*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***
“You wanted to see me?” Kane questioned Luke as he made his way through the office door.
“Shut the door, please,” Luke replied, not bothering to look up from his computer.
Kane closed the door behind him, then moved to the single chair sitting opposite Luke’s large desk.
While his boss continued with what he was working on, Kane admired the changes to the office. Before Luke had met Sierra, his office had been just short of a supply closet, although some designer had attempted to give it a personable feel, but had only managed to make it worse. If that had even been possible.
Now, the office seemed larger, partly due to the large window overlooking the entire main floor of the club that had been added at Sierra’s request. Definitely an improvement. But, then again, there’d been quite a few improvements to Luke since he’d begun sharing his life with Sierra and Cole.
“I wanted to talk to you about your job,” Luke stated, looking rather grim and making Kane panic somewhat.
His job? Hell, this couldn’t have been about his vacation could it? He hadn’t taken any time off for almost four years, until his recent trip to Hawaii. Surely, Luke wasn’t upset about that.
“All right.” Kane wasn’t sure where this was leading, but he was getting more and more anxious the longer Luke stalled.
“I think you’re time as the bar manager has run its course, don’t you?”
What. The. Fuck.
Kane stared back at Luke as confusion and more importantly fear, churned inside of him. “Do you have a problem with the way I manage the bar?”
If Luke had a problem, he’d never once voiced his concerns.
“Not specifically, no.”
“What the hell is going on, Luke?”
A mischievous grin tilted Luke’s mouth, successfully pissing Kane off. Thankfully, although Luke was his boss and Kane had a high respect for the man, they had developed a fairly close relationship over the years.
“I know you haven’t heard everything about what’s been going on with the club, but I’m looking to make some changes. And I need someone that I trust to take over a few things for me.”
That caught Kane’s attention. Hopefully, it meant he wasn’t getting canned.
“And that means what for me?” And Lucie? Kane didn’t ask the second part, but he was just as much interested in any changes that might impact his future wife as he was himself.
“I need someone to manage the membership of my other club,” Luke replied.
“No offense, but I don’t know what that means. You’ve got another club?”
“I do. It’s actually in this building.”
Could the man be any vaguer? Kane couldn’t help but wonder as he waited patiently for Luke to enlighten him.
“We’ve seen too many problems lately, which is why I temporarily shut the doors. Now I’ve got Trent breathing down my neck. He’s not interested in keeping the doors shut for long, and he wants to know what we’re going to do. This is the first of the changes I’m looking to implement.”
“Who’s Trent?”
“Trent Ramsey,” Luke answered easily. “He’s a silent partner, well, he was silent until recently.”
“Trent Ramsey?” Kane asked, stupefied. “The Trent Ramsey?” Holy shit. Was it even possible?
“That’d be the one.”
“And you want me to manage the membership of the swinger’s club?”
“Well, that and the fetish club.”
“What fetish club?” Kane asked, still trying to keep up. He was having difficult thanks to Luke’s evasiveness.
“The Club at Club Destiny.” Luke pulled out a folder from the top drawer of his desk and pushed it toward Kane. “We’ve managed to keep the club out of the media, which is the reason we have the main club. It’s safer that way. With the member’s that we draw, their anonymity is crucial to our success. However, after what we’ve recently gone through, I’ve decided to take a different approach to membership. That’s where you come in.”
Kane read the information in the folder, what little bit that there was, before turning back to look at Luke. “Who will take over my position as bar manager?”
Luke didn’t hesitate with his next answer. “Lucie.”
Kane stared blankly at his boss. “You want Lucie to manage the bar?”
“You don’t think she can handle it?”
“Not at all.” That didn’t come out right. “I mean, yes, I think she can handle it. She’ll probably do a better job than I can. Everyone loves her, and she’s one of the hardest working people I know.”
“I figure now that she has you in her life, where you should’ve been all along,” Luke offered, “she’ll have a little more time to devote to the club. You’ll have the flexibility to make your own hours, work more at home if you’d like which should allow Haley to see the two of you more often. What do you think?”
Kane wanted to jump up and down and say yes, but he knew he had to talk to Lucie first. He’d made the mistake of talking to Luke for her once before, and he wasn’t willing to do it again.
“I think you should talk to her first. Then she and I can discuss our options.” Kane answered. “And if she doesn’t want to?”
“Will you base your decision on what she wants?” Luke questioned.
“Not necessarily, no. If she doesn’t want to manage the bar, that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in this opportunity. Just as long as it doesn’t affect her job.”
“Lucie and I have a strange relationship, I realize that.” Luke stated calmly. “I respect her, although I sometimes question her reasoning.”
“I’m sure she’d say the same about you.” Kane laughed. Luke wasn’t known for his rational thinking most of the time.
“I’m sure she would.” Luke answered with a laugh of his own. “If you don’t mind, ask her to come see me when you get back downstairs. And, I’d appreciate you getting back to me quickly on this. Trent is looking to move forward soon. He’s a little concerned about the Walker’s resort. He’s not willing to be outdone, so I think it’s safe to assume there are more changes in the works.”
Kane nodded his head in agreement, and then left Luke’s office. As soon as he saw Lucie by the bar, he told her that Luke wanted to speak with her. She looked a little concerned, but she stood up straight and made her way upstairs.
Kane wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but he knew one thing for sure. This time, the two of them would work together to determine what was best for their future.
He wouldn’t want it any other way.
~~*~~
Lucie was still reeling from her conversation with Luke by the time her shift was over the following morning. As she waited for Kane to finish with his inventory, she replayed the conversation over and over in her mind and still came up with the same conclusion. This was an amazing opportunity, and she had wanted to jump at the offer as soon as Luke told her, but she knew she had to talk to Kane first. She’d learned the hard way exactly what it meant to make decisions without thinking them all the way through.
“You ready?”
Lucie took Kane’s hand when he offered it, following him out to the garage. They’d started going in to work together after she’d agreed to move in with him. Kane had convinced her that it was inevitable and since she had so many concerns about the neighborhood she had been living in as it was, she couldn’t come up with a good excuse to say no. She was pretty sure Erika was much more comfortable going back to Kane’s house with Haley as well.
“So, what did you think about Luke’s offer?” Kane asked as they pulled out of the garage.
She smiled over at him, barely able to contain her excitement. Luke hadn’t gone into explicit detail about what Kane would be doing, but he’d alluded to the fact that it would be a step in the right direction for him. The way Luke had expressed his trust in Kane had made Lucie beam with pride. He deserved this chance. She just wasn’t sure she deserved anything more than what she had at the moment.
Not that she had told Luke as much.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for you,” she admitted, turning to face out the window once more.
“What about you?” he asked, and Lucie knew he was aware of the offer Luke had given her.
“Do you think I can do it?” She wasn’t going to ask whether she deserved it because she knew Kane wouldn’t tell her no.
She had her own doubts, but since she was only interested in doing what was best for Haley, she wasn’t going to make decisions based on her own self-doubt. She was moving forward, and the mistakes of her past were just that. She knew she had to overcome them eventually and dwelling on them didn’t help the situation.
“I think you’ll be fantastic,” Kane said with a smile. “Everyone loves you. You already know everything there is to know about managing the bar as it is.”
True. Lucie had been around long enough to know the ins and outs of Kane’s job. She’d even backed him up once or twice over the years. She just hadn’t thought this was ever even a possibility.
“What did you tell Luke?” Lucie asked, realizing he might’ve already taken the job.
“I told him he needed to talk to you, and that we’d decide what was best for the three of us at that point.”
Lucie’s heart swelled to near bursting. It was hard to even imagine that her life would’ve gotten to this point. After so many speed bumps along the way, it was still hard to believe that she had somehow made it to this point. To have Kane’s love was one of the greatest gifts she had ever known. And now that they were working together to raise their daughter, everything just seemed to be as it should be.
Although she’d love to be able to go back and change the way she handled things, she knew that no matter how they got to this point, it was where they were supposed to be. It felt right.
And that’s exactly what she told Kane.
The smile he beamed at her made her heart leap with joy. They’d finally done it.
They’d finally managed to secure their happily ever after.