He’d also been caught squatting in the mine’s barracks and subsequently kicked out, but he kept that part to himself. After he’d failed to report to Giselle by the mine’s starting bell, he’d lost the right to use them. He wasn’t sure where he’d sleep later, but that was a problem to deal with later.
Monika gave him a searching look before she stood aside. “Well, come on, then.”
Garrett tried not to let his relief show as he moved past her and into the brothel. The windows of the main room were thrown open to let in the afternoon sun, and with the place empty, it was downright peaceful. Monika shuffled behind the bar even as a shout of laughter rang out from the rooms upstairs.
“We finally got our missing wine shipment,” Monika said and pointed to one of the two large casks that were set behind the bar. She reached for the key that hung on the wall behind the bar before she handed it over to him. “Think you can move that one down to the cellar? Door’s just out back.”
“Of course,” Garrett said. The cask was heavy, but far easier to maneuver than the rocks he’d been extracting. He hefted it up over his shoulder and turned to head out the back just as movement from the stairs caught his eye.
It was Bridgette. And she was wearing nothing more than a towel. Her hair was damp, cascading over her shoulders, and without the makeup she had worn the night before she looked even younger than Garrett had first thought.
“Monika, do you have-” she started before her eyes locked with his. For a second, she seemed flustered, a hint of color creeping onto her pale cheeks. It was such an honest reaction, a glimpse behind the mask she wore, that Garrett couldn’t help but stare.
“Oh! Hi, Garrett,” she said.
The fact that she even remembered his name made a warmth settle in his chest.
“H-hi, Bri.”
Madam Monika scoffed. “I’m not paying you to gawk, lad.”
Garrett cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away. “Right. Sorry, ma’am.”
Monika pointed an accusatory finger at Bridgette as she added, “And I don’t put a roof over your head so you can fluster the help. Save it for your callers.”
As if just remembering Monika was there, Bridgette’s mask lifted back into place. Her shy grin slid easily into the sultry smirk she had used on her callers the night before. “Hmm, careful what you ask for, Monika. If I can’t fluster a person with a flash of thigh, how will I keep making you coin?”
Garrett hurried for the back door, but his eyes flicked back to Bridgette just in time to catch her conspiratorial wink. He unlocked the cellar door, stored the cask, and locked it again. As he headed back inside, he had a grin he couldn’t get rid of.
He carried it with him as Monika walked him through his duties and the rules of the house. He’d take his supper before opening and his coin after close. He’d not touch anything behind the bar unless asked, and he’d not touch any of the girlsever.He’d watch everyone who came through the door, and watch anyone who went upstairs even harder.
“Now, I trust my girls’ discretion in who they see,” Monika said. “They have their regulars that you’ll learn over time, but if it’s anyone new, they’ll vet them first. If they decide to take someone upstairs, they’ll come tell you. The girls might ask you to check on them after a bit, and that’s theonlytime I want you upstairs, understand?”
She hesitated before she turned to look Garrett over. “Though you’re a rather strapping lad, even with those unsightly fangs. Maybe you’d want to try your hand at entertaining some of our more… adventurous clients? Gabriel’s down the road is the only brothel in town to offer a more masculine touch, and it seems like an untapped market. I’d pay you extra, of course.”
Garrett nearly dropped the handful of wooden cups he was stacking. The idea was laughable for more than just his looks. He wouldn’t even know where to begin in a bedroom. “N-no. Thank you, ma’am.”
Monika shrugged. “Suit yourself. Though if you change your mind, it gets you two meals and board on top of pay.” She finished cleaning the last few cups as she continued, “I’ll point out any of the lads who’ve been banned. Edmund’s been added to that list, and he’s the most likely to try, so make sure he doesn’t get in the door.”
Garrett rolled his aching tongue in his mouth. “Too easy.”
Monika scoffed. “Don’t get cocksure, lad. The knife my last man took put him in the ground. I’m not paying you to do the same.”
Fortunately, the night after payday was a slow one. The people who came to the brothel were quiet, and most didn’t even look like miners. There was a woman with a crutch under her arm, an older man. And as Garrett watched the girls work, he realized that there was far more to their job than he’d assumed.
It was conversation. A cure for loneliness. Some patrons left a large tip behind without ever setting foot upstairs.
Not all, though.
“I’m heading up with that mousy gentleman,” Bridgette told him.
Garrett glanced over to the man in question and frowned. It was one of the innkeepers who had denied him entrance the night before.
“You sure?”
Bridgette gave him a placating smile. “Arthur’s a regular, I’m afraid. And he’s going to spend his time complaining about what a harpy his wife is.” She tsked and glanced over at the man. “Though if I were married to him, I’d be glad just to have him out of the house for an hour. He’s insufferable.”
Garrett snorted a laugh. He’d spent the better part of the evening guessing what had brought each caller through the door, and in this man’s case, he hadn’t been wrong. “So his wifedoesn’tknow he’s here.”
