She was definitely on to something.
“Take some of my money. I’ll hire you a staff.”
Given the look she gave him, that was not the answer she wanted.
“Or do it your way,” he said. “That works,too.”
“I need to have enough clients to pay for help, but to do that I need to have more time to build up my client list. I already know I prefer fewer high-paying clientele than lots of smaller ones.”
He knew, without a doubt that any of the Franks would invest in her company if she asked. If she didn’t want him involved because of their extracurricular activities, the others would toss in for it.
She finished up the email, closed the laptop, and slipped it into the padded case before stuffing it under the seat.
“Okay, let’s go.” She pushed her door open before he could get around the front of the vehicle to open it for her.
He linked his hand with hers as they headed toward the building. The barn.
Light spilled from the open double barn doors and as they got closer,a loud stream of country music coming from inside filtered out into the mountain air.
Dave had said this was the place in town to hit up on a Friday night. He knew, from his chats with Molly, that Rachel and her friends tended to hit up trend-setting martini bars. Not old barns in the middle of nowhere.
He’d have a talk with Dave later about his suggestions on date locations.
Although he was pretty sure there was not a martini bar anywhere in the Twin Lakes region.
“You’ve never been here before?” she asked as, tethered together, they weaved through the parked trucks, various off-road vehicles, and a few luxury SUVs that seemed oddly out of place.
“Nope. Dave’s the social guy. I usually hang out at the house, hike, hit the lake, that type of thing.” They emerged from the parked cars and…the barn had a bouncer.
That was as unexpected as a pair of overalls at The Cruise Room.
A big, muscled guy manned the door. The size of this guy rivaled the bouncers at Brek’s Bar in Denver when Dimefront stopped by.
“Name?” he asked, swiping across the screen of an electronic tablet that seemed fancier than the ones Gavin had bought the boys for Christmas.
“Frank, Travis.”
A slow smile spread over the bouncer guy’s face. “Dave’s brother.”
Travis nodded, pulling out his wallet to handle the cover charge.
“No charge for Dave’s brother.” Bouncer Guy held out two gold, plastic wristbands withVIPetched in black letters.
Rachel caught Travis’s gaze, her eyebrows raised.
He was certain they were thinking the same thing—a barn has VIP wristbands?
Travis took the bands, helping Rachel with hers before attaching his own. The bouncer guy unhooked the thick rope blocking the entrance and jerked his chin,indicating they should pass through.
Rachel gripped his arm and rolled up on her toes to whisper in his ear, “I’ve never been a VIP in a barn before.”
Her breath against his earlobe made his whole body heat.
“That makes two of us.” He turned his head so his face was right next to hers, and he kissed her. Quick. The kind of kiss two people shared when they were comfortable with each other. The kind that wasn’t any kind of promise because it didn’t need to be; it was simply who they were.
That realization had him tripping over his feet a little.
Rachel held on to his arm as though if she released him, he’d disappear into the crowd.
