An Unknown Place (3 page)

When I had moved to Vegas I had taken solace in the bar I now stood in. It was nice to be back here. The entire bar was a warehouse, but it had a warmth and style to it that was all Lynn. The lights in the bar were all made with beer and wine bottles. The tables littering the floor were made with bottle caps and cans. You’d think it would look like a frat boy’s room but it didn’t. The place had style. It was what had gotten The Strip noticed in the first place.

I scanned the bar for Lynn. She’d better have waited for me.

“I’m sorry,” Kellan’s deep voice said from behind me.

Guilt bloomed in me. It wasn’t Kellan’s fault. It was mine for having a train wreck for a brain.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

I looked over my shoulder to find him looking confused, I got that a lot. It was a good look on him though. I wanted tell him it was okay. But I still didn’t know him well enough to allow myself to do something like that.

“I shouldn’t have just grabbed you out of the blue.”

It looked like it was paining Kellan to apologize and I smiled at him. I got the feeling Kellan didn’t apologize much.

“Apology accepted,” I said, trying to get him to drop it.

“Well, I don’t know why he’s apologizing but if you hurt my girl, I will take your balls and put them in a jar next to my bed.”

Lynn stood off to the side, looking as amazing as she always did when she was threatening a man’s balls. It happened more often than you would think. She had dark red and black hair, that was always up in a fifty’s style do. She was also tatted up and pierced. She looked a lot like that girl on that reality tattoo show on T.V. She was beautiful, inside and out.

She had taken me in when I had first gotten to Vegas. Initially, I was a bar back. I didn’t really have to deal with the public and it worked well for me, for a while. Then I needed more money. I was late more often and Lynn pulled me into her office to get the story of what was going on. I told her I had to take the bus because my car died and I couldn’t afford to fix it.

Lynn had never been one to hand anything out. She believed in hard work and earning what you got. So she offered to make me a bar tender. I agreed and earned enough money that first week to fix my car. The pay difference from a bar back to bar tender was night and day. I made a ton of money working in her bar and would’ve stayed there if a creepy regular hadn’t followed Lynn and I out of the bar one night.

We had been walking to our cars, the last ones out the door, of course, and he had followed us out. He was drunk and tried to feel me up. Lynn grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, slammed him to the ground and sat on top of him. She broke his nose and told him to never come back to her bar. That night I decided being a bartender at The Strip wasn’t a good fit for me anymore.

Lynn had understood and let me go. We’d remained good friends and I’d come to her bar on occasion when she really needed the help. She begged me to become one of her bar managers, but I had declined. It was really good money and I was ready for the position now. My bravado was better than it used to be. However, I didn’t know if the offer was still on the table.

“That’s the second time in as many hours, my balls have been threatened. I need to start wearing a cup.”

Lynn laughed. She smacked him on the back.

“At least you had enough sense to apologize.” Lynn spoke to Kellan but was looking at me.

I was getting uncomfortable under her scrutiny. She always saw too much. So I turned and went behind the bar. It was my safe place. My solace. I knew my place and what to do when I was behind a bar. Out in the real world? That was scary.

“What the hell Mac? You got me to stay and meet this guy and you aren’t even going to stick around for the conversation?”

“I’m sure ya’ll can work it out on your own. I’m right here if you need me to vouch.” As long as they didn’t make me come out from behind the bar. I put my hand out. “Lynn, Kellan. Kellan, Lynn.” Now my work was done. I saw recognition cross Lynn’s face. Ha!

“Kellan Freemont?” Lynn asked me. I nodded my confirmation and she squinted her eyes at me. “You told him about Michelle didn’t you?” She accused me.

“Everyone knows about Michelle, Lynn.” I smiled, and then looked over at Kellan. “Except for him.”

“Would you like to go to my office Kellan?” Lynn asked.

“After you
Michelle
,” Kellan said waiving her in front of him. She winked at me as she walked off to the back of the bar where the stairs to her office were hidden.

They’d get along just fine.

Kellan

I never in a million years would I’ve guessed I’d be spending my day negotiating a huge deal with a company that had refused to even speak with us. Add to that the fact I was unable to stop fantasizing about the most mysterious woman I had ever encountered, well it was a good day. Normally I would’ve imagined Lynn doing very naughty things with Mac. But nope.

Did I appreciate the way Lynn looked? Of course. She was a knock-out and so was her lesbian partner. I had unintentionally found out Lynn was a lesbian when I asked who the beauty in the frame on her desk was. She had told me it was her lover of ten years. I couldn’t imagine. Ten years. The lesbian part I had no problem with.

“Tell me Kellan, how’d you come to know my girl?”

“She saved my life. I was drugged in the airport and just happened upon a stool in her bar. She stayed with me until we got to the hospital.”

“She stayed with you?” Lynn looked taken aback. I just nodded and shrugged. “Interesting.” She grabbed a pen off her desk and tapped it thoughtfully. “Do you like her?”

“That’s a dumb question. Who wouldn’t like her?”

“Most people. She doesn’t make…friends easily.”

“Neither do I.”

Which was true. I had three good male friends and I normally just slept around with women. There was something about Mac that made me want to dissect her and find out what was under that mask she put up so often. She wasn’t making that easy and it was yet another thing I appreciated about her. I guess I didn’t want easy anymore.

“Alright. Go on. I’ll give you a shot since Mac brought you in,” Lynn said, and leaned back.

She was studying me and I could easily see what a shrewd business mind she had. She had a gaze that would set most men back on their heels. All it told me was that I wanted to do business with her. I started building, not only a business plan in my head but perhaps a joint business venture. But that would have to wait until I had her trust.

“I’m not connected to the mob. I haven’t been home since the day I turned eighteen.”

“Your name is Kellan Freemont. Correct?” She already knew this, so I was confused as to why she was asking again.

“Yes.”

“Then you are connected to the mob. Whether by blood or by name, there will always be a connection.” My temper rose and I spit my words out.

“Stating the obvious much? You think I haven’t fought someone like you my entire adult life?!”

I ran my hands through my hair, sat back in the chair and clasped my hands behind my head. This was the position I sat in to calm myself down. It kept me from hitting things. Jake knew this about me and he was the only one, besides my therapist. I was left with a lot of trust issues over the years. My anger was the residual spill over of that.

Lynn leaned toward me, and I thought she was going to yell back at me. It would’ve been what I did.

“What are your intentions with Mac?” Ooookay, not where I thought this was going.

“I intend to get to know her.”

“Lay her and leave her?”

I know I had my normal persona written all over my cocky attitude, but I’d only met this woman a few minutes ago. How had she nailed this part of me down in that short time?

“No.” I would’ve gone on to explain to her that I had begun to care about the fragile woman behind her bar, but I didn’t think it was needed. I think Lynn saw Mac just as clearly as I did.

“She’s been hurt. I took her in when she first got here and her trust is non-existent.” All things I already knew, minus the fact that Lynn had taken her in when she first got to Vegas. “You can’t hurt her. You just…can’t.”

Lynn was tearing up. Oh God. No, no, no! I couldn’t deal with a woman crying. I put my hand awkwardly on her head and patted.

“I’m not out to hurt her. I just want to know her.” I had been honest. I prided myself on my honesty.

It was all true. I had wanted to get in Mac’s pants when I’d first met her, still did, but there was something about her vulnerable strength that had me at a loss of what to do with her.

“I believe you. God help me but I believe you.” Lynn pulled out a sheet from her desk and handed it to me, “Fill out what you want to carry, so I can get it to my brew master. It will probably take about a month to get it all filled out and to you in Maryland. After that we will carry at least that amount for you. If you want to increase the amount it takes about a month to get the increase in flow.”

I was smiling. I had not gotten this little deal with The Strip Brewing Company because of my shrewd business skills or my name, but because of Mac. An idea came to me, and I decided to run with it.

“How would you feel if I told you I’d like to only deal with Mac?”

“I’m listening.” Lynn leaned forward with a glint in her eye and a smile on her face. I knew she’d agree to my terms.

Mac

There were only about six customers that had come in and out of the bar in the time Kellan and Lynn had left for their meeting about thirty minutes ago. I was surprised. It was Thursday and the bar normally had a lot more people there on a Thursday afternoon. I had made twenty bucks already, so I couldn’t complain too much. I still wondered what was going on that there were so few people around.

The regular bartender had shown up at 1:45. I knew from experience she was late for her shift and that Lynn didn’t tolerate lateness. I hadn’t seen her before and she looked hung over. Her eyes were red and puffy and I could still smell the stale alcohol clinging to her skin. I didn’t know if I should feel bad for her or be pissed that she was late.

“Who the fuck are you?” She asked me. I decided to be pissed.

“A fill in bartender. Since you were late, Lynn called me in. You can go.” I knew Lynn would back me on this, she had every other time over the years.

“You can’t fire me.”

“I’m not firing you, only Lynn has that ability. I just said you can leave.”

I was trying to be nice about this, but she was bringing out my anger. It never came out with men, only ever with women who pushed me.

“You’re not my boss. You can’t do this to me.”

This girl was pissing me off. I stepped up to her, as I had seen Lynn do numerous times with an out of hand patron, and squared myself up to her. The girl took a step back. I knew how to work this position, especially behind the bar. The bartender was a taller than me but now she knew I had fire and was a little scared by it. Good.

“Get. Out.”

The girl took her purse from behind the bar, where she had stashed it, and stormed out the front doors. After she pushed passed me to make her escape, my eyes never left her, tracking to make sure she left. It was part of being “a force to be reckoned with” or in my case “a farce to be reckoned with”.

I heard clapping from behind me. I turned and saw Lynn and Kellan making their way to me from the back office. Lynn clapped as she walked.

“Nice job hot shot,” Lynn said.

“I’ll work the rest of the day.”

“Kind of have to now that you just got rid of my bartender.”

“I’m sorry. She was forty five minutes late.”

“She
just
got here?” Lynn shook her head. “Rachel has been useless for a while. I tried to help her out, but you can’t help someone who doesn’t want it. I’ll have to get rid of her.”

I was confused as to why she needed help. But if I had to guess Rachel had a drinking problem.

“A drinker?”

“Did she smell like it again?” I nodded my affirmation. Kellan finally sat down next to Lynn. He was looking at me with open amazement.

“What?”

“I feel like I’m seeing you for the first time,” Kellan said.

His honesty always threw me for a loop. I could tell this was honesty because it was a little brutal too. I knew behind the bar was my most comfortable place, but it hurt that he admitted to not really seeing me until now.

I busied myself behind the bar to distract from the pain in my chest. What the hell? I loved being invisible. Why did it matter that Kellan was telling me my invisibility act had worked? Kellan had probably only seen me now because of the hot bartender that had just stormed out.

“You’re always strongest right where you’re standing,” Lynn pointed out, pulling me out of my head.

I can’t believe she’d just called me out. I knew my world was strongest behind the bar, but I didn’t need other people seeing that or calling me out on it. I could feel my face redden.

I felt a strong hand embrace mine as I wiped the bar.

“It was good Mac. Strength is good. No matter where it comes from or when.” I looked into Kellan’s face and saw admiration shining through his eyes.

I knew that his place on the map was New York, now. And I knew his strength had come from a totally different place than mine. Mine was a place that had been created by Lynn, in this bar. I knew Kellan’s was a much vaster place. I wondered if he would lend me some.

Kellan’s hand still rested on top of mine and I found I didn’t want to move it. I wasn’t blind, I could see Kellan was as handsome as the summers are hot in Vegas. But it was that blatant truth that spilled from his mouth and eyes that caught me. It was what lay under that beautiful face that made me not want to move. I finally pulled my hand out from his, but held his gaze.

“So, Kellan. Do you want to tell Mac our plan?”

I was immediately on alert. What plan?

“In an effort to make sure that all of us are happy about our business dealings, we’d like to offer you the position of manager.”

“Manager of what?” I asked confusedly. Was Lynn offering me the spot I’d just been thinking about?

“During the day you would manage here, at the bar. If I need anything as far as orders or business dealings go, I would go through you directly. Only you.”

Basically, Kellan had talked Lynn into hiring me into a position I wanted. But he had power over me. Did I want that? Lynn was beaming at me, so I could tell she was all for this plan.

“What’s the pay?” I asked shrewdly. I was still behind the bar, channeling my inner businesswoman.

“$85,000 with bonuses.” Lynn said, basically bouncing out of her seat.

I almost passed out. How could Lynn pay me that much? I knew the bar manager position only paid 53k and bonuses. Bonuses for what? I squinted at her and she froze. Had she made a deal with the devil?

Kellan

When I had offered to pay for part of Mac’s salary, Lynn had been on board. I had offered up the bonuses in case Mac brought in other business for me or for Lynn. It happened often in micro breweries. They were a tight knit group, even across the country.

I should know since our bar had opened a micro brewery two years ago when the place next to our bar went out of business. Jake and I had bought the place up and started a micro brewery. Our brew master had wanted to play off my name for the names of the beers and I had nixed it immediately.

I thought what I’d offered Mac was fair, but she looked like she was going to pass out. I told Lynn that I would tell Mac about paying for part of her salary. I had to be the one to tell her.

“Mac, I am paying a piece of your salary since I requested you to take the position. It was the right business decision.” I tried to play it up as a business decision instead of my overwhelming need to make sure that I had a direct line to Mac. Mac mulled it over for a minute. And turned to Lynn.

“If this stuff with Kellan doesn’t pan out, do I get to keep the position? I’ll take the pay cut to what the normal amount is.”

Lynn looked affronted.

“Of course. Have I ever turned you out before?” Mac turned red and looked uncomfortable for a minute. “Of course I would keep you. I offered you pretty much the same position a year ago.”

Mac looked from Lynn to me and then smiled. I could actually feel her joy. I could feel the accomplishment. I could feel my hard on. Damn it! I was trying to settle myself down but that wasn’t working, because Mac was still smiling.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

Mac came out from behind the bar and Lynn stood up, hugging her. That seemed unfair. That she would give a hug to Lynn but not to me. She stepped back from Lynn and came over to me. I didn’t open my arms, because with how she had acted the last time I’d hugged her, I didn’t want to scare her. I just sat with my arms loose at my sides, trying to be the least intimidating me I could be.

Without warning, Mac threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. She had to step between my legs to hug me while I was sitting. I feared she might feel the half-hard on I was sporting. When she didn’t immediately move away I knew my fear was for nothing.

I let her hug me and I slowly slid my hands around her waist to her back and I squeezed her briefly. She held on for much longer this time. I decided that when I finally got her in bed, she would be in charge.