“We’ve all had a long day. Pfft … Make that a long fucking week, but you don’t see the rest of us dragging assholes around by their shirt collars.” Country took a step closer as he whispered, “You gotta pull it together, brother.”
“I got it. Enough said.”
“Good. Let’s grab a beer and you can tell me about this shitty day of yours.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”
As we started towards the bar, I couldn’t help but notice the enraged expression on Marlowe’s face as she glared daggers at me. Damn, I don’t think I’d ever seen her look so pissed or so fucking hot. There was nothing sexier than a woman with fire in her eyes, and as I stood there watching her slam glasses down on the counter, I had to fight to keep my mind from going into the gutter. In all honesty, I couldn’t blame her for being pissed. I hadn’t even spoken to her in days, and then I charge in here like a fucking lunatic and drag one of her customers out the fucking door without any explanation. There was no telling what was going through her head. I’d fucked up. I was trying to think of how I could smooth things over when Country leaned toward me and snickered in my ear, “Looks like you have some ’splaining to do, Lucy.”
“Fuck. This day just gets better and better.”
Marlowe was no longer glaring at me. In fact, she was doing everything she could not to look at me as I made my way over to the bar and sat down. I could hear her grumbling under her breath while she filled a couple of orders. As she slid the drinks over to the waitress, her eyes skirted in my direction for only a brief second, then she let out a frustrated sigh and went right back to work. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with childish theatrics, so I snapped, “Are you done?”
“Nope, not even close.” She huffed. “But if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
“Marlowe,” I replied with a warning tone. “That’s enough.”
“You don’t get to tell me ‘that’s enough’!” She stepped closer, trying her best to keep others from hearing as she scolded, “I thought you wanted me to work here because you said I could handle the job. If that’s not the case, then tell me now and I’ll find somewhere else to work!”
Before giving me a chance to respond, she whipped around and started back to work, shutting me down completely. I could’ve pushed and made her listen to me but decided against it. We both needed some time to cool off, so I got up and walked back to the office, where I spent most of the night trying to help Menace get caught up with the books. When it was time to shut down, I went out front to find Marlowe. As soon as I got to the bar, Lisa came over to me and said, “If you’re looking for Marlowe, she’s already gone.”
“What?”
“We were pretty slow, so I told her she could head out.” Lisa shrugged. “Clocked out ten minutes ago.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
Chapter 10
Marlowe
“You want to tell me why you left without telling me you were leaving?”
He was mad. Really mad. It was written all over his irritatingly handsome face. I wasn’t exactly surprised. I’d left without so much as a goodbye, but after the way he’d behaved, I didn’t think he deserved one. “I didn’t realize you were keeping tabs on me. I guess I’ll know better next time.” I crossed my arms and let out a huff. “If there is a next time.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not sure if the club is the right fit for me.”
I actually liked bartending there. Lisa was very easy to work with and the tips were even better than I imagined, but I didn’t want Rafe thinking he needed to babysit me. I’d worked at Crockett’s long enough to know how to handle a rowdy customer or two, and I didn’t need him to jump in and intervene when something didn’t go exactly as planned. Not liking my response, Rafe stepped inside my apartment and closed the door behind him. “And why the hell is that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I’m not trusted to do the job I’ve been hired to do, and before you start in on me, Lisa told me all about Calvin after you disappeared into the office.” I placed my hand on my hip as I continued, “I know all about what he did and the fact he was banned. I also get why you handled things the way you did, but you could’ve given me a heads up. Had I known he wasn’t supposed to be there, I wouldn’t have served him, and I certainly wouldn’t have been nice to the guy.”