Page 5

Chapter Five

“ L illy?”

A familiar voice pulls me from my sleep. I smile, then realize I’m lying here alone and there’s a hand on my shoulder, pressing me gently awake.

“Lilly, wake up.”

Opening my eyes, I see Scott standing above me. The look on my face must have given me away because Scott’s face shifts into confusion.

“What?” He asks. “You…wait…how? Why are you here? I thought you finished working on the road yesterday?” I ask, shaking my head as if that will force thoughts together and wake me enough to form full understandable sentences.

“I’m working on remodeling the interior, too. I have a key,” he says, staring down at me like I’m some sort of science experiment that has just begun talking when it shouldn’t.

“Oh. Where is Cass?” I mumble, trying to focus my eyes on my surroundings.

“Who?” he asks.

“Cass. He was here with me.”

“Lilly, no one was in here but you,” Scott says.

“Unbelievable!” I shout, tossing the blanket off of me.

“You’re fucking kidding me. Again? I can’t believe this shit!” I say, more to myself than Scott.

“What?”

“Let me break it down for you. I met Cass in Houston, about two weeks ago, and we spent two great fucking nights together, then he just up and disappears!”

Scott’s smug expression gives nothing away other than his amusement. “Okay. And?”

“And then he ends up being the new owner of the bar I work at! So, he comes in last night after I get shit-faced drunk and pass out, carries me to the couch, we wake up and have a conversation, he lays on the couch with me and then I wake up and the son of a bitch is gone again!”

“What’s got you all worked up this morning? And damn girl, don’t you know what a brush is?” Mindy says as she rounds the corner with a smile on her face.

Scott turns to Mindy. “I’m going to let you have this one,” he says, laughing as he walks back to the front of the bar.

“Looks like someone got a little drunk,” Mindy says, eyeballing my clothes.

“Yeah, just a little.”

“By yourself, or with the son of a bitch that’s gone again?” Mindy asks.

I offer her a mocking fake laugh. “By myself. You are not going to believe this shit.”

“What? Spit it out! Tell me.”

“I met Caine Sonnier, drunker than Cooter Brown at five thirty this morning.”

“You’re joking. What did he say?”

“Initially he carried my drunk ass from the bathroom floor to the couch. Then when I woke up, I found him sleeping in the chair next to me. Evidently, although his name is Caine, when he introduces himself to people outside of business, he uses the name Cass.”

“Lilly, you’re losing me. What?” Mindy’s blank stare tells me she hasn’t got it yet.

“Cass would be the mystery biker I met in Houston.” I point out, waiting for her reaction.

I watch as the light bulb goes off in Mindy’s head and her jaw drops.

“Wait. Mystery biker is now our boss? No fucking way! How is that even possible?” she asks.

“I don’t know. But the son of a bitch disappeared again! I woke up and he was gone again. I don’t get it! He’s a sweetheart and he’s amazing to me, then he pulls a Houdini and disappears into thin fucking air again. Why? I don’t understand.” I’m pacing the room now as my mind runs wild, but the more I walk, the more my head thumps so I stop and sit down on the couch.

“So, I guess I was wrong when I said that the owner would make you forget about mystery biker, seeing as the new owner is mystery biker,” Mindy starts laughing.

“It is not funny!”

“Yeah, it is. Lilly, this is hilarious. It’s crazy, and no one would ever believe it.”

“Ugh. Fine!”

I storm off and head into the bathroom, turning on the shower. I need to get my head together. I’m confused and angry. How could he disappear like that all the time and with no regard for anyone else or their feelings? If he isn’t interested, then why stay until I wake up? He could’ve easily avoided me for much longer if that were the case, maybe even forever. Who knows. What the fuck is he trying to do? Is this something he’s into, some kind of mind game? I don’t understand it. My feelings are hurt, and I don’t know how else to deal with Cass’s odd behavior, so laughter it is. I shake my head under the water and laugh, letting some of the tension in my body out.

Soon, laughter turns to crying, and I realize how angry I truly am. Struggling to shake it off, I turn off the water and shiver as I step out into the cold room. I dry off as quickly as possible and get dressed, feeling better now that I’m clean.

Something about a hot shower after a drunken night makes everything okay. Even if Cass is a disappearing asshole, and even though he’s my new boss, everything is okay in this moment. A knock on the door startles me.

“Lilly, hurry up. You’re going to miss breakfast if you take forever trying to cover up the zombie you resemble,” Mindy yells through the door.

“Can’t I have a moment of peace?” I yell, laughing.

“No. This is what friends are for.”

I hear Mindy’s footsteps fade as she walks away. I pull on some clothes from my duffle and apply some light makeup to ‘cover up the zombie I resemble’. The smell of coffee, paint, fresh cut wood, and sweet breakfast pastries hit me all at once as I emerge from the back of the bar. The smell is nauseating and there are twenty-five men in the bar, all of them staring at me.

“What?” I ask, looking at Scott.

“You look like you need a hug,” he says with his arms open.

“I don’t know about all that. I need something, all right, but I’m not sure it’s a hug. A sit down with my car doesn’t sound half bad right about now,” I say.

On second thought, I walk over to him and jump a little to put my arms on the back of his neck.

“I figured you’d change your mind,” he says as he lifts me off my feet and squeezes me. My back cracks from the bottom of my spine up to my neck.

“Holy shit. That felt good,” I say as he sets me back on the ground.

He gives me a smug smile. “You’re welcome.”

Mindy walks up next to me and Scott takes that as his cue to walk away.

“Well, he’s a big, burly guy, and he doesn’t seem like the Houdini type,” Mindy says.

“Fuck you, Mindy,” I smile at her through my hangover.

“I’m leaving. My head is pounding, it smells like death in here, and everyone seems to think it’s just the thing to do to pick on Lilly today. So, with that being said, fuck y’all. I’m out,” I flip Mindy the bird and walk away.

I walk to the door and as I go to storm through it, I slam directly into it. The whole bar goes quiet and everyone erupts in laughter.

“Hey, Lilly, there’s a door there,” Scott says, trying to stifle his laughter.

I glance down to where my hand missed the door handle only to find that there isn’t one. “Scott. Let. Me. Out!” I demand, my patience wearing thin.

“Why, what’s the rush? You can stay and help me,” he says, laughing at my slowly growing impatience.

I tap my foot, staring up at him. “You may be six feet tall, but I am perfectly capable of kicking your ever-loving ass. Let me out. Now, ” I say, semi-playfully through gritted teeth.

“Here.” He unlocks the top of the door where they had put a slide bolt to hold it in place while laughing at me.

“Seriously?” I stare at him through slitted eyes. Sometimes it amazes me that things are so easy, and I just overlook them. Oblivious is a quality I don’t love to possess on some occasions, like this one.

I stand in the bright sunlight next to Betty, shielding my eyes from the bright beam. The sun hurts today. It is not going to be a good day. I plop into the driver’s seat and crank up Betty. I run a hand through my hair. Why me? Why? I’m the runner. I turn people down. Not the other way around. Who the hell does he think he is? I don’t give a damn if he is some big shot business owner. He doesn’t get to treat people like this. How do we go from having one of the best nights ever in Houston, to him up and leaving me multiple times? What did I do so wrong?

I’m upset over what’s going on with him because I’m confused, I’m upset over my financial situation, and more than all of that, I’m upset that I let my guard down so quickly with a man who doesn’t give a single fuck about how I feel. Before I know it, tears are running down my face. There are two things in this world that piss me off; someone disrespecting any of the people that I deeply care for and someone making me cry. My sad tears quickly turned to angry tears as I make up my mind. I’m going to find him one way or another, today, and settle this.

I pull out my phone and resort to social media to track him down. After twenty minutes of intense searching, I come up empty handed. How does someone in this day and age not have social media? This asshole really is Houdini. Then it dawns on me. Scott .

I rush back inside and tap Scott on the shoulder. “Hey!” I say, and it comes out a little louder than I intended.

“Yes?”

“Who hired you?”

“My boss.”

“No fucking shit. What company? Who? Caine Sonnier?”

“I think so, why?”

“Because I need to find him. Where is his office?”

“Umm. That way,” he points to the back of the bar. “We just re-did it.”

I huff in frustration. “Are you always a smart ass or just an ass in general?” I ask, hanging my head in defeat.

“Okay, let me try this again. Can you tell me where I can find Caine Sonnier on a normal day before this bar existed?” I ask.

“Probably in his dad’s nut sack. Lilly, this bar has been around since the early seventies,” Scott says, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Today, of all days, is the day you choose to have some witty reply to everything I say? Just, never mind. I’ll find him myself.”

I turn on my heel and walk into the office, going on a search of my own. I dig through every paper I can find in search of the name of his company. It’s got to be written on something.

I tear through the office and come up empty handed. Nothing. Finally, after I have papers strung from one end of the desk to the other, I stumble across the blueprints for the remodel. In the bottom right corner is a logo with the name of an engineering company. Google, here I come. I type away into Cass’s new computer. I find the address for the company and realize that a drive would be good for me, so I type it into my maps on my phone and head out.

“Where you headed?” Scott asks when he sees me walking toward the door.

“I’m going to Highway 30 to find some answers,” I say, tapping my foot.

Scott reaches over my head and unlocks the door, letting my impatient self out.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for!” Scott hollers behind me as I slam the driver door on Betty. The drive to Highway 30 is short lived and I find myself in front of a small tan building with a metal shop attached to the back of it. The sound of grinding and loud machines making tinkering noise echoes through the air.

There is no way this is an engineering company. It looks like a mechanic shop. Am I even in the right place? I double check the address in my phone and the numbers on the glass door match. This must be it.

I slowly walk over to the glass door and walk inside. A bearded man in blue jeans and a collared black polo shirt sits behind the counter. In one hand, he has a cigar and in the other he has a phone pressed to his ear.

“Yeah, let me call you back, someone just walked through the door,” he says, hanging up the phone.

“Yes ma’am, can I help you?”

“Yes, your company is the one that’s working on the remodel at Creek’s, correct?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. How is it any of your concern? And why?” he asks, his words harsh and without emotion. I pause for a moment, trying not to take his lack of a personality personal. I don’t know why he’s being such a dick, all I did was ask a question.

“Is there a manager here I can speak with?” I ask, masking my frustration.

The man behind the counter laughs. “Of course there is, would you like me to get him for you?” he asks.

“Yes, please.”

He crosses his arms on the desk in front of him. “How can I help you?”

If I were a cartoon character, you would see the steam blasting from both of my ears. Hearing voices coming from the door at the end of the hallway that runs next to the counter, I glance back at the asshole behind the counter. I bet I could make it to the end of that hallway before he can get out from behind there. I break into a sprint and race for the door at the end of the hallway.

“Hey! You can’t go back there!” He yells, but I am through the door, and it closes before he makes it around the counter.

The shop in the back is loud and there are machines and grease in every direction I look. My eyes scan the room for any sign of engineering before I conclude that this is most certainly not the engineering department. The door swings open behind me and the big, bearded man grabs me by the arm.

“Lady, what the hell are you trying to accomplish?” He asks, trying to pull me back to the front of the building.

“You wouldn’t give me an answer when I was up there trying to talk to you. I already told you what I’m looking for.”

“Well, now you have my undivided attention. How can I be of assistance?” he asks.

“I need to get in touch with a Caine Sonnier.”

“For what?”

“I’m one of his bartenders and there is a problem with the blueprints. I need to speak with him about them,” I say, hoping I sound convincing.

“Here, let’s discuss this in the conference room,” he directs me to a door down the hall.

To my surprise, when the door opens, I see Cass sitting at the long table in the center of the room. Eight rolling chairs are positioned around the mahogany table and there’s one small window that has a purple and gold flag hanging over it as the curtain. Cass sits at the head of the table in blue jeans that are covered in grease stains and a plain black T-shirt. His hands are grease-stained and there are random grease spots on his cheek and one on his nose. It’s clear he’s hands-on here and it is making me want to be hands-on.

I try to focus. This isn’t what I’m here for. I’m angry, I remind myself. I need to calm the thoughts of tearing his clothes off, but my mind disagrees.

Cass smiles when he spots me standing in the doorway.

“She’s a persistent woman, brother. I think you’ve got a good employee.”

“No doubt about that, brother,” Cass says as he dismisses him.

I take the seat at the opposite end of the table without any invitation from Cass. Not that I needed one. I’m here to get answers and I don’t really care what he thinks about it.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Cass says with a smirk.

“You’re an asshole, for the record.”

“Is this where you want to be when Jesus comes back? Calling me an asshole? It’s nice to see you too, beautiful.” Cass smiles the smile that makes my stomach do flips.

“Abso-fuckin-lutely.”

“You tracked me down, Miss Summers. Are you part hound dog? I figure everyone from Livingston Parish is part something.” His words didn’t have an edge to them, and the playful glimmer in his eyes makes me smile without my own permission.

“No, you don’t get to make me smile or laugh or even think about being the least bit happy for that matter. I’m mad at you. Why the fuck do you play Houdini and disappear all the time? Why? What makes you think you can be so rude to people? Who the hell are you to go around hurting feelings, and then fixing them and then hurting them all over again? What the fuck is your problem?” All thoughts of ripping Cass’s clothes off have faded as I let my emotions run rampant and anger rises to the surface. I stand from the table and begin walking toward Cass, continuing my rant.

“I know I made you wait for a few hours, but you made me wait for a solid fucking week, one in which I got absolutely no sleep because all I could think of was some gorgeous asshole that stood me up. Why would you walk away from me like that? You were the one that wrote that stupid fucking note on a napkin and wanted to spend time with me and get to know me better! You didn’t even take enough time to get to know me. So, I’m here because I need to know when you’re going to be at the bar so that I can make damn sure I’m not there. I can’t even look at you, mister ‘I-Disappear-Whenever-The-Fuck-I-Want’.”

Cass stands up and kisses me and I protest, pushing at his chest.

“You don’t just get to kiss me and make everything better,” I exhale.

“Watch me,” he growls, gripping the nape of my neck and crushing his lips to mine.

Every thought I have dwindles away with each millisecond that his lips are on mine. I can’t even attempt to focus on anything other than the feel of this man in my grasp. The fight I was putting up to get away has been long gone and my hands are now roaming over his shoulders and down his arms. My body relaxes, and I’m like putty in his hands. I trace my fingers lightly over the bulging muscles in Cass’s arm and he responds by picking me up. My legs automatically find their place around his waist, and I can feel his hard cock straining against his blue jeans. As if he can hear my thoughts, he presses his hips into me, making a circular motion with them. I tug at the hem of his shirt as a soft moan falls from my lips. I grind my hips in rhythm with his and the pleasurable sensation consumes me. I toss my head back and grip at the back of Cass’s neck for stability.

Cass sets me down on the table and places his hand directly between my breast, pushing lightly until I’m lying flat on my back. He slowly slides my blue jeans down my legs, keeping his eyes locked on mine the entire time. His thumb traces a circle over my clit through my black lace underwear. While one hand is busy between my legs, the other lifts my shirt then unclasps my bra. Every movement he makes is soft, sensual. Slow. Passionate.

I press against Cass’s fingers, my body begging for more. I lie on the table wearing only my underwear now since my shirt and bra have been tossed aside. Cass gazes down at me, desire dancing in his eyes. The look on his face has me aching inside.

Suddenly, dark desire shifts into a sexy playful smile. His hands grip my underwear, and he rips them off in the same manner he had in Houston. He tosses them aside just like my shirt and bra and pulls the belt from his waistband, slipping his jeans down his hips. Cass kneels to kiss the inside of my thigh with just the right amount of tongue to make my eyes roll back.

I want him to flick his tongue over that sweet spot in the center, but he’s teasing me, and I know it and I want it just as much as I want the release. He kisses up the inside of one thigh, then down the other, skipping over my aching core. I shake with pleasure as my body dances beneath his tongue. He teases me for a small eternity before pressing his tongue ever so lightly to my clit. Then again.

Slowly, lightly, agonizingly. Finally, my need becomes too much so I grab the back of his head and press my pussy into his face. My aggression stirs something in Cass. His mouth is hot on my pussy, ravaging me like a starved man that has just been given a five-course meal. My legs tremble as his tongue flicks my clit, every stroke pure ecstasy. I arch into the table beneath me and move my hips in motion with his tongue. Without being prompted, Cass slips a finger inside me and I’m spiraling over the edge. His tongue and finger move in the perfect motion to drain my orgasm from me. I moan loud and come hard, my body pulsating. I can’t take it anymore. I pull him up to me until his face is right above mine. Just as our lips connect, he slides inside of me.

“Oh, Cass,” I moan, the sound echoing through the empty room. I glance at the door. The thrill of possibly getting caught sets my soul on fire. I feel sultry, like a vixen. Cass moves his hips slowly, his face hovering directly above mine. I’m nearly squirming beneath him as he pumps in and out of me. Pleasuring me so intensely I swear I’m going to come again at any second.

He does something to me that no one else has, or could for that matter. I wrap my hand around his arm and bury my face into his shoulder. He wraps an arm around my shoulders, holding me close as he continues his slow assault, allowing me to feel every inch of him.

“You feel so fucking good,” Cass whispers, his lips brushing against my ear.

He’s making me feel like a goddess, but I wasn’t prepared for slow and sensual. I glance up into his eyes and demand what I want.

“Bend me over the table.”

The fire in Cass’s eyes ignites and he obliges instantly by flipping me over and doing exactly as I said.

“Is this what you want?” he asks as he slams into me. His tone is harsh and hard, just as hard as his cock and I love it.

“Yes!”

“Tell me. Tell me what you want,” Cass demands, his voice rough.

“I want you to fuck me. Harder,” I cry.

“Like this?” Cass asks, ramming into me. A moan escapes from my lips when he buries himself as deep inside me as I can accommodate. I can’t think. I can hardly breathe, but in the best way. I can’t focus on anything other than the feel of him tearing in and out of me, fast and hard.

Cass grabs a hand full of my hair in his hand and jerks my head back, exposing the side of my neck to his mouth. He bites down gently, sending chills skittering across my entire body. My body quivers from the warmth of his mouth, my budding orgasm, and the pleasure of him pounding into me from behind.

“Fuck, Lilly. You’re so close. I can feel it. Come for me.” His words aren’t a plea, but a demand. I shake my head no in rebellion.

“Come for me,” he repeats. “Lilly. Come for me.” He thrusts into me harder.

“I’m gonna come. I’m coming for you!” I cry out as I tumble over the edge of ecstasy. My orgasm comes in waves. With every thrust, he milks my orgasm until I have nothing left.

Cass grabs my ass and keeps driving into me. I’m starting to get sore, but I know he’s got to be close. I remember how hard he came in Houston when I was riding him and how much he said he enjoyed it.

“Lay on the floor.”

Cass doesn’t hesitate. In one swift motion, he turns me to him, picks me up and lies down on the floor with me placed on top of him.

I grin down at him. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I ask. He did that with ease. Showoff .

Cass smiles back at me and that’s all the motivation I need. I slide down onto him until he fills me entirely. I rock my hips back and forth, grinding slowly at first to tease him in the way he had teased me earlier.

I press my hands to the center of his chest and pick up the pace, riding him hard and fast. It’s pleasure and pain. The combination of the two is so euphoric, I’m going to come again.

“Don’t stop. Right there,” Cass grunts as I grind into him. The sound of his gruff, lustful voice has me so close. I push harder, moving faster. With the change of pace, my body tightens and I come around him, even harder than the last time.

“Come with me,” I plead as my orgasm rocks through me. Cass lets out a moan and I smile. Score one for the home team.

I collapse on top of Cass, who wraps his arms around me and holds me in the still of the moment. Ragged breaths, sweat, rapid beating hearts.

“I can feel the smile on your face,” Cass says, and I hear the smile in his voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh yeah?” He jabs his fingers in my ribs, tickling me. I jump up, laughing in a panic.

“No touch!” I pick, running across the room. I sigh. “I was comfortable, asshole.”

“So was I, but I wanted to see your face.”

I start picking up my clothes and when it dawns on me that I can’t wear my underwear, I shoot a playful frown at Cass.

“You’re fucking kidding, right? Really, Cass? Must you destroy every pair of underwear that I like?” I try, and fail, to keep a straight face. Cass raises an eyebrow at me.

“Oh, please. Tell me you don’t like it.”

I fight to hold back the grin that threatens to spread across my face.

“Point. Proven,” Cass says, grabbing his jeans and stepping into them. Something about the sight of him in blue jeans, and only blue jeans, makes me want to rip them off him again. I close the distance between us, my nose touching his. My hands roam over his shoulders, down his arms and back up again. Cass stiffens under my hand. Our eyes are locked as my hands come back up his shoulders and down his chest.

“Brother, I hate to interrupt, but its three-thirty, and we’re all getting out of here. Do you need anything before we go?” a loud voice crackles over the PA system in the conference room, startling me and making me jump back from Cass. My heart hammers in my chest and I stare at Cass wide-eyed before we both start laughing.

Cass walks over to the button on the wall next to a speaker. “Nope, I’m good, brother.”

He turns back to face me. “Well, Miss Summers, it was good to see you again. Unfortunately, I have to get going. But before I leave, will you please take my cell number so you can get in touch with me without having to pretend to have a problem with my company’s prints?” he asks, handing me a business card that has his cell number written on the back of it. I take it and shove it into my pocket.

“You owe me an explanation,” I demand.

“You are correct. I do. However, I can’t explain right now. I’ve got something to handle. You know how to get out of here.” He kisses my forehead before walking out the door.

Seriously? Of course he’s leaving. Houdini motherfucker.

I finish getting dressed and head to the car. I have to be at work in an hour or so and I’m in desperate need of another shower so that I don’t smell like sex for the rest of the night.

I park outside Creek’s and grab a bag of clothes from the backseat, checking my hair in the rear view before I walk in.

Scott greets me as I walk through the door.

“Find what you were looking for?” He asks with a huge smile plastered across his face.

“Sort of.” My cheeks heat, although I know that no one knows what just happened, I feel like they can see it written all over me. As if I’m covered in cum and there’s a black light shining on me.

“Are you better now?” Mindy asks from behind the bar.

“A little. I’m going to shower, then I’ll come take shift.” I walk past Mindy to the back.

Showering quickly, I get out with a smile. I’m singing and dancing around as I get ready for the night at work. Although I don’t have any answers yet, I’m happy with the way the day has turned out. Even though I got nothing accomplished and have zero answers about anything, a couple of orgasms has a way of making things just a tad bit better.

Why would he have to rush home? I ponder on that for a few minutes and suddenly everything seems to click. He’s married. He has to be. Of course. I shake my head in disbelief that I hadn’t realized it sooner. That’s the only thing that makes sense. I suddenly feel hungover again.

Walking out front, Mindy looks at me with a puzzled look. “What happened between you going to take a shower and coming back out here?”

“Nothing. Why?” I ask, trying to put on my best bartender face.

“You aren’t happy anymore like you were. So, what changed?” Mindy asks.

“Nothing. I’m just tired and hungover. I was putting on a front earlier and I’m about to do it again,” I say, faking a smile.

“Okay, I’ll buy it, but only because you got some ‘splainin to do,” Mindy says with her hand on her hip, making me laugh.

“Of course. Later, though, because I got a job to do.” I walk over to the register to count it while Mindy finishes up her paperwork. The bar has a few of the construction workers in it and the amount of progress they’ve gotten done is out of this world. These guys are working their ass off. It looks great in here and they’ve done it in under two days. It’s already a completely different bar.

“Can I get a Redd’s Apple?” I turn around from the register to see Scott standing at the bar.

“Sure,” I say, popping the top on his beer and handing it to him.

“I have a tab back there,” he points. “You don’t seem as feisty as you were earlier.”

“Oh, trust me. I’m still just as feisty. Just not as feisty in this particular moment.” I smile.

“It looks really good in here.” I look around the bar. The stage in the far-right corner opposite the bar has a black wall behind it where only plywood had been before. The carpet is new, there’s a mirror in the center of the wall covering a window, and they painted the walls a light color that’s somewhere between beige and tan. The bar itself has been replaced and now has a marble top swirled with tan and grey.

“We try. Our team works well together.”

“How is it that you do both road construction and interior remodeling?” I ask, curious.

“I’ve always been good at anything I’ve ever actually tried to do. Anything I’ve put effort into, I’ve been good at.” His tone is neutral. He isn’t bragging; he is simply stating a fact.

“I think that’s awesome.” I turn around a mark his beer down on his tab.

“Did you find your boss?” Scott asks.

“Yes.”

“I take it you aren’t interested in talking about it.”

“Not in the least.”

“Well, it looks like it’s going to be an early night. I know we should be out of here shortly,” Scott says as he grabs his beer and walks over to the pool table to join the rest of the construction workers.

I’m tired from my encounter with Cass earlier and I need sleep, desperately. Cass. What the hell is he doing? What is his issue? I make a mental note to pry into his personal life a little more when I get the chance to talk to him alone. There’s so much I want to know and he’s going to tell me, whether he knows it yet or not.

“What’s got you lost in your head tonight?” Scott’s voice startles me and pulls me back to reality. I was in the middle of pouring myself a Sprite and I tossed the cup when he spoke.

“Damn it.”

Scott laughs at me, but offers me an apology. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. What’s got you so jumpy?”

“I’m not jumpy,” I grit, turning around to reveal my reddened cheeks. “I just wasn’t prepared for a deep voice to break the silence.”

“I’m sorry. You still didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh. Yeah. That. Just trying to think about my situation. I don’t want to be the one to look stupid in the end. You know, the na?ve little girl. I don’t want to be the laughing stock of everyone in this town,” I admit. I don’t know why I find it comforting to open up to him, I hardly know him and besides, he’s Cass’s friend, not mine.

“I don’t think it’ll be like that. You worry too much.”

I continue to work on closing the bar. Everyone else has already left. He sits at the bar in silence while I wipe down the bar and gather the ashtrays to wash.

“Scott, you can leave. I don’t have much more to do, then I’ll be getting out of here myself.”

“How about I stay until you get done and walk you out? I don’t like you staying here alone.”

“I’m okay, promise. I do it all the time and I keep a pocket knife on me,” I say proudly, pulling a purple spring-assist Kershaw from my front pocket.

“Really?” Scott chuckles.

“Yep!”

“I’m not leaving you until you get done and walk out too. There’s all kinds of crazy fuckers out there.”

I sigh. “Okay.”

I finish my paperwork and count down the register. Scott finished wiping the tables while I finished everything else.

“Hey, I forgot that I have some paperwork to do in the office. It’ll probably take me a while, and once I get done, I’m just going to crash on the couch in the back,” I say.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Scout’s honor. I’ll be right here in the morning when your crew comes in to finish up the remodel.”

Without another word, Scott shakes his head and walks out the door. I walk out behind him to grab my bathroom bag from the car. Once I’m back in the bar, I make sure all the doors are locked and find my place on the couch in the back. I close my eyes and the events of the day play through my mind. I woke up hungover and on a manhunt for Cass, found him, gave him a piece of my…mind…and other things, then he rushes out, I come to work, and here I am, alone again and thinking of a man who disappears all the fucking time. At least this time I have his number.

I look over at the clock on the wall. 11:45 p.m. I dig into my pocket and retrieve Cass’s business card, dialing the number in my phone and sending a text.

Lilly: Hey boss man. It’s Lilly. Are you busy?

I sit my phone down on my chest so that I would know if it went off, but I fall asleep in ten seconds flat without ever hearing a sound.