“Good head,” he said, giving me a wink. “That’s the most important part of this job.”
“Let’s hope I get a raise soon, then,” I said, winking back.
Steph waited impatiently for me to get a moment to myself. I was impatient too—I couldn’t wait to tell her everything that had happened—but this was a job, and I was going to do it right my first day. Fortunately, the other bartender was pretty cool about everything.
Casper showed me the bar pretty quickly—it was a standard setup, albeit a bit more crowded than I was used to. I’d tended bar before, so it only took a few minutes for him to realize that I would be able to handle the small mob with no problem.
“As long as you’re my bouncer,” I said.
“You got it. Oh, and let me show you something,” he said.
He bent away from the crowd for a moment and motioned me down. I crouched next to him.
“This is the rubber floor mat,” he said, pointing to our feet.
I frowned.
“A floor mat? Really? Is this why you made me crouch down?”
“Uh, no. It’s… it’s about your friend.”
“About Steph?”
Casper looked at me with hope flickering in his eyes.
“Was she really flirting with me?”
Chapter Nine
As soon as the bar cleared out a bit, Steph and I were able to talk. I told her everything. Well, everything except for the part where I smashed her cake. I kind of left that part out.
“So a billionaire is in love with you?”
“Shh, no.”
“But he wants you to come back tomorrow?”
“That doesn’t mean he’s in love with me, Steph. That means he wants to see me again.”
“Immediately. He wants to see you again immediately. And for the whole week? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Oh my God, Lacey, you don’t think he’s going to take you prisoner as a sex slave and keep you locked in his dungeon?” Steph’s eyes were wide.
“I don’t think penthouses have dungeons.”
“Penthouses have everything. I bet he has a dungeon where he locks up all of his girls with collars! And whips them and—”
“Excuse me, could I get the Ballast brew?”
“Sure,” I said. I poured the drink and leaned back to Steph.
“So do you think I should go?” I said.
“What? Of course you should go!”
“But you just said it was dangerous. That he would lock me up as a sex slave—”
“Well, yeah, maybe. Or maybe he’ll fall in love with you and want to marry you and then I could make the cake for your wedding and it would be perfect!”
I blinked.
“Okay, Steph, you are totally useless.”
“I’m enthusiastic.”
“Useless and enthusiastic.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. “Promise me you’ll let me be the godmother to your billionaire babies.”
“I promise.”
“Pinky swear?”
We put our arms across the bartop and I pinky swore.
“And if you go missing for a week, I promise to call the police and tell them you’ve been abducted as a sex slave by a sexy billionaire.”
“Just don’t call them until after the week’s up, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am! I’ll tell them exactly that.”
“I think they’d lock you up in the looney bin, Steph.”
“That’s princess Steph to you,” she said, raising her cocktail and tipping it my direction before quaffing the last sip. “And you’ll be billionairess Lacey!”
“You’d better go eat a cupcake to soak up some of that gin in your system.”
“It’s like tiramisu, but tastier. And drunker.”
“Exactly.”
I saw Andy at the door and waved to him.
“Your brother’s here.”
“Oh, good,” Steph said, slurring a bit. “He can have a cupcake too.”
Andy came over and helped Steph up off of her stool. They looked nothing alike at first—he was a scrawny bean pole compared to Steph, long and lean—but both of their eyes flashed the same golden-brown laughter.
“Thanks for coming to pick me up, little bro!” she said.
“No problem,” Andy said, checking out Casper’s back side as he bent over the ice bin. Great, they could fight over Casper between the two of them.
“This is where you’re working now, Lace?” Andy asked.
“Sure is,” I said.
“Nice place. Okay, let’s go back. You ready to go back, Teph?”
Steph nodded and I leaned across the bar to give her a hug.
“Goodnight, princess Steph,” I said.