Chapter 5
Mona’s was slammed Saturday night. With Jax already at Shepherd University in West Virginia with Calla, we were a man down when it came to the bar. Clyde was still out of commission due to doctor’s orders after suffering a heart attack last month. Sherwood, our part-time cook, was running around like a madman.
We were so busy I barely caught the moment Nick slid his phone number scribbled on one of our new napkins to a girl in cut-off jeans.
“Another one bites the dust,” I sang as I shimmied past him to grab two beers.
His eyes narrowed on me.
I giggled as I spun back, placing the bottles on the bar. The two guys waiting looked legit and normal, dressed in dark jeans and plain shirts, but I knew they didn’t run in the friendliest of circles. I’d seen them both with Mack, who’d worked for a guy in Philly named Isaiah, who everyone in and near the city knew to stay away from. Worked as in the past tense, because over the summer, Mack had ended up with a bullet to the head on a lonely back road. From what I gathered, he’d been the one messing with Calla, threatening her over what her mom had gotten into, and Isaiah hadn’t been too keen on the unwanted police attention being thrown his way.
So I smiled brightly up at them. “On the house.”
The older one with coal-black hair winked. “Thanks, darling.”
I figured it was a good idea to have potential mobsters in your back pocket. Never knew when one needed someone to take a cement swim. Ha.
I was guessing Reece was working, so completing Priority Number Four was on hold. I’d be a liar, liar, pants on fire if I said I wasn’t relieved, because I was so dreading that moment of truth. And I had his phone number, so I could’ve totally texted him and asked to meet up. Or I could’ve texted him the truth.
But that would’ve been so lame I’d have to give myself a cement swim.
Good news was I wasn’t really dwelling on it, since I was bouncing from one customer to the next, racking up tips. It was after midnight when I looked up from making a wicked sex on the beach and saw Dean standing at the corner of the bar.
Oh crap.
The moment I looked up, he saw me. Duh. I was standing right there and he was looking right at me. Briefly, I considered diving behind the service well.
“Hey,” he said, finding what had to be the only unoccupied bar stool in the world. “Busy tonight.”
I could feel heat creeping into my face. I so had not responded to his text earlier. After Mom had left, I’d forgotten about it. “Yeah, it’s been a really busy . . . day.” As I placed the pineapple juice back, I winced. A day so busy I didn’t have time to send a text? Lame. When I faced him, I kept my bar smile firmly in place. “What can I get you?”
He blinked slowly. His eyes were blue, not as vibrant as Reece’s—dammit! I was not thinking about his eye color. “Um, a Bud would be great.”
Nodding, I quickly hurried off to grab him a beer. On the way back, Nick raised his brows at me but said nothing. I slapped a napkin on the bar and placed the beer on it. “Tab or pay as you go?”
Again, he blinked and then leaned back, fishing out his wallet. “Pay now.” He slipped a ten over. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, wanting to leave the money on the bar, but there was rent and that new set of watercolors I wanted to get, so . . . Taking a deep breath, I glanced up at him as I folded my hand over the cash. “Look, Dean, I had a really good—”
“Hey! Roxy-moxy, my girl!”
My bones nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Katie’s voice. I turned, surprised that she’d been able to sneak in. Then again, the bar was that crowded, and she was actually dressed down tonight. Kind of.
Katie worked across the street at the gentlemen’s club. In other words, she was an exotic dancer and loved every minute of it. Normally she was wearing something that most wouldn’t even consider wearing out in public. Tonight, her long legs were encased in bubble-gum pink leather and her halter top was like a purple disco ball.
Dean eyed her like she was an alien who had just strolled into the bar.
“Yo,” I recovered quickly, and out of habit, grabbed the bottle of Jose and a shot glass. “How’s work tonight?”
Elbowing her way between an older woman and Dean, she squeezed into the miniscule space. “So boring I almost fell asleep while sliding down the pole.”
“That would’ve ended badly.” I poured the shot.
“So, you’re off on Sunday, right?” Dean cut in, clamping his arms close to his sides as if he were afraid of touching Katie and catching something from her.
I did not like that.
Katie snickered as she curled fingers with an icy blue manicure around the shot glass. “She is off, but she ain’t going to be spending it with you unless your last name is Winchester.” She arched a brow as she checked him out, and my mouth dropped open. “And you are so obviously not Dean Winchester.”
“Excuse me?” he sputtered, his cheeks flushing red.
“What?” She shrugged tanned shoulders. “Honey, I’m just telling you in a nice way you don’t stand a chance with her.”
“Katie,” I hissed.
Dean turned to me.
“Awkward,” murmured Katie.
I shot her a look.
She pursed her lips, kissed the air, and then downed the shot of tequila in one gulp. “Remember what I told you.” She slammed the glass on the top, and the woman next to her watched her back her way out of the spot with raised brows. Katie tapped her finger off the side of her head. “You’ve already met the man you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.”
Oh dear. I so remembered her telling me that I’d already met the love of my life, basing it on the psychic powers she claimed she developed when she fell off a greased-up pole while dancing.
These kinds of things only happen to people I know.
I was highly doubtful—or at least hopeful—that I hadn’t met the love of my life yet, but that wasn’t the only thing she told me. One of the things she had told me had come true.
And it had to do with Reece.
Katie made a face at Dean’s back. “And it ain’t him. Anyway, Roxy-moxy, we still on for waffles for lunch tomorrow?” When I nodded, she wiggled her fingers. “Toodles.”
Sort of struck stupid, I watched her prance her way out of the bar. I’d known Katie for a long time, but she still managed to throw me for a loop.
“There is something wrong with that girl,” Dean said, voice razor-edged with irritation. “I don’t know how you deal with her.”
My gaze swung on him. “There’s nothing wrong with her at all.” His eyes flared with surprise. “I’m sorry, but I’m pretty busy right now.”
He did that blinking thing. “It’s okay. We’ll talk later.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that wasn’t going to happen, but he pivoted around and disappeared into the crowd. Shaking my head, I moved to the other side of the bar. I didn’t have to say a word to Nick, because he switched sides and I threw myself into filling orders. Sometime later, I glanced up and awkwardly made eye contact with Dean. After that, I didn’t see him.
The rest of the night zoomed by. We did final call, and then cleared out the bar before we cashed out tips and settled the register. Normally when Nick and I did this together, we did so with nothing but music to keep us company. Usually I’d find the most annoying song known to man and play it, but I wasn’t really feeling it tonight.
And apparently Nick was in a chatty mood. “Who was that guy who was in here talking to you?”
I shut the register door and scribbled the totals on the spreadsheet Jax had created. One day, Mona’s would grow up to be a real bar and we’d get a POS system. A girl could dream. I sighed as I faced him, leaning against the bar while he cleaned up. “He was just some guy I went out on a date with.”
“Only going to be one date?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. Not interested.”