it,” I ordered sternly,
spinning to face her.
“Scar, there’s so much to say I
wouldn’t even know where to start!” She grinned from ear to ear.
I scowled, knowing she was right and
went to get ready for work.
My shift went by quickly and I was
grateful for the distraction. Rushing from table to table and remembering food
and drink orders didn’t allow for much else to fill my head, though I did
manage to think of Cole and that kiss about a thousand times.
It was winding down around midnight,
and Connie and I were taking a breather when a blond girl with huge breasts and
bright red lipstick came striding into Jupiter.
“Oh shit,” Connie muttered.
“Who’s that?” I asked, perplexed when
it was clear that the girl was headed right for us.
“One of Cole’s old hook ups, just
ignore her,” Connie replied with disdain.
Shit.
“You Scarlet?” The girl sneered.
“Yep,” I answered, standing up
straight and meeting her judgmental gaze. If this girl thought I was someone
who could be easily fucked with, then she had another thing coming. It was a
common misperception about me--people always thought I was sheltered and soft.
It wasn’t until they rubbed me the wrong way that they discovered what I was
really made of.
“Stay the fuck away from Cole, he’s
mine,” she warned.
I laughed right in her face. “Honey,
you might want to pass your message along to Cole if you’re concerned about it.
I’m not the one doing the chasing,” I replied, completely unaffected by her.
I’d dealt with this type of woman time and time again and they were all the
same. Thought they could sleep with a guy in the club and then sink their claws
in. There were the kind of girls who became old ladies, and then there were the
ones who were one-night stands. This girl was clearly the latter.
“I don’t give a fuck who’s doing the
chasing. Stay away from him!” she cried, agitated that I wasn’t taking her
seriously.
“Don’t raise your voice when you walk
into my place of work,” I replied, finally aggravated with her. “If you think
with all the other shit I’ve got going on that you remotely concern me, you
have another thing coming. But I will tell you one thing, you continue to stand
there and threaten me you’ll be the one who has something to be concerned
about. Now get the fuck out of my bar,” I said, staring her down with fire in
my eyes.
She glared at me clearly trying to
gauge how serious I was. Whatever she saw in my expression, it sent her
flouncing back in the direction she’d come from with an audible huff.
“Holy shit, I had no idea you were
such a bad ass!” Connie squealed, laughing hysterically. “That was the best
thing I’ve seen in my entire life!” she hooted.
I shrugged, suddenly feeling tired.
Her expression immediately softened
when she saw how exhausted I was. “Hey, things are slow. Why don’t you take
off?” she offered. “I don’t know the extent of what’s going on, but you look
like you could use an extra hour of sleep,” she offered kindly.
“You know what? I absolutely could,” I
agreed. “I owe you one, thank you,” I replied sincerely.
“Don’t mention it. And you don’t owe
me anything, that little encounter was all the pay back I need,” she said.
I laughed lightly and reached behind
the bar to grab my purse.
I drove home with the welcome thought
of my soft bed, hoping that tomorrow would feel more like a normal day. What I
certainly didn’t need was any more biker drama.
It took me a minute to remember the
alarm code when I got home, but I managed to turn it off and reset it before
the National Guard was called. Kat wasn’t home, not a surprise since she was
always off doing something. I got ready for bed, donned my typical camisole and
shorts, and sighed blissfully when my head hit the pillow. I had to admit, the
new alarm and locks were reassuring and I didn’t have any trouble drifting off.
My phone rang and woke me up after