Beautiful Rose (Beautiful Rose 1)

“Hi there, Luis,” she purred. I sighed, relieved that she had taken the bait. She moved closer to him, giggling at every inane thing that came out of his mouth.

“Why don't you get to know each other and I'll send over a bottle of champagne?” I suggested. I glared at Harmony. I wanted her to think I was pissed off, just so she would keep playing along. It worked like a charm.

I ushered Rose away. “Sorry about that,” I murmured, once we were out of earshot. “That fucking girl won't take a hint. And he was all over you like a rash,” I added, with more heat in my voice that I'd intended.

“He was a little on the slimy side,” she admitted. “I'm glad you rescued me, though for a second I thought Harmony was going to actually kill me.” She laughed. My hand was still on the arch of her back, my fingers stroking her shirt. I flushed and dropped my hand, which made her blush and look away.

Could I have made things any more awkward?

Chapter Ten

Jack

As two in the morning neared, the place began to clear out. Everyone thanked me as they left, the majority saying they loved it, they would be back soon, and they’d be telling all their friends about this place. A few very drunk women even commented on my ‘sexy’ accent.

As the last few left, I finally let myself relax. It was nearing twenty-four hours that I'd been awake, but I was so buzzed I felt like I could go another. The staff was chatting amongst themselves, and Alex had hung around to help me clean up. The only other person still there was Harmony. I shook my head and stormed over to her. This chick needed to get a clue. I wasn’t sure how much clearer I could be.

“Leave,” I said simply.

She looked at me in surprise. “We need to talk.”

“No, Harmony, we don't. You and me? There is no you and me. It's over. If I never see you again, that will be too soon.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. “You don't mean that—”

“The hell I don't. I'm sick of it, Harmony. The drama, the whining . . . I'd rather be alone than be in a relationship that’s this much work.” I felt bad. I was being harsh, but she just wasn’t getting the message and it was beginning to piss me off. Being rude seemed like the only way she was going to get it through her head.

Her lips curled up as she searched the room, her eyes finally locking on Rose. “It's because of her, isn't it?” she hissed. “Have you fucked her yet, Jack?” she spat, her voice raising.

I groaned. Not again. Why did it always come back to Rose? “Harmony, get the hell out of my bar before I call the cops. It's over. Move on. I can't be any clearer than that.”

She grabbed her purse and shot me a look cold enough to freeze running water. “This isn't the end, Jack. You better watch your back.” She stormed off, slamming the door behind her. The guys looked at me sympathetically.

“Do you think she gets it now?” I joked weakly. I walked over to the bar where Benj flashed me a sympathetic smile.

“Whether she gets it and whether she accepts it are two different things, man,” he said, patting my back. I groaned again.

Just what I need right now.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were going to get dirty. I grabbed a handful of shot glasses and filled them with vodka. After I had handed them around, I grabbed myself a beer and held it up.

“I just want to thank you all for making this come to life. Without all of you, this dream never would have turned into a reality. So thanks to all of you, and go home and get some sleep.”

“We can't leave you to clean all this up,” Darcy protested.

“I'll stay,” Alex offered, and I shot him a grateful look. In all the planning of opening night, the one thing that had slipped my mind was organizing a cleaning crew for the morning.

“See? I won’t be alone. Go home guys.” With little more encouragement, they all left, leaving me and Alex alone in

a very messy bar.

“You get on the dishwasher, I'll bring everything over,” Alex ordered.

I nodded. Thank fucking god for the dishwasher. Hand washing all these glasses would have been a nightmare.

Alex began to bring over tray-full after tray-full of empty glasses, dumping them on the bar counter. I loaded them into the dishwasher, waited the five minutes it took to cycle, then placed them on the shelf above the bar.

An hour later, just before three, we had finished the vacuuming and the bar was looking clean. The first thing I was going to do in the morning was hire a cleaning team. Fucked if I would be doing this every night.