Page 44

Nikita poured them both another drink. “They are.”
“Another round? Fuck it, why not? I’ve got a nice buzz going. Let’s stay and get drunk tonight.”
“I don’t mind staying, but your men might.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t shown up yet.” She felt a little disappointed that they hadn’t even tried to call her.
“They’ve been here for half an hour.”
Surprised, Trinity glanced around. Sure enough, Jackson and Maxwell were seated at the long bar chowing down on a couple of burgers. Even though a crowd was starting to gather around the bar, the other patrons gave the two men a wide berth, probably due to Jackson’s fierce frown.
“I recognize Maxwell King,” Nikita commented. “I met him when he came to scout the area before they opened the Palace Resort in Ever After. And the other guy must be Lieutenant Jackson Stone.”
“The one with the perpetual scowl on his face? Yeah, that’s him. I’ll be right back. I’m going to the bathroom.”
Her friend smirked and said, “Sure thing.”
As soon as she stood up, Trinity immediately felt two pairs of eyes sighting down on her. Doing her best to ignore them, she made her way toward the bathroom. On her way back to the table, she got an idea. Detouring toward the opposite end of the bar from where Jackson and Maxwell were sitting, she made the deliberate choice to squeeze up to the bar next to Alan Browning, the foreman of the resort construction.
Browning was a lean man, but his body was packed with muscle from years of doing hard labor. He was ruggedly handsome, but there was something off about him that triggered Trinity’s internal alarm. Because of that, she wanted to see if she could get any information from the creep. As she leaned on the bar, one of the male bartenders immediately came over to serve her.
“What can I get you?” he asked with a suggestive smile.
“I just need a couple of bottles of water. My friend and I already have a bottle of the hard stuff.”
When she pointed toward the table behind her with her thumb, the bartender laughed. “Honey, I know what table you’re at. I think everyone in the bar does. You sure are a pretty pair. I’ll get those bottles for you.”
“Thanks.”
When he left to get her drinks, Alan Browning said, “Drinking some expensive stuff tonight.”
So, he’d noticed what she and Nikita were drinking.
“Good stuff,” Trinity corrected. Feigning surprise, she did a double take and smiled at him. “Oh, hey! I met you earlier. I’m sorry, I forgot your name…”
“Alan. Alan Browning. You were with Mr. King at the construction site today,” he said before taking a long pull of his draft beer.
“Yep.” She laughed lightly. “Not that I know much about building stuff.”
“Seemed like you did on your visit today. In fact, it seems like you played a big part in shutting us down today. We’ve got a schedule to keep and we’re already behind. My guys need to work. They’ve got families to feed.”
His eyes narrowed on her, and she could see his tiny little brain working behind those cold brown eyes. She wanted to roll her own when his gaze drifted lower to her cleavage.
The bartender came back with two bottles of water. “Here you go!”
Instead of charging the bottles to their tab, Trinity pulled a twenty out of her pocket and set it down on the bar.
“I’ll be right back with your change,” the bartender said.
“No need.”
“Thanks!”
“That’s generous of you,” Alan sneered, his creepy gaze still roaming over her body. “Must be nice to have money to spend. Or is it your boyfriend’s money?”
Oh man, she really wanted to hit him.
Well, if he wasn’t pulling punches, then neither would she. “Sorry, I don’t need a man to buy me things. And maybe your men would be working and getting paid if you guys hadn’t fucked up the build so bad.”