CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
", you clean up good, Dax!" Kesha whistled as I walked into the empty club after having gone home to get ready for my date with Brooke.
"Thanks, K," I smiled. I'd spent a long time wondering what would impress Brooke the most before finally deciding that if I felt like I had to impress her, I was barking up the wrong tree. I settled on a variation of my daily uniform – black pants, black dress shirt, and a grey sport coat and, of course, my Harley boots. I refused to wear ties or change my footwear to meet any dress codes. If a place didn't let me in, then it was an indication that I was in the wrong place and I left.
"She must be a special woman," Kesha observed as she swept her eyes from head to toe.
"What makes you say that?"
"You ditched the leather jacket," she said with a wiseass grin. "You never ditch that unless it's a funeral or an important chick."
"Good catch, but she's just some chick I met last night," I said trying to maintain a cool exterior. "She's a lawyer, though, so I thought I'd better dress it up a bit."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell it to the judge," Kesha laughed as she checked the bottles behind the bar against the list on her clipboard. "Hey, boss, I've noticed that we have a slight discrepancy between what I'm counting and what the inventory list says we're supposed to have."
"Oh, how so? How much are you short?"
"That's the weird thing, I'm not short," she said as she looked down at the list. "I'm coming up with more bottles on the floor than we got in the shipment. What the hell?"
"That can't be right," I said. "Are you sure you accounted for the breakage? I know we had some bottles smashed in that accident down in storage."
"No, I counted those when it happened," she said shaking her head. "I'm gonna do another count and see what I get. This just doesn't make any damn sense."
"Alright, well, I'm sure it's just a user error," I grinned as I checked my watch.
"Aww, fuck you, man, you know I have a degree in statistics!" she laughed as she squatted down behind the bar and started counting again.
"I'm off, let me know what happens," I said before adding, "Oh, and K?"
"Yeah, boss?" came the voice from behind the bar.
"I'm probably not gonna be back here tonight," I said. "Just saying."
"Gotcha, boss," she yelled. "I've got the place on lock down tonight!"
#
pulled up in front of the address Brooke had given me at precisely eight o'clock. I parked my car in the circular drive and went inside to ask the doorman to let Brooke know I was waiting.
"I'm sorry, sir," he said after holding on the phone for quiet a while. "There's no answer in Miss Raines' residence."
Just then, the elevator doors slid open and out stepped Brooke. The doorman and I both inhaled sharply as she crossed the lobby floor. She was wearing an orangish dress that cut across her voluptuous body at an angle and revealed quite a bit of thigh on one side. The dress clung to her generous curves and reminded me of why I was so deeply attracted to full-bodied women. Her golden blond hair was loosely curled and fell in messy waves around her face, which looked like it had been lightly kissed by the sun. I could feel the blood rushing down between my legs and knew that I had to quickly get a handle on the situation or I'd have some explaining to do.
"You look amazing, Miss Raines," the doorman called as she glided across the floor.
"Thank you, Fred," she smiled as she drew nearer and held my gaze. "And you, Mr. Malone? What do you think?"
"You'll do," I said with a grin. "You clean up good, lady."
"You're not so bad yourself," she grinned back. "Nice pants."
"I thought you'd like these," I smiled. "You hungry?"
"Starving," she nodded. "I haven't eaten all day and it's been a busy one."
"Well, then we'd better get you some food before you attack," I said offering my arm. "Shall we?"
"Indeed, we shall," she nodded as she bit her lip to keep from laughing and took my arm. "See you later, Fred!"
"Have a nice evening, Miss Raines," he called as the desk phone began ringing.
We walked out to the drive and when I led her to the black Mercedes convertible, she let out a low wolf whistle and said, "Whoa, you drive a nice car!"
"This? Aw, it's nothing," I said as I opened the door and helped her into the passenger seat. "I got it at a yard sale. Half price."
I could hear her laughing as I walked around the car and got in. I felt the phone start vibrating in my pocket and when I pulled it out and looked at it I saw that it was Kesha, I looked over at Brooke and said, " I have to take this." She nodded, and I stepped out of the car and answered the call. "What's up?"
"Boss, I redid the count and found the same thing, more bottles than we had delivered," Kesha said.
"Okay, well, there's nothing I can do about it at the moment. So hang on to the list, and we'll talk when I get back," I said irritated that she'd interrupted my date with Brooke for this, but knowing that I'd told her to.
I climbed back into the driver's seat and said, "Sorry about that. Work. You look absolutely stunning, Brooke."
"Aw, this old thing?" she grinned. "I got it half price in a yard sale as a consolation prize."
It was my turn to laugh loudly as I turned the key and started the ignition, and we were off.