by Brenna Zinn
“Well, ain’t that nice. How convenient.” Sarcasm dripped from his father’s tone. He stretched out his arm until his watch peeked out from under his jacket. “As luck would have it, my appointment this morning cancelled. Think I’ll join you during the interview. I can’t wait to meet the lady you found at Iron Rods who impressed you enough to offer an interview for the manager position.”
“That’s not necessary. I know you’re busy and I have this under control.” Bennett forced a smile. “I’ll tell you all about it over lunch.”
“Nonsense. Since you’ve started working for me, I have all the time in the world. This is going to be a real treat.”
Annoyance pricked at Bennett’s patience. He had trapped himself in a web of his own making. Halfway through the interview, his father would suspect an attempt to hire someone unqualified for the position. Lyle might be crazy, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d been in business long enough to know what Bennett was up to.
At best Bennett could say he’d given the girl a chance and it didn’t work out, so back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, he’d then be stuck actually hiring someone decent to make it appear he’d done his best to turn the dump around.
This no-win situation required a little more thought on his part. He needed a plan B if he was going to finally pull the plug on the strip club and move forward with building the new high-rise.
“Mr. Truitt, your ten o’clock is here,” his secretary’s voice sounded over the intercom.
He gritted his teeth and glanced at Lyle, who wasn’t budging. His stubborn father had no intention of passing up the interview. Bennett pressed a button on the intercom. “Thank you, Ms. Foster. Send her in.”
Ever the Southern gentleman, Lyle stood as Tatum Reynolds opened the door and entered the office. Although she wore an understated dress, Tatum looked breathtakingly stunning. She’d left her blonde hair down, allowing the long locks to fall in soft waves past her shoulders. Her hairdo framed her beautiful face and set off a megawatt smile. The hemline of her outfit fell above her knee and showcased tight calves and firm thighs. Like many women’s in Austin, her tanned skin radiated a healthy glow. Her perky disposition and attractiveness made looking at anything else but her difficult.
The old man glared back at Bennett with a steely-eyed look of accusation.
Ignoring his father’s glower, Bennett met Tatum in the middle of the room. “Thank you for coming, Ms. Reynolds.”
Like he would at any other business meeting, Bennett shook Tatum’s hand. Unlike any other business meeting, the thoughts crossing his mind the instant his skin made contact with hers had his cock twitching behind his slacks. The lascivious urges he’d suffered through yesterday and that morning hadn’t been without cause. She might not be the type of woman he should be thinking about, but something about the blonde beauty sent his libido into overdrive.
“Let me introduce you to the CEO of the Truitt Holdings Company,” Bennett said, brushing the sexual notion aside. “This is my father, Lyle Truitt.”
The old man hid his annoyance well. When he greeted Tatum, he was all smiles and charm. “You’re quite a tall drink of water, aren’t you, young lady? Please take a seat. My son tells me you two met at Iron Rods.”
Wonderful. The woman had been in his office for less than a minute and Lyle had already managed to point out the obvious and start his grand inquisition. Without thinking, Bennett pulled the Susan B. coin from his pocket. He idly flipped it back and forth over the backs of his fingers, taking comfort in the familiar practiced rhythm of the movements.
“Yes, that’s true. About meeting at Iron Rods, I mean.” She opened a large leather bag and pulled out a file before dropping the tote onto the floor. “I don’t imagine he mentioned that I called the club a dump.”
“No,” Lyle said, “he hadn’t gotten to that part yet.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Truitt, I did. I’m a huge admirer of yours, but Iron Rods is in serious need of some TLC. Luckily, I believe I have some great ideas to get the club back on Austin’s A-list.” She laid a paper on the desk. “I took the liberty of asking a friend who works at another bar some questions about the profitability of alcohol. According to this friend, a typical well drink has about forty cents worth of alcohol in it. Add the mixer, the bartender’s time, and the cost of washing the glass when it’s empty, and the drink still costs the bar only fifty cents. If you charge five or six dollars for a mixed drink, you’re making a ton of money. On the other hand, the profit on a bottle of beer is much less. Beer costs more money to serve and you just can’t sell a bottle of beer for as much as you sell liquor.”
Lyle’s expression turned contemplative. “Yes, go on.”
“Well, I and many other women I know believe the drinks at Iron Rods are watered down. Besides being against the law, this is bad business when dealing with women.” She peered up from her document. “You see, if the drinks stink, then women will drink beer because you can’t screw up a bottle of beer. But,” she heavily emphasized the word, “women are very concerned about calories and carbs. We might drink only one or two beers an entire night. If the mixed drinks are good, we’ll have several.”
“And the earnings of the club increase,” Bennett finished off the thought. He studied Tatum again. He hadn’t given her much credit in terms of intelligence. Though he often prided himself as a decent judge of character, perhaps he had misjudged her. Was she actually as smart as she was brusque?
“Another issue you have is safety,” she continued. “Iron Rods isn’t located in the best part of Austin and the parking lot is not well lit. By increasing your lighting and having your bouncer on the outside of the building, you’ll give women a sense of security. We’ll feel safer getting to and from our cars. Feeling safer equals better attendance.”
“I see.” Lyle glanced at Bennett. “I’m impressed. She’s clearly given this some thought.”
“Oh I have. Wait ’til you see this.” Tatum leafed through her papers and withdrew a drawing. “Mr. Truitt, with all due respect, you aren’t going to get women into Iron Rods looking as awful as it does. My friend designs clothes, which reminds me, your dancers’ costumes look like they came from a thrift shop,” she said, getting off track. “But my friend is fabulous at interior design. We worked together and sketched this French-inspired design concept for the club.”
She pointed to the crystal chandeliers in the picture and then pink-and-white-striped walls while discussing women’s preference for an elegant surrounding over sitting in a room that resembled a drug den.
“I haven’t cost out this design, but what I can tell you is that you’re way past due in reinvesting money into the club. Doing so will bring back your customers. In addition,” she hesitated a moment and stared at Lyle with her sparkling jade eyes, “you really need to get some better-looking dancers who can actually dance.”
At least she had the decency to look embarrassed as she dropped this unflattering bomb.
Lyle drank her every word as though each syllable contained a powerful elixir. “I completely agree to most of the points you’ve made.”A grin spread across his weathered face. “I like you, young lady. You have the kind of spunk and energy I admire. Plus, you seem genuinely interested in improving the club.”
“Oh, I’m not done yet,” she interrupted. “Wait until you see this.”
For an hour, Bennett and his father listened as she enthusiastically rattled on about her marketing ideas, social media approaches, staffing and her “new business model” for hiring and retaining strippers. Lyle could not contain his interest in her or her pitch. Not only did her bubbly magnetism have the old man eating out of her hands, she had unwittingly stroked at one of his favorite chords—Iron Rods, the first business he could call his own and the meager beginning to his dynasty.
By the time Tatum finished talking, Bennett’s head pounded and his balls ached with sexual tension. What had he done?
The pretty girl with the big mouth he found at the club h
adn’t been the ringer he hoped for. She showed a potential he never dreamed she possessed. Considering everything she’d said up to that point, she might actually be able to do the job competently.
Considering how badly he wanted to pull her up into his arms and press her beautiful breasts against his chest, his decision to bring Tatum in for an interview now bordered on masochistic. If only he’d listened to his cock Saturday night. Instead of giving her a chance at a job, he should have charmed her into his bed, fucked her until dawn and then sent her on her merry way.
Lyle tapped on the mound of paperwork Tatum had stacked onto the desk. “Well, I’m sold. I don’t need to hear any more. I say we hire her.”
“Wait a minute, Lyle,” Bennett said, dropping the coin on the desk. Although he might want to see more of Tatum, a lot more of Tatum than was proper, he needed someone in the manager position who would help bring the club to a quick death, not build it back up. He scrambled to find something that would turn his father against her.
“We know nothing about her education or her experience. We need someone in the position who knows how to handle employees and customers, remember?”
Without missing a beat, Tatum pulled a resume from her bag and added it to the pile of papers. “I have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in dance from the University of Texas, and I’ve worked as the assistant manager at Java Buena for two years.”
“She graduated from UT,” Lyle repeated like a trained parrot. “She has a master’s degree.”
“A degree in dance, not business.” Bennett crossed his arms. “We need someone with a business background.”
“I don’t have a business background,” Lyle said. “As a matter of fact, I started out as one of the club’s strippers. Now look at me. I not only own Iron Rods, I own dozens of companies.”
Bennett mentally rolled his eyes. How long would his father continue to milk that dead cow?
“If it helps,” Tatum interjected, “all the electives I took in my undergraduate degree were management classes. My father insisted I take them as a backup in case my dancing career didn’t work out.”
A shadow darkened her emerald eyes. In that instant, Bennett understood the tall beauty sitting on the other side of his desk. He knew her hopes, her dreams and her disappointments. He figured out everything he needed to know about her except one last little bit.
Not wanting to appear overly interested, Bennett leaned back and studied one of his gold cufflinks. “It’s nice to see parents taking such interest in their daughter’s education. I imagine sending you to such a distinguished university for an undergraduate and a post-graduate degree must have cost them a pretty penny.”
“My daddy drives a truck and my mom works as a waitress. They work really hard, but they couldn’t afford to pay my tuition. I had to take out student loans.”
“Your family sounds like good folk,” Lyle said and patted Tatum’s hand. “The kind of people I like. I’m sure they’re very proud of you.”
“I’m sure they are too.” Bennett smiled. Just that easily, he plucked from her the final piece to the puzzle that was Tatum Reynolds, her motivation. Like so many recent graduates, she was in debt to her ears.
He filed the useful information in his head. The plan B he needed to move forward with shutting down the club and building the high-rise was coming together very nicely.
“Lyle, I think you may be right. Ms. Reynolds may just be the person we need for Iron Rods’ manager position.” Bennett gathered her papers and handed them back to Tatum. “When can you start?”
She shot out an arm in triumph and let out a whoop. “Thank y’all so much. I won’t let you down.”
“Don’t worry, honey, I won’t let you.” Lyle stood and motioned to Bennett. “I’m making my son personally responsible for you. He’ll ensure you have everything you need and need to know to do well.”
“What?” Bennett’s back became rigid and his stomach dropped to his toes. “I don’t have time to babysit a new manager. I’m the Chief Financial Officer. I’ve got a job to do.”
Lyle waved off Bennett’s comments. “You’re a big-shot businessman from New York with an MBA from Harvard. I’m sure you can handle grooming the newest member of our company while doing your regular job. Plus,” he added, his eyes narrowing, “you know how much Iron Rods means to me. You will do your best to help this young lady turn the club around.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” the old man fired back. He turned and helped Tatum out of her chair, then led her to the door. “Come with me, young lady. We’re going to Human Resources to square away things there and get you the building keys and codes to the alarm.” He stopped before leaving the room. “Bennett, plan on meeting Ms. Reynolds at the club tonight at five. It’s Monday, so it’s closed. You two will have the entire evening to get her acquainted with the place.” He regarded Tatum with a dashing smile. “Does that work for you?”
She nodded, causing her long blonde locks to dance around her face. “Yes. I’ll put in my notice at Java Buena this afternoon.”
“Excellent.” Lyle glanced over his shoulder at Bennett. “Mind that you take care of that property on the East Side. I don’t want that deal to fall through. Like I said before, I’ve got big plans for it.” He placed a hand on Tatum’s elbow and ushered her out the door. “I have a feeling this is going to work out just fine,” he said to her. “Don’t you?”
* * * * *
When Tatum pulled into the club parking lot, the hopes she had about Iron Rods looking better in the light of day than it did at night quickly dissolved. Knee-high weeds grew between the edges of the lot and the surrounding chain-link fence, as well as the numerous cracks in the asphalt. The building itself seemed even uglier and more foreboding than it had the night she and Heather ventured in.
Drawing in a deep breath, Tatum solidified her resolve. This dump was her responsibility now. She may have failed at becoming a professional dancer, but she would do everything in her power to never fail at anything else again, including managing this down-and-out strip club back to health.
She unlocked the metal back door and pressed buttons on a panel just inside the building, disarming the security system. With natural sunlight streaming in through the open door, she located a switchboard and then turned on each one of the lights. Suddenly she had a good view of the long room she stood in. Just as suddenly the enthusiasm she’d experienced since getting the position crashed onto the club’s filthy concrete floor.
Turning in a complete circle, Tatum took in the contents and condition of what appeared to be the dressing room for the strippers. Thank goodness she’d had the sense to change into a T-shirt and shorts before setting a foot into the grubby hellhole. No way could she get through an inspection without getting dirty herself.
Aside from the thick dust blanketing almost every surface, the dressing tables, shelves and floors were littered with empty plastic cups, bottles and to-go boxes. Cheap costumes and iridescent thongs hung haphazardly over the sides of chairs and on a tattered workout bench. A few other pieces of mismatched workout equipment sat in silent testimony to their disuse. In a far corner a small shower had enough mold covering it to grow mushrooms. A sour stench, like body odor mixed with stinky gym shoes, topped off the offenses.
The place was a pigsty. Little wonder no decent stripper bothered working at Iron Rods anymore. Aside from the few customers the business still managed to draw, the working conditions were nothing less than horrific.
Tatum let out a small whimper as the enormity of the situation settled in. The work required to get the club back up to par seemed overwhelming. How would she ever be able to get everything done? Where would she even start?
As much as she hated losing the fresh air, she closed the door to the outside. She pulled a notebook from her purse and started jotting down notes. For the next hour she could comb through the building and discover for herself the state of disrepair the place was in before Bennett Truitt a
rrived for their meeting. He’d have his own agenda he’d press on her. Lyle had predicted that, as well as other things.
She thought back to how aggrieved Bennett had appeared when Lyle put him in charge of her transition to manager. She had seen wild rodeo bulls looking more serene than Bennett had at that moment. Yet despite the aggravation reddening his cheeks and burning through his cool blue eyes, he remained one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen. Just sitting across the desk from him had turned her inside out.
With the slick, Mad Men-ish good looks of a movie star, Bennett could have easily graced the covers of magazines. He personified perfection from his thick, black head of hair down to his polished dress shoes. The way he walked, talked and even sat in his chair spoke to how well he understood his place in the world and felt comfortable in it. Confidence and self-possession oozed from the man like beads of wetness dripping down a cold glass of sweet tea on a hot summer day.
Tall, strong men and take-charge attitudes. Those attributes had had her heart skipping beats since she’d discovered boys in middle school. It just figured, now that she finally had time for something other than college classes and dance, Bennett of all people was the first single guy who caused her heart to skip, do jumping jacks and loop-de-loops.
Wholly unlike the rough and rugged guys she associated with being a man’s man, Bennett somehow took being manly to a different level in ways that both intrigued and irritated the hell out of her. He might combine the one-two punch of good looks and John Wayne charisma, but he also happened to be an aggravating, pompous ass who would probably demand the same perfection from others as he did of himself. He had the potential to bring out the very best of her or absolute worst. Especially if she couldn’t keep her tendency to pop off under control.
Failure was no longer an option though. If she had to, she would wear blinders, bite her tongue and work nonstop using one hundred ten percent effort to focus on her new job and exceed his standards. Clearly Bennett didn’t think much of her yet, but soon he would come to see her as a capable and valuable member of the Iron Rods team.
