Xavier nodded. “Yep.”
“Fuck, I need a drink,” I muttered.
Xavier gestured to the sidebar on the right side of the room. “You have an entire bar at your disposal,” he pointed out.
“Nah, I’ll have Rashad make me one,” I said. “I need some fucking air.”
“Come on,” Xavier chuckled. “I’ll join you.”
We made our way out of the back rooms and into the main bar area. The Opera wasn’t as big as The Orchestra or The Symphony, but it was still a very nice restaurant. Our biggest sales were the lunch rushes, but our weekend nights earned well also.
I spotted Rashad behind the bar, and walking up with Xavier next to me, I signaled him over. After finishing with a server’s order, he made his way towards us. As soon as he was within earshot, I asked for a drink. “A Blanton’s Original single.” It was an expensive bourbon, but a personal favorite of mine, so all the restaurants and clubs carried it specifically for me.
“I’ll have the same,” Xavier said, and his week must have been as equally shitty as mine because the man usually drank beer out of the bottle. Xavier usually did the minimum.
Rashad gave us an affirmative nod and went to get our drinks.
I was about to take a seat when a woman rushed through the front door, her lovely face looking tense and worried. I watched as she scanned the room, and when her eyes fell on Kimberly Alba, refilling a table’s drinks, she quickly scurried over to the bar, four seats down from us.
And did I say her face was lovely?
Because if I did, I misspoke.
Now that I could see her more clearly, she wasn’t lovely, she was fucking beautiful.
Rashad placed our drinks on the bar, and while Xavier had reached for his glass, I was still observing the stunning brunette who looked to be stress the hell out.
Walking back to the drink station, Kimberly noticed her right away, and though I couldn’t make out what they were saying, their hushed whispers indicated some sort of emergency or other, I imagined. And because they were in such an intense conversation, neither noticed me practically eye-fucking the dark brunette.
She looked to be around five-foot-three, and though petite, her delicate curves were unmistakable under her light blue cowl-neck sweater and black pencil skirt. She had a pair of black heels on, but they were office appropriate height versus what you’d find on a street corner any given Friday night. She looked like she worked at a bank or an insurance firm, or something. Her dark brown hair was piled on the top of her head, but it looked deliberately messy. Loose strands were framing her face, and I really wanted to get a better angle, so I could study that fucking face of hers.
I still hadn’t touched my drink as I watched Kimberly grab the woman by her arm and rush her past us at the bar. It looked like they were headed back towards the employee lounge, and that immediately got me to thinking, because no one was supposed to go back there, apart from the employees.
Turning back towards Xavier, I asked, “Who was that woman Kimberly Alba just took back to the employee lounge?”
Xavier chuckled a bit. “Relax, Cass. She works here. They’re not violating the rules.”
My back snapped straight. “She works here?”
Xavier nodded. “Her name’s Devi Westland. She’s one of our waitresses.”
It wasn’t lost on me that I was in the middle of a sexual harassment investigation because one of my managers had been abusing his position and power, but never, in my thirty-one years, has a woman rocked up my dick by just walking into a room.
“On her days off?”
“Yeah,” Xavier confirmed. “She’s scheduled back on Monday. Day shift. She was lined up to be questioned then.”
“Is she married? Do you know?” Xavier cocked his head and just looked at me. “It was just a question, X.”
He downed his drink and signaled Rashad for another one. “Since I’ve never heard you ask about a woman before, in all the years that I’ve known you, I’d say it was more than just a simple question.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Chapter 6
Devi~
Iwas too high of a risk.
