“I’m
talking to you as a manager. Ordinarily I don’t care who my employees are
dating, except when they’re dating each other.”
“Oh.”
I wanted to respond by saying she was being a little hypocritical, but decided
it would be best not to push it. “I get it,” I said instead and turned to go.
“One
more thing…” I glanced over my shoulder at her and marveled at how similar her
eyes were to Dominic’s. “Grant told me that my dad has expressed an interest in
you.” My mouth went dry. “I told him that you were with Dominic, maybe he’ll
back off now.”
“Oh…thanks!
I hope so!” I liked the tips I earned in the VIP section, but I didn’t like the
looming presence of Uncle Marco. Miranda smiled at my reaction. Then she sent
me on my way to get set-up. I passed Grant on the way to the employee lounge
and he avoided me – again.
Brittany was in the
lounge and I ignored her. She still hadn’t gotten over that Dominic was my
boyfriend and that I had replaced her in the VIP section. Her pouting was
almost audible as I checked my hair in the mirror. It wasn’t big and poufy like
the other Crimson girls, but shiny and soft. Dominic said he liked it because
his hand didn’t get stuck in it when he ran his fingers through my hair. Like
last night, when I lay underneath him and ran my hands down the length of his
broad back to his firm…a toilet flushed behind me and snapped me out of my
reverie. Having lost a few minutes to daydreaming I rushed over to the VIP
section to get set up. Grant was leaning against the bar talking to the
bartender when I walked up.
“Hi
Grant,” I said softly.
“Natalie,”
he greeted me through pursed lips. This was progress – at least he acknowledged
my presence. I didn’t want to push my luck and went about my business.
This was the busiest
night I had worked at Crimson and that surprised me because it was a Sunday.
Didn’t people have to work in the morning? I ran around ragged trying to keep
up with everyone’s drink orders. Uncle Marco left me alone just as I had hoped.
Not having this anxiety helped me focus and get my job done. The night flew by
and soon the club had cleared out except for Uncle Marco and his boys. Marco
asked me to sit with them again and this time I didn’t mind.
“So,
you and Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“Huh.
Is he treatin’ you good doll?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.
Let me know if my nephew misbehaves and I’ll smack some sense into him.” He
gesticulated a lot when he spoke and he emphasized the word smack by slamming
his hand down on the table. I couldn’t help but flinch.
“I’ll
keep that in mind.”
Grant walked up
to the table and Marco shifted his attention away from me.
“Grant!”
Marco shook my brother’s hand. “Good job getting Stump to settle up on his
bill. He wasn’t any trouble?”
“Not
at all and I don’t think he will be any trouble in the future,” Grant answered.
“Excellent!
Now I have some more business to discuss with you. Natalie, you can leave.”
Grant visibly relaxed, his shoulders not as tense, once I had been dismissed.
Dominic saw me
descending the stairs from VIP and waved me over to his bar. “Hey babe,” he
said and leaned across the bar and we kissed. “How was your night?”
“Good.
Miranda told her dad that we were together and he left me alone tonight.”
Dominic
tightened his jaw. “Was Uncle Marco bothering you?”
I clamped my hand over
my mouth and my eyes got wide. “Oops.” I said through my hand and then lowered
it. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t want you to get upset. Grant
told Miranda and she handled it.”
Dominic’s face grew
dark with anger. “How was he bothering you?”
“I
don’t want to say, you’ll probably just get more upset. And he’s your uncle”
“What
about our agreement to be up front with each other?” Damn. He had to play that
card.
“OK,”
I caved. “I’ll tell you later; let’s
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