Page 5 of Coty

Hendrix drops his head back and releases a long breath. “Of course he did.”

Before the biggest biker in the room can pound me into the floor, Emily walks up beside him and hands me the ladies’ order.

“How’s it going out there?” I get to work making four martinis.

“Good. This is fun. It’s frustrating at times, but fun. I think I’m getting the hang of it.” She lightly laughs. “It’s not cupcakes, that's for sure.”

I laugh, too. “No, it’s not. If anyone gives you any trouble, just let Hendrix know. He’ll handle it.”

She turns and smiles at the big biker. “How’s bouncing tonight?”

Hendrix’s eyes widen, and he chokes on air. He’s about to disappear through the cracks in the floor.

“Here you go, Ronin.” I hand him a bottle of water and point to the front doors. “Looks like your buddy needs help.”

Whether or not he’s relieved to get out of this conversation, Hendrix rushes to help Colt with a couple of guys who appear to be drunk already. They won’t get in here tonight. Hendrix will pick them up and toss them into the street.

Emily looks a little heartbroken. It’s odd not seeing her smile. “Was it something I said?” Her smile slowly reappears. Oh, she knows exactly what she just did.

“Girl, you know you can’t say things to a biker that leaves any room for interpretation.” I can’t help but laugh. We all get a kick out of messing with these guys.

Emily watches the little heated argument at the front door while I finish making the martinis. As predicted, Hendrix and Colt escort the two drunk men outside.

As Emily walks away with the tray of drinks, the new TV monitor blinks to life, and the new app on all the club members’ phones dings with a notification. Nick finally got the new system working. We now have a live feed to the Viking Den and vice versa.

My eyes automatically find him. I do that far too often lately. He’s looking at me, too. Well, the camera. He’s looking at the camera, not me. But I swear, it feels like he’s looking right into my eyes. Why did Coty Michaels have to come back? Why did he have to leave in the first place?

Chapter 3

__________

Kayla

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Happy New Year!”

The bar explodes into an uproar of shouts and whistles. And kissing. Lots of kissing. Well, everyone with dates is kissing. The single customers shout, bounce around, or take a sip of their drinks.

My eyes dart up to the TV screen. He’s there, again. Who knows, maybe he never walked away. All I know is every time I looked up, Coty was there. And like every time before, it feels like he’s looking right at me. Everyone at JB’s spent hours hoping Nick could get the system working before midnight. The moment it blinked to life set off a tidal wave of emotions for me. I hate this feeling. I hate him. Well, no, I don’t. And that’s the problem. I can’t handle him watching me any longer.

I slap Parker on the back and lean in close so he can hear me over the crowd. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

He nods as he continues to bounce to the music. The band Bankz hired tonight are local guys and well-liked in town. They’ve kept the crowd happy all evening. I need a break from the noise for a moment. Slipping around the lower end of the bar, I weave through the crowd to the ladies' room. I’ve told Bankz a million times we need an employee restroom in the back. I could get back to work faster if I didn’t have to wait in line with customers just to use the restroom. I’m in no hurry tonight, though. The ten-minute wait to get inside isn’t long enough.

After washing my hands, I splash some cold water on my face and pat it dry with a paper towel. Thank goodness Bankz stocks the soft towels, not those rough, brown, scratchy ones. It takes off most of my makeup, but I need to cool down.

“You okay?” The lady at the sink next to me grabs a couple of towels and steps out of the way. She’s been sitting at the bar for a couple of hours. We’ve only talked when she needed to order a drink.

“Yeah. It’s just a wild night.” I follow her over to the side so the lady behind me can get to the sink.

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