FOUR
When morning rolled around, Lilly stirred lightly, returning to reality. It was time to try to talk to her landlord today because she knew she was on the verge of eviction. With the two hundred dollars she had on her, she only owed another nine to catch up last month and cover this month, which was now overdue. The more she thought about it, the more she didn’t want to face it, so she did what she always did; she ran from it and didn’t make the call.
Lilly spent most of her day packing and loading up her car with bags of clothes that she had every intention of leaving in there, along with boxes that she was going to bring to Mindy’s house for storage before she went to work that evening. Something’s got to give.
After spending a good hour loading her car down, Lilly picked up the phone to call Mindy.
“Hello?” Mindy answered.
“Hey, love. I have a few boxes to bring by your house. I just wanted to let you know I was going over there. Do you need anything while I’m out today?” Lilly asked.
“No ma’am. I don’t. But when you get into work tonight, you’re not going to believe what is going on. I just met with the new owner and the contractor that is remodeling the interior of the bar. You’re going to love it and hate it at the same time.”
“Seriously? Why? What’s he doing with the place, making it a strip joint?” Lilly asked, laughing.
“Not exactly. You’ll see when you get here. They’ve already started working on it.”
“Great. I’ll see you tonight. Have a good day!”
“You too!”
Lilly didn’t let her mind wander too much on the thought of what the new owner planned for the bar as she unloaded her things into Mindy’s attic. Yet, with each box she carried up the stairs, it tugged at her a little more.
By the time she set the last box down, she nearly ran to her car, anxious to get home and get ready for work. Curiosity was eating her alive, and she had to know what was being changed and who the new owner was.
The drive to work felt like it took an hour, but Lilly knew it was only because she was anxious. She hoped the owner was there so she could talk to him and discuss some of the changes he intended on making. Lilly had a few good ideas of her own that she wanted to share with him, if he would even give a bottom-of-the-barrel bartender the opportunity to give him a pitch. Kevin’s description of the man alone made her nervous, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Just breathe. Form your own opinion of him when you meet him. Breathe.
Pulling into the driveway of Creek’s, she noticed that the old sign was gone and there was only a little bit of work left before the driveway and parking lot were completely redone. It was a foreign feeling to drive down a smooth, blacktop driveway, and Lilly smiled at the thought of this place getting business and being a regular bar room for once. Trying to slowly get out of her car and walk in, Lilly fought hard to contain her excitement. When her feet hit the porch, she nearly broke into a sprint. Mindy looked at her in surprise when she pummeled through the doors.
“Are you in a hurry? Good lord, woman. Slow your roll.”
Lilly tried to formulate a response when the sight of the bar stole her attention.
Taking a breath in, she looked around. The back bar that held the liquor was set up in a display case in the shape of a Harley. There were brand new mirrors behind the bar, along with brand new coolers that all had Harley Davidson symbols on them. The roof had been painted black, and there was a Harley Davidson symbol painted there as well. Sitting in the center of the bar that wasn’t quite finished yet was a draft beer setup. It had different motorcycle engine parts on it for each beer. Purple and gold colors were everywhere, and Lilly wondered first why the new owner was trying to merge football and biker into one bar.
The floor in the bar was no longer plywood but laminate wood flooring that wasn’t complete yet. The bathrooms had been painted, and the stalls had been redone. The women’s bathroom went from a dull green to a lavender purple with Marilyn Monroe pictures hung on the walls. The men’s bathroom went from the same dull green to bright orange and white. This guy was making sure everything in the bar was brand new. He was redoing everything. Holy shit. This looks amazing.
“Now I know why you said I would love it and hate it at the same time. I love it, you’re right, but I absolutely hate it. It’s a heavy reminder of that mystery biker.” Lilly drew in a breath and sighed slowly.
She already thought about him the majority of the time she was awake and all the time she was asleep. Now, she’d think of him the entire time she was at work. What confused her the most was her own feelings. She never wanted to be with him in Houston. Not be with him, be with him. At least, that’s what she told herself. But the more she thought about it, the more unsure she became. How did she end up here, like this, wanting a man she said she didn’t and missing him so terribly after only spending two days with him?
“Girl, if you think you were crazy over that guy in Houston, wait until you meet the boss. He didn’t have the shiny shoes that Kevin talked about, but he did look like he had just come from his house in jeans and a T-shirt. But, oh my god, he was sexy and his voice was mesmerizing.” Mindy was nearly drooling.
“Really?” Lilly asked, intrigued.
“Yes! And he had this demeanor about him that was just as sexy as his looks. He talked with such finality, and he demanded respect without ever speaking a word. He wasn’t an asshole, so don’t take it like that, but he just had such a powerful way of getting his point across. He was intense and intimidating but welcoming and stunning at the same time. It was insane.”
“Well, what’s his name?” Lilly asked.
“Caine Sonnier.”
“Hmm. I’ve never heard of him. How is he some big shot who’s loaded and owns all this property and different companies with a name that locals don’t even really recognize?” Lilly asked sarcastically.
“Local? How are you local? Ain’t you from Livingston?” Mindy laughed.
“Hey now, I’m just sayin’. Have you ever heard of him? I think Kevin lied about his credentials,” Lilly said.
“No. No, he didn’t. The man is definitely a businessman, and he is definitely the boss in anything he does. Trust me.”
“Whatever you say, love. Whatever you say,” Lilly said, dismissing the conversation.
“Hey, did you drop your stuff off at the house?” Mindy asked.
“Yes ma’am. I sure did. Thank you again.”
“All right, your turn. I’m done with this place for the day.” Mindy threw her hands up dramatically.
“Fine, I’ll take,” Lilly said, grabbing the books to do paperwork.
“Caine said he might be back tonight, but he is not sure yet,” Mindy told her while she closed down her register.
“I thought he was supposed to be out of town for two weeks at least?” Lilly asked.
“He was. His business venture ended sooner than expected, and he was able to make it back late last night.”
“Oh. Well, okay then. How was business today?” Lilly asked.
“It was good. Just as good as yesterday, and you want to know the best part? Darren no longer works out there, so you won’t have to see him.” Mindy smiled.
“Really? That just made my day!”
“I figured it would have. I didn’t like him much either, especially after spending a few hours with him last night.”
“Yeah. You owe me, big time,” Lilly joked.
“I know, I know. Trust me, I won’t forget,” Mindy said with her head hung.
“How are things going with that, by the way?”
“With Kyle? They’re great. He’s a sweetheart and has a great personality. Not to mention he’s got a killer body, even if he is slightly shorter than me.”
“Ew. Stop,” Lilly said, making a gagging sound.
“Okay. I’ll stop. But only because I’m getting out of here. I’m not sure where things are going with him just yet, but we’ll see.” Mindy walked backward out the door, waving her hands in a motion that looked like she was casting a spell. That is why she’s my best friend.
As the night went on, Lilly thought about her house and her finances. She decided to bite the bullet and call her landlord, who answered quickly.
“Hey, Mark. It’s Lilly. I know I’m beh—”
“Hey Lilly. Look, I was just about to call you. I had an offer made on the house today that I couldn’t refuse. I signed the paperwork this evening. I wanted to let you know that it’s possible they won’t let you stay there. The lady that’s running things seemed very direct and a little aggressive when I spoke with her earlier. She said she would be changing the locks soon and that she would discuss with the tenant on whether she would allow anyone to stay,” Mark said, nervous and out of breath.
Lilly hung her head. This is exactly what I need right now. Just fucking phenomenal. “Oh. All right. Not a problem,” she said, fighting the tears that were stinging the back of her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Lilly. I really could not refuse their offer.”
“It’s okay, Mark. I understand. Thank you.”
“Bye.” Mark ended the call.
Lilly looked around the bar. It was empty. She had a few minutes before the contractors started piling in. She walked to the back of the bar and buried her face in her hands. She sat like that for at least ten minutes before she attempted to regain her composure. Her mom had always told her that crying didn’t fix anything, but sometimes it wasn’t about fixing anything.
Sometimes she just needed to cry to get it out of her system.
Lilly walked to the bathroom and looked at her reflection. Her makeup bag sat on the counter of the bar, and she reapplied her eyeliner in an effort try to hide the fact that she cried off the first layer she applied this morning. Wiping her face one more time and flashing herself a fake smile in the mirror, Lilly walked out front, her determination and confidence radiating off her. Or, at least, that was what she hoped it was that people saw when they looked at her. She was good at hiding her feelings, but she tried hard to appear confident. Appearance was everything.
Lilly made her way back out front just in time for the front door to swing open. Fifteen to twenty construction workers poured in. They were covered in asphalt, smelled of sweat mixed with tar, and they all had smiles.
“Boss man isn’t going to have a choice but to give us a bonus. We finished this job in two days flat, and it looks damn good,” she heard one of the guys say when he sat down. Walking over to take their order, she heard a few cat calls from somewhere back in the crowd of workers standing before her.
“Aren’t you the one that Darren went to dinner with last night?” one of the guys asked.
“Yes, I am. But I don’t see how it is of any concern to you,” she said. “Now what can I get y’all to drink?” she asked with a smile.
The men ordered what they wanted. The one who asked her about Darren came up to the bar a little while later.
“I didn’t mean any harm in my question. I was just curious about the woman who finally gave him a good blow to his ego. He needed that,” the guy said and offered Lilly what appeared to be a sincere and apologetic smile. Lilly smiled back at him.
“Thanks.” She stuck her hand out to him. “I’m Lilly.”
“Scott. It’s nice to meet you,” he said. “So, how long have you been working here, Lilly?”
“I’ve been here for about two months. Not long. What about you? How long have you been in construction?”
“Well, I’ve worked for the same guy for the past six years.”
“Really? You must have a good relationship with your boss.”
“You could say that. He’s a real good friend of mine.”
“I think that’s awesome. I don’t even know my boss yet,” Lilly said.
“Really? Wasn’t he in earlier today?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t here.”
She spent the next two hours talking with Scott. He seemed like the kind of person who would make a good friend, one that you could confide in and tell all your secrets to. Not that she was going to, but that’s just the kind of person he seemed to be.
At eleven thirty, everyone had left except for Scott.
Lilly finished up closing the bar. “All right darlin’, I’m almost all done here. You can go ahead and leave. I won’t be far behind you,” Lilly said as she finished counting down her register.
“Are you sure?” Scott asked.
“Yes. I’m sure. Thank you, though,” she said, giving him a smile.
“Anytime,” he said, and with that, he headed out the door.
It didn’t take Lilly long to finish cleaning and stocking the bar. Finally, after all her work was done, she sat at the bar scanning the liquor shelf. Her eyes landed on the bottle of Crown Royal on the bottom shelf next to the tire part of the display case. Why the hell not?
She got up and grabbed the bottle. Pouring a shot into a purple and pink shot glass, Lilly stared at it for a moment. She picked up the shot and threw it back.
Damn that burns. She loved her Crown, but sometimes it was not her friend.
Lilly walked over to the jukebox and started playing different pop songs. She played songs that made her happy, especially when she sang them as loud as she could. She took another shot and then another. After a few more shots, she fixed a mixed drink. The bar was empty, and it was just Lilly there to enjoy her own company. Looking over to the pool table, she started to think about the last time she shot pool—it was with Cass. A smirk started to spread on her face.
She walked to the back and grabbed her pool stick. Taking it out of its case, she put it together and walked over to the table. With music blasting through the bar as loud as it would go, Lilly danced around as she racked. Singing Zac Brown Band’s “Different Kind of Fine,” she danced around the pool table and sang into her pool stick.
Leaning down to take a shot, she missed. She started laughing. “This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I have got to do this more often,” she mumbled to herself. Or maybe out loud, but who cares? No one was there to hear it.
Lilly walked back to the bar to grab her drink and poured a shot. The Crown didn’t burn anymore, but then again, nothing did at this point. She was getting hammered and nothing hurt. She wouldn’t let herself get lost in a hole thinking about things that would get her down. Right now was the time for her to enjoy herself. The jukebox switched over to “Uptown Funk,” and Lilly could no longer sit still in her chair. She jumped up and started singing into an empty shot glass, and dancing around the entire bar, pretending to put on a show for a huge crowd of people. She let herself go; she was silly and fun and knew just how idiotic she looked, which made it that much more fun.
She stepped forward, but her foot caught on the back of her heel. Lilly hit the ground.
“Ouch! Son of a bitch.” She sat up and immediately, the room started spinning. Oh shit. No. Bathroom. I need the bathroom. Lilly pushed herself up and sprinted not-so-gracefully to the bathroom in the back.
Lilly spent the next hour throwing up everything but her memories. After she was done, she didn’t have the strength to move.
She passed out on the floor of the bathroom, flat on her back and looking up at the ceiling.
When Lilly began to wake up, she could tell she had not been asleep long. She was still drunk, and she still felt like shit. She blacked out again, waking for moments that only felt worse.
Coming in and out of consciousness, she felt someone lift her up and place her onto what she assumed was the couch in the lounge. Whoever it was had covered her up and turned the light out. Lilly was tired and still highly intoxicated. It must be morning already. Mindy was always taking care of her.
I’ll thank her for that when I wake up, Lilly thought as sleep consumed her.
Lilly woke up to the sound of someone snoring next to her. Shifting under the covers, she opened her eyes slowly. Her thoughts started to filter out, and she was able to start thinking about the night before. She drank alone at the bar and got sick. Alone. Then someone moved her from the bathroom to the lounge. As her eyes came into focus, she looked to her right. A man slept in the chair next to her, his head leaned back and mouth open, snoring to his heart’s content.
“Who the fu—” Lilly began to yell, but all train of thought stopped as Lilly took in the now familiar sight.
Cass’s eyes flew open at the sound of Lilly’s voice. “What? What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked, jumping out of the chair, still half asleep. His eyes scanned the room and, realizing that there was nothing to be concerned with, he sat back down. “Why were you yelling?”
Lilly’s face turned red. She was so confused, and she felt anger rising inside her chest. “I was in the process of going off on the stranger that was sleeping next to me. Now, why the fuck are you here? How did you get in? How did you find me? Why didn’t you wake me up? Oh, and did I mention why the fuck are you here?”
Cass started laughing. “Slow down, Miss Summers. Slow down. One angry question at a time,” he said. “I’m here because I came to check on the progress of the interior remodeling job.”
“So, you’re a contractor?” Lilly asked, puzzled.
“No, not quite.” He grinned. “Lilly, I own the place.”
“What? You’re my new boss?” Lilly felt all the air leave her lungs like he had just punched her in the gut. Her head was spinning, and she wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or Cass, but she wished someone would make it stop.
“You work here?” he asked, but there was nothing to give away what he was thinking.
“Well yeah! What, did you think I just broke into the place to steal some liquor, get shitty, and pass out in the bathroom?” she asked, throwing her hands around and shaking her head in disbelief. He’s joking right now, isn’t he? He has to be joking.
Cass was laughing so hard he almost had tears rolling down his face. “Of course you didn’t. I don’t know what reason I had for you being here, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that.” He tried to catch his breath. When he did, all that remained was his smile. “Now, to answer your other questions, I got in with my key.” He paused to hold up his keys and dangled them in front of Lilly. “I found you because I followed the sound of the loud snoring.”
“Oh, you hush. You should’ve heard yourself just now. I’m pretty sure you were pretending to be a motorcycle.”
“Hey, that’s a good one,” Cass said, an even bigger smile plastered across his face. My god that smile. I’m dreaming, aren’t I? I have to be.
“Wait, I thought the new owner’s name was Caine. Mindy told me today that his name is Caine.” Lilly said with renewed suspicion.
“My name is Caine. My real name. I go by Cass, though, obviously,” he said.
“Oh.” Lilly’s head was swarming with questions that she didn’t have the energy to ask. He was her new boss, he left her in Houston, he found her drunk and passed out in the bar, and then he stayed to watch guard over her while she slept instead of leaving her and going home. What in the hell makes a man do any of those things? He disappeared and just as quickly as he disappeared, he reappeared. Her head throbbed again, reminding her that she was probably still drunk.
“What time is it?” Lilly asked, lying back down on the couch.
“Five thirty,” Cass said matter-of-factly.
Lilly groaned. “Why am I awake?”
“Because I pretended to be a motorcycle while I was asleep?”
Lilly smiled. “Yes. That’s exactly why. Maybe I can do the same,” she said as she rolled over, facing the wall. I’m exhausted and still a little drunk, there is a gorgeous man next to me that I’ve been dreaming about for a solid two weeks now, and I haven’t touched him. He left me though. He just walked out. Why should I go out of my way to try to talk to him?
“Hey.” Cass rubbed her shoulder.
“Hmm?” she mumbled, half asleep.
“Do you want some company on that couch?” he asked.
“Umm. Yeah, I guess,” she said hesitantly.
Lilly felt the cushion sink in when Cass snuggled in behind her. He shifted a couple times, changing positions.
“No, this isn’t working for me.” He put one arm underneath her and the other around her and lifted her up to position her on top of him.
“Just put me where you want me, then,” Lilly fussed. Snuggling into his chest as she had when they were in Houston, Lilly embraced the moment, fighting the urge to sleep. However, alcohol and exhaustion mixed together outweighed her fight and, before she knew it, she was fast asleep in Cass’s arms once again.