her ass when she walked away from me.
8
His Sloe Screw: The Cocktail Girls Page 3