The questions and confusion swamped her. She was supposed to be turning this place around by herself to prove to her father that she could. She settled behind her desk and went back to making phone calls. She needed to get the bowling alley operational.
A knock on her door interrupted her third phone call. Colin stuck his head in.
“Clean-up crew is here. They’re handling the graffiti.”
She nodded and he left. After the call, she sought him out. She needed to wrest back control, otherwise she’d never get what she wanted.
He stood behind the bar, reading a newspaper.
“We need to talk.”
He pushed away from the bar. “Shoot.”
“I’m calling Mike in and I’m going to fire him. I want to make sure you can handle running the bar until I find a replacement.”
“I could, but don’t you think you should talk to him before you fire him? See what he has to say before jumping to conclusions?”
“What could he possibly say?”
“What if I’m wrong and it wasn’t Mike?”
Tension tightened every muscle. She was just so tired. Maybe her father was right; maybe she wasn’t cut out to be in charge of everything. Every battle tore up her stomach and left her more stressed than the last.
But if she didn’t get the company, what would she have? That was her biggest fear—the unknown.
“Are you okay?”
Colin was suddenly standing beside her, his hand making small circles on her lower back. It felt good, but she forced herself to step away. “We had a deal.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Sorry. But in my defense, no one’s here to see.”
“And that’s our problem. You always look for a way around the rules. I can’t play games here.”
His blue eyes iced. “I’m not playing games. I’m taking this business every bit as seriously as you are, but I’m not letting each setback eat me up. You need to be able to relax and take things in stride.”
“Please don’t tell me what to do.”
“Did you find someone to come out to look at the equipment in the bowling alley?”
The sudden change of subject caught her off guard. “Yeah. They’re coming out tomorrow.”
“Good. I found someone to help with managing. I haven’t hired her yet, but it looks promising.”
She envied his ease with people. If she could bottle that, she’d be well on her way to having whatever she wanted. She shook her head at the thought. “Let me know when Mike gets in so I can talk to him. Were they able to get the graffiti off the wall?”
“You can see there was paint there, but the words aren’t legible. Mike couldn’t have done that. I left out the back door last night and there was nothing on the wall. None of this makes sense.” He went back to the other side of the bar, closed the newspaper, and set it to the side.
“You’re right. It doesn’t make sense, but I can’t very well pretend nothing happened.”
“The old manager had keys. Did you get them back? Did you change the locks after you took over?”
“I’m not incompetent. Of course I changed the locks.” She didn’t need to admit that it had taken a couple of days. “I’ll be in my office.”
The stench in the hallway was gone. At least they could open on time and not lose business. In her office she put her head down on her desk. She’d gotten enough sleep, but if she had to be here from open to close every night to keep an eye on the employees, including Colin, she would. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to sleep like that. Instead she leaned back in the rickety chair and propped her feet on the desk. If she didn’t wobble too much, she could at least relax.
The knock startled her, and her feet knocked the penholder off the corner of the desk. Before she could right herself, Colin swung the door open.
“You’re supposed to wait until you’re invited in.”
“Don’t get flustered because I caught you slacking.” He closed the door behind him.
She was irritated for that exact reason. The constant burn in her stomach settled in for the long haul. She stood and straightened her skirt, debating whether she should change. Did she look like the owner in jeans? “What do you want?”
He edged closer, and her heartbeat kicked up a notch. His hand cupped her chin and, before she could protest, his mouth covered hers in a slow, sensual kiss. Her sleepy brain accepted the kiss and her hormones weren’t going to argue. He pulled slowly away with a smirk on his face.
“I came to let you know Mike is here. I figured we should talk to him together. Show him a united front so he can’t try to play us against each other.”
Damn, not only had he snuck in a kiss that wasn’t supposed to happen, at least not at work, now he was making sense on the business end. “Okay. I’ll be out in a minute.”
He stepped away but kept watching her. “You know, I like you when you’re sleepy and unguarded.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He turned and left her office.
Something about the way he approached her ate away at her defenses. He always seemed to know just what she needed, whether it was a gentle kiss or space to be alone. Every move Colin made worried her just a bit.
After a few deep breaths, she strode to the front. Mike stood ready for an assault. Whatever Colin had said last night had definitely left a mark. Elizabeth moved to stand in front of Mike, leaving Colin to stay behind the bar. “Mike.”
“Look, Elizabeth, I like working here, but I’m sure you know what happened last night.”
“What did happen?”
Mike crossed his arms, causing his biceps to bulge. He glared at Colin, who began wiping down the already clean bar. Seeing the two men alongside each other marked their differences. Mike, with his muscles and short light-brown hair, had a tough-guy persona, and Colin remained the laid-back, charismatic guy.
“Colin accused me of stealing. I didn’t even know we carried Bushmills. It wasn’t on the shelf when I started last night.”
“Did Colin mention the other problem we had?”
He shook his head.
“The bathrooms were a mess, and someone spray painted the wall in the alley.”
Mike raised his hands. “The bathrooms were clean when I left out the front door. The only time I used the back door was when I took out the trash.”
“What about the girls?”
“We all left together after Colin accused us. In fact, we stood by our cars talking about whether or not we wanted to continue working for someone who had no trust in us.”
Elizabeth paused and fought the urge to look at Colin. She believed Mike. This was a test and surely she’d fail if she made the wrong move. She sighed. “I’m not trying to accuse anyone, Mike. I know every business suffers some loss, but as the main employee behind the bar, I need you to make sure that inventory is accounted for. Just keep your eyes open.”
The tension etched across Mike’s face dissipated and relief filled his eyes. “I wish I knew what happened, but I have no idea. The only time I left from behind the bar was for a bathroom break while Colin was here and to go refresh stock later in the evening. The bar was never unattended.”
“I’ll be here from open to close from now on. I know things have been hectic. The other half of the building is a bowling alley that we need to get reopened. It’s been pulling some of my time and energy away from the bar.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Colin’s jaw flex. A couple of days of slacking had caused nothing but problems.
“I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
She strode away, and Colin followed her. He didn’t say anything and his steps were nearly silent, but she felt him closing in. She left the office door open to give herself a moment to be able to face him.
His opinion shouldn’t matter, but it did. More than him just being her partner. The door clicked and she moved behind her desk. More armor.
“I thoug
ht you were going to fire Mike.”
“I was. But then I listened to him and I believe him. I can’t ignore the problem, but getting rid of a good employee on a maybe didn’t seem to make sense.” She straightened papers without making a difference to the appearance of the desk.
“I agree. Now, about this opening and closing every day . . .”
Her gaze shot up to meet his to let him know this was non-negotiable.
“You can’t be here all the time. It’s not humanly possible. Especially when you take into consideration the work that takes place before hours.”
“I think a strong management presence is important. While the cat’s away and all that. They need to know I’m in charge.”
He moved closer still, and she backed into her chair.
“No one is doubting that you’re the boss. But you can’t be everywhere at once, and I don’t think the staff is to blame. You have to spend some time next door to get the alley open. Not that I’m complaining about having more time with you.” The corner of his mouth quirked up.
“What do you think this is? It’s not date central. We’re here to work, to run a business.”
“Hmmm—mmm.” He stared at her lips. “There’s no rule against enjoying your work.”
She held her arm out straight to prevent his progress. “We just talked about this. If you plan on ever seeing me naked again . . .” His eyes lit. “Then you need to keep your hands off while at work.”
He inched against her palm and the warm firmness of his abdomen pressed against her. “How long?”
Her mouth dried up. “Huh?”
“How long until I get to see you naked again?”
Her laugh came out as a snort and she covered her mouth again. “Stop it. I hate that you do that to me.”
“What? Make you laugh?”
“Make me forget who and where I am.” The words startled him almost as much as they did her. If he didn’t have that ability, her words would always have been kept in check.
He took a big step backward.
Now she’d done it. She’d ruined a great casual sexual relationship because she’d said the wrong thing.
Then his smile broadened. “Until tonight then. My place or yours?”
She answered his smile with one of her own. “Mine has room service.”
“Okay.” He turned and headed for the door. With his hand on the knob, he said, “There’s a boxing match this Saturday on pay-per-view. I think we should consider getting it. We can advertise and bring more people in.”
“Sure.”
He swung the door open and walked through it without a backward glance.
Elizabeth opened her laptop and began Googling sports events. It was great that Colin seemed on top of it, but if this was going to be a sports bar, she had to be on top too.
CHAPTER 12
For the next few days, Colin and Elizabeth worked side by side and slept together each night. He found the biggest problem he had with working with her was not that she was bossy and controlling, but that no matter what she wore, he imagined her naked, which gave him an instant hard-on. They worked so well together, he had moments when he worried about whether he could hack it after she left. Whether he bought this place or another, could he go it alone?
He tried not to think about how cold his bed would be after she left. After less than a week of sleeping together he shouldn’t have those kinds of thoughts.
They’d done a lot of advertising to bring people in for the boxing match, and he’d convinced a beer sponsor to send beer promo girls with prizes. Elizabeth chose a company to work on the bowling alley and work would start on Sunday. Bianca had stopped by and impressed Elizabeth enough to get hired.
All in all, his life was finally looking up. Now he just had to decide if he wanted to expose Elizabeth to an O’Leary family dinner. Even if he invited her, she might not agree to come. And he still worried about sending the wrong message to his family.
Maybe he’d wait until after tonight. If the boxing event was a huge success, she might be distracted enough to agree. Plus, having baby Patrick at his first family dinner might dissuade everyone from interrogating Elizabeth.
He decided not to examine the idea that he wanted her to come. That fell under the same umbrella of missing her in his bed after she left.
All things better left for another day.
Elizabeth had already left his apartment to go into work. He’d tried to convince her to wait for him, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She still insisted they drive separately so no one would know they were sleeping together.
He really just wanted her to wait so that she might take a nap. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told Mike she would open and close the place. She’d been there around the clock all week, and while she’d been doggedly productive, the hours had been taking a toll on her. Even with spending a few hours at O’Leary’s and his time at Brannigan’s, he was nowhere near as exhausted as she was.
She thought he didn’t know she was still consuming antacids, but he did. He’d tried to get her to go to the doctor, but she just bought some over-the-counter pills that didn’t seem to make much difference.
He turned on the ignition in the Jeep and his phone rang. With a glance at the screen, he answered, “Yes, Elizabeth, I’m on my way now.”
“Good. Someone broke in last night.”
“What?” His tires screeched a little on the way out of the alley.
“The entire bar is trashed. TVs are broken, every glass smashed. I don’t know if we’ll be able to open.” Her voice was tight, but controlled.
“Get out of there and call the cops.”
“They’re here now.”
He exhaled with relief, knowing she wasn’t alone. “I’ll be there soon.”
Speeding through the Chicago streets, he tried to figure out why it felt like their bar had been targeted. First the missing alcohol and graffiti, now this. He pulled up in front of the bar and ran in.
Elizabeth stood in the middle of the room talking with a uniformed cop. Colin glanced at the cop, but didn’t recognize him. Elizabeth’s back looked like it had a steel pole running through it. Another cop stepped in front of him to stop his progress.
Elizabeth called out, “It’s okay, officer. He’s my partner.”
Partner. He liked the sound of that, especially when it came from her mouth. She walked away from the cop she’d been speaking to and met Colin.
“Are you okay?” He reached out and then dropped his arm, knowing she’d yell at him for touching her.
“No, I’m not fucking all right. Look at this place.” She’d lost what control she’d had in talking with the police and the comment came out as a harsh whisper.
He did as she said and looked around. Three of his TVs were smashed, and glass from the barware littered the floor. Puddles of alcohol pooled on the bar and dripped down the side.
He checked the time. One o’clock. If he called in Mike and they busted their asses, they might be able to open.
“How much longer will the cops need?”
“I don’t know.” She turned and walked away, effectively shutting him out.
He found the cop who had tried to stop him from coming in. “Excuse me, officer. How much more time will you need here? I’d like to start cleaning up and restocking so we don’t have to lose a night of business.”
“The detectives are talking in the corner. Those are the guys you want to ask.”
“Do you know how they broke in?”
“Through your storeroom.”
Storeroom? How the hell would someone get in through the storeroom? Colin found the detectives and heard them snickering. One commented on the alarm not functioning.
The alarm worked. He’d set it himself last night when they left. “Excuse me, detectives? I’m one of the owners and I have a few questions.”
After another lengthy conversation, Colin found that although the alarm appeared to be working, it wasn’t actually connected to any
thing. The siren itself had been disconnected. Furthermore, the locks on the doors hadn’t been broken. Someone had gotten in on the bowling-alley side of the building and come up through the basement.
As the police wrapped up, he called Mike, Erin, and Marissa and asked them all to come in immediately. Then he went to find Elizabeth. In her office, she was doubled over in her chair. He hurried to her side. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
She struggled to straighten.
“You need to go to a doctor.”
“Shut up.” Her words held no vehemence. “Who do we call to cancel the promotion tonight?”
“We can’t cancel. This event will be good for us. I have everyone coming in now. If I need to call in friends and family, I will, but we’re going to be open tonight.”
She shook her head like she wanted to disagree with him. She just looked beat. “How are we going to replace everything in a few short hours?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out.”
Elizabeth moved slowly toward the door and he walked with her, afraid she’d lose her balance. She gripped the door frame with one hand and her stomach with the other.
“Hey.” He touched her cheek, not caring who saw or if she got mad.
With a sudden burst of energy, she pushed away from his touch and bolted across the hall into the bathroom.
A glance over his shoulder told him the cops were gone and they were alone. He stood outside the bathroom door, worried about her. He pushed the door open about an inch and heard her retching. He didn’t ask permission to enter. He needed to make sure she was okay.
Seeing her kneeling in front of the toilet was bad enough, but then he saw that she had vomited blood. When she leaned against the metal wall of the stall, he squatted in front of her. Panic pounded in his chest. Blood was never good. “You’re going to the hospital right now.”
“No, I’m not. I’ll be fine.” Her face was pale and her voice weak.
“You’re not fine!” He stood and tried to calm himself. “Throwing up blood is not fine. Eating more antacids than you do actual food is not fine. Pretending that nothing is wrong is not fine. Now, you either stand up and walk to the car to go to the hospital, or I’m going to carry you out of here.” He offered his hand, knowing that she’d take it instead of risking him following through on his threat.
Something to Prove Page 17
