Kara
I spent the day cleaning up while Slade’s at work. I cleaned his bathroom, dusted his furniture, vacuumed his floors, and did some laundry. I only have so many outfits here, so I have to keep cleaning them or run to my house for more. I went out to the store to get some frames for the pictures we had taken at the park, and set them up in the living room. Slade has very few pictures up, and the ones he has are of his mom. She was a beautiful woman. I got to get a closer look at them for the first time today while I was dusting. Slade is a male version of her. They have the same hair color, eyes, and even their nose is similar. I can’t help but smile as I place the frames back on the shelf he has set up on.
When I’m satisfied with the cleaning, I jump into the shower to get ready for work. Since, it’s not singles night, I can wear whatever I want. I throw on a pair of shredded shorts and a cute tank top. I curl my hair to perfection, pinning a few pieces back out of my face. I know I’m going to get hot and end up putting it up anyway. I check my watch, Slade will be home shortly to make us dinner before I have to leave. He put a turkey meatloaf together this morning and asked me to put it in the oven for him. I got some music going and then wandered into the kitchen to preheat the oven. Slade is so cute, he left me a note with directions. It includes the temp of the oven, what time I should start it, and that the oven will beep when it’s at the correct temp. I wish I could cook, I’ve tried. My mom has tried so hard to teach me, but I just manage to burn it or it tastes horrible. The oven beeps, I grab the meatloaf, and slip it into the oven. I start dancing around the kitchen to Usher when I hear the door open.
Slade walks in wearing black slacks and a gray button-down shirt. He looks hot. “Hey, sexy.” I grab his shirt and pull him toward me. I reach up on my tiptoes to press my lips to his. “Meeting today?” I question.
“Yeah, Zane and I had a meeting with a client. I have another one Monday to help a company secure their building.”
He has a look of concern on his face. “What is it?”
“I have to be at work early on Monday. The owner needs to go through the building with me first thing in the morning. That means I won’t be here to take you to the gym.”
“Slade, don’t stress it. I’ll be fine. If you want, I’ll even call one of the guys to meet me in the lot and walk me in.” I can see he’s internally struggling with this.
He shakes his head. “I guess that’s going to have to do for now. Things have been quiet, let’s hope it stays that way. Do me a favor and text me once you’re inside.”
“You got it.” I give him a sexy smile, hoping to settle him down a bit.
“Thanks for starting dinner. I’m going to change and I’ll come finish it off.” I follow him to the bedroom, lean against the door, and watch him strip. He is so deep in thought he doesn’t even realize I’m there. I walk into the bathroom to throw on some makeup. When I finish, he’s in the kitchen making potatoes and steamed asparagus. I love asparagus and he knows it. We’ve had many conversations about the vegetables we both like and don’t like. I’m happy that we’re pretty much on the same page as far as that goes. There are a few things I promised him I would try like Brussels sprouts. He says he makes them really good, but I never really liked them.
Once we’re done cleaning up from dinner, Slade drives me to Thrive. He walks me in to make sure I’m safe, and then takes off after kissing me goodbye. He’s coming back a little before closing to hang out for our last drink of the night and we’ll go home together.
“Hey, girl,” Shawna greets me.
“Hey, Shawna. Do you know who I’m working the bar with tonight?”
“No, Kelly requested the night off.”
“You’re working it with me.” Dillon walks in the employee room.
“Oh cool.” I can’t help but smile as Shawna gushes over him. They’re both single and Shawna has a huge crush on him, but she won’t say anything.
“I thought so. I hear you kick ass behind the bar.” He smiles.
I laugh. “I don’t know about all that. I’ll definitely bust my ass.”
He laughs. “Let’s go see what we have to do to set up the bar.” The two of us walk out and Shawna stays frozen in her place.
“Let’s go, Shawna.” I hear her sigh and she runs up behind us.
Shane is at the first bar when we get out there. “Hey, sis. You and Dillon are on bar one tonight.”
I nod my head and hug my brother-in-law. I jump in, checking the bottles, while he and Dillon talk. I can hear him telling Dillon he better keep an eye on me where Noah’s concerned. Part of me wants them to blacklist him, but they haven’t, and they really have no reason to other than it would make my life less stressful.
Dillon steps behind the bar. “What do we need?”
I give him a list of things to grab from the back while I cut some fruit for our tray. Shane and Dillon come back with liquor and beer for our bar. We get busy putting it away. The club will be opening shortly, which means Shane is about ready to give his nightly speech. Almost every shift he talks to us about running a smooth ship and calling for backup if we need it. He is known for keeping his eye on the cameras while he works, and he gets pissed if he sees you’re overwhelmed and you didn’t call for backup. One of the things we pride ourselves on is cleanliness and good customer service. He doesn’t want patrons waiting for drinks.
When he’s finally done with his little speech of the night, he gives the DJ a thumbs up to start the music, and he tells Jonah to open the doors. In minutes, people are flowing through, filling the place up. This place will be full in a matter of an hour and there will be a line down the street of patrons waiting to get in until about midnight. At that point, they start to give up and go to another club. I think that’s why we fill up so quickly. No one wants to wait in line to never make it in. It’s definitely a good thing for us.
Dillon is on one side of the bar flipping bottles and having a blast while I’m on the other mixing drinks and serving beers. I’m not on bar one often. I’m usually on bar two. It’s the slower of the two bars, and I end up making a lot of the shots that get purchased on the floor. I’m not sure what made him put me here tonight, but I’m going to bust my ass to prove I can handle it. I’m one of the newest bartenders in this club, and by that I mean newest at mixing drinks. All the other bartenders he’s hired have come from other clubs. We have a bit of a rep and as soon as an ad is posted that we’re hiring, people jump on it because word has gotten out that Logan is an awesome owner and he takes care of his people.
A group of girls slip into the stools in front of me. “Hey, ladies, what can I get you?”
One of them is wearing a really hot tight dress. She has pretty long hair and bright blue eyes. They’re scanning my body, making me a tad self-conscious. She gives me a dirty grin. “What time you get off?”
“Why?” I chuckle.
“Want to hook up?”
I laugh. “Sorry, love, I’m spoken for. Can I get you a drink?”
“A Cosmo, and I don’t see a ring on your finger.”
I make her Cosmos and place it down on the bar. “I have a boyfriend and he’ll be picking me up, but thanks for the offer.” I wink, trying to take the sting out of rejecting her. I’m not into women and if I were, I would never cheat.
She shrugs her shoulders. “Your loss.” She winks and walks away with her girls following her. She looks like she’s part of the mean girls clique. I shake my head and go back to serving drinks.
This place is packed and the night is flying by. I’ve decided that I like working bar one, it is way busier than the other bar. “Dillon, I need more Bud Light.” He presses his earwig and calls Shane to run for us. It’s far too busy for either of us to leave, and with Kelly off tonight, we’re a little shorthanded. Shane doesn’t employ a ton of excess staff because we all want a ton of hours. He only has one or two that work as backups, and one of them is slow as shit, so Shane would never have her work on a Saturday night and backups aren’t allowed to be runners. That’s one of Logan’s rules after he was robbed by one of his own employees.
Shane gets to the bar with the beer and he loads it into the cooler to keep it cold. He checks some bottles to see if we’re getting low on anything else, and when we both tell him we’re good, he takes off to check on the other bar. I wipe down the bar from some patrons that left and as soon as I’m done, more take a seat. This time when I look up, I discover one of them is Noah. I need to play it cool, because I know as soon as Shane finds out, he will pull him and call Cooper. “Hey, Noah. What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my favorite girl and get a drink.”
“What can I get you?” I put a napkin down in front of him.
“A beer will be fine.” I pull out a bottle of beer, pull the cap, and toss it in the trash.
“Five dollars.” He hands me the five plus a two dollar tip that I throw in our tip jar. I get busy serving a few other patrons, and then tell Dillon that Noah is here and he needs to call Shane back. I normally have an earwig too, but mine wasn’t working properly, so I told Shane we could manage with only one.
I make my way back over to check on Noah. “How’s working at Vixen?” Even in the poor lighting I can see his eyes are dark and glazed. He’s definitely on something.
“It’s okay, but I really miss you. I wish you would work this out with me.”
I lick my lips, trying to figure out what to say. There’s no way I’m giving him another chance with the stuff he’s pulled, plus Slade treats me way better than he ever did. Not to mention our chemistry is way hotter too. “I know you do, and I’m sorry it didn’t work out. You’re a great guy, but you need to get yourself away from that guy. He’s bad news.”
“It’s too late for that,” he growls as I mix a drink for another patron.
Shane comes up behind Noah and taps him on the shoulder. “Come on.”
“Where we going?” Noah looks scared.
“To my office.” Jonah appears with him in case he gives him any grief, but he doesn’t, he goes quietly.
The club is finally closed, and I’d be lying if I said it was an easy finish to the night. I was so distracted I kept apologizing to Dillon. I’m just thankful last call was announced shortly after they pulled Noah to the backroom. As soon as we’re done, Dillon tells me to go. I give him a quick hug, thanking him, and run to the back. I knock on the office door, and Shane shouts for me to come in. My father, Logan, Slade, Jonah, and Shane are all sitting in this tiny office with Noah on the couch, rocking. “He’s strung out on something,” my father sighs.
“Has he told you anything?”
“Yeah, he’s not bouncing for the club. He’s been getting him Narcan from the hospital. Higgins pays him for it and gives him free drugs.” Shane stands from behind his desk. “He’s a mess and probably scared.”
My father adds, “Higgins is using the Narcan to recover clients who are overdosing so he doesn’t have to call an ambulance. If Noah’s there, he injects it for him. It keeps the drug dealing on the down low.”
I walk up to him and squat in front of him. His eyes meet mine and a small smile spreads across his face. “You have to help us pin Higgins. It’s the only way for you to get out of this. If you don’t, he’s going to end of up killing you.”
He continues to rock. “Why bother? I’m going to lose my job and I’ve already lost you.”
“You can pull yourself out of this. You can go to rehab and find another job. There’s plenty of things you can do once you’re clean.” I’m trying to keep my voice gentle. I care for him and I don’t want to see him wind up dead.
“I don’t know.” He bites his lip contemplating what to do.
“I’m going to take you in. You can spend the night at the precinct, and once you’ve sobered up we’ll chat again.” Cooper pulls handcuffs from his belt.
“Do you have to handcuff me?” Noah’s eyes look so sad. I think it’s in that moment he realizes just how bad he’s messed up.
“I’m sorry, but I do.”
Noah closes his eyes. I back away and he stands slowly. He looks at my father and says, “I never meant to hurt her. I only wanted to give her the world. I just got in too deep.” My father is trying to hold onto his control. He nods and handcuffs Noah.
I stare at the door as my father walks out with my ex-boyfriend in handcuffs. I’m frozen in my place, not sure what to think or say. “Are you okay?” Shane comes over to me.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know how to feel. I was with him for a while, and although it didn’t work between us, this isn’t what I want for him.”
“Come on, baby. I’ll get you out of here.” I glance up to see Slade on the other side of me. I can tell by the look on his face he’s concerned for me. I nod in agreement. He takes my hand and walks me out to his car. I’m silent the entire ride home. I guess the fact that Noah isn’t just involved in working at Vixen and is actually using and selling stolen medicine to him has hit me hard. I sit staring out the window, trying to figure out when he got in so deep and how come I didn’t pick up on it sooner. I don’t remember seeing him strung out on drugs at any point, but I guess that could be why he started avoiding me in the end. He probably didn’t want me to see him such a mess. Things are starting to add up now.
“Baby, we’re home.” Slade voice is gentle and full of concern.
Shit. I was so deep in thought I hadn’t noticed him pull into the driveway. “I’m sorry, Slade.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, but it’s getting late, and you have to work tomorrow night. Let’s get inside.” He jumps out of the car and runs to my side, opening my door for me. I look up at him, completely drained. He puts his hand out and I happily take it.
When we get into the house, he locks the door and I go straight to his room. I’m exhausted, I just want to change and crawl into bed. By the time he locks up his gun and changes, I’m already settled with my head resting on the pillow, staring into space.
He spoons me from behind. “Do you want to talk?”
“No, I just want you to hold me close.”
“Aww, baby. I’ll never let you go.” He presses his body to mine and holds me while my mind races. It takes me a bit but I finally pass out.