CHAPTER FOUR
CORRIN
FOUR is the place to be on a Saturday night apparently. When Fergus first told me that he wanted to open a nightclub downtown, I told him he was batshit crazy. Who in their rightmind would want to own a place full of young teens who wanted to dance and drink and act stupid, but I will be the first to admit I was wrong. Boy oh, boy, was I wrong.
The business manager that Fergus hired to run the day to day of this place has it operating like a well oiled machine. The music playing tonight may be loud enough to rattle your eardrums because of the DJ he had brought in from Las Vegas, but it’s not like this all the time. He has different themed nights going on depending on the time of year or other events going on in the city. Like, when the livestock show and rodeo is in town for two weeks in March, they have several country themed nights and performances on the calendar.
It's not often that we come here while the club is actually open for business, but Fergus wanted to spend some time actually seeing how the club operated in person, not just from numbers on a spreadsheet. While he may be my boss, Fergus is also my best friend, so when he wants to go out for a few drinks, who am I to say no?
“How did you convince Nola to let you out for the night?” Taking a sip of my whiskey, I shoot Fergus a smirk.
He knows I’m just joking with him, because I love his wife almost as much as I do him, but that still doesn’t make me half curious. He is fucking obsessed with his fiancée, the mother of his soon-to-be born child, and it’s not often that he isn’t rushing home to be with her when work allows him a little bit of free time.
Fergus flips me off as he continues looking around the dance floor and bar below us. “You’re just jealous I have a warm bed to crawl into every night.”
And he’s not wrong . . . but I don’t need to admit that out loud.
“Hey now,” I laugh and hold up my free hand in mock defensiveness. “I’m just meaning I’m surprised you are spending your first full night free of meetings and all the other bullshit we’ve been wading through with the development here in a club instead of home building some new gadget that Nola ordered for the baby.”
“She kicked me out,” he mumbles as he takes a sip of his drink.
If ear-splitting record scratches were still a thing, the whole club would be dead silent. “She what now?”
Fergus sighs, scratching the side of his beard. “When we were home earlier for dinner, I asked her what movie she wanted to watch tonight, and she told me Remi and Nana were coming over for a girl’s night so I couldn’t be home until at least midnight.”
“Ahh, so that’s why you’ve been constantly looking at your watch.” I look at my own and see that it’s almost eleven. “Not much longer now.”
“I swear the damn thing moves slower every time I check the time.”
“A watched pot never boils.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“It’s alright, boss. We’ll get you home soon.” I turn back to face the crowd. “But I’m sleeping in tomorrow morning.”
My eyes make another circle around the crowd below, my sense of paranoia is never far away, and a few groups make me glad I never had a partying phase. I know many go through one while they go to college, or even later into their thirties once life settles down a bit, but I never did that. And quite frankly, I don’t miss doing it. I enjoy a few drinks just as much as anyone else, but being so drunk that you throw up or black out, I never saw the appeal.
My drink is empty, which draws my attention to the bar downstairs. Yes, there is one up here, as well as waitresses who would refill my glass if I asked, but there is a certain bartender on the far side of the room that has been catching my eye since she got back from what I’m guessing was her break. She wasn’t behind the bar when we arrived, but as soon as I first noticed her, I haven’t been able to look away for long.
Fuck, is she beautiful. She has her long loose curls pulled up into a high back ponytail. Even tied back, the ends reach down just past her shoulders and I can’t help but imagine wrapping those strands around my hand, gripping it in a fist, and pulling it tight as I fuck her from behind. Just thinking about her arching her back as she moans every time my cock hits as deep as it can go, shit I’m hard as steel.
And don’t even get me started on how her uniform looks like it was made for her body. Those skintight black pants are molded to her ass like they were painted on. And the sleeveless, fitted, black dress shirt, with the top few buttons undone to show just enough cleavage to tease but not too much be too revealing, is the icing on the cake. Topped off with her apron that’s a mix of utilitarian and somehow still sexy, and I’m a goner. I’m cooked. Just reeling me in and I don’t even think she’s noticed I’m in the room.
I think I spoke too soon.
Somehow she’s found me amongst the masses and I can’t look away. Where did she come from and how do I make her mine?
Wait—I know exactly how to find out who she is. Since she’s an employee of the club, her information will be in the database. And I just so happen to be able to access that from my phone. Thank Lucifer for technology and the modern era.
Fergus is now talking to Padraig, his right hand man and driver, so I drop a short “I’m going for a walk.” their way and head for the stairs.
“Where are you going?” he calls out to my back.
“I think I see someone I know.” Waving him off, I keep walking.
“Corrin,” Jack, one of the security guys under my umbrella of the family, nods from his station at the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m going to get a drink from the bar.” I say as I reach the ground floor. “If Fergus comes down before I head back up, make sure to be on his six.”
