Page 53 of Laila Manning
“I’m not going anywhere.” He finally responded, taking a sip of his drink, and leaning back on his stool a bit.
“That sort of feels like a threat.”
“A promise.” He clarified as I backed up.
If I thought working under Zeke’s penetrating stare was hard before, it paled in comparison to the pressure of working while Zeke and Diesel sat next to each other at the bar.
And chatted.
They could have been talking about world peace or world domination, but the effect was the same.
I was shaking.
I tried staying busy, learning as much as I could from Nicole and the other bartenders after being surprisingly thrown behind the bar instead of at the podium out front. Honestly, that shouldn’t have surprised me.
Nothing should surprise me anymore.
But Zeke and Diesel, chatting and drinking at my bar, was enough to nearly blow me over.
At one point I secretly snapped a picture of the two of them sitting next to each other, with their dark and dangerous tattoos and fuck-you energy, and sent it to Carly.
Should I be worried?
Her response came almost instantly.
I’d probably lock myself in the cooler if I were you. Should I send Jed for reinforcements?
I shuddered at the mere thought of my brother showing up at the bar as well. The whole restaurant would melt to the ground from the testosterone alone.
Are you trying to start a nuclear war? Best not.
You’re probably right. If it gets too out of hand, use the soda gun to spray them down.
I snorted and pocketed my phone. Did people really do that?
“Hey.” Nicole slid up next to me. “Head home.”
“Really?” I glanced at the time, “I’ve still got twenty-five minutes left on my shift.”
Nicole shrugged, pushing me out of her way to get to the sanitizing sink. “Peter gives the orders; I pass them down. Take it while you can get it.”
“Okay.” I wiped my hands on the towel and clocked out at the register. When I couldn’t hesitate anymore, I slowly approached Zeke and Deisel where they sat.
They both watched me get closer and stopped talking.
“Am I interrupting?” I questioned uncomfortably.
“Just talking business.” Diesel smirked with his gnarly playboy grin.
“Are you done, Dove?” Zeke asked, sliding his empty glass across the bar top.
“Yeah.” I slid my hands into my back pockets uncertainly. “It’s early, but I’m tired. So, I think I’m just going to head home.”
He quirked an eyebrow briefly before standing up. Diesel stayed put, other than sipping from his glass as he watched me.
“Let’s go.” Zeke nodded for me to come out from behind the bar and then glanced Diesel’s way. “Don’t fuck it up, D.”
Diesel’s snarly smirk did little to throw Zeke off, but it sent shivers down my spine. “I wouldn’t dream of messing up something so angelic.” His eyes slid down my body in his dominant way, and I hurried away from him.
