Screaming comes from the backdoor. Two beautiful women run over circling Emma as they can’t contain their excitement. “This is so exciting.”
“Shayne, these two crazy girls are Sindy and Lacey, my best friends,” Emma says, still in the middle of them.
“Oh, she’s pretty,” Sindy says.
“Have you ever danced?” Lacey asks.
“What?”
Emma rolls her eyes. “Leave her alone you two. They’ve been trying to find someone to replace me in the Triplets since I quit.”
“She’s our bartender,” Clara says, hugging the girls with a hello kiss to the cheek. “I’m so glad you made it.”
“We’re opening the doors.” Damien’s eyes meet mine and I feel almost like I’ve been zapped.
“It was nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll take you up on dancing if Damien does decide to get rid of me.”
“Oh, you’re Damien’s,” Sindy says with a smile.
Before I can deny it, Damien yells over his shoulder, “Shayne, get behind the bar.
The club is crammed with women. I’ve worked at busy bars before but this is insane. I’ve lost count of the amount of martinis and cosmos I’ve made in the past couple hours. I’m trying not to be pissed that everyone but Damien has come over to the bar to check on me. I catch glimpses of him mingling with the customers, but he’s never looked over at me. Women run their fingers all over him and his brothers. A heavy weight fills my stomach. I have to stop myself from pouring the wrong drinks for women I’ve seen touch him. I’ve never been petty before but it seems to be something I’m doing now.
“Can I get another one of those amazing lemon drops?” Clara asks, squeezing in between two women. She smiles brightly at me and I can’t stop reciprocating it.
We both watch a woman squeeze Ben’s arm, and Clara rolls her eyes at how obvious she’s being. “How do you handle it?” I ask, handing her a drink.
Clara makes sure the women surrounding her aren’t listening, “It took me awhile. Out of the three of them, Ben was the one, well let’s just say, Ben didn’t mind the perks of being a Trifecta and reaped the bounty.”
I want to ask her about Damien and just how much bounty he’s reaping but I keep my mouth shut.
“I was jealous, but Ben wore me down. I know he loves me, and he won’t do anything disrespectful to hurt me. I won’t lie, it took a long time to trust him. But he’s never given me a reason to doubt his loyalty.”
Before I can ask her anything else the lights dim. The whole crowd screams making any other conversation impossible. “What’s going on?”
Clara screams before she winks at me. “You might want to pour yourself one of these.”
“Why?” I scream back.
“You’ll see,” she mouths.
The music drops low, the bass picking up and thumping through the crowd. It’s bouncing off the walls low and sexy. Emma runs up to Clara and takes a sip of her drink. Everyone’s eyes are on the stage. It makes me glance around, before the lights on the stage flash and I realize some men are about to dance.
How am I supposed to work with men strutting around in little shorts. Thank god it won’t be Damien up there.
But, before I can even really think about anything else the curtain lifts and there he is.
Damien.
Damien in a tuxedo.
With a smile aimed right at me.
I’m in trouble.
I have to hold onto the bar to keep my knees from giving out. Nobody’s ordering drinks, thank god, as the Trifecta move on stage in the sexiest dance I’ve ever seen. Which is good because at the moment my limbs aren’t capable of functioning. If someone ordered a drink from me right now I’d be fucked. Damien undoes his bowtie, pulling it off in slow motion. His jacket goes next, revealing the white undershirt holding his body like a jealous lover. My mouth drops open as he unbuttons each button, showing off a body of hard muscles. He’s not in a hurry, even with the women screaming at him, to go faster. Muscles I barely got to appreciate in his SUV slowly appear.
I’m shell shocked, unable to move. I’d love to tell you I pick my chin up off the floor and wipe the drool, but I can’t. I literally can not move. He dances as if the music’s made for him. The crowd cheers when Ben and Axel appear on stage, but I don’t move my eyes from Damien.
Seriously, I’m in so much trouble.
I grip the bar harder as Damien goes to the ground moving his hips as if he’s fucking the air. Lucky air. My face goes red, remembering those hips doing the same thing last night with me. Only there wasn’t a ravenous crowd of women watching.
As if he can read my thoughts Damien lifts his head up and stares right at me. His devilish smirk hits his face as he thrusts his hips harder. The crowd goes insane but all my attention is focused on him. He winks before standing up, rubbing his palms down his stomach. My thighs clinch as he puts his arms behind his neck as his hips never stop moving.
And just like that, it’s over. The song’s ended. And I’m left hyperventilating.
“I told you to pour yourself a drink,” Clara says, finishing hers.
“I wasn’t...I wasn’t expecting that,” I stumble over my words.
I try to gain my composure but it’s no use. I’m thrust back into the world of bartending at supersonic speeds with every woman in the club needing a drink after experiencing the Trifecta in full force.
Emma smiles while I pour a drink. “If you think that was good you should ask Damien to give you a lap dance.”
Clara laughs. “Yes, Damien should definitely give you a lap dance.”
“What?” My hand jerks from the bar, spilling a newly poured drink on the woman in front of me.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, handing her a bunch of bar napkins.
“Mayor, I’m so sorry,” Damien says, coming up right next to the soaked woman as she dabs at her shirt.
I close my eyes and wish I could disappear. Of course the one mistake I make tonight is spilling a drink on the mayor in front of Damien. I mean it was his fault for dancing like that. Damien shoots me a look before leading the mayor off toward the other side of the club.
“Well, there goes my job.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was an accident.” Clara pats my hand.
“He’s going to fire me.”
“He’s not going to fire you. You did an awesome job tonight, and none of the women complained about you being behind the bar. He’s just grumpy.” Emma smiles at me.
I will not cry.
The rest of the night flashes by in a blur. I lose track of Damien and the mayor, and I silently wish I could have a redo of that whole situation. But, I don’t let it deter me to finish out the night with a solid finish.
Maybe he’ll be pissed at me for spilling a drink. But who cares. I’m going to make sure he knows I’m not going anywhere.
I work here.
That’s right. Shayne. Bartender.
4
Damien
There’s one thing I hate more than dancing on stage. And that’s kissing ass. The mayor would not let it go that she had a total of three drops of vodka land on her silk blouse. I offered to pay the dry cleaning bill. I offered a few free drinks for her and her friends.