Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
“Let me see what I can do.”
I walked to the back of the bar to grab the necessary paperwork and came back to her. “Fill this out and you can start today? Do you have any bartending or waitress experience?”
“No… like I said, I’m a really fast learner.”
“All right then, I can have you start bartending today. Just shadow me and we will see how fast you pick it up. If I like what I see, I’ll put you on the schedule. I’ll just pay you under the table until we see if you’re going to work, and then we’ll talk about putting you on the payroll. Deal?” I asked with an extended hand and she took it.
“Are you the owner?” she questioned.
“I am.”
She put the pen to the corner of her lip and bit on it. She was flirting with me and it wasn’t in the normal way I was used to with most women. It was as if she was using her body to get what she wanted and that wasn’t sex. She wanted something else… I had already given her the job, but her eyes told me something different. It didn’t matter that she appeared confident; on the inside, she was broken.
Just like me.
“Huh, you’re awfully young to be owning something,” she commented, taking me away from my thoughts.
“And you are awfully gorgeous,” I responded with a smirk. “You’ll definitely bring in a crowd for me. I inherited this club from an uncle, who passed away a few years ago.”
She brought the pen back down on the application. “Oh… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t sweat it, Kid. It happened a long time ago. He was a mean old bastard anyway, but he did know how to run a great place. It was successful before I ever got my hands on it. I was fortunate enough to have a business degree from college, so I knew a thing or two about running a business. What brings you to Miami?”
She started working on the application.
Interesting… she didn’t want to look into my eyes.
“I was over living in my hometown. I wanted to expand my horizons.” She looked back at me. “You know?”
I nodded, knowing exactly the feeling she was expressing. “Yeah, I can understand that. I was born and raised in Miami. I moved to Gainesville to go to UF for college, and somehow I wound up back here anyway.”
She grinned at me. “You sound like you got your shit together, Devon. Care to share your secret?”
I laughed. “I think I’m gonna like ya, Kid. You say what’s on your mind, great quality to have. The guys will be taken with you… which will make my bar happy, as well as your wallet.”
“I think you’re giving me more credit as far as my appearance goes, thank you anyhow.”
I left her alone for a few minutes to finish her application. I introduced her to the staff and gave her a tour of the bar. I walked her back to the restroom and let her know that she needed to change. She looked at me funny and that’s when I noticed she was carrying a backpack.
I didn’t know how I had just noticed it. She carried all her possessions in that backpack, I was sure of it. I grabbed Jen and told her to help her out. I left them alone and returned ten minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom completely done up and she almost took my breath away.
I gave her a huge smile. “You clean up nice! You looked great before, now you just look amazing. Are you ready?”
“I am.”
She worked the entire night and picked up on the drink orders and recipes a lot faster than I would have predicted. Men and even women radiated toward her like moths to a flame. It was amazing to watch; I had never seen anything like it. She pulled in clients without even trying.
The bar closed down and I could tell she was exhausted. It would take her some getting used to the night owl hours. By the time we were done, it was 6:30 AM. I caught her counting all of the tips from the corner of my eye, and when she was done, she appeared like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders.
“It’s usually a slow night on Tuesdays. Did you do okay?” I asked and she looked up at me with disbelief in her eyes.
“Yeah… I did more than okay. I can probably get a decent hotel for a couple of nights now.”
That caught me off guard. I assumed maybe she was staying with a friend or something, but I never imaged she was homeless. She was too beautiful to be by herself, too innocent and naïve. Miami chewed girls up like her and then spit them right back out, without even trying.