“Listen,” I said because I had the feeling this grumpy barkeep was a straight shooter. “I need the work. You don’t want to give me a job, fine, but don’t play dumb here. This place is the tits, and if you don’t think I’d fit in, just say so, okay? I’ve had a long day, and it’s only eleven.”
The manager stared at me implacably for another moment before a tiny hairline fracture appeared around his mouth. A facsimile of a smile.
“Well,” he grunted, straightening those tree trunk arms so his palms lay flat on the counter, the tattoos on the backs of his hands clear to see. “Let me get you the paperwork, then.”
I huffed out an incredulous laugh. “Are you serious?”
He cocked a brow. “Don’t lose your gumption now. A girl pretty as you wants to work here, she’s gotta have mettle.”
“So you being a dick was a test?” I asked, shocked into sincerity.
He chuckled, a short, sharp bark of humour. “Nah, I’m a dick all the time. But it’s good to know you can handle it ’cause theclientele here can be vicious. This isn’t some Denny’s, you get me? We get serious shit in here.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not little red, and you’re hardly the first big bad wolf I’ve ever met. I can handle some rude or grumpy bikers.”
He pursued full lips, pale pink framed by a dark beard, and if I hadn’t met Aaron first, I might have found him wildly attractive.
“Eugene,” he said finally, sticking out a huge hand for me to shake. His grip was cool and calloused against mine.
“I would’ve taken you for a Bullet or Hammer,” I said, taking a stab that he was either former military or an ex-con, two sects of men who always had absurd, oddly fitting monikers.
His smile flattened into a sharp line, gaze glazing over as if looking into the past. “Had another name a long time ago. Doesn’t suit anymore so, I’m Eugene.”
“I get that,” I said, my voice softening as I recognized the familiar stamp of tragedy on his features. “My name was Faith, but now…” I thought of Aaron calling me his Blue baby. “Now, I like to be called Blue.”
Something sharpened in Eugene’s gaze, but he nodded, and I realized when he dropped my hand that we had been holding each other’s grip a little too long.
“Blue,” he said the word like it had a taste and it was sweet. “I’ll get you that paperwork.”
He knocked his knuckles against the bar top and disappeared.
A moment later, someone slid onto the stool beside me, and when I turned to face them, I found a gorgeous Asian woman staring at me contemplatively.
“Um, hello?” I asked when she didn’t say anything for a moment.
Her grin was a quick flash of small, sharp teeth, almost vulpine. “Hey. I’m Mei.”
“Blue,” I indicated myself, then let my hand fall to the bar a little self-consciously.
Across the room in the corner with the group of beautiful women, someone laughed and then was abruptly hushed.
“You’re stunning,” Mei said, almost matter-of-factly, kind of bored by it. “Did you do your own hair and makeup?”
I fingered the curled ends of my hair at my collarbone and nodded. “I don’t colour it myself, and it needs a refresh, but yeah. I actually do makeup, hair, and nails for a living.”
“No shit,” Mei exclaimed, dark eyes sparkling. I was surprised she was so into it, given that she didn’t look like she was wearing more than mascara and had that kind of fabulous sleek, straight hair that didn’t require much maintenance.
“Shit,” I said with a little grin and listened to her laughter.
“Well, my man’s stepmum runs one of the best beauty salons nearby. Lin’s Beauty Emporium, have you heard of it?”
I blinked because, yes, I had. It was one of the places I wanted to apply before Rooster forced me to work here.
“Yeah, I-I have. I was actually going to take a peek at it later today.”
Mei clapped her hands, but her grin was too calculated for true surprise. “What a coincidence, I was going to head over there, too. You’re new around here, right? Why don’t we go together?”
Eugene’s bark of laughter caught me by surprise and made me jump. He’d appeared silently in front of me, slapping the paperwork on the wood for me while he shot Mei a bemused look.
