Power Play. Beverly Long

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СКАЧАТЬ pretty new to the area.”

      She nodded.

      “Anthony’s not going to sleep until I assure him that everything is just fine.”

      “Of course,” she said quickly. “I’ve just been so busy. Working, you know.”

      “Sure.”

      The silence stretched on.

      “You’ve...uh...got drinks to deliver,” he said.

      “I do.”

      He stepped aside. She hesitated for only a second and then walked past him. He caught a whiff of a scent—something dark and complex. He went back to his spot, sat on his stool.

      And sipped his Scotch. Trying to get his head straight.

      He’d seen beautiful women before. Dated many. And he’d never had a reaction like this.

      She delivered her drinks and moved onto a middle-aged couple who had empty glasses sitting in front of them. They smiled, then shook their heads. Next stop was a table of three young men. All had beer bottles in front of them, all seemed to be talking at the same time, waving their arms.

      And then one arm reached out and a hand landed on Kellie’s hip.

      He was half off his stool when she gracefully edged away, efficiently clearing up empties. She came back to the bar, set the bottles down and waited to get three fresh ones. Didn’t look his direction. He discreetly picked up his phone, clicked on the camera and took a picture of her. Then he sent the photo of Kellie to Anthony. He added, Eyes on little sister. Working at Lavender. Said she will call you soon.

      Within seconds, he had his reply. Thank you. Now I can go to bed.

      Which is where he probably should be. But Kellie was on her way to deliver beers to the table of drunks.

      When she set down the bottles, she was careful to stand on the other side of the table, away from the idiot who wanted to play grab ass. The man kept his hands to himself but Trey didn’t like the looks he was giving Kellie. And when he said something that she appeared to ignore, Trey wanted to be closer so that he could hear.

      Trey nursed his drink. Kellie moved away from the drunks and slid easily between other tables, clearing glasses, discreetly offering checks in little padded folders. It was fifteen minutes before she walked his direction.

      “It was good of you to come check on me,” she said. “Really.”

      He got the distinct impression she was trying to get him out of the bar. Wasn’t that interesting? “The bartender mentioned that you’d had a hard night.”

      He could tell by the quick press of her lips together that didn’t make her happy. “I had a four-top that had two rounds of drinks and they walked out without paying.”

      “Are you on the hook for that tab?”

      “Yes.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t happen very often. But rent is due next week, so the timing was bad.”

      “How much do you need?” he asked.

      She looked startled. “You don’t even know me.”

      “You’re Anthony’s little sister,” he said. “I would give him the shirt off my back. I can certainly float you some rent money.”

      She stared at him. Her sexy mouth in the shape of a small O.

      And he felt something shift. Something inside of him.

      “Mr. Riker, I can pay my own bills,” she said, her tone a little frosty.

      Damn. “If it makes you feel better, I’d have been willing to charge you outlandish interest,” he said, wanting to get back to where they’d been before he’d offered the money. He sure as hell hadn’t meant to offend her.

      “Tell my brother that I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll call him...really soon.”

      Trey picked up his phone, held it out to her. “I already did.”

      She read the message. “Very efficient.”

      It didn’t sound as if she meant it as a compliment.

      “Well,” she added, “good night.”

      He rather desperately wanted to run his hands through her long blond hair to see if it was as silky as it looked. That likely made him no better than the drunk at the table.

      “Right. Good night,” he said.

      He watched her walk away. Waited until her attention got snagged by a new table in the corner. Then he raised his hand, got the bartender’s attention, and pointed to his glass. “One more,” he said.

      * * *

      Kellie McGarry remembered Trey Riker. And given that she’d been twelve and had only met him once, somebody might think that was odd. But she remembered every trip to drop off Anthony. Every tearful goodbye.

      It had been Anthony’s sophomore year. When they’d arrived at his dorm, Trey was already there, had already hung an ugly picture of flying pigs on his wall.

      She hated that college. Hated that it was taking her brother away from her. It didn’t matter that they’d already been through the drill the previous year. Having him home for the summer had made it a fresh wound.

      Anthony had been her hero. Still was.

      Which made it seem impossible that he was involved in this thing. But the proof had been there in black and white. She couldn’t call him. Not until she figured out what to do.

      She walked through the bar, checking on her tables. People generally sipped drinks at Lavender. Beer went for ten bucks, wine and well drinks for thirteen and brand-name cocktails for sixteen. The bill got big fast if you were pounding them back.

      Every once in a while, there would be somebody who was in a mood to be overserved, but the bartenders at Lavender were well trained to deal with that. Hagney and Bryce, the two behind the bar tonight, wouldn’t hesitate to turn somebody away if necessary.

      She assumed it was Hagney who had talked too much to Trey. Since her very first night at Lavender four months ago, they’d clicked. Not romantically. He had a wife and two little boys at home. But they’d become good friends really fast. He’d been super angry on her behalf when the table had skipped. He probably would have hidden it but the assistant manager had been on the floor and had seen it go down.

      It was likely that part of Hagney’s indignation had stemmed from her reaction, which on most nights would have been quiet indignation that somebody could be so inconsiderate. Tonight, a few tears had slipped out. She’d made up the excuse about rent money being tight, both to Hagney and to Trey later, but that wasn’t the truth. Well, not the whole truth. Rent money was always tight but the tears had slipped out for a much simpler reason.

      Lately, she’d felt like crying about everything.

      But to tell anybody that, and tell them why, СКАЧАТЬ