CUFF ME Daddy:A Single Dad, Police Officer Romance
CHAPTER ONE – STARLA JONES
If one more asshole decides to pinch my ass today, I’m going to go slap the stupid right out of him!
I caught a glance of myself in the mirror behind the bar while I tallied up for the night. My long, dark hair was disheveled and falling from its clip, my cheeks were stained with patchy blush that had worn from the day’s heat, and my mascara was a smudgy mess. At least my boobs had pulled their weight and earned me my usual hefty tips. Sadly, the men at the bar didn’t always know how to keep their hands to themselves and tonight was going to be one of those nights when I’d have to seriously hold back from grabbing the Glock .28 I had hidden behind the bar.
I’d cut my full-time school schedule short to help out, and there were plenty of days like today when I’d regretted it. My dream was to earn my degree as a social worker and make my way out of the rough side Chicago, but for now, Lu needed me more. Those goals had to be put to the side. For now, my only ambitions involved not being groped by older men, and avoiding vomit on me at any given point of the night.
Talk about an over-achiever, right?
All I knew was that I hated the job most when there wasn’t any muscle around to keep an eye on things. It should have been my brother Scott’s job, as he was the manager of the place, but as usual, he was off doing God-knows-what with his new thug friends. He’d left me and my grandmother hanging once again, and she was sitting out on the floor talking to two assholes that refused to leave until their beers were finished.
If anyone could speed them up without getting their hackles up, it was my grandmother: Luna Jones; Lu to the regulars. She’d opened the bar thirty-five years ago despite being a single mom to my own mother. She had a way about her and could charm the devil with a matchstick when she wanted to. She’d also tell a joke or two, and you can bet she’d out-cuss any truck driver or sailor, all while looking like Betty White’s sweeter sister. At least until she opened her mouth.
My brother was a different story. Scott never really wanted to deal with the bar, but since he was the oldest boy and the apple of Lu’s eye, she wanted him to look like a big shot, which would be fine if he didn’t leave me to do all his work. Truth was, Lu was still in charge around the place, and anyone that didn’t think so was a fool.
Lu had raised us both to be strong and independent and she’d always been a strong role model for me by teaching me strong work ethics and responsibility, but it was harder for Scott. He never had the strong male role model of a father to look up to, which I believe was the reason he got mixed up with the wrong crowd.
Penny, our oldest and most dependable waitress, walked up beside me patting her jet black hair which she’d done up with so much hairspray that there was no denying she’d been around in the eighties. “I wish they’d leave. I’d hoped Lu would have run them out by now.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t lose hope quite so fast. Lu has a way with people that can’t be measured.” I met her eyes in the mirror, and we both glanced behind us to the reflection of the men across the room with Lu. They were both laughing it up, and from the looks of it, their beers were almost empty.
I brushed my hair off my shoulders and fanned my neck. “It’s hot as fish grease in here tonight. I wish Scott would just stay around long enough to fix the damned AC.”
“You ain't lying. We had a few complaints, but I think they just wanted free beer.” She took off her apron and grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler. “I still can’t believe Otis quit. He’s been here damned near ten years.”
“The old fart did his time for sure, and I can’t really blame him for leaving. Atleast he said he has the perfect replacement, so instead of running an ad I’m going to see if the guy works out. He’s coming in tomorrow to meet me and Lu, but he sounded okay over the phone.”
Penny gave me a nudge. “Might be nice if he’s something to look at too. We could use a hot man around here for a change.”
“Come on, you mean to tell me Otis didn’t do it for you?” I couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction. She’d scrunched up her face and let out a howling sound.
“No thanks, girl. That man is a hot mess in too many ways.”
When he was first hired on, she had a crush on him that lasted about a week. Otis was a little out there, and whatever she’d learned about him, she’d kept to herself. I glanced back at the men who were finally getting to their feet. Lu was standing a good arm’s length away as she herded them out the door like cattle.
“Thank God,” Penny mumbled as she grabbed the bar mop and bussed the table. She had it done and was on her way back to the bar before Lu left the front door.
Lu watched the men leave and then came to hover over my shoulder. “I set enough cash aside to get this damned AC fixed. I can’t tell if it’s summer or if I’m having a hot flash.” She reached into the pile of money and grabbed out four crisp hundreds. “This should cover it. And sweetie, be here at nine in the morning. We’re interviewing that man, and if he works out, I want you to give him the test to see if he knows his way around his drinks. Otis is going to be hard to replace, but at least he didn’t leave us hanging without any options.”
“We’ll see. With any luck, this one can mix a drink and bounce too. We could use a little muscle around here again. God knows Scott’s useless. He’s not even here to know what’s happening. And, please don’t make excuses for him, Lu. You know it better than I do that he’s got something fishy going on.”
Lu glanced around at Penny who was going through her handbag looking for her nightly smoke. She’s had the same ritual every night for as long as I’d known her and sure enough, she pulled it out, placed it between her lips, and fired it up. She turned and waved as she headed out. Lu watched her until she got in her car.
When it was just the two of us, Lu came back to the bar. “You don’t have to let God and everybody know that Scott’s up to something. The last thing we need is talk like that, especially if he really is.” Her brow creased with worry and she bit her thumbnail, which she had a habit of doing when she was nervous.
“I’m just saying, it’s getting so bad that he’s never here anymore and when he does show up he’s got those thugs with him. They aren’t his type of friends. Then to make things worse, they stay here all hours of the night.” I shook my head. “They’re up to something. It’s eating at Scott too, I can tell. I know him better than anyone, even you.”
“Let’s just focus on what we can control.” It was what she always said when it came to Scott. I could see the worry on her face was just as deep as mine, however. We were losing my brother, and while I knew the thought of it was more than she could stomach, ignoring that there was a problem wasn’t going to make it any better.
Scott had never been in trouble before, but he was impressionable and easily led, especially if something he cared about was on the line. I had a feeling those men were using him, and not just because they weren’t his normal type of friends. I could tell that he was terrified of them, that the stress of having them around was eating him alive. And every time I’d ask him about them, he’d give me the same answer. ‘They’re just friends, don’t worry about it and stay out of it’. The fear in his eyes when he’d said it was a warning and so far I had taken heed.
I’d also done a little digging around myself. I’d seen a few things, heard them too, and though I felt as though they were using the bar for something, I hadn’t figured out what. I knew as much to guess that it was either drugs or dirty money; probably both. All I knew was that they’d wait for the bar to clear out and then pull around back. Whatever they were loading and unloading had to be illegal or else it wouldn’t be a big damned secret.
I’d learned to play dumb, even when it came to Scott, but I feared that the longer it went on, the closer I got to losing my brother.
Lu placed her hand on my arm. “Stop worrying, Starla. It won’t do either of us any good, and we’ve got enough on our plate. I’m hoping we don’t have to train this new guy for long, and if he shows up looking like one of Otis’ drunken fishing buddies, then he’s out. I’ll run the damned bar myself before I’d let that happen.”
I wondered if Lu’s concerns were warranted, and cringed at the thought of running the bar without the proper help. Only time could tell what tomorrow’s interview had in store. I just hoped this guy knew how to work under pressure.