“Or what? Planning on taking a shot at me, Stef?” he asked, intentionally egging me on.
I stepped closer to him. “You may be bigger than me, but you’ve been asking for a beatdown for a while, big brother.”
He looked down at me with amusement in his eyes that only pissed me off more. “So you’re going to fight me over her now? What happened to this just being about winning?”
“It is about winning, Kane, and you’re fucking with me because you don’t want to give up what you bet. This is bullshit!”
“Don’t get excited, Stefan. I don’t plan on doing anything with Shay. Now if she likes me, there’s nothing I can do about that.”
Before I could answer, he walked out leaving me standing there feeling like a jackass. Fucking Kane! If he wanted to play hardball, I could do the same. And I had an ace up my sleeve he didn’t—I’d already slept with her. That was important. He could smile and flirt all he wanted. I’d gotten there first and that counted for something.
I headed back out to the floor for the bartenders’ meeting with what to do about Lola and Kane roiling around in my mind. There was only one other place in the club that she could make anywhere close to the money she made at the front bar. The fourth floor station stayed pretty low key, but the tips the bartender got up there sometimes bested what the front bartenders earned. I never sent her there because I’d always considered her too good for that, but if it made getting closer to Shay possible, it had to be done.
What I’d do with Kane was a different story. As I caught a glimpse of him walking back up toward his floor, I wished my father hadn’t liked women as much as he did. At least with Cash I knew I could trust him.
“Okay, listen up!” I called out to my bartenders for the night. “I know last night was incredible, but we’re done with that Seventies shit and back to modern day. Shay is at the front bar tonight with Kat, and Gabe and Mika are at the back bar. Everyone else is where they usually are, either waiting tables down here or on the upper floors. Lola, I want you to take the fourth floor bar.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shay give me a look of disapproval. Everyone broke up and went to their assigned places for the night, including her, and I headed to the front bar to make sure she knew I didn’t break my word.
Shay crouched down behind the bar, so I leaned over and quietly said, “I saw that look you gave me. It’s not even Lo’s scheduled night.”
She looked up and gave me a little smile. “It’s not a problem for me. As long as Lola is happy, Stefan, I’m happy.”
“Well, you seemed pretty hot about it when I was at your house that day.”
“I didn’t think it was right to choose Mika over her. You didn’t do that tonight. She says the fourth floor is a pretty plum assignment.”
Shay stood up and began to rummage around with the glasses beneath the bar. She smelled like she had the night before, minus the alcohol, and I inhaled deeply as my mind replayed how she’d tasted when I’d kissed her. “I had a good time last night.”
Her green eyes flashed a scolding look as her face remained placid. “Shhh. I don’t need everyone in the club knowing we were together, Stefan.”
“I’m the boss, Shay. I can be with whoever I want.”
“Whomever, and that’s fine but I can’t. I don’t need everyone talking about me and making my life miserable.”
She may have been saying that, but I saw in her eyes she wanted me as much as I wanted her. Quietly, I said, “First slow part of the night, come see me in my office. Kat can handle the bar for a little while.”
“Your office?” she asked with her eyebrows raised, like she was surprised.
I winked and leaned back away from her. “Yeah. First slow time you get.”
As if the gods were smiling down on me, the crowds at Club X were thin so by one I shot Shay a knowing look to let her know she could follow me. Kat could handle the few members still left milling around the front bar, so I headed to my office.
By ten after one, I was still sitting alone wondering if there’d be some massive influx of members suddenly, but when I opened my office door, there were still just those few men standing at the bar with Kat but Shay was nowhere to be found. I scanned the room for her and then I saw her coming down the stairs.
Why the fuck did she go up there?
I SAW Stefan glaring at me as I stepped off the last stair onto the club floor and knew he’d grown inpatient. Not that I wanted to hang out in his office and play doctor with him. The night before had been off the charts phenomenal. All those months with Elliot and I’d thought he was great in bed, but one night with Stefan March and every inch of my body craved him already.
My head needed to be my ruler, not the area between my legs. That would only get me into places I couldn’t afford to be in. Stefan was like a rich, decadent dessert—incredibly desirable yet very bad for you. Once, maybe twice, you could indulge, but any more than that and nothing good could come from it.
But I couldn’t avoid him. He was my boss, first and foremost, and if I was honest, I’d grown to like him, despite myself. From the look on his face, though, he likely believed I was playing games with him by going up to see Lola instead of running to his office the first chance I got.
He turned away and closed the door even as I walked toward him. Not good.
I grabbed for the doorknob but stopped myself from walking in uninvited, knocking instead since it felt like that eagerness he’d shown me earlier had changed to something else. He barked for me to come in, and I opened the door to see Stefan sitting behind his desk wearing a tight-lipped smile.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked tentatively as I leaned back against the door to close it, sensing an iciness in his dark eyes.
“Not much. What did you go upstairs for?”
Definitely chilly, but why did my going upstairs to see Lola bother him?
“I wanted to see how Lola was doing. The fourth floor isn’t too bad. She’s making a killing up there tonight since we’ve got next to no one down here.”
“Yeah, not too bad,” he repeated quietly, his mood improving as he said the words.
“Lola’s got a fan up there too. Some guy who’s got deep pockets, if her tips are any indication,” I added, hoping as I talked that he’d go back to his old, playful self.
“Yeah? Good. That would be good for her,” he said with a smile.