Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Maybe her date is running late.
I’ve been up at the booth for fifteen minutes or so. A little less, because I didn’t start my set at eight sharp like I was supposed to. Thea Storm kept me at bay, and I don’t regret a second I had her hot little body in my grasp.
I’ve been going through the motions, playing one song after another without really thinking about it. The beginning of the night is usually pretty easy—play a bunch of upbeat songs that get people moving. Get the mood up, make it more likely that people will wear themselves out and hit up one of the bars. That’s where Jade makes the bulk of its money. Since we distill all our own booze, we can mark up the prices for a huge profit. The covers also help, but they contribute less to our income than you’d think.
They contribute even less after I let hot women in for free.
Why’d I do that? I knew Thea had a date coming, so she wouldn’t be going home with me no matter what.
Maybe I could charge her date double.
That would show him for being late.
How could anyone be late for a date with Thea Storm? She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. Even more gorgeous than Gloriana, who most of the men in this club go crazy for. She’s never done much for me. Guess I don’t have a thing for blondes.
But brunettes with huge tits? Those get my engine running like nothing else.
Plus that damned gingham dress gives her a farm girl energy that is surprisingly sexy.
I’m staring at her again.
Damn.
At least the beginning set is easy to phone in. It’s later in the evening when I have to lock in more. Read the room, determine when it’s time to alter the mood. I have to be careful about slow songs in particular. They allow people with partners to enjoy each other’s company more intimately but might also ostracize people who came by themselves or with friends.
Of course, they might also drive those groups to the bars.
It’s a meticulous process, one I’ve gotten pretty good at.
I don’t know how I’m going to be able to focus as long as I can see Thea, though.
Maybe I’ll move around. Avert my gaze. Face that asshole Wick in the West section.
Yeah. Wick’s his name. No kidding. Short for Wickliffe. Wickliffe Blackwood. Kin’s brother. Not that you’d be able to tell. They’re as different as night and day.
And if Kin is day, Wick is night. If the essence of darkness had a baby with the Grim Reaper, it’d be him.
Wick’s never done anything wrong, and he’s a great bartender. Lots of women—and a decent number of men—seem to be drawn to his dark aura.
But I get a bad feeling about him.
I don’t want to look at him either. I instead face South. Scarlet is holding that section down. She tends to gravitate in that direction because she and Gloriana are good friends. Leo is in North, where a dozen men at a bachelor party are consuming their collective body weight in beer. Leo is barely able to make it to the bar before they call him over for another round.
What about Jackie? Where’s Jackie?
Jackie Carver, my third and final waitress. She’s the most vulnerable of my three waitstaff—and that’s saying something from what I’ve gleaned about Scarlet and Leo’s respective backstories—so I’m checking on her more often. She’s a recovering drug addict. She spent her twenties in and out of every rehab in the Chicago metropolitan area, and while she seems stable now, one misstep could trigger a relapse, and I don’t want that for her. It doesn’t help that she’s surrounded by booze, which is forbidden by her Narcotics Anonymous group even though she was never an alcoholic.
And… oh, fuck. She’s in West.
Wick is making eyes at her. He always makes eyes at her. I don’t know if she’s ever gone for him. I don’t know if she even likes guys. I have a hard time getting a read on Jackie. She’s never flirted with me, which—not to toot my own horn—is rare.
Jackie is keeping her distance from Wick, so I return to the East.
Thea is still sitting there, her entire poise slightly deflated. Is this fucker seriously standing her up? Standing up Thea Storm? He doesn’t know how lucky he is that he landed a date with her, and now he can’t even fucking show up?
It pisses me off, but I’m also feeling a surge of joy—not to mention direct blood flow to my dick.
I can swoop in on my next break and comfort her. Tell her this guy’s an asshole who doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it. Tip her chin up, brush a tear off her cheek. Act like asking her out isn’t a premeditated act.