“The Quarter,” she replies and takes a deep breath. “All of the people.”
“There are a lot of them,” I agree. “This is beautiful, Callie. You’re going to pack people in here.”
“I hope so,” she says with a laugh. “This sucked up most of my savings.”
“It’ll pay off.”
“You’ll help,” she replies and turns to walk away, but I catch her elbow and turn her back to me.
“Wait. Are you being nice to me?”
“I’ve never been mean to you,” she says, her voice cool and eyes even colder, making them so fucking blue I’d swear they came from the ocean. Her skin is soft in my hand, making me think of long, sweaty nights.
“Let’s be honest. I don’t think you like me much, and I’d love to know why. I’m a likeable guy.”
“I don’t dislike you,” she insists and pulls her arm out of my touch, making me want to just touch her somewhere else. “I’m just not typically drawn to men who drink whiskey. Daddy liked it too much. I don’t like it at all.”
I knew when I ordered the whiskey, the last time I saw her more than three months ago, that it struck a nerve.
“I don’t always drink whiskey. Frankly, I’m happy with tap water.”
She cocks a brow and then chuckles. “You’ll be good for business, Declan. And I’m thankful for it.”
“I will be,” I agree, not at all afraid to admit that I’m popular around here. It pays my bills nicely, and does the same for the business owners I play for. “I’ve missed playing here.”
“You have?” she asks, seemingly surprised.
“I have.”
“Well, good.” She clears her throat and leads me back to the stairs. “Maybe I can talk you into giving me Fridays and Saturdays.”
You could probably talk me into just about anything, darlin’.
And that just won’t do. Women are a great distraction, but that’s all they are.
“I’m booked on Saturdays,” I reply.
“We’ll see,” she says with a smile as her heels click down the stairs back to the main bar where Adam has finished with his call and is stocking bottled beer in the cooler.
“What do you think?” he asks.
“I think you’d better stock more beer. This place is going to be hopping in about two hours.”
***
God, I love to perform. I love every part of it: singing, playing all of the instruments, watching the crowd as they dance or sing along. Music is as necessary to me as breathing and it’s always come naturally to me. They call me a prodigy, but I don’t know about that. All I know is, it’s a part of me that I’ll never let go of.
I’m toward the end of my last set, and I was right. The place is packed, wall-to-wall, standing room only. Adam and another bartender I haven’t seen before are working the bar, and two waitresses are working the room.
Callie has been mingling, helping wherever she’s needed, and working her ass off in general.
How she can do all of that in the shoes she wears is a mystery to me, and my sister Charly owns a shoe store. I’ve come to realize that I’ll never solve that particular mystery.
As long as women continue to wear them, I’m good.
Speaking of Charly, my eyes meet hers in the crowd. It didn’t surprise me that she showed up with our brother, Eli, and his girlfriend, Kate. It did surprise me, however, to see that she brought a date along.
I wonder who the fuck this one is.
Not that he’ll be around for long. Charly doesn’t keep men in her life. Odd, how our parents were married for the better part of five decades, faithfully and in love for every day of those years, yet most of their six children are commitment-phobes.
“Are y’all havin’ a good night?” I ask the crowd as I tickle the keys on the piano and smile when the room erupts into applause and cheers. “I am too. Let’s give the owner, Callie, and the staff of The Odyssey a big round of applause for making this place so beautiful.”
My eyes link with Callie’s as the crowd cheers loudly. She smiles and waves, then simply lifts a perfect eyebrow in my direction.
God, I love how sassy she is.
“I’d also like to send out a little hello to some of my family in the audience this evening.” I smile down at Eli, Kate and Charly. If any of my family takes the time to come to a show, I take a minute to thank them. “And this here’s gonna be the last song this evening. It’s one of my favorites. Thanks for listening tonight, friends.”
I move easily into a slower rendition of Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain, loving the lyrics, losing myself in the melody. And when it’s done, I stand and wave, give one bow, then climb off the stage and head straight to my family.
“Hey,” I say and kiss Kate’s cheek, then Charly’s, and give my brother a man-hug. “Thanks for coming.” Then I turn to Charly’s date. “Who are you?”
Charly rolls her eyes. “God, you’re such a man.”
“I’m a brother,” I correct her, still holding the stranger’s gaze with mine. He’s not as tall as me or Eli, but then few are. At roughly six-foot-four, we’re taller than most. He’s dressed smartly, like an accountant or a lawyer, in a dark button-down and khaki pants.
And, because she’s Charly, and this is her type, he has dark blond hair and light eyes. “I’m Declan.”
“This is Harrison,” Charly says.
“Can I call you Harry?” I ask with a smile, but Harrison doesn’t smile. He simply says, “No.”
I glance over at Eli, whose eyes are narrowed, and he gives a small shake of his head.
Harrison won’t be around long.
“Okay then. I hope you enjoyed the show.”
“Not my usual type of music, but you’re very talented,” the rude and stuffy Harrison replies.
My eyes meet Eli’s again, and a whole conversation takes place in the matter of two seconds.
Can I deck him?
Not worth it, man.
“We need to go soon,” Kate says with a smile. Her green eyes look happy as she tosses her red hair over her shoulder and gazes up at Eli. “We fly out early tomorrow morning.”
“Where are you headed?” I ask.
“Aruba,” Eli replies with a satisfied smile. “Kate and I have earned a vacation.”
“I’m going to sit on the beach and read a book.”
“Under an umbrella,” Eli adds and drags his hand down her hair. “And after I’ve had my way with you.”
“Ew,” Charly says, scrunching up her nose. Harrison simply clears his throat and shuffles his feet.
He’s wearing Chucks. With khakis.
We won’t have to run him off. Charly won’t be okay with that.
“I’d like to make it an early night, too,” Charly adds. “I’m working tomorrow.”
I lean down and hug my sister tight, then whisper in her ear, “I don’t like him.”
“Me either,” she whispers back, and smiles up at me as I pull away.
Good.
Goodnights are said, and I make my way over to the bar. The crowd has thinned significantly, and now just a few people are left, from the sounds of it most of them are on the roof enjoying the cool fall evening and the view.
Callie’s manning the bar alone. She’s still in her killer pink heels, but she changed out of the cutoffs and tank into a killer little black dress that hugs her in all the right places.
She has great tits and ass, but she’s more slender than I usually like. There is nothing soft about her, which suits Callie because she’s not a soft woman. I don’t know her well, yet, but I know that she’s strong, in charge, and she’ll kick ass when needed.
God, she’s adorable.
I get comfortable on a stool and grin when she makes her way down to me.
“Whiskey?” she asks with cool eyes, and no hint of a smile. I ordered a whiskey not long after she took over, before renovations started, and I could tell then that it irritated her.
“How about a shot of tequila tonight? If you’ll do one with me.”
Without missing a beat, she reaches for two shot glasses and pours the clear liquid—the good stuff—and hands me one, then clinks her glass to mine. “To one hell of a night.”