Kerry spoke up and joked, “You know we love these little get-togethers, Stefan. We adore our boss.”
“Yeah, yeah. Listen up, everyone! Lola and Mika are at the front bar tonight.”
I’d barely gotten the words out and I felt Shay’s glare from all the way across the room. Quickly, I added, “And Mika, Lola’s your boss in this. I hear one problem and you’ll be gone. Are we clear?”
Mika nodded and forced a smile, which made me think that right at that moment she was fantasizing about stabbing me in the temple with the nearest sharp object. Lola beamed at my warning to the woman who’d not only been her competition behind the bar but in my office also. But when I looked over at Shay, her face showed that same strange look she’d worn since I came out of my office.
“Kerry and Jana will be at the back bar, and Shay will handle the fourth floor. Everyone else is status quo. Anyone has any questions, come see me. Let’s have a good night!”
The crowd dispersed, but Lola quickly moved toward me to let me know she didn’t think pairing her with Mika was a good idea. I calmed her and explained I didn’t intend on having any more problems with Mika, no matter what she thought would happen, but she clung to me long enough that by the time I’d finally calmed her down enough for her to work, Shay had disappeared to the fourth floor.
Something in the way she looked at me from the moment she laid eyes on me tonight said something was wrong. Not that her not stopping to talk to me before heading upstairs was strange. Shay didn’t need me to hold her hand to do her job, but my gut told me there was a problem.
Of course, every member of the bar staff had some problem of their own I had to personally deal with, so by the time I could get to Shay and see what was wrong, it was after two a.m. As I hit the fourth floor, I saw her talking to Kane, instantly making a surge of jealousy course through me. It didn’t matter that my half-brother didn’t seem to want women in his life or bed, even on a temporary basis. Seeing him talking to her bothered me.
Maybe it was the idea that even though he was no rocket scientist, I had a sense she might think he was smarter than I was. Maybe she’d want someone like him, even with that dark, spooky thing he sported more often than not.
They stood there talking like they’d known each other for years, Kane leaning over the bar laughing at something she said and Shay cleaning up for the night but full of smiles for him. I felt like an intruder on some private moment I wasn’t welcome at.
Kane finally noticed me standing next to him and chucked me in the shoulder. “Hey, Stefan, what’s up baby brother?”
“Nothing, Kane. Just here to see how my bartender is doing tonight.”
“Your bartender. Hmmm…I think that’s my cue to leave.” He turned to face Shay again and smiled. “Have a good one. I’m glad I could help with your problem.”
“Thanks, Kane. I appreciate it.”
“Always. Just give me a holler if you need anything else, but I think you’ll be fine in Stefan’s capable hands.”
Shay flashed him one of those smiles I thought she only gave me, and I felt my face twist into a scowl as I watched him walk away with that smug look on his face I knew was meant to irritate me. I’d basically told him I was into Shay. Why was he butting in where he didn’t belong? And what the hell made her all lovey dovey with him?
“I’m done here, Stefan, and Kane told me there aren’t any more members in rooms on this floor, so I’m going to head out. Have a good one,” she said in a flat tone as she rounded the corner of the bar to leave.
“Where are you going? What’s going on?” I asked as I caught her by the shoulder to stop her.
“Home.”
“Why? You don’t want to do anything tonight?”
“I don’t think so. Good night.”
She pulled away from me with a look of disgust on her face and headed toward the stairs, so I jogged up behind her to find out what had changed between us to make her so cold. “Hey, wait up! What’s wrong, Shay?”
Stopping, she looked up at me and shrugged. “Nothing.”
“I don’t understand. We’ve hung out every night for two weeks, and now you’re acting like we barely know one another. What’s wrong?”
“Do I know you, Stefan? I thought I did, but then I showed up to work tonight and there was Lola coming out of your office.”
She was jealous. I couldn’t help but smile at how cute she looked all angry at me, but that didn’t help matters any and she stormed away even more furious than before.
“Shay, come back.”
“You think this is funny?” she asked as she spun around to face me. “You know, maybe if I thought you were ever really my friend, I wouldn’t feel so betrayed, but it seems that you’re that same guy I’ve thought you were all along and I’ve been fooling myself.”
“Shay, nothing happened with Lola. I haven’t been with her in nearly a month. I haven’t been with anyone since we started hanging out.”
“Whatever, Stefan. I can’t be around you right now.”
She moved to leave, but I caught her by the arm to hold her there, needing to let her know I wasn’t the person she’d condemned. Stunned, she pushed against me with such anger that I held her tightly to me, afraid if I let her go without proving to her how wrong she was I’d never get the chance again to see her laugh at my jokes or roll her eyes at me as I said something stupid.
“Let go of me!”
“No, not until you listen to what I have to say.”
I pulled her back as she fought to leave, nearly falling into one of the fantasy rooms before she slapped me hard across the face. “I don’t want to listen to what you have to say. You’re that same player I knew you were the moment I met you. How could I ever have let myself believe the way you’ve been for the past two weeks was anything but some game? I don’t ever—”
Each word out of her mouth hurt more than the last, and before she said she never wanted to see me again, I covered her mouth with mine in a kiss filled with all the pain I felt at the thought of Shay absent from my life. I may have been that person she thought I was for more years than I could remember, but with her I wasn’t that man. I didn’t want to be him anymore, and that was because of her.
But if she left me, I didn’t know if I could stay the person I was with her. I didn’t want to go back to who I used to be. I needed her, whatever way I could have her in my life.