Page 10 of Good Vibes Only
My eyes narrowed. “Just last night?” How could he be atthisstage of opening a business, with construction well underway, and not know the shops in the area?! “What took so long?”
“I’m a busy guy,” he said.
Uh-huh. Sure.
Of course, therealanswer was as disappointing as it was obvious: Brett was clueless, most likely a trust fund kid. How else could you explain it? He was clearly too young to be that successful on his own.
“So what kind of business are you opening?” I asked, barely able to hide my growing disdain.
“A craft brewery and restaurant.”
“Oh wow. Another brewery in Las Vegas.”
Brett smirked. I could tell he hadn’t missed my sass, but he let it pass without comment.
“And what are you calling it?” I asked.
“BarDown Brewery.”
“Hm. BarDown Brewery,” I said aloud.
I don’t like it,I thought.
Although, yes, I will admit to being atinybit biased against my tormentor.
He changed the subject and got down to business. “So, McKayla, I’ve got a question for ya.”
“Shoot.”
“The uh.” He scratched his head and turned his gaze to the storefront. “The window display you’ve got goin’ on over there.”
“Something catch your eye?” I teased, sensing his discomfort.
He snickered. “Yeah, you might say that.”
“Anything in particular?”
“All of it, really.” He flashed a perfect smile that quickly faded. “Because, like I said, I’m opening the restaurant next door.”
I folded my arms. I didn’t like where this was going. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’ll be honest with you, McKayla. I’m not crazy about the window displays.”
“Oh no,” I drawled, feigning concern with a phony pout.
“See, I want my brewery to be a family place. And I’m a little worried that families might not want to bring their kids to my restaurant if they have to explain to little Billy and Susie what the dancing dildos are in the window next door.”
Oh, now this was starting to get good.
“Dancing dildos?” I asked, incredulous.
He pointed at the toys slowly turning on the Lazy Susans in the windows. “Yeah. Those.”
“Brett, you seem like a nice guy,” I began.And by nice, I mean totally clueless. “But I can assure you, you’ve got nothing to worry about. All our window displays are nondescript. I’d never display anything realistic or raunchy in there. Just take a look around—this clearly isn’t some grimy, porny, back alley sex store. We are a sex-positive adult boutique. We specialize in sexual wellness and education.”
“Right, right,” he said, bobbing his head as if he understood. “And I totally hear ya. But let’s be real. Everyone knows what the phallic purple rod in the window is for.”
“Sure, but it’s not obscene, and that’s my point. I’m sorry if you don’t like the fact that you’re opening a brewery next to an adult shop, but that seems like something you should’ve realizedbeforeyou leased the building, when you were doing your business research.” I paused to really hammer the point home. “Youdidresearch the neighborhood first, didn’t you?”Like any sane and responsible business owner would?
