Their brother Adam rolled up next, looking eagerly between Wes and Bran. “Bran’s having fun?” Adam flagged the waitress with a flick of his polished, Armani-covered wrist.
Adam wore suits to work every day, and hedidn’tmind it. The same couldn’t be said for Bran and the rest of their brothers, who preferred casual to Adam’s designer duds.
“No, and that’s the problem,” Hunt said, and craned his neck. “Where’s Levi?”
They peered toward the front of the restaurant right as Levi walked in with his girlfriend, Emily, who worked with them at Club Tahoe.
Perfect.They were all here now, and primed to give Bran shit.
Levi and Emily took seats across from Bran. “Can’t stay long,” Levi said.
“Story of the evening,” Hunt grumbled. “None of you are any fun. Remind me to not settle down. It’s turned you all into bores.”
Levi glared at Hunt. “It’s got nothing to do with settling down, though you could stand to work more and play less. Some of us are trying to keep the club running and continue to make the place a source of employment for the community. Oh, and we’ve matured with age. But I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that.”
Levi and Hunt might have rebuilt burned bridges, but some things never changed. They still got on each other’s nerves.
“Work more?” Hunt said, ignoring Levi’s comment about growing up. “I work full time at the club, just like you. But when I’m not working, I’m playing. Because I know how to have a good time, unlike you sorry saps.”
Levi shook his head and looked at Bran. “He’s a lost cause. How about you? The new ordering system up and running?”
In an effort to drum up more restaurant business in a competitive resort community, Bran had convinced Levi to invest a crap-ton of money in new technology for the restaurants. Bran was in charge of all four Club Tahoe restaurants and estimated they could fulfill significantly more orders with the new equipment. Only the system was a huge learning curve for his staff.
“For the most part,” Bran said. “The employees are still training.”
“What about technical support from the company? They helping out?”
“They’re helping, but I have over sixty full- and part-time employees to manage. It’s a process to get them up to speed.”
“Noted.” Levi looked at Emily, his hand resting possessively on her leg. “Have you checked out the system?”
Emily’s eyes lit up. “Of course I have. You know how much I love my tablet. And the restaurants’ table tablets are spiffier than mine, with all sorts of fun features to keep the guests entertained. We’ve already seen an increase in affiliate money with the new keno app we installed.”
The waitress handed Levi his beer, and he took a swig. “Good call, Bran. As long as nothing goes wrong, I don’t see how this could hurt the club.”
Bran rubbed his jaw. The new technology had all the signs of a win, but Bran had a difficult time trusting his instincts, and this investment had been based purely on a gut feeling. If the investment failed, the blame would be on him.
“Look who’s here,” Hunt said, grinning, and stood to shake Jaeg’s hand.
Jaeg joined Bran and his brothers, and Bran’s neck prickled. If Jaeg was at the restaurant…
Bran glanced around the room. And spotted Jaeg’s fiancée. With her cousin, Ireland.
Goddammit.
Jaeg and Bran chatted about the art commission the club had hired Jaeg to do for the steakhouse, and made plans for Bran to check it out.
Jaeg nodded at Hunt. “What are you up to these days?”
“Not too much. You got something in mind?”
“Cali wants to show her cousin more of Lake Tahoe. If you have plans to go exploring in the near future, give us a call. We’d like to join you.”
Hunt glared at Bran and the rest of them. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Jaeg and Cali know how to have fun.”
And Ireland, Bran thought.
His horny youngest brother would be the fourth to Cali, Jaeg, and Ireland’s third wheel.
