Page 17 of Tommy
Tommy doesn’t wait for anyone to come to him, just pulls out his phone and starts talking on it.
While the rest of the group gather to talk to Dante or one another, I watch Tommy take a seat at one of the side bars that I’ve never seen someone man before. I guess it gets opened if we ever reach full capacity, but it’s never been packed in here. We get decent crowds, but I guess the Leone family doesn’t see it as enough. Not if they want to make changes.
I watch him unbutton his sleeves and roll them up as he rests his foot on the small railing around the bottom of the bar. No idea why, but I find myself turned on by his movements. And when he stretches over the bar and grabs a drink, straining his shirt across his lats and biceps? Yeah, that’s something I might have another dream about. But this time I wonder whether the fear or the desire will win out in the end.
“Name.”
I jump at the barked word and look up to see Dante staring at me. He has his phone out, so I guess he’s taking notes. Or playingCandy Crush. Who knows?
“Crown Jewel.”
I swear the look he gives me makes me feel three inches tall. “Real name, sweetheart. Not sure the background check will pull up much with that kind of alias.”
“Background check?” I squeak, my entire body tensing up.
He slowly raises his deep brown eyes to me. His face is all hard lines, but attractive like a model for an underwear commercial. The kind that makes you look at both the face and the package. Even if the face is harsh, there’s a certain beauty to it.
“That a problem?” His voice seems to have dropped an octave, and I swallow the quiver in my throat as I shake my head.
“No. Just surprised.”
“Boss doesn’t like those. Prefers to have all the cards.”
I nod because I’m not sure what else to say.
And he doesn’t add anything else as he takes me in for so long that I almost start sweating. Then a single eyebrow raise prompts me to answer his original question.
“Payton Coffman.”
He taps away on his phone and then moves on.
I let out a deep breath and look left only to jolt at the impact of clashing eyes with Tommy.
No phone to his ear. No bottle in his hand. Just him. Looking at me.
I’ve never felt more on display in this place than I do right now.
Chapter 7—Tommy
“How did it go?”
“Which part? The bitching and moaning you left me to deal with or the issue outside?” Dante grumbles as he takes off his jacket, tossing it on the bar top, then undoes the top two buttons on his shirt.
“You really expect me to apologize for having strippers throw themselves at you to gain favor?” I raise my eyebrows at him, lifting my gaze from my phone as I do.
He huffs a response before sitting on the stool opposite me. “Crying to keep their job is not throwing themselves at me.”
“I’m sure at least one did,” I say with a smile as I look back down at my phone to finish my game.
“Yeah, the same one who gave you theBasic Instinctshow.” I catch Dante visibly shuddering out of the side of my eye, and I can’t help but chuckle. I had a similar response but kept it to myself.
Men like Dante and I enjoy women as much as everyone else. But we prefer the type who aren’t so… how to say it so Mama won’t hit me upside the head? Skanky? Yeah, that would get me a head slap, but really, there’s no other word for it. At least not one I’ve learned, but I also wasn’t the book-smart one in the family.
Putting my phone back in my pocket, I ask, “What was the issue outside?”
He shrugs as he looks over the bar, seeing what I already noted: too much dust on these bottles, and not a single known label among them. Despite that, this would be a conversation best had with a solid drink in our hands. We have none currently.
Along with the cleaning team, which started about forty minutes ago, I have a call in to an acquaintance who’ll be arriving to take over bar duties. She’ll serve what she can tonight, and then I’ll get a list of what we really have and make sure the suppliers are on board about the new management rules.
