Page 19 of Dirty Little Secret
“Hiding.” I kept walking to get to my customers. “There was a guy here. You talked to him at the bar. I know him from the past.”
“I’ve talked to a lot of guys here.” She grinned at me. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Dark blond, green eyes, rocking body.” I picked up the empties from the table full of girls. “More of the same, ladies?”
“Yes,” came their enthusiastic answers. “More!”
“Oh, that guy.” The way her eyes twinkled gave me a sinking feeling in my chest. “You know him?”
“Yes.” Making my way back to the bar, I found a few more people holding up empty drinks and grabbed them as I went. “I’ll be right back with refills, guys.”
“I’m on break right now,” Taylor told me. “I’ll help you play catchup.”
“Thank you.” I needed the help at that moment. My head wasn’t in the game after my unexpected reminder of my past.
She picked up more empties as she walked around with me. “He wasn’t in his element here. He wanted to be back home with his son, who he said is out of town right now. I didn’t spot a ring on his finger, and he even said he wasn’t married, but my bets are that he is. Maybe he just didn’t want it getting back to the old ball and chain that he was out, I bet.”
“He’s got a son?” I felt that stab of jealousy again.
“That’s what he said. And when I offered to liven up his night while on break, he didn’t take me up on it.” She placed the empties on the bar as I got behind it to load them in the washer while spouting out what I needed to Patrick.
“Liven up his night, huh?” I mumbled. I knew what that meant. Taylor was still as forward as she’d always been. I should’ve expected as much. “It would please me very much, if you ever see him again, if you don’t offer him any of your favors, Taylor. He’s special to me in a way.”
“Wait a minute.” She stared a hole in me. “Is he?”
I didn’t want a soul to know that Kane was the father of the boy I’d given up. “No. That’s not him. He was just this guy who I messed around with once, that’s all. And if you and he did anything, it would upset me.” The lie came out so easily that it scared me.
“I see.” She didn’t seem completely sure of what I’d said. “He wasn’t into me anyway. And I doubt he’ll ever come in here again.”
I prayed he wouldn’t. “That would be nice. If he is married with kids, then I don’t really want to know that anyway.”
“I don’t see why not.” Taylor took one of the trays full of drinks while I took the other.
Going to serve the drinks, I said, “It’s just better to leave him the way he’s been in my memories all these years. Single, young, and still hot as hell.”
Placing the girls’ drinks on the table, I felt the tray slipping on the palm of my hand. “Oh, shit!” one of them shouted as she shot up to get out of the way.
Three of the glasses hit the table, splashing liquid and shards of glass everywhere. It all happened so fast that it stunned me. Taylor pointed at me. “Your hand!”
Looking down, I found a few small cuts and one big one on my palm. Blood poured from it. My head went light, and then all I saw was black.
“Hey, wake up, Zandy,” Taylor’s voice came to me. There wasn’t any noise in the background, so I had no idea where I was.
Opening my eyes, I saw Taylor and Rob looking down at me. “What happened?”
“You fainted when you saw the blood,” Taylor told me.
“You should go get stitches,” Rob added. “That’s a pretty deep cut. The club will pay the bill. Don’t worry about that.”
Picking up my left hand, I saw a white bar towel had been wrapped around it. There was only a little bit of pink color to it. “I’ll be okay.”
With a sigh, Rob walked away. “Well, I can’t make you go to the ER, but I can make you go home. See you on Monday. Hopefully with stitches on that hand.”
“You’re making me leave?” I sat up, then felt woozy, so I laid my head on the back of the sofa they’d put me on.
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “Go home. Come back on Monday.”
Taylor looked a little concerned. “Do you need me to drive you?”
