When I shut off the car, she didn’t budge.
“I wish I hadn’t just told you all that. I don’t want you to judge me or think I would do something like that with a customer ever again.”
Who the fuck am I to judge? I’ve fucked up more than my share of times.
“Believe me, judging you for something like that would be the pot calling the kettle black. We all make mistakes,” I simply said, lighting another cigarette. I blew the smoke out the window. “I just want you to be careful at The Heights. It’s a meet market.”
“Oh, I’m quite aware of that. I got hit on all night tonight, too.”
I sucked in my jaw. I know. I was watching and had to stop myself from getting arrested multiple times in my own bar.
“Anyway…” she said, “How did you know this was my exact house? You didn’t even use navigation.”
“I told you. I know this area inside out.”
She was silent then said, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Depends on the question.”
“How did you come to own The Heights? I mean, you’re young and…” She hesitated.
“What…”
“I’m not sure how to explain it, but you don’t look like what I would have pictured.”
“I don’t look like I’m going to be showing up at the local chamber of commerce meeting anytime soon?”
She cracked up. “Basically…”
Did I really want to get into this?
Fuck it.
“In answer to your question, I did nothing to earn The Heights or anything else I own except be born the bastard child of a very wealthy man who I can’t even stand to be in the same room with. There’s nothing impressive about that, being given wealth and not earning it.”
“You’re on bad terms with your father?”
“If he had his way, I wouldn’t even be in his life, let alone share any of his wealth. When my grandfather found out about my existence, which was later confirmed with a DNA test, everything changed. My granddad was an honorable man. He decided I was worthy of all of the same things that my brother—the legitimate child—got. So, I fell into a lot of wealth that I wasn’t really ready for or expecting. But that didn’t happen until I was in my twenties.”
“Wow. So, you didn’t grow up rich?”
“No. I grew up in a humble home on Long Island, lived with my mother and grandmother and watched my mom struggle to raise me alone. Barely had a pot to piss in. So, I don’t take any of this for granted.”
My eyes stayed glued to her legs as she crossed them. I wondered what they would feel like wrapped around my back. A visual of her buck naked beneath me as I hovered over her caused me to suck in the nicotine harder.
“If you’re just like one of us then…why is everyone so damn afraid of you, Rush?”
“What makes you think people are afraid of me?”
I knew there was truth in that but wanted to see what she’d say.
“Well, everyone seems to walk on eggshells around you. That was something I noticed tonight.”
“It’s because they know I don’t take any bullshit. They’ve seen me fire people for goofing off or fraternizing with customers on the job. They know I don’t play around. You should take a lesson from them.”
“And what’s with the permanent scowl? When I served you at the bar earlier, you looked like you were ready to kill someone.”
“I was…I was ready to kill you. I was pissed at the girl chasing away my customers.”
“Yeah, well, it all worked out in the end…didn’t it?”
“The verdict is still out.”
She smiled in a way that showed me she knew I was bullshitting her. She sensed that she was safe with me, that there was no way I was going to fire her even if she burned The Heights down. That was the truth. The realization of that was fucked-up.”
“Why don’t you have a car, Gia?”
“I do.” She pointed to a parked hump of metal in the driveway. “It’s just out of commission at the moment with a flat and in dire need of new brakes.”
“Out of commission? It looks like it’s disintegrating into the ground.”
“Don’t remind me.” She suddenly opened the door halfway. “Well…thanks for the ride.”
A feeling of disappointment was brewing in my chest. That was when I realized how badly I didn’t want her to leave. It was also when I realized how long it had been since I’d opened up even a little to anyone. It was unsettling how much I liked being near this girl.
She turned around before leaving, still halfway in the car. “I got the impression that you enjoyed it when I mouthed off to you earlier…”
Fuck yes, I did.
“What makes you say that?”
“Just a feeling.” She leaned in, “Fuck you very much for the ride, Rush. Have a good fucking night.”
There it was again. She said the work fuck—twice, mind you—and it travelled straight to my cock, which was now twitching.
She was almost to her door when she turned around and shouted, “And for the record, you don’t intimidate me at all anymore.”
“Why is that?” I yelled out the window.
“Because anyone who has a little angel hanging from their car mirror can’t possibly be that bad.” She laughed before running the rest of the way to the entrance.
Once she was out of sight, I allowed the smile I’d been fighting to spread across my face as I leaned my head back on the neck rest.
The angel hanging from my rearview mirror used to belong to my grandmother before she died. She used to have it hanging in her Buick for protection until she became too old to drive.
My grandmother was the kindest person I’d ever known and held me in much higher esteem than I ever deserved. I could do no wrong in her eyes. The angel was a reminder to try to live up to that, despite the fact that in reality my personality likened me more to the devil.
The next evening while Gia was at work, I drove to her place and spent three hours fixing her piece of shit Maxima. It took three trips to the auto parts store, but I was finally able to fix her car. She’d said she needed brakes and a new tire. She failed to mention that she rode the brakes for so long that she also needed rotors and new calipers. Turned out to be a bigger task than I’d originally planned, but I knew if she didn’t have a car, I’d end up driving her home again most nights, and that would have been dangerous.
This way I could ensure she could get home safely, and my dick could stay safely in my pants.
After fixing her car, I ran some overdue errands and planned to work on the restaurant’s books at home for a few hours. But by eleven, I grew antsy and couldn’t sit around anymore, so I headed to The Heights. Gia needed a ride home anyway.
On weeknights, the kitchen closed at eleven. By then, hostess duties were pretty much done, even if the waitresses had tables to finish up. I found Gia sitting at the bar talking to her friend Riley who was
on the other side. It was the first time that I’d seen Riley since I almost fired her ass, but wound up hiring her friend instead.
Her eyes grew wide as I approached. Gia mustn’t have noticed, since she didn’t turn around. I sidled up next to her, leaning my forearms on the bar.
“Anyone fucking working around here?”
Riley jumped and started to dry a glass that looked like it was already dry. She definitely seemed nervous. “It just quieted down. We were busy most of the night.”
Gia, on the other hand, didn’t flinch at my sudden appearance. “You think the sun comes up just to hear you crow, don’t you?”
I had to raise my hand to my mouth and pretend to cough in order to cover my smirk. “I’m not paying you to stand around and bullshit.”
She turned and faced me without backing up. “That’s right. You’re not. Because my shift is over.
Signed out with the big tree ten minutes ago. I stopped up at the bar to order a drink before I headed home.” She pointed her eyes down to the twenty sitting on the bar in front of her. “That makes me a patron right now. And, personally, I don’t like the way I’m being treated as a paying customer.”