Desire Too Hot To Handle: The Bad Baker Boys: John's Story
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When he decided he wanted to be a lawyer, no one was surprised at the choice since he excelled at debate and it was almost impossible to win an argument with him. After getting a full academic scholarship for college, he applied for and was granted a scholarship to Harvard Law as well. He could have chosen to practice at any number of prestigious firms around the country, but he surprised everyone when he came back home to Lakeside to practice locally. The female population had been thrilled because with his father’s coal black hair and his mothers blue eyes, he was the most eligible bachelor in town.
Little did anyone know, but the handsome attorney had a wild side that he kept ruthlessly hidden from friends and family alike. At least he had until he met Easy Grayson and his two worlds collided. Easy called to the wildness inside of him and it wasn’t until Luke lost her that he realized he’d been a fool. He confessed his deep, dark secrets, and the woman he loved accepted him for who he was. Now that he and Easy were getting married he couldn’t have been happier.
John was the baby of the family and gentle natured like his mother even though he had a wicked temper when provoked. He had picked up a toy guitar as a toddler and refused to put it down. Night and day he plunked the plastic strings and sang at the top of his lungs for the sheer joy of it. Jed bought him a real guitar when he was six and the boy literally wore it out learning to play it. By the time he was twelve, he had saved enough money cutting grass to buy a used electric guitar and his father had been forced to make the boy practice in the loft of the carriage house when he rattled the windows in the house with the decibel level.
At thirteen he started his own band with some boys from school and much to Jedidiah’s fury, refused to cut his hair again. When he graduated from high school, the band bought an old van and went on the road seeking fame and fortune. After three years of barely making enough money to stave off starvation, the band returned home and took local gigs while they worked days to support themselves. When Mark opened his bar, he hired them to perform every weekend, but John hadn't given up his dream of being a rock star. With the black hair and blue eyes that he shared with his brother, he had an adoring female fan base that always came out to watch him perform.
In spite of their wildness, they were all good boys and their father was proud of them and knew their mother would have been as well. Jed had remained faithful to his wife’s memory for twenty-five long, lonely years. Since no woman could ever take her place, he had vowed to never marry again and had never even dated another woman. He'd never believed he could love like that again, and truth be told, he was afraid of being hurt again. Gigi's death had nearly destroyed him and everyone knew it, so he had managed to shock his family and the entire town when he announced he was getting married. The fact that he was marrying Harley's mother had been the biggest shock of all.
The couple had spent a great deal of time together over the years as they cared for their mutual grandson during his visits and had become exceedingly close. Jed wasn't sure when he had first begun to want her because it seemed like it had been forever, but he'd been stunned to discover that Claire had felt the same way about him.
Claire Abbott had been in love with Jed for years and he was the finest gentleman she'd ever known. She had been thrilled to discover he wanted her, but even though she wanted so much more, she was happy to take whatever he was willing to give of himself. Since memories were long in a small town and with her wicked past, she had known gossip would run rampant if she were ever linked with a man, so she hadn't had a date since she'd arrived in Lakeside thirty years ago. In order to avoid a scandal and have Jed's good name tarnished, she had insisted their association be a closely guarded secret.
Jed didn't like sneaking around and he sure as hell wasn't ashamed of their relationship, but she meant too much to him to risk losing, so he had given in. Once he had the courage to admit to himself that he was in love with the younger woman, he had proposed and found out that Claire had only been waiting for him to admit he loved her. She could survive a scandal or anything else if Jed loved her because he meant everything to her. Their children were pleased that they had finally found someone and didn't give a damn what anyone else thought.
No, the Bakers were not the average family, Cyn realized, and that was before she met them. The entire family gathered for dinner at Mark and Desi's restaurant, Speakeasy, to welcome her and it was a little overwhelming. Sweet baby Jesus, the men were gorgeous! Even their father was still a handsome devil and loaded with bad boy charm. John was the only one not in attendance, but Jedidiah explained that he and the band were making final adjustments to the sound system before the club opened the next night.
The devilment twins, as she lovingly referred to Kylie and Jed, had insisted on sitting next to her and catching her up on their new lives here in Lakeside. Watching those two play with their siblings after dinner had her looking at their mothers to complain, "I remember when Jed and Kylie were babies. This makes me feel so old."
"Try having a baby at my age and then tell me about feeling old," Claire said in amusement as she rocked her infant daughter. Little Daisy was fretful and not cooperating at all.
"Give me that lil angel," Jedidiah said as he scooped his baby girl into his arms and began to croon soft nonsense. The baby ceased her whining, stuck her little thumb in her mouth and was asleep in minutes. "She just wanted her papa," he said with a wink at his wife.
"That bad boy charm works on females of any age," Harley agreed with a laugh.
And wasn't that just the gospel truth.
Chapter Two
Friday, May 23
Tonight was Club Ecstasy's grand opening and John was as nervous as a whore in church. He walked through the entire building and looked everything over with a critical eye. He wanted every detail to be perfect and thanks to Harley’s amazing design skills, it was. He just hoped like hell his patrons liked it as well since his livelihood depended on it.
John knew how to manage a business. Hell, he’d been doing it for years. When the band had come back home to settle down, he’d gone to work at the tire store, one of several businesses that his brother Matt owned. It hadn’t taken long until he’d worked his way up to manager and with some good advice from his other brother, Mark, the place ran like a well oiled machine.
But managing his own business was a hell of a lot more difficult, he had discovered. He still had to do inventory, order product, keep track of the employees time, and record all of the expenses and income. The only difference was that now he was the one responsible for making sure the money coming in was enough to cover the money going out. That was the nerve wracking part.
Since Mark had gotten married, opened a new restaurant lounge combo, and was now the father of two children, he wanted to be able to spend more time with his family. When he’d asked if John would be interested in managing his first bar, My Brother's Place, the younger brother had impulsively offered to buy it.
Getting a loan hadn’t been a problem, and he’d even borrowed enough to let Harley redo the whole place, stock the bar, and still had enough money sitting in the bank to cover expenses for a while. Even though Mark had explained every last detail to him repeatedly, he just hadn’t understood the magnitude of such an undertaking until he was neck deep in debt for the first time in his life.
Sure, he’d been in debt before, but a loan payment did not compare to this. Now he had to pay for a shit load of insurance, get licenses for every damn thing you could think of, and pay taxes on everything coming in or going out. The scary part was that he didn’t have a safety net. He had to make the club a success or lose his ass.
John had done his homework though. In the two months that it had taken for Harley to get the place remodeled, he’d visited every club at the beach to see what was working for them. Mind you they had an entirely different clientele than he did since the majority of their patrons were tourists, but they all had one thing in common. Nightly specials.
He, Harley, Mark and Desi, had d
one some brainstorming and put together a roster of events that he was sure would appeal to the community. When Mark owned the place, it had been a regular bar with live music and dancing on the weekends. It had been a lucrative venture, but there was nothing special about it.
John had something entirely different in mind. His vision was a nightclub that would serve as the local watering hole to the regulars and a place for the college kids to hang out. Offering reduced drink prices if they showed a college ID was an added incentive, and he was keeping the daily happy hour to make the regulars happy.
Monday was Sports Night and guaranteed to be a hit with the men. Harley had installed theater style screens on the walls at various intervals and ceiling mounted projectors. John had sprung for a satellite feed for all of the major sports networks so they could watch a variety of sports year round.
Tuesday night was Endless Happy Hour with weekly specials at reduced prices all night long. The weekly specials would carry a theme to match the season, holiday or a special occasion. Beach Party night would have the standards like Hurricane, Sex On The Beach, and a few signature drinks that Mark had concocted. Desi, was a professional chef, and she had paired corresponding finger foods for each menu, like crab cakes and jerk chicken wings.
Wednesday was Ladies Night when they planned to feature free dance classes that the women would enjoy participating in and the men would enjoy watching. To get them started, Harley was giving pole dancing lessons. His oldest brother Matt, Harley’s husband, had damn near had a stroke when they’d told him about it and he was still raising hell over the idea. Oh, yeah. That night should be real exciting.
Thursday was Karaoke Night and if nothing else, it would be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. There would also be a contest where weekly winners would compete against the next week’s competition and the monthly winner got a free weekend at one of the beach resorts. He had a friend who managed the resort and the guy was giving him a discounted rate for the free publicity.
Friday and Saturday nights, John’s band, the Bad Boys, performed live and always drew a large crowd. Since Mark had opened Speakeasy, a good bit of the thirty-five and over set had switched allegiances and preferred the more laid back jazz club. That suited John just fine since he was gearing the weekends toward the younger crowd who frequented the beach clubs regularly. The band had been rehearsing grittier, edgier songs and he knew the younger crowd would love it.
Harley had transformed the bar into a nightclub with a ridiculously expensive light system and he’d dropped some serious cash to upgrade the sound system and purchased some kick ass instruments for the band. Even the layout of the place had changed since he’d also bought the building next door from Mark and opened both of them up into one massive area that they had completely gutted.
The entire back of the building now contained a storage room, the employee break room, a small kitchen, his office, and the restrooms. The ladies room even included a fancy lounge area that Harley swore the women would love. The front of the building housed a much bigger stage with stripper poles placed strategically on raised platforms on each side that were sure to get a lot of use.
The dance floor was cool as hell since it was made of some kind of super tough acrylic and had lights beneath it that would pulse in sync with the music. The theater screens would project those same images, as well as a mind boggling assortment of light displays and videos. A massive kidney shaped bar held pride of place at the rear while a smaller version was perched on the top tier in the VIP section, and they both featured those lighted acrylic tops and sides.
This arrangement opened up a huge floor area where Harley had arranged tiers of seating areas. Huge leather sectionals were clustered around cocktail tables, while the smaller booths had standard tables. There were also pub style tables strategically placed around the room. The walls, floors, ceiling and furnishings were all done in a glossy black acrylic that caught and reflected the lights. The couches and chairs were upholstered in blues and purples that both soothed and stimulated the senses.
All in all he was happy with the changes and tonight he’d get the town’s reaction as well. Thankfully, the majority of Mark’s employees had wanted to stay when he’d sold the place, so he had some good experienced people to rely on. He’d also lucked out when he'd found an incredible cook who was attending culinary school, and now he had Cyn for the summer.
A shudder of pure desire shook him at the thought. John wished like hell he could have her. Then again, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea since she would be working for him. He’d hooked up with Cathy one night back when Mark first hired her, and since then the waitress had been known to be openly hostile to any woman he was interested in. Hopefully she was over that shit. He did not want to deal with a jealous woman on a nightly basis.
When Cyn walked in, John nearly groaned aloud. She looked even hotter than she had the day before. Goddamn, that woman made his t-shirt look good. The word Ecstasy was emblazoned across those perfect breasts, and the denim mini skirt was so damn short it should have been illegal. But it was her shoes that he couldn't get over.
She was wearing stilettos for God's sake. Who ever heard of a waitress in high heels? Mind you, the damn shoes were sexy as hell and made her legs look even more incredible, but her feet would be killing her before the end of the night. “Cyn, I hope you brought another pair of shoes,” he said seriously when she walked over to him.
“These were part of the uniform at my last job. I've worn them for so long that I can't walk in flats anymore,” she confessed in a daze, mesmerized yet again by his stunningly handsome face. Sweet loving lord. John was wearing kohl eyeliner which made those gorgeous blue eyes even more intense. “Holy effin shit,” she breathed aloud. “That eyeliner is so hot.”
The baby blues smoldered with heat as he flashed that bad boy grin. “Yeah?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“I only wear it when we perform.” John admitted. Back in their rebellious teenage years, the band had experimented with a variety of looks, including long hair and stage makeup. They had eventually settled on a more natural style that felt comfortable, but he still wore the kohl. His brothers had given him hell about it for years, but the hungry look in her eyes made it worth it.
“I’ll try not to jump you on stage, but consider yourself fair game elsewhere,” Cyn said and she wasn't kidding. Her thong was drenched again. If she got any wetter, she'd need adult diapers for heaven's sake.
He wished she would jump him. He really, really, did. John looked down at her feet again and admitted, “Love those 'fuck me’ shoes, darlin'. But I'm scared shitless you’re gonna break your neck in them.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for caring, John,” she said as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek, her hand resting lightly against his rock hard chest and sent a charge of electricity through both of them.
“Uh huh,” he replied hoarsely and quickly called his head waitress over before he hauled her into his arms and kissed her senseless. “Cathy, this is Cyn.”
Cathy looked her over as if she were a rival and did not like what she saw, or the way she had been flirting with their boss. “How'd you get a nickname like Sin?” She asked with barely veiled malice.
“I earned it,” Cyn informed her bluntly.
Ah, hell. The last thing he needed was a cat fight. “It's short for Cindy.” John explained and gave Cathy a stern look to behave herself. “I want Cyn in VIP so get her set up.”
“Sure, John,” Cathy smiled up at him. As soon as he walked away, she gave the other woman a scathing look and said, “VIP's over there. What else do you need to know?”
“Not a damn thing.” Cyn assured her as she walked over to the bar up on the riser and introduced herself to Mike Duvall, the bartender. She had dealt with plenty of bitchy females at the strip club and knew the best way to handle them was to avoid them as much as possible. Besides, nobody was paying her to be nice to the waitresses. The customers were her main priority.
“Thanks, Mike,” she said gratefully and kissed his cheek. Men were so much easier to deal with. Most of the time.
~~~~
By eight o’clock the place was filled to capacity and there was standing room only. The Baker family and friends arrived en mass to show their support. Between them and the band, they took up the entire VIP section. Harley and Desi introduced her to everyone she hadn't already met before Cyn took their orders and headed to the bar.
John had been making the rounds and everyone loved the club. He was damn near drunk on success and he hadn’t even had a drink yet. He stepped up into the VIP section, hauled Harley to her feet and hugged her until she squealed for mercy. He planted a loud kiss on her cheek and said in obvious excitement, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. The place is a hit!”
“It was your vision,” she reminded him, thrilled that he was pleased with their accomplishment. “All I did was put it together.”
“Like hell.” John denied with a huge grin. “Couldn't have done it without you, Sis. Free drinks for life ain't thanks enough.” His sister-in-law had told him that she expected all of her drinks to be on the house and refused to let him pay her for designing the club.
Harley laughed as she sank back down beside her husband and assured him, “Hiring Cindy was all the thanks I needed.”
“About that,” Luke Baker began and gave his little brother a warning look. “Don’t shit where you eat, bro.” Since he’d met his fiancée, Luke had been allowing his wilder side to come out more often. It never failed to shock his friends and family when he dropped the politically correct facade and the outlaw biker in him made an appearance. Like now.