“He jacked up the price on you, didn’t he?”
“He tried to, yes.”
“You have to beg him a little. He’ll come around.”
“I’m not interested in begging anybody. I’ve got to find a new vendor.”
Shirley was surprised. “You’re going to fire him just like that?”
“Absolutely!” Gloria said. “I hired him to provide me with inventory at a reasonable price. He didn’t hire me. If he suddenly wants to take advantage of me, then fuck him. There’s plenty of factories in Florida who would love to have my business, and that’s where I’ll take it.”
Shirley had never met somebody so forceful. And the language!
But when she continued to just stand there, staring at Gloria, Gloria exhaled. “You came back here for a reason I’m sure.”
“Oh. Right! Yes, I did, matter of fact. Oz Drakos is here to see you.”
Gloria was stunned. She assumed he would stay clear of her the way she was content to stay clear of him. “Oz Drakos?”
“Yes, ma’am. His brother is--”
“Yes, I know who his brother is. I was just wondering why he would want to see me.”
“I can tell him you’re busy.”
“No,” Gloria said faster than she planned to say. Shirley noticed her eagerness too.
“I mean, that won’t be necessary,” Gloria said, attempting to cover herself. “You can send him in.”
Shirley glanced at Gloria another second, but then she left the office to go and get Oz. And Gloria, to her own shock, was just about to remove her glasses and smooth down her clothes and spruce up her messy ponytail. But then she realized she was about to prepare herself for yet another man who was only after her ass rather than her heart. She didn’t come all this way to Florida to give away ass, or to get her heart broken or even tampered with. And especially not by some Game of Thrones-looking joker like Oz Drakos.
She didn’t remove her glasses, smooth down her clothes, nor touch a hair on her messy head.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The employees of the diner were cleaning up for the grand opening while laughing and joking around with Oz when Shirley returned from the office. “You can go on back,” she said to him. But when he made it beside her, she added: “Good luck with that one.”
But her little dig bothered Oz. He stopped and looked at her. “She’s your boss, no?” he asked her.
Shirley was surprised by the question. “Yes, she’s my boss.”
“And you’re her manager?”
“I manage this diner, yes. You know I do.”
“Only a very foolish frog would contaminate his own pond,” Oz said, gave Shirley another look, and then headed down the back hall. Shirley, shocked that he would deign to stand up for a woman he didn’t even know against her, wanted to tell him about his Greek behind. But she was also bothered by what he’d said too. Because he was right. She needed that job. Why in the world was she trying her best to lose it?
“You okay, Shirl?” Pearl asked her.
“Just get back to work,” Shirley snapped at Pearl, and hurried behind the counter.
Oz walked slowly down the dark, narrow hall that led to the only office back there. He realized, in all the time Lucinda owned that diner, he’d never been back there. He also never recalled feeling so oddly vulnerable as he walked toward that office. What in the world was wrong with him? This chic of a girl was nothing to him. Just a piece of ass to conquer, if he were to be honest about it. Why in the world was he feeling so . . . so uncomfortable? “Pull that shit together, Odysseus,” he could just hear Alex saying to him. “Pull that shit together.”
He knocked once on the door, exhaled, and then walked on in. His plan was to put on that happy, charming face he was known for all the world over, and pretend that her little turn down was of no consequence to him whatsoever. But when he walked in, and saw her sitting behind that desk looking beautiful even though she wore glasses and a ponytail that made her look like some bookkeeper, his smile didn’t materialize. Although she looked so hot in that crisscross blouse that highlighted her large breasts, that wasn’t the draw either. It was that look. There was such anguish on her face, as if she had bitten off far more than she could chew, that stopped him in his tracks. There was a vulnerability about her, that same look he noticed in the club, that made him want to protect her.
It was the weirdest feeling he’d ever experienced. Why on earth would he want to protect some female who treated him like he was a joke? But he couldn’t deny how he felt.
Gloria, too, felt some kind of weird way when Oz entered her office. Especially the way he looked when he entered. Gone were the club clothes he wore that night in Vegas, or even what he wore at his brother’s penthouse. He was now wearing a well-tailored suit that fit his muscular frame with linear perfection. And suddenly he had gravitas with his gorgeousness, which was a lot for one man to have. Suddenly he looked more like the successful businessman he apparently was, rather than some aging player. And she was glad to see it. And to see him.
Glad to see him?
Here was a man, she reminded herself, who played around with women’s hearts for sport, and she was actually glad to see him? Really? Was she that desperate for male companionship? Was she that desperate for somebody to love her that she’d consider having contact with a man who’d do everything to her but love her?
Get a grip, Glo, she said to herself. Get a damn grip! But she still smoothed-down her ponytail.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Oz said as he walked on in.
“No,” she said. “I was just having a moment.”
“Who’s the perp?”
“I was on the phone with an unsavory vendor.”
“I have news for you,” Oz said. “They’re all unsavory.”
Gloria smiled. “I see that already.”
Her hair was a mess, Oz thought. But it was a sexy mess. “May I?” He was motioning at the empty chair on the side of her desk.
Gloria would have immediately said no to Oz the clubber. But Oz the businessman presented such a compellingly different picture. She knew what he probably wanted, but she had a different goal. She wondered if he could give her some insight into the local business climate? “Yes,” she said. “Please.”
Oz was a tad surprised that she hadn’t kicked him out of her office on sight, especially after seeing him with Jennifer that night. Why he thought that would bother her was a mystery even to him. But that was how he was thinking.
He unbuttoned his suit coat and sat down. They were now sitting parallel to each other. He could see that she wore a short skirt and that her shapely legs were crossed beneath her desk. And just like that he began to get hard. He folded his legs too.
“I guess I should formally introduce myself. My name is Odysseus.”
“But everybody calls you Oz,” Gloria finished for him. “Yes, I remember. And I want to thank you again for helping me with that idiot.”
“No worries,” said Oz. “But I’m still surprised.”
“By what?”
“You didn’t tell me you were moving to my neck of the woods when we were talking in Vegas. I think I mentioned I was from Apple Valley, no?”
“You mentioned you were from Florida, which was one of the two states I was considering at the time.”
“Oh, yeah? What other state?”
“California.”
“Ah. And you chose Florida instead? Why? The fact that there are no state taxes here?”
Gloria smiled. “Nothing that brilliant.”
“Then why?” Oz smiled. “Because I’m here?”
“The truth?”
Oz hesitated. Was it because he lived there? Now he was worried. Was she some kind of stalker? He’d had that kind too. “Yes, please tell me the truth.”
“I didn’t want to be too far away from my family.”
“Oh, I see.”
“They all live on the east coast. That’s why Florida won out. I know t
hat sounds silly.”
“Not at all! I did the same thing. But I’m worse. I moved all the way from Greece following behind my big brother. I think, in a way, we all need that familiar, even as we desperately want to get from under their shadows and want to make a name for ourselves.”
Gloria stared at him. Nobody seemed to understand why she was doing what she was doing the way he did. “That’s actually how I feel. I’m not getting any younger. I figure I’d better get on with my life.”
“Not getting any younger? How old are you?”
“I’m pushing thirty.”
Oz laughed. “You’re a baby,” he said, and Gloria laughed. “Because, my dear, if you aren’t getting any younger, imagine my situation. You’re pushing thirty, but I’m pushing forty! Might even have already pushed pass it. Who knows?”
Gloria smiled. “Your old butt knows, that’s who,” she said, and they both laughed.
But when she laughed her big breasts bounced too, which suddenly reminded Oz why he bothered to come all the way to that diner to begin with. He wanted her. “Have dinner with me,” he blurted out.
Gloria’s smile slowly faded. Because she knew why he asked it. His eyes were still staring at her breasts when he did ask. And just like that, his ability to understand where she was coming from wasn’t enough for her to go down that too familiar heartbreak lane again. “Can’t,” she said.
Oz stared at her. “Can’t? Or won’t?”
“No, really. I’m swamped here. I’ll probably work late into the night tonight. Every night. I’ve got to get a handle on things.”
Oz was hurt by her rejection. Again! But he wasn’t about to let her see it. “Yes, I suppose it is daunting taking over a business.”
“It’s a tiny business, and I know most people wouldn’t give it a second thought. But this is my first time around, and I’ve got to get it right. I need this business to remain profitable. But thank you for the offer.”
For some reason, Oz believed her. It wasn’t him; it was the circumstances. She was just too busy! It wasn’t an out-and-out rejection. Not this time anyway. Perhaps he could help alleviate some of her concerns. Why he would even want to was a different story. He knew he could have just called it a day and went and found him a different woman. Like Jennifer, for one. He could use more bed time with that gorgeous creature.
But Gloria, for some unfathomable reason, interested him.
“What seems to be your difficulty?” he asked her.
“Oh, that’s easy. My vendors.”
“Right. You did mention vendors. What’s the issue?”
“Margins. They’re killing me with the margins, man.”
“Let me guess: they increased their prices on you?”
Gloria nodded. “And not by a few pennies, either, which I might have accepted.”
“Which vendor specifically?”
“Like every one of them.”
That surprised Oz. “Everybody? Give me an example.”
Gloria should have hesitated. It was obvious that he wasn’t interested in her business or anything about her beyond her body. But she was feeling so overwhelmed already! “I just got off of the phone with one vendor, for example, who charged Miss Lucinda forty cents per hamburger bun she bulk-purchased. They want to charge me fifty-five cents a bun.”
Oz frowned. “Twenty-eight percent markup just because you’re the new owner? Why that’s outrageous!”
Gloria nodded. “That’s how I feel. Now I’ve got to find a new vendor. I’ve got to find a ton of new vendors because they’ve all raised their prices on me in a similar fashion.”
Oz shook his head and began pulling out his cell phone. “The one thing that angers me most,” he said as he searched for a particular number, “is people taking advantage of other people. What they’re doing to you is wrong, and you’re right to protest it.”
“One guy said I was being a bitch.”
Oz frowned. “Which one? Tell me and I’ll kick his ass.”
Gloria smiled. “It’s okay. Name calling never bothered me.”
“I can relate,” Oz said as he pressed the number he had been searching for and placed his phone on Speaker when it started to ring. “I’d be dead, sleeping in my grave, if name-calling bothered me.”
“Who are you phoning?”
“My inventory manager.”
Gloria was surprised that he wasn’t bragging about the fact that he co-owned The Drakos casino with his brother, a casino almost as large as her Uncle Reno’s PaLargio casino in Vegas. In the club the first time she met him, he seemed like the bragging type. But now, oddly, not so much.
The ringing stopped, and a male’s voice came on the line. “This is Tom Marzin. How may I help you?”
“Hello, Thomas, this is Oz.”
“Mr. Drakos! Well, hello, sir. How may I assist you, sir?”
“I need some figures from you.”
“I’m at the computer as we speak. I can pull it up. What do you need?”
“Our margins on hamburger buns. But refresh my memory first. Who’s our supplier?”
“A. D. Rappaport. What do you need to know? Our total outlay on hamburgers?”
“On the buns specifically. How much are they charging us per?”
“Ah, just a sec. Here it is. Regular or extra-large, sir?”
Oz looked at Gloria. “Both,” she said.
“Both,” Oz said into the phone.
“They charge us twenty-one cents per bun,” Tom said.
“Wow,” said Gloria. “Twenty-one cents for a regular bun?”
“That’s for an extra-large bun,” said Tom.
Gloria couldn’t believe it.
“They charge us fifteen cents per regular bun,” said Tom.
Oz looked at Gloria. “That sounds better?”
“Of course! Yes.”
“Contact Rappaport,” Oz said to Tom.
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell them I want them to supply Lucinda’s Diner, although I’m sure the name will be changing soon, but right now it’s still Lucinda’s Diner. I want them to charge this diner at the same rates they charge us.”
“Will do.”
“And if they give us any blowback--”
“Oh, they won’t, sir,” Tom interrupted. “They aren’t losing The Drakos contract over supplying a small diner. I guarantee you that.”
“Good,” Oz said. “Tell them to ask for Gloria here at Lucinda’s. But I don’t want any bullshit. The exact same rate is what they’d better give her.”
“Yes, sir. That’s what she’ll get.”
Gloria sat there amazed. Was he for real?
“What else do they supply for us?” Oz asked Tom.
“Quite a few supplies, sir. Nearly forty percent of our restaurants food inventories alone.”
“Then let’s do this,” said Oz. “Get a rep from their company to come visit Lucinda’s and cut a deal to supply them with whatever they need. With margins the same as ours. And make it clear to them I will check,” Oz added.
“Yes, sir,” said Tom. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Good man,” said Oz, and ended the call. But when he looked up, he realized Gloria was staring at him.
“Are you serious?” she asked him.
“Of course, I’m serious. Why wouldn’t I be serious?” Then he smiled. “I mean I joke around like all the time, but why wouldn’t I be serious?”
But Gloria was still stunned. “Did I just hear that that company, A.D. Rappaport, is going to give me the same margins they give The Drakos?”
“Between us, yes. I’m sure that company, however, wouldn’t want that news to spread around.”
Gloria smiled. “Oh, I understand that!” Then she frowned. “I just don’t understand why.”
Oz leaned back and folded his arms, revealing biceps so big they were straining the fabric of his Italian-silk suit. “Why what?”
“Why would you help me out like this? What’s in it for you?”
“For me? Nothing at all. I cannot stand those who would take advantage of somebody just starting out. The very person who needs the break the most. You’re a young lady trying her hand in the entrepreneur world. I respect that, but many don’t. Some, I’m afraid, will see you coming. But I’m already here. They know I’ll come too. For them,” Oz added, with a smile. “They’ll back off with their maltreatment of you going forward. I assure you of that.”
Gloria, shocking herself, believed him. “Thank you,” she said, with a smile of her own. “That’s going to help me a lot, Oz. I really appreciate that.”
“No worries at all. I just want to make sure your age and race and gender doesn’t create issues for you around here. If they do, come see me.”
When he uttered those words, a pang of fear whipped through Gloria’s body. Because, when he said those words, he reminded her of her father! The last man on earth she wanted to get herself entangled with was a man like her father!
“Just come see me,” he said again.
“And you’ll do what exactly?” Gloria asked him. “Beat’em up for me?”
Oz smiled that charming, bright white smile. “I’ve been known to mix it up every now and then. They don’t call me the wizard of Oz for nothing.”
Gloria knew exactly why they called him the wizard of Oz. Lucinda told her why. And it had nothing to do with fighting. But just the thought of why they called him that name caused Gloria to glance down, between his muscular thighs. When she saw just how big his equipment was for his wizardry, she began to feel the heat between her own thighs. Which was the last thing she needed to have for a man like Oz. She quickly looked away.
But Oz caught her little glance before she looked away, and the fact that she seemed impressed. That pleased him. And, to his own surprise, it was enough. She was interested too. That was all he needed to know for now. He stood up. “I’d better let you get back to work,” he said.
Gloria smiled, standing too. “That’s very generous of you.”
“No generosity at all. I need to get back to work, too,” he added, and they laughed.
“Thanks, again, for helping me out,” Gloria said with all sincerity. “That kind of assistance is going to save me some serious cash. Thank you.”
Oz Drakos: Loving Mick the Tick's Daughter Page 6
