I offer my hand to which he looks at, then me, then decides to shake it firmly. My father always taught me that a strong handshake usually means good character. Most of the time he was right.
“Darby, and this is Falcon. We also own this place along with Creed, who you’ve already met.” He nods his head to the other man standing next to him whose eyes are so fierce it’s hard to continue to look into them. Falcon smiles at me, his smile large.
“Nice to meet you, and thanks again for hiring me.”
They both look to Creed who does nothing but watch me. His voice silent, his stare intense. Interrupting, a customer walks up to the bar and I excuse myself as Darby turns and speaks to Creed in a hushed whisper. Looking back as I prepare a drink, he’s still watching me while Darby continues to speak. Turning back to the front, I almost drop the drink I have in hand as Falcon stands in front of me.
“Hi—” My voice is less than a squeak, I didn’t expect him to be so close. The only thing separating us is the beer dispenser. His eyes do this thing, it’s sly, almost like he’s a natural at it. He looks you over but doesn’t do it in an insulting way. It’s like he’s assessing you, when really he’s checking you out.
“Can I call you, El?”
“Elicea is fine,” I say with a smile.
Only certain people can call me that, and he doesn’t have that right, yet. His lip quirks up and his eyes look to the left quickly to where the guys are standing. I follow and see Creed watching us with Darby still talking to him, his face heated with anger as his eyebrows scrunch together so far they almost join.
“Is Creed in trouble?” It leaves my mouth without meaning for it to do so. I look back to Falcon who’s smiling so large. He shakes his head and steps back.
“Oh, sweetheart, one thing you need to learn, Creed is always in control.” He turns, nodding his head once to him, then looks back to me. “And if you aren’t careful, he’ll control you next.” Falcon winks as he walks away. His words rattle around in my head as Creed walks over to me, Darby standing where he was watching the interaction.
“What did he say?” Creed asks.
I take a step back, picking up an empty glass, just to have something in my hands. “Nothing.”
His head drops to the side. “Nothing spoke to you for longer than a minute, so that’s interesting.”
“Why does it matter?” I wish I could take the words back as they leave, the last thing I want to do is sass my boss who could fire me. But he doesn’t look angry, he appears intrigued.
“It doesn’t,” Creed answers and walks back to Darby where he takes his seat at the end of the bar, his stare intent to stay firmly on me the whole time. I carry on serving, getting the drinks for the girls and their customers. I continue to do so for the next few hours only looking at Creed a few times. The first time his head was down, and he was doing paperwork, but after that he was watching me again. I want to say it’s creepy the way he looks at me, but in reality it makes me want to rip my clothes off in front of him and ask him what he wants to do with me.
“If you want extra cash, you should do what we do,” Bethany says. She’s said a few “hellos” to me throughout the night and is always polite. Looking past her, I notice the women who are all over the men, some dressed in what I would wear to bed, definitely not what I would show a complete stranger.
Looking to my left, my eyes land on Creed. If the customers looked like him—I shake my head.
“No thanks, this job pays enough.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Your loss, but remember, if you want to triple what you earn, the floor is the way to go.”
“She won’t be on the floor, her job is bar only.”
Bethany and I turn to Creed, but he isn’t looking at her—his eyes are on me. The tension is thick, so much so I want to run away every time he’s near. I’m afraid if we stand too close for too long, the way we look at each other won’t matter because we’d be in one of those beds so quick I wouldn’t know what hit me.
“She too good to do what we do?” I forgot Bethany was still there, and both of us turn to her. Her hand is on her hip, her mouth in a thin line as she watches Creed. He stands tall and I stare as she becomes alert to his every move. Slowly, I walk away, and neither of them notice.