Page 55 of Just One More Moment

Raven had no doubt Lance was around, either waiting and watching, or trying to make her nervous. Either way, he was doing a fine job by staying under the radar. But it had only been half a day. For all she knew, this could go on for a long while. She didn’t know how she’d survive the anticipation but she would.

By the time the dinner crowd dispersed and they were into the evening happy hour, Remy remained on a barstool, driving the servers crazy, micromanaging the night.

Paul, their head bartender, pulled Raven aside. “What’s going on with the boss? Why is he watching over us? Does he have trouble with our work?” he asked for all the servers, his brow furrowed in concern.

Raven shook her head and sighed. “Not at all. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him.” Raven pushed aside the iPad and scheduling app she’d been working on and walked over to where Remy sat.

“Can we talk?” she asked.

He looked her over, as if reassuring himself she was fine. “Sure.” He rose to his feet and she led him to his private office and closed the door behind him.

“What’s wrong?”

“This can’t go on, you sitting out front, watching over everyone, questioning their work. They’re worried and when employees are worried, they make mistakes. Drop dishes. Serve the wrong drink.” All things that had happened today. Before he could reply, she told him to sit.

To her surprise, he listened, lowering himself into a chair in front of his desk. The seat didn’t have arms.

She walked over and straddled him, sitting down on his thighs, her pussy settled over his hard cock.

“What are you doing?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Trying to relax you before everyone who works for you walks out all at once.” She rocked her hips and arousal wound its way through her veins.

He braced his hands on her hips and lifted her off him, setting her on her feet. “Not walking around like that all night. Save it until we get home.” His eyes were dark with desire. “But point taken. I’m driving the staff insane. You tell me how to watch over you, then?”

The concern in his voice wrapped itself around her heart. It was something she always wanted to feel.

“How about this? I promise I won’t leave the bar to do anything without letting you know first. I swear.”

He nodded. “I’ll accept that.”

She sighed in relief. “There’s another reason I brought you in here.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

Rising onto her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You didn’t give me a chance to thank you for allowing this. I know it wouldn’t happen if you shut down the idea. So thank you,” she said and pressed her lips to his.

I love you, Remy Sterling, she thought, not saying the words out loud. She promised herself that once Lance was out of her life, those would be the first words she said to this special man.

***

One week passed,then another. After the first seven days, Garrett went back to work, stopping in daily on his lunch hour so Raven could take trips to her favorite coffee shop and an old-fashioned bookstore that was still in existence. No sign of Lance. A rookie friend of Garrett’s replaced him when he needed to work and on the nights Raven had poetry slam, he followed at a discreet distance. Not even Remy clocked his tail.

The longer this went on, the more frustrated both Remy and Raven became, to the point where they were snapping at one another instead of getting along.

Today, Remy gave an agitated Raven a wide berth. He still kept an eye on her but didn’t approach her. She hadn’t gone outside yet and he wondered if being fed up would make her do something rash. What, he didn’t know. Lance had mentioned enjoying their game and he was for sure playing one.

Remy just hoped it didn’t turn dangerous.

He was sitting in his office when the bar phone rang. “Remy Sterling here.”

“Mr. Sterling, this is Lieutenant Charles from the NYPD. A bomb threat has been called into your establishment. Although we can’t insist you evacuate your patrons, we highly suggest you do so until our bomb squad arrives and gives you the all clear to return.”

“On it,” Remy said, rising as he spoke.

Dammit. There was no way to know if it had been Lance on the phone or a real problem. He had no choice but to err on the side of caution. He gathered as many employees as he could and instructed them to calmly ask people to leave until the building was clear.

He asked one of the barbacks to check the bathrooms, office area, and to keep an eye on the emergency exit, one also used by the staff, so no stragglers ended up causing trouble inside.

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