“Nope. Sorry, you can’t drive like this.” I was adamant. I didn’t know where she was going, but I wasn’t about to let her leave in this condition.
“Like what?”
“From what I saw, you had at least two drinks and started a third.” I inclined my head to the half-empty amaretto sour that remained on the bar. “What kind of business owner would I be if I knowingly let one of my patrons get behind a wheel like this?”
“Xavier, stop playin’. I need to go. I have a client that needs my help.”
“Yeah? And what kind of help would you be if you get in an accident on the way there?”
“You’re really not letting this go?” She tried to tug her arm from my grip, but I was firm. “Joel, would you please tell him I only had one-and-a half drinks and I’m fine?” she tried.
I stared at Joel, daring him to lie to my face. He looked like he wanted no part of this conversation when he said, “That was actually her fourth drink, boss man.”
I looked back at Chanel cockily. She, in turn, glowered at Joel.
“Sorry, beautiful.” He held his hands up, surrendering. “He signs my checks.”
“Damn straight I do. Now back to you.”
“No, there’s no back to me. I need to leave,” Chanel argued.
“And I can’t let you get behind the wheel the way you are,”
She sucked her teeth and stomped her foot, and I’d be damned if it wasn’t the slightest bit of a turn-on. “I’ll just use the autopilot feature on my car,” she retorted.
I chuckled at that. Chanel could be a trip when she didn’t get her way, always had been.
“Nah, I’ll drive you.”
Her head shot back at those words, but I was insistent. “You need to get somewhere, I’ll take you.”
“Xavier, this is ridiculous. I need to go.” Her voice started to take on a shrill note.
“And I just explained I’ll take you wherever you need to go. How would it look if I had to explain to Jason or Elliott that their respective sister and daughter got into an accident after I let her leave my business, drunk?”
She rolled her eyes. “They wouldn’t give a damn, and I’m not drunk.”
My eyebrows shot up at both parts of her statement.
“You’ve had a bit too much to drive. So, you need to get somewhere, I’ll take you.” This time, I grabbed her bag out of her hand, spun her around and guided her toward the door with my hand around her waist.
Her face remained in a stubborn pout, but she acquiesced.
“I need the address where we’re going,” I informed her at the same time I held my passenger door open for her. Once I was in the driver’s side, she rattled off the address, and I plugged it into the car’s navigation system. Minutes later, we were on the highway headed toward a small but upscale community that wasn’t too far fromGrant’s.Chanel remained quiet as we drove and I opted not to ask what this little excursion was about. I knew it was something to do with a client of hers.
“Can you pull up a couple of houses ahead?” she asked as the navigation system alerted us that we’d reached our destination. She turned those brown eyes on me beseechingly, and I nodded, letting my car pass the spacious, red-brick house. About three houses down, I stopped and parked, looking around to see if anyone else was out and about. It was a quiet street with a few cars also parked on the road and some people walking their dogs, even this late in the evening.
“I’m going to go get my client. Can you stay here, please?”
She wasn’t begging, but the way she gripped my knee, asking as if she needed my agreement in this, made me realize how serious this was. Furrowing my brow, I stared at her, trying to figure out why the secrecy.
Finally, I nodded, at which she released a breath and exited the car. I watched Chanel in my rearview as she walked a few houses down and turned, glancing behind her before she walked up the walkway to the front door. The shrubbery at the side of the house made it difficult to see the entrance.
I lowered my gaze to my cell phone, pulling it out to check my emails. I had no idea why the hell I was sitting there on a Friday night when I could be doing any number of things. I had at least five other businesses I could be checking on, emails to return, a trip the following week to D.C. to finalize, or at the very least, sliding into some very warm pussy. But nope, my black ass was sitting there, outside some stranger’s house like I was on a damn covert operation. All because something inside me didn’t want to let Chanel come out here alone.
Yeah, she’d been drinking, but any number of times I’d called a cab or an Uber for patrons who’d obviously had too much to drink. And yes, she was my best friend’s sister, so she was more than just a regular patron ofGrant’s,but still. This shit didn’t make any damn sense to me.
I shook my head and started typing out an email to my assistant who had some questions about my upcoming trip. Next, I shot an email to my manager atGrant’sto tell him he could start looking into Friday night live music options. He’d been asking for some time now. The restaurant had made it into the black the previous year, and we continued to grow. I had become so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t catch Chanel approaching until she knocked on the passenger window.
