Michelle Major - A Brevia Beginning

He heard Lexi snort as he unhooked his wrist and stepped away from Erin. He felt like more of a fraud as he tried to think of what they’d want a new boss to say. “I’m going to do my best to make Riley’s Bar the spot for nightlife. I think there are a lot of opportunities for improvement.”

“You can say that again,” Misty agreed.

“First and foremost, we need to take care of our customers—both current and potential. I’m going to be making some changes that will help with that.”

“What kind of changes?”

“Making this place look a little better for one thing. Nightly specials, more events to get locals and visitors in the door. It’s your job to keep them happy once they’re here. I want good customer service. Be attentive but not overbearing.”

“Do we let them hit on us?” All the women but Lexi giggled. She looked horrified.

“Only if you want them to.” He smiled. “But I’d prefer you kept your time here professional.”

The three experienced waitresses nodded, while Lexi continued to look straight ahead. She seemed as nervous as a deer at a shooting range.

“What about tips?” Tina asked. “Luke used to take part of what we got because he made the drinks.”

“He skimmed your tips?” Scott didn’t know why this surprised him. He’d checked the liquor on the shelves earlier and found several bottles watered down. Apparently, Luke hadn’t been cutting corners only on the alcohol.

“He said it was his fair share,” Misty offered.

“What’s fair is that you keep the money you make.” Scott stepped behind the counter. “Most nights I’m going to be handling the bar. Max and Jasper, the other bartenders, will fill in as needed.”

“You know how to mix a decent Tom Collins?” Misty asked.

Scott nodded. “I can mix almost anything.” He had spent time as a bartender when he’d been younger and had picked up a thing or two from his favorite haunts in D.C.

They watched him as if they expected more. He’d called them in here, but now had no pearls of wisdom to dispense. Basically, he’d wanted to see what he was working with. Other than Lexi, they all looked competent and at home in the bar.

He pulled shot glasses down from a shelf and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He needed something to take the edge off. Just one. He turned to the man standing in the doorway. “We’re going to have a round to welcome the new owner. Join us?”

Jon Riley shook his head. “No, boss. I’m five years sober.”

Scott’s hand paused in pouring. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” Jon said quietly and disappeared through the door.

“I don’t want one, either,” Lexi told him when he pushed four of the small glasses forward.

“You on the wagon, too?” Tina asked.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to drink while working.”

Scott felt a hot burst of irritation skim along his spine. He didn’t need to be judged by his little mouse of a waitress. “It’s a special occasion,” he told her. “Maybe if you relax, you won’t have so much trouble keeping the glasses on the tray instead of the floor.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.” With a huff, she followed Jon.

“Anyone else got a problem?”

In response, the remaining waitresses each picked up a shot glass. They toasted and downed the whiskey. It burned his throat, but after a moment the familiar warmth uncurled in his stomach.

“Thanks, boss,” Misty told him and headed toward the back behind Lexi.

The other two women left the glasses on the bar and after a bit of small talk, meandered out the front door. Lexi and Misty were the two working tonight.

When he was alone again, Scott cleaned up the glasses and wiped down the top of the bar. He stared for a moment at the whiskey Lexi hadn’t drunk. It seemed a shame to waste perfectly good alcohol, so he quickly downed it before putting the glass in the stack to be washed.

He turned to see Lexi watching him from the side of the bar. “Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked quietly.

“Sweetheart, none of this is a good idea.” He returned the bottle of Jack to the shelf. “Luckily, I’m not much one for caring. If it feels right, I go for it.”

“And drinking on the job feels right to you?” She took a step closer. “It seems to me that’s what got you this bar in the first place.” She pulled the apron in her hands over her head and reached behind her back to tie it, causing her breasts to push against the soft material of her light pink T-shirt.

Scott sucked in a breath. Hell, the T-shirt wasn’t even formfitting and its conservative crew-neck collar practically covered half her throat. Misty was wearing a low-cut, skintight number that barely held in her ample chest. But it hadn’t had any effect on him. Unlike Lexi’s buttoned-up outfit.

He walked around the edge of the bar and took her arm, spinning her away from him.

“What are you doing?” she said with a gasp.

“Helping you,” he answered and tied her apron strings together. “It seems to me the reason I’m in this mess is because of you and your contract.”

“You wanted to buy the bar,” she argued.

“I wanted to pick a fight with Luke,” he countered, resting his hands on her hips, unable to resist circling his thumbs against the place where her shirt hem met the fabric of her black dress slacks. Attorney clothes, clearly made of expensive material. Not the sort of pants someone wore to serve drinks.

Which reminded him that Lexi wasn’t the sort of woman who should be waitressing in a bar. “If it wasn’t for your ever-helpful legal skills, we would have exchanged some big talk and called it a night. Now I’ve got a business I don’t want in a town I don’t want to live in.”

She went perfectly still, whether because of his words or his touch, Scott didn’t know. But her voice was breathless when she spoke. “Maybe you should have stopped to think before you agreed to anything. Maybe if your ego wasn’t so big you would have left when he told you to go.”

Ouch. Scott didn’t want to admit how close to home that hit. The phrase if you’d stopped to think could have saved him so many different times in his life.

“I never do,” he said quietly. “Stop. Or think.”

Because then he might remember how lonely he always felt, how afraid he was of needing someone and being left alone, the way both his parents had done when he was a kid.

“You should try it sometime,” she said, her voice just a whisper.

“What’s done is done.” He pulled her closer to him and whispered against her ear, “It’s easier to do what people expected of me—which isn’t much.”

* * *

Lexi felt her heart squeeze tight. It was so quiet in the bar at the moment. She was surrounded by Scott, the warmth of his chest against her back and his spicy, soapy scent mingling with the tangy smell of liquor on his breath.

That was what did it, brought her back to her right mind. The alcohol was the only explanation for why he seemed to want to touch her as much as she wanted to be touched by him.

She drove her elbow back, surprised at how quickly he moved to block the shot. “You’re messing with me—”

She stopped when the front door opened and half a dozen men walked through. One called out, “There’s an under-new-management sign in the window. What’s that about?”

Another gave a long whistle. “Hey, there’s a flat screen now. Is that new?”

“I’ll be watching you tonight,” Scott whispered to her. “Just remember that.”

Her mouth went dry as he turned away.

“Put it up today, boys,” he answered. “Got cable set up, too. Have a seat and we’ll find a game to watch.”