“Totally. Wondered if he was one of Val’s friends. It’s crazy in here.”
“It is. It’s wonderful.” She tugged away. “I’ve got a ton of drink orders to fill. I’ll talk with you later when the insanity dies down.”
Yes, she had warned him. But there was a part of him that could have never predicted this. This was…amazing.
Over a hundred people crowded the building. The sound of instruments, chatter and laughter filled the air. People of every variety had shown up to support their family and friends.
Val and Brandy had been going nonstop all night. Sebastian was a mad fool behind the bar, mixing up drinks at an insane pace. Fortunately they’d called in another friend who bartended to help out as well.
Marco lingered at the door, checking IDs as people came into the bar. They were nearing capacity, but fortunately the performances would start soon.
He sensed movement at the doorway and turned to see two men entering the bar with camera bags and other photo gear.
“Hey there.” One of the men stuck out his hand. “I’m Fred with the Vegas Times and am here to do a piece on this event.”
Reporters? Uneasy Brandy’d freak out if she realized there were reporters in the bar.
Why hadn’t he realized media coverage was a possibility?
What could he do, though? It’d only arouse suspicion if he refused them entry. And hell, it would be great to get Dante’s Place a write-up in the local paper.
He forced a smile and shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for coming by. I’m Marco Vargas, one of the owners of Dante’s. Grab a seat if you can find one and enjoy yourselves.”
“Thanks, Marco. Nice little joint you got here.” The photographer nodded, before following the reporter into the crowd of people.
Marco found Brandy dropping off an order at one of the booths in the back.
“I need to talk with you for a second,” he yelled above the noise.
“What, now? We’re slammed—”
“Brandy.”
She gave a quick nod, set down the last drink and then walked past him, straight into the back of the bar.
She turned around once they’d reached the office, uncertainty in her eyes. “All right. What’s going on?”
He caught her hand and gave it a small squeeze. “I just wanted to warn you that there’s a reporter here with a photographer.”
Brandy flinched, grabbing onto the desk and then looking away.
“They’re here for the bands, princess.” He cupped the back of her head, stroking his thumbs over the nape of her neck.
“Of course.” Her tongue ran across her lips. “It’s just…what if they recognize me—”
“They won’t. You look nothing like you did a couple weeks ago.” He hesitated. “Just don’t make eye contact with them, and try and stay under the radar.”
“I’m one of two waitresses working. It’s going to be kind of hard to stay under the radar—tonight, especially.”
“I know.” He lowered his head and touched his nose against hers, trying to ease some of her tension. “Just don’t think about it.”
“Easier said than done. Hey, point them out to me when we go back out there and I’ll have Val wait on them.”
He angled his head to brush his mouth across hers and she trembled against him. “Sexy girl.”
She rolled her eyes and murmured a husky, “Oh please.”
“Beg me later, sweetheart. Right now you need to get back to work.” He looked her over from head to toes. “By the way I like that black leather dress thingy you’ve got going on.”
“Do you?” She pulled away and did a little wiggle, making all her female curves bounce in the most provocative way.
Christ, she was a freaking bombshell. He bit back a groan, his body responding in all kinds of ways it had no right to at this point in the evening. “You know I do. Now go.”
She stuck her tongue out and stepped past him. He couldn’t resist giving a light swat on her leather-clad bottom when he followed after her.
Brandy yelped and turned around to glare. “Nice. We’ll see who’s begging later.”
“Touché.” He grinned and moved after her out into the main bar area. “Remember, no eye contact.”
“Got it.”
“Okay.” He pointed to the stage. “They’re the two guys standing on the left side of the stage area. One is wearing a Raiders T-shirt.”
She remained quiet for a moment and then gave a sight nod. “I see them. Thanks, Marco.”
“You’re welcome.” He noticed more people entering the bar. “And now I’m back to door duty. Good luck. We start in about five minutes.”
“Good deal.” She didn’t hesitate, just charged off into the mass of people.
Marco headed toward the entrance to let in the customers lingering there. The clock confirmed it was time to get the performances rolling.
He shut the door to the bar and headed up to the makeshift stage. Picking up the microphone, he stared out at the sea of faces. Shit. He should’ve convinced Sebastian to MC the competition. He would’ve been so much better at this kind of thing.
After clearing his throat, he called out, “How’s everyone doing tonight?”
The bar roared in response and clapped wildly.
“I know everyone’s excited, so we’ll go ahead and get this contest started. Each band will perform one song.” He fumbled in his pocket for the slip of paper that had the line up of bands on it. “All right first up performing will be…ugh…Spanking Monkeys.”
Seriously? Marco shook his head and stepped off the stage as fans of the band erupted into screams.
The band moved into position on the stage and counted off, before a wall of heavy metal music erupted in the building.
Marco glanced back at the sound tech they’d hired, making sure he would be able to handle everything okay. The man gave a thumbs-up and went back to twisting all kinds of knobs and levers.
Marco breathed a sigh of relief. Things started off without a hitch. He went to stand behind the bar, by Sebastian.
“So what do you think?” he yelled.
Sebastian turned to him. His eyes almost glassy, fatigue drawing lines around his mouth.
“I think, mate, we’re going to have to speed up the hiring process.” He shook his head and grinned. “I’m absolutely beat—and I love it.”
“Me too.” Marco gave a slight nod. “Can you handle it for a minute? I’m going to run into the back and run some numbers on how much we’ve made so far tonight.”
“I got it.”
Marco slapped Sebastian on the shoulder and then headed into the back.
Brandy dropped off three bottles of beer at a table of rowdy men who kept a running tab, and then hurried away before they could waylay her with more flirting.
Some of the bands were better than others. Like the one now? Pretty much sucked. She turned to the stage and immediately regretted it. The girls on stage wore bikini tops and tiny shorts. They sang out of key, while dancing provocatively. And the guy who was strumming the guitar behind them had probably never had a lesson in his life.
“Oomph.” She slammed into someone and stumbled backwards.
“Sorry about that, ma’am.”
Brandy turned to look at the man who’d spoken and then quickly looked back down.
“No problem.” She moved past him, her pulse quickening.
Shoot. Nice job trying to stay inconspicuous. She’d run right into the reporter Marco had warned her about.
“Brandy?”
She froze. Oh no, he’d recognized her. Wait, no. That had definitely been a woman’s voice calling her name. She turned around to find Elena weaving through the crowd toward her.
“Elena?”
“Hey,” Elena came to a stop in front of her and folded her arms across her chest.
“You guys did great tonight,” Brandy raved. Elena’s band had blown her socks off, and the younger woman had some seriously talented pipes.
“Thanks.” Elena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Do you have a second?”
Brandy looked back at the crowded floor, hesitant to leave Val by herself again.
“If not, don’t sweat it,” Elena went on in a rush. “It’s nothing really. I just…”
The crack in the younger woman’s voice clearly indicated that it was indeed something.
Brandy gave a quick nod and softened her expression. “Sure. Come into the back with me.” The kitchen had closed two hours ago and so she knew it would be a pretty private place to talk.
She tucked the drink tray against her side and turned back toward the kitchen. Pushing through the doors, she set the tray down on the counter and waited for Elena to follow her inside.
The moment the door swung shut behind Elena, the girl’s face crumpled and she let out a ragged sob. Holy crap! For a moment Brandy was too stunned to move, seeing the strong and tough young woman she’d just met turn into a vulnerable sobbing mess right before her eyes.
“Come here, honey.” She opened her arms to Elena and pulled the girl into a hug. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything. You know how I…” She sniffled between sobs. “how I said Bill was a big flirt?”
“Yes?” Please don’t let this being going where she thought it was going.
“Well…” Elena gasped in a breath and her eyes squeezed tighter closed.
“Go on.” Brandy saw movement out of the corner of her eye and lifted her head. Or maybe they weren’t alone.
Marco stood in the doorway to the office, watching them. He lifted an eyebrow in question.
Brandy shook her head, hoping he’d go back into the office and give them a moment. He didn’t, just continued to watch from across the room.
Elena drew in a ragged breath. “Like I said, Bill is a big flirt. And today I went shopping, and when I came back to the room…”
“When you came back to the room…” she prodded, though she knew pretty much without a doubt what the other girl would say.
Elena groaned and then said on a rush, “Bill was in bed with another woman.”
Bingo.
“Oh, Elena…” Brandy rubbed her hand up and down Elena’s back and tried to comfort her. “I’m so sorry.”
And she could completely understand what it felt like. She’d just gone through the same thing with Gordon. Only she hadn’t been nearly as devastated as Elena appeared to be.
Elena began to sob twice as hard. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be t-this upset.”
“Of course you should.” Why wasn’t I this upset with the man I was supposed to marry? “You have every right to be—”
“It’s just that I really thought he loved me.” She choked in a gasp. “I waited twenty-one years to give up my virginity, and for what? A bad kisser with a little dick?”
A door slammed.
Brandy gasped when she saw Marco storming towards the bar. Oh dear God! She’d forgotten he was even there.
“Marco, don’t do it!”
“Holy shit.” Elena lifted her head, her eyes rounding with horror. “Tell me my brother wasn’t just here.”
“Was being the key word,” Brandy said grimly and set the girl aside to head out after Marco. “Stay here.”
“Stay here?” Elena bounded after her. “Are you loco? I don’t think so.”
Brandy pushed through the double doors and sent them slamming into the wall.
“What the hell? What’s going on?” Sebastian yelled.
“Where did Marco go?” She hurried over to him. “You need to stop him.”
“Stop him from what?”
Brandy turned away, scouring the crowd in search of Marco. “From beating up Elena’s punk ass boyfriend.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Sebastian threw down the bar towel and moved out from behind the bar. “You can’t be serious.”
Brandy snorted and followed him, weaving through the throng of people. She spotted Marco moving toward the far wall.
“There he is! Grab him, Sebastian.”
Sebastian lunged forward but was too late. Marco grabbed onto the shoulder of a guy at least half a foot taller than him, spun him around and sent his fist flying into the man’s face.
The crowd scattered, startled cries and cheers mixing.
“What are you doing?” Elena shrieked, pushing past them all to grab her brother’s arm.
“Stay out of this, Elena.” Marco shook his fist and winced.
Brandy folded her arms across her chest and groaned. Five seconds earlier and she could have stopped this. And now Marco would be lucky if he hadn’t broken his hand on the other man’s jaw.
Customers crowded around them, talking excitedly.
“Why did you hit him?” Elena placed herself between the man and her brother and glared.
“Because of what he did to you—”
“You hit Tony. The bass player.”
“So?”
She placed her hands on her hips and glared. “So I was dating the drummer, you idiot. Que pendejo.”
“What? I thought—” A massive fist connected with Marco’s head, sending it snapping to the left.
The room lit up from the flash of a camera as Marco stumbled backward.
Someone yelled, “Look out, he’s going down!”
Brandy lurched forward to catch him as Marco staggered toward to the side. The left side of his face was already starting to swell.
The bass player shook his head and walked away with a scowl.
“You,” Sebastian snapped at a man standing back a bit looking on in dismay. “You’re the drummer, right? You’d better get your sorry arse out of here while you still can.”
He paled, and his skinny body shook. “But they haven’t announced—”
Marco lunged forward again and Brandy screamed, holding onto his arm for all she was worth.
“Yeah, hit him too!” Someone else in the crowd yelled. “He looks like an asshole.”
“Okay, okay. I’m outta here.” Bill stepped away and scowled at Elena. “Nice little drama you started, bitch.”
Oh, lord. Brandy braced herself and tried to keep Marco from nailing the other guy.
But from the corner of her eyes she saw someone else’s fist go flying. She turned just in time to see Sebastian knock the drummer on his ass.
“Let me go, Brandy.” Marco pulled away, stepped over the downed man and walked through the crowd and then to the back office again.
“What? What the hell just happened?” Valerie rushed over.
Elena sighed. “Fight between my brother and a few members of my band.”
“No way. I run to the bathroom for a few minutes and miss all the fun? I have the worst damn luck.”
Time to get this under control. Enough. Turning to Elena, she asked, “Can you get rid of the reporter?”
Elena nodded and turned around to face the reporter. “My pleasure. All right. Time to go, boys.”
Once they were leaving, she turned to Sebastian. “And not that I don’t appreciate you hitting him for me, but can you please escort Bill out of the bar?”
“Will do, kid.” Sebastian stepped forward and grabbed the younger man by the arm pulling him up. “Let’s go, you little punk ass.”
Brandy turned away from the drama of watching him escort the drummer out the door. She nodded and switched into teacher mode. Time to get things back to normal. Or as close to normal as it could after a bar fight.
“The show’s over, people. We’ll announce the winner of Dante’s Band Battle shortly.”
The crowd, half-drunk and all riled up from the fight, slowly dissipated.
“Good lord, what a mess,” Brandy muttered and shook her head.
There’d been a fight once during a choir class, but at least there she’d been able to send the boys to the principal’s office.
She stared toward the back of the bar where Marco had disappeared. Should she be mad at him for going after Bill, or pr
oud of him? Maybe just a little of both.
Rubbing the back of her neck, she sighed and set off to make the rounds through the bar.
Chapter Fifteen
Marco rotated his jaw and winced. His face was throbbing.
Christ, he was an idiot. He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk, trying not to think up about the colossal fuckup he made an hour ago.
He cocked his head to listen for the sound of customers. The noise level inside the bar had dropped down considerably; the place had emptied out, but then that sounded about right. The computer monitor showed it was just after two.
Had Brandy left as well? He sighed. He wouldn’t blame her if she had. She was probably pissed as all hell at him. And she had every right to be. They all did.
He kicked his feet off the desk and shut down his computer. He began to walk to the other side of the room to turn off the light when he heard the door into the kitchen swing open.
“How’s the face?” Brandy walked slowly toward him, stopping a few inches away.
She hadn’t left after all.
“It’s fine.”
“Liar.” Her lips pursed. “You know you deserved it.”
“Do you hear me saying that I didn’t?” He scowled and the movement made his face throb more. “Shit.”
Her expression softened. She drew the pad of her thumb in toward his mouth and across his lips. “You look like you went a few rounds with a gorilla.”
“I feel like it. That guy was a giant. But I’ll live.”
“Let me get you some ice.” She stepped back from him and went to the ice bin.
“I don’t need ice.”
“You do. Now stopping being such a guy and listen to me.”
Propping open the lid, she scooped a handful into a paper towel and then returned to him.
“Here.” She laid the makeshift ice pack against his cheek. “Hold this.”
The abrupt cold stung for a second, but then slowly began to numb the inflamed skin.
“Thanks.” His voice came out gruffer than he intended. “Did everyone leave?”
“Mmm hmm.” She turned and lifted herself onto the metal counter. “Val left a few minutes ago.”
Negligee Behavior Page 20
