Page 2 of Wild Rush
“Damn, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” His boss rounded the bar to stand beside him. “Where was your head? I called out twice on my way across the room.”
Rush turned his face to Cam but kept his body pressed up against the bar. The last thing he needed was for his boss to see where his head had been. Christ. If the man knew Rush had been screwing around with a guest, he’d probably fire him on the spot.
Cam studied him closely. “You all right?”
He forced a smile. “Yeah. Tired. Been a long week.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about. Thanks for doing all the extra hours. What do you think of the new staff?”
“Good. They’re good. Competent. Fast learners, and Desi is a wiz with cocktails. I’m thinking we should utilize her skills somehow. Maybe do a specialty cocktail on the weekends. See if we can’t draw in more customers.”
“Hmm…we could theme them with food or an event… Remind me at the next department meeting.”
“Sure.” Relieved to discover talking with his boss had deflated his cock, Rush moved away from the bar and picked up the clipboard he’d left beside the register before he’d forgotten what he was doing. Again. “I’ll have this order on your desk within the hour.”
He wasn’t on until tonight but with training the five new bartenders over the last week, he hadn’t gotten around to placing the liquor order and they were getting low on supplies. The local brews were easy to restock but everything else was trucked in, and they needed to get the order processed today or they wouldn’t get a delivery this week.
“Can someone else do that?” Cam asked, reaching for the board. “Me?”
“What? Why?” Rush stared at Cam. Was he worried about overtime? “It’ll only take me a few minutes then I’ll be out of here.”
“I’ve rearranged the schedule. You’re off for the next six days.” Before Rush could form a question, Cam continued. “You’re owed holidays, but I’m not taking this time out of your leave. You’ve worked your ass off for the last week and even when you aren’t pulling double shifts, I’ve noticed you’re always working. Take a break. We’ve got the staff to cover it now and with the reading of Harry’s will week after next, we’ll be dealing with a new owner—and I’m sure more long hours.”
“They’re finally reading the will?” God. It had been three weeks since Harry’s death.
Rush swallowed the lump in his throat that formed every time he thought about the lodge’s owner. He still couldn’t believe the old guy was gone. They’d been close before Harry had taken a step back to take care of his adopted daughter and granddaughter and hired a GM to run the lodge. Now he was gone.
“Any idea who Harry left this place to?” Rush asked.
Cam shook his head. “No. But there’s plenty of rumor and speculation circulating.”
“Usually is around here.” Rush frowned, wondering how he’d managed to keep his own liaisons with guests secret over the years when the favorite pastime for locals was gossiping, especially among the staff here at the lodge.
“I remember.”
Cam rubbed the back of his neck and Rush noticed the fatigue stamped on his face. It was obvious his boss could do with a few days off too. He opened his mouth to suggest they split the week when Cam sighed, his gaze darting around.
In a low voice, he said, “Listen. I need you fully on deck when the new owner shows up. There’s bound to be shit hitting the fan when whoever it is discovers how bad things are around here, and I’m down to only a couple of management staff I trust.”
Rush hadn’t been sure what to think of Camden Newell when he’d shown up five weeks ago to take on the general manager position, but the guy had proven he knew what he was doing and wasn’t out to run the place into the ground like the last GM had done for the past four years.
With everything that was going on, it didn’t make sense for Rush not to be here though, and it went unsaid that neither of them could guarantee they’d have a job once the new owner showed up.
“Why the hell are you giving me time off? You need me here to cover your back,” he argued.
“This is the calm before the storm. Take the time while you can. We’ll be working our asses off, or be out on them, once the new owner arrives. I think—no, Iknowwe’ve got things turning around. I want that to continue but that won’t happen if I run my best employees into the ground. I’d rather you took some time now. We’ll have a few days to get a battle plan together before the will is read and whoever Harry left this place to takes over.”
“Are you sure? A few normal work days will have me back up to speed.” Hell, if he could clear his head of a certain distracting woman and get a good night’s sleep, he’d be back to normal by morning.
Cam waved him off. “No. Not good enough. I’ve checked your timecards. You never punch in overtime.”
Rush shrugged. “I love the job. I’m not here for the money, and living onsite means that’s not something I have to worry about.”
Besides, he had a trust fund. Not that anyone around here knew about it.
“I don’t give a shit whether you need money or not. You do the job, you get paid or compensated.” Cam stepped closer and tugged the clipboard out of Rush’s hand. “Take the week off,” he snapped in what Rush figured was his do-as-you’re-told voice, one Rush hadn’t heard from the man until now.
With a grin, he saluted. “Yes, boss.”
