anything while Jack was off settling in with his new boy.
“Everything okay at the club?” Of course, that’d be his first concern. It wasn’t like we were
friends.
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” I paused, sipped my whiskey, and considered the best way to approach
my totally selfish request. “I… Well…”
Words failed me.
Come on, William. It’s not like you’re asking him to sign the bar over to you.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was wondering if Eli might be able to spare a body or
two tonight.”
“You have someone call out?”
“No, nothing like that.” I could lie and tell him I expected to be busier than Corey could handle,
but realistically, I was betting our alcohol sales would be down compared to a typical weekend. My
only option was to lay my cards on the table and hope for the best. “I was hoping to bring Corey in for
the exhibition tonight. I thought it would help newcomers if I had someone who is also new to the
lifestyle in there to help me. Sam’s worked damn hard to build a great space, but now we need to get
people talking about it to bring in more business.”
Doug didn’t say anything for a few agonizing seconds, and I worried he was about to refuse me.
Surely, he’d understand I was trying to do what I thought was best for his brother’s business. I finally
let out my breath when he responded. “Makes sense to me, but I’m not sure if Eli has any extra bodies
we could send over there. They have live music tonight, which always means a packed house.”
Well shit. So much for Plan A.
“If you want, I could come down,” he offered. I would owe Doug big time after this. I knew from
Jack that weekends were his time to spend in his studio, and he was willing to give that up to help
out. “I’ll be useless if anyone orders fancy drinks, but I can draw tap beer and muddle my way
through the basics.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Doug.” We chatted a few minutes longer about when I wanted him to be here
and how late he’d be staying. Doug assured me he’d be over as soon as he let his men know he’d be
out for the night.
And dammit, thinking about how the three of them fit together wasn’t helping me as I peeked into
the playroom. Corey and Sam looked peaceful together, and if not for my certainty neither of them
