On the Rocks (Pub Fiction Book 2) (7 page)

I don’t need this right now. And I don’t have the time, anyway.

“Boss. Hey, boss,” I hear Luke’s voice suddenly calling when I’m halfway back to my office.

“Hey, brother, what’s up?” I ask turning toward him, noticing the stressed look on his face. “You okay, man?”

“Fuck, no. I gotta go, my sister just called, she’s in hysterics. Trent’s been in an accident and everyone’s meeting at the hospital.” He’s talking so fast. “I guess my folks are already there. Mel needs me to pick her up on my way.” He runs his hand through his hair, he’s clearly panicking, and I feel for him immediately.

“Of course. You need me to drive you?”

“No, thanks, though. I’m okay. Just a bit in shock, is all.”

“Okay, get outta here then. Keep me posted,” I say, slapping his back as he heads to the staffroom to get his stuff. “And take all the time you need. I got it all covered. Call if you guys need anything,” I shout as he heads through the door.

“Thanks, boss, appreciate it. Oh, and please tell Braunnie I’m sorry I had to leave and that I’ll see her soon.”

“
Braunnie”? What the fuck is that?
I want to say, but I don’t. I know it’s harmless. Luke is a complete flirt and it’s not like I’m
that
interested in her. Regardless, it still pisses me off to hear him calling her that.

“Will do,” I call back instead, and head to the storage room to see Braunwyn. I guess I will be getting some time with her after all.

*

You have got
to be fucking kidding me.

Standing in the doorway, I stare, utterly transfixed by the sight before me. Braunwyn is on her haunches beside a liquor crate where she is clearly taking inventory, counting to be sure the numbers match. She is a sight to behold, a clipboard resting on her knee along with a pen nestled between her luscious lips.
Fuck me, she’s
something. My eyes migrate to the swell of her perky tits. Braun’s teasing me and she doesn’t even know it.
This girl
. Luscious mounds of what I imagine to be perfection are sneaking a peek over the trim on her black tank top. And I swear they look like they want me as much as I need them.
Christ, I need to get laid.

After gawking like the asshole I am, I adjust myself before entering, gearing up to share the same space as this girl I know jack shit about. I vow to change that right now.

“Ahem,” I say so she knows she’s not alone anymore.

Removing the pen from her lips, she takes me in from head to toe. I’m not even sure she realizes she’s doing it, but I’ll be damned if the thought that she might like what she sees doesn’t make me giddy as fuck.

With flushed cheeks, she greets me with that voice of hers, the one that sticks with me even in its wake. “Oh, Levi. Hi,” she says, a huge smile overtaking her pretty face, and making my whole fucking day. “Is everything okay with Luke? He looked upset on the phone.”

I move in closer to her, pulling up a crate to take a seat in front of her before explaining what happened. I run my hand over my face, I’m worried about Trent, he and Luke are tight. Hell, his whole family is close, just like Ryk, my mom and me. “His brother was in a motorcycle accident, so he had to leave. I told him to just go. Family is more important than anything; this place, she’ll be here when things are settled.” I look at her, needing her without even realizing it. Just sitting here with her, I feel the worry fleeing.

“Oh, that’s terrible, I hope his brother is okay,” she says, looking at me intently with an unspoken understanding. We sit in silence for what feels like minutes before she awkwardly averts her eyes to look elsewhere, anywhere. “Ah, well, I can go, it’s not a big deal. My schedule is pretty open, so just call me and let me know when I should come back. You should go to the hospital too, I can tell you’re worried.” And before I know it, she’s standing right in front of me, her pussy now at my eye level. I take a deep swallow before allowing my eyes to trace up her lithe body to meet those stunning eyes of hers head on.
Fuck me, this girl is something else.

Deciding I better stand before I take her down to the floor and have my way with her, I jump up to my feet. A lone crate separates us.

“No, stay,” I tell her. It comes out as a grunt, causing me to cringe at my tone.

She raises her eyebrows and I can feel the tension in my body dissipate. “Come on, Scrappy, I’ll train ya,” I say, smiling at the mix of what looks to be relief and happiness crossing her face.

“But Luke told me you didn’t train anyone anymore?” Braun lets out faster than she can cover up. And, like the ass I am, I relish the idea that she is curious about me, has even talked about me.

“Have you been asking about me, Scrappy?” I ask “What all do you wanna know, sweetheart?” I ask, more seriously than intended. Fuck, for some reason I feel like I might just tell this girl anything.
What the fuck is wrong with me?

Deciding I need to get us back on track before I allow things to get out of hand like I want them to, I head toward the crates of liquor.

“Follow me,” I say, picking up three cases of liquor bottles from the floor. “Let’s head up to the bar and I’ll show you how to safely stack the bottles along the top shelves.”

“Sounds good. Need me to bring a box?” she asks.

“If you think you can, that would be great. If not I can come back.” I laugh at the look she gives me. The one where I see the smoke coming from her ears at a slow simmer.

“I may be a woman, Levi, but I am neither weak nor idle,” she says placing her hands on her curvy hips. Hips I want to grip as they grind down on me. “I can carry a crate of bottles, thank you very much,” Braun mutters, as she bends to lift her own case.

“Easy Scrappy. I wasn’t implying that at all, but seeing as you’re all ‘I am woman, hear me roar’, you might as well hit the lights while I hold the door open for us. Think you can handle that, superstar?” I tease as she huffs past me, giving me a little “grrrr” sound as she passes and flicks off the lights. I keep a close watch on her as she leads the way to the bar, those curvy hips and her sexy tight ass swaying with each step. I can’t look away.

Fuck me.

Braunwyn

I
snuggle closer
to Emme as she sleeps in my bed beside me.

When I came home this afternoon after my training shift, she was so happy to see me. Grams assured me, though, that they’d had a great day and that Emmerson only asked once where I was when I was gone. For which I was relieved. I hate to leave her during the day, so in an effort to try and make it up to her we went to the park before dinner and ended the night with yet another screening of “Despicable Me”. I know it’s not the same as me being here with her all day, but we both love the quality time, just us together, no matter when it happens.
God, I love this kid.

But I must admit, that as I lay listening to my daughter’s breathing, all I can think about is Levi.
Everything.
Everything,
I think, in silent response to his earlier question. I want to know
everything
about this intense man. When he first came into the storage room this afternoon I thought he was pissed off at me, but that feeling soon changed as he called me Scrappy and told me he’d gladly train me. I can’t seem to get him off my mind tonight. His passion for his pub is awe inspiring, from the employee incentives, camaraderie amongst the staff, and the charity work Pub Fiction sponsors, all topped off by the gleam in his eye when he talked about it. It’s clear that Levi Eddison is an amazing man.

To work for, that is. I mean he will be an amazing boss.

Like taking me for lunch today. That was such a nice thing to do.

I had just finished placing the last bottle of vodka up on the shelf when I heard Levi doing some more of this muttering thing I’ve noticed he does. This time it was something about longer shirts and never stocking the shelves during bar hours.

As I stepped back down and righted my clothes, which had shifted a bit, I caught his gaze. It landed on a piece of skin at my side that was still exposed. I tugged my shirt down and asked, “Okay, so what’s next, Boss Man?”

“I think we need a break. Yeah, it’s time for lunch, Braunwyn. Uh, let me take you to the diner across the street, they make the best burgers in town. We can eat and I can tell you all about myself, ’cause I know you’ve been asking about me.” He winked and of course I blushed, since he was still teasing me about that. “Then we’ll come back I’ll show you how to use the Point of Sale System.”

“I don’t know, Levi. I brought a sandwich, it’s back in the staffroom. I can just eat here and meet you in, like, what—forty-five minutes?”

“You’re coming for lunch with me, Scrappy. Don’t give me a hard time. Besides, it’ll be my treat and will give us a chance to get to know each other a little better. I do like to take the time to get to know my staff. I treated Shelby to a coffee next door the other day, too, so think of it as a getting-to-know-you employment opportunity.” With that, he smiled, and I hated the feeling in the pit of my stomach from Levi having given another girl his attention.

Saluting him, I ran back and grabbed my purse because there was no way I was letting him pay.

Walking into Sal’s Diner, my senses were immediately put on overdrive. The scent of frying beef and the grease from the fresh-cut fires infiltrated my nostrils, and caused my stomach to growl so loudly I think everyone in the vicinity could hear it. The décor was your typical 50’s-style diner, with old movie memorabilia scattered throughout. Each booth and table were adorned with jukeboxes and I couldn’t wait to see if they actually worked.

I saw Levi looking a bit anxious as I took in the place, as if he was worried I’d be disappointed eating here.

“It’s so cool in here,” I said. “How have I missed this place?” I know how, lack of money to waste on eating out and the demands of being a full-time student and mom. Yep, that’ll do it.

We grabbed a booth by the window and I immediately started flipping through the songs on the jukebox. “Here,” Levi placed a quarter on the table. “You can choose two and I’ll choose the third. Better pick good ones, Braunwyn, this is a test.”

I paused, staring at him for a second, his easiness unexpected. I went to thank him but the server interrupted me, so I just nodded and turned back to the list.

“What will it be, Levi?” she asked.

I looked back over. “I take it you come here often.”

“Oh, honey, this boy has been coming here since the day the sold sign went up on the building. It’s just nice seeing him bring another human with him today—rather than just his laptop. I’m always telling him to go get himself a good girl to share my burgers with. I swear, the only other people Levi ever brings around are his brother and his lovely mother.”

“Enough, Sal, thanks. We’re ready to order,” Levi pretended to scold her, and tried to hide his embarrassment.

“Oh, you’re ‘Sal’?” I blurted, feeling stupid, already knowing the answer to the question.

“Yeah, I figured it would be fun to mess people up. Sal is short for Sally,” she beamed and I told her how I could relate with my nickname being Braun.

“I just experienced that with your pal, Levi, here. He thought I was a guy when I came in for my interview.”

Sal nodded her head in his direction, and muttered something about getting with the times and I couldn’t help but giggle a bit. In the end, I told her to surprise me with her favourite burger, as long as it had cheese on it, and a Coke.

I overheard her whisper in Levi’s ear, “I like her already,” before she walked away. I smiled and I dropped the quarter in the jukebox, having found my two song choices.

“So, you’re local, right?” Levi asked, just as the music to “Tequila” by The Champs came blasting out the tiny speakers at our table.

“Get it? I chose ‘Tequila’ cause you—well, we—work at a bar.” I giggled at how corny I was but I have to admit it felt good to loosen up a bit, to be silly. To begin to be myself.

If Levi thought I was weird or lame he didn’t let on at all. “I love this song, but don’t you dare tell anyone, ’cause I’ll deny, deny, deny. I could lose cool points for admitting to such things.”

He dumped a bunch of quarters from his front pocket onto the red-and-white tabletop.

“Let’s play a little game. Shall we?” He raised his eyebrows mischievously before turning to thank Sal for our drinks.

“Okay, what sort of game? Because I’ll have you know, games are kinda my thing,” I shrugged, “like I’m pretty good at all games, so just promise if we play, you can’t get upset and cry like a baby ’kay?” I taunted, while he just looked at me like I’d lost my damned mind.

“Whatever, baby. I’m like the King of Games. All games, and I always win.” He eyed me and I felt a blush creep into my cheeks.

Jesus, I bet you are
.

“The object of this game is to see how many songs with a type of booze in them we can find. Each song earns a point. We’ll call it ‘Jukeboozebox-songbeats-while-we-eats’,” he said with a laugh and I swear I snorted and my Coke sprayed out my nose a little.