Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
She let out a loud sigh. “Now can I have another drink?”
He shook his head. “Sorry. You’re officially cut off for the night.”
“Boss, you’re needed in the kitchen,” one of the barbacks called out.
Maddox glanced at the young woman who was checking her phone. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked to the kitchen and through the swinging door where he found himself in the middle of an argument between a busboy and waitress who’d been dating. Doing his best not to lose his temper, Maddox reminded them that if they couldn’t get along, one of them would have to go. The duo, he wasn’t certain if they were still a couple, rushed back to work.
Another fifteen to twenty minutes passed, during which Maddox put out a few more fires, reminding him of why he preferred to have things run without him in the kitchen. Problems were typically solved by the staff if they didn’t have the manager to run interference.
By the time Maddox made his way back to the bar, the crowd had grown, the crowd was hopping and Cal had been joined by Eddie, the newest summer hire. While Cal was professionally moving between the patrons, removing full drinks and serving fresh ones, Eddie lingered at the far end of the bar.
It was obvious why. The pretty princess had an empty glass in front of her and Maddox watched as the bartender swapped it for a fresh margarita. Then, instead of moving to the next person waiting, he leaned closer and began to chat, while she fluttered her lashes and stirred the second drink she shouldn’t have been served.
Maddox strode over and swooped up the glass before she could put those slick, freshly glossed lips around the straw.
“Eddie, get back to work!” Maddox barked, tilting his head toward a point away from the customers. “We’ll talk soon.”
“Yeah, boss.” The man slunk away and Maddox turned to join him for a reprimand.
“Oh, come on, party pooper. Eddie had no issue serving me,” his princess complained.
Maddox ignored his automatic use of the pronoun. She was already on a first name basis with both his bartenders, and was now slurring her words, something that wouldn’t have happened if Eddie had been doing his job and not flirting with her instead.
Maddox turned back to find her wrinkling her nose in a pout he found too cute. He needed to get control of this situation, starting with something he should have done earlier but he had trusted Cal. Still did, but Maddox needed to see for himself.
“Are you sure you’re twenty-one?” he asked.
She hiccupped. “Twenty-two.” She held up two fingers. “See?”
“How about a license and not the peace sign?”
She rolled her eyes and leaned down, probably to find her handbag, nearly toppling to the floor. The guy nearest her stepped aside instead of helping.
“Jackass,” Maddox muttered. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” She slid off the chair and knelt this time, her head disappearing beneath the bar before she popped up, purse in hand. “Got it!” She fished inside, retrieved a small, zippered pouch with a familiar logo on the side, and finally handed him her license.
He studied it with interest. “Gabriella Annabelle Davenport.” He said the mouthful out loud.
“My friends call me Gabby,” she said, now leaning both arms on the counter, looking like she needed to be held up.
Something he really wouldn’t mind doing, which told him he needed his head examined, both because he recognized her last name—assuming she was Aaron Davenport of Davenport Securities’ daughter—and at…yes, twenty-two, he was ten years her senior.
“Okay, Gabby—”
She burst out laughing, interrupting him. “I lied! Nobody calls me Gabby except my sister. And now you. You’re my friend, right?”
“Not if that means you think I’m giving you another drink,” he said.
She stuck her little tongue out in response and dammit, his mind went into overdrive, imagining all the things she could do with that soft tongue, like lick the length of his stiff dick.
“How about you give me your address and I’ll call an Uber to take you home?”
She shook her head, her blonde waves creating a halo around her head before settling back on her bare shoulders. “No. I do not want to go back there.” Her eyes were glassy but determined.
Recalling what she’d told him happened to her earlier tonight, he couldn’t be a bastard and insist she go home. Besides, her license, which he put on the counter in front of her, had a New York City address, and he had no idea where her parents’ summer home was located.
“Okay, is there someone else you can call for a ride? Or a friend whose house you can go to?”
She’d replaced her license in the small zipper purse and shoved it back into her bag. “I don’t have any friends I trust enough to help me,” she said quietly.