There were three bars, one in each corner of the main area, with the only corner free being near the entrance where people could find a hallway to the bathrooms, of which there was another set at the back, so I didn’t have a bunch of drunks almost pissing themselves trying to cross the building. There was another hallway at the back with more private rooms. The ones on the first floor were for anyone to use, and there were a couple of rooms with your standard bar games like pool anddarts. The second story was for people willing to pay a fee to be up there for the night, where they could enjoy private rooms that came with premium drinks and service.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Jace's expression as he took in everything, a crease forming in his brow. I couldn't really blame him, the place was set up so much like a standard club that it would have been a cliché. On the other hand, the music made it stand out, but the decor really added to the feel I was going for. It was splatter, punk, metal, country, and club all thrown together in one place. Fake skulls that looked believable in the low light along with bones and blood, black and brown leather seating, fake weapons on the walls in mockery of old coats of arms, hell even the chairs had weapons and skulls carved into the tops, and there were paintings and posters in frames for just about every group I'd ever taken a liking to.
"Let's go," I said, leading him toward the bar directly across from us. I waited until the woman behind the bar, a short woman wearing makeup that wouldn't have looked out of place at a goth rave, and a leather outfit that would have been just fine in a cheesy honky tonk bar, looked up and caught sight of me. She perked up immediately, slapped the beer she hadn't yet opened onto the counter, giving the finger to the guy who protested when he went ignored, and immediately hopped up onto the counter with a skill and grace that came from her gymnastics years.
"Oh shit," I called out before opening my arms as she flew at me. She barely weighed a thing, so it wasn't hard to swing her around and drop her at my feet. "Jesus, Lydia, it hasn't been that long."
"You showed up once in three months," she said with a roll of her eyes and peered around me. "And with one hell of a hunk of prime meat following you."
The horror on Jace's face was worth everything, and I had to laugh, gesturing toward her. "This is the woman I leave in charge of this place. Jace, this is Lydia, and Lydia, this is Jace."
"Hi there," she said, shoving her hand toward him. "Please tell me you have an equally large, and manly brother I can hit up...or can I hit you up after Mason's done with you?"
"Since when the fuck did I say he was even like that with me?" I asked with a roll of my eyes. "I can have people around me without sleeping with them."
"You got someone this fine following you around and they're straight? I'm going to start wondering if you're into torturing yourself," Lydia said and glanced back at Jace, who still didn't know how to take her, which was...completely normal. Lydia could be a lot to take in, but in all fairness, she wasn't much different than me. She was direct, quick to joke, and even faster not to take someone's crap if they decided to sling it her way. And just like me, she never hesitated to flirt with someone if she was interested, even if it was just to get a reaction out of them.
"How about you make us a drink and leave the poor guy alone for a few minutes?" I asked with a laugh, gesturing back toward the bar.
"Virgin Special?" she asked, raising a brow that had nothing to do with the question she'd actually asked but the one she meant to ask and wouldn't while Jace was close enough to hear.
"That's the one, the normal for me," I answered with a shrug, knowing full well I wasn't going to answer her question any time soon. Yes, it was strange that I was avoiding her probing questions, and even odder that I wasn't letting her tease Jace, but no, I was not going to explain that I didn't want Jace teased too much while he was absorbing everything going on around him. Which again, was odd for me, but I didn't want to explain it to Lydia...and wasn't sure how either. There was just something different about Jace, but she wasn't going to understand that.
"Jesus Christ," Jace growled as he came to stand beside me. "You hired someone who's basically you...but with boobs."
I laughed at that, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "You're not wrong. But she's also amazing at her job, so I can take a copy of me running around."
"I guess," he said, and I noticed the confused dent in his brow.
"What do you look so befuddled about?" I asked.
"She just...I'm not used to people...talking about me like that," he said, and I glanced to see our drinks sitting on the end of the bar, Lydia at the other end, aggressively talking to someone. From the looks of it, the woman she was talking to was pissed about something, and Lydia wasn't moved by her complaint. I hoped the woman didn't get it in her head to try going toe-to-toe with Lydia. I had seen one too many times how that ended, and Lydia would not be on the losing end of that tussle. "It's weird."
I looked at him in surprise. “What? What do you mean?"
"Just...like that."
"What? Dirty? C'mon, with the stuff I know you've done and been willing to do, you're going to get puritanical on me?"
"No," he protested, his face coloring for a moment before he took the drink I offered, along with the double shot the Virgin Special came with, and downed it with a wince. "Just...people don't do that...with me."
My brow shot up. “I...yes, yes, they do."
"No, they don't."
"You seriously think that?"
"They just don't."
"There's people looking at you right now, men and women."
"At you, maybe. People look at me like I’m going to rip their head off if they look at me funny."
"Quit looking so cranky all the time, then."
"Can't," he said with a shrug that was supposed to show he didn't care but just looked resigned.
"Oh, Lord, okay," I turned, spotting a couple of women standing nearby, who I'd seen glancing our way, and I gestured toward them. They exchanged a look, then approached with curious but pleased expressions. I gestured to Jace. “Fuckable or nah?"
